Salene's Secrets

by Laura Jo Phillips

  “That’s interesting,” Olaf said.

  “Yes, it is,” Aisling agreed. “Whatever it is, whatever she’s thinking, she’s afraid to tell anyone yet. The only way that makes sense is if she’s afraid that if she speaks too soon, and she turns out to be wrong, they’d suffer for it. That’s why she’s leaving for Garza. Not to visit Tani, but to see the Gryphons herself, with her own eyes.”

  “I can’t find any flaws in your thinking, Aisling, though I wish that I could,” Olaf said after another few minutes. “Is there any way we can help Salene, assuming you’re suppositions are correct?”

  “Did the results of the tests the Council ran on them come back?”

  “Yes, and they were all normal,” Olaf replied.

  “I wish we’d seen more of them after they returned,” Rand said. “Then we’d have a clearer picture of how they’ve been taking this whole issue with Salene. Unfortunately, they spent all of their time at home, recovering, and refused to discuss it the one night they were here.”

  “I think you should talk to Spence and Izzy,” Aisling said. “They’ve both been with the guys for decades. If there was anything strange or out of the ordinary in their behavior, those two will know it.”

  “I find myself hoping that there is something wrong with them,” Rand said. Rudy nodded his agreement.

  “So do I,” Aisling agreed. “We need to remember that we don’t know anything yet. We’re just guessing. Until we know something for certain, we need to keep this between us.”

  “We can agree to that for the time being,” Olaf said. “But if we find evidence that proves they broke faith with Salene, we will not be able to keep it to ourselves. We love Talus, Jon and Kar, and I know that you do as well, but this is too serious to hide.”

  “I understand that, and I agree,” Aisling said. “I suggest only that we wait until we know for certain.”

  “We’ll begin by speaking with Izzy and Spence as you suggested, Aisling,” Olaf said.

  “While you guys do that, I think I’ll go have a chat with Elder Vulpiran.”

  “About?” Olaf asked.

  “About having another look at that tank gel.”

  “What tank gel?”

  “The tank gel that was in the tanks Talus, Jon, and Kar were in on the Doftle space station,” Aisling replied. “When Salene called she specifically asked that I let her know the results as soon as they came in. I assume it’s been tested by now, and that if there was anything suspicious you’d have mentioned it, but I didn’t want to tell her that. As serious as this is, I think it warrants a second look.”

  “There isn’t any tank gel,” Olaf said. “The med techs were in a hurry to get it off of them because it was contaminated with radioactive material. They didn’t stop to save any of it.”

  “What about the container that Salene collected from the tanks?”

  “I’m sorry, Aisling, but I’ve seen everything they brought back. There wasn’t a container of gel. I’m sure of it. There was an empty factory container with traces of gel in it, but there was nothing like you describe.”

  “Then you need to speak with the Bearen-Hirus because Salene told me specifically that she collected a container of that gel and that it was on the Armadura with the other items they took from the Doftle’s lab.”

  “That’s troubling,” Olaf said. “Did she say why she wants to have tested?”

  “No, only that it was extremely important.”

  “I’ll go speak with the Bearen-Hirus immediately,” Olaf said.

  “Olaf, please ask them not to mention this to Salene.”

  “Why?”

  “Because she’s been through enough, and she doesn’t need to be worrying about a missing container of gel right now,” Aisling said. “I’d like to wait until we find it and have it analyzed. Please.”

  “Of course,” Olaf said. “For Salene’s sake, we’ll ask them not to mention it, and we won’t tell them any more than we have to.”

  Chapter 7

  Salene knew the moment Jinjie set eyes on her the following morning that he could tell she’d power bonded with Wolef. She met his gaze and held it calmly. If he decided to tell the entire planet there was nothing she could do to stop him, and she had no intention of trying. Her only reason for keeping it quiet was so that the Doftles didn’t learn about it.

