The people watch Jarred intently with their large black eyes. Once Jarred takes a step towards the group, they all drop to their knees and begin whispering in some foreign language.
"What's going on?" Katarina asks.
"I have no idea."
"Who are these people? You know something you're not telling me."
Jarred grasps her hand tightly in his. "Why would I keep anything a secret from you? I have nothing to hide."
An elder man in long brown robes with a white beard and hair down to his ankles walks up to Jarred with a gnarled wood cane in his hand. He smiles and bows. "Welcome home, Jarred."
What the hell is going on here? Katarina punches Jarred in his arm. "What happened to no secrets? How does he know your name?"
"I . . . uh . . ."
"You liar! Who are they?" Katarina asks.
"Nymphs." Jarred says.
"Oh my God. You're one of them."
The man holds out his hand and leads Jarred and Katarina into the large tent. A fire is burning within a hearth constructed out of mismatched metal scraps and parts of scavenged robots. Colorful tapestries line the walls of the tent and a young woman about Katarina's age sits on a red rug by the fire with her black hair spilling over her shoulders and down to the floor. She gives a small smile to Jarred.
The elder Nymph sits in a throne-like metal chair and dismisses his guards who leave the tent. For a few moments, he examines Jarred and nods his head. "You are Jarred Cunningham, are you not?"
"I am, sir."
"And you bear our mark?"
Jarred nods his head. "I do."
"You must show me."
"Do I have to?"
"Do not be ashamed." The man says.
"Fine." Jarred turns around and pulls the back of his pants down to reveal the same tattoo that the others have.
"Perfect. It is good to see you and meet you personally for the first time. I believe you owe our people a favor for saving your life and returning you to Earth a few years ago."
He fixes his pants. "What do you need of me?"
"The most honorable and respectable of all requests." The man says as he places his bony hand on the young woman's shoulder beside him. "I ask you to father a child with my daughter."
Katarina covers her mouth to hide her laughter as she watches Jarred's face. Pure horror and confusion fill his hazel eyes.
The elder Nymph continues. "To have a union between a Nymph and a Nymph-human will produce a child we can show to the galaxy as a sign of peace. The IGR will view this unity as a treaty of peace, cooperation, and forgiveness for wrongdoings in the past. Will you accept this honor to repay me?"
Jarred clasps his hands together nervously and clears his throat as beads of sweat appear on his forehead. "While I am sure that any other man would be honored at your request, I'm afraid that I won't be able to oblige."
"Why not? What is the matter? Is my daughter not beautiful to you?"
"It's not that. I . . . um . . . can't."
"Are you a eunuch? When were you castrated?"
Jarred's breathing quickens as he looks at her. "No. No . . . I, uh . . ."
"He's gay." Katarina says.
Jarred sighs and rubs his eyes. "Sir, I am not, have never been, and will never be attracted to women. Your daughter is gorgeous, but I wouldn't physically be able to do what you ask. I hope you can understand."
The man laughs as he strokes his long white beard for a very uncomfortable few minutes. Jarred looks to Katarina for an answer, but she has no idea how to help in this situation so she shrugs her shoulders. What does he think she is going to able to do about this? Apparently Jarred's sexuality is quite humorous to these people. The old man hasn't stopped chuckling. Now two other men have entered the tent and are laughing as well. Were they listening to the conversation as well? Katarina can see the embarrassment on Jarred's blushing face and the anger he is desperately trying to control. His fists clench tightly and the tension shows in his large biceps.
Katarina can't watch this anymore. She steps in front of Jarred and crosses her arms. "What the hell is your problem? Do you think it's okay to humiliate him like this? If he can't do it, then he can't do it."
The back of Jarred's hand strikes across Katarina's face with a force strong enough to knock her to the floor of the tent. He glares at her with a fiery rage she's never seen there before. He turns back to the elder Nymph and bows respectfully. "Forgive my android's outburst. She is being uncharacteristically brazen today. I assure you that I will reprimand her justly. As an answer to your request, I would be honored to try."
