Arnica

by I. Christie

  A consciousness…a living thing of great love gently guided her back into her ship where she could see her body lying comfortably on the deck.

  Her drop back into her body happened so suddenly she was disorientated. A heaviness of limbs evoked fear that she was paralyzed. JG's eyes fluttered open and she was surprised as she stared at the ceiling of the ship, that it looked so... normal.

  "What happened?" She shook her head a little when her thoughts sounded unfamiliar.

  "You've been out and about. I had modified you so that you would not be aslimited as you were."

  "Modified." Curious she blinked but felt no different. Part of her remembered that her half sister, Lady Varina Chaney had modified her…when Alan Fermin was modifying Megan. Varina's method was to have a chip implanted in her brain to control her behavior and whatever else she had programmed the chip to do to her. Yet, she did not feel threatened by the Sha'Kar's 'modification'.

  "There is a section in the top rear area of your brain that when stimulatedproperly can take you into my realm of existence, however, I merely tuned it for you to beable to move easier in this dimension."

  Slowly, JG rolled to her side, and using the pilot's seat for assistance, rose to her feet. Her legs felt shakier than when she had gotten out of the sleep pod but not nauseous.

  That was a relief. She looked around her, trying to see if there was a change in her environment. Everything looked strange…blurry with colors ranging into shades she had no names for. Her eyes rested on the chronometer. Blinking a few times, she leaned closer and read it again.

  "Computer, how long has it been since we left Catching Butterflies? she hoarsely asked.

  "In Standard Space time for travel in the Eckron sector, two months, three weeks, and one hour. Time measurement for Getty sector is unknown."

  "Helgas moon," she croaked, collapsing in her chair. She looked down at her hands to see if they were trembling or showing any signs from not taking in nourishment for three months. They seemed to glow and a blurry green was around them. She passed her hand in front of her eyes, and then rubbed her temple weakly.

  "You have not suffered from any harm. Better for you than in the biopod where not only your bio form is injected with harmful chemicals but also your spirit is imprisoned."

  "I'm grateful at not having to get back in there… she hesitated as she remembered the difference between her waking on Catching Butterflies and now. On Butterflies, she had no recollection of dreams or thoughts when in the SP and now…she had memories but nothing to translate to.

  Her stomach growled.

  "Right now I could eat a very big dish of ortra but… I think liquids for a while will be a better idea." It hurt her throat to speak. " Where are we?"

  "The ship you are to meet is a week of your time out of range."

  "Good. I need some time to get back to fighting strength."

  Unsteadily she made her way to the galley. Her vision was still blurry. With difficulty, she programmed her first liquid meal, and then collapsed in a comfortable chair. Closing her eyes for a few moments, she tried to re-experience what she thought she …dreamed? She was frustrated that she could not find a way to explain it to herself.

  She was not worried about explaining it to someone else. She had no intention of talking about this to anyone else. Who would believe her?

  Alexandra.

  Alexandra. How would I tell you about this…trip? I can't even relate it toanything I've ever done.

  "Would you ask entities that live in the water for directions on dry land?"

  The Sha'Kar's amused response had JG chuckling. " Ahh. One of those trickquestions we hated in the academy. If a rain drop falls onto a leaf, drips onto a rock,rolls into a river, that empties into the ocean, wouldn't each thing it touched have a bit ofit as they of it?"

  "By my way of thinking, the drop of water is part of the whole. Its level ofconsciousness of 'self' is what determines its understanding of things beyond its physicallimitations."

  JG gave a short laugh. " It's all a bit heady for me. Give me an assignment and atime frame and I'll get it done." JG slapped her forehead in mock horror. " I used to makefun of Alexandra when she explained that dreams were for more than resting…thatbesides attending spiritual lessons from her masters she also traveled and communicatedwith life she would not recognize in her waking state. I guess that would cover your formof life. You call yourselves Sha'Kar…is that your species?"

  "It is not a species identification but a level of consciousness. Perhaps you shouldrest. You are mindspeaking in overlaps. A sign of instability."

  "Yeah. I feel weak." She felt a deep longing for Alexandra. Alexandra would feelmore comfortable with things like this. I'm just a soldier…

  She rubbed her face tiredly. No, I guess I'm not the soldier I used to be. Notsomething the Black Rose would recognize.

  Being used as an exterminator of problem citizens was no longer something she believed herself capable of doing. She wondered if she would ever be able to take part in an operation that believed collateral damage was part of the equation.

  I sure hope what we did was worth the sacrifice for everyone involved. Isn't it saidthat it's the intention that matters? I'm being maudlin. I need some meds. All this mentalstuff must be side effects of…of…Ahh. No drugs this time around…maybe lack ofnutrients.

  The Sha'Kar moved in front of her. JG felt her body shift from something that felt like pressure, guiding her to sit and grab her legs and then breathe shallow breaths. For about a stan hour JG breathed and felt the tightness in her stomach increase and then lessen. Finally JG was guided to lay flat on her back where she promptly fell asleep.

  "Recapitulation. It is our first lesson in becoming a Sha'Kar, though, it is merelythe beginning."

