Salene's Secrets

by Laura Jo Phillips

  “Don’t worry, we have breakfast covered,” Talus said. “Tonight we can eat all of the stew.”

  “Salene, may I ask you a question?” Kar asked.

  “Of course,” she replied, relaxing back on her blanket.

  “How is it that you cut that wood so easily with a knife? I’ve never seen anything like it before. It was a knife, wasn’t it?”

  “My knives are Kunian steel.”

  “All of them?”

  “Yes.”

  “You have an entire set of Kunian steel throwing knives?” She nodded. “May I see one?”

  “Sure,” she replied, removing the knife she’d used on the wood from her vest and handing it to him. Without thinking about it she removed a pair of sai from loops on her belt and began spinning them in her hands, a newly acquired habit that immediately began to lessen her sudden tension.

  “This is beautiful,” Kar said as he examined the knife closely in the light of the fire. “I’ve heard of them, of course, but I’ve never seen one before. Where did you get them?”

  “They were a gift from Aunt Ash.”

  “When did she give you these?”

  She glanced up at him, then away just as quickly without noticing that every eye was on the sai spinning in her hands so fast they were both blurs. “The day before I left Jasan.”

  “The sai, too?”

  “Yes.”

  “I don’t understand.”

  She glanced at him again, then away. “What is it you don’t understand?”

  “I don’t understand why she would give you weapons at all, let alone weapons such as these,” he said. “They’re among the rarest and most coveted edged weapons available in the Thousand Worlds. You certainly deserve the best, and I know how good you are at hitting whatever you aim at, but I’ve never even seen you armed before today, so it confuses me.”

  She stopped spinning the sai and began rolling one back and forth across the back of her hand while she thought about her answer. “There was an incident when I needed a weapon and didn’t have one,” she said haltingly. “I didn’t want it to happen again, so I asked Aunt Ash to help me and she did. I trained with her for a couple of weeks, right up to the day before I left Jasan for Garza. That was also the day she gave me the knives. She told me that the council discovered that Kunian steel was the only blade they could find that would cut Doftle flesh with ease.”

  “We are grateful to Aunt Ash for her generosity,” Talus said. She glanced at him, her tension increasing when she saw the frown on his face. She knew that look. He was having a serious debate with himself about something.

  “I still don’t understand,” Jon said. “Did Aunt Ash give you these because she expected you to be fighting Doftles?”

  “She gave them to me because she wanted me to have weapons that would be effective against whatever I might be faced with.”

  “The Doftle are small, Salene,” Talus said, his voice heavy with reluctance. “But don’t let that fool you. They’re very dangerous. You need to stay as far from them as you can get no matter how many of those knives you have strapped on your body.”

  Salene stilled, so surprised that her mouth actually fell open while her sai fell to the floor. Then her anger kicked in. She glanced at the children, then picked up the sai while mentally rewording what she’d been about to say. “Do you think that the three of you are the only ones who experienced the Doftle’s particular brand of hospitality?” she asked, her voice low, her words clipped.

  “Of course not,” Talus said, surprised by her barely restrained anger. “We know they had Rayne for an entire year, and we know how lucky we are that the Bearen-Hirus rescued us as quickly as they did. They risked their lives and we thanked them for it. Why are you so angry?”

  “Lucky?” she asked softly. “Do you think it was luck that the Bearen-Hirus were able to track you in a yacht hidden by Blind Sight half way across the galaxy? I suppose you think they just accidentally stumbled across you while strolling through a Doftle space station on a whim as well.”

  “I’m ashamed to admit that we don’t know how they found us,” Talus replied slowly, her sarcasm shocking him. She was far angrier than he’d thought. In fact, he didn’t think he’d ever seen her so angry, despite the fact that she was obviously trying to hide her feelings from the children. But he still didn’t know why. “We didn’t ask, and we should have. Is this why you’re upset with us?”

  “I’m upset because your condescending manner insults me,” she said, her voice still deceptively soft. “And because Rayne and I risked our lives too, but I don’t remember you thanking either of us.”

  “You were there?” Jon asked in surprise.