4
What has Jarred gotten himself into? Is this how these people usually do things? No handshakes, no first dates, not even a friendly conversation? Just jump right into it and get down to business?
The woman takes his hand and gently leads him outside where everyone starts clapping and whispering excitedly. Jarred grits his teeth and keeps his head bowed to avoid eye contact with them. Do they all know what is about to happen? Well, Jarred doesn't. How is he going to do this? He owes these people for rescuing him from slavery a few years ago then taking him back down to Earth so he could be with Jayce. At that time, he would have done anything to get back home. The Nymph who rescued him told him that they could ask for anything. But he had no way of knowing that they would ask for this.
Once they're inside the tent, the woman sets her bag on the table and begins sorting through it. "Hello."
Jarred looks around at the tables, computer monitors, and what looks like one of those beds from a hospital. A deep growing feeling of dread fills him. "Hey."
"So, you've never been with a woman before?"
"No."
"Relax. You're so tense. I won't bite." The woman says and begins removing objects from the bag.
"I don't know what to do."
"Let me take care of everything." She sets a pair of latex gloves, a bottle of liquid, and a car battery on the table.
This is getting stranger with every minute that passes. "What is that for?"
"You didn't think we were going to do this the old fashioned way, did you?"
"Uh . . ."
She laughs. "Please. We Nymphs have evolved beyond such primal instincts and crude interactions. Abusing one another for mutual temporary gratification is not only unaccepted, but condemned and punishable by the ritual."
"The ritual? That doesn't sound good."
"It's not. We're not allowed to talk about it."
"Um, so who is going to raise this child?" Jarred asks.
"I will, of course."
"I never planned on having children."
"Well, now you're going to. It's not a big deal." The woman says. "You'll never see it so there's no reason for you to get so concerned."
He'll never see his child? All of a sudden, Jarred cares. "What if I want to see my child?"
"You're not allowed to. It's that simple."
"Why not?"
"Any Nymph child must be protected from influences outside of our culture. You may be a Nymph now, but you don't resemble us physically. We can't risk corrupting a child." She holds up a metal rod in one hand and a cup in the other. "You can do this one of two ways. You either do it yourself or I make you do it."
"Uh . . ."
She places the objects on the table and goes to the flap of the tent. "You decide. I'll leave you alone for a few minutes. When I get back, I expect results or we'll use the electricity which I really doubt you'll want to experience. Bye bye."
What is going on? Jarred backs up as far away from the table as he can. This is insane. These people are crazy. Could he run away and make it out of this camp to somewhere they won't be able to find him? Are they really going to make him do this? He would just run, but he can't leave Kat and there's no way of knowing where exactly she is right now. What does he do? One option sounds awful and the other sounds like hell. He kneels down and lifts up the bottom edge of the tent to peer out into the camp. A few Nym
phs are gathered around a fire where they are talking amongst themselves in their strange language. Other than that, there doesn't seem to be much security.
Just as he thinks it, black boots step up in front of his face and he's met with the barrel of a laser pistol. The man on the other side of the tent sounds frustrated. "Do what you're told, Jarred. You can't run away from this. Give us what we want and then we'll find a way to get you anywhere in the galaxy you want to go."
"Where's Katarina?"
"She's fine. You don't need to think about her. Well, you can think about her if it helps you."
"Oh God. Who are you?" Jarred asks.
"A guard. Now get to work."
"You people are insane."
"Do you think we care what you think?" The guard asks. "I will fire this gun if you don't put that down and do what you've been told."
Jarred obeys then sits in the corner of the tent with his knees up against his chest. No way. He's not going to let them touch him and he's for damn sure not going to just do what they want. How sick is that? And then he won't even be able to see his child? What kind of backwards culture is this? And against his will, he was turned into one of them?
