Raven's Sphere
Page 6
Teagan says under his breath, “That you are.”
Cole is waiting for me at the ramp to the ship. He looks different—freshly shaven, washed hair, and a clean, navy blue battle suit zipped up to his neck in military fashion typical for battle. A strange and foreign response to his appearance comes over me as I wish I had taken a comb to my own hair. I stifle the thought. Instead, I run my fingers through my short azure locks and zip up the front of my black battle suit. Starfire, what’s wrong with me?
“Well, look who’s all clean and shiny,” I say, dismissively, trying to walk around him.
Cole reaches for my hand. “I want to come with you.”
My breath catches as I meet his determined eyes. “I—”
Cole strokes the top of my hand with his fingers, and I can’t seem to find words. Electric currents run up and down my human arm as sensations I thought were long gone come rushing back. I haven’t been touched like this in a long time. I had almost forgotten what it feels like. I stare down at my hand in his.
I shake my head, trying to stop the flood of emotion. Remember who he is. You can’t trust him. I wrench my hand away. “No.”
Cole groans. “Why not? You need me. It’s one thing if you only had to take care of yourself, but now you’re involved with this boy. You obviously care for him. I can be useful by watching your back.”
I can’t deny it would be nice to have an extra set of eyes to watch our backs, but I don’t trust Cole. There’s something not quite right about how he reacted when he first saw Emery. I read the look in his eyes. Guilt. And for what? I don’t want to know. No, the more distance I put between Cole and us, the better. In the recesses of my mind, I also hear, and one less life for you to destroy.
“Thanks, but no thanks. This trip isn’t for you.” I move around him on the ramp to climb inside the ship’s door.
Cole grabs me by my waist and pulls me back to him, his face directly in front of mine, our noses practically touching.
“Be careful,” he says, his bright eyes burning into mine.
I stare at his full, ready-and-waiting lips, and my body betrays my mind. Starfire! There are a lot of things I desire in the dismal life I lead—things like credits, kicking ass, and flying sexy spaceships I can’t afford. But right now, there’s only one thing I want, and that’s Cole Mason’s mouth on mine.
Get your shit together!
Fumbling, I grab at his hands on my waist and break the embrace, breathless, muddled, and embarrassed for my carnal thoughts. “Um, thanks, I…I will.”
Cole chuckles and walks back down the ramp. “Good luck, Raven.”
I stare after him. Damn that Cole Mason. If anyone can get under my skin…
My last words echo throughout the hangar, “I don’t need luck. I’m a Nevar.”
Then I’m gone.
8
Talent
One of the things I love about having my own ship, or rather, commandeering a ship, is that I can go wherever the hell I want. Emery and I are headed to the southern hemisphere of Cadmar—Aquarius. There’s no getting around it, Cadmar is beauty incarnate. The planet itself is ninety-percent water, lending itself to a moist atmosphere. It’s not hot, per se, but warm and comforting. The eighty-six-degree temperature holds year ‘round and varies little.
The beauty comes from the fact that Cadmar orbits two stars, creating the most beautiful sunsets I’ve ever seen. Not to mention the Lights of Promise, which are bands of vibrant colors emitted when solar particles from the two stars collide with Cadmar’s atmosphere. While I admit that rainbows in the sky are fantastic, I prefer to keep my head down, looking at sky gazers’ pockets. I mean, I don’t normally reduce myself to pickpocketing, but a bunch of Cadmarians staring up at the sky in a trance…well, let’s just say I can’t resist.
There’s only one piece of land on Cadmar, and it’s much larger than the combined amount of land on Zeta, which is only sixty-percent water. However, much more of the terrain on Cadmar is made up of what they call the shallows, a wetland with ankle- to knee-deep freshwater. They also utilize hydroponics in the shallows, affording some of the best produce in the known habitable zones in the galaxy. Some Cadmarians live in houses built on stilts above the shallows.
Of course, they do not permit outside residency. No, only Cadmarians can own property. But they do grant work passes for anyone who wants to work. Smug asses.
“SANDY, give me an ETA for a Cadmar southern entry point,” I ask.
