Escape

by Gun Brooke

  “All right. Do take your time.”

  Caya was about to snort again at Thea’s arrogant tone when Thea suddenly leaned her cheek against her temple. Unable to stop her entire system from responding, Caya gasped. “Thea…” She meant to say they had to stop, but then more images poured over her, flooding her mind, and acute vertigo made her cling to Thea as if outer space had tried to suck her out through an airlock.

  “Thea?” A stunning blond woman dressed in an ankle-long, flowing, off-white dress came into the room where a little girl with the same hair color sat playing with a large tablet. She moved her little fingers deftly as she made her small hovercraft move across the screen. Now she looked up, a big smile on her lips.

  “Mommy!” She let go of the tablet and rushed toward the woman. “Daddy said you weren’t coming until tomorrow.” The little girl, yes, of course it was Thea. Caya could clearly see the resemblance between the child and her mother.

  “I know, darling. I just couldn’t wait to see my best girl.” The woman hugged young Thea to her. “Tomorrow is your eighth birthday. I couldn’t miss that.”

  “But—but Daddy said the doctors wanted you to stay and get stronger.” Thea looked up at her mother, her long hair cascading down her back. She was dressed in blue shorts and a white shirt, which Caya recognized as parts of a school uniform. She saw Thea had kicked off her shoes and taken off her socks, as they were right beside the tablet on the floor.

  “I feel stronger just for being with you and your father,” Thea’s mother said and rocked her daughter back and forth. “You’re more important than anything else to me.”

  “Now, Thea. Don’t tire your mother out.” A tall, dark-haired man stepped into Thea’s room. He had a becoming, well-trimmed beard and was dressed in an old-fashioned blue suit. He put an arm around Thea’s mother. “Rionna? I thought we agreed you could come home today if you stayed down here. You’re not well enough to climb the stairs.”

  Thea looked alarmed, but Rionna placed a kiss on the man’s cheek while still holding onto her. “Don’t be such a worrier, Mattner. I’m perfectly able to climb one set of stairs. What do you think I’ve done during my physical-therapy sessions? Have them carry me through the exercises?” Rionna chuckled. “Now, I could smell the food being prepared. Let’s not disappoint Ms. Dimin. No doubt she’s been cooking up a storm.”

  The vision blurred, and then Caya found herself in a large foyer. Black-and-white marble walls stretched up toward a skylight that showed it was evening or night. Young Thea stood clinging to the banister halfway up the stairs, whimpering. “Mommy. Mommy…”

  “Stay there, Thea,” Mattner called out from behind Caya. She turned and gasped at the sight of Rionna. Thea’s mother lay on the floor, her head in her husband’s lap. Her skin was as white as the marble. “Rionna. Wake up. Wake up. Wake up!” Mattner’s voice rose to a roar. “Damn the Creator, wake up!”

  Thea’s whimper rose until she was screeching for her mother. She passed Caya and threw herself next to her. Taking Rionna’s hands, Thea kissed them and hugged them to her. “She’s so cold, Daddy. She’s so cold.” Crying fat tears now, Thea suddenly hit her father on the arm closest to her. “Make her wake up. Make her warm again. She’s too cold.” She hit him over and over again, her voice getting hoarse from crying. “Mommy…mommy…”

  Caya was crying along with Thea, her heart breaking for the child and remembering when she and Briar had lost their parents. At least they had each other, but who had taken care of Thea once her mother was gone? Had Mattner been as loving and nurturing as his wife? Caya studied the man’s expression through her tears. Thea was still hitting him with her little fists in her anguish, but he wasn’t even looking at her. He was holding his dead wife, and Caya had the distinct sense that what love he had been able to share with anyone had died with her. Slowly the scene faded and Caya was back in grownup Thea’s embrace, crying so hard she was shaking.

  “Caya? Please? What’s the matter? What did you see?” Thea rubbed her hands up and down Caya’s back. “I’m so sorry. We shouldn’t have tried this again so soon. Let me page Briar—”

  “No. No. I’m all right. Or I will be.” Trying to pull herself together, Caya was reluctant to let go of Thea. She wasn’t quite sure if she needed the comfort of her embrace or she had just witnessed what had to have been the most traumatic event in Thea’s life.

