The Twisted Vine

by Alyce Caswell

  ‘I’ll talk to Bock,’ was all Ala said in farewell before she turned and left.

  Fei grabbed her techpad and started searching the Webchat feed for BozzMed, aka Ton Tinel.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

  Once the boy and his mother had been dropped off on another world, one that had strict laws against kidnapping, Kuja returned to Saren and cast out his presence, seeking Zareth Sins. A plant inside the Chipper outpost informed him that the agent was alone for the moment. So, ignoring the closed door to Minsra’s study, Kuja marched into the outpost’s sleeping quarters and thrust a techpad he’d borrowed at Zareth. ‘Watch this. It’s everywhere on the Web.’

  Zareth accepted the techpad, nodded and started watching the vid queued up on it.

  ‘GLEA might’ve chips stuck in their heads, but that doesn’t make them any better than you or me,’ the boy Kuja had helped said, filling the small screen on the device. ‘Anyway, it turns out they like abusing those cool powers of theirs. They kidnapped me and held my mum hostage, forcing me to run Webattacks against Yalsa 5. Why the stark did they do that? They’re supposed to uphold the laws of a planet’s governing body, even if said body is run by gangs who used to blow things up.’

  The young hacker was briefly sidetracked, presumably by whatever was making that beeping sound off-screen, but then his face hardened again. ‘Right. So. The reason GLEA chained me to a desk and made me attack Yalsa 5 is this — they don’t like any planet that doesn’t worship the Creator God. It really pisses them off ’cause they can’t get donations out of these kinds of worlds. They’re all about the coin-chips. They don’t care about being nice people.’

  The boy visibly shuddered. ‘I’m probably going to have nightmares and they didn’t even do much to me. But I haven’t seen any sunlight in weeks and they threatened to kill my mother if I didn’t do as they asked. That doesn’t make them sound like the good guys in this fight, does it?’

  Zareth waved a hand over the techpad, pausing the vid. He looked troubled. ‘GLEA is not perfect. I never said it was.’

  ‘Still think you should stay with them?’ Kuja asked.

  ‘Not this again,’ Zareth said, flicking him an irritable look. ‘Yes, I do. The galaxy needs us. Listen, I’ve been talking to a few of my friends and none of us like how the Agency is being run at the moment.’

  ‘But you haven’t left and nor have you done anything to curtail the Agency’s greed,’ Kuja said, pacing his way through the outpost’s surprisingly large sleeping quarters. The room was lined with bunks, most of them looking as though they had never been slept in.

  Zareth’s lips reared back from his teeth. ‘I won’t disagree. Things need to change.’

  ‘Do any of your friends have access to files on Gerasnin?’ Kuja asked, turning to face him. ‘Files that could show where most of GLEA’s funding comes from?’

  ‘Yeah. Maybe.’ Zareth hesitated. ‘But look, Kuja, even if it’s true, GLEA provides a valuable service for people. We protect those who couldn’t otherwise afford it.’

  ‘Sounds like you need to spend more time convincing yourself than you do me,’ Kuja noted.

  Zareth threw the techpad onto his unmade bed. ‘Also not going to disagree with that.’ He cleared his throat, looking nervous. ‘I have to make a call to someone on Gerasnin. Mind giving me some privacy?’

  Kuja returned to Gerns’ warehouse laboratory, hoping he would at least find some progress there.

  • • •

  CC, finally got some hard evidence for me? BozzMed asked the moment his real life counterpart signed off from his latest Webcast. That kid’s vid wasn’t a bad start, but I need more than that.

  Lying in bed, the room dark but for the screen of her techpad as she held it above her, Fei swiped her finger over the device. Unfortunately, no. But I have convinced someone to give you their side of the story. Exclusive access. But I need to know if you’ll be able to come here, to Atsa City.

  Ton Tinel saw right through the words that Bock and Ala had allowed Fei to give the mediaist. So whoever you’re in touch with thinks my presence will make GLEA less likely to wipe out Yalsa 5. I’d hazard that we’re talking about Governor Bock Atsason. Would I be right?

  Depends, Fei said. Are you right about the planet being safe while you’re down here?

