by Brenda Hiatt
I held it at arm’s length then let it go, half expecting it to fall, like everyone else knew some trick I didn’t. But no, it just hovered there for a good minute before gradually starting to sink toward my knees.
“Ship must be almost turned already.” Sean sounded disappointed. He quickly pulled another ping-pong ball out of his pocket and lobbed it up toward the ceiling. Like the pen, it hung suspended for several seconds, ten feet above us, then slowly, slowly drifted back down, gathering speed toward the end. “Ah, well, still fun. Don’t you think?”
“Absolutely.” I dropped the pen again. This time it fell a little quicker. What an amazing life I was leading! A year ago I could never have imagined any of this.
Definitely cool, Rigel agreed. I only wish—
Yeah, me too. I sent the longing I felt from him back his way with a little sigh. Still, if I could get Acclaimed as quickly as Mr. O predicted, then deal with the Grentl issue, our path would have to get easier.
On that exact thought, the image of Mars on the big screen in front of us pixelated.
“They must be about to start the movie,” Molly remarked. “Probably a Disney flick or something else family-friendly.”
That made sense, since every passenger was trapped here at the moment, including a few younger children. Like everyone else, I watched the screen, figuring we’d decide whether to stay once we knew what the movie was.
But no movie started.
Instead, the screen went completely blank for about five seconds, then another image appeared—the living room of my suite, with Molly, Rigel and me standing in the middle, talking without sound. What the—?
Up on the screen, Molly was smiling as she said something to me. I gestured toward my bedroom as I responded, then Rigel shrugged and said something to Molly. Molly went into her bedroom and came out with her toiletry kit, then headed to the bathroom. My heart thudded up into my throat as I realized what we were seeing—what everyone was about to see. I could feel Rigel’s panic, as intense as my own, but there was nothing—nothing—we could do but sit and watch, just like every single other passenger on the Quintessence.
CHAPTER 22
beidan (BID-den): gossip; scandal
Sean
I’m wondering if I’d be dumb to try holding M’s hand during tonight’s movie when suddenly I’m seeing her—and Molly and Rigel—up on the big screen instead of “Transformers” or whatever. Huh? It looks like a video feed from her quarters but it can’t be live, since they’re all sitting right next to me. I keep watching, trying to figure out how the heck we can be seeing this, when suddenly M—on the screen, I mean—starts making out with Rigel.
My breath huffs out like somebody just punched me.
I can’t look away, even though it kills me to watch them kissing…and kissing. Finally I turn to look at M, though to say what, I don’t know. She’s staring straight ahead, her face tense and paper white, like she’s as shocked as anyone. And she probably is—shocked that everybody’s seeing this.
The kissing goes on and on and what began as startled murmurs rises into a babble of confusion and outrage. I know exactly how everybody feels—only more so. Finally the picture freezes, M still in Rigel’s arms, their faces all mashed together. Then, mercifully, it disappears.
But only for a second. Another video pops up, this time of Rigel tiptoeing across the now-darkened living room to M’s bedroom door. He taps on it soundlessly, the door opens and there’s M, in a frilly nightgown, obviously expecting him. He goes into her room and the door shuts behind them. Then suddenly Mars is back up on the vidscreen, like it never went away. If it wasn’t for the shocked faces and voices all around me, I’d almost think I hallucinated the whole thing, like some horrific waking nightmare.
I barely hear the announcement that we’re free to undo our harnesses, I’m still so gut-punched. I turn to M again, praying she has some explanation, but she still won’t even look at me. People in front of us, behind us, on either side, are all yelling questions and accusations at her and at Rigel but it’s like she can’t even hear them.
Molly’s the first to speak. “We…we should probably go.” M doesn’t respond. It’s like she’s retreated into another dimension or something. Probably from shame and embarrassment.
Pissed but also a little worried now, I reach over and grab her arm. “Come on. We can’t stay here.”
She flinches and finally turns wide eyes to me. “Sean, I—”
“Not now.” My voice is harsh, but harsh is how I’m feeling.
