by K. Aten
“I had no idea it was so late! I should bid you good evening and go see Doctore Shen off the railer, then perhaps retire to my own cabin for some much needed rest.”
Olivienne smiled and gathered the documents into a neat pile. “Actually, I’d like to say goodbye to the good doctore myself. If you don’t mind, that is.”
It took a sec for the lt. commander to realize that Olivienne’s pause was the Connate’s way of checking to see if she were stepping on any toes, in one way or another. Castellan’s history with the medican was old history and she welcomed her fellow traveler to the farewell. “Oh, not at all. Gemeda is one of the most honest and trustworthy friends I’ve ever known, a true gem in more than just name.” She winked at Olivienne. “But one can never have too many friends capable of telesana either.”
The Connate laughed. “I can certainly think of a few times such a skill would have been nice to have at my disposal.” She gestured toward the door. “Shall we then?”
Castellan strode the few steps to the door and slid it open with a bow. “After you, Connate Dracore.” Olivienne rolled her eyes at the surprisingly playful side to the lt. commander. She looked forward to exploring that side over the coming daes. Seeing the doctore from the railer caused a bit of sorrow for the two intrepid travelers. Castellan of course refused Gemeda’s final offer of healing. “I’m good Gem, I promise. Hopefully we don’t wait another two rotos to catch up again, yea?”
Gemeda embraced her and kissed both cheeks. “Certainly not!” She repeated the farewell with Olivienne. Then in the next instant she lifted her case and was gone from the railer.
When the two women returned to the first class segment with four guardians in tow, Olivienne stopped with Castellan outside the officer’s cabin. “I suppose this is where we bid goodnight.” She waited to see what Castellan would do.
While Lt. Commander Castellan Tosh had no problems showing an attractive and intriguing woman exactly how she felt with the touch and taste of her lips, she knew that Olivienne Dracore was no ordinary woman. She had to imagine that one was not simply so forward with the Royal Sovereign Connate of Psiere. She was sure there must be protocols in place, even for dalliance. Rather than take a chance at breaking protocol, Castellan stepped close to the Connate and took her into an embrace much the same as she used with Gemeda. Then she kissed each of Olivienne’s cheeks before stepping back again. “I had a wonderful evening, Olivienne. Thank you for taking the time to show me your work on the documents you’ve found. It was fascinating, to be sure.”
Olivienne was a little disappointed that the dashing woman in front of her did not take more initiative, but she knew they were both exhausted from the dae’s ordeal. While they had danced around the subject in her cabin earlier, she was unsure of exactly what the lt. commander would be interested in. Because of that uncertainty, Olivienne didn’t give in to the urge to push the other woman against the door and thoroughly show Tosh what she was missing by retiring for the evening. Instead she smiled gracefully and inclined her head. “I had a wonderful evening as well. It was nice to be able to have intelligent conversation with someone on a wide variety of subjects. Refreshing really. Perhaps we can pick up where we left off tomorrow?”
Castellan’s entire face lit with her smile and Olivienne was caught in the pale blue of the officer’s eyes. “I think that is a grand idea!” She bowed slightly. “Until then, Connate Dracore.”
“Until then.” Olivienne watched Castellan disappear into her cabin then made her way farther down the segment until she reached her own. As she fell headfirst into sleep, she couldn’t help thinking that the next few daes were certainly looking up.
THE NEXT MORNING Castellan woke early per her usual. She had trained herself to rise early in the first few rotos of officer school. She took stock of her body and was pleased to note that that her general aches and pains were significantly better. Her head still throbbed but that was to be expected with a strained and then re-strained channel. Despite her exhaustion the previous evening, she took the time to rinse the river water from herself before bed so all she had to do was get dressed the next dae.
Because of her throbbing head, she decided not to go through her normal morning exercise routine, which meant she didn’t need another rinse. With her hair combed, uniform crisp, and boots shining, she left her cabin in search of breakfast. There were the usual two guardians at each end of the first class segment and she assumed that Olivienne was still abed. Rather than wake the Connate and possibly offend, she would simply pay a visit to her after morning meal.
As if a repeat of the dae before, her name was called the sec she entered the dining segment. “Lieutenant Commander Tosh!” She was both surprised and pleased to see the Connate seated at a table mid-way down, breaking her fast. She walked down the aisle and stopped out of the way near the Connate’s table.
“Good morn, Connate Dracore. You look refreshed. I take it all is well after our impromptu dunking?”
Olivienne smiled at the perfectly put together officer. She briefly wondered what it would take to send the woman into disarray and hoped she would soon be able to find out. “I could say the same to you, Tosh. I didn’t notice a limp on your way down the aisle, and the dark circles are gone from beneath your eyes. I take it your rest was recuperative?”
Castellan nodded. “Definitely so.”
“Would you care to join me?” The Connate was seated at a table all to herself while the four guardians that had accompanied her to the dining seg had appropriated another table to eat their own breakfasts.
The officer bowed with a twinkle in her eye. “I would be most honored.” She left and returned a few meens later with a simple fare of fruit and cooked grain and a thick piece of toasted bread slathered in jam and cream. She had two mugs on her tray, one of juice and the other of water. When she sat, Olivienne looked at her tray in dismay.
