Nebula Nights: Love Among The Stars

by Melisse Aires

  The doctor stuttered his response. “No, no miss… I’ll get it.” He left quickly to get the tools needed for a procedure.

  Greshna placed her hands on both sides of her brother’s face, and entered his mind telepathically only to find it in total disarray. Reassuringly she projected, ~Gardesh, I am here now. I will resolve this for you.~

  When she perceived a change in his emotions, she accepted that as a positive indication he understood. She pulled from her brother’s mind when the doctor returned with a tray carrying the tools required to repair her brother’s psionic damage. “Now old man, watch and learn.”

  Greshna and the doctor moved her brother into a proper position allowing Greshna access to Gardesh’s psionic lobe. Using the Torla, she worked to correct the problem by accessing specific locations of his brain, and adding explicit synaptic connections. After hours of this delicate work, Greshna checked her brother’s condition again. Confident there would be no further issue, she turned to the doctor to provide instructions. “Lower the Ter drip. Allow him to wake comfortably on his own. Prepare a food tray for him. I want the best fish and vegetables you can locate for him.”

  The doctor reluctantly decreased the drip that kept Gardesh in a comatose state. He collected the items from the procedure and left the room to find his patient dinner.

  Hours later Gardesh woke. When he did, he noticed his sister at the side of his bed. Groaning, he sat up as well as he could. “What… happened? Everything aches like I’ve been hit by a transport, hard.”

  “You were attacked brother.”

  “Ah, yes. Yatrell. Commander maybe? Lieutenant? Some strange Dentonian rank. I remember now.” He looked out the window at the tree that tapped on the pane of clear glass, and back to his sister. “I’m home? How long have I been out?”

  “When you fell unconscious from the attack, your beacon went off, and the ship in orbit retrieved you. They were ill-equipped for your injuries and transported you here, quickly. Evidently, this hospital was also ill-equipped. I’ve had to do the repair work myself. You were brought here a couple of weeks ago. You’ve been under sedation for at least a month.”

  Gardesh groaned angrily. “A month? That twisted Dentonian is going to pay for the lost time.”

  “Agreed brother, but not how you may think. I believe he’s one of our children. I met another who I verified is in fact, Green Eyes.” Greshna sat on a chair next to him. “But we can discuss that another time. You must rest. I sent the doctor after some fresh fish for your consumption.”

  Gardesh managed a slight smile. “Sounds like you’ve covered everything.”

  “Almost. I’ve yet to contact Lorii. Your mate has been here most days since your return but she’s not been today. Not that I mind. I’m certain the doctors have contacted her and informed her I’ve arrived. I will attend to that need when the doctor returns with your meal.”

  Gardesh rested on the pillows again and closed his eyes. He took several moments to move through and past the pain he was experiencing. Once he was in control of his own mind he projected to his sister. ~She is merely a distraction that I cannot afford right now. I would dismiss her if not for her willingness to comply with all requests. I will tend to that need later. Tell me what has become of our Green Eyes.~

  Smugly, Greshna projected to him. ~The experiment was a success with that one. She has multiple layers of psionic ability. By the time I left, she was empathic, projective telepathic and touch telepathic. I’m confident there will be more. The subliminal commands we gave our children do still work. She fell right in line, like one of our children. She resides on the Xenonian flag ship, and is respected by several around her, but feared by more.~

  ~Such is the behaviors of lesser species, sister. They cannot comprehend the sheer strength and focus it takes to control one ability, let alone many. She must come home, where she will be welcomed, studied, and tended to.~

  ~Agreed. She belongs to us. She will fight us until the command is used.~ Greshna looked at the doctor as he brought in a cart of food, including the fish she requested. “Good. Leave it and go.” The doctor exited without a word. She prepared a plate for her brother, and herself. Greshna then served Gardesh before sitting again to enjoy the meal. “We have a mission to complete.”