“Captain Raven, at your current requested speed, estimated time of arrival is five hours, thirteen minutes, and forty-six seconds,” SANDY replies in her feminine, robotic voice.
“Thank you, SANDY.” I tap the comm for the living quarters. “Emery, we’ve got about five hours to go.” Then without even thinking twice, I ask, “You doing okay back there?”
He’d gotten sick once we entered an asteroid field, the tossing and turning causing him to lose his lunch. A moment passes, and I purse my lips. Maybe I should go check on him.
As I get out of my chair, Emery hails back, “I’m feeling much better. Thank you.”
“Good, we’ll be docked before you know it.” I sigh with relief, sitting back down. I’m a little tired myself. Maybe auto-pilot and a little shuteye would be good. The calm before the storm. “SANDY, go to autopilot. Wake me in three hours.”
I stand and stretch my legs. We’ve been in space for about twelve hours already. We didn’t jump straight to Cadmar because all unauthorized hyper-jumps directly into their orbit are more thoroughly scanned. Instead, I hopped into the outskirts of their system. No need to draw extra attention.
“Yes, Captain Nevar, shifting controls to autopilot. I will wake you in two hours and fifty-nine minutes.”
“Sometimes you need all your senses. You can’t rely on one. Your eyes can deceive you, but your ears and nose can confirm what you see.”
It’s Sunday, and instead of a day of rest, Bren, and I are learning our dad’s skills. Revis Nevar was the best investigator that Rourke’s law force had ever seen. Not one single unsolved case under his belt. He was unbelievably intuitive and could tell if someone was lying just by the smell of them. He was famous around the world. Those who ran from him were always caught. Today’s lesson is about senses. I’ve always had a knack for my dad’s line of work, but Bren struggles. He’s more like our mom, kind and quick to accept.
We face away from the house in our backyard, Dad behind us.
“Other times, you need to shut down one sense to heighten another.” And with that, Dad blindfolds us.
Darkness surrounds me, not even a shadow or sliver of light. At first, I panic at the loss of sight, my scalp prickling and my fingertips tingling. Then, slowly, my body compensates. A calmness washes over me as my other senses take over. Bren, standing next to me, reaches for my hand.
“That’s good, son. You used your sense of touch to reach out for an ally, your sister. But what if that wasn’t your sister anymore?” Dad slaps our hands, breaking our bond.
Bren gasps, but I hold steady, not allowing the sting to affect my judgment.
“I can smell him. It’s orange mixed with dirt,” I reply.
“Good, Raven. The loss of sight heightens your sense of smell. Bren, you must work on not jumping to conclusions. Never acknowledge that you’re at a disadvantage.”
“Sorry, Dad. I’ll get it,” Bren says, with determined pride.
“Now, let’s work on that sense of smell,” Dad says, walking away. A moment passes and something pungent hits my nostrils—sweet and earthy. I know it—sugared tubers. I wait for Bren to answer.
“What do you smell?” Dad asks.
Nothing.
Come on Bren…you know this. I shift, stretching my legs impatiently.
No sound.
“Bren?” I ask.
The sweet sugary smell is gone, replaced by something metallic, and the air has become muggy.
“Dad?” I ask, hesitantly.
Si
lence.
I pull my blindfold off and cover my mouth. So much blood. My dad and Bren are lying on the ground, covered in the dark, red sticky substance that used to flow in their veins. It’s pouring out of their chests from bullet holes. I fall to the ground, pressing my hands on the worst wound on Bren’s chest. I can’t catch my breath.
My mind races as I scream, “Bren! No, no, no, no, no….”
The lights above my bunk illuminate, and SANDY’s voice comes over the comm. “Captain Raven, Cadmar approaches.”
Sweat beads my hairline, and tears stain my face. Before I can acclimate, Emery is standing beside my bunk. He puts his hand directly over my heart, and his eyes lose focus. I jolt upward at his touch, but he doesn’t move his hand. Instead, I fall back on the bunk as if under a spell. His touch is soothing, causing me to lean into his hand, rather than push him away. My eyelids feel heavy so I close them, allowing the sorrow and tension inside my body to release as if being channeled through him. I sigh as the weight on my heart lifts off like a sun rising in a sky. A moment passes, and Emery regains focus, tears on his cheeks. He removes his hand.