A few minutes pass until the woman returns and shakes her head disappointedly. "I gave you a chance to comply with my wishes and do this the less painful way. I guess I'll have to use force."
* * *
Velex sits across from Icarus in the kitchen as they eat lunch in silence. They both exchange curious glances at each other. Why is Icarus still wearing that mask? He doesn't even take it off to eat. He just lifts it up slightly. It's driving Velex mad. Why does he wear that thing? What could he possibly be hiding under there? Even the Shadow Spies don't wear their disguises all the time.
Icarus Bronze is the first one to break the awkward silence. "I believe we may have gotten off on the wrong foot. My intentions here aren't to make you uncomfortable. I'm only here to help Kazimir, Zach, and Blice with their research and the ultimate plan."
Velex sighs and pours more sugar into his coffee. "All right. I apologize as well. I don't know why I reacted like I did. You just remind me of someone who I used to be very close to."
"What happened to him?"
"I'm sure you've heard about the pilot who deserted then stole a space fighter and died when he flew the fighter into a space carrier?"
"Vice Admiral Doss, wasn't it?" Icarus asks. "Wasn't he an archon?"
"That's him. We had been friends for something like two hundred years. I guess I'm just clinging to anything or anyone who reminds me even a little of him. It's not fair to you or anyone else."
"Hey, no hard feelings. What if I told you about myself to get rid of any doubts you have about me? Would that help? We can get to know each other. If we're going to be working together, we can't have any secrets."
Velex tears the crust off of his sandwich. "Sure. Why not?"
"I've worked with Clark's Blood Force for about five years and I've helped out around the police force on forensic cases. I'm an only child. I never met my mother. She died when I was little, but I know about her. My mother was in the military. Maybe you remember her? She worked as your secretary, actually. Her maiden name was Emerson."
Velex chokes on his coffee and covers his mouth with a napkin. No.
Icarus continues. "She knew her husband wasn't my father. That's part of the reason I came here to find you. I'm your son."
"No. I can't have a son."
"I have the DNA test results from Kazimir to prove it."
"Give that to me." Velex takes the paper and examines it closely. It's legitimate. How did this happen? Well, he knows exactly how it happened. It was a cold and lonely night of working late at the airbase. It started to snow and there were some blankets and peppermint schnapps. So that's why Kazimir took a sample of his blood.
"It's taken me a long time to narrow down the group of possible men and I've finally found you."
Velex looks his son over, still in complete shock and disbelief. "I want answers."
"Go ahead and ask."
"Your face. What's wrong with your face?" Velex asks.
"I got a nasty burn when I was little and it just never healed right. I choose to keep it covered."
"I understand. What happened to your hand?"
Icarus holds up his gloved hand and turns it over. "Same thing. Only that was so bad that the doctors had to partially reconstruct it."
"You've been pretty banged up."
He shrugs and finishes off his martini. "I'm a trooper."
* * *
Katarina spots Jarred leaving the tent from across the camp where she has been talking uncomfortably with some of the Nymph women about daily life on this awful planet. She politely excuses herself from the conversation and runs over to Jarred whose face is pink and sweat has beaded up on his forehead.
Jarred wipes the sweat from his face on his shirt and starts walking off into the dark desert. "Let's go."
"Where are we going?" Katarina asks.
"Anywhere but here."
"You look awful. What happened?"
He shakily runs his fingers through his blonde hair. "Nothing. Don't worry about it."
"Oh! Did you have sex?"
"I wouldn't call it that."
"Then what would you call it?" Katarina asks, growing more and more confused the longer this conversation goes on.
"The worst day of my life."
Someone calls out to them from back at the camp. "Jarred Cunningham!"
Jarred growls and turns around. "What now? You got what you wanted now leave me alone."
"Don't you want to get back to Himmel?" One of the guards asks.
"Not with you people. I'll find my own way back."
Katarina pulls on Jarred's arm. "We should get back."