  "What?" JG's waking mind groggily picked up on what may have been a continuing conversation, but she could not remember what had been said previously.

  "Forgiveness of yourself and those that you felt you have harmed."

  A great sadness filled JG as she remembered the many people that died at her hands while she was acting as an undercover agent for Naboth's Vine. Naboth's goal was to bring down a criminal cartel and their agents in government posts. Did the end justify the means? Abruptly JG rose, needing physical movement to work off her guilt.

  JG was practicing moves with the Kung Fu Master's program at level ten trying to keep her mind on the hologram that had hit her five times in the same spot. She was getting pretty grim and tight lipped at what she was going to do with it when she felt the Sha'Kar near her.

  "Something happening?"

  "Company."

  JG was disgusted with her progress and welcomed the intrusion. She had only been practicing for two hours and she was dripping sweat and shaking with exertion.

  Seven months of inactivity had affected her fast muscle twitch, and three months without nutritional supplements she felt contributed to her weakness. After a week she felt she should be able to work two to three hours of drills without this much sweat. Her only consolation was the breathing lessons the Sha'Kar had her practice were similar to what Alexandra practiced, giving her something of Alexandra's world.

  "Incoming message," the ship's computer dutifully alerted her as she took a seat while wiping her face. She took a few deep breaths and then touched the receive icon.

  "Greetings, Colonel Zohra."

  "Greetings, Rear Admiral Mora and Brigadier General Mcarn," JG nodded to the two men, tucking the towel between the chair and her leg.

  "Lady Alexandra and her bodyguard, Lt. Vanstar, told us to expect you."

  "Bodyguard? Should I be worried? Why do they look anxious?"

  "They left a stan week ago with one of my soldiers to return some injured colonists to their village," General Mcarn continued.

  "She had mentioned that there might be reinforcements arriving with you."

  Admiral Mora's worry was evident.

  JG shifted slightly in her chair. She was start
led that senses she normally used for combat were on hyper vigilant. There was more tension on the Emperor's bridge than should be for a ship not under attack.

  "Admiral…General. The ship is Catching Butterflies. She is not too far behind me. She had to drop down to one 3 gees to see what mischief a ship firing on her was up to." JG grinned, and signed, "Transmitting 'FYEO'."

  "Noted" the Admiral acknowledged, signing back.

  "Soldiers?" the general signed.

  "Yes…"

  Four things happened simultaneously.

  JG felt danger around her.

  "We must go!" from the Sha'Kar in no uncertain terms.

  The screen suddenly went blank and Rouster abruptly veered off course and started evasive maneuvers without her input.

  JG clung to the chair's arms as the ship careened sideways and then did some impressive maneuvers that she had programmed earlier, mostly out of boredom.

  JG's stomach did flip-flops. The liquid she had ingested was churning and would soon decorate her environment if the wild flying did not stop. Suddenly the ship's systems went dark and came to a stand still.

  "We are now on the other side of the planet. Perhaps it is better this way. I sensedsomething not friendly was directed toward you from that ship," the Sha'Kar said.

  "From those two on the bridge?"

  "No. Someone else on the bridge. You felt it too."

  JG was not ready yet to admit that her perceptions were heightened, but the Sha'Kar was right. She knew, not felt, but knew that something was not right. That was why she used sign language instead of voice.

  Besides her pounding heart, JG could hear the ship's hull settling after the violent maneuvers. Her stomach was grateful. She moved her fingertips over the touch screen.

  From the dim glow of the control panel, she accessed the ship's log messages.

  "A ship identifying itself as TrojanHorse did not receive a response from Rouster so it sent a signal to a satellite defense array. Since it's standard practice for a war ship to clear the area of armaments, I'll make a guess that Emperor's missed this one…or I hope only one. Anyway, we have been identified as the enemy," JG translated for the Sha'Kar.

  "Hmm. This is good. Trojan Horse made it safely to the planet. Now, all we have to do is figure out the location of its passengers. The Bio tracer on Alexandra and Vanstar should give us that information."

  The encrypted message from Catching Butterflies had been sent. That was all she was given instructions to do. She wanted to avoid being caught up in Emperor's political problems, especially since that was Butterflies' assignment. Being so close to finding Alexandra was making her edgy. While the ship's system searched for the location of Alexandra and Megan and a hiding place for itself, JG went through what she had previous packed for groundside duty, more out of nervousness than efficiency.

  After two hours the console bleeped. JG studied the results.

  "From these scans, Trojan Horse is here, and Alexandra and Vanstar's bio readings were last shown here. It's a long way." She pulled up a topographical map of the area thinking Alexandra had gone underground. "At least the two are together," she muttered as she moved her finger along their plotted path.

  "These are a series of mountain ranges," she explained to the Sha'Kar's apparition.

  "These thin lines are underground tunnels. See these breaks? It can mean various things, like a collapsed tunnel, the depth is too great for the computer to register, or the makeup of the minerals in the mountain prevent a good scan. Another disadvantage is that the scans can't show life forms beyond a certain depth. They are underground, that's my guess. Hmm. A lot of exits. Too many possibilities of where they'll end up."

