by Gun Brooke
Once her foot was treated and bandaged, she would catch a jumper to cube one and go to Thea. Caya rubbed her wet cheeks against the pillow. She debated asking Nissandra if she had heard about the status of the president but didn’t want to attract that type of attention. She would have to believe that Thea was all right. She just had to be.
Chapter Twenty-two
“Caya?” Impossibly, as Caya was still in the cube-four emergency unit, Briar stood in the doorway to the miniscule cubicle. Caya sat with her foot bandaged and elevated on a gurney after having had her bad sprain treated. The pain was down to a buzz, which was a nice change. The nurse had also cleaned some minor scrapes and cuts, and Caya was about to be released. And here was Briar. Caya blinked at the flood of tears streaming down her cheeks.
“Briar? But how did you—oh, thank the Creator.” She held out her arms, and Briar threw herself across the small space and hugged her hard.
“Caya, sweetheart. I’m working from here today.”
“Oh.” It hurt to be hugged, but Caya didn’t care. Her sister was here. She was all right. “Adina? And Thea?”
“Adina’s fine. So is Thea. Adina’s in engineering, and you can imagine they have a lot to go over. I don’t expect to see her very much in the next few days.” Briar pulled back. “Thea is busy doing her thing. And she’s absolutely frantic over you. I could hardly believe it when I saw your first name on the list of patients being treated out by the nurses’ station. What are your injuries?” Sniffling, Briar kept caressing Caya’s right arm.
Caya hugged her again, so relieved to finally have word of Thea, even if she had already surmised that the president was alive and well from the staff’s demeanor. “Practically no injuries. A sprained ankle and some superficial cuts and bruises.” And a broken heart because of her new friends who had saved her life, but she would share that explanation with Briar later. Her heart would survive as long as Thea remained safe.
“And a minor concussion,” a female voice said as the nurse returned. “You need to remain in bed for a few days and stay off that foot even if we healed the sprain. You don’t want to re-injure it.” She glanced at Briar and blinked. “Red Angel? Oh. This your…sister?” She regarded Caya with new respect. “You’re that Caya. Caya Lindemay.”
“I am and she sure is.” Briar slid an arm around Caya’s shoulders. “I’m in the middle of a shift, but is there anywhere she can rest until I’m ready to take her to my quarters—” She stopped speaking as Caya patted her arm.
“I’m not ready for that yet. I need to do something first.” She stood and carefully tried her ankle. Wiping at the tears, she smiled at Briar, who looked concerned. “Don’t worry. I’m not going to disappear again. I’ll come by your quarters, once I’ve talked to…someone.” She nodded discreetly toward the nurse, who was still in the cubicle, entering notes into the computer by the wall.
“Before I go, I want to ask you to help me keep a promise. I got to know a young boy, Miron, and his baby sister, Rhosee. I promised them I’d come back—and if I couldn’t right away, that you would. Their mother died in the initial attack.” Caya knew she was asking a lot. “You know I wouldn’t ask unless it was for a good reason. As soon as I held them, I knew they were…well, somehow connected to us.” She looked into Briar’s eyes and tried to convey her feelings. To her surprise, Briar merely nodded.
“I’ll find them. The names Miron and Rhosee aren’t all that common. Don’t worry. I’m on it.” She kissed Caya on the cheek. “I have Dodgmer and his team outside. Why don’t you borrow him and get to where you’re going?” She winked at Caya and kept combing through her hair with her fingers and stroking her arms. “And before you leave, you can’t go anywhere looking like that. “She motioned at the torn clothes next to Caya, who still wore a thin paper-like bed-jacket. “Let me pop out to the clothes dispenser. I’ll be quick.”
It took less than five minutes for Briar to return. “Here you go, sweetheart. I used a few credits and pulled out some clothes and sandals from your saved pattern buffer.” She handed Caya a dark-blue shirt, tan trousers, and black sandals. She leaned close as the nurse looked away and whispered, “My badge is in your left pocket. With that, you can get out of here without alerting anyone. Dodgmer is Adina’s guy and I trust him with all our lives, but over at headquarters…who knows?”