“I know a soldier’s pay isn’t nearly that of some private industries but is that really all they’ll allow for official trips?”
Castellan smiled in good humor. “I make plenty, thank you. And they would pay for whatever I would wish to eat. This is all I have want for. Without completing my normal exercise this morning, I find that my appetite is less than usual.”
Olivienne boldly plucked a small round fruit from a dish on Castellan’s tray and popped it into her mouth. When she was finished chewing the sweet fruit, she licked her lips appreciatively. “And if you should happen to work up an appetite later?”
Clearly the Connate was still interested in dalliance and the officer was finding the sovereign’s company more and more to her liking. She responded appropriately to show her interest. “Well, should my appetite increase later then I will be sure to assuage my hunger in the most pleasurable way possible. Perhaps with company, if company is so inclined.”
“Oh, company is definitely inclined.” There was a moment of heat while their gazes locked on each other, then by some unseen mutual signal they both resumed their meal.
When their meal was complete, Olivienne was reluctant to leave the intriguing woman’s presence. “What do you have planned now?”
Castellan wiped her lips with the provided cloth napkin and set it on the table. “As it so happens, I currently have no plans. I wanted to stop and check our arrival time in Tesseron when I got back to our segment.”
“I can help you with your inquiry.” Castellan looked at the Connate curiously. “I travel by railer so often I feel as though I have not only the schedule memorized, but all the distances and travel times between major stops.” She shrugged. “A hazard of my occupation I guess.”
Without thinking, Castellan commented. “So much travel must make it difficult to engage in relationships.”
Olivienne gave her a slow thoughtful look. “Perhaps as difficult as an officer who could be moved to a different continent with only a few wekes notice. I guess there is a reason why people like us are often single.”
“I suppose you have a p
oint. So when is our arrival in Tesseron?”
A smile from the Connate met her words, or rather met her lack of words. The officer didn’t discount Olivienne’s statement that neither woman had time for relationships. It was another indicator that they were both on the same page where dalliance was concerned. Neither woman knew where the future would take them and couldn’t offer more than a little friendship with some tupping thrown in for good measure. “I believe our ticket said six-thirty tomorrow.”
A pale eyebrow went up. “Another full night? I don’t remember it taking so long when I went south four rotos ago!”
“Well, we will actually have a four oor layover in Penterole while the crew changes and the segments are re-supplied. It is there that passengers will be allowed to leave the railer to take in the sites of the beautiful port city.”
Castellan laughed at her words, garnering even more attention from the people in the passenger segment they were passing through. “You sound like a travel intinerist with your seller’s words.”
“By the depths, no! I’ve seen the good parts and the less than savory parts of Pentole and I would never try to sell that city to someone. Their operae house and the Blue Bridge are the only two wonders as far as I’m concerned.” When they reached the first class segment once again, Olivienne paused with her companon outside Castellan’s door. “So...” Her voice trailed off as a bout of unusual nerves overtook her.
Castellan didn’t make it any easier with her prompt. “So?”
“If you have nothing to do, you are more than welcome to come to my cabin and study my texts again. What say you?”
The dashing and not-so-upright officer slyly smiled. “That depends.”
Olivienne’s dark eyebrow went up in question and her violet eyes seemed darker in the artificial light of the narrow aisle way. “On?”
“On whether or not your use of the word ‘texts’ was merely a euphemism.”
The Connate thought for a sec and responded. “And if it is?”
Castellan Tosh grinned. “I’d say lead the way.”
Out of curiosity, Olivienne had to ask. “And if it is not?”
Castellan shrugged. “I’d still say lead the way.”
The Connate laughed. “You are a most intriguing woman, Lieutenant Commander Castellan Tosh. I almost think it is a shame that our trip together is over in the morn.”
“Almost?”
A twin to the lt. commander’s sly grin crept across Olivienne’s face. “Well, we do tend toward...high passions. I’m afraid if we spent a significant amount of time together we’d end up raging.”
Castellan remembered back to the moment they were face to face doing just such a thing the previous morning. “While I’m not normally one to lose my calm, I have to admit that you were more adept than most at pushing my buttons, so perhaps you are right.”
“Of course I’m right.” The Connate spun in place then and went farther down the hall to her own cabin. Castellan stood staring at her when the Connate stopped at her own open door. “Come along, Tosh. I thought you wanted to look at my texts?”
Chapter Seven
“WOULD YOU CARE for a drink?”
Castellan pulled out her pocket watch upon entering the Connate’s private cabin. It was just after eight hundred. “It’s a little early for liquor isn’t it?”
Olivienne rolled her eyes. “I meant water, of course.”
“Oh, of course.” The Connate busied herself pouring water and Castellan walked over to the desk. “May I?” Olivienne nodded so she pulled the two coded double-temple pages from the pile. “So what happens when you have the wrong translation? Is it all unintelligible or do you stop part way when it looks like it won’t work? If so, could the message just be hidden further down the text?”
