While Ayzize had swept the camp again, he received an AR call from Chairman Doth with the assignment of returning to Endeavor.
“Why?” Ayzize had asked, a beam from his wrist scanning the ruins of the camp by a serene emerald lake. The six Chilao nearby had stared at him in silence as he worked, clutching each other and keeping their distance.
Doth, wavering in AR form, had frowned in disapproval; a universal trait that the Levan, Humans, and the Rym shared. “Franklin Benitz has wired over the donation, that’s why.”
Wired over a bribe, more like. Few people could afford to leave Endeavor without connections, and it seemed Franklin Benitz decided on Raxdrýn to be his way out. “I will change at the next station. ETA will be about twenty-six standard hours.”
“Good,” Doth had hissed, though hissing to the Levan sounded less irritated than it did for humans. Most of the time.
Now, back on Endeavor a week after he had left, he finished scanning the hotel room and unslung his bag from his shoulder, plopping it down on the bed and waving a hand. The wall opposite of the bed flickered on at the motion, square holo displays lighting up. He flicked past the displays before choosing the Intragalactic news. As boring as he found it, he needed to keep himself appraised of current events. The alliances frequently escalated attacks against each other, and Ayzize would rather not travel to a newly hostile species’ planet. As a human colony, Endeavor meant relative safety, but who knew where he would have to go next after dropping his newly ordained apprentice off at Raxdrýn.
An image of two broadcasters appeared, a tawny human female with black hair and a male Iaiedal with rose-colored eyes. Ayzize’s Tristat automatically synced with the display to reveal English subtitles directly underneath the broadcasters; the human spoke Hindi and the Iaiedal communicated with EmTel. His Tristat had the option to ‘feel’ the emotive telepathy, but he avoided it whenever possible.
“Earlier this week the Mimõkian Republic unveiled their plans for the new Liet gates,” the human broadcaster ‘said’, and the screen cut to a soundless clip of the President of the Mimõkian Republic addressing their press. The Mimõkians were an avian species with gold skin and a plumage of black and white feathers, and Ayzize’s father had likened them to bald eagles. “Further improvements have been made on their previous modifications on the Tial’s designs, and should reduce the risk of travel while allowing for longer distances between gates.”
“The Krshk Science Directorate and the Human United Republics have been invited to collaborate on the tests, and both species accepted earlier today,” the Iaiedal stated. Two side-by-side clips of the Krshk aquatic vidcasts on Krshk I displayed next to the Human President’s vidcast back on Earth. “Estimated completion date in the Frakai System is GS53E627.” ‘Earth Standard Year 2725’ displayed in subtitles under the Iaiedal.
Two years, hmm, Ayzize thought. Wonder if I will still be alive by then. Seven years in a job that had yet to kill him made him fatalistic, and he wasn’t stupid enough to believe that he might live through each encounter with XIKs… though he still considered training for XIK-Rs, the most powerful XIKs.
Before becoming a Varôk-R, he had to pick up a child to bring to Raxdrýn; one he would have to guide after they completed basic training and studies. Raxdrýn regularly recruited and required Varôks to train at least one apprentice. Non-Varôk teachers died in the field often.
Benitz expected his son to be in security, the much safer and prestigious sector of Raxdrýn that catered to wealthy and politically powerful clientele, though Ayzize suspected Doth would alternate Elliot’s path to XIK fighting. Beyond finding Dormants, there would be no use in training and gene splicing a child to be in security.
Celes would be much better as an apprentice, anyway. He scowled to himself for the thought. Doth wouldn’t allow it. Benitz would throw out his donation—for whatever that was worth—and after the last Chairman of Raxdrýn squandered almost all of their resources, Doth constantly reminded his ‘employees’ that every single contribution counted, even if it were only a few million credits. Doth liked to personally remind Ayzize that he would throw him out for any little mistake that he made. Ever since Ayzize’s unorthodox joining seven years ago, Doth considered him to be too reckless and unpredictable.
Scratching his head, wiry curls brushing against his fingers, he closed down the news and sent out a call to Imbiana. He did not expect her to answer, but within seconds her concerned face appeared on the screen with a metallic hallway in the background. With umber skin, onyx eyes, and her hair cropped close, Ayzize felt a moment of pride seeing her newly minted navy uniform of the GA Exploration Corp.
