Enigma

by C. F. Bentley

  “What did you see while you were out?” Martha asked breathlessly.

  “What makes you think . . . ?”

  “We know you,” Mary said. “You had a vision.”

  “Your caste marks glow,” Martha added. She reached out to touch Sissy’s cheek, then withdrew her hand quickly, as if burned.

  “If she had a vision, that’s not important,” Doc Halliday said. “I’ve read your chart. Jake slapped some antihistamine patches on you to counteract the plant poison. It worked. Your blood levels are almost back to normal, but you’ll be a little fragile for a couple of days.”

  The nurses nodded agreement from their observing posts in the corners.

  “What more do you need to know?” Sissy asked, suddenly apprehensive.

  “Have you seen the news out of Harmony since you got back?” Martha asked.

  “No. I’ve been here, no holovids, no flat-screen broadcasts.”

  “Watch this,” Mary instructed. She flipped on a flat screen in the bedside tabletop. Harmony didn’t have holovids yet and broadcast only in two dimensions.

  Sissy’s mouth dropped in utter horror as the debate between Little Johnny and Laud Andrew replayed before her. Then she clamped her jaw shut in anger.

  “How dare he accuse Jake of this.”

  “He’s desperate, trying to hang on to the old ways,” Mary said, dropping her gaze.

  “He’s mouthing Laud Gregor’s words, fighting to discredit you and any changes you’ve managed,” Martha confirmed. She looked fierce, ready to battle the galaxy—that was Mary’s usual stance not Martha’s.

  “He’s only provisional head of Crystal Temple until Laud Gregor returns or dies,” Sissy mused. “He has to parrot Laud Gregor until he’s confirmed HP. Only then can he say what he really thinks. I’m not sure I want to know what he really thinks. There is too much venom in his voice.”

  “There is one way to dispel this nonsense.” Doc Halliday turned off the debate and nudged the table out of the way with her hip. “I suspect that you have never engaged in sexual relations with a man.” Matter of fact. No room for embarrassment. Clinical detachment.

  Sissy nodded, unable to speak of such a thing in front of so many witnesses.

  “I was not raised Temple,” she finally ground out.

  “I don’t know what that signifies. But I can determine if that is true and note it in the medical log. If this ‘debate’ goes any further, we’ll have evidence that Jake did nothing but protect you. Do I have your permission, My Laudae?”

  “It’s not so bad.” Mary took Sissy’s hand and squeezed tightly.

  “Mary and I had it done before leaving Harmony,” Martha added shyly.

  “It’s good medical practice, to check early and often, catch major problems before they get too big to take care of,” Doc Halliday added.

  “I was raised Worker caste. We do not go to physicians unless we are very ill. We do not go to the hospital unless severely injured.”

  Doc Halliday made a derisive noise and grimaced. Then she straightened and put on her bland, professional face. “Do I have your permission to proceed, My Laudae?”

  “Y . . . yes. If it will save Jake.”

  Doc Halliday chuckled. “The whole station knows you two are in love. That broadcast debate is the first clue I’ve had as to why you can’t admit it to each other. Glad I didn’t join the betting pool on the date of your first kiss, the time of your elopement, or the state of a baby’s caste mark. What are the current odds on the kiss?”

  “Eighteen to one for. Twenty-five to one on various days this week,” one of the nurses said. She checked her portable. “Odds just changed on when. Strong bets that it already happened.”

  Sissy blushed again. And again as she submitted to the humiliating probe. Mary and Martha held her hands tightly the whole time.

  “For the record, I’m doing a full gynecological exam, screening for cancers, diseases, and unnatural conditions. That’s something every woman needs done regularly. And you are clean and virginal, just as I thought. You can sit up now.” Doc Halliday withdrew slightly and stuck her hands back in the sanitizer to strip away the protective glove. “You ladies can go elsewhere. I need to talk to Laudae Sissy about some dirty politics.”

  “Whatever you have to say to our Laudae, we need to hear,” Mary said and Martha nodded agreement.

  Sissy nodded. She didn’t want to be alone. Doc Halliday’s face looked too grim and forbidding.