  After a long moment Jinjie appeared to make up his mind. One corner of his mouth turned up just a bare fraction, and he bowed his head to her. She gave him a nod in return, then turned her attention to Landor and Con. They glanced at what they assumed was a ruby on her forehead before greeting her, dismissing it as a pretty piece of jewelry.

  “You ready?” Landor asked.

  “Yes, I am,” she replied, picking up her duffle bag only to have Con take it from her. “I appreciate you guys doing this for me.”

  “We’re happy to,” Landor said. “Speed traveling is still new enough for us that we haven’t had time to forget how long it takes to drive from here to Badia by ground car.”

  Salene tried to smile, gave it up, then looked around to be sure she wasn’t forgetting anything. “We can go whenever you’re ready,” she said. Landor put one hand on her shoulder and stepped sideways, with Con and Jinjie right behind them. A blink of an eye later they all stood in the skyport directly in front of the Ember’s boarding ramp.

  “You needn’t come aboard,” Salene said. “Jinjie and I can take it from here, and I know you want to get home to Rayne.”

  “If you’re certain,” Landor said hesitantly, and this time Salene did smile despite the uncomfortable pulling sensation it caused on her scarred cheek. It wasn’t a big smile, but it was sincere.

  “I adore how much you love Rayne,” she said. “Thank you for making my sister so happy.” She reached for the bag that Con was holding, noticing that both men seemed embarrassed and proud at the same time. “Go take care of your Arima and your soon-to-be daughters. Jinjie and I got this, right Jinjie?”

  “Princess Salene do be right,” Jinjie said before leaping from Con’s shoulder to hers.

  “You might as well know that we’ve asked Jinjie to keep an eye on you,” Landor admitted.

  “That’s fine,” Salene said. “I’ll keep an eye on him, too.”

  “Fair enough,” Landor said, then leaned down to kiss her cheek. “Enjoy your trip, and be safe.”

  “I’ll do my best,” Salene replied, then let Con kiss her cheek as well. “Take good care of Rayne.”

  “We will, on that you need never worry.”

  “I know,” Salene replied. She watched as the Bearen-Hirus stepped sideways and vanished, then she turned her head so she could see Jinjie on her shoulder. “Shall we discuss Wolef now, or later?”

  “It do be not necessary to discuss at all unless you do be wishing it,” Jinjie said.

  Salene looked around the busy skyport. “Later, then,” she said, and turned to board the Ember.

  ***

  “We have a problem,” Talus said to his brothers once the Controllers had shut down for the night.

  “That’s not exactly news,” Jon said.

  Talus started to snap at his brother, then reined it in. Snarkiness was Jon’s way of dealing with things, and he knew it.

  “What is it?” Kar asked.

  “My Controller just got some new orders.”

  “Could you tell what they were?”

  “Yes,” Talus said, wishing he could scream in fury and frustration, something he’d never done even once in his life. He wanted to shift into his gryphon alter-form and roar, claw, scream, rend and tear. But he couldn’t even take a breath to calm himself.

  “Talus?” Kar asked.

  “I’m sorry, Kar,” he said, fighting to control his emotions which was so much harder when he didn’t have access to his physical body. “There’s been a change in plan. As soon as the Blind Sight is installed we’ll leave Garza, but instead of going to a Doftle space station, we’re to return to Jasan.”

&
nbsp; “That’s not altogether bad,” Kar said. “It gives us more time to try to break through these things.”

  “Then what?” Jon asked as though Kar hadn’t spoken.

  “With the Blind Sight activated so we aren’t seen, we are to find Salene, transport her to the Aegl, and then go to a Doftle space station.”

  There was a long silence as Kar and Jon absorbed that news. “Why the sudden change in plan?”

  “There was no explanation, but I think it’s because she’s our Arima.”

  “Then why did they break faith with her to begin with?” Kar asked.

  “I don’t know,” Talus said. “I’m not sure it even matters unless we can find a way around these Controllers.”

  “Talus,” Jon said.

  “Yes, Jon?”

  “Have you noticed that the Controllers don’t use our magic?”

  “Yes, of course.”

  “Have you tried wielding it yourself?”