  “Of course you’ll be all right. Just breathe.” Thea rocked her. “That’s it. Breathe.”

  Slowly the impact of the vision receded, and Caya pulled back enough to wipe at her wet cheeks. “I think I soaked your jacket.” She felt foolish now. Young Thea’s pain hadn’t been hers. A small, inner voice insisted that her feelings for Thea were the reason for her strong reaction. Not ready to confess any type of strong feelings for the woman who wielded such power over her life, Caya let go of Thea completely and slid back so their bodies didn’t touch anymore. She didn’t want to risk any other inadvertent visions from Thea’s past until she knew what triggered them.

  “Never mind the damn jacket. What did you see?” Thea moved as if to take Caya’s hand again and winced when Caya shook her hand and backed off some more. “That bad?”

  “I witnessed your mother coming home from some hospital the day before—”

  “—my eighth birthday.” Her complexion grey, it was Thea’s turn to pull back. “Oh, Creator of mercy.” She covered her eyes for a few moments with a trembling hand. “What exactly did you see?”

  “How much she loved being back home with you and your father—especially with you. Then you and your parents were in a foyer and your mother was dead.” She could find no easy way to say it. No well-meaning, cautious words would help minimize the pain Thea had felt the night her mother died.

  “It was actually the next day. I mean, it was past midnight and I couldn’t sleep because I was so happy to have my mother home—and for turning eight. I had wished for a hover bike, and my father had hinted that I might get one. More than that, though, I had wished for my mother to get well and come home, which happened in part, I suppose.” Thea spoke with calm, measured words that were completely contradicted by the pain in her eyes. “I heard my father yell my mother’s name from downstairs and ran to see what was going on, afraid she was ill again, but she wasn’t. As you saw, it was much worse. She had left the bedroom my father had installed for them downstairs and probably fainted as she was walking up the stairs. She fell down and broke her neck. I learned many years later that she would have perhaps lived another ten or twenty days if she hadn’t fallen. Her condition was rapidly deteriorating, and she knew it. That’s why she came home even if she wasn’t well enough. She wanted to be with her family.” Thea’s expression hardened. “The autopsy results showed her condition clearly, but that didn’t stop my father for blaming me for her death.”

  “What? But why?” Caya came close to taking Thea’s hand again. “That’s insane.”

  “You would think so, wouldn’t you? Remember, she was going upstairs even after promising him not to. In his mind, that was my fault. If I hadn’t been so selfish and excited about my birthday, my mother wouldn’t have ventured up the stairs and fallen down when her weakened state caused her to faint or get dizzy. I believed him for years.”

  Caya sobbed and wiped at her tears. “That’s just so wrong. Your mother loved you more than anything. She loved your father too, I could tell, but you—she adored you. I think—and this is just a hunch—that he was jealous. And when she died, he couldn’t handle the grief, or the shock…or both. It’s what I felt from him during my vision anyway.” Caya wiped quickly at her tears again. Her skin was starting to feel raw from all the crying.

  “You may well be correct,” Thea said and sighed. “I think we proved our theory regarding how your visions of someone’s personal past occur. At least to some degree.” She smoothed down her hair. “I apologize that you had to witness the birth of my dysfunctional relationship with my father,” she said, her tone
stiff.

  “Thea. Don’t. I need to make a few things clear because I can tell you’re about to bolt, and knowing you, you’ll stay away and send your minions to deal with me until we reach Gemocon.”

  Looking affronted, Thea folded her hands on her lap. “Do go on.” She raised her chin in a clear challenge.

  “I promise never to tell anyone, not a single soul, what I learned and what I saw during my visions about your past today. If you never want to mention any of it again, I’ll respect that. I know I’m often furious with you for my situation, but, that said, I don’t want you to stop coming to my quarters. The only thing worse than being furious at you—is being angry with you and never seeing you again. I’m probably not making sense at all, but please. Don’t withdraw behind President Tylio, the public figure, even if you only stop by when you need something from me.” Caya tried for a smile but knew it probably looked more like a weird grimace.

