Evan reaches us first. “I think it’s best if you leave,” he tells Cal evenly. I spot Dr. Zousa as she goes to comfort her daughter: Eve is inconsolable. I take one look at Cal’s face and know that I have to get him out of here before he causes any more damage. The look of naked aggression on his face is terrifying, his anger seems to have erupted from nowhere. I treat him gently, as if I would an injured child or wounded animal.
“Come on Cal, let’s go home,” I say softly as I take hold of his arm. He doesn’t budge or register any acknowledgement.
“Cal, I’m really tired, can we please go home,” Lily says, suddenly materializing beside me. He turns his head to look at her and gradually I see him return to normal.
“Evan, I’m so sorry. Please let me apologize to Ada and Eve,” Cal says contritely.
“Please just go,” Evan says firmly.
“Lily, Deacon, can you both go outside with Cal, I’ll follow in a minute.”
“Sure, come on Cal,” Lily says as she takes hold of his hand. He looks at me with a troubled expression.
“Go, I will be right behind you,” I tell him as he allows Lily to lead him out. I walk towards Ada first, he is seated at one of the tables directly in front of the dancefloor, a pretty brunette is holding an icepack to his jaw.
“Ada, I’m so sorry, I don’t know what got into him, are you seriously hurt?”
“I don’t think so, it’s probably just bruised. Don’t worry Ariana, I’m fine,” he tells me.
“OK, sorry,” I say as I walk over towards the stage where Eve is standing with Evan and her parents.
“Eve, I’m so sorry.”
“It’s hardly your fault,” she says tearily, before adding, “but please just make him leave.” I nod my head and make a quick exit. As I walk from the room, I notice the disapproving stares of several guests.
Lily, Deacon and Cal are sitting on a steel bench as I step outside. They’re not talking but Lily is holding Cal’s hand as she shoots worrying glances in his direction. “Come on, let’s go,” I say as I approach them. Cal is clearly embarrassed and starts to utter an apology, but I stop him before he speaks. “Not now,” I say calmly. I don’t want to discuss this in front of my brother and sister. Back home Lily and Deacon say goodnight and make a hasty retreat towards their own bedrooms.
“Cal, I don’t understand, what happened?” I ask him calmly even though I’m really disgusted at his behavior.
“I don’t know, I’m so sorry. Ada didn’t do anything in particular to provoke me, I just got mad and reacted without thinking. I’ve upset Evan and Eve and let you down, can you ever forgive me?” he says.
“You really scared me,” I say quietly. “The look in your eyes, it was wild and out of control,” I admit.
“What can I do to make it up to you?” he pleads.
“Just don’t do anything like that again.”
“I won’t, I promise.” He looks so despondent that I can’t stay mad at him anymore. I walk towards him and gently pull him to me, his arms go around me timidly.
“Let’s just agree to put this behind us. I’m tired now, let’s go to sleep,” I say.
I wake the next morning from a dream-free sleep. I refuse to feel any fear though, I know that Zane is in Novo and in safe hands, it’s only a matter of time before we’ll come face to face. Cal greets me with a light kiss in the kitchen. Neither one of us mentions the incident at Eve’s wedding and I push my concerns over his recent behavior aside—it’s not as if I’m a model of perfection myself.
Today is our first day back in the Academy and I’m looking forward to the normality of it. The trip to the Velo station is arduous though, every second person stops to congratulate us and we can’t be anything but gracious. The rest of the day passes by uneventfully, much to my gratification.
Lily is catching a movie with her friends and won’t be home for dinner; Deacon is having a sleepover at his friend Jared’s house. Cal and I decide to go for a run before eating and I feel a lot of the tension leaching out of my shoulders as we make our way around the track.
***
I take a bath while Cal gets to work on dinner. I’m floating under a sea of bubbles when I hear his knock on the door. “Can I come in?” I check that I’m adequately concealed before assenting. He’s carrying a glass of wine in his hand.