He smiles through glassy, tranquil eyes. “Feel better?”
I prop up on my elbows. “Yes. How? How did you do that?”
“I’m a cleric from Mythos. It is, or should I say was, what made us unique. We have the gift of inner sight, and some of us, like me, have the gift to heal pain we cannot see. I was honing my skills and training when we were attacked.” He sits down next to me on my bunk. I shift over to accommodate him. “You have a lot of pain, Raven. You suffered terrible things, things you blame yourself for. I can take those memories away if you want me to.”
My mouth drops, and I stare into his kind, cherubic eyes. Emery D’Grath can see inside me.
I swallow hard. He knows.
He saw what I did to my family. How I rebelled against my parents. How one mistake cost my family their lives and me my arm. It feels like someone has punched me in the gut as the painful memories surface. I ball my hands into fists—I earned that pain. “No. I’ll keep the memories and the dreams. I deserve that and more.” As an afterthought, I add, “And I don’t want to talk about this again. Stay out of my head.”
Emery looks thoughtful. “I remind you of him—Bren, your brother.” He reaches for my hand. “You have to let the past go so you can live your life. I can teach you how to meditate if you want.”
Meditate? Pass. I roll my eyes, push him off the bunk, and stand. This conversation is over. We’ve got shit to take care of. “Thanks, Sage Emery, I’m good.” I walk to the door and turn back around. “Oh, and quit trying to cop a feel. I’m too old for you, kid. If you have needs, I’ll hook you up with one of the holograms I saved.”
I leave Emery looking confused and pinker than he was a minute ago. I smile, thinking I’ve given him something for the spank bank.
9
Dillandra’s
We land without issue, thanks to a Cadmarian license we obtained on Zeta. It was an old one, but southern Cadmar proper isn’t exactly for the high-end citizens in Aquarius. It’s for their workers, kind of like the service entrance to a rich establishment. Emery has his contacts in, even though he continues to rub his eyes. He’s donning some standard issue Zetian pants and a short-sleeved shirt, which is much tighter fitting than his loose-fitting clothes from Mythos. I grin as he tugs at his crotch.
I’m on the Cadmarian’s most wanted list, so I’m used to concealing my appearance as best I can. It’s the reason my hair is blue now. If we get picked up by the Cadmarian military, I’ll be in big trouble because of the tattooed barcode on the back of my neck.
I got the barcode in a mining town on Earth when I first left Zeta two years ago. I wanted to get lost, and I needed credits to get a new arm. Cadmar mines Earth for their last bits of oil, water, and diamonds. I picked the diamond mines, of course. I lasted about two months, but that earned me a barcode—their method for paying the workers who are not indentured. The system is rather ingenious. Once inside the mines, a worker’s barcode is read by scanners set up throughout the area, and payment is based on that worker’s rank. Once a worker leaves the mining area, payment stops.
I altered my barcode, of course, to raise my pay to the highest rank. After I got caught, I managed to escape with ten carats worth of diamonds—enough for a state-of-the-art bionic arm. I’m pretty sure that since the incident was recorded, the Cadmarian government will take issue with me. My hope is to get the information we need and get the hell out of here.
I grasp Emery’s hand as we emerge from our ship. “This time, you have to keep your voice to yourself. There will be dangerous people in the place I’m taking you to. We need to stay as covert as possible. I don’t know if I can protect both of us if it comes to a fight. Do you understand?”
Emery puffs out his chest and shakes his head. “Whether you realize it or not, you’re safe with me.”
A growl forms at the back of my throat. I don’t have time for this ‘little man in big shoes’ shit. “Knock it off, Emery. If you talk about the sphere or show anyone the sphere, they will take it from you.” I stop and bend down so that he sees the seriousness in my eyes. “Tell me that you understand.”
His expression unchanged, he nods. “I understand.”
“Good, now, don’t let go of my hand. The story is that you’re my cousin, Rogan, and we are here for some hydroponics, which isn’t totally a lie because we could use some fresh stuff on the ship. Our best bet for information is going to be in the Setty District, where traders go while their ships refuel. I’ll do all the talking. You ready?”
