by Zara Zenia
“A strange feeling? Well, I know she works for Albert and the fact that she can tolerate him is certainly an oddity, but she is a good person. If she was trying to separate us, it’s probably because we aren’t entirely good at hiding… this.” She gestured between us. “I wouldn’t be surprised if Albert has enlisted her in his attempts to win my favor.”
She looked around and quickly kissed me, preventing my retort. “You shouldn’t worry about her, honestly. Since I’ve come to spend more time with her, I’ve found that I misjudged her, too. She’s really a nice person.”
I wanted to argue, but Karun called out to everyone to signal our departure, so I held back, an uncomfortable knot forming in my stomach.
Chapter 10
Tasha
We had been on the road six days when we finally neared the location of the first pod. The revised calculations had led us to a place known as the Faustian Swamp. It was an eerie place that was rarely visited because of the acidity and the rather supernatural feel.
The soil in the area was rich in white phosphorus. The original plotters of Vaxivia’s habitat development must have had some vision in mind, but that vision was now lost to history. What remained was a glowing swampland that was volatile and dangerous.
When we sent our researchers to test the water quality of the area, several had suffered severe burns as a result of the pyrophoric reaction of the soil’s phosphorus interacting with the oxygen in the water. My father had our team bring back samples and dabbled with the idea of creating a phosphorus-based weapon, but I sidelined the idea when I took over.
Even as we rode, a great distance from it yet, the light it produced was visible to the naked eye. I didn’t know how plant life could survive in such a harsh environment, but life adapts and, even in this disturbing environment, an array of odd plants had found a way to thrive.
The flat plains of Vaxivia began to grow dotted with tall, leathery trees in varying shades of red. Their spiky leaves emitted a faint red glow, evidence of our nearness to the swamp. The air became heavy with the smell of garlic and char, inciting an urge to gag that quickly spread to everyone in the rover.
“What is that?” Andie gasped.
“It’s the soil.” I explained about the mineral composition of the area.
“So, the soil can burn us?” Andie looked slightly alarmed.
“This far from the swamp, probably not, but, as we get closer, we should all take precautions. In one of the cases I sent over, there’s protective gear for everyone.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll protect you,” Karun teased Andie.
I had originally not understood Andie or Jennifer’s involvement in the project, but it later became clear that I wasn’t the only Vaxivian girl to be taken with one of these handsome Narsitians.
Watching the playful exchange between Andie and Karun, I felt a pang of jealousy. I wanted to rip off Ragal’s clothes, even now. I was beginning to question the necessity of keeping an objective distance between Ragal and myself.
Truthfully, I knew I wasn’t objective. He hadn’t touched me in days, but my feelings hadn’t dissipated or eased. If anything, they had grown more intense. It was clear that there was more than a physical attraction going on between us and it made this self-imposed chastity more an act of masochism than prudence.
I looked over at Ragal, his dark hair rustling in the breeze. He was looking back at me with a mixture of desire and something else. Sometimes, when I looked at him, it almost felt like I was feeling through him, as though we were connected. It was a silly projection of my infatuation, I knew, but it felt so real.
Andie slowed the vehicle. “Jennifer is EE’ing me. We’re close to the search area, right?”
“Yes, somewhere in the next square spec. The pods will be dispersed over that approximate area,” Ragal returned.
“So, we should split up, right? We will find the pods faster that way,” Karun asserted.
“Yes, that would be the wisest choice. I’ll EE Albert and Tadisha to start setting up the preservation equipment so that when we recover a pod, we can quickly protect it from further deterioration. Although, at this distance, I doubt the acidity will have done too much harm,” I said, garnering agreement from everyone.
Focusing, I sent Albert and Tadisha the message. Andie pulled over beside the other rover and Tadisha drove ahead with Albert to a central point in the search area.
Everyone climbed out and Zaruv and Pavar unloaded three hovercraft bikes. Splitting up, Ragal and I climbed on one, Karun and Andie took another, and Pavar hopped on the third.
Zaruv announced, “Jennifer and I will drive ahead and meet with Albert and Tadisha. Depending on how long this takes, we may need to establish camp here.”
The excitement and urgency of the group was palpable. As Ragal and I headed out, I slid my hands off the passenger handholds and up to Ragal’s warm, hard chest, feeling it swell as he reacted to the contact. My own heart rate spiked as I felt the firm, muscled planes of his torso.
There was a large amount of brush and we spent several hours combing the section of the search area we had taken. We were thorough, focused, but still found nothing.
I felt myself sag, despondent. The thrill of being so close to such a huge discovery gave way to an intense disappointment.
As we headed back, Ragal straightened and I felt his excitement.
“What is it?” I shouted over the wind rushing past us.
“Andie EE’d—she and Karun found a pod!” he shouted back and I felt my own elation rise up.
We raced back as Ragal put his insane piloting skills to use. Finally locating the rovers, we pulled up, and both of us went running toward the center, where a large lab tent had been set up for artifact recovery.
I followed Ragal into the tent, feeling the magnitude of this moment. In the center of the tent was a huge oval of iridescent, oxidized copper. It looked simple, sleek, beautiful, and not at all like the high-tech, gadget-filled chamber I expected.