  Thea studied her quietly for a good minute, and Caya held her breath for nearly as long. “Very well. I trust your work ethic. I always have since that day when you had a vision at the presidential ball.”

  As that had been one of the first visions, Caya realized she hadn’t read too much into Thea’s expression when she had warded off the crowd around them with such fury.

  “All right.” Caya slumped against the backrest of the couch. “Good.”

  Thea stood and adjusted her jacket. “I will let you know when we find the young woman in your vision. I pray she’s all right.”

  Caya nodded. “Me too.”

  Thea walked to the door and was about to push the sensor to open it when she stopped, still with her back toward Caya. Lowering her head, she spoke in a barely audible voice. “I did get the hover bike. Our cook found it hidden from my prying eyes in the pantry later in the day and gave it to me.” Tugging at the hem of her jacket and resuming her trademark proud posture, Thea cleared her throat. “I never rode it.” She slammed her palm against the sensor and walked out the door.

  Caya curled up on the couch and pulled one of the blankets around her. She was cold and tired, having depleted all of her energy. Thea had lost her mother and her father’s love in one instant. Something told Caya that the woman who had just left her quarters had never celebrated any of her birthdays again. Had she perhaps been looking for a father figure of sorts when, at twenty-two, she had married the much-older Hadler? It made horrible sense. To think that he had turned out to be an abusive cheat of a husband, not worthy of someone as amazing and beautiful as Thea, infuriated her.

  Closing her eyes reluctantly, as she was afraid of what any potential dreams might entail, Caya hugged a pillow close to her chest under the blanket. She could still feel Thea’s arms around her and her cheek against her temple as she finally drifted off to sleep.

  Chapter Five

  Thea looked up as the door chime to her office pinged. “Yes, enter.”

  The door hissed open, revealing a tall woman dressed in the black uniform commonly worn by Pathfinder’s military security detail. Striding up to Thea’s desk, the woman moved with feline grace that gave her a decidedly lethal expression.

  “Madam President, I’m Commander Neenja KahSandra. You requested my presence?”

  “Ah yes, Commander KahSandra. Please, have a seat.” Thea motioned for one of her visitors’ chairs. “You come highly recommended both by my military advisors and the civilian law-enforcement brass.”

  Unfazed, the commander merely nodded. “Good to know.”

  “I have a special assignment for you that requires your expertise. I will personally update and elevate your security clearance if you agree to change units for the rest of our journey.”

  “That sounds intriguing, sir, but I’m very happy where I am, patrolling the outer perimeter of Pathfinder.”

  “Which won’t do the ship a lot of good if we’re blown up from inside.” Thea knew she sounded terse, but she needed the commander to understand just how important this was.

  “Have you received such intel, sir?” Commander KahSandra’s forehead furrowed. “I haven’t seen any such reports lately.”

  “Hence the elevated security clearance, Commander.”

  “I see.” Commander KahSandra relaxed marginally. “I take my oath to do my duty in protecting Pathfinder and its passengers very seriously. I’m prepared to change units if it is required.”

  “Good. I have read your dossier,” Thea said and tapped her tablet, pulling up KahSandra’s records. “You’re a martial-arts expert, have an engineering degree, and, what tipped the scale in your favor, you’re also one of the best explosive experts in the fleet.”

  KahSandra merely nodded.

  “Fine. Use my tablet for your retina scan and fingerprint confirmation regarding your elevated status.”

  KahSandra accepted the tablet and performed the maneuvers. Thea studied the younger woman closer. She kept her long black hair in a low braid, and her black, straight eyebrows framed stark features that made her more handsome than beautiful. Her amber, slanted eyes regarded the world with a hint of suspicion.

