Authors: Bianca D'Arc
“Ah. Alone at last,” Harry quipped, rubbing his chin over Ro’s soft hair. There was something so cuddly about this woman. He dropped a kiss on the crown of her head.
“Please stop doing that and let me go.” Her voice was cold, unemotional. That, more than anything else, made him release her without even trying to coax a good-morning kiss out of her.
She was Alvian. She couldn’t feel. She could never understand him. So why then was he so attracted to her? He’d never been attracted to an Alvian female, though he’d bedded a few before he realized they were too emotionally cold—for all their natural body heat when aroused. Without feelings, they could never touch his heart.
He rolled out of bed and to his feet in one smooth move. Disgust aimed at himself filled him as he watched her get to her feet in an orderly, Alvian fashion. She could never love him. So why was he starting to crave that very thing?
“You can have the lav next. I’m going to forage. There must be more than one lav in this place. And I need some clean clothes.” Harry spoke as he opened the door to the chamber and light spilled in from the galley beyond. A quick glance told him Percival and Hara were sitting around the table in their respective hover chairs.
Conversation ceased as the panel slid open and a very different Alvian gaze met his. Different from almost all other Alvians he’d ever met. Hara had emotion. Only Davin came close and he was still a pale echo of the power of this man. No wonder he was such a revered leader if Harry felt all this from only a casual glance.
“There’s another lav in there.” Percival pointed to the door to the second bed chamber behind him. “And some ship suits that will fit you.”
“Thanks.” Harry winced as he caught Percival’s look of concern.
Damned empath. Harry had gotten used to his adoptive mother and stepsister always knowing what was going on with him emotionally, but they were family. This guy was a stranger. It wasn’t a comfortable feeling to be so open and readable. Especially when he was used to operating in the emotional vacuum of Alvian society.
Harry calmed down during his brief shower. He cleaned up and dressed in the spare shipsuit, as Percival had called it. The pale fabric brought memories of one of his recent visions. He’d seen himself in just such an outfit, though he’d never seen anything like it before. It was a one-piece jumpsuit with markings in the same ancient Alvian language as he’d seen in the rest of the ship.
He found himself both reluctant and eager to get moving. He squashed the reluctance and tried to focus on the amazing discovery. Hara. In the flesh. Living and breathing. And most important of all—able to make a difference. If Harry’s visions were right—and they usually were—everything would start now. Change. Upheaval in the fabric of Alvian society and belief.
Harry wasn’t sure exactly how, but things were going to change, starting now. Hara’s presence changed everything. All Alvians revered the man as one of their greatest leaders. Popular support was a given for whatever it was he wanted to do. Harry just had to find out if Hara was on board with reform for humanity. If not, he had to work on him, to make him believe what the Alvians had done up to now was terribly wrong.
No time like the present. Harry took a deep breath and headed out the door into the galley.
Cormac was already there, sitting at the table, deep in conversation with Percival and Hara. The door across the room slid open and Ro stepped through, her deep-blue gaze meeting his across the width of the galley. Without words, they walked toward each other, approaching the center table from opposite sides.
The table was round. Hara sat to Harry’s right, Cormac and Percival to Harry’s left. Ro sat across.
“Now that we’re all here, Percy and I will bring you up to date on what we were doing while you slept.” Hara took charge, as Harry had expected. “First, we’ve checked and started the rest of the ship’s systems. Everything will be coming online shortly, including hydroponics, so there will be fresh produce when Percy and I are able to eat solid food again.”
“Probably about a week,” Percy confirmed. “Until then, there are rations available for you three and we’re on a liquid diet.”
“Now.” Hara drew their attention as he raised a console out of the previously smooth table. “Let’s get started. Harry, I believe we should first contact your sister and her mates. If anyone can connect us via secure crystal, it will be the Chief Engineer. Would you place the call, please?”
Hara swiped his hand across the surface of the table and the com console swiveled around to where Harry sat. Interesting technology these ancient explorers had. He’d never seen anything like it, even in the Council Chambers.
With a little coaching from Percival, Harry was able to access the correct controls to place a call to his sister Callie’s secure line. She answered only a few minutes later.