The four of us stand up. I don’t look at Rigel. I can’t. We move to the end of our row. The Captain and my dad are standing there, waiting for us. For M.
“Excellency, I must ask you and your attendants to come with me,” the Captain says.
She nods, her face expressionless. I’m not exactly one of her attendants and neither is my dad, but we come, too. The Captain doesn’t tell us not to. All of us get into the executive lift and he takes us up to Level One. The whole way up, M and Rigel hold hands. Guess they figure there’s no point hiding the truth now. I want to wrench them apart but I don’t. I don’t do anything at all.
Once we’re inside the Captain’s quarters, the same room where we had dinner last night, he turns to M. He doesn’t look happy. None of us do.
“Excellency, I find myself in a very difficult position. I already have someone investigating how that recording was accessed and diverted to the Commons viewscreen. For that security breach, I apologize. However, I cannot ignore what I—what everyone—saw.”
“I understand.” M’s voice is almost a whisper, like she’s scared. “We never meant—” The door chime sounds, cutting her off.
One of the women we met yesterday on the bridge comes in, escorting Gordon Nolan. “Captain, I was able to trace the source of the breach to this man’s cabin on Level Two. I thought you would want to question him at once.”
The Captain turns to Gordon with a frown. “Explain yourself.”
The guy doesn’t say anything for a second, then he shrugs. “After hearing rumors about the Princess and her Bodyguard, I thought it important to find out if they were true—for the good of Nuath. It’s the sort of thing our people should know about, given the new policy of openness after all of Faxon’s lies. Don’t you agree?”
The Captain just gives Gordon a long, cold look. “Exactly how were you able to pull off this bit of sabotage, sir?”
The guy positively smirks and I remember M never liked him. “Your security leaves a bit to be desired, Captain. Finding and copying that feed wasn’t nearly as hard as I expected. Patching that copy into the feed downstairs was even easier.”
“It appears to have been a sophisticated hacking job, Captain,” the female officer says, “but not sophisticated enough to keep me from tracing it. I’ve already taken steps to ensure nothing like this can ever happen again.”
“Thank you, Jana.” Captain Liam turns back to M. “I do apologize for the intrusion into your privacy, Excellency. While I thoroughly condemn what this man did to prove his suspicions—” he glances angrily at Gordon— “I can’t ignore what has been revealed. I’m afraid I am forced to take action.”
Rigel speaks up before M can answer. “What sort of action, sir? Nothing that will compromise the Sovereign’s safety, I hope?”
I snort, but Gordon actually has the nerve to laugh. “You’re a fine one to talk about her safety after posing as her Bodyguard under false pretenses. I can’t imagine how you managed to worm your way into such a responsible position without having your true intentions suspected, but now that you’ve been exposed—”
“He didn’t worm his way into anything,” M interrupts him, color coming back to her cheeks. “I myself convinced the Echtran Council to appoint him Bodyguard and the Council has known about our relationship all along. They only asked that we hide it in public. Rigel was completely trained for his Bodyguard duties, you can check with the Council. He passed their test and everything.�
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“The Council knew?” Gordon sounds scandalized. I wonder if he’s faking it. “How could they allow such a thing? Just how long has this…relationship been going on?”
“They allowed it because I refused to become Sovereign if they didn’t. And Rigel and I have been together since before I learned about Mars, or who I was, or…or anything.”
“Together?” the Captain repeats. “Do you mean—?”
M huffs out a breath. “No! We’re not sleeping together and we never have, no matter what people think.” Her cheeks are bright red now. I wish I had my mum’s ability to tell if someone’s lying. “I wouldn’t be alive right now if it weren’t for Rigel. I thought everyone knew that story, how he saved me from Faxon’s minions back on Earth? More than once?”
The Captain reluctantly nods, but Gordon just smirks and slants a look my way. “I’m betting your Consort didn’t know about this.”
“This does seem unfair to him in the extreme.” Captain Liam looks at me, too, his expression sympathetic. Now I feel my own face getting hot.