“You certainly have a lot of questions but they’re all ones I will be glad to answer.” Olivienne handed over the glass of water and set her own out of the way on the desk. She shuffled through the stack until she found another translation sheet with little squares full of letters and numbers. She handed it to Castellan. “This is what the ARCHEOS key yielded when we used it on the document from the cave, one that I’m sure came from the northern temple.”
Castellan looked over the document and her eyebrows went up. “Well that is strange, it looks like the translation started to work.” She pointed at the first line of deciphered text. “See here, there are two words before it stops making sense.” Castellan began reading the text aloud, if only to help herself work through the puzzle. “On the si...then it just goes to a series of random letters. K-X-C-B-H-Y-D, and on...but those couple words have to mean something, right?”
Olivienne shrugged. “Sometimes an incorrect key will yield actual words, the way you can draw letters at random from a bag and end up with a few. So it’s not completely uncommon, though it is strange for it to be right at the beginning.”
“Wait! Look at the where the translation stops working.” Castellan pointed at the first seven letters of the translation sheet but rather than speak those letters aloud she spelled out the key. “A-R-C-H-E-O-S corresponds perfectly with ‘on the si.’ Is it possible that the key changed? Has that ever happened before?”
The Connate’s gaze sharpened abruptly and she leaned closer to the worksheet. “By the depths, I think you’re right! But what?”
“What about...” The full-time officer and novice historian trailed off, unsure of the merit of her idea.
Olivienne gave her a curious look and prompted the other woman to finish her question. “What about what?”
Castellan pointed to the bottom corner of the original encrypted documents. “You said yourself that you’ve never seen the double temple symbol before. What if the key was a combination of the two temple names?”
“That’s just...” She trailed off then her face lit up. “Only one way to find out.” Olivienne grabbed another worksheet and rather than copy the letters ARCHEOS repeatedly into the temple key row, she copied ARCHEOSILLEOS twice in a row. Then she grabbed the encrypted page and filled in the first thirteen letters. Castellan unconsciously leaned closer while Olivienne began converting the encrypted letters to numbers, then doing the same to the temple key words. Their breathing picked up once she was finished with the mathematic and first alpha conversion. By the time she got to the actual translation point they were both practically vibrating with excitement. Olivienne read them aloud as she started writing out the translated text. “On...the...sixth...dae...of...septa...in...the...y...”
She tossed the scribe down on the desk and looked at Castellan in amazement. “By the Makers, you’ve done it! That’s brilliant!” She threw her arms around the jubilant Lt. Commander and kissed her straightaway on the lips. They pulled back in surprise, simultaneously realizing that they had successfully pushed through the invisible barrier that had been keeping them apart. Castellan was only about an ince taller than Olivienne, and as they stared into one another’s eyes, they were very much on the same plane of thought.
Slowly, but deliberately, Castellan leaned in again and that time made the kiss last much longer. Both women moaned when Olivienne opened her mouth to the officer’s questing tongue. Unable to help herself, Castellan Tosh moved both hands up to cradle her sovereign’s face and deepened the kiss. All the excitement of translation paled in comparison to the blood that began to pound through their veins at such an innocent touch of the lips. Just as languidly as they began, Castellan pulled away again eliciting a whimper from Olivienne. The Connate looked at her in confusion and forced a sheepish admission from the dashing woman with kiss-darkened lips. “I’m torn.”
Olivienne smiled, understanding Castellan’s words completely. “Let’s translate the documents then we can celebrate by continuing where we left off.”
“That is a grand idea!”
The Connate smirked as she turned toward the desk. “Perhaps we can work you up to an appetite yet.”
Castellan leaned over to whisper in her ear. “P
erhaps I’m already there.”
Olivienne shuddered. “Enough of that, time for you to earn your keep, soldier.” She pulled a second chair up to the desk and moved the already begun worksheet in front of Castellan. “Do you think you have the process down enough to finish this?”
“I think so.” She picked up the discarded scribe and Olivienne dug into her satchel for another. Then she too began working on the second translation. Unfortunately she ran into trouble right away. “I just realized that we have already tried the Archeos key on the second document and it yielded no intelligible translation.”
Castellan looked at the worksheet in the Connate’s hand. “You said the interpretists tried both keys, where is the one for Illeos?” Olivienne shuffled through more papers until she produced the attempted decoding using the Illeos key. Right away Castellan pointed out where the words started to translate then stopped six letters in. “Look here, it says ‘perhap.’ Maybe it too has the double key, only it is reversed because the document is from the Temple of Illeos. Try reversing the key.”
Olivienne looked at her new acquaintance appreciatively. “You know, you’re quite good at this. Perhaps you should travel the continents with me in search of answers to the Divine Mystery.”
She got a smile in response and a slight shake of the officer’s head. “I enjoy my job too much. You’ll just have to find another amateur with an insatiable thirst for problem solving.”
Seriousness overtook Olivienne in that moment. “I have a feeling that the information in these documents is going to completely change everything we know to date. There is something truly important here or they wouldn’t have gone through all this trouble. I’m convinced of it!”