  His response took a lot longer than Fei would have liked. Yes. I’ll make a special Webcast before I head down to the city. GLEA will be in for a lot of trouble if I am unable to keep updating my viewers. Can you really set me up with the governor?

  Fei let out an excited whoop, then hurriedly backspaced her initial comment to make it sound more measured and mature. I will send you the details within one Old Earth hour. I hope I didn’t just agree to something stupid.

  Only one way to find out, CC, he told her.

  He left the Webchat feed, presumably to make arrangements. Fei sighed in relief — then cried out when the techpad dropped from her loosened grip and onto her face.

  Rubbing her aching cheek, she mumbled, ‘Kuja, this is your fault.’

  My fault? his voice — definitely his and not Bagara’s — mused, a smile tainting his words.

  She didn’t care that he wasn’t really there. She wanted to pretend so badly.

  ‘Yes!’ she cried. ‘If you’d stayed, you could have stopped me from doing all these stupid things!’

  No, I think I’d still have let you do all these brilliant things — that or do brilliant things to you, he murmured before his presence faded yet again.

  Grinning, Fei threw back the sheets, located her communicator and called Bock.

  • • •

  Ton Tinel’s skin, in reality, was very visibly red, as though he had been left out in the sun for too long, and his bald head bore even deeper streaks of scarlet. He was clearly a Utalian and must have been applying a filter to his Webcasts to hide it. Fei suspected this was due to the fact that humans were the dominant species in the galaxy and many of them were disinclined to trust non-humans. Definitely not a disadvantage that any mediaist would want.

  After perfunctory greetings, delivered in Ton Tinel’s cool and cordial style, the mediaist and Bock sat at the same time in opposite chairs, their gazes connected, as though a plank of wood was resting beneath their chins.

  Fei and Ala stood in the corner of Bock’s office, both of them keeping well out of the way. Though Ala had proven herself unwilling to take the spotlight that Bock inhabited, she swung her weight from foot to foot, clearly wanting to take over from her husband. Bock had been speaking very well so far and had only managed to swear once. Ton Tinel was just as genteel and neither of them raised their voices, even when they reached the topic of the ‘alleged’ connection between GLEA and TerraCorp.

  ‘Governor Atsason, if you had committed a crime affecting a subsidiary of the Agency, then surely GLEA would be well within their rights to hold you accountable, connected or not,’ Tinel pointed out.

  Bock’s expression remained stony. ‘First of all, I am this planet’s ruler. GLEA is supposed to enforce my laws, which I haven’t broken. And I should know — I created a fair few of them. Secondly, I have done nothing to TerraCorp that wasn’t legal. We had a contract signed under Enocian law, one that I used to obtain a refund. GLEA should not be interfering, connected or not.’

  Tinel ended the live Webcast with a slashing motion of his hand. While the vidsreens in the office filled with advertising from his sponsors, the mediaist held a palm to the side of his face and nodded, as though he was listening to someone speaking to him on a communicator inserted into his skin. Fei wouldn’t be surprised if this was the case — the device’s location would make it easy for him to hold conversations when he didn’t want people to notice. Even an earpiece could be spotted at the right angle.

  Dropping his hand, Tinel said, ‘We’ll be going live again shortly. Is there anything you want to ask me before we do?’

  Fei stifled a grin when Bock’s questions veered away from what Tinel had exp
ected and became focused on whether or not there was a way for him to gain ownership of TerraCorp’s twenty-nine functioning machines, given that the company had so thoughtfully dropped them onto his planet.

  ‘Your laws forbid you from doing any more than holding onto them,’ Ton Tinel said mildly.

  Bock’s grin showed teeth. ‘Not what I asked.’

  ‘You would have to convince TerraCorp to hand them over.’

  ‘Not impossible, but.’

  Tinel’s expression, which had been so carefully controlled until now, cracked into a brief smile. ‘No, I suppose not.’

  The companionable moment was broken when the communicator in the mediaist’s palm chirped. Ton Tinel turned his vidcam back on with another gesture (it had been dutifully hovering over his shoulder) and then held out his hand to Bock. ‘GLEA extends to you the opportunity to discuss your differences in their main temple on Gerasnin. What do you say?’