  ~Yes, Greshna, we do. Now, tell me sister, why do you think the churl who attacked me is also one of ours?~ While he ate, he watched her reactions carefully.

  As she ate she responded through projection. ~He is in regular touch with Green Eyes. That’s how I learned of your attack~

  ~Explain.~ Gardesh looked across the room and watched the pitcher of water pour two cups, and then he focused until the cups arrived in each of their hands.

  She accepted the cup of water from him. ~Green Eyes, recalled the attack as a nightmare initially, and then somehow realized she was linked to him. In my attempt to lower her telepathic self protection, she relived it several times. I watched her mind and realized the image of the Ven this man attacked was you.~ She looked at Gardesh and tilted her head. ~Did you actually kill him?~

  ~I can’t be sure. I was unable to complete the tolkel maneuver.~ He sipped his drink as they spoke, but Gardesh’s mind was hundreds of light years away.

  She projected in a matter of fact tone. ~By the oath, of blood we swore, we will find the Children of Promise. All of them. We will bring them home where they belong. In that action, our boy will learn manners for his caretakers.~

  Early the next morning, Greshna disconnected her brother from the machines and prepared him for transport. The doctors vehemently protested, but Greshna promised to visit each home personally to show her distaste for their hospital. Without further dispute they relented.

  The Turaant Society operated above traditional Ven legal confines. Everything they did, was done because they saw fit to do so, as long as it did not diminish the Ven Empire as a whole. The pain brought by a personal visit from the Turaant Society, especially a Red, extended beyond what imaginations could reach for. It was rarely what the common man or woman would appreciate. The memories left in their wake would leave families torn apart, and nightmares would haunt survivors.

  Greshna took her brother from the hospital to the Xenonian shuttle outside. She flew them to a nearby moon compound. They landed on a flat smooth metallic surface. The floor descended into the surface of the moon, once the full weight of the shuttle rested upon the surface. They stepped from the shuttle, and were greeted by a Kaninet servant.

  The large, canine like servant had aristocratic dark coloring to his head and neck, and a softer shade of the same color along his body. His eyes were inset slightly, and clearly brown in color. Greshna took note of his height, believing he was easily taller than she and her brother together. The servant bowed deeply to his masters as they stepped from the shuttle. The three walked the length of the shuttle twice over to move into the compound. The Kaninet servant kept a watchful eye over Gardesh as they walked.

  Gardesh, Greshna, and their caninoid servant entered into the compound through large heavy metal doors. A second set of doors welcomed them inside, once the computer had confirmed their identities.

  The room entered was easily the size of the entire hospital they left on Volashun. The vast room had screens built into every wall, seemingly watching every aspect of the Ven daily life. In the center of the room was a circular floor marking. When the trio stood upon it, it raised to the next floor.

  Stepping from the open lift, they walked through the equally vast room into a hallway. At the fourth door down the hallway Greshna entered a security code and a blood sample to get the first level of clearance. Gardesh did the same and the door opened. Inside was a room of rooms. A large central computer console was positioned in the middle. Many varied active experiments were being preformed or monitored in each of the rooms on the sides. All of them were being tended to by Kaninet servants.

  Greshna turned to the Kaninet that had been walking with them. The markings identified his clan orig
in, and she was impressed by his loyalty to her family. “Tend to him. He requires a psionic hood to assist until his lobe has fully recovered. I’ll meet you both in the center of the room shortly. I have a stop to make.“

  Silently, the lumbering Kaninet nodded to his female master, and then turned to Gardesh. The pair entered a treatment room, just off their control center.

  Confident her brother was in good hands, Greshna walked down toward the experiment chambers. Most were laboratories with various subjects being put through a variety of tests. The laboratories had large open windows that she could look in and observe without interacting. As she continued to walk she came upon one large room. Inside it was lavishly decorated to resemble a luxurious Dentonian home. Within it were separate rooms and facilities. Everything provided was hand selected to be the best available. The room or flat was exposed by a transparent metal wall for observation reasons.