  “Nurses, I thank you for your help. You may go now. Take those tissue samples to the lab and run normal tests.”

  The two women bowed formally and departed with the sealed vials.

  “What is so important that you need privacy?” Sissy finally asked, in control once more, now that she had dressed in fresh clothes the girls had brought.

  “Another patient of Physician John’s called me for a consult. A patient who isn’t supposed to be on station.”

  Sissy nodded in acknowledgment. No sense in repeating names, in case there was more than one security camera in the area.

  “He demanded I artificially inseminate you with his child. Without your consent or knowledge.”

  Sissy sat back down hard. Her breath caught in her throat. She longed for her inhaler. But she hadn’t needed to carry one since coming aboard.

  Martha and Mary moved to stand on either side of her, each with a supporting hand on her shoulder. “He wouldn’t dare! And he’s accusing Jake of rape?” Mary gasped.

  “My thoughts exactly. I refused. This is something I would not do without your consent. I could not do it without your cooperation. But I thought you should know. He asked that I manipulate the fertilized egg to make certain the Temple caste mark dominates.”

  “Send him back to Harmony. Today,” Sissy said. Her thoughts and voice hardened.

  “Spaceflight would kill him.”

  “So?”

  “Laudae,” Martha gasped.

  “Think, My Laudae,” Mary added. “Here, you know what he’s doing, who he’s talking to. We reprogrammed one of the hover cams to sit outside his door and feed directly to our desktop. If he survived the trip home, you’d have no way to counter him.”

  “If he didn’t survive, you’d have to deal with Laud Andrew. Can we be sure he’ll think for himself? Or will he continue Laud Gregor’s policies?” Martha said. “You don’t know him.”

  “Where I come from, we have an old saying.” Doc Halliday grinned, but it was a grim smile. “Keep your friends close, your enemies closer.”

  “Sun-tzu, an ancient philosopher. Most mistakenly think Machiavelli said it,” Sissy said. “I have read bits of Machiavelli’s writings. I found him fascinating and boring at the same time. Sun-tzu is more practical and mystical at the same time.”

  “What if Laud Andrew wants to discredit you at home so he can put his own puppet in your place?” Martha continued.

  “You girls are right,” Sissy said, feeling deflated. Now what? How did she fight rumor and innuendo?

  She could go home. Not that Harmony felt like home anymore.

  Penelope had felt that Sissy belonged to more than just Harmony. She belonged to the universe and was the only one who could keep Harmony connected to all the energies of life.

  “I have a job to do here. Harmony must continue the alliance with the CSS in order to survive,” she murmured.

  If she went home, she’d have to leave Jake.

  If she went home, she’d never complete her bond with the Goddess of the new planet. Sanctuary.

  “General Devlin, perhaps you should step down as commander of the FCC until this cloud of disgrace passes,” Mac offered. His hearts glowed with possibilities.

  “That might not be a bad idea,” Major Roderick confirmed. His eyes narrowed with ambition. His need to gain power made him vulnerable and blind to manipulation. A poor candidate to run the FCC.

  Mac didn’t need to study him closely to understand him. Humans were so easy to read, with formfitting clo
thing and tight skin, no exoskeleton. They had no way of hiding their emotions. Except maybe Admiral Pamela Marella. That made her too dangerous to manage the balancing act of keeping the FCC running.

  “The FCC needs to remain neutral.” Mac took back control of the conversation. “Neither CSS nor Harmony should run it.”

  “Assuming the station remains intact long enough to become a viable presence of trade and diplomacy. You, on the other hand, are loyal to no one but yourself,” Jake finished for him, with a sneer.

  “I can use the spectacles to full advantage. You can’t.” Mac bowed his head in acknowledgment, careful to fold his ears behind him. Humans liked looking a person in the eye when talking. They said that the eyes were windows to the soul. Mac had six layers of eyelids. With the first two lowered, he effectively blocked access to his soul. If he had one.

  That was a point he’d never examined before. Perhaps Adrial and Laudae Sissy could enlighten him after he took possession of his station and had time to think beyond survival.

