by Zara Zenia
“We’re so glad to have you join us!” she gushed.
“Thanks, I’m excited to be here, too,” I returned.
Karun shouted, “All ready, let’s get going!”
Everyone hustled to leave and climbed into the rovers. Ragal and I sat in the rear seat of the vehicle driven by Andie and Karun, and we headed out of town, the rugged sound of Andie’s music perfectly matching the sudden harshness of the wilderness outside of Steel City.
Ragal’s hand covered mine on the seat, and, in the bright sunlight, for just a moment, it almost felt like everything was perfect. I closed my eyes, absorbing all the sensations, the warm breeze, the sweet smell of the desert flowers, the rough hand enveloping mine.
“Batr,” came Karun’s worried voice, shattering my reverie in a language I didn’t recognize, “we’re being followed.”
“Aw, did we make friends?” came Andie’s sarcastic rejoinder.
I turned to the window to look behind us and saw nothing but the fading skyline of Steel City. Karun must have used some kind of scope.
“It’s an LCC-marked vehicle,” Ragal said, turning to me.
My stomach sank. I hadn’t seen Albert or Tadisha in their offices all morning.
“Did you send for staff to join us?” Karun asked.
“No, but I have a feeling I know who it is,” I said, irritated. “I have no idea how he knew that I was leaving. I was extremely circumspect about our plans.”
Ragal looked concerned but said nothing. The awkwardness hung over us the whole day as we rode. Frustrated didn’t begin to cover what I was feeling. My father was right. I needed to put a foot down and now.
When we pulled up to camp, I waited with Ragal behind the rovers for the stragglers to arrive, while the others began to set up dome tents for the night.
When they finally pulled up, it was no surprise when Albert climbed out of the big, hulking vehicle, Tadisha in tow.
I felt the rage seething through me as I walked up to him. “You will explain yourself now, Albert,” I demanded.
He looked at me condescendingly. “I don’t need to explain anything to you, Tasha. I’m in charge of LCC’s finances, and I am here looking out for the future of this company.”
“Your presence here is completely out of line, both of you,” I said, including Tadisha, who wasn’t meeting my eye.
I felt Ragal tense as Albert spat back, “I’m out of line? That’s rich! I’m not the one who is jumping carelessly from one huge venture to another on a whim, bleeding money without a care in the world.”
“Enough! Albert, you can have your doubts, you are entitled to your own opinion, but you are not entitled to interfere with my decisions like this.”
“Someone has to! You clearly aren’t in your right mind, and I’m here to ensure that this company isn’t run into the ground because you’ve decided to start behaving like an infatuated child!”
Ragal stepped between us, looking ready to pound Albert to a pulp, but then Tadisha put her hand to Albert’s shoulder and whispered something in his ear.
Albert all but growled, and kicked the side of the truck before stomping off, Tadisha chasing after him.
I released an agitated breath. Ragal watched to make sure Albert wasn’t coming back, then turned and held me.
“I’m sorry. This is embarrassing and so unprofessional. I planned to talk to him when we got back about his behavior, but it’s clearly become a liability.” I felt frustration turn to emotion.
“Shhh, it’s not your fault. You were compassionate and gave him a fair shot; he has chosen to blow that. You’re not responsible for his choices.”
I wanted to believe that, but I also knew, as the leader of the company, it was my job to ensure harmony. I knew I was doing a good job, but Albert revived all the old insecurities I had growing up, the daughter who should have been a son. Dad was okay with me leading the company now and we had made our peace, but it was hard to bury a lifetime of feeling inadequate.
I pulled away, not wanting him to see me emotional. “I know you’re right. I just need to clear my head.”
He looked apprehensive but gave me my space. I went to the far side of the rovers, hidden from the camp, and sat on a hefty chunk of rock, looking up at the stars, reflecting and grappling with my own insecurities. Was he right? Was I letting my emotions cloud my business decisions? Between my father’s failing health, my need to feel like I was continuing dad’s legacy, and the sudden and blossoming relationship with Ragal, my head wasn’t exactly clear.
I didn’t hear Tadisha until she was beside me.
“Ms. Lord-Case, are you all right?” she asked, her voice sounding concerned and a little timid.
She was beautiful, waist-length red hair, a petite feminine figure, and gorgeous green eyes. It was not hard to see why Albert liked having her around.
“No, frankly, I am extremely displeased by the lack of judgment exercised by you and Mr. Archer.”
She dropped her head. “I know. I’m very sorry. I tried to convince Mr. Archer that it was inappropriate for us to follow you here. Please know that I only came because I wanted to make sure he didn’t cause you too much grief.”
Well, that was something at least. Snorting, I said, “Albert? Behave inappropriately? What could have possibly led you to that conclusion?”
She laughed softly. “Yes, he is a handful…” She paused. “He did mean well, though. He was worried that you were getting involved with dangerous people. It’s not the company that inspires his anger, it’s his concern for you.”
“Oh, I am very aware of his concern for me,” I said sarcastically.
“In his own way, he does care for you.”
“If he actually cared for me and not just my business interests, he wouldn’t go so far out of his way to be supercilious, inconsiderate, and generally obnoxious.”