  As she neared the door to the room, a Dentonian man of average height approached the door from within. His sandy blonde hair and soft green eyes greeted her, when he opened the door. “It has been a while, Greshna. Come join me for a drink.” He stepped from her way as she entered. “What brings you to call upon me again?”

  She looked up at the taller man as she stepped passed him. “You’re the seer. I’m just visiting.” Although he had filled into his frame well, this Dentonian man was still very slender and young in appearance. He appeared much younger than his thirty or more years.

  “Ah yes, your temerarious experiment. Come, come.” He gestured to the dining table. When she sat, he entered the kitchen briefly. Quickly, he prepared a hard tea for her and a warm soothing one for himself. He presented the tea and then sat opposite of her at the table. “Now, what brings the great Greshna to see poor little Slarc? Hum?” He almost smiled as he spoke before drinking his tea.

  “You amuse me seer.” She sniffed the drink and then hesitantly sipped the smallest amount possible.

  “Ah, the ritual. Yes, yes, you normally provide me with the means to poison my captors. This is why you check for it, is it not?” Slarc leaned back in the chair, thoroughly amused by her ritualistic habits. Each time she visited, she tested everything. Each time she spoke up, she feigned it was without cause, but the reason always surfaced soon after.

  “Humm….” Greshna watched the Dentonian seer trying to ascertain why she was yet unable to read his thoughts and emotions. Eventually she took a long sip of her drink and tilted her head slightly toward him. “You still consider us your captors? You have lived many years with us my dear, Seer.”

  He laughed. “Yes yes. You still see me as the seer instead of a man.”

  Greshna feign hurt. “I’m injured seer. You are more like a child to us. Older than most we took in but none the less you were our child. You are still a child who displayed great promise, and has been loved and tended to ever since.” She smiled coyly and sipped her drink again. “Do you remember the younger children? The ones that were ripped from us?”

  Slarc nodded. “Yes, of course, your precious children. I was much too old to be one of them. I do recall. I also recall being pulled from our room and hidden inside a wall. I recall the precious ones were to come and never did.”

  “Indeed they were to join you but we were unable to move fast enough to help them as well. I’m pleased we protected you.” Greshna studied him. Even as this man was raised among their educators, he seemed to know more and more about the world beyond with each conversation. Perhaps it was because they brought him into the fold older than most of the children, but she knew letting him go would have been a problem. What she didn’t know was having him here would have become as equally important. His unique ability to see spurts of the future proved to be helpful many times over the years.

  “Protect? Is that what you call this?” He opened his arms wide, and gestured to the decorated room with the observation window for a wall. “Of course. I had other words to describe it. Forgive my previous thoughts.”

  “Seer, have you seen the return of the children?”

  “Ah and to the point we go. Yes, Greshna, I’ve seen the return of your Children of Promise.” He sipped on his tea. “You will find some, and then they will find you.”

  She arched an eyebrow and placed the drink on the table. ”I’ve found two. You say I’ll find others? Then they will return on their own?”

  Slarc smiled. “Yes. They will certainly return on their own.”

  “This I am pleased to hear.”

  “Perhaps you are Greshna, however I am uncertain that will remain when they do return. Much will happen. Some changes will be forced and life will go forward quite differently for the Children of Promise. All of them, my dear Greshna.” Slarc finished his tea with one sip. “Oh, and action will be taken and changes among the Ven will be forced simply because your precious children return.”

  Her mood changed. “I’ll have to prepare.” She left the drink on the table, half empty. She moved swiftly out of the room and down the hall to find her brother.

  Slarc called after her. “What? No good bye? Not staying to finish the drink?” He laughed to himself as he secured his door and then cleaned his dishes.

  As she entered the main room again, she projected to her brother. ~Gardesh we have much to do. Our children will come home.~

  ~I will meet you there in a moment.~ Gardesh projected as he moved toward the center of the research room.

