Mystic

by Cheryl Brooks

  Sula reminded herself that a nonjudgmental approach to cultural differences hadn’t been drummed into the heads of most of those present. About the best she could do was lead by example. Walking purposely over to the captain’s chair, she picked up a plate. “I hadn’t realized how hungry I was.” Helping herself to two sausages and a small stack of crackers, she carried them over to her seat at the communications console.

  Whipping out the pocketknife that experience had taught her never to be without, she cut the sausage into thin slices and put each piece on a cracker like a makeshift canapé. As she took a bite, the flavor seemed to burst in her mouth. “Oh my God, this is good. You know, I would’ve killed for a sausage when I was in the mountains. I didn’t have any spices with me. Had to eat those damned rock rats without so much as a grain of salt.”

  Giklor would undoubtedly prove to be a much harder sell, but Qinta and Abuti took the hint, which wasn’t too surprising. They had each lived on the streets of Damenk long enough to appreciate food of any sort without complaint.

  Qinta was the first to fill her plate. However, instead of returning to her station, she carried it over to where Sula was sitting. “Can I borrow your knife?”

  “Sure.” Sula placed the knife on the girl’s outstretched palm.

  “Sorry for acting like such a brat,” she mumbled.

  “I’m not the one you need to apologize to,” Sula said, keeping her voice down.

  “I know. I shouldn’t have needed reminding. But thanks anyway.”

  “No problem,” Sula said with a smile.

  Qinta went over to where Jetoc sat and said a few quiet words to him before drifting back to her station. Val, whom Sula had guessed was vegetarian, took only crackers. The other men helped themselves to both. After everyone else was munching on their lunch, Giklor finally relented and took a helping of each. Sula’s knife also made the rounds before Aidan brought it back to her.

  “You know something? You are one smart cookie,” he said. “You made the rest of us look a bit dim.”

  She frowned. “That was never my intention.”

  “I know. That’s what makes you so smart.” A smile quirked the corner of his mouth. “Did Val say how long it would be before you’ll be”—he stole a glance over his shoulder—“available again?”

  She didn’t pretend to misunderstand him. “Not really. I figure we ought to give it a week and have him scan me before we try again.”

  His crestfallen expression was priceless. “A week? Don’t know if I’ll last that long.”

  “Sure you will,” she drawled. “But in the meantime, I guess we’ll have to stick to those other methods we talked about.”

  The glow from his pupils, which had been barely discernable a moment before, waxed brighter. “Almost forgot about them.” He swallowed as though one of the cracker crumbs had gotten stuck in his throat. “Can’t wait.”

  “Me either. Wish we didn’t have so much research to do.”

  “We have at least three weeks…”

  “Unless we have to rendezvous with someone before then,” she reminded him.

  Cocking a hip, he leaned against the console. “This fighting-for-a-righteous-cause stuff sure gets in the way of romance, doesn’t it?”

  She chuckled. “I’ve always wondered about that. Seems like none of the heroes of yesteryear ever had a wife or a lover along with them. At least none that I can recall.”

  “Maybe that’s because they hadn’t teamed up with someone quite as special as you.”

  A blush warmed her cheeks. “Sweet.”

  “Although I can certainly relate to the wish to keep loved ones safe at home.”

  “That’s the difference in our case,” Sula said. “I’m the one who attracts danger wherever I go.”

  “That’s what we need to fix. Then we can have our happily-ever-after free of assassins and guilty consciences.”

  “We have a brief respite—at least for now.”

  “Yeah. Until we finish lunch.”

  She rolled her eyes. “Back to the research grind. You’d think after so many years in academia, I’d be used to it. Just wish we could get some sort of breakthrough.” She glanced around the room. “No one seems to be overly intrigued by any of it. That’s the way it is with research, though. Most of the time, it’s boring as hell.”

  A gasp from the science station drew her eye.

  With his wings spread wide, Val drew back from the console, his face frozen in an expression of speechless horror.

  Sula jumped up and hurried over to him. “What is it? Have you found something?”

  “Ilya Zolo,” he whispered hoarsely. A shudder rustled his wings.

  “Who?”

  “My…creator. The man who cloned me.” Val turned his birdlike gaze on her, his pupils larger than she’d ever seen them. “He was once a professor of applied genetics at Dalb University.”

  * * *

  Aidan had heard the name before, and he understood the significance that name had for Val. However, he was unprepared for Val’s terrified reaction. “Zolo? He’s in jail, isn’t he?”

  That reminder appeared to calm Val to some extent, although he still seemed pretty rattled. “Yes, he is. Although he did not receive a life sentence for his crimes. One day, he will be released.”

  “One day, he will,” Aidan conceded. “But not today. It’s interesting that he was once a faculty member, though. Having had at least one known criminal on the university’s payroll increases the likelihood that there are others.”

  “Not necessarily,” Sula said. “However, I do like your reasoning.” When she placed a hand on Val’s shoulder, oddly enough, he didn’t flinch.

  Aidan had observed Val around others before. He didn’t appear to like being watched or touched. Either he was too weirded out to notice, or Sula’s touch was as soothing to Val as it was to him.