She laughed again, and it felt good to have someone to relate to about him. If anyone knew how much of a jerk he could be, it was Tadisha.
“I suppose this new business associate, the man who was with you before…”
“Ragal,” I supplied.
“I suppose Ragal is none of those things?” she asked quietly.
“No, not at all. He’s amazing,” I all but gushed.
“Well, I will admit, Mr. Archer has his faults, but, if I can speak freely, I think there is truth in the old Earth saying. Sometimes you are safer with the devil you know than the devil you don’t.”
I looked at her quizzically, and she quickly continued, “Forgive me, it’s not my place.”
“No, it’s okay. I don’t agree with you, necessarily, but I appreciate your honesty,” I said and I meant it. In my position, it was easy to find people who would tell you only what they thought you wanted to hear.
“Mr. Archer was adamant that we should accompany you, in case your safety should be jeopardized. If you don’t mind my saying, I think you should let us. Things may seem fine now, but the farther we get from the safety of Steel City, the wiser it would be to have people you can trust.”
“I don’t trust Albert to not create undue hassle and stress for me, at all,” I countered.
She replied, “There is something else to consider. Unfortunately, several members of the staff are aware we accompanied you. If you send us back now, it could look very bad.”
When I was silent, she continued, “He doesn’t intend to interfere so much as to offer protection for you and, of course, the interests of LCC.”
I doubted any sense of chivalry, but said only, “I’ll think about it.”
With that, she left. Much as I disagreed with her about certain things, part of my brain nagged at me that maybe everything really was too perfect.
Chapter 9
Ragal
Tasha decided to allow Albert and Tadisha to continue to travel with us, in the interest of not creating concern or damaging the confidence of her staff or investors, so long as Albert could maintain some semblance of professionalism.
Albert seemed to have become more subdued and withdrawn around the group, especially as my brothers made efforts, sometimes more obvious than not, to separate him from Tasha.
He was exactly the sort of bully who had no qualms about mistreating women or those he felt were inferior to him, but when faced with someone he perceived in some way as superior, he was spineless and cowardly.
I kept a wary eye on him and his assistant, the mysterious Tadisha. Tasha and she had bonded over Albert’s petulance, and she had seemed to be making an effort to distract Albert’s attention, as well. All of this should have engendered far more confidence and trust than it did.
Something about her just troubled me, and despite my endeavors to identify it, I just couldn’t. She was small in stature—certainly she was not a physical threat—but something about her expressions, her movements, the way she avoided contact with anyone but Tasha, it all just coagulated into a feeling that bothered me.
My concern was only compounded when, to my displeasure, Tasha thought it would be better if we didn’t share a tent. She didn’t want to give the appearance of lacking objectivity, and I knew she was right, to some extent. I knew I couldn’t be subtle when it came to my desire, and in the tight quarters of a camp, that might become awkward. As a keenly private person, I understood.
One benefit was that maintaining some physical distance through separate quarters had quelled, if only slightly, the suggestive ribbing from my brothers.
It was driving me somewhat mad, but while I yearned to hold her, to caress her, to submerge myself in her, the emotional connection that had slammed into existence startled me. Abstaining from further intimacy, though torturous, did give me the opportunity to explore these developing feelings.
Even without the sexual aspect of our interactions, there was a burning intensity to how we related to one another. Tasha had a brilliant, compelling mind. Working together, exchanging our ideas, and learning from one another’s expertise brought a kind of satisfaction I had never known.
It was late on the third evening of our trip, we were nearing the halfway point, and Tasha had been asking to hear my methods for calculating the location of the ship’s wreckage.
We sat by the thermogenerator in the middle of our camp, late into the night, pouring over the information, though I omitted that the data was from firsthand knowledge rather than satellite tracking.
She was incredibly cute when her face was set in serious concentration, tendrils of her dark hair falling loose around her cheeks.
I showed her the program I had created, and as she read through the code, I had the distinct urge to pull her into my lap.
She looked impressed. “How much time did it take you to write this?”
“I spent about two weeks creating the program and a few days testing it and tweaking it for heisenbugs.”
“That’s fast for something this complex,” she said, sparing me a look of respect. Her nose crinkled then, as she continued reading through the strings of code.
“The algorithm you’ve based this on feels… off, somehow.”
“How so?” I said dubiously.
She didn’t answer for a while, absorbed in the code. I waited, studying the bluish tint of her hair in the glow of the holo-panel we were working on.
“Aha! You’ve made a convergence error here, in your mathematical model,” she exclaimed happily.
“I don’t think so…” I began.
“No, look here, your iterative method is incomplete,” she stated proudly. “It’s a simple fix. The iterative process terminated prior to approximating the limit, so we adjust here…” She worked for a few minutes and triumphantly straightened.
“There!” She beamed at me as I examined her work.
She was right, and I acknowledged her with admiration. “Not many people would have caught that.”
“Well, like I said, I believe in questioning assumptions, not just taking things at face value.” Her voice quieted as she spoke.
