Discovery (Hybrid Book 1) (4 page)

Now that she could see how ‘ordinary’ people interacted with each other socially on a daily basis, it made it even more obvious how isolated and lonely she was. Connor did his best to keep her occupied, but he also kept her from other people. It was his job to protect her, but sometimes he felt more like her jailer.

The process of collecting swear words combated the mistrust of some of the people she came across, and she’d spent a considerable amount of time yesterday, persuading Ensign Janssen to part with some choice ones from the language of his grandparents.

After she’d palmed the entry pad to her own quarters and dragged her sorry carcass inside, she immediately noticed the report on her desk. Wandering reluctantly across the plush beige carpet, she grabbed it and plonked herself down on the squishy red couch to have a read. The first page of the thick document had the title ‘Political system of Kalzir.’ She groaned, before raising her eyes to the ceiling.

“Please Gods and Goddesses above, save me from myself. For once in my life, let me goof off without feeling guilty.”

Unfortunately, as expected, her petition didn’t elicit a response. She’d started to cultivate a ‘religious’ persona a few missions ago. The people of Vyax had been so logical, so straight laced that she’d felt the need to knock them on their collective asses. She’d been called in to help them with a genetic disease that caused premature senility affecting the ‘Chief Scientific Officer’ and his family. On Vyax, it was the title given to the head of state.

They’d told her that her ‘hocus pocus’ couldn’t possibly find a cure as their superior advanced science hadn’t been able to do so. She recalled with fondness the looks on the faces of the gathered dignitaries when she’d called on the Gods and Goddesses of some of the ancient Terran cultures for assistance before she ‘laid hands on the afflicted’. Apparently, Odin, Zeus, Aphrodite and Hera had done a bloody good job at repairing the faulty gene in the family, much to her delight and their complete shock.

Chesara had since discovered that calling on deities made many people nervous, especially when it was coupled with her exotic appearance and abilities. She still used it occasionally to get her out of uncomfortable situations. It was a lot of fun to see a throng of people attracted by her appearance suddenly dispersing when she started to try and ‘convert’ them, by spreading the ‘word’ of whatever God she happened to remember at the time.

Moving to her tiny kitchenette, she grabbed a strong cup of black coffee, a giant chocolate chip cookie and headed back to the sofa. She had time to make her way through at least half the file before showering and changing into a clean uniform for the upcoming assignment.

Teasing Connor had been fun, but it hadn’t been totally in jest. She enjoyed her work, and she got to see more of this universe than just about anyone else, but it was always from behind a barrier. Sometimes it felt as if she’d spent her whole life in a bubble, floating through different places, but never truly being anywhere.

Officially, Ensign Took was many steps below her on the social scale, but the bitchy woman was able to experience so much more of life than Chesara ever had. When Took went to a party, she probably got to drink and make out with whomever she wanted. She got to touch and be touched by Lieutenant Dagus, and not just in a patient/doctor way.

Chesara had dutifully served for as long as she could remember. Surely the Federation wouldn’t stop her living her life forever? She was a citizen just like everyone else, well, maybe not quite like anyone else, but there was more to her than her healing ability. Perhaps it was time to show them, show Connor, that she wasn’t a child anymore.

C
hesara’s eyes lit up when she saw the sleek horses in the corral outside the small shuttle port on Kalzir. According to the information, the few buildings around the port were the only ones on the planet allowed to use advanced technology.

This was a low tech, back to basics society, where brawn rather than fingers and minds did the work. There was also a distinct separation of tasks according to gender, and she hoped she wouldn’t have to deal with pompous male looking down at her because of her sex, as well as her appearance. She’d like to think she’d tell someone that made disparaging remarks where to stick it, but in her heart knew she probably wouldn’t.

The heavy, humid, late afternoon air of the semi tropical zone, and the prospect of unfriendly natives did nothing to dampen her delight at seeing real live horses again. Even the smell of their warm flesh wafting across the grass made her smile.