  “No,” Talus replied. “I’m worried that by trying to wield it ourselves, we’ll show them how to do it.”

  “I haven’t either, for the same reason. But I think we should.”

  “It’s a big risk.”

  “I know,” Jon replied.

  “I think it’s worth a try,” Kar said.

  Talus thought about it. They’d reach Garza in another five days, and Khurda had informed them it would take less than one day to install Blind Sight. Six more days was all they had left before they’d be too far from anyone who could possibly help them. Their situation was growing more desperate by the hour, but he wasn’t sure that alone justified such an enormous risk. It was the thought of Salene being abducted again that decided him. He’d risk anything to keep her safe, as would his brothers. “I agree, let’s try it.”

  Chapter 8

  Salene sat in the Ember’s map room staring out the large viewport while spinning a set of ordinary steel sai in her hands. Not only did the exercise increase her hand strength and improve dexterity, it also had a calming effect on her that she didn’t understand and didn’t bother trying to analyze. She enjoyed it, so she did it. In the beginning she’d used a pair of the Kunian steel sai Aisling had given her, but when she’d accidentally dropped one it fell to the floor point down and sank four inches into the steel floor plate, stopping only because the hilt was too thick to fit through the hole made by the blade. After that, she decided practicing with them wasn’t a very good idea aboard a vessel traveling through space at hyper speeds so she switched to the ordinary steel sai she’d brought along for practice.

  It had been three days since she’d received Aisling’s message telling her that, after days of repeated searches of the Armadura, the Council building, the labs, the transports used to move the collected items from the Armadura, and even the strong room in the Hidden City, the tank gel had finally been found. It’d been either dropped or knocked over onto the floor where it had rolled beneath the bottom shelf of the Armadura’s safe. Aisling’s message indicated that the gel had been sent for testing, but she hadn’t mentioned how long that would take.

  Time. Everything boiled down to time, something she hadn’t realized until they were a couple of days out of Jasan. Now it was her biggest problem. She thought she’d been so careful to think about everything in advance, but hadn’t once considered how much slower the yacht was than a larger ship. Even an older vessel like the Bearen’s Kontuan could have made the journey between Garza and Jasan in eight days with the new jump points instead of the ten or eleven that the yacht required. It was an oversight that made her angry at herself whenever she thought of it.

  Captain Jake had informed her that morning that he’d devised a shortcut which would shave a full day off of their journey. Out of boredom Salene had gone to the map room so she could see the Ember’s new route on the three dimensional plotter. She was grateful to Captain Jake for making the effort, but she didn’t see how it could possibly make any difference. This was already the Ember’s sixth day out. Even with the shortcut they wouldn’t reach Garza for another four days and that would be much, much too late.

  Since leaving Jasan she’d learned that the Gryphons’ new ship, the Aegl, being smaller and faster than the usual Jasani battleships, would have reached Garza in seven days. They left Jasan two days before her, so they should’ve arrived on Garza late the previous day. That meant they were probably having Blind Sight installed that very moment. Since she had no more idea of how long that would take than she had of how long it would take for the gel to be tested, she’d decided that she couldn’t afford to allow more than one day for it.

  With all those factors in mind, she’d reluctantly set herself a deadline which was now only four hours away. If she didn’t get lab results from Jasan by the time those four hours were up, she was going to send Tani a message revealing her suspicions. It was an enormous risk but she didn’t see any way around it. If she was correct, it would probably save the Gryphons’ lives. If, on the other hand, she was wrong…she shuddered so hard at the thought that she nearly dropped the sai, barely catching it with the tips of her fingers before it had a chance to fall more than a couple of inches.

  “You do be having fast hands,” Jinjie commented from where he stood looking through the viewport, something he seemed capable of doing for hour upon endless hour. The Jotunn was only about five inches high not counting the bright orange, four inch high cone shaped horns that nearly doubled his height. The first time Salene had seen him he’d been dressed in a long black tunic, but now he wore a pair of black leather pants and a black t-shirt in imitation of Rayne’s Rami. His wide, blocky feet were still bare, though. Since he could have created shoes to fit himself with a flick of his hand now that his magic was fully restored, she guessed he simply preferred to keep his feet bare. She secretly thought he looked cute as heck in his tiny black leather pants, but she wouldn’t have dared to say such a thing out loud for any reason.