“Sean knows,” M tells them before I can figure out what to say. “He’s always known, from the moment I met him. He doesn’t like it, but he definitely knows.”
The Captain frowns at me thoughtfully. “Now I understand your reaction to discovering that the Princess’s Bodyguard would share her quarters. Still—” He turns back to M— “as Captain of the Quintessence, I can’t in conscience allow a situation to continue aboard my ship that could jeopardize the future of Nuath. Your Bodyguard is hereby relieved and is not to approach you for any reason during the remainder of the voyage. Jana here will serve as his replacement until we reach Mars, where it will be up to others to decide how to proceed.”
Though she looks stricken, M manages a tiny nod. “I can’t blame you, Captain. But I won’t allow you or anyone to punish Rigel for something that wasn’t his fault—or, at least, no more his fault than mine.”
“He won’t be punished,” the Captain says. “Not by me. A bed will be found for him in Steerage and he is to stay there except for meals.” Then, to Rigel, “Jana will escort you down immediately. Your belongings will be brought to you shortly.”
Rigel looks at M questioningly and she looks back, almost like they’re exchanging thoughts with their eyes, then he nods. “You’re sure my replacement is capable?”
“Quite capable. Though Jana’s primary duties aboard the Quintessence have been to monitor the sensors, she is also my chief security officer and has both the training and experience necessary to keep the Sovereign safe.”
With another jerky nod, Rigel allows Jana to escort him out of the room.
As soon as they’re gone, the Captain turns to Gordon. “Unfortunately, I don’t have the authority to discipline someone of your rank, but I strongly suggest you remain in your quarters until we land. Then someone who does have that authority can deal with you. Now, get out of my sight.”
Though he looks stunned someone would dare talk to him like that, Gordon doesn’t argue. With a final, angry glance at M, he leaves without another word.
My dad frowns after him until the door closes. “I’m sorry you were put in such an untenable position, Captain. If you have no objection, we’ll leave as well. I’d like to speak with the Sovereign and my children privately.”
“Of course.” Captain Liam looks stressed and tired and like he’s more than ready for all this to be over. “Good night.” He gives M sort of a sketchy version of the proper bow and we all head across the hall to her quarters.
M palms the door open—she still hasn’t looked at me, except that once in the Commons—and we go in. When the door shuts, Dad looks at M, then Molly, then me. Then back at M.
“Do you have an explanation for what we saw?” he asks, but not accusingly, like I would have. He just asks it.
I can tell M is almost on the verge of tears, but she takes a deep breath and gives a little shrug. “That first night, after we boarded the ship, well, it had been so long… None of us had noticed the cameras yet, so the minute Molly was out of the room, I just couldn’t resist kissing Rigel. I know it was dumb, but we’re both so much stronger when we can…touch each other. Because of our bond. We…I needed that. I’m sorry.”
“Molly?” Dad says. “Part of your duties—”
“I know.” Molly looks embarrassed. “I told them that. I didn’t see—”
“It wasn’t Molly’s fault at all, Mr. O’Gara,” M breaks in quickly. “I promise.”
Dad looks at her for a long moment but I can’t tell what he’s thinking. “Suppose you tell me about that second bit we saw. When was that?”
M swallows visibly. “Last night, after dinner. I know it looked bad, but we just really, really needed to talk, and not in front of the cameras or Molly or anybody.”
“Talk. About what?” Dad looks almost as skeptical as I feel.
“I—” M darts a glance at me, then at Molly. “I’d rather not say.”
He raises an eyebrow. “All you did was talk? How long was Rigel in your room?”
Now she goes pink again and I feel my gut clench. “We, um, might have kissed some, too. But it was mostly talking, I swear! He wasn’t in there long, maybe half an hour.”
My dad heaves a tired-sounding sigh. “There will be no way to keep this quiet once we reach Mars, as everyone on the ship witnessed that video. Word will likely spread within hours of our arrival, which means we need to focus on damage control now, before we land, if we are still to get you Acclaimed.”