Emery stares up at me, his eyes reading just south of irritated.
I roll my eyes. This kid better appreciate my help. It’s only his life at stake, but whatever.
The air is thick and pungent from neoprene and fuel at the filling stations. Once we move into more open spaces, the air will remain heavy. But this time of year, the smells will grow softer—a blend of fresh water and vanilla from the spice bands harvested in the south. So pleasant and sensual, you can almost taste the scents on your tongue. Compared to the other planets I’ve been to, this is paradise.
After acquiring two tickets aboard the water tram, I usher Emery onboard. The ceiling of the tram is retracted, the beautiful Cadmarian sky above us. The car fills with tan-skinned, scantily clad Cadmarians. Mostly, they wear light-colored shorts, and those who choose to wear something above the waist wear thin breathable mesh tanks. Other than Emery and me, there are a few other Zetians, a couple Geldakis, and two or three other sentient alien races I don’t recognize, probably here on work visas.
The tram runs every fifteen minutes. The doors close, and I glance down at Emery, sitting close to me. His newly darkened eyes can’t stop staring at a pair of beautiful Cadmarian women sans tops sitting across from us.
Before they notice, I nudge his thigh with my own and whisper, “Cool it.”
He looks down and whispers, “The air here is difficult to breathe.”
A smile plays at my lips. Sure, kid. “It’s all the water and warm temperatures. You’ll get used to it.”
The tram pulls out into a waterway, taking us north. After a few moments, the filling stations are gone, and we head into the spice bands. Giant hydroponic vanilla orchids erupt out of sand lining the sides of the channel, filling my nostrils with their sweetness. The desire to grasp a flower or bean pod is overwhelming but also forbidden. A Cadmarian boy, sitting on his mother’s lap squirms around, reaching for the orchids flowing past us. The boy’s mother coos to the child, telling him he can have some vanilla treats when they get home.
The Setty district should be three stops ahead. We’ll pick up our hydroponics first then head to Dillandra’s, a popular restaurant and hotel for those passing through. That’s where our information will be.
Emery and I exit the tram at our stop and head to the first goods shop. We purchase some tomato and fruit plants, as well as some greens.
They should do fine in their stabilizing chambers until we get back to the ship. I arrange for the plants to be transported back to the ship. Satisfied with our purchases, we head across a bridge over a waterway to an enormous sandstone building.
Dillandra’s—housing and watering hole for the transient workers and Cadmarian military.
Of course, Dillandra’s wouldn’t be complete without Dillandra herself, skin tightened to maintain as youthful a look as she can, perched at the entrance of her establishment like a hawk at the ready to shred anyone who disrespects her place. While she’s considered elderly by Cadmarian standards, she’s still sharp as ever. Lucky for me, she’s someone I haven’t cheated or stolen from. Today she’s wearing her finest—a bright purple sari and diamonds dripping from her ears, nose, neck, wrists, and fingers. She might even be the person who can help me bargain for Emery’s life.
It’s the tradition of all Cadmarian establishments to bow before the owners, something Dillandra not only expects but requires of all patrons. Hey, I can’t blame her. She’s earned her due. Grabbing Emery’s hand firmly, I pull him forward and bend in front of Dillandra’s majestic stool, head bowed.
“As I live and breathe.” Dillandra’s voice is a bit cracklier since I last heard it. Her hookah habit must be picking up pace. “Raven Nevar. Stand, child.”
I raise my head and smile at her. “Madame Dillandra, always a pleasure to be in your company. You’re looking exceptionally well today.”
“Don’t stand on ceremony, girl. You’re a thief and a good one. Luckily for you, you’ve always gotten me what I wanted and not taken more than your share.” She winks, illuminating some paper-thin creases around her eye. “That makes you a valuable ally.”
“Of course, Madame.”
Dillandra rubs her chin with her fingertips. “However, some of my other patrons would beg to differ where you’re concerned. I don’t want any problems today. It’s a workday, and the military is patrolling. Perhaps you should come back during a day of rest?”