  “All it takes is practice.”

  “Not do be true,” Jinjie argued mildly. “You do be having speed talent. Practice do be sharpen skill for you. But, do be not work in everyone.”

  “I suppose,” she said. Then, before her brain could sensor her mouth, she asked him something she’d been wondering about for days. “Why did you agree to come with me on this trip?”

  Jinjie turned away from the viewport and, with a seemingly effortless leap, landed on the desk in front of her. He studied her with his round, soft brown eyes for a long moment, but she was in no hurry and waited patiently. “You do be part of Lady Bear,” he said finally, using his personal name for Rayne. “Me do be not understanding first. Now do. Harm to you do be harm to Rayne, so loyalty do be yours, too.” He shrugged. “And you do be like quiet, as do be me. Me do be liking you.”

  Salene swallowed the unexpected emotion caused by Jinjie’s words. “Thanks, Jinjie,” she said. “Me do be liking you, too.”

  He grinned, revealing big square teeth. “Besides, Jinjie do be not…easy…with Lady Bear’s swings.”

  “Swings?” Salene asked blankly.

  “That do be what Landor Bear say. Swings of mood.”

  “I see,” Salene said, understanding. “She’s not very far along. That seems fast to me.”

  “Jasani do being fast on most things,” Jinjie said wryly. “Do be wanting practice power bond?”

  “Sure,” Salene said with a sigh, resisting the urge to reach up and touch the red diamond on her forehead. She’d gotten very good at drawing the power from the stone which, she’d discovered, turned her eyes red and the diamond gold until she put the power back. But she couldn’t do anything with the power once she had it.

  “You do be not want practice?”

  “I do,” she said, and she meant it. She’d worked as hard in the yacht’s training room as she had in Aisling’s every day since leaving Jasan. Jinjie had been enormously helpful, especially when she practiced with the power bond. “I’m just feeling a little impatient I guess.”

 
; “Power do be working when do be need it.”

  Salene nodded. Both Jinjie and Wolef had told her the same thing several times now and while she believed them, it was still frustrating. But, even though she hadn’t discovered how to actually use the power, and despite her suspicions concerning the Gryphons, she didn’t regret her choice to power bond with Wolef.

  She’d given it a lot of thought over the past six days. The power bond gave her the potential to do something significant, something that would actually matter to others. She liked that. Even more importantly, she needed that. It gave her a sense of purpose.

  A soft ping sounded from the vid-terminal on the desk in front of her and the screen went black for a brief moment before displaying an image of Captain Jake. She tapped the screen to accept the incoming call.

  “Salene, get into your life suit please,” he said the instant her face appeared on his screen.

  “What’s going on, Captain?”

  “We’ve run into a meteor shower,” he said. Salene frowned. Because meteor showers were usually the debris from old comets, interstellar vessels rarely encountered them. But they were nothing new, either. The standard running shields should easily protect the ship from damage.

  “Captain?” she asked, a slight warning in her tone. She was no longer a child. She was, in fact, the Ember’s Commander. She would never presume to tell Captain Jake how to run the ship, but she wouldn’t be treated like a delicate little flower incapable of handling the truth, either.

  Captain Jake flashed her a brief smile and a quick nod of acknowledgement. “The meteors are striking a massive force field up ahead. Each time one hits it flashes, otherwise we’d never have known it was there. There are no signal buoys or warnings on it at all. It’s too big to avoid at our current speed and position. We’re decelerating as hard as we can but we are going to hit it which is why I need you in the launch bay and suited up.”

  “Thank you, Captain,” she said briskly. “Jinjie and I’ll head for the launch bay at once.” Captain Jake nodded and broke the connection.