“Or maybe not,” Cameron said. “She’s not here to welcome us, is she?”
Coryn had wondered about Sarah’s decision himself, but had not tried to change her mind. She had lived through so much in such a short while; he well knew that at times she felt overwhelmed, and this seemed to be one of those times. On the other hand he understood Cameron’s attitude, too; he must have been disappointed to not be able to greet the relative who had, no doubt, been promised to him, and only because she was doing something which, easily enough, as Joe had pointed out, could have been left for later.
One of his roles in life was to pour oil on troubled waters.
“Sarah’s been through a lot of emotional turmoil, lately,” he said, “although much of it has been of the good kind, in the last little while. But I wouldn’t be surprised if she’s feeling a bit skittish about meeting the long-lost father and brother; after all everyone tried to convince her for years that the two of you were dead, lost in omega-space. Although she was one of the very few who were dissatisfied with the explanation given.”
“There were those who did not accept the accident explanation?” Peter said, his eyebrows up. “Who would those have been?”
“Your parents, Jane and Carl. And Sarah, of course.”
“Not Cara, my wife?”
Coryn shook his head. He felt for the man. It had been obvious during his researches in Laurentia that Peter Mackenzie had doted on his wife.
“Since Carl and Jane did not have the resources to do an extensive investigation into the accident, and the Confederation officials had decided to accept the ‘lost in omega-space’ hypothesis, Carl decided that the best thing for Cara was to accept the devastating loss as a fact, and get on with her life. Which she eventually did.
“Your parents, however, were suspicious of certain people coming around, asking questions about your daughter, and decided that they had to be looking for your natural daughter, and took steps to try to keep Sarah safe. Since these people seemed to not know that you had two girls, they instructed Cara to present Maris as ‘the daughter’ while Jane whisked Sarah to safety among rural relatives.”
“Man, I love my parents,” Peter said with feeling. “Even if they turned out to be adoptive parents. Anya’s all right, although she’s hardly the maternal type. Though, who knows what she would have been like had she been able to keep me?”
Their conversation was interrupted by girlish shouts as another person arrived at the Square, trailed by others who looked like locals.
“Hey, Jeb, what are you doing here?” Suse yelled at him. “Did you get caught up in some crazy net like Mimi and I did?”
“Something like that,” Jeb answered her.
“There’s a feast being prepared for the guests at the Community Hall,” he added, turning to look at one of the folk following in his wake, a maternal, middle-aged woman. “Maria wants to take us all to the Hall for drinks and appetizers, while the main courses are readied.”
“Coryn, why don’t you take the Mackenzies with you, and go fetch Sarah,” said Jaime. “The ship can’t be requiring much more of her time; I assume it was maintained at Trahea, before you people left. Peter and Cam know where the Community Hall is, and Jillian, Dian and I can manage things there with the capable assistance of Guru Johannes until you return.”
Coryn, noting that Dian had stepped over to pet the Greencat and to converse with the elderly man with the halo of white hair, nodded in agreement.
“Thanks, Jaime,” he said. “That sounds like a good plan.”
He motioned to Peter and Cameron to follow him, while Jaime took charge of Jerold. Suse and Mimi had flanked Jeb, asking him questions which he was deftly deflecting, and chattering about their stay in Trahea. Coryn noted that Jillian exchanged a couple of words with Nance, nodding at the girls. He heard Texi laugh—he was flanking his wife—and guessed that the teens’ behaviour would be carefully monitored during the feast, without any effort on his part.
*****
Sarah was outside the space ship, closing the hatch, when Coryn and the Mackenzie men approached the vessel. Her back was turned, and Coryn heard muted gasps come from her father and brother; the slight young woman must have looked somewhat familiar to them even after all these years.
“The engine’s purring like a kitten,” Sarah said as she turned to face the footsteps she had apparently heard approaching.
Her hands came up to her mouth when she realized who was coming for her, and for a moment she looked, to Coryn, frightened, hopelessly unsure of herself.
“Sarah, love,” he said, as gently as he could. “May I present your father, and your brother, Cam?”