“What about you?”
“I’ll sneak out when one of my colleagues uses their badge. If anyone asks, I’ll just say I lost it in the mayhem today.”
Hugging Briar hard despite the pain, Caya murmured, “I love you, sis. You’re the best. The very best.”
“I’ll hold you to that. Now, move with caution. We’re bordering on cube one now, so you just have to cross the park,” Briar said, just as quietly.
“Thank you. Be safe until I see you next time. Hug the little ones for me.” Caya pulled off the flimsy hospital shirt belonging to the emergency clinic and donned the other set of clothes. They felt a little big on her. She must have lost some weight.
Briar escorted her to one of the minor exits, where Lieutenant Dodgmer waited, smiling broadly at Caya. She didn’t care about protocol and clearly neither did he as he wrapped her up in a firm hug.
“You’re too thin, girl,” Dodgmer said, grumbling.
“That can be fixed,” Caya said lightly. Turning to Briar, she hugged her again. “No. Please.” Caya stopped and took her sister’s hand.
“I’ll see you soon.”
“Yes, you will.” Briar frowned. “Are you sure I shouldn’t page Thea?”
“If you tell her I’m alive and well over the communication system, others will find out. I’ll tell you exactly how, but later. Until a short while ago, I didn’t know if any of my loved ones were safe. I even dreaded being lost in the debris field myself. I hate that she’s worrying, but promise not to page her. Not yet. I’ll make my way to her as fast as I can.”
Briar scanned her closely. “All right. You better be fast. She’s close to panicking about you, sis. Creator only knows what she might do to coax you out.”
Caya squeezed her hand. “I promise.” With Dodgmer, she made her way to the hospital jumper gate, which was thankfully intact. Checking the map of its route, she saw it would take her only about fifteen minutes to reach the Caydoc Park jumper gate, as they had altered Pathfinder’s configuration, no doubt to make up for cube eighteen’s absence. Caya stayed close to Dodgmer, and the burly, tall man kept his arm protectively around her in a way that probably made them look like father and daughter, which suited Caya just fine.
She thought of the governmental building, where she had lived her life ever since she announced her changer status at the presidential ball.
There was where her new future would begin—or her past catch up with her.
*
Thea stood before the Assembly for the second time
Her heart thundered. This promised to be the hardest thing she had ever done, but also the most important. She was being selfish, as her people had lost so much and so many during the initial attack by, presumably, the Alachleves, and in cube eighteen, but she couldn’t wait a single moment longer. If Caya was alive and staying away because she was unaware how Thea truly felt about her, she had to do this.
She was certain her advisors would balk at her current plan, but she’d had enough of sitting idly by and doing nothing while Caya was still unaccounted for. She needed to find the woman she loved, whom Briar claimed was alive, before it was too late. If Caya thought coming back would mean being thrown into protective custody once again, Thea had to convince her this wouldn’t happen. Caya would need a security detail when she left her quarters, but she would be free to come and go as she pleased. Thea had learned from her mistakes and prayed she wasn’t too late. If telling Pathfinder’s passengers everything would make Caya trust her, Thea would bare her heart and soul to them all.
“Honored members of the Assembly.” She gripped the edges of the podium firmly. “I’m sure you are
eager to get back to your respective cubes and the people who rely on you for information and guidance. I will try to keep this announcement short, but it is important to me that nobody in my administration be blindsided by this news, so please bear with me. I’m also going to transmit what I have to say via ship-wide video transmission.” Thea nodded tersely at the woman in charge of the communication equipment. Out of the corner of her eyes she saw her own image take form on a small screen and knew she was live on all screens not broken in the attack throughout the ship, including the massive ones on every square or park area.
Looking into the lens of the camera, she couldn’t swallow because of her dry throat. She also couldn’t stop tears from glazing her eyes but prayed this wouldn’t be readily visible. That was probably too much to hope for. She managed to gently clear her throat before she began to speak.
