by Selina Brown
“Turned into a snob?”
“That’s very polite of you.” Ara beckoned the laughing girl over. “I refrained for some time, but Meg was hands off. You saw her.” Ara was suddenly worried. “I didn’t interfere did I?”
Sacha put her hands up. “No. We were worried how “hands off” Meg was. It’s odd because Meg and Caleb seem to have no interest in each other, and Meg seems almost surprised at having had a baby.” Sacha plucked a grape and sighed. “No, I think Tara needed you, needs you.” Sacha smiled as Tara sat down and handed back the wand.
“Thank you.”
“You are welcome.”
Ara smiled at her, patting the blanket.
“After lunch, Aunty Ara, may I play Mystery Minimobi?”
Sacha frowned and looked at Ara who said, “It’s playing the Mobile Unit, pint sized. We go around and collect ‘matter’.”
“Oh, I see.”
“Do you?” Ara leaned back with a sigh. “Meg thought it would be good for Tara to know I am just the Mobile Unit.”
Sacha swore and big, blue eyes turned to her. She blushed. “I’m sorry, Tara.”
Tara resumed eating her sandwich but her eyes were huge. She was distracted by a large bee droning close to her foot. “Aunty Ara, are you going to catch bees soon?”
Ara smiled. “I’m helping the beekeeper to lay some honey traps and see what bees come. We won’t actually catch them. We just need to record how many and what species comes to visit.”
Tara nodded wisely.
Sacha smiled over Tara’s head and then she asked, “I thought bees were attracted to different kinds of honey?”
Ara shrugged. “I don’t actually know anything about bees. I haven’t had any bee training yet but there’s something in the honey traps that will draw a range of bees.”
Sacha studied her for a moment.
Ara saw her concern. “What is it?”
Sacha glanced down at Tara who seemed more interested in eating and watching the horses. “I just had a thought as to why you are on Saratoga.”
Ara’s interest piqued. “Go on.”
“Honey trap. Ur, maybe some king bees were here before the queen bee came to sort things out. Maybe then a special working bee was allocated to a central hive and has to live in that same hive day in and day out. Meanwhile the great big queen bee tracks every bee that comes and goes because … ah … they are worried about what the special working bee is doing and what its purpose is.”
Ara’s mouth dropped open. Korbet to this day called her “Honeybee”. Queen Silvia had moved to Saratoga several years before her arrival. Memories tickled her conscious mind, but she couldn’t recall them all. But Korbet must be in on the greater issue. Did he know why she was on Saratoga? What had gone on here?
“Aunty Sacha, I don’t think there are king bees.”
Ara tried not to laugh. “There are, on Tatsela.”
A. We should have talked like this
S. We don’t do a lot of this!
They smiled fondly at each other.
Sacha then laughed at Ara. ‘Tatsela? Where’s that?”
Ara scrunched up her forehead as she tried to recall where she had gotten that information. In the end, she shrugged. “Maybe some fairy tale I used to read. Anyway, Sacha, that’s a good thought. I’m not sure what to do with that information.”
“I’ll look after it, sis. This might be a breakthrough but if the big queen bee decides to block this line of inquiry there’s not much we can do.”
Ara sighed but agreed. Maya could be a real bitch.
***
Over the years, Tara came to her more and more.
Not just for the fun things, but for her worries and fears. Ara knew she was only a temporary mum, but that, like many things, would prove wrong. An attachment grew between them, forged over the years, proven over and over that love knew no boundaries. Tara and Caleb were inseparable when he wasn’t working or she was at school. And when Caleb wasn’t there, Ara was. Tara tried to get the three of them to go out as a “family” but it was a little awkward especially since they were well known on Saratoga.
Two years after deciding not to join the military, Tara came out of a class moaning. Ara picked her up, and arranged to take her skiing over the weekend. As they drove up the mountains to the resort, Tara moaned.
“What’s up?”
“The Adonis.”
Ara glanced at her but turned back to the road. “Karu?”
“He was in class today, the room was jam packed with three hundred students, mostly female—”
Ara chuckled.
“—hanging on his every word. What’s wrong with them? He was talking about the Nature of Conflict, and how the Avatara are trying to settle their disputes. He talked about the wrongs being done to Earth, and the females are drooling!”
“Maybe they were listening too.”
“Sure, Aunty. As we filed out, which seemed to take a long time, all they talked about was, ‘I’m picking him for my Virgo,’ ‘He’s so handsome,’ ‘He makes me want to come.’”
Ara took a second to process the last one, and burst out laughing.
“It’s not funny,” Tara snapped.
“Didn’t he have equal amounts of male admirers?” Ara teased her a little more.
“Not many and who cares?” Her voice was petulant.
Ara tempered her response. “Was Balin there?”
“Yeah, he delivered the Nature of Conflict talk. It was really, really interesting but most of the gazes were off to the left where Karu was sitting. Why?”
“He reminds me of someone that’s all.” Ara hadn’t seen Trickster for some time and was worried. “What’s really bugging you?”
Tara was fidgeting in her seat. “Karu asked to see me after.”
“Ah.”
“And now”—her voice was whiny—“I have three hundred new best friends.”