An inarticulate sound came from her throat, and she stared at the two of them. Then Peter did just the thing needed: he opened his arms to reach for her.
She ran into those arms, and burst into sobs, her slight body shaking with them. With one hand she reached to grasp Cameron’s hand even while she cried.
“You two really are alive!” she said, when she had a bit of control over herself. “I didn’t really dare to believe!”
Coryn found the wipes he had stuffed in his tunic pocket before leaving the ship, with the vague notion that even happy reunions might mean tears. Now he proffered some to Sarah and her relatives, noting that Peter and Cameron were damp-eyed, too.
“Trust you to be on the ball, Coryn,” Sarah said, wiping her face. “Thank you. On my own I would have scattered snot everywhere, without a wipe in sight.”
“Impulsive is your middle name, sweetheart,” he said, smiling, pleased to be a witness to the reunion.
Cameron was looking from his sister to Coryn and back again.
“So, how did you manage this, skinny sister?” he asked her. “Isn’t this guy sort of out of your league—when it comes to looks, anyway?”
Sarah started to giggle.
“You sound just like Suse, one of the silly Settlement girls,” she said. “That was her salvo, after she had met Coryn and found out that we were an item. ‘Isn’t he kind of out of your class, looks-wise?’ she asked.”
Coryn threw his head back and laughed.
“What was your answer?” he asked.
“I didn’t have to answer. Nance—beautiful Nance—put her in her place!”
Coryn turned to Cameron.
“I wouldn’t expect a brother to notice this without prompting,” he said, “but, really, if you take a good look at Sarah, she’s got the most exquisite female backside in the galaxy!”
“She gets that from her mother,” said Peter with a sigh.
CHAPTER TWENTY
“You should be the one to fly those girls back home,” said the Guru Johannes to Jeb, when the teens had hurried off towards the Hall with some Community youngsters who had come to befriend them. “I can come along to ease the roiled waters, if you wish. You can pilot that flyer thing, right?”
“Yeah, I can,” Jeb answered. He noted that the big cat-animal was still hanging out with the Guru, and wondered whether it was planning to take up residence with him. “Your presence would probably help the integration back into Settlement life for the rebellious kids. As for me, I’m not sure whether the people there will accept me anymore, after my involvement with the Agency operatives.”
“We’ll see how it goes,” said the Guru. “You can always move into the Community, here, if things get awkward in the Settlement.”
He grinned.
“You’d probably prefer life here, anyway,” he added.
Jeb laughed.
“I think that I would,” he agreed. “But the Settlement is closer to The Organization Facility. And I’m supposed to keep track of what’s going on there as much as is possible. I expect that they’ll try to get it going again.”
“They will. But I can keep tabs on their doings without any implants, young man, and am willing to keep you posted.”
“In that case, we’ll certainly have to stay in touch.”
*****
&nbs
p; “Dian, you might know about this,” Jaime said to the young Witch when the troop of visitors had arrived at the Community Hall, and had settled at the long tables with their choice of liquid refreshment. “Are there any suitable buildings in the vicinity of Ferhil Stones where we could set up our Institute, or would we have to start from scratch? I’d like it to be close enough to the Stronghold that we can collaborate with The Twelve, and their Apprentices whenever that seems advisable.”
Joe, sitting across the table with one arm draped around Jillian’s shoulders, and quaffing from a mug of beer, snorted.
“Collaborate with the Twelve?” His eyebrows were up. “More like consort with Dian, the talented youngest of the Twelve, I’d say.”
“Well, that, too,” Jaime agreed amiably enough.
“Now we all know where Joe’s mind is,” Jillian said tartly, but she seemed perfectly content to sit in the circle of his arms.
“The gutter,” Joe conceded. “At least that’s what she’s always telling me. Well, having grown up on a mining planet, I’m a little short on polished behaviours, I do admit that.”
“But, I suspect that he’s pretty polished in the sack,” giggled Nance, feeling very daring. “Judging by the pleased look on Jillian’s face.”
“Ooh,” said Suse, as she dropped off a plate of appetizers at the table, having been corralled into helping with the chores. “The tough lady likes lying with her husband! So she’s not all prickles and ugly words!”