“Harry? It’s the middle of the night. Are you okay?” She blinked awake as a holographic image of her appeared over the center of the round table facing Harry. “Where’ve you been? Everyone’s been trying to locate you, but you’re beyond even Uncle Mick’s reach. Where are you?”
“Uh… I’m not exactly sure of the compass position, but I’m somewhere near the North Pole, I think. Ice everywhere, but I’m warm and safe, inside a ship, buried in a crevasse.”
“You’re what?” She seemed more awake now and Harry had to smile. Callie and he had been best friends since they were babies. They shared a father but were born of different mothers at almost the same time. She was more like a twin than a half-sister, even though she was completely human.
“Don’t worry, Cal. The reason I’m calling… Is Davin there?”
“I’ll get him.” She left visual range for a moment and returned with her Alvian mate, who wore a look of concern on his face. Behind him was another male—the human male in the Resonance triad, Rick. He wiped sleep from his eyes even as he hovered over Davin’s shoulder, one arm around Callie’s waist as Davin took the seat in front of the com console.
“What can I do for you?” Davin, despite having had emotions all his life, was as down to business as the rest of the Alvian race.
“It’s a matter of secure communications. Someone I’ve met up here needs to locate someone down there and communicate over a secure channel. Can you help us out?”
“That will depend on who you want to talk to. I can route comms through here, but it will depend on what sort of receiver is on the other end. Where are you calling from?” Davin’s brows drew downward as he pushed buttons on the console in front of him. “I can’t trace it.”
Harry looked over at Hara, unsure how much he could reveal to Davin at this point. Eventually it would all come out, but Hara seemed to want to control the when and how of his revelation.
“Tell him you need to find the Patriarch,” Hara said quietly. They all knew his voice would be heard on the other end, but unless the camera was aimed in his direction, Callie and her family couldn’t see him.
“Did you hear that?” Harry asked.
Davin sat back in his chair, clearly surprised. Rick’s face closed up and Callie did her best to hide her shock. Clearly, they all knew something about this Patriarch.
“Who wants to know?” Davin asked finally, as if weighing his response carefully.
A quick glance at Hara’s face told Harry that he didn’t want to reveal himself completely yet.
“It’s safe. I can vouch for him as if he were family.” Harry’s smirk wasn’t lost on anyone, though the three on the other end of the line didn’t quite understand what he meant.
Davin seemed to come to a decision. “It just so happens we have had recent communication with the person you seek. While I won’t give you his direct line, I am willing to route you through to him, if he also agrees. But you have to give me something to convince him of who is seeking him. A code perhaps?”
“Send him this.” Hara pressed a set of commands on the second data console he raised from the table and sent a code over to Harry. “And tell him his Rose is with us as well.”
Harry heard Ro’s little gasp, though she did her best to hide it. He also took a look at what he was sending to Callie and company. It was a series of ancient Alvian runes. A code of some kind Harry had no way of understanding. He’d have to learn this old written language if he was going to continue dealing with these people.
Davin received the code and his eyebrows about rose off his head. He blinked at Harry in shock for a brief moment before settling down.
“This is only the second time I’ve seen a code this old. You’re hanging around with some strange folk,” Davin muttered as he dutifully sent the code to the Patriarch’s secure crystal.
Judging by the surprise on Davin’s face, the code was answered immediately.
“I’m transmitting the Patriarch’s secure code now so you can contact him directly. He has full holo capability and a completely untraceable connection. I sure wish I knew what you were up to, Harry, but I know better than to ask.”
“Don’t worry. You’ll know soon enough, I think.”
“A vision?” Callie leaned forward, toward the camera to ask. Her expression was worried.
“Yeah. If it helps, talk to Caleb. He’s seen a lot of it too. Probably all of it by now.”
“I’ll call him. Take care of yourself, Harry. I don’t like not being able to contact you.” She frowned, concern on her face.
Davin reached upward with one hand to grasp hers while Rick’s arm came around her shoulders. Her mates would take care of her and be certain she was kept as safe as possible. Harry knew she was in good hands for the tumultuous times ahead.