The sight more than made up for enduring the close confines of the Apollo’s shuttle with the representative sent to escort them. She’d listened as the older gentleman lectured her and Connor on the intricacies of his planet’s culture, although most of what he said, she’d already read in the pre-mission briefing notes. She humoured him politely, as he seemed proud of what his society had accomplished since the first settlers arrived two centuries ago, but boy did he drone on. How Connor had stood him while she got ready; she didn’t know.

Obviously, she’d offended any Gods and Goddesses that were up there. She briefly wondered whether human sacrifice would help matters, and she eyed the figure of their escort Ambassador Tamas speculatively.

The seat had been comfortable and the droning voice of the ambassador considerably soporific, and her eyes had closed as she listened. Chesara had vaguely heard Connor saying something about higher sleep requirements and a busy day, before the lecture had continued. She hadn’t bothered to let them know she wasn’t actually asleep.

Kalzir was one of the first Terraformed planets as its orbit from its star meant it was suitable for Terran type life, although life hadn’t spontaneously developed on its own. The planet had all the required chemical components. The terraforming process merely unlocking the potential from the barren landscape, producing an Earth-like atmosphere, ready for colonization by plants and animals. The planet had eight small continents that were seeded with the fauna and flora of other compatible Terran colonies.

Chesara’s attention had refocused when the shuttle bumped slightly on landing. While she waited for the hatch to be opened, she’d compared her federation issue white shirt and deep red trousers with the Ambassador’s costume.

Lord Tamas’ official uniform, as Federation representative for the planet, consisted of the standard Federation colour of deep red, but it was tailored in the local fashion of flared trousers and a long jacket, embellished with gold braid on the cuffs, lapels, and shoulders. A crisp white shirt was buttoned uncomfortably tight around his rather portly neck. She assumed that male facial hair was fashionable on this world as he sported a well-tended grey goatee and moustache, though the hair on his head was limited to the sides and back.

Connor was as usual wearing his all black ‘security’ outfit. She’d often joked that he looked like an overgrown ‘ninja,’ although recently she’d started to pay more attention to the muscles under the fabric than the cloth itself. She’d never really noticed just how strong and handsome Connor was compared to other men.

Apart from Dagus, Connor was probably the best-looking man on board the Apollo. Unfortunately, right now, he had the poor lieutenant beaten hands down. The sooner she could get back to the Apollo, the sooner she could make the competition even again. She wondered if Connor would actually notice if she ‘tweaked’ his appearance. Maybe narrowing his nose a little, or adding flecks of gold to his deep brown eyes. She quashed the idea as she imagined just how angry he’d be if he found out she’d messed with him. It sent a shiver down her spine.

“You ok Chesara?” Connor asked from just behind her.

“Hmm? Yeah I’m fine. Aren’t the horses beautiful?”

She didn’t hear his response as she’d already turned her attention back to the animals. There were approximately ten in the paddock, varying from a matched pair of tall, elegant black beauties, to a couple of heavily built grey dray horses, and several chestnuts of varying height and weight that were  probably saddle mounts. All looked well-groomed and healthy in the late afternoon light.

The wicked thought of luring Connor near enough to one of the greys to transfer some hair to his ‘ninja’ suit crossed her mind. She could picture him huffing and puffing as he picked individual hairs off for hours. It would certainly be a far safer prank than messing with his nose.

“Excuse me Madam Envoy?” said Ambassador Tamas from right beside her.

She looked up to see Connor already heading towards the building across the grass. Suppressing her disappointment that she probably wouldn’t be able to get closer to the horses, she put on her ‘game face’.

“Do forgive me Ambassador Tamas. The horses are beautiful and they bring back some happy childhood memories.”

Chesara blasted him with a devastatingly bright smile, before heading towards the three-story plascrete Federation Embassy building. Every planet she’d been on had a building similar to this one, although they were usually on a larger scale than this Kalzirian version.

Tamas seemed determined to continue with his orientation lecture as they entered the building.

“You are here to see Lord and Lady Harmon, on ah, how shall I put this, a delicate matter?” Chesara hid a smile as the elderly envoy blushed as he attempted to circle around the reason for her visit, the infertility problem of the ruling family.