  “You know this station better than anyone,” Jake mused. “You could be an asset to me. To do more, you’d have to constantly and consistently interact with people. Develop relationships. Have any experience with that?”

  Mac swallowed around a sudden blockage in his throat. He hadn’t thought that far ahead. He needed to. And fast.

  Jake reached for a comm button. “Cortini, get Major Mara up here ASAP.”

  “I can go places no other species can. Except the Dwarves who built the machinery. They have small bodies, but they are inordinately strong for their size,” Mac continued. Maybe he needed a short apprenticeship in relationships before ousting General Jake.

  “And you have a talent for working the computer systems to your advantage,” Jake continued. “Perhaps the only one better than Mara.”

  “Yes.” Mac decided to acknowledge Mara as near his equal. He could work with her. They thought along similar pathways. That could be his apprenticeship. And being female, Mara could aid him in his courtship of Adrial.

  “Before I took over, you also effectively sabotaged every effort to expand trade and make this station profitable, to the point of endangering lives. I’d rather charge you with negligent homicide.” Jake threw his stylus onto the desk. “I’ll resign when the CSS moves to the new planet and not before. Major, take this being to a secure brig aboard the Victory, and keep him shackled with electronic locks so he can’t escape.”

  “Sir, may I suggest we make Mac an ally, a spy. He could help us a lot,” Mara said from the door. She flipped the spectacles about while holding one earpiece.

  Mac studied her face, amazed at how different she looked with the removal of the caste mark. His thoughts jerked to a halt.

  He’d fallen into the shortsighted human habit of looking at only one identifiable point and not the whole person. Now that he truly looked at Mara, in civilian gray blouse and trousers that looked almost like a uniform, with her cap of curls and bright eyes, she could be what the humans called cute.

  “Mac has already proved himself untrustworthy. Get him out of my sight. I have a meeting with the ambassadors.”

  With a shrug, Major Roderick grabbed Mac by the collar and marched him out of the office.

  Mara folded the spectacles and held them behind her back, well out of Mac’s reach.

  “What if I told you that Admiral Marella ordered the plant processors aboard the Squid ship. She’ll use them to synthesize a drug from one of the plants on the new planet. A truth serum or a hallucinogenic that will drive the enemy insane,” Mac shouted behind him. “Ask yourself if she has a motive to adjust the speed of the station and block contacts to find the Dwarves who can fix it.”

  “Stop,” Jake ordered.

  Major Roderick shuffled to a halt, still keeping his hands on Mac’s shirt.

  “Tell me more.”

  Mac looked at the major’s hand and the shackles.

  “Major Roderick, please inform the ambassadors that I will be a little late to their disciplinary hearing. Then take a crew in and recover all of the cargo on the Squid ship. Mara, look for any trace of these elusive Dwarves in any database you can hack into. You can work from here. Mac, you may sit, but the restraints stay until I know for sure you’re telling me the truth.”

  “But, sir,” Major Roderick protested.

  “No buts. I gave you an order. I’ll let you know if this conversation proves productive or leads to more dead ends.”

  “I will want the freedom of the station in return for this information,” Mac offered.

  “Will you wear a monitor so I can find you and talk to you at any time?”

  Mac suppressed his smile. “Compromise,” he told himself and General Jake. “If I have the spectacles, you can reach me through them and the implants they require.”

  “If Doc Halliday can pull the implants from Number Seven’s corpse, I think I can implant them in Mac,” Mara said hopefully. “I really want to work with Mac through the spectacles. I’ve started a preliminary design to adapt a similar unit to human limitations.”

  “You see, General Jake, compromise is better than war,” Mac said. He held up his arms, mutely requesting removal of the handcuffs.

  “I learned about compromise from Laudae Sissy. Now sit and talk.”

  “You know of course that many of the new crew imported by Admiral Marella are her spies . . .”

  CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR

  Gregor watched his radiant angel glide toward him. She smiled. The room seemed brighter. His heart beat stronger.

  Then cold sweat dotted his brow, and his hands shook.