“Here, I thought you might like this,” he says as he hands it to me. I don’t think I should start a regular habit of drinking in the evenings, but I’ve come to acquire a taste for wine after all the events of the ‘Amor Regale’. I don’t think there’s much harm in the odd glass, so I take it appreciatively.
I feel a surge of electricity as my fingers brush his. He lingers in the room and the smouldering look in his eyes is obvious in the extreme; I feel an insane desire to pull him in here with me, clothes and all. Instead, I say, “I think I smell something burning.”
“You do, it’s me,” he says pointedly, before leaving the room to go check on the dinner.
***
Cal guides me to the formal dining table, which we hardly ever use. Rose petals are strewn across the tabletop, innumerable lit candles flicker softly in the room and my favorite song is playing in the background. The ambiance is decidedly romantic. He pulls out my chair and orders me to sit as he serves up dinner. I know this is his way of apologizing and I’m seriously impressed. I don’t think I could feel any more loved up than I do at this precise moment. All of my earlier concerns are forgotten as I pull him up off his seat, and cling to him tightly as we sway to the music. I sense his need for me and it mirrors mine exactly. I don’t hold back when he kisses me passionately and I don’t care if it’s illicit, I can’t fight the urges anymore.
A sudden pounding on the door startles me. Cal strides in extreme annoyance towards the door; he pulls it open with such force that I fear it may come off it’s hinges. It’s President Calavero.
Cal manages to rein in his anger and he greets the president cordially before inviting him in. I shake the president’s hand formally. He glances at the table and it’s clear that this intrusion is interrupting our night, yet he makes no apologies. “Can I get you anything?” I ask.
“That won’t be necessary, but thank you,” he replies. “I’ll get straight to the point. Cal: your friend is in trouble and he needs some prudent advice. Would you see if you can talk some sense into him?” he asks. Cal bristles at his words, this isn’t the first time the authorities have deemed it necessary to bring Ben to his senses. I can relate to Cal’s feeling of indignation. I see him physically trying to control his anger.
“What exact advice do you wish me to give?” he asks through gritted teeth.
“That’s largely up to you but ... I know you’ve seen how frivolous it is to resist the inevitable. Perhaps you could share some of that knowledge with him.” Cal pauses again.
“Just so I’m clear, you want me to advise him to tell you everything he knows about the rebel plans, is that correct?” he asks.
“Yes.”
“Why don’t you just give him the truth serum?”
“We have, to no avail,” he says.
Cal looks bewildered as he asks, “How is that even possible?”
“We have reason to believe the rebels have created a serum which combats the effectiveness of our truth serum,” the president responds as he looks at me coolly. He suspects I wasn’t telling the truth! I try to fight the growing sense of panic building inside me.
“Calm down Ari, just stare him straight in the eye and hold contact,” I hear Zane coach me in my head. It’s good advice so I follow his instructions and innocently eyeball the president. He breaks eye contact first.
“I’ll agree to speak with Ben, but I can’t be held accountable for any decision he makes,” Cal says.
“Fair enough but try your best, your friend’s fate depends on it. I’ll send a vehicle to collect you tomorrow morning. Goodnight to you both,” he says. Cal moves to escort him to the door. I hear some hush
ed exchange between them and my interest is piqued.
“What did he say?” I ask Cal as soon as he comes back into the room.
“He reminded me that the no intimacy rule is still intact until we’re married,” he seethes.
Again, I don’t see it coming. He turns around, picks up the coffee table and throws it violently across the room. It smashes into the back wall and sends shards of glass and mirror flying all over the place. I’m so frightened, I don’t know what to do or if I should do anything at all.
“I tried to warn you Ari,” Zane says in my head.
“Shut up! That’s not helpful,” I say.
“What?” Cal asks. Dammit! I didn’t think I said that out loud.
“I wasn’t talking to you,” I say meekly and I’m afraid to look up at him. He immediately cops on.
“What did Zane say?” I’m afraid to tell the truth—scared of his reaction—but he always knows when I’m lying so I have no choice.