  Salene’s flashing gold eyes swung to Jon. “Who else do you know who could’ve felt you clearly enough to find you on a Doftle space station that was ten times the size of the Ugaztun?”

  “When you say you risked your lives, what does that mean, exactly?” Talus asked.

  “You know all of this,” she replied impatiently as she slid the sai back into her belt with a snap. “I told you myself, on the Armadura.”

  “We don’t remember,” Talus said. “We don’t remember the Razor being destroyed, or why you weren’t killed when we know you were on it. We don’t remember how you got that scar on your face, and we don’t remember you telling us that you and Rayne were involved in our rescue.” His eyes widened. “Were you abducted too, Salene?”

  She stared at him, then Jon, and finally Kar, and knew they were telling her nothing but the truth. Her anger drained out of her as quickly as it had risen, leaving her feeling weak and tired. “Yes, I was,” she said on a sigh. Their faces paled to a pasty white in the light of the fire. “How can you not know this?”

  “Our first clear memories are of the Controllers saying unforgivable things to you. We remember something about an argument earlier that same day with you, Rayne and the Bearen-Hirus, but most of that is jumbled and unclear. It took us days just to remember who it was we argued with, but we never did remember what the argument was about.

  “We also have some confused memories of acting erratically while we were in the infirmary. We thought it was a side-effect of the radiation because we couldn’t control ourselves or our behavior. We realize now that it was the Controllers slowly taking over, of course, but we didn’t know that at the time. Why our memories are clear only after they had full control is a mystery we have yet to solve.”

  Salene rubbed her face with both hands, then dropped them into her lap. “I’m sorry.”

  “Don’t be,” Talus said. “You have no way of knowing what we do or don’t remember.”

  Salene nodded. “What do you want to know?”

  “We want to know everything that happened to you, and to us,” he said. “If you would, please begin with how you and Rayne risked your lives on our behalf.”

  “We went onto the space station with the Bearen-Hirus. I was the only one who could find you, so I had to be there, though I would have insisted on going anyway. Once we found you, the Bearen-Hirus took you from the tanks and speed traveled you back to the Armadura. Landor wanted to take Rayne, me and Jinjie back to the Armadura first, but I insisted they take you three and come back for us. It was a decision that nearly cost Rayne her life.” Salene reached for her pack again and opened it, unable to continue looking at the growing horror in their eyes while she spoke.

  “Tell us the rest, please.” Salene didn’t want to tell him the rest. She wanted to have not opened her mouth to begin with.

  “Please, Salene,” Kar urged in a low voice. “We need to know this.”

  She took a breath and lowered her head, wishing her hair was loose so they couldn’t see her while she continued to search through her pack. She told them what had happened onboard the space station while she, Jinjie, and Rayne waited for the Bearen-Hirus, using the contents of her pack to give her something to look at other than their faces. When she was finished speaking a long heavy silence filled the
cave. Jon was the first to break it.

  “That explains the Doftle arm Uncle Olaf mentioned in his message to us,” he said. “I confess, that was troubling me.”

  “It also explains why you went to Aunt Ash to brush up on your weapons skills,” Kar added.

  “I didn’t just brush up on my weapons skills,” she said evenly, though she didn’t look up. They wanted to know everything, and she didn’t want to do this again. It was best to get it all out there now. “I asked her to teach me to fight, and she did.”

  “Do you mean hand to hand fighting?” Kar asked, a slight tremor in his voice.

  “I was caught unarmed and unprepared, and I swore I would not allow that to happen to me a second time,” she said. “I cannot do tiketa, so she taught me a few other things instead.” She found the second pair of kevlex wrist guards that Aisling had given her and removed them from her pack along with two of the tank tops, one blue and one pink since Mali seemed to like that color. “Jinjie, can you shrink these to fit Mali and Tab?”

  “Yes, do be easy,” he said.

  “Great, and can you make yourself a garment out of this?” she asked, holding one of the wrist guards up. “Something that covers your abdomen at least.”

  “You do be saying this protective?”