  “I have just the thing for you, My Laud.” The familiar sting of a stimulant patch on the inside of his wrist, right over the big vein. The muted colors of the Medbay brightened, outlines more precise. And his angel, Adrial nearly sparkled in her white gown with her white hair and pale eyes.

  “What is all the fuss about in the corridors?” Gregor asked. He couldn’t take his eyes off the lovely woman. Tall and slim, her skin seemed translucent, and her pale hair caught the light in a glorious halo like moonlight on a clear night.

  “Laudae Sissy has returned. The physicians are making certain she fares well. It seems she had an allergic reaction to something on the new planet. They are talking about the best way to replace the charcoal filters in her lungs.” Adrial flitted about the room, touching this, shifting that. Never idle. Her emotions shifted across her face as rapidly as her hands moved about every surface of the room.

  She flits like a bird, Gregor thought, entranced by the image of a little white fledgling testing its wings, moving from branch to branch, berry to seed patch.

  “Is Laudae Sissy all right?” Gregor sat up too quickly, making his head spin. “Nothing must happen to the HPs of all Harmony.” He had to choke out the words as his lungs labored and his blood pressure fought to find a balance.

  “Easy, My Laud. She fairs well. Harmony is not in jeopardy. Yet.” She rested her hand lightly on his shoulder. An elegant, long-fingered hand that contained the power of restoring peace and well-being. Another stimulant patch hit the large vein in his neck.

  “These are special combinations of drugs your physicians have never heard of.” She caressed the patch, driving the medications deeper into his system. “They will make you stronger than the new heart they clone for you will.”

  For the first time in many years true desire coursed through his veins. So lovely. His angel was so lovely and ethereal, a lot like he’d envisioned his Goddess.

  He cherished the warmth that radiated throughout his body from every place she touched him.

  “If you assure me that Sissy fares well, then I can rest easy.” He lay back heavily against his mound of pillows.

  “Then come. It is time for you to begin walking about and regaining your strength. Soon you must either go home or travel to the new planet. Harmony needs you to ground yourself, otherwise She is set adrift. As this station is adrift.”

 
“The station is firmly anchored in orbit,” Gregor countered. “And Harmony is Harmony. She existed before time began. The presence or absence of one or two humans will not alter that.” He smiled at her as she helped him off the bed.

  His knees wobbled, reminding him that exploring his desire for Adrial was out of the question. She grabbed him about the waist until he steadied, and his joy soared. “What if I falter too far from the bed?”

  “I have more drugs to get you back. Rebuilding your strength is most important. Harmony needs Her avatars to communicate with humans, to anchor Her in our lives. Only then will your home world cease its rebellion. I will let nothing happen to you until we find Harmony again.”

  “Interesting you should say that. Laudae Sissy’s acolyte, the one who perished in a fire, said with her dying breath that Harmony can only be restored out here among the stars.”

  “Then I think we need to take you to the new planet. She must have meant for us to find that place.”

  “Empty!” Jake exploded into his comm on the private frequency. “How can the Squid ship be empty? That wing is sealed.”

  “That’s what we thought,” Major Roderick replied. His voice came through distorted with a lot of background static. “Someone has been in here and removed the entire cargo from the Squid ship. Taken the bodies, too. All we’ve got is a useless hulk half in and half out of our hull. The ice seal has been covered over with construction epoxy. It’s permanent now.”

  Jake looked suspiciously at Mac. He’d removed the shackles in return for information on Adrial’s movements into and out of Laud Gregor’s suite. Now he considered putting them back.

  “You know anything about this, Mac?” he asked, trying desperately to hang onto his temper. What he really wanted to do was slide his Badger Metal dagger between someone’s ribs.

  “Admiral Marella and I left the ship intact when she autopsied the bodies. I looked to make sure. We placed the Squids inside the forward cockpit. The admiral’s team added the additional epoxy. I never saw their faces. I saved a record of it and sent a copy to Doc Halliday. You must look to who ordered the cargo for more answers than that,” Mac said quietly. He rubbed the monitor affixed to the wrist of his secondary arm as if it chafed. It shouldn’t. The molecular bond gluing it to the skin had proved completely unnoticeable and undetectable to humans.