“He’s worried about me,” I say and I risk a glance in his direction. He still looks mad, but his expression is not as feral as before.
“Because of me?” A look of shame replaces his angry expression.
“He doesn’t know you like I do.” I stand up and open my arms, he doesn’t hesitate to accept the embrace. I lean my head on his shoulder and try to put myself in his shoes. Cal’s also had a lot to deal with over the last few weeks, I should cut him some slack.
“Ariana, I’m sorry if I frightened you. I just feel so ... inept, so useless,” he says in genuine apology.
“Your temper is really starting to scare me Cal,” I say honestly.
“I’ll try to exercise more self-control, I don’t want to upset you. I’m sorry about the table,” he says remorsefully.
“No worries, I had only just replaced it so I’m sure they have another one in stock. Let’s clean up the mess before Lily gets home,” I say sensibly. We’re on our hands and knees tidying up the remnants of the table when we hear another knock on the door.
“What now?” he asks in exasperation; I get up and go with him this time.
I recognize the man and woman standing at our front door although I’ve personally never met either one of them: I’ve only ever seen them in my dreams. “Come in,” I say as I step aside to grant them entry. Cal looks enquiringly at me. The woman shuts the door and shields the man with her back as he places a large duffle bag on the ground. Cal starts to speak but the woman motions for him to stay quiet. I hear a faint click and the man nods to the woman; she then speaks for the first time.
“Ariana, it’s great to finally meet you. Zane has told me so much about you. I’m Raina, I work with Clementia on Earth. This is my colleague, Senior Agent Dale,” she says looking only at me.
“What’s Clementia?” Cal asks.
“Clementia is the underground organization focused on achieving the preservation of humanity and liberation for all,” she says.
“The resistance movement?” Cal asks.
“Yes,” she responds directly to me. Why won’t she address Cal?
“Raina, Senior Agent Dale, this is my fiancé Cal,” I say by way of introduction. They both share a knowing look.
“Agent Dale will suffice,” he tells me gruffly.
“What’s your problem with me exactly?” Cal asks in a cutting tone. I put my hand on his arm cautioning him to stand down.
“Could we talk to you alone?” Raina asks me. Cal opens his mouth to respond, but I pinch his arm to silence him.
“Absolutely not. Cal and I are a team, he needs to hear what you have to say,” I reply loyally. Raina does something unexpected next—she raises her hand and moves to place it on Cal’s forehead. He instinctively moves back and I automatically move my body in front of his to protect him.
“I assure you I mean him no harm,” she says and it’s only afterwards that I realize she’s said this to me, in my head. I sense she’s telling the truth so I move to the side and let her proceed. She places her hand firmly on Cal’s forehead and closes her eyes. Cal is good with weird so he stands still and silent, not fazed now at all. After a short while, she opens her eyes and says, “He’s good.” Cal and I look at each other and I shrug my shoulders.
“Should we go somewhere private to talk?” Cal asks, and I know the place he has in mind.
“We can talk privately here Cadet Remus, I’ve inserted a trickchip in the wall. We retrieved the recordings from this house when we hacked into the Novo servers. Our technicians have manipulated this data and the chip overrides all the visual and audio feeds in the house with this pre-recorded data. Anything you say or do is no longer being recorded or streamed to the authorities. It’s safe to talk here,” Agent Dale says and I know the detail in his response is for our benefit.
“The blackout in Illumina—that was when you hacked into the servers?” I ask as it slowly starts to come together.
“Yes Cadet Skyee, we extracted more data than we had initially hoped for. Of course, the authorities now know what we can do and their firewalls have been rebuilt to a higher security specification. Achieving the same result again will take more time,” he says.
“Where is Zane? Why didn’t he come with you?” I ask.
“It’s far too dangerous for Zane to go about in public. He’s working with our supporters from NSAF to try to hack into their mainframe,” Agent Dale replies.
“When will I get to see him?”
“As soon as it’s safe,” Raina replies. I’m about to pose another question when Cal gets in there first.
“That thing you did with my head, what’s that all about?”