Albert was speechless, looking somewhat afraid and alarmed. Tadisha, on the other hand, had a look of rabid joy on her face as she inspected it.
I approached it with total reverence, feeling the smooth, polished lines of it. It was warm to the touch, not from the suns, but almost as if it was alive, providing its own heat.
The longer we all stood before it, the hotter it seemed to become, until finally it seemed to glow.
“It’s incredible,” I breathed.
“I’ve found one!” Pavar shouted from outside the tent.
We all rushed out to see him dragging one behind his hovercraft, straps covering it.
“That’s two,” I said. “How many did your satellite signals suggest?” I asked Ragal.
“Four,” he said, looking concerned.
I turned to him. “We covered our area meticulously. There is no way we missed something this big and obvious.”
“No, there is no chance we overlooked it,” he agreed.
Andie chimed in, “I hate to say it, guys, but I think we need to consider that some of them have been taken. There are a lot of folks that make their living off scavenging and raiding out here.”
“Well, surely four is better than two, but anything is better than nothing at all. We will be grateful for what we have found. There is no time to waste. The ship is still out there and we need to get to it now, not later.” Ragal seemed to be rallying the brothers and they, in turn, responded.
The suns had begun to set and we decided to make camp for the night, given the dangerous nature of the swamp. I skipped a tasteless dinner of travel rations and spent my time studying the pods.
They were incredible. What I had taken for iridescence was actually a fine, tiny network of computing connections, like a grid that overlaid the whole thing.
Ragal finally came to get me when everyone had decided to retire for the night.
“You will be able to study this back in Steel City, you know, but you can’t function tomorrow without food
or sleep,” he gently urged, coming up behind me.
“I know, it’s just so incredible! I’ve never seen anything like it in my life.” I sighed.
“It is a beautiful machine, yes.”
“It makes you wonder what kind of world this came from, doesn’t it? If this is what they travel in, what must their homes look like? What do they look like?” A million questions and thoughts raced through my head as I stared at the glowing web that covered the pod.
“Not as beautiful as you, I’m sure,” he said, his warm breath tickling my neck.
The scientific thrill mingled with the excitement of his nearness and I turned toward him. “I feel like we’re on the brink of something incredible. Don’t you?”
He looked at me with serious eyes as he whispered, “Yes, I do.” I wasn’t sure if he meant the pods or our connection, and I was even less sure which one I meant.
His hands rose to my waist and I felt euphoric at the contact. I needed to be touched by him, needed to revel in this moment of discovery with him.
“Ragal?”
“Yes?”
“I don’t want to sleep in my own tent tonight,” I murmured, looking at his lips and willing them to cover my own—and then they did.
His hands slid up my ribcage, and I felt myself arch into his touch. Our kisses became rapid, hot, devouring. I yanked at his shirt, needing contact, needing to feel his skin pressed against mine, to feel him pressed into me.
I felt my breasts meet the cool air as my own top slid free in Ragal’s quick hands. The chill had no time to set in as he lowered his mouth to my neck and his hand covered my chest, tantalizing and fondling me as I moaned from the delicious pleasure. It was a moment of total perfection.
“What the fuck!” Albert’s voice filled the tent.
Ragal and I broke free of each other, as I scrambled to cover myself.
“Albert, it’s not what it looks…” I paused, recovering myself and realizing I had done nothing wrong. “Wait, yes, it is. It’s exactly what it looks like.”
“Unbelievable! I can’t believe you would whore yourself out to him! How dare you do this to me!” He was irate, his face flushed dark red. He looked ready to charge, but Ragal stepped forward, staring him down with an almost animalistic intensity, and Albert huffed, stepping back.
“To you?” I said. “What are you talking about? How does this affect you?”
“Don’t play coy with me. You know what I’m talking about! You could have had me! Me! I’ve topped the list of most promising executives in Steel City the last three years in a row. Do you have any idea how many women would throw themselves at my feet? And you chose him? This purple weirdo from some farming planet?”
I felt the icy grip of anger settle in and I laughed humorlessly in his face.
I spoke calmly, in a voice that belied the depth of my ire, “Albert, maybe I could have had you if I had wanted, but you could never have had me. You are a complete and total imbecile if you think there was ever a chance of manipulating me into marrying you. Do you think I didn’t see right through your plans? Did you think I wouldn’t figure out that you were only interested in me because you wanted to control this company? Sorry, dear, but I’m afraid you underestimated me and I wouldn’t make that mistake twice, if I were you.
“Now, you have a choice to make. You can stop behaving like a grasping, insolent boor and remember that this is, in fact, my company now. It never was yours and it never will be. Start acting in a manner befitting the CFO of this company or this company will find another CFO. I’d suggest you consider your options carefully if you value your place as Mr. Promising Executive.”
I had never seen Albert like this, as if the color had faded from him entirely. Watching his grand scheme crumble before him, he was caught in a state of momentary shock. Suddenly, he bolted from the tent, into the dark of the night.
Ragal came up to me, wrapping his arms around me. “Are you okay?”
I leaned against him. “I will be.”