“Kwadwo? What’s wrong?” she frowned, using his day name.
“Hey, nothing. Just wondering if you’re free.”
Her eyes scrutinized his surroundings. “You’re in a hotel.”
“Yeah.”
“Before a job?”
“Yes, but not hunting. I didn’t have time to tell you, but Doth has come to collect,” he sighed. “Point is, I’m safe. I wanted to see how you were.”
“You mean ask before you start complaining about Doth. Not that I can blame you; the man has a stick lodged in when it comes to you.”
“And other humans,” Ayzize muttered truthfully. “Are you free?”
“Uhm, one second,” her eyes lifted above the screen, waving to someone. “Melie, Yilan! I’ll join with you in ten minutes!” she called, nodding and keeping her voice even as she spoke to people out of sight. Her lips moved out of time of her words, the universal translator in his Tristat translating her words into English over her trade Yengi. Ayzize again smiled in pride. Imbiana knew all the GA standard languages fluently and had started on the Rym and Kath’laka languages because she had been ‘bored’.
“OK, I have ten minutes to spare,” she said, her eyes returning to Ayzize. “I’m glad that you’re able to call; we are leaving in twelve hours, and I don’t think I’ll be able to talk for a good three weeks. I was going to message you before I left, since you mentioned you would be out doing jobs.”
“Are you going outside of the border?”
“Maybe, but Yilan caught a thought from the CO about going into Osaŵ territory, so not really,” she sighed, her dark eyes holding disappointment. “I shouldn’t be impatient, and drilling procedures into our heads until we enact it in our dreams is a good idea. It’s just… frustrating. We’re here to explore, not visit charted territories”
Ayzize nodded in agreement, having gone through something similar in Raxdrýn. “What is it you said about the military? ‘Hurry up and wait’?”
She chuckled, and the musical note in her voice made him smile. “That was Earth Military, and the GA has a tighter schedule than that. Life goes on,” she shrugged. “So, what is the job? That you can talk about, of course.”
Ayzize paused, his eyes drifting away for a few moments as he went through all of his conflicted emotions. “I’m picking up a child for Raxdrýn.”
Imbiana recoiled, though she still held up her wrist to show her face. “And how old are they?” she asked, her eyes and voice rather cold.
Ayzize swallowed and hoped that she couldn’t tell that he had. “Ten. The father made a bribe to Raxdrýn to get his son into security—” Imbiana relaxed her shoulders and sighed a breath of relief, which made Ayzize feel guiltier, “—to make connections once the boy is old enough. The father wants to get off planet, probably.”
“Well, at least it's security instead of becoming a Varôk…” she muttered, though her eyes remained narrowed at him. “You always brushed off that you would have to do something like this, and while I believed this would be hard for you, you look like you’re having greater difficulty with this decision than I thought you would…” she gestured with her free hand to his drawn features.
The venom in her voice almost made him wince, but he kept calm. He would rather face off against multiple XIKs than incur his lover’s wrath. “I’m on Endeavor,�
�� he said, hoping she would understand his implication. When she continued to stare at him, waiting, he frowned. “Where I told you about that one incident.”
Imbiana blinked a few times, looking unfocused as she revisited her past conversations with him, before her eyes went wide in revelation. “Where the XIK-Rs attacked three years ago,” she breathed, and Ayzize nodded. Now herself looking uncomfortable, she rubbed the back of her neck. “I’m really sorry. I know you don’t like to talk about it.”
“You are the only one I can talk to about it,” he said, and she looked down for a moment, her eyes filled with concern. “But I didn’t bring up what happened only because of the attack, it was…”
“The aftermath?” she guessed, continuing when he nodded. “When you found Dr. Nakagawa-Dušánek, and she told you to…?”