He leans close to her and whispers angrily. "Don't try my patience again. We're not going back to Himmel. We're supposed to be dead."
"Exactly. If they think we're dead, then we should be able to sneak back into the city without any problems. We'll find Kazimir and he'll help us out."
"No."
"What about Jayce?" Katarina asks. "You can't just abandon him like you did before."
His grip tightens like a vice around her arm. "Don't you dare say that I abandoned him. I did all I could for Jayce."
"You're hurting me."
"Good. Listen to me. These people don't do things for free. They won't even give you water for nothing in return. Oh my God. You didn't eat any of their food, did you?"
"Maybe."
Jarred lets her go and turns back to the people. "What do you want in exchange for taking me back to Himmel?"
"Not much. We want your wife." One of the guards says.
"My wife? What? Oh. Kat? She's not my wife. She's my android."
"Sell her to us and we'll get you back to Himmel."
Katarina puts her hands on her hips. "He's not going to sell me! What is wrong with you people?"
Jarred steps in front of her. "Ten thousand dollars."
What? She turns back to him. "Jarred?"
"Give me ten thousand dollars and she's all yours."
"Two thousand."
"Five thousand." Jarred says.
"Has she ever been pregnant?"
"No."
"Five thousand, then."
He shakes hands with the man and pushes Katarina towards them. "Deal."
"Jarred!" Katarina pulls against the hands around her wrists. "Jarred!"
"Be a good girl, Kat. Maybe they can train you better than I could."
She kicks at the guards. "Don't touch me. Jarred, don't do this. You can't leave me."
When the guard to her left reaches up and wraps his hand around her neck, Katarina slips into the unfamiliar and terrifying altering mental state. The power surges through her veins and she screams out as the force sends the guards flying to the sand. When she opens her eyes, she watches the glittering field spreading across the sky. The purple and bla
ck swirling dark matter spins around Katarina. "I said don't touch me."
The Nymphs from the camp run out to see what is going on and they immediately gasp then drop to their knees and bow to Katarina. The children reach up and try to touch the dark matter as they gaze in awe at it glistening high up in the atmosphere.
Katarina sees her chance to make this right. "No one is selling me. Is that understood? Now, you've taken what you want from Jarred to repay his debt. I am asking you kindly to provide us safe passage back to Himmel upon an unidentifiable ship. Don't pretend that you don't have one. I know you Nymphs can move around from planet to planet. I've seen one of your slave ships personally near the IGR rebel planet of Strafe. I don't want to have to use this dark matter, but I will if I have to."
5
Velex has just installed the microchip into the drone hardware when his razorblade slips from where he had been applying pressure to secure the chip into place. It slices through the palm of his hand, leaving a deep gash down his palm and to his wrist. "Hell." He turns to Icarus. "Hand me a cloth or something. I just cut myself pretty bad."
"Here." Icarus hands him a rag.
"Thanks." Velex opens his hand and goes to apply pressure to stop the bleeding, but he freezes. How is this happening? "Kazimir, Zach, get in here."
They run into the room and Kazimir comes over to him. "What's wrong?"
"I just cut myself with the razor blade."
"Doesn't look like you're bleeding." Kazimir says.
"That's the problem." He holds up his hand. "Look."
Kazimir takes Velex's arm and examines his hand. "Remarkable. It's almost as if the wound was cauterized instantly, but there's no sign of burning or any alterations to your skin. Do it again."
"No. It might not be bleeding, but it still hurts."
"Then I'll do it to you." Zach picks up the razor blade and slices through Velex's shoulder before he can hit him away.
"Ouch. Stop cutting me."
"That one's not bleeding either. Zach, connect that USB cable to Velex's port and bring up his vital signs."
"Will do." He slides the cable into the port on the back of Velex's head and searches through the programs until a screen with all of Velex's information is displayed on the screen. "Uh, according to this, you aren't alive right now."
Paradise Awakened Trilogy Page 46