We walked back to his tent in silence and entered.
“I should tell my brothers what just happened with Albert.” He looked regretful. “I won’t be gone long.”
I nodded and he left swiftly. I sank down onto his cot, feeling good about standing up for myself, but wondering just what the cost of my stand might be.
Chapter 11
Ragal
Anger replaced the blood coursing through my veins. Were it not for Tasha’s benefit, I would have shifted and torched that worm of a man alive. Albert’s audacious attempts to berate and belittle Tasha, who had been nothing but professionally generous to him despite his increasingly impertinent behavior, awakened the dragon in me, and every instinct I had warred against my rational brain to destroy him.
Even after his insubordinate behavior and his impudent attitude, his blatant machinations and attempts to use her, she still treated him with professional courtesy. I had been who Tasha needed me to be in that moment, but leaving her in the tent, my own emotions roared to the fore.
I wasn’t sure where Albert had run off to and I wanted desperately to hunt him down, but I knew I needed to warn my brothers and cool my own ire, or I risked giving away the uncomfortable secret I was harboring from Tasha.
I walked through the camp, encountering Pavar by the thermogenerator.
“Pavar,” I said in a hushed tone.
He looked up, roused from deep thought. “Is something wrong?”
“Not yet,” I said cryptically, not sure who might be listening.
Alert, Pavar nodded and jumped to his feet. We quickly moved to gather our brothers. Rather than meeting in one of our tents, we walked out into the otherworldly glow of the underbrush at the edge of the swamp.
We all scanned the area, careful not to be seen or heard and huddled close.
Voice lowered, I spoke first. “I’m sorry to drag you out of bed, but it’s urgent. You all need to be aware that Tasha has drawn a line with Albert, and he must either drastically improve his behavior or he is fired. Given the resentment he harbors against her already and the fact that she did a pretty thorough job dressing him down, I fear he may retaliate.”
“Where is he now?” Karun asked.
“I don’t know. He stormed off after Tasha delivered the ultimatum.”
Pavar said, “Good for her. He needed to be whipped into line. I don’t know how she tolerated it this long.”
I replied, “Tasha is extremely talented, qualified, and deserving of her job, but she was never assured of it. Up until the moment she was named to replace her father, she and everyone else believed Albert would succeed him as CEO. I think some part of her felt sympathy for his disappointment. That translated into a leniency toward him that allowed his recalcitrant behavior to grow out of control.”
Zaruv nodded. “I imagine if, by some unimaginable circumstance, Mulkaro had been passed over and I had been named to succeed father, I would likely feel similarly to Tasha.”
“If only that was the case…” Pavar sighed and quietly we all agreed.
Mulkaro was our oldest brother and the rightful heir, but he lacked the leadership qualities and charisma that Zaruv had in abundance. More than that, he did not possess the capacity for compassion that defined a true king. Had Zaruv ascended, I had no doubt we would never have been exiled in the first place.
“Well, it’s not the case, so let us not dwell when there are clearly more pressing things to discuss,” Zaruv responded.
“I find it somewhat surprising that Tasha decided now, after tolerating things thus far, to put her foot down with Albert,” Karun said, looking at me expectantly.
Obliged, I answered, “Well, there was an argument. Albert accused Tasha of being disloyal after… after finding us in a compromising situation.”
“Oh really?” Pavar smirked.
I ignored him and persisted, “Tasha made it clear to Albert that she was aware of his scheming and that he would have no chance of succeeding at using her to gain
control of the company.”
“Ah, and the old chap didn’t take that well, I’m sure,” Pavar concluded.
“No. Frankly, had I not been there, I am certain he would have struck Tasha… or worse,” I said, my voice darkened with anger.
“Well, this is definitely a problem,” Zaruv said. “But we can’t spare any more time. Already two of our pods have been scavenged. Between the acid and the human opportunists, we must race to locate and repair what is left of the ship.”
Karun added, “It has been six weeks since our arrival on Vaxivia. If the Infernians were already traveling toward Dragselia when they shot us down, there is a significant chance they have already arrived in Vahakun… There may be nothing for us to return to.”
A hush fell over the four of us again as we all digested the possible destruction our home, our family. We might have been exiled, but we were still Dragselians, and, in our hearts, we all yearned for the grassy plains and open, endless, cerulean skies of our homeland.
Pavar was the first to break the silence. “Well, considering their cowardice, it is unlikely the Infernians would launch an outright attack. Far likelier and truer to their previous tactics, they will attempt to infiltrate and incite some kind of rebellion or similar instability.”
“That is what the demon Seragnan suggested was the case,” Zaruv agreed. “It didn’t sound like they intended a quick, full-force assault.” His expression turned dark. “Even if they have succeeded and have wrested control from Mulkaro, we must return. If there is something of Dragselia left to defend, whether she is in ashes and crumbling or in full splendor, we cannot abandon her or our people.”
He sounded like the king he should have been.
Zaruv looked to me. “Have you told Tasha yet? We will need her on board once we finish recovering the ship remnants.”
I suddenly felt the weight of my deception again. “No… I’ve been waiting for the appropriate time, but it hasn’t come up.”