  “Yes, it’s called kevlex. It’s soft, stretchy, and lightweight, but stronger than any armor you’ll ever find. You can shoot it, stab it even punch or kick an area covered with it and the wearer will not be seriously harmed. You may get bruised if the impact is powerful enough, but no more than that. It’s woven into shape rather than sewn, and the more snugly it fits, the better it works.”

  Jinjie studied one of the tanks she’d set out for the children, then waved his hands over the wrist band. A moment later he held a tiny copy. “Excellent,” she said. “You should wear that. It’ll help keep you safe. I want the children to wear tanks under their clothes, too.”

  “You’re always taking care of those around you,” Jon said in a low voice.

  “I just do what I feel needs to be done,” she said quietly as she closed her pack.

  “I wasn’t complaining, Salene.”

  “I know, Jon, I’m sorry. I guess I’m just tired.” She checked the food, then sat back and tried to think of something else to do.

  “The tank gel that you collected got overlooked when the Armadura reached Jasan,” Talus said. She glanced at him but he was staring into the fire as he spoke. “Apparently you told Aunt Ash about it, and she refused to accept that it was lost, insisting that the ship be searched repeatedly until it was eventually found. Without that gel, we would not be here. We owe our freedom from the Controllers to you, Salene.”

  “I don’t understand,” Salene said. “What does the tank gel have to do with anything?”

  “You don’t know?”

  “I was waiting for Aunt Ash to send me the results of the testing on it when the Ember got into trouble. I sent Tani a message asking her to force you to shift hoping that my guess was right, but I had no proof.”

  “I see,” Talus said. “Well, the tank gel was the carrier for the Controller nano-bots.”

  Salene’s eyes widened in shock. “I had a feeling that it had something to do with it, but not that.”

  “Me do be not understand,” Jinjie said. “What do be mean, carrier?”

  “The Controllers that we’re familiar with are made up of nano-bots that are injected directly into the victim’s brain, and they don’t work on Clan Jasani,” Jon explained. “The new nano-bots obviously do work on Clan Jasani, and they were introduced to our bodies through the hibernation gel. They’re also different from those the Council is familiar with. They’re still testing them so that’s all the answers we have.”

  “If you hadn’t collected that tank gel, Salene, no one would have ever known we had Controllers,” Talus said. “We owe our freedom to you.”

  “You owe me nothing,” she said. “Besides, I thought we agreed to move on?”

  “We did,” Talus said. “But that was before we knew that you and your sister, two of only three Jasani Princesses to be born in three thousand years, risked your lives to save us. Or that you were abducted by the Doftle, too.”

  “Please, Talus,” she said softly. “Let it go. I’m sorry I got angry with you. I shouldn’t have.”

  “Don’t apologize, Salene, please.”

  “If you’ll let it go, I won’t apologize any more.”

  He looked into her eyes for a long moment, but couldn’t bring himself to do as she asked. “I’m sorry, Salene, but there are a couple of things we must know. After that, we’ll try to do as you ask. I promise.”

  “What things?” she asked warily.

  “First of all, how did the Doftle get you? We wove a strong protective shield around you. I remember that much.”

  “That’s why they abducted you,” she said reluctantly.

  “I don’t understand.”

  “When the Doftles tried to transport me off of the Razor, you three felt it and immediately began working to strengthen the shield. I’ve no idea how they knew what you were doing, but somehow they did. They abducted the three of you and did something to cut you off from your magic. I don’t know what, but whatever it was, it destroyed the shield you’d put around me. After that they were able to transport me without any trouble at all.”

  “How long did the Doftles have you?”

  “Just a few days, but I was only conscious for about twenty four hours before Rayne rescued me.”

  Talus, Jon, and Kar relaxed a little at that, but she knew Talus wasn’t finished. “How did you get that scar on your face?”

  Salene looked at the children and saw that while Tab was staring sleepily at the fire, Mali was listening. She chose her words carefully, not wanting to frighten her, but not wanting to lie, either.

  “The Doftles wanted me to shift,” she said. “They refused to believe that I couldn’t, and thought to force a defensive reaction.”

  “What did they use?”