“Now, in order to ‘disguise’ the real reason for your visit, to save the reputations of our Dear Lord and Lady Harmon, you will pose as a wealthy young lady on a grand colony tour.

“As our culture favours the titles used in various societies on old Terra would you mind if we refer to you as 'Lady Chesara' rather than 'Madam Envoy' from now on?”

Chesara was starting to find the fawning a little irritating, but the sooner she agreed the sooner they could get on with the job. She smiled in acknowledgement, and wondering how long she’d be able to keep the expression before her facial muscles started to ache.

She was already tired from the extended healing she’d done earlier, although the snooze in the shuttle had helped. She hadn’t managed to grab anything to eat today, well apart from that heavenly cookie.

Connor saved her from further polite repetitions of information she already knew by asking about the agenda for their visit. Hopefully, it would last only a day or two, and then she was looking forward to having one of her extended sleeps Connor referred to as ‘hibernation’. She could sleep for over sixteen hours if she was tired, big deal.

Connor and Ambassador Tamas discussed attending a function at the main Palace that evening to introduce her cover story to the inhabitants. The ‘ever so polite’ discussion about various dignitaries was supremely boring. She knew she was meant to take mental notes on the details but Connor would be there to fill in the gaps. Maybe her earlier plea to higher powers about her insane preoccupation with conscientiousness was paying off. She wandered out of the office they were in and into one of the other reception rooms, leaving the men to their cloak and dagger plotting over cover stories.

Chesara didn’t miss the slight frown on Connor’s face as she slipped out of the room to the right of the entrance hall where the two men were engrossed in planetary politics. She knew he’d deal with the situation. From the information she’d been given, these people probably though she was nearly as brainless as the horses outside because she was female.

The rooms had the same smooth plascrete walls as all the other embassies she’d seen. Nevertheless, the furniture and decorations in this one were unique and probably had been made locally. They lent a certain ‘old world charm’ ambiance to the otherwise bland building.

An ornately carved wooden table set up in the corner of the room across the entrance hallway, was covered with an assortment of food, from fruit to small sweet and savoury pastries. As her stomach rumbled, she looked around to confirm that she was alone before trying one of the pastries that was filled with some sort of red berries.

“You don’t have to sneak you know,” said an amused voice. Chesara spun, dropping a blob of the filling down her white shirt, resulting in a red, sticky mess that’d ruin the material.

“It’s not polite to creep up on people,” she growled, covering her discomfort with anger. Even though she wasn’t sure if this man as in on the cover story, she decided she might as well get into her part sooner rather than later.

“Where I’m from, leaving guests to find their own food and then creeping up on them is frowned upon,” she said haughtily. “I’m Lady Chesara, from Terra Prime.”

“I’m Tenset, but people tend to tag a Lord on the front of that. My uncle Tamas seems to be a little remiss in his hosting duties,” said the figure, as his lips curled up slightly as he watched her.

Chesara assessed the man standing in the doorway watching her. He appeared quite at ease with her gaze, as a slight smile tickled the corner of his mouth. ‘Cocky git,’ she decided.

He was shorter than Connor, although that didn’t mean a lot considering Connor was six foot six. She estimated that the top of her head would possibly reach his chin. A cheeky, tanned, boyish face contained a pair of startling blue eyes. He was dressed in a similar manner to his uncle, but on him, it looked attractive rather than pompous. In fact, the word ‘yum’ came to mind, if you liked well-groomed, brown haired, supremely confident men.

“Like what you see Lady Chesara?” he asked as the other corner of his mouth curled up.

‘Crap, this guy’s truly out to show me up,’
she concluded as she tried to ignore the heat in her face by making some inane comments about the furniture. She was grateful when Connor and Ambassador Tamas entered the room a few seconds later, as it saved her from polite small talk with the devilishly attractive and annoyingly cocky Lord Tenset.

Connor’s gaze flicked between Chesara’s flushed face, the stain on her shirt and the interested gaze of the other man. His eyebrows rose in an unspoken question. Chesara felt her face heat further and she turned to a hideous painting of a bay horse with an exceptionally small head and incredibly large rear quarters and examining it with interest.