“The tough lady?” Jaime asked, raising a brow at Jillian. “Ugly words?”
“I had to metaphorically flay those two girls a bit,” Jillian explained. “Joe’s mining world swear words came in handy.”
She shook her head.
“You wouldn’t believe how ignorant those Settlement people had kept those girls,” she added. “And they were in full rebellion mode, headed for the proverbial wall when Sarah’s net pulled them into Ferhil Stones.”
“Lucky shits to have run into a ‘tough lady’ like you,” Joe commented, hugging Jillian a little harder. “Some other people might not have cared enough to look after them.”
“Marlyss was appalled by them,” Dian said with a crooked grin. “She was so glad to hand them into Jillian’s care; I could almost hear her hyperventilate.”
“But is she hyperventilating about the two of you, Dian and Jaime?” Joe asked. “Or is she taking the new development in stride?”
“As long as I don’t allow Jaime to interfere with my duties, I think that she’ll tolerate the relationship,” Dian said with dignity. “She’s also not blind to the fact that Sarah is three-quarters Terran, although the granddaughter of a very talented Witch. If Jaime and I have a daughter, Marlyss will be watching her like a hawk. She’s considering the possibilities in the Terran-Kordean genetics, make no mistake about it.”
“Hm,” muttered Jaime. “There’s another field of study for the Institute.”
“And I will look into the matter of buildings within—say, a browhorn ride—from Ferhil Stones,” Dian promised him. “I bet that Marlyss will help me with the search.”
“When you get this Institute going,” asked Jerold from Jaime’s other side, “can I join it?”
“Definitely. I’m going to try to get Peter and Cameron to join, too. Maybe we’ll be able to recreate that infernal machine you guys dreamed up, and see if we can’t put it to some positive use.”
*****
“Do you object, Sarah Mackenzie, if the Greencat stays here with me?” the Guru Johannes asked during the feast.
He had been slipping tidbits of meat to the animal which had settled itself—herself—next to his chair. Sarah was sure that the two were communicating, although they were not sharing their thoughts with her, even though the Greencat certainly could have.
“She’s free to do whatever she wants to do,” Sarah replied. “If she wishes to stay with you, she is welcome to do so.”
“That way, if, in the future, you need her help, or mine, we’ll be in an excellent position to offer it,” the Guru added.
Coryn, seated beside Sarah, turned his head to look at the Guru Johannes.
“That sounds slightly ominous,” he said, keeping his gaze steadily on the Spiritual Leader. “Do you know something that Sarah or I should be aware of?”
“Not know,” the Guru responded slowly. “It’s more like a glimmer of a warning. Not of anything that will happen, but something that might happen. And you, young man, seem to be thoroughly tangled in it.”
“For some reason or other,” Coryn replied, “that does not surprise me in the least. I suspect that Sarah’s life, and mine, are going to be ‘thoroughly tangled’ for a long time to come.”
“You ought to marry her, soon,” said the Guru bluntly.
Coryn’s fork, with which he had been about to spear a bite-sized piece of meat, clattered to his plate. Sarah had just taken a sip from her wine glass and found herself choking on it. Peter, seated on his daughter’s other side, leaned over to whack her back, to help clear her throat.
They and the Guru, seated across from them, were abruptly the centre of everyone’s attention.
“He hasn’t even asked me to,” Sarah protested, when she could speak.
“Well, he better,” spoke up Steph from a short distance down the table. “He can’t just arrogantly assume that he gets to marry my adopted kid sister just because he’s sleeping with her. I’m here, at least partly, to look after her interests, and look after them I will. So what about it, Coryn Leigh, are you going to go down on one knee and propose to Sarah, in front of all these witnesses?”
Coryn gave him a baleful glance, but, nevertheless, got up out of his seat.
“Damn you, Steph, you’ve been picking up attitudes from your wife, and feeding them amphetamines!” he said.
Sarah giggled.
“Or some crazy drug derived from one of the weird Kordean plants,” she added.