“Can’t we just tell everybody the truth?” M looks up at him pleadingly. “It would be so much easier.”
Oh, sure, and make me a colony-wide laughingstock!
But Dad’s already shaking his head. “No. The traditionalists, your greatest supporters, could turn against you, and we can’t afford that. Better to— Never mind. These decisions can wait for morning. We’re all rather stressed right now and I need time to think things through.”
He says good night to M and Molly and motions me to leave with him. I hesitate, wanting to talk to M myself, ask her again if all she and Rigel really did in her bedroom was talk and kiss, but I guess there’s no point. If she lied to my dad, she’ll lie to me. It’s not like I can shake the truth out of her—or like I would, even if I could, no matter how she hurt and betrayed me.
I look at her, trying to communicate all that with my eyes the way Rigel seems to be able to do, but she barely glances at me before turning away. Again.
Dad insists his breakfast meeting with M be private, so even though I barely slept all night, I head down to the Commons as soon as he leaves. Before I even reach the recombinators, Brenna comes over, looking smug.
“Didn’t I tell you it was more than a rumor, about the Princess and her Bodyguard? Didn’t I?” A few people nearby look interested in our conversation and I remember again how much Brenna likes to gossip.
I shrug. “I really can’t talk about it. Sorry.”
“Rigel won’t, either. He went straight to bed when that scary security woman escorted him down to Steerage last night. Rowena tried to talk to him this morning, but he’s in a pretty foul mood.” She glances over her shoulder. I look too, and see Rigel at a table alone, his back to the room.
“Excuse me.” I get the default breakfast of scrambled eggs and toast, then take my tray over to Rigel’s table, where he’s pushing food around on his plate.
“Go away,” he snarls, not even looking up.
I ignore him and plunk my tray and my self down across from him. “Want to tell me your version of what happened in M’s bedroom?”
He glares at me. “No. I don’t.”
“So it’s every bit as bad as people are saying, huh?”
Rigel makes a convulsive little jerk like he wants to stab me with his fork. “You mean what your girlfriend is saying? You do know she’s the one who tipped off Gordon about the vid feed after eavesdropping on us yesterday, right?”
I didn’t, but
all I say is, “She’s not my girlfriend.”
“Right.” Rigel snorts. “Maybe if you’d tried harder to convince her of that, she wouldn’t have been so eager to spread stories about M.”
“Which you two conveniently proved were true.” Whether Brenna was involved isn’t the point. “You know no one will believe nothing happened behind that closed door.” Even I don’t believe it, much as I wish I could. Ever since Trina’s nasty trick with her phone, I’ve had nightmares about what M and Rigel might have done, might still be doing, in secret.
“We kissed. And talked. That’s all. But it’s enough for them to use as ammunition against M.”
“Against M? Sounds like you’re the one they—”
“You don’t get it, do you?” He plants both fists on the table, his eyes narrowing to slits. “There are people, Royals, who want power for themselves and M is in the way. It was probably one of them who sent those guys after her back in Ireland, to keep her from going to Mars at all. Maybe they want me out of the way so they can get to her more easily, or maybe they just want some scandal to keep her from getting Acclaimed, but either way it’s about politics, you can bet your life on it. I’m just a detail. One that screwed up, so now I can’t even protect her.”
I frown at him as that sinks in. “But she still has a Bodyguard, that woman from ship’s security.”
“For two days. Once we get to Mars, they’ll probably put one of their own people in, somebody who won’t even care about keeping M safe, who might even want to—”
“No!” That draws even more attention than we already had. I lower my voice. “I won’t let that happen. No way. I may not be her official Bodyguard, but I sure as hell won’t let anybody hurt her.”
He looks at me for like ten seconds, then surprises me by relaxing a little. “Thanks. That helps a little. She thinks she can fix things, make them put me back in as Bodyguard, but…” His face twists with what looks like pain. “If my screwup gets her hurt, I’ll…I don’t know what I’ll do.”