  ‘I’ll only talk to them if they come down here and speak to me on my own terms,’ Bock growled. ‘It also wouldn’t hurt if they offered me something. Say, an apology in the form of twenty-nine terraforming machines to use as I will…’

  Ala groaned softly beside Fei. ‘Idiot. Goin’ off script and playing his hand too soon.’

  Even Ton Tinel seemed taken aback by Bock’s brazenness.

  None of them, except maybe Bock, were very surprised when GLEA refused to respond. And so the Agency’s starships continued to orbit Yalsa 5, not attacking the planet, but not leaving it either.

  • • •

  Kuja was sitting on the ground outside Gerns’ lab, exiled for ‘talking too much and gettin’ real irritating’, when Zareth approached him and quietly explained that his friend in the Chipper headquarters on Gerasnin had found proof of the connection between TerraCorp and GLEA. Zareth didn’t want to go to the mediaists with the files himself, which was understandable, though the agent did promise that he was working on changing the Agency from within. It would take time, but Zareth was sure it could be done. Kuja watched Zareth return to the outpost, overcome with a swell of respect he’d never expected to feel for any Chipper.

  Kuja tried to tell himself that it was more secure to directly copy the files Zareth had given him onto Fei’s techpad than it was to send them over the Web. But a few minutes later, when the Rforine looked over his shoulder at Fei’s face, slackened by sleep and exhaustion, he admitted to the real reason he had come here. She was pushing herself too hard to save Yalsa 5, but he wouldn’t have expected any less from the woman he lo…

  No, don’t finish that sentence, he warned himself. He knew he was being overly cautious, but if one of his mind-reading siblings happened to catch the stray thought and reported back to Fayay…

  He left the techpad on the desk and sat beside Fei on the bed, leaning over to brush the sandy blonde hair from her face. He stopped himself just in time. He should have left then, but her mind reached out for his and he answered. She was having a very pleasant dream — they were both by the waterfall on Bagaran, both of them mysteriously missing clothes. She was lying beneath him, vines creeping around her wrists, pinning her there for him to ravish.

  Kuja swallowed. He could blame the painful hardness in his pants for this lapse in judgement later. Bending down, he gently kissed her forehead and murmured, ‘Fei.’

  Her eyelids fluttered open. The darkness of the room made it impossible to tell what colour she had programmed her irises to mimic this time, but he didn’t need to see them to feel her confusion — or her dazed desire.

  ‘Kuja, are you really here?’ she asked drowsily.

  ‘Maybe, maybe not,’ he answered, a hand gliding beneath the sheets and finding naked skin. He groaned in appreciation when his palm cupped her moist sex. ‘But does it matter?’

  Fei ripped the sheet off her body in response, then rapidly balled it up and tossed it aside. Grinning, Kuja kissed his way up her thigh, then let his lips roam further until they latched onto a breast. She had just enough time to moan his name before he rolled her over and nudged her onto all fours. Arching himself over her back and unbelting his pants with one hand, he used his powers to conjure the vines that tied her hands to the headboard. More vines ensnared her ankles before burrowing down the side of the bed.

  Fei bucked impatiently when his fingers walked along the inside of her thigh. She had stopped asking questions. But he could still hear the wild thoughts tumbling through her mind. She wanted this. She didn’t care if it was just a dream. She wanted him.

  ‘And I want you now,’ Fei added breathlessly.

  So he gave himself to her, flicking a finger over her engorged nub to relax her and make his entrance easier for both of them. Her warm folds gave a hard clench when he seated himself inside her and she begged him to move his hand, because she might come too soon. Kuja obeyed, grunting when she pushed back against him, forcing him deeper.

  Oh, Fei…

  ‘Kuja,’ she whispered.

  He had planned to make love to her gently, but it had been weeks since they’d done this and his desperation made him drive into her. It was barely a minute before she spasmed to completion around him, causing Kuja to cry out against her shoulder blade. They collapsed into a tangle of limbs, both of them alternatively laughing or gasping for air. The vines, at Kuja’s non-verbal command, had already fled the scene, vanishing before Fei could become too suspicious. Stretching luxuriously, Fei rolled onto her side and touched Kuja’s face, tracing his contented smile.

  ‘I don’t want to wake up,’ she said.