  Thea took the tablet back and checked the confirmation. “Excellent. From now on you answer only to Admiral Heigel and me. You will partner with Lieutenant Diobring, and together you will work with his handpicked team to uncover potential sleeper cells set on destroying Pathfinder—or at least parts of it.”

  “I know of the lieutenant but have never spoken with him. What will he think of sharing his team with me?” KahSandra tilted her head.

  “Are you that concerned, or is it merely a polite question?” Thea raised an eyebrow and was delighted when KahSandra did the same.

  “The latter, in a sense. From a point of professional courtesy, I wouldn’t want to step on the lieutenant’s toes. As I outrank him, he might feel blindsided by my presence, which could have a detrimental effect on our collaboration.”

  “Diobring knows he’s getting more manpower. Yes, formally you outrank him, but he also has knowledge of the task at hand that you don’t, which puts you on even ground. If you’re as clever as your dossier suggests, you will find a way to work with Diobring and his team without causing havoc.”

  “Certainly, Madam President.”

  “You can start by going to the officers’ mess hall and introducing yourself. The team is there, and an informal setting might be best—” Thea was about to ignore the beep from her communicator when Caya’s emergency signal followed. Thea held up a finger to Commander KahSandra and slapped the communicator sensor. “Thea here, Caya.”

  The communicator was eerily silent for a few moments, and Thea stood. “Caya? Do I need to join you?”

  “No. I’m all right. Can you talk?” Caya’s voice was strained, which twisted Thea’s midsection into a knot of worry, for her and for what it could mean.

  “Yes. I’m here with a member of the fleet who has the appropriate clearance.”

  “They’re targeting the hospital again. Somewhere on the third deck, I see guards…either unconscious or dead.” Caya gave a muted sob. “White garnet. I think it’s white garnet. It’s burning through the different systems, and patients in the emergency wards are suffering as their equipment is compromised. The staff is trying to stop it, but they burn their hands off as they yank out the computer parts. They can’t stop this. They need to evacuate on deck one to four. Anything less and I can’t guarantee they’ll make it.” Caya’s swallowed audibly. “And of course Briar is working. She’s not on any of those wards, but you know her…she will sense the distress of the ones affected and want to assist. Please, Thea. Send help.”

  “I’m already doing that.” Thea tapped furiously on her tablet. “I’ll initiate everything from here and then get back to you. If you see anything other than what you’ve told me, page me instantly. I’m setting my communicator to auto-connect for you.”

  “All right. Just hurry.”

  Thea could hear how distraught Caya was, but she was in full presidential mode, and her duty to
the ship came first. This didn’t mean she was made of stone. A small but very important part of her yearned to run to Caya and see for herself that she wasn’t heading for actual seizures again.

  Commander KahSandra stood, ready to spring into action. “Sir?”

  “Walk with me.” Thea headed for the door, barking orders to her staff as she went. “Have Diobring and his team meet, fully equipped, by the jumper gate. Have them bring one extra set of protective gear and an emergency engineering kit. Page Admiral Heigel and have her do the same. Initiate Code Z for my cabinet members and the Assembly. Time for them to hit the deck.” Code Z was the guideline for how to keep the political and public servants safe during an attack or catastrophe. Thea knew technically she needed to join the cabinet members in the built-in bunker in the center of cube one, but she hadn’t so far and wouldn’t this time either. She needed to be visible and strong—not hide, no matter what her military and civilian advisors thought.

  Diobring and the men and women in his unit stood ready when Thea, her guards—which had doubled in numbers to make up for her stubbornness—and KahSandra reached the jumper gate. Diobring took one look at KahSandra and nodded briefly. “Sir,” he murmured and tossed her a bag. KahSandra donned the safety gear fast, including the engineering kit that she hooked on her harness.

  “Commander KahSandra will fill you in on your way to cube eleven. You will return the courtesy toward her regarding what we know of the sleeper cells and the woman in jeopardy. Admiral Heigel and her team of engineers will meet you as you step off the jumper. We’ve trained for this. I’ll be on the bridge. Go in safe and heavenly splendor.” Thea stepped back and watched the team board an emergency jumper car.