“Members of the Assembly, passengers and crew of Pathfinder, I stand before you now not only as your elected president, but also as a private individual.”
*
Caya stopped in the center of the Caydoc Park as the main screen lowered at the center by the stage where she had been a guest at the naming ceremony for Gemocon not very long ago. Around her, other people stopped as well. Unlike on regular days in the famous park, nobody sat on the grass with picnic cases or blankets. Instead they came to a fast halt now after hurrying along the paths earlier, just like she had.
Caya’s knees nearly gave way when Thea’s beautiful face came into view. She stood there, magnified and hovering above them at some podium, looking every bit the states-woman as her ice-blue gaze seemed to drill into each spectator. Thea’s voice sounded as strong and decisive as always when she greeted her Assembly and her people via the screen. Caya stopped breathing when she realized from Thea’s choice of words that this would not be one of her usual ship-wide transmissions.
“When I became president of Oconodos, I knew I had the most difficult of presidencies ahead of me since our esteemed former President Ardono and his cabinet had made the final decision regarding the Exodus mission more than seventy years prior to my term. I’ve worked tirelessly with my administration, the Assembly, law enforcement, and the military to make this happen. My sacrifices have been great, but really nothing compared to the people of Oconodos and, later, the people of Gemosis.” Thea squared her shoulders and placed a hand on her chest. “Since last year, I have gone against my own heart in several ways, and though it is my job as your elected leader to put everyone else first, I have reached a point in my life where I must make an exception.”
Caya took a few steps closer to the screen. What was Thea doing? Alarm klaxons went off inside her mind, and she frowned as she noticed how the people around her began to murmur and gesture, as if they too were concerned about their president’s frame of mind.
“I’d like to think I’ve been a good president so far. I’ve chosen outstanding advisors and ministers, which is more than half the battle. My collaboration with the military and law enforcement has been, if not seamless, then at least fruitful and rewarding. So, why am I addressing the Assembly and the public in this manner?” The camera zoomed in on Thea’s face, and now Caya knew the woman she loved was about to do or say something she could never take back.
“No. No, no, no.” Caya began running, not caring that she was hurting her newly treated ankle. She flew across the grass, pushing people aside with gasped apologies while aiming for the main entrance to the government block. Dodgmer was right next to her, and to his credit, he didn’t object or try to stop her.
Caya heard Thea’s voice as she ran but didn’t stop to look at any of the smaller screens on the walls as she reached the governmental building.
“Many of you may know that I divorced my former husband last year. I won’t go into any private details regarding that step. The thing is, I have found the person I want to spend the rest of my life with—”
“No, Thea. Please stop talking. Just stop. Don’t do it,” Caya muttered as she ran. A man in front of her heard her, but she ran past him and didn’t even stop to let the guard check her subcutaneous ID-chip. Instead she ignored Dodgmer’s warnings and passed him by jumping over the waist-high gate and didn’t stop even as the guards’ stun-rays singed the air around her.
“I have never loved any other person like I love her, and I realize telling her this way is controversial,” Thea said, “but I need her to know. She’s somewhere aboard Pathfinder. At least I hope she is. She has to be.” Tears in Thea’s voice made Caya pick up speed. She flew up the half-staircase and then rushed past some of the ministers’ assistants that pressed themselves flat against the wall. Caya could hear Dodgmer’s booming voice order the guards to cease firing.
Glad she knew her way around the government building, Caya disregarded her burning lungs as she approached the two guards on sentry duty outside the Assembly doors.
“This young woman holds my heart. Darling, please.” Thea’s voice nearly broke. “If you hear this, make yourself known. Nothing bad will happen to you or anyone else you might associate with. You have my word. Please come back so we can talk…”
“Damn it, Thea. Shut up. Stop talking.” Sobbing now from sheer frustration, Caya reached the door only for the guards to raise their weapons and aim at her. A direct hit by a heavy stun, point blank at her chest would most likely be lethal. She didn’t care. “I need to get in there. I’m the one she’s talking about.”