  “Is there anything you can tell us about Zolo that might point us in the right direction?” she asked. “Anyone he might’ve mentioned as a patron or a supporter of his work?”

  A few deep breaths probably settled Val’s nerves a tad, but the shock clearly hadn’t left him yet. “I will try to remember,” he finally said. “But it is difficult. I have done my best to suppress many of those memories.”

  There were plenty of memories Aidan would like to block. So far, he’d been unsuccessful. Perhaps at some point, he and Val could have that conversation.

  “Don’t focus on it,” Sula advised. “Let your mind do the work on its own. If there’s anything there to remember, it’ll come to you.”

  “I saw that name in the stuff I was reading,” Abuti reported. “Didn’t understand the significance. Says here he was once highly respected. The university board didn’t fire him; he left of his own accord.”

  “He might have been asked to resign when they realized what he was doing,” Sula surmised. “Lots of job terminations go like that—either quit or be fired.”

  “The Zolo I knew wouldn’t have wanted to be fired,” Val said quietly. “He was the most egotistical being I have ever encountered. Nothing mattered beyond his goals. Certainly not the comfort and well-being of his creations. He cared nothing for our pain and suffering.”

  “Sounds like a really nasty piece of work,” Curly said. “Right up there with Rutger Grekkor, except he created rather than destroyed.”

  “Not always,” Val whispered. “When his creations didn’t please him, he killed them without remorse.”

  Aidan was hearing things from Val that were entirely new but were no worse than he might’ve guessed. “I’m surprised those creations didn’t turn on him.”

  “We certainly testified against him at his trial. Unfortunately, he could only be charged with illegal cloning and genetic manipulation. He couldn’t be charged with murder, because clones are not considered to be real, sent
ient beings. At least not in the eyes of the law.”

  “That’s changed, though, hasn’t it?” Sula prompted.

  Val nodded. “Yes. We have rights as citizens, but only on Rhylos, which is why we live there now.”

  “But that’s…that’s horrible,” Qinta exclaimed. “How could anyone look at you and say you aren’t a real person?”

  Val’s nonchalant shrug indicated he’d regained a modicum of control. With the breach in the wall now closed, any emotions roiling beneath his stoic facade would require an empath to detect. “We were created by illegal means; therefore, we had no legal rights.”

  “That doesn’t make any sense,” Abuti said. “But I’m glad they recognize you on Rhylos.” She cast her eyes downward to where her flipper-like feet were splayed out on the floor. “There are plenty of planets that don’t welcome Norludians, but we have the same rights as anyone else. At least I think we do.”

  “You do,” Sula said. “This makes me wish I’d written my thesis on Avians instead of Norludians. It wouldn’t have helped with our current predicament, but still…”

  “We have a champion,” Val said. “A lawyer named Anara Threlkind fought for us and was able to secure the only rights we have.” He shook his head slowly. “I understand the legal concerns. As clones, would we own the same property as our original, be married to the same person, and so forth? Or are we separate entities the way a twin would be? Even if those issues were decided, granting us even basic rights would weaken the laws against the cloning of intelligent beings.” He nodded toward Sula. “But you’re right. None of this helps with our current situation. It is merely an unfortunate side effect. I will resume my efforts.”

  “Take a break if you need to,” Sula urged. “With so many of us working on this, we’re bound to hit on something eventually.”

  “I have no wish to be alone at this time.” What Val’s breathing gained in rate, it lost in depth. Clearly, his past suffering still affected him. “I would prefer to remain here, among friends.”

  Again, Sula placed a hand on his shoulder, giving it a squeeze. “I don’t blame you, but I do think it’s worth looking into Zolo’s known associates—anyone he coauthored a research paper with, any social connections to others in the university, that sort of thing.”

  Qinta chuckled. “Known associates? You sound like a police detective.”

  “Right now, I wish at least one of us had those credentials,” Sula said with a rueful grimace. “We’re nothing but a bunch of amateurs.”

  “So were we when we brought down Rutger Grekkor,” Aidan said. “It took a team of us working together, but we managed it. We can do this.” For the time being, his motivation to succeed was personal, but in the greater scheme of things, there was so much more at stake than his own happiness. Even if no weapon was ever fired, the deliberate extermination of developing civilizations was a criminal act on every conceivable level. “We have to do this.”

  Chapter 25

  The rest of the day passed without any further breakthroughs. Val’s mood didn’t appear to improve, and dinner was a tasty, if somber, affair. The only bright spot was going to bed with Aidan. At least this time, there was no pretense of sleeping in separate beds.

  Sula scooted across the lower bunk until her bottom was up against the wall. “Just wish these bunks were a teensy bit bigger.”

  The bed she’d slept in at Aidan’s house had been large enough for most forms of sexual acrobatics. Too bad they hadn’t utilized it. Reminding herself that not only had she been a virtual stranger to him at the time but she’d also had a broken leg didn’t change how she felt. Space travel had always seemed so confining. Unlike traveling on land, in space there were no roadside stands or other points of interest to break up the journey. After spending so many months in the mountains, the interior of a starship seemed more cramped than ever.