“If you need anything, you know where to find us,” Davin said as they ended the connection.
Harry copied his ancestor’s movements and sent the com console back around the table to Hara. The older man looked pleased as he entered his codes into the com unit and made the call. The man who answered on the first chime was someone Harry had never seen before—outside a vision. He was an important man, Harry knew, and he had a vital role to play in the salvation of both races.
“Greetings, Patriarch.” Hara looked inordinately pleased with himself. “I am glad to see your line has not faded.”
“I am astonished to see you alive at all.” It was clear the man didn’t have emotion—like the rest of the modern Alvian race—but he seemed more open than most. “Nevertheless, should you prove to be who I believe you to be, the
Zxerah
Brotherhood stands ready to serve and protect.”
“Do you have DNA ident on your com?” Hara asked.
“Of course,” he replied quickly. “We have kept guard over the secret technologies through the years.”
“Good. Prepare to receive.” Hara raised a small pad from the center of the com console.
Harry saw a finger pad with a sharp, raised center. Hara stuck his finger down on it without hesitation and a small drop of blood flowed from his finger into the device in full view of the holographic camera so the man on the other end could see for himself that the sample came directly from the man who spoke to him.
Harry had never seen such technology, even though he’d lived for many years in the alien city. The console hummed lightly as it went to work on the blood sample. Harry got the impression it was transferring the codes it came up with through analysis of the blood. He watched the holographic image of the man on the other end of the line as the codes came through to his end. Alvians didn’t do surprise well, but Harry could tell when the DNA codes proved exactly who Hara was.
“It is an honor to speak with you, Hara. As was always your reputation, your timing is excellent. You are aware of what has become of our people since you left?”
“Well aware. I was in stasis for centuries, but my mind was aware and able to monitor global communications on every frequency. I witnessed the rise of man and the criminal destruction and murder wrought by our people during the cataclysm.”
“Do you know of the recent experiment to return emotion to some of our people?” the Patriarch asked.
“Yes. It gives us hope.”
“Us?” The Patriarch looked slightly puzzled.
“I am not alone. Three beings crossed our portal and woke myself and my good friend, Percival.” Hara turned the camera on Percival so the Patriarch could see him. “These three found us.” He pointed the camera at Cormac, Harry and Roshin in turn.
“It is good to see you, daughter,” the Patriarch said when the camera panned to Ro. Harry caught Hara’s smile.
“I thought she was one of yours.” Hara turned the camera back to himself and then set the controls so it would automatically focus on whoever spoke. “Please instruct her, Patriarch.”
“As you wish. Rose, please identify your two companions.”
“I was sent to accompany Hara…uh…the Alvian-human hybrid known as Hara,” she seemed to stumble over what to call him now that the real Hara was awake.
“You can call me Harry,” he supplied helpfully, unable to resist teasing Ro, though she had little understanding of the concept of teasing.
“I am pleased to finally speak with you, Harry. I have talked with your sister and her mates recently,” the Patriarch replied.
“And this is Cormac 7, leader of the expedition that found Hara Prime’s ship,” Roshin continued, introducing the other Alvian.
“Ah. I have followed your career for some time, Cormac 7. I am pleased to have a man such as yourself involved in this venture. A soldier and scientist is a good combination for what lies ahead.” The Patriarch nodded almost to himself.
“Sir.” Cormac seemed ready to argue. “Do you claim to be the
Zxerah
Patriarch?”
“I do.”
“But the
Zxerah
no longer exist,” Cormac countered.
“I beg to differ.” The Patriarch politely inclined his head. “We have remained hidden for centuries, awaiting our moment to act. I believe that moment has come. I sent Roshin into her present position as an assistant to the High Council. She grew up in the
Zxerah
enclave and is a full member of our Brotherhood. Roshin, you have authority to break cover and do what you must to aid Hara in his mission.”
“Yes, Patriarch.” Roshin was an obedient little thing, even if she was some kind of spy. Harry only knew cradle tales about the mysterious
Zxerah
Brotherhood. He’d thought they were just legends, but confronted with the reality of them, he wished he’d paid more attention to the stories he’d been told as a child.