  Kuja took her fingers and kissed all ten of them. ‘You must. Because I have sent you the files you need. They link GLEA directly to TerraCorp and show who’s funding whom. And I am certain that once you show them to Ton Tinel, GLEA will be very willing to come to Yalsa 5 to talk.’

  Fei scrunched up her face. ‘I’d rather have you than those files. It’s just not fair. I’m going to spend the whole day thinking about this dream and how I’d really like to have sex — and I’ll have no one to do it with!’

  Kuja hesitated. ‘You don’t need to remain celibate for the rest of your life, Fei.’

  But I want you to be the last person to touch me this way, she thought at him, her yawn smothering the words when she tried to speak them. Kuja, I love you…

  She slumped against the bed, her cheek sinking into the pillow as she fell back asleep. Sighing softly, Kuja slid out of her grasp and vanished inside a vortex filled in with a confusion of greens and browns. Within moments he was perched on a branch on Saren, watching the town from his concealed position, wondering if Gerns would be able to put up with him again because he badly needed some company.

  ‘You’ve got to stop doing things like that, Kuja,’ someone said. ‘Anyone could catch you mooning around after her.’

  Kuja dropped from the tree and fell onto his knees, scuttling around his sister to make sure her arrival hadn’t singed anything. Thankfully, it seemed the thicket had escaped any damage from the teleportation swirl fuelled by the fire goddess’ abilities.

  Kuja leaned back onto his haunches. ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about.’

  ‘Do you want to end up like Sandsa?’ the Firine demanded, hands braced on her hips. ‘And no, I wouldn’t hurt your precious little plants. I don’t get why you freak out about them so much. You can make new ones just by thinking them into existence.’

  Kuja held out a hand, quietening the spiky ferns that quivered with anger on his behalf, then rose to his feet. ‘Finara. What Fei and I have is merely physical. And Fayay doesn’t even know she exists. She’s safe.’

  ‘Fayay does know,’ the goddess countered. ‘How many times did you fool around with the mortal near water, huh? You made it too easy for him to spy on you.’

  ‘Why didn’t you tell me earlier, Finara!?’ he cried. His insides felt like they had been turned to molten rock. ‘Has Fayay gone to Yalsa 5?’

  Finara rolled her eyes. ‘Look at you. You’ve only had her twice
and you’re this attached. It’s weird, Kuja. Did you get this way about that woman in the Enocian Harem?’

  Kuja clenched his fists, vines wrapping their way up his arms. ‘Finara. Tell me.’

  ‘I don’t think Fayay has followed her there,’ Finara assured him. ‘But I wouldn’t relax just yet. The moment he sees you hanging over her shoulder like a methane cloud…’

  ‘I am her god,’ Kuja said, relaxing his arms and ordering the vines to drop from them. He refused to unleash his powers on Finara; Fayay was the one he wanted to hurt. ‘I am guiding her and listening to her prayers.’

  ‘If that’s what you call appearing in her room at night and making love to her.’

  ‘How much did you see?’ he demanded.

  ‘Not much, bro, and I swear I won’t snitch,’ Finara said. ‘I only looked in on you because I heard Fayay mention you’d had a bit of fun. He said it was lucky Sandsa hadn’t rubbed off on you or he’d have to put an end to it.’

  Something cold seemed to be pressing against the nape of Kuja’s neck. ‘I’d rather not know what Fayay meant by that.’

  ‘Yeah, neither do I,’ Finara agreed. ‘But look, you need to be careful. Can you honestly tell me you’d leave that much of your presence with any other mortal?’

  Kuja didn’t bother to answer that. She wouldn’t believe him anyway. He wasn’t even sure he’d believe himself.

  ‘Don’t you dare give Fayay a reason to go after her,’ he snarled instead. ‘She’s my follower so I am duty-bound to care for her. But I guess you wouldn’t know anything about that. You don’t care about the mortals in your domain and none of them give a shit about you. No one worships or loves you, Finara. They just put up with you.’

  Finara drew in a sharp breath, then exploded into a maelstrom of fire that soon became nothing more than a wisp of smoke.

  Kuja winced and wished he could take back his words. Finara’s hurt remained with him, like a heavy footprint left in drying mud.