  “Hot iron.”

  “How many scars do you have aside from the one on your face?”

  “Several.”

  Talus frowned. “Why didn’t the Bearen-Hirus put you in a healing tank once you were on the Armadura? Since you were rescued in less than twenty four hours, that would have prevented scars from forming, wouldn’t it?”

  “I suppose,” Salene replied uncomfortably, wishing she’d let them think she was ignorant about the Doftles. She reached for the stack of wooden bowls and began inspecting each one to make sure they were clean.

  “Salene, please,” Talus whispered. She looked up, then swallowed hard at the agony in his eyes. The truth would be easier to accept than whatever his imagination was conjuring.

  “Weeble took the three of you onto his yacht and escaped the Facility before the Bearen-Hirus destroyed it,” she said. “I was unconscious when Rayne and her Rami found me, so they didn’t know that you three had also been abducted. I woke up just as they were about to put me in a healing tank and told them about you. They were willing to go after Weeble, but his yacht had Blind Sight. I was the only one who could follow you, and I couldn’t do it from inside a healing tank.”

  Salene checked the stew again and sighed with relief to find that it was done. She began filling bowls and handing them around, unable to make herself look into her Gryphons’ eyes. Only when she offered a bowl to Talus and he didn’t take it did she make herself look up. She was expecting to find guilt and self-recrimination, the very reasons she hadn’t wanted to tell them anything to begin with. For the second time that day, her men surprised her. The expression of pride on Talus’s face, and Jon’s, and Kar’s soothed her wounded heart and brought tears to her eyes.

  “Your capacity for love, compassion, and courage are beyond anything I’ve ever even heard of,” Talus said, his eyes dark with emotion. “There are no words to describe how proud of you we are, or how much we love you. But we will gladly spend the rema
inder of our lives trying to show you.”

  “Thank you,” Salene whispered hoarsely, so relieved and so happy she could barely speak at all. All she’d wanted was for them to be proud of her, as she’d always been proud of them. But, even after their reaction to her power bond with Wolef, she hadn’t truly expected that they would be.

  Talus accepted the bowl she was still holding with a smile, then grasped her hand before she could pull it back and raised it to his lips. He kissed it gently, his eyes fixed on hers, then frowned at the utter sadness in her eyes before she quickly hid it. After a moment he released her hand, then cleared his throat, reminding himself that they weren’t alone in the cave.

  He set his bowl down, then removed the container holding Tonka’s dinner from the fire. He took the cover off, revealing an enormous roast in a bed of rich gravy. He picked it up and carried it over to Tonka, then set it down within easy reach of the enormous Brun. “How’s that smell?”

  “Wonderful,” Tonka replied, licking his lips. His nose had been telling him for several minutes that there was meat in the pan, though he had no idea how that was possible. “How’d you do that?”

  “It’s freeze dried,” Talus said, returning to his place. “We have about two dozen of them so there’s more than enough for us all to eat roast for the next few weeks if we want. We have other meals as well, but we thought that would work for you.”

  “It certainly will,” Tonka said. “I thank you, Talus Gryphon. This was extremely generous of you.”

  “You’re welcome, Tonka, but as you saw, it was easy enough,” Talus said. “Just be careful till it cools down.”

  “Would you like some stew while you’re waiting for it to cool?” Salene asked.

  “No, thank you,” he replied. “This will be more than enough for me, I’m sure.” He eyed the roast, his ears going down.

  “What’s troubling you?” Salene asked.

  Tonka’s head went up in surprise, his attention diverted from the roast for a moment. “I’ve been meaning to ask how it is that you read me so well, Salene.”

  “My mother had a dog that wasn’t as big as you, Tonka, but was still very big. She saved him from a horrible fate before my sisters and I were born, and named him Tiny. Mom has a gift for communicating with animals, but Tiny was special to her. He saved her life once, as she saved his. Tiny watched over and guarded us kids from the moment we were born. We couldn’t communicate with him the way Mom did, but we learned how to read his body language before we could talk. You’re not a dog, but there are enough similarities for me to read you fairly well, I think.”