For one goofy moment she was back on the Scout ship Camin 001, hurtling towards Kordea and Ferhil Stones from the Planet of the Amartos. She would have to start her lessons with the Witches when she got there, but enroute, Coryn and Steph had kept her laughing, with their jokes and antics.
Coryn registered her enjoyment of the silly by-play, and was suddenly very glad for Steph’s nonsense. Whatever gloom might hang over the future could stay there for the moment; for now he and Sarah would enjoy the love that they had found.
Accordingly, he went down on one knee beside her chair.
“Will you, Sarah Mackenzie, alpha-Witch, top-notch Space Ship Mechanic, and a lovely woman with a gorgeous ass, marry me?” he said. “I swear to love and honour you....”
There was clapping of hands and shouts of approval all around them. And Sarah grabbed his face into her hands, leaning over to kiss him.
“Yes,” she said. “Of course, I will.”
THE END
Also by Helena Puumala, on Amazon.com
Novels
The Kati of Terra Series (Available in Print and E-book)
Kati of Terra Book 1: Escape from the Drowned Planet
- Kati and Mikal’s first adventure, their perilous and romantic escape from the slaver Gorsh. While stranded on the Drowned Planet, Makros III, Kati and Mikal are relentlessly pursued by the slaver’s minions.
http://www.amazon.com/Kati-Terra-Book-One-ebook/dp/B00811WVXO
Kati of Terra Book 2: On Assignment to the Planet of the Exalted
- Their continuing pursuit of the slaver Gorsh leads Kati and Mikal to the dystopian planet Vultaire, where a degenerate elite has reinstituted slavery. In order to save the victims and themselves, they have to help save a world.
http://www.amazon.ca/Kati-Terra-Book-Two-Assignment-ebook/dp/B00D0H15CC
Kati of Terra Book 3: Showdown on the Planet of the Slavers.
- Kati and Mikal face Gorsh and his allies on the slaver’s home world, the planet Wayward. While there, they discover that Gorsh has allied himself with a power that th
reatens to upset the order of life and death itself.
http://www.amazon.com/Kati-Terra-Book-Three-Showdown-ebook/dp/B00KHBN8FG
The Witches’ Stones Series
The Witches’ Stones Book 1: Rescue from the Planet of the Amartos
- Galactic war and peace depend on the fate of one young woman and the actions of the agent sent to rescue her from a terrible future, as a vital cog in the inhuman weaponry of an authoritarian regime, which intends to control the galaxy itself.
http://www.amazon.com/The-Witches-Stones-Book-ebook/dp/B008PNIRP4
The Witches’ Stones Book 2: Love and Intrigue Under the Seven Moons of Kordea
- The lovely Part-Terran/Part-Kordean Witch Sara Mackenzie and her Terran Confederation Agent partner, Coryn Leigh, continue in their struggle to prevent the dangerous authoritarian galactic regime, the Neotsarians, from gaining control of the power of the Witches’ Stones. But, after the planet Kordea comes under attack, they must take the initiative, on a mission to destroy the weapon that threatens the peace of the galaxy. Their falling in love complicates matters.
The Witches’ Stones Book 3 (coming in 2016)
- Sarah and Coryn discover that power politics of the Milky Way are more complex than they realized, and that moles may exist within the Terran Confederation itself, assisting the Neotsarians in their quest to take over the galaxy.
Short Fiction
Love at the Lake
- Will an eighteen year old beauty’s visit to the lake leave a ruined marriage in its wake?
http://www.amazon.com/Love-at-Lake-Helena-Puumala-ebook/dp/B00IPSZKLS
Love and Rebirth on the Prairie
- A widow rediscovers love, in its varied and sometimes mysterious forms.
http://www.amazon.com/Love-Rebirth-Prairie-Helena-Puumala-ebook/dp/B00TGOASEY
The Boathouse Christ
- Uncanny events unfold around a young woman’s religious experiences.
http://www.amazon.com/The-Boathouse-Christ-Helena-Puumala-ebook/dp/B00JBRD90Q
Love and Intrigue Under the Seven Moons of Kordea Page 34