We were sitting close together and I had leaned over her to proof her adjustment. When I straightened, our faces were inches apart. The dragon in me wanted to lay claim, to be done with this coy dance of pretending we weren’t starving for one another.
She licked her lips and I was nearly lost, when a look of concern flashed across her face.
“Oh no!” She turned back to the program, rebooting it with the corrected code.
Lust had taken hold of me and took a moment to shake, but her panic finally clicked. If there had been an error in the mathematical model for the algorithm I created to determine the wreckage locations, then we could be heading toward nothing.
She bit her lip and I raked my hand through my hair while we waited for the revised model.
“It was a minor error. Maybe it won’t change too much,” she muttered.
Finally, the model finished recalibrating and sprang to life. We watched as the debris pinged on the map, bracing ourselves.
Tasha let out of rush of breath first. “Oh, thank god!”
“The ship is farther into the swamp, but it looks like the pods are even closer to us than we thought before,” I said.
She laughed. “This is amazing! There should be hardly any deterioration to the pods.”
I smiled at her effusive relief, humbled by and overwhelmingly grateful for the genius woman before me. When she smiled back at me, her joy so pure, our eyes met and I felt a strange, unfamiliar tightening in my chest.
Before I could give thought to the sensation gripping me, Tadisha appeared from behind us.
“Excuse me, Ms. Lord-Case, I heard you shout,” she said, eyeing me briefly. “Is everything okay?”
Tasha said, “Yes! Better than okay. Ragal and I corrected an error.”
“Don’t give me credit for your brilliance,” I murmured, causing her to blush.
“Very well, I found an error in the mathematical model and it turns out the iteration limit… well, the point is that it’s just a really excellent circumstance. We’re closer than we thought,” she said, trying to abbreviate the situation for Tadisha, not entirely a layperson, but not interested in the intricacies of mathematical computation.
Being a technologically and mathematically inclined person, it was often a challenge to convey your work to others who weren’t familiar or interested in such pursuits. It was one of the reasons for this incredible connection between the two of us.
“Wonderful!” she exclaimed, then wrapped her arms around herself, shivering slightly. “Ms. Lord-Case, it is freezing out here. If you’ve finished your work, I must insist you get warm in your tent.”
It wasn’t that cold, but I murmured low, just for Tasha’s ears, “Yes, we should really warm you up. I’d be happy to help with that.”
Tasha shot me a look of hot promise, but, unfortunately, Tadisha’s shivering was getting obvious and Tasha sighed. “You’re probably right. It is late and you do look cold. I’ll head back with you,” she said, getting up. “Ragal, goodnight…” Her voice was forlorn, or maybe I just wanted it to be.
“Goodnight,” I murmured, watching her walk away and feeling suddenly, oddly, empty.
As they disappeared behind Jennifer and Zaruv’s tent, Tadisha looked back at me, and I saw her eyes flash with something fierce, angry, and disturbing.
I sat contemplating the odd suspicion she kindled in me. Ultimately, I needed to talk to my brothers about it and I resigned myself to discussing it with them in the morning.
I woke Zaruv and Karun as the suns rose and we convened in the tent I shared with Pavar. I started, first, by explaining what Tasha had discovered in my calculations.
“This is excellent news, batr.” Karun yawned.
“Yes, it is, but it also raises
the urgency of a concern I have,” I said, telling them what had happened with Tadisha and the strange, feral look she had given me.
Zaruv replied, “She has been helpful, I’ll admit, with moderating Mr. Archer’s behavior. If we are to be stuck with him, she is useful.”
Pavar observed, “She’s also not terrible to look at…”
I shot him a dark look of warning and he rolled his eyes.
“Oh, don’t look at me like that. I’m not an idiot. She may be attractive, but I have also observed her odd behavior. She hates Albert, and that might seem logical, but her behavior with him is far more manipulative. When she believes she is not being watched, I have seen her look at him with an expression of festering wrath.” He shuddered for emphasis. “I don’t think she is entirely what she seems,” he finished, looking serious, and we all nodded in silent agreement.
I spoke first. “So, we agree, she is not to be trusted?”
Zaruv said, “Surely we should take note of her and not let Mr. Archer absorb all our attention.”
With that, we dispersed and began preparations for the coming day’s journey. After everyone had risen and the camp was nearly taken down, I caught Tasha alone.
Every time we were alone, I had to fight the urge to touch her, to kiss her. I knew my desire was blatant in my eyes and expression, but it couldn’t be helped.
“Ragal, someone might see us,” she said, sounding not entirely opposed.
I did my best to rein in this primal need. “I know. That’s not why I wanted to talk to you.”
“Oh,” she said, looking a little disappointed.
“I just… I’m wondering how well you know Tadisha.”
“Well, before this little jaunt, we didn’t interact all that much. She started as my father’s assistant, actually, but when he fell ill, she was transferred to Albert, as I was adamant about having Li as my assistant. We had worked together on a project and I appreciated his work ethic and knew he had been overlooked for advancement many times before. Wait, why are you asking me about all this?” She looked puzzled.
“It’s probably nothing, I just… I get a strange feeling from her and I wanted to talk to you about it. Didn’t you think it was odd that she tried to separate us last night?”