“Just think, more tea parties for Meg.”
Tara screamed quietly. “I just want to forget about it.”
They reached the snow resort and struggled to find a car park. Ara said, “Busy.”
“Oh no!”
“What?” Ara looked around, trying to see what was wrong.
“They’re here.”
“Who? Karu and Balin?” But then Ara saw.
“No, the girlfriends and boyfriends. They are waving.”
“Don’t worry; I booked a cabin right at the top of the mountain.”
Mountain Resort
Tara slunk in her seat. “Just get the key and can we go please?”
Ara parked right at the end, at the back, and walked to the main resort reception. She booked in and accepted the key.
“All the food has been stocked, Lady Katron. We have the usual for you, plenty of wood, and skis and snow equipment are up in the room already.”
“Thank you.”
Ara left, happy at the chance to get away for a few days.
There were no gatherings inside so the girl and boy friends weren’t interested in Ara at all. As she neared the car, she sighed. Poor Tara. The girls and boys were hanging around the car. Ara had to squeeze by several, smiling and nodding to their mindless comments, and just managed to slide into the front seat. She backed up carefully, and Tara waved and smiled inanely. “I am not leaving the cabin.”
For the first day, Tara lounged in front of the fire reading.
It suited Ara who was tired. They had rebuilt the rhino breeding grounds and it was now nine square kilometrons, with easy access to the main grounds. Sacha had no success with the whole bee thing, but Marc contacted her and said they were on the right track. At least he sounded excited because he was still mapping HaV and he was working again to track those interested in Saratoga. Ersen was coordinating with Queen Silvia to find out anything he could there.
She and Tara ate when they wanted, and wore PJs most of the first day and night. The second day they went skiing, and then tobogganing. The security guards must h
ave kept the mobs away because when Ara snuck back down to pick up some hot chips, there were only a few girls and one boy left who tried to engage her in conversation. Amazingly, every topic morphed into something about Karu. “Has Karu seen your Seeker?” “Does Karu visit the wildlife park?” Ara said, “Yes,” to that one. They wanted more patronage and volunteers.
“Actually, Karu volunteers occasionally.”
They all stopped talking and, as one, surrounded her.
“I’ve always wanted to volunteer,” said one girl.
“I’m studying animals at the moment,” another said airily.
At least she’d be able to tell animals from plants. That was a plus. Ara would have felt that unkind of her except the girl was twirling her hair, and had that vacant look she associated with an unused brain.
Ara waved a piece of paper when she got back with hot chips and fish. Tara spread the food out on the floor, and Ara poured them wine after letting the paper fall to the floor.
“What’s that?”
“Volunteers for the wildlife park.”
Tara squealed with laughter as Ara told her why she’d been held up.
“The problem now,” she mused, “is getting Karu to volunteer.” Ara also wondered why she considered most of them as kids, they were all over sixty.
“Well, he’s a fan of yours I think, so just ask. Can you imagine it? The Adonis mucking out with my Aunty? That’s so awesome.”
Bitter Sweet
As Ara chuckled over her new volunteers, she sent a message to Karu introducing herself. She was sure Dad knew him and he messaged her back with contact details. She heard Tara yell out, “Goodnight!” and stood outside in the cool looking out over the dark, snowy mountains. Ara loved winter on Saratoga; she really didn’t resent her stay there. She planned to go ice climbing the following day and Caleb was to join them. They were going to teach Tara how.
Her Voice beeped and she read the reply: “Dearest Ara, it would be my pleasure to meet you. I’m sure Tara Delario passed on my expression of interest. When you return from holidays please contact Balin and he will make a time for us to have dinner. Karu.”
Funny how he didn’t actually comment on the volunteering at all, they were going to dinner, and “expression of interest”—what the hell was that about? What she didn’t need in her life was the Adonis. That night she dreamed and there was a strange tugging sensation, as if she was being pulled in two different directions. One direction was danger, so she followed a familiar presence. Opening her eyes, she smiled. “Feathers.”
Aryan Dream – Tuan
“Ara Katron. Welcome.” His unsmiling face was a welcome sight, while his words warmed her. “I called you.”
“I heard. There was another presence again. More persistent this time.”
He nodded and his black braid fell over his bare shoulder. He wore only a loin cloth, and it was warm again. Ara sat up, once again on the pallet in his hut.
“Where are your people?”
“Around. I like solitude.”
“Do you?” Ara thought it might drive her batty. She watched him in the dim light. “Is it a new day or new night?”
“Night approaches.” He went to the long box, and pulled out the Strike. “I want you to hold this and try to connect to it.”
She accepted it, and held it up seeing the energy sparks inside. “Why?”
“The Mobile Unit may one day need Chaos.”
Ara peered at him over the sac. “For?”
He shrugged.
“So,” she said with a drawl, “I have enemies and I might need Chaos? I don’t even know what the Mobile Unit is supposed to do.”
“Collect data on matter levels.”
Ara almost dropped the sac. “You knew that?”
He gave her an odd look and she flushed.
“You know that. You access the data and share it with Caleb.”
“Shared. Right.” She sighed and settled on the pallet, sitting cross-legged. “I just thought there might be more to it.” Please, tell me more.