  When Greshna entered the research room again, she walked directly to the large round console and activated the holo screen above it. She pulled up the experiment information related to ‘The Children of Promise’ twenty years earlier. As the data stream started to scroll across the projections hovering before her eyes, she paused it at the images of the children. “Computer, display all of the children who were strong enough to survive the experiment.” The screen scrolls through eight children from various species. Two Dentonian boys, one Xenonian girl, one Xentue male, one Goshen genderless, one Kaninet, an Avial boy, and Ketaran girl all scroll by as images and data.

  “Computer, display all the Xenonian children involved in the experiment.” The images shifted to include two more female infants, and another young Tellurian boy child. “Computer, eliminate the image of the boy children. Highlight the girls, their eye color, and provide me a complete goal history for each subject.”

  Gardesh approached the center console in silence. He stood attentively watching the screen shift at his sister’s command. Gardesh studied the information as fast as it came across. “Green Eyes. House Unknown. Humm… not a bad thing for us. DNA adjustments were extensive with this one. Some of the code was rewritten entirely. If they all took as they should have, she should be psionic.”

  “Yes, well, that remains to be seen.” Greshna loaded a data chip. “She is unique regardless. She is a child with great promise, even now. She was birthed by us. As such, that makes her roughly twenty one years. This is positive for us, as she is still young and malleable enough to be taught the Ven life.” Greshna’s voice was all business. She lifted an eyebrow and looked at the picture of the other Xenonian girl. “Too bad that one didn’t survive. She had some promise too. We retrieved significant data from her in the two years she assisted us.”

  “Does Green Eyes have any deformities?” Gardesh reviewed the new data on a small scrolling screen.

  “None that were visible. We’ll be able to do a full inspection when we have her home.” Greshna placed her hands into the holo stream to adjust focus of the images on specific photos of the child they called Green Eyes.

  Gardesh shrugged off the statement. “Computer pull up all relevant images of the Dentonian male subjects related to this project.” The computer shifted images. It rapidly scrolled through the data until it brought up the Dentonian males. One set of images started in infancy and scrolled through until roughly four or five years. A second set started in infancy and scrolled through until some point in early toddlerhood, and the a last had only two images of an i
nfant.

  Gardesh scowled at the two images. “I am uncertain that one is connected to this experiment.” He adjusted his research. “They are a very weak species. This is evident by the fact only two survived basic DNA manipulation.” He focused in on the two known survivors of the experiment, the older child and the infant. “Computer of the known survivors, provide age progression images to date.” The computer worked for several moments as it swiftly adjusted the pictures at hand many times. It chimed when it completed. Among the projections were two photos of the anticipated appearance of the boys at least twenty years later.

  Gardesh and Greshna stared at one of the images for a long period. In unison they responded. “He is our child of promise.”

  “There were three that responded easily to our training. The others were less malleable, both in training and genetics. We know two now. We need to focus on them and find the third.” Gardesh spoke as if they were merely objects.

  A devious grin crossed Greshna’s face. “We will retrieve our children, Gardesh.” She gestured to the images on the holo projection. “This one will find the discipline the Dentonians obviously failed to instill in him.”

  Chapter 8

  The first place Private First Class Maddux went when he was released from the medical detainment was Private Kala’s shared quarters. They made several attempts to speak during her regular medic training rotation in the medbay, but each time felt shorter than the previous. It wasn’t enough to him. Every conversation left him hoping to talk to her more, and he finally had the opportunity to do so. When he stood outside her door, he listened to his greater heart throb in his ears. His hand trembled when he rang the chime. The door was answered by Private Tol, an empathic engineer who was also assigned to these living quarters. Private Tol stood about a head taller than PFC Maddux. He was out of uniform, and his dark hair was ruffled. Maddux looked up at the man when he spoke. “Ahm I’m… Is Kala available?”