  “Same here,” Aidan said as he climbed in beside her. “I can’t even sit up without bumping my head on the upper bunk.”

  “Rules out some of my favorite positions. But then, we won’t be attempting any of those for a while anyway.”

  “What a bummer.” Lying down, he stretched out his arm, inviting her into his warm embrace. “At least we know it was your birth control implant that was messing me up. For one horrible moment, I thought I might be allergic to you.”

  “Horrible is right.” Snuggling closer, she kissed his cheek before resting her head on his shoulder. Even though she’d only slept with him once before, everything about the arrangement—the rise and fall of his chest as he breathed, the beat of his heart beneath her hand—seemed so natural, so right, so…perfect. “Good thing I’m not allergic to snard.”

  He cleared his throat. “You do know it has the same effect on any mucus membrane, don’t you? Not the conception part, of course. Just the other effects.”

  “I kinda figured that. It’s supposed to be sweet, right?”

  “So I’ve heard,” he replied with a chuckle. “Never tasted it myself. Don’t believe I care to, either.”

  “That’s good, because I’m not planning to share.”

  “Greedy woman,” he chided, giving her shoulders an affectionate squeeze.

  “When it comes to you, I am.” This time, she kissed him on the lips, albeit briefly. “I hope kissing is okay.”

  “I’ll let you know if I start seeing double. Although that might be something you would do to me in any case—which is a risk I’m quite willing to take. A guy can only take so much deprivation before getting testy, you know.”

  “I see.” She thought for a moment. “So what you’re saying is, you’ve been testy your entire life up until last night?”

  Whisper-like sensations tickled the back of her head as he played with her hair. “Hmm…hadn’t thought about it that way, but you may be right.”

  He’d been testy for other reasons that were even more valid than the dearth of sex. The horrors he must’ve seen—

  I can’t think about that right now.

  As she saw it, her current mission was to make him forget the awful visions. He hadn’t mentioned any recent fortune-telling episodes, which was strange given the number of people aboard the ship. Although he did say he didn’t get many readings on people he saw on a regular basis.

  She hadn’t thought that keeping her own mind off his troubles would be a problem. Fortunately, Aidan was the best walking, talking distraction she could possibly imagine.

  “We can’t have you getting testy.”

  This time, the kiss lasted longer—a lot longer—and he was purring by the time she finished. She could spend her entire life kissing him. He tasted as good as he felt, and he had the most fabulously sensuous lips. His cock was probably as delicious as the rest of him—and his snard even more so.

  Unfortunately, while she could savor him as much as she liked, to avoid ingesting any of her bodily fluids, he shouldn’t do the same to her, a restriction that ruled out most of what he’d done the night before. That left his hands, which were probably every bit as capable as his lips and tongue.

  Kissing him from head to toe seemed like the best way for her to begin. She left the delight of his lips with a great deal of reluctance and moved on to his smooth, beardless cheek. Five more kisses brought her to the luscious place on his neck where she’d bitten him with her fake fangs. She didn’t draw blood when she sank her teeth into him this time, yet his growling purr told her everything she needed to know.

  “You’re making me crazy,” he whispered. The thrilling combination of purr and whisper was something she would never tire of hearing.

  She bit him again. “That’s the idea.”

  “Not sure I have that much control,” he admitted, although he urged her on with a tilt of his head that gave her better access to his neck.

  “That depends on whether you consider a bit of pleasure now to be worth how bad you
’ll feel in the morning.”

  “Hey, I lived through it once before. I can do it again.”

  She nibbled his earlobe and was rewarded with another loud, purring exhale. “Yes, but spending long hours staring at a computer screen is bad enough for your eyes, and you do need to be able to do that.”

  “I also need to be able to cook breakfast. Abuti will have my head if I don’t.”

  “Then hush up and let me suck your dick.”

  He gulped. “You’re really gonna do it, aren’t you?”

  She drew back and gazed at him in surprise. “What else did you think I was planning to do?”

  “I’m not sure. I figured you might use your hands. Although I think I should do that to you first.”

  He tried to sit up, but she pushed him back down. “Oh no you don’t. It’ll be hard enough to focus on what I’m doing with your orgasmic juice setting off fireworks in my blood. I don’t need you to give me physical orgasms when the chemical ones will suffice.”

  “My, that sounds so…clinical,” he drawled.

  “Will you please lie still and let me do my thing?”

  “Okay, okay.” Waving his hands in defeat, he lay back down. “If you insist.”

  “I do.” A glance at his cock told her everything was going according to plan. “Nice and hard and drippy, just the way I like it.”

  His groan sounded testy and frustrated, which was also the way she wanted him to be. “I keep forgetting you’ve done this stuff before. It’s still pretty new to me.”

  “That’s about to change.” One deep breath later, she sucked the head of his big, showy cock into her mouth, nearly climaxing simply from the pressure of it on her tongue. She drew back, tugging on the fleshy, ruffled flange before letting go with a pop. “Tastes even better than the rest of you. Can’t wait to try the snard.”

  His breath hissed in through his teeth. “You won’t have to wait much longer if you keep that up.”