Ayzize’s mind flashed, the image of Dr. Akira Nakagawa-Dušánek laying in the wreckage of her clinic lobby, with one dead XIK-R splattered against the crumbling stone wall as electrical wires sparked next to the creature. Dr. Nakagawa-Dušánek had looked up to him as he rushed in for her, her eyes unfocused yet still watching him as he had bent to quickly examine her wounds. The slashes in her neck, chest, and abdomen bled profusely and stained her stark white coat. With the last of her strength, she had grabbed his shoulder, gasped out her last words, and became unresponsive. She died two minutes later.
Shaking himself from the memory, he put his head into his hands. “I still dream about it. Can’t get the words out of my head sometimes while I’m here.”
“What did the doctors say about it?” Her voice held helplessness and pity.
Ayzize gave a short laugh. “We’re short staffed on psychologists at the moment, but the grounding technique helps a lot. I don’t think that is so much is the problem; rather, that I am very conflicted at the moment in regards choosing an apprentice versus what Dr. Nakagawa-Dušánek said.”
Imbiana frowned. “How is Celes doing? Any word on Zander?”
Ayzize paused, the guilt rising in his chest. “Celes is a fighter, I can say that much…. perhaps both in a mental and physical sense,” he said, smiling when he remembered her talking about standing up for herself. “But from what I’ve seen of Beir, she has to be. This city requires it, since the wealth disparity is one of the worst I’ve seen in this galaxy. I can’t blame anyone for wanting to leave. And her father has yet to get his act together. I had hoped he would, especially since Zander left, but he seems to have gotten worse. No word on Zander, but since he’s at Aorírdal, that’s expected.”
“… Is she OK?” Imbiana asked, and Ayzize knew what she meant.
“No bruises, and she treats her father with annoyance and anger. I feel terror from her sometimes when he yells. She told me he does not hit her; just yells a lot or drinks himself into a stupor,” he assured Imbiana, and when she still didn’t look convinced, he added, “His mind is a jumbled mess, but he seems to have a ‘block’ when it comes to violence after that one incident with Zander—beyond throwing things at the wall once his children are safely outside the apartment. Not the best situation and Celes deserves better, but I can at least know that she isn’t being abused.”
“Physically,” Imbiana hissed, her lips moving into a deep frown. “Doesn’t make everything else better.”
Ayzize felt a flash of anger and guilt. “I know that and I am reminded every time Doth sends me down to this place. You think I don’t feel somewhat responsible when I see their family, living in filth?”
“Ayzize—"
“What do you want me to do, Imbiana? Adopt her?” He threw his arms in the air with exasperation. “Or make her my apprentice? Doth would never allow it. He’d more than likely kick me out of Raxdrýn over it.”
Imbiana held up a hand, her expression firm and calm. “It isn’t your fault, Ayzize, nor your responsibility,” she said gently. “Yet you still care about Celes and Zander. Is it out of obligation to Dr. Nakagawa-Dušánek?”
Gritting his teeth and feeling a lump of shame, he exhaled sharply. “It was, at first,” he whispered.
Imbiana’s eyes softened. “You are a good man, Ayzize. And you’re right; Celes deserves better. Child services have failed over in that part of the galaxy, and…” she hesitated, watching his face carefully. “No child should have to go through losing a parent at a young age...”
He nodded, shifting on the bed as he looked to the floor. She spoke of more than Celes. “Yeah, but it happens,” he shrugged. “Though for now, I have to just face the fact that I have to take a child tomorrow and hope Celes can forgive me for it when she finds out.”
“You think she would blame you?”
“The boy I’m taking bullies her,” he muttered, and Imbiana winced. “Celes puts on a brave act, but I know she will feel betrayed by me taking him rather than her. I would like to think she would eventually understand, but…” he frowned, not at all liking the pit of anxiety in his stomach when he pictured Celes’ probable devastated face.
“You have healed enough to care, my love,” she said. “That takes more strength than most people know.” When he didn’t answer, she reached to him with her free hand, as if she could cradle his face. “I wish I was there with you.”
Ayzize stayed silent for a few seconds before he said, “As do I.”
She smiled, the corner of her eyes crinkling. “Too bad we don’t have the Tristat hardware that have those neurotransmitters that allow you to feel others,” she chuckled.
“I can think of a few uses for them,” he half smirked, hoping the expression would lessen her worry.