“For now, as you grow it is all that is required of you.”
“Honeypot?”
He stared at her blankly. “Pardon?”
“Am I a honeypot drawing the bees and is the CU recording all who sip and sup while Maya determines why matter is rising all over Iota?”
His eyes drooped and she thought he was staring at her boobs. It made her uncomfortable for a few moments until he raised his eyes again. “Who told you that?”
“I think—” she paused as she wondered how much to tell him “—I stumbled upon it working with bees at the wildlife park but it was just a one off job about laying honey traps.”
“Ah. Maya may have been cluing you in. She does that.”
“She does?” Ara’s voice was unnaturally high. “What does it mean?” Geez, and why not just a log?
“It may mean that you will be moving soon. To another planet. If Maya cannot send a log for some reason then she may have used an indirect path to ensure you received the prompt. The message may mean more to someone else. You must tell your guards about moving.”
Sacha had already told them about the honey trap idea. The anger in Ara was too great for her to talk but she spluttered out, “Fine, I’ll tell them. And after Maya doesn’t need me to draw in shitheads and add up matter?”
“You will experience life.”
She muttered darkly, “I don’t like the sound of that. Or rather how you say it.”
“Tea?”
“Ah, a change of topic.” She studied his calm face and knew she needed to calm down. “Yes, please.” It was then she realized he had picked up on her Geez, and why not just a log? thought. She tried one more thing. “Who might she be trying to conceal that message from?”
He said quite calmly, “The Natal.”
So it hadn’t been a dream on the night of her one hundredth birthday. Ara sat up straight. “Is there another Mobile Unit somewhere? I mean there was another taken to the Natal on my one hundredth, and there are other CUs and Mayas.”
“No.”
Thanks for nothing. “They did something to me.”
“Yes.”
She gritted her teeth, hissing, “Well, what did they do?”
“They were hiding you from the Natal but it may not have been effective. We may have to take other measures.”
Ara wanted to scream. “They were the Natal and what measures?”
He stood smoothly and turned, Ara had too good a view of his brown, muscled legs and bottom. It was a reminder of how long she’d been without physical contact. Twenty years now. He said, “They worked for—”
“kroTan,” she muttered a little darkly. “Whoever that is.”
Trickster smiled, left, and then returned and handed her a large mug.
She sniffed the air. “Hot chocolate?”
He nodded in pleasure, and sat before her with his mug. “As the Mobile Unit you are unique. Never has someone like you been fabricated. Both Maya and Natal are afraid. But some fear so much they were trying to hurt you.”
“Oh.” That actually made sense when she thought about how Maya had feared her when she was a baby. “But isn’t the Mobile Unit a good thing in their eyes? Oh, the honey trap thing, the reason behind matter rising.”
“You must not think of these things, Ara. Try your hot chocolate.”
Ara’s lip curled but she sipped it and tried not to screw her face up. “Um … do you have any sugar? Or milk?”
He nodded, placed his mug down and took hers. She leaned over seeing the substance in his cup was as dark as hers. When he returned she sipped it and this time cried out in disgust before her face burned in embarrassment. She was gagging a little too, making those hacking noises.
“You do not like it?”
He just watched her as she tried to recover.
Finally, with her voice scratchy, she asked, “Um … what did you add?”
“Goat milk and a tree sap that’s qui
te sweet.”
Ara knew she should drink it. She knew it was polite. She sipped it and almost threw up. “I’m sorry! I just can’t.”
He handed her his. “Try this.”
She was just barely able to drink the unadulterated version but thanked him for his offer, trying not to gag as he drank hers.
“Will you show me next time how to make you hot chocolate the way you like it?”
Ara nodded. “Sure. Do you have cows?”
“We do.”
Ara’s face was getting hot.
Trickster leaned over and took the mug from her hands. “You are allergic to the tree sap.”
Great.
“Practice using the Strike to heal yourself.”
Ara almost yelled at him. “Was this some kind of test?”
“No.” He seemed surprised. “But while you are holding Chaos you might as well try.”
Half way through her unsuccessful attempt, where she was now scratching and crying out, Tara’s voice pierced through her senses.
Mountain Resort
“Aunty, wake up.”
“Baby, drink this.”
Someone lifted her head and she felt something at her mouth. Sipping a foul tasting concoction, she also felt a cool sensation spread as someone injected her with something. But the relief was immediate.
Caleb’s pale green eyes met her one eye. “Better?”
She eased back and croaked out, “Thank you.”
“Don’t talk. Your throat was closing over and Tara couldn’t wake you. Medic is here.”
“She’ll be okay.” The female voice was far too cheerful. “Two more injections, rest all today, water only. I’ve taken a blood sample to see what it was but we couldn’t find any bugs or usual foods.”
“Tree sap,” croaked Ara.
Caleb chuckled. “She’s delirious.”
Ara lay awake, and realized her eyes were swollen, one was almost shut. It was bright day in her room and she waved vaguely at the window. Tara slid the drapes closed with some difficulty. The relief was immediate but Ara didn’t have the heart to tell the stricken Tara the drapes were for appearances. The window could have been made opaque.