  "Their destination would be useful to know. "

  JG smiled at the uncharacteristic chagrin in the Sha'Kar tone.

  "From my experience even if we knew, finding them would still take time. Landingon an unfamiliar planet brings up a lot of surprises. You end up adapting as you go. Evenplanned vacations have surprises."

  "Like your lifemate. That is how she ended up on Merker's Outpost."

  "Good thing for me…good thing for her. No telling how long it would have beenbefore we got a chance to see each other had that not occurred."

  "There are many alternative realities and they have both your life patterns playedout. In some you met earlier, some not yet. But in all you both travel to Arnica, and in thesame sequence. She first and then you."

  "I bet that woman in whatever life attracts trouble."

  "I thought you liked danger."

  "I can handle it. I've been trained to live it. Bloody Black Rose troop created it ifit wasn't there, just so they could keep sharp. As much as I like the idea that I'm not withthem anymore, I do miss the trouble we got in." She shook her head grinning. "Oh joy. I think I'm an adrenalin junkie."

  The Sha'Kar agreed.

  A red dot appeared on the screen. "Hmm. No life signs we have to worry about here. We'll land on this side of the mountain then. There are small villages scattered about here, within a weeks travel of each other. Plenty of life signs. I'm sure with Alexandra's hair coloring she would be remembered, unless there's plenty of orange haired people or maybe she had to hide herself," she muttered more to herself than the hovering Sha'Kar.

  "If the spirit of the planet is willing…it will let me know where we need to go."

  "Let's hope that's so. These energy lines across the planets surface…"

  "The planet's lifelines. My friend will have touched one, and then we will know."

  JG left the bridge and began preparing the ship for her departure. She would hide the ship in a large asteroid belt the ship's sensors found and have it shielded as part of the debris. Every pirate ship known to space travel did the same; however, they did not have the new energy emitter that could hide the ship's presence from known energy probes as long as it was powered down; another device that was added while she was aboard Catching Butterflies.

  "Okay. Got my equipment for camping, warm clothing, cool clothing, and whatever comes between. I love these new kits. The Black Rose had top of the line stuff, but this, I've never seen some of this stuff. Not only compact but light. Look at this. What the…oh. A tent. That's coming with me." She hummed happily, as she closed her pack and headed for the small shuttle. "Let's rumble."

  The ride to the planet's surface in the shuttle named Yanaba, was smooth and full of surprises in what readouts it offered and the fact that it ran silent. It certainly offered new headaches for the law enforcement agencies.

  The ship's system scanned the drop spot for anything that might be scanning the Yanaba. It gave JG a holographic picture of the landing, as well as RT views of the area she was heading. Then, just before she dropped into the water, the system readings of the place went blank.

  "Helgas bloody moon. What happened?" A quick diagnostic showed no abnormalcy. "Of all the times to shut down." Irritated at the inconvenience, she smacked the side of the console. "What damn civilian would program a ship to shut off its scanners before landing? Helga's moon, I sure hope my contact with Butterflies or Emperor's didn't leave Rouster open to sabotage."

  She promised herself to mention this to Captain Malchi next time she saw her.

  Once the ship settled on the bottom of the lake, the life support went into low maintenance. With her equipment pack on her back, she slid into the tube exiting the ship. The underwater suit kept her warm and dry as she slowly rose to the surface.

  Directing her attention to the darkness surrounding her, she suddenly realized she was not alone. She could actually feel something around her that had feelings…feelings she could not identify with.

 

 

 

  JG reached out to touch a small water creature. The contact gav
e her an intimate connection to its life force. She smiled behind her mask. Her thoughts turned to Alexandra and how this type of connection was normal for her. This shared ability gave her a warm feeling…until it occurred to her that Alexandra was an empath and she was a soldier. An incongruous mix, she had once thought. Now she was going to have to rethink that prejudice.

  Looking up, the surface of the water was an arm's reach away. Before breaking surface, she moved expertly toward the land's edge, barely causing a ripple. Eyes peering out of the water scanned the area for any life. Not seeing anything moving, she pulled herself onto the bank. Even touching the grass was an interesting sensation. Her gloved hand lifted the mask from her face. She wrinkled her nose at the smells that assaulted her.

  the Sha'Kar informed her amused.

  she said.

  Peering over the mud bank, she tried to blot out the strong smells. Satisfied there was nothing to give her presence away, and at the Sha'Kar's encouragement, she tested the muddy embankment with more weight. Readjusting the pack on her back, she crawled out from the reeds and onto solid ground, noting she was in a garden. Silhouettes of vines draped over a fence were bare and gnarled with age. The stone lined paths were all that gave an orderly appearance to an otherwise deserted looking moon lit area. JG

  glanced where she felt the Sha'Kar would be and could see a vague distortion in the air near her.

  The moon's light was suddenly cut off. The rush of a cold wind blew into her upturned face and cold drops began to fall. Other than her face, her underwater gear was keeping her warm and dry. She moved closer to the building, stopping at the foot of the stairs, looking for anything that would be a trip or trap. She could see nothing that would sound an alarm. All she could hear around her was the now heavy rainfall.