“Do you know what a psychic is?” she asks him.
“Someone who has visions?” Cal says, a little unsurely.
“In part yes. Technically the term means a person who is capable of extraordinary mental processes, such as extrasensory perception and mental telepathy. In layman’s terms what it means is that I have the ability to fully communicate with other psychics through my mind and I can tell any person’s thoughts and feelings if I have physical contact with them,” she says.
“Ariana is a psychic, isn’t she? That’s why she’s been able to see Zane in her dreams and receive messages from him?” Cal asks at the same time that I reach this conclusion.
“Yes. Zane said her gift was only coming to light before the move to Novo so it’s still largely untested, that’s the reason why I was assigned to this mission,” she says. “I’ll be working closely with you to tap into your inner potential and exploit it to maximum effect,” she says to me directly. She raises her hand to my forehead, but I don’t flinch. I feel a warm sensation where her hands meets mine and I feel a rush of thoughts jumble around my head, as if my thoughts are spinning around and around inside a washing machine. “You have a strong latent ability, we need to get to work soon. I’ll teach you how to silently communicate,” she says.
“So Zane is a psychic too? It must run strong in our family, I wonder if Lily or Deacon have any such talent?” I reflect aloud. I don’t miss the look that passes between Agent Dale and Raina.
“Yes, Zane has abilities too,” is all she says in response. I then remember the earlier question I’d been about to ask.
“You said it wasn’t safe for Zane to be seen, why? How is he any different to you or Agent Dale?” I enquire.
“The authorities are aware of who Zane is, and he’s too recognizable. We can’t risk his discovery—he’s far too valuable to the cause,” Agent Dale says and I can tell from the tone in his voice that he’s growing tired of our many questions.
“How do they know who he is?” Cal asks what I’ve been reluctant to.
“They had a comprehensive file on him; it seems Ariana mentioned Zane in her sleep and the doctor reported details. They also had photos of Commander Skyee with Zane on Earth,” he says—very matter of fact. I feel awful, as if I’ve violated the trust that Zane placed in me. Raina places her arm on mine.
“It’s not your f
ault, you didn’t know what you were dealing with,” she says, in an obvious attempt to make me feel better.
“Ariana, the data your father gave you—are you still protecting it?” Agent Dale asks.
“Yes.”
I can feel Cal’s penetrating stare burning a hole in the side of my head. I pretend I don’t notice; I don’t feel like arguing in front of our guests. The memory of his recent outburst is also still fresh in my mind, I’d prefer to wait until he’s more reasonable, when hopefully he’ll allow me explain.
“Good. Is anyone else aware of its location?” he asks as his eyes wander subconsciously to Cal. I shake my head. “Let’s keep it that way for the moment.”
“Sure,” I say but it will be when I decide the timing is right, I think. She makes only the slightest movement, but I’m subtly reminded of the fact that Raina can hear my thoughts. She doesn’t utter a word though and I think the two of us are going to be good friends.
“So what’s the plan?” Cal asks.
“This is a recon mission; we’re trying to capture as much intell as possible. We will also repatriate some of our sympathizers back to Earth. A core group, those currently undetected, will remain here to act as our eyes and ears on the ground,” Agent Dale replies.
“Where do we fit in?” Cal asks.
“There’s much you can do—we’ll share on a ‘need to know’ basis. You’re under constant observation, so the less you know the better. It’s mission critical to infiltrate the NSAF building and Zane is currently working on accessing their systems, to get a blueprint of their layout, but it’ll take a few days.”
“I’m going there tomorrow, the president wants me to talk to my friend Ben,” Cal says.
“Ben Winters,” Raina says to Agent Dale.
“You know him?” Cal asks in amazement.
“He’s been helping us. Your visit is timely,” Agent Dale says.
“What do you want me to do?” Cal enquires.
“I will insert a camscan in your nasal passage, it’ll record your entire visit. The information will be very beneficial in helping us identify the facility layout. I’ll set it to activate at oh-seven-hundred hours.”
True Calling Page 29