“Ayzize!” She swore sharply, looking around with wide eyes to see if anyone had been close enough to hear them. “Well now, I know you’re feeling a little better.”
“I always do when I talk to you,” he replied truthfully. It didn’t change reality, but getting things off his chest helped.
She huffed, muttering, “Then remind me to apply for a therapist license and start charging you by the hour.”
“I can pay you in other ways,” he smirked, enjoying the rise of color in her cheeks.
“Oh, stop it, you are so bad and cliché.” She shook her head, a wide smile on her lips while she still blushed.
“And yet, you still put up with my grumblings, my dilemmas, and my teasing.” He paused, an idea coming to his head. “Whenever you anticipate being free next, let me know. I have some time off coming up, and I want to spend it with you. If you want,” he added, shrugging in what he hoped was a nonchalant manner.
She kept her smile, cocking her head at him. “I’ll hold you to it—if no last-minute jobs come up, of course.” Her eyes looked past him for a moment, and he heard muffled words behind him. He didn’t need to turn his head to know that the sound came from Imbiana’s surroundings rather than his own. She nodded towards the voice, her eyes focusing back onto Ayzize. “I have to head out in the next minute or so, but I’m glad I got to talk to you.”
“Remind me that it’ll be your turn to start complaining next time I call.”
“You’ll regret that. ‘Blah blah blah said we couldn’t do this, blah blah blah misinterpreted this when it meant that and wouldn’t listen to anyone,’ and other things I am not allowed to talk about,” she sighed. “But be safe, Ayzize, and let me knows what happens.”
“I will. I love you.”
“I love you too. Oh, and Ayzize?”
He raised his eyebrows at her in curiosity, and she continued, “I doubt Doth will kick you out.”
He kept his eyebrows raised. “You a clairvoyant now?”
“No.” She shook her head. “But for all his faults, Doth is logical and values efficiency. Kicking out a decorated Varôk over one disobeyed order will not get you thrown out.”
Ayzize gazed at her for several seconds, feeling a bit of hope before reality kicked in. “Doth has it in for me; I doubt he will let a chance slip.”
Imbiana sighed. “Just think about what I said and do what you feel is right,” she sai
d. “Ka omesia, my love.”
“Donadagohvi,” he replied. Until we meet again, he thought as the warm and loving image of Imbiana smiling and waving faded, leaving a cold and blank metallic wall.
He didn’t move for a few minutes, then he stood up with a heavy sigh, going to his pack and rummaging around in it for some rations. Taking out a nutrient bar and eating it in silence, he pondered over Imbiana’s words. Light traffic noise allowed him to wind down after traveling for a long time, and he lay in bed. Drifting off to sleep, he could almost feel Dr. Nakagawa-Dušánek’s grip on his shoulder as she had looked up to him, and with halting words that she forced out as if her fleeting life depended on it, whispered, “Take on my daughter."
∆∆∆
After a restless night, Ayzize woke up the next morning with a headache. He took a capsule as he waved a hand to the wall next to him, which morphed into a wide window. The rays of the sun had just touched the horizon in the distance, blocked by row upon row of buildings. Several hover cars drove in the streets below his balcony, with stray drunks from a bar a few blocks away weaving around the sidewalk. Five-star view, right here.
While he ate his breakfast—a nutrition paste that almost tasted like yogurt if he fooled himself enough—he received a message from Benitz. Ayzize brought up the message, drinking the paste as he read until he choked. Now furious, he didn’t even stop to think when he sent his own message to Raxdrýn with Benitz's message attached. He fumed for at least ten minutes before Doth’s Vice Chairman, a Lyre Selyn named Tralis Belei, answered his call.
Standing at least seven feet tall even in AR form, Tralis seemed to be made of woven vines and bark in humanoid form, with wide and bright white eyes. Her ‘hair’, as she liked to call it, looked like hanging vines of light green and blue flowers, cascading over the simple clothing she wore, an insignia pinned to her shoulder denoting her rank.
“Nelowie,” she said, her mouth remaining neutral but her eyes squinting in a smile. “This one is sorry Nelowie is not back yet. Congratulations on Nelowie’s upcoming apprentice.”
Origins of Hope Page 10