“Of course you are. Naturally, President Tylio is talking about some kid.” One of the guards sneered at her. “I think you have company coming, young lady.” He motioned with his chin for her to look behind her.
“I know they’re there. Guess you couldn’t stop them, Lieutenant Dodgmer.” Caya glanced behind her where Dodgmer, now disarmed, stood surrounded by presidential guards. “Listen to me. If you don’t let me in to see the president, it will be on your head later. Can you afford to take the chance?” Caya’s heart pounded so hard now, she could barely speak.
“She’s right. Don’t you fools recognize her?” Dodgmer spat. “Open the fucking door!”
“I suggest you do as Ms. Lindemay and Lieutenant Dodgmer say.” A voice so sweet, and so welcome, spoke with soft authority, making Caya pivot.
“Meija!”
“Ms. Solimar, sir!” The guards saluted, hand to chin. “We…um. We…”
“You are going to open the door before it is indeed too late.” Meija motioned for them to obey. “I vouch for this young woman.” Meija glanced over her shoulder. “And you guys, give the lieutenant back his side arm and rifle and return to your posts. For the sake of our Creator, does it take six of you to chase one single young woman?” She shook her head.
In the meantime, the guards had opened the door in time for Caya to hear Thea say, “We owe the woman I love so much. In fact, those of us alive and well aboard Pathfinder owe her our lives in more ways than one. Her name is—”
“Stop! I’m here. Thea, please.” Caya ran down the center aisle. “You don’t have to do this. You don’t have to.” She came to a halt just below the dais, looking up at Thea with new tears running freely.
“Caya,” Thea whispered, but she had stepped away from the microphone, which meant only the Assembly delegates could hear her. “Caya…”
“I’m here. I was already on my way to you—I mean, before the attacks and before your public declaration of…well, of something.” Caya wanted to throw her arms around Thea, but the delegates were watching, not to mention Pathfinder’s passengers and crew, shipwide.
“Ladies and gentlemen of the Assembly, people of Pathfinder. I take the liberty of closing this session as it has fulfilled its purpose.” Meija surprised them all from the podium. “Everything is quite all right. Go in heavenly splendor, everyone.” Meija signaled to the person in charge of the transmission to close it. She turned to the members of the Assembly. “As for the delegates before me, I suggest you return to your cubes, where you are sorely needed. Report back to the ministers
once you have established what your people need to make it through these upcoming weeks. We will all do our best to render support to each other. Thank you.”
“She’s that clairvoyant changer!” An outraged voice showed that Meija had acted just in time. Caya’s identity was revealed, but none of it had gone out via the comm system or video link. “Madam President, are you letting one of them into your chambers? That’s an outrage.”
“No, it’s not,” Meija said as she ushered Caya and Thea out the back door. “It is, however, none of your business at this point. The president will address the people of Pathfinder when she has had time to confer with the ones closest to her. I suggest you do the same. Also, the president relies on your discretion. It is vital she knows whom she can trust for future reference. Go in heavenly splendor.”
Chapter Twenty-three
Thea used every ounce of her strength to remain on her feet. The walk to her office was short, but her legs felt as if someone had filled them with lead. Next to her, Caya kept looking at her as they walked behind Meija, who with a mere glance kept the presidential guards a few more steps behind than usual.
She had so many questions for Caya. Thea wasn’t sure if she wanted all the answers as she recognized her own mistakes along the way and how she had imprisoned Caya, when all she wanted was basic freedom. As they reached her offices, Meija ushered them in and closed the door behind them without a word. Thea knew nobody would get past the formidable woman.
“Thea…” Caya came up to her and took both her hands in hers. “There was a moment in the tunnel when I thought I might have lost you.”
“The tunnel?” Thea gripped Caya’s hands tighter. Then she realized and nearly lost cohesion in her knees. “That tunnel. From cube four to eighteen.”
