Authors: Laura Jo Phillips
Aisling was silent for a long moment as she considered that. “All right, but this time I’m going to hold you to that.”
“I want to ask you something.”
“Okay, shoot.”
“Do you remember when I told you about that gel I took from the hibernation tanks the Gryphons were in?”
“Of course.”
“Do you know if it’s been analyzed yet?”
“Not specifically,” Aisling replied, “but I assume it has been. Why?”
“If it’s been tested, would you please send the results to me on the
Ember
? And if it hasn’t, will you send me the results when it is?”
“Yes, I will,” Aisling said, not missing the fact that Salene had neatly sidestepped her question. “I promise, I’ll check on it personally, and the moment I have the results I’ll send them to you.”
“Thank you, Aunt Ash. I wish I could tell you why this is so important, but I just can’t. Not yet. And I’m really sorry about skipping out on you a couple of weeks early, too.”
“I know you, Salene,” Aisling said. “You wouldn’t be doing this if you didn’t have an extremely good reason for it, so I’m not going to ask you any more questions. I’m just going to wish you luck, and tell you I love you, and ask you to remember that I’m here for you if there’s
anything
you need. Oh, and be sure to take those
Kunian
steel weapons and the kevlex with you.”
“I will, Aunt Ash,” Salene said, her throat tight. “I promise. I love you, too.”
Salene sat for a few minutes after disconnecting, wondering about the tank gel. Even if her suspicions were correct, there was no reason to believe that the tank gel could have anything to do with it. And yet, for reasons she could not explain and didn’t understand, she’d always had a strong feeling that the tank gel was important. That’s why she’d collected it to begin with.
***
Aisling frowned at the vox in her hand as she considered all that Salene had said, as well as what she hadn’t said. She’d kept her questions to herself while working with Salene over the past two weeks, but her mind had nagged at the problem incessantly. There was so much that made no sense. Too much, really. But she hadn’t had enough information to formulate a theory that fit.
Until now. She didn’t like where her thoughts were taking her, but nothing else seemed to make any sense. She paced the living room for a while, then went to find her men. It took a while for her to lay it all out for them, but they listened to her without interruption. When she was finished, she sat down and let them think about all that she’d said.
“You think they broke faith with her,” Olaf said after a few minutes, saying the words that even Aisling hadn’t been able to bring herself to speak aloud.
“I’m afraid I do, yes,” she admitted. “I know what a horrible accusation that is to make, Olaf, but I also know Salene. It’s the only thing I can think of that she’d be afraid to share.”
“If they broke faith with her, why would she hesitate to speak about it?” Rudy asked, frowning.
“Because she loves them, and she knows exactly what would happen to them if it got out that they broke faith with her. Salene
always
protects those she cares about no matter the cost to herself. That’s why she chose to let everyone think she’s a spoiled little princess miffed at not getting her way.”
“No one who knows Salene believes that, Aisling,” Rand said.
“I know that, and I suspect
she
knows that as well,” Aisling said. “That explains why she wasn’t the one who told the story of that argument on the
Armadura
. Rayne did. In fact, Salene hasn’t spoken a single word on the subject, not even to me, which effectively prevents anyone from asking her questions without accusing her of being a liar.”
“That’s kind of a stretch,” Rudy said.
“Rudy, this is
Salene
we’re talking about. She’s always been direct and straight-forward on any and every subject, some would say to a fault. Until now. All of a sudden she’s clammed up tight, and that is not the Salene we know and love. Something’s wrong, and that something is a lot more serious than a little tiff between her and the Gryphons.”
“You’re right, Aisling,” Olaf said with a reluctant sigh. “It’s the only explanation that fits. But we’ve known Talus, Jon and Kar all of their lives. It makes no sense that they’d break faith with her. They love her as much as she loves them. We all know this.”
“Exactly,” Aisling agreed. “Something happened. Something we don’t know about. Something that
forced
them to break faith with Salene because I don’t believe for a moment that they’d choose to do such a thing without one helluva good reason. Whatever that
something
was, Salene was just as much in the dark about it as we are. Until today. Something tipped her off while we were talking. I don’t know what, but before she left she said that she’d
missed
something
, and needed to figure out what it was.”
“That’s interesting,” Olaf said.
“Yes, it is,” Aisling agreed. “Whatever it is, whatever she’s thinking, she’s afraid to tell anyone yet. The only way that makes sense is if she’s afraid that if she speaks too soon, and she turns out to be wrong, they’d suffer for it. That’s why she’s leaving for Garza. Not to visit Tani, but to see the Gryphons herself, with her own eyes.”
“I can’t find any flaws in your thinking, Aisling, though I wish that I could,” Olaf said after another few minutes. “Is there any way we can help Salene, assuming you’re suppositions are correct?”
“Did the results of the tests the Council ran on them come back?”
“Yes, and they were all normal,” Olaf replied.
“I wish we’d seen more of them after they returned,” Rand said. “Then we’d have a clearer picture of how they’ve been taking this whole issue with Salene. Unfortunately, they spent all of their time at home, recovering, and refused to discuss it the one night they were here.”
“I think you should talk to Spence and Izzy,” Aisling said. “They’ve both been with the guys for decades. If there was anything strange or out of the ordinary in their behavior, those two will know it.”
“I find myself hoping that there is something wrong with them,” Rand said. Rudy nodded his agreement.
“So do I,” Aisling agreed. “We need to remember that we don’t know anything yet. We’re just guessing. Until we know something for certain, we need to keep this between us.”
“We can agree to that for the time being,” Olaf said. “But if we find evidence that proves they broke faith with Salene, we will not be able to keep it to ourselves. We love Talus, Jon and Kar, and I know that you do as well, but this is too serious to hide.”
“I understand that, and I agree,” Aisling said. “I suggest only that we wait until we know for certain.”
“We’ll begin by speaking with Izzy and Spence as you suggested, Aisling,” Olaf said.
“While you guys do that, I think I’ll go have a chat with Elder Vulpiran.”
“About?” Olaf asked.
“About having another look at that tank gel.”
“What tank gel?”
“The tank gel that was in the tanks Talus, Jon, and Kar were in on the Doftle space station,” Aisling replied. “When Salene called she specifically asked that I let her know the results as soon as they came in. I assume it’s been tested by now, and that if there was anything suspicious you’d have mentioned it, but I didn’t want to tell her that. As serious as this is, I think it warrants a second look.”
“There isn’t any tank gel,” Olaf said. “The med techs were in a hurry to get it off of them because it was contaminated with radioactive material. They didn’t stop to save any of it.”
“What about the container that Salene collected from the tanks?”
“I’m sorry, Aisling, but I’ve seen everything they brought back. There wasn’t a container of gel. I’m sure of it. There was an empty factory container with traces of gel in it, but there was nothing like you describe.”
“Then you need to speak with the Bearen-Hirus because Salene told me specifically that she collected a container of that gel and that it was on the
Armadura
with the other items they took from the Doftle’s lab.”
“That’s troubling,” Olaf said. “Did she say why she wants to have tested?”
“No, only that it was extremely important.”
“I’ll go speak with the Bearen-Hirus immediately,” Olaf said.
“Olaf, please ask them not to mention this to Salene.”
“Why?”
“Because she’s been through enough, and she doesn’t need to be worrying about a missing container of gel right now,” Aisling said. “I’d like to wait until we find it and have it analyzed. Please.”
“Of course,” Olaf said. “For Salene’s sake, we’ll ask them not to mention it, and we won’t tell them any more than we have to.”
Salene knew the moment Jinjie set eyes on her the following morning that he could tell she’d power bonded with Wolef. She met his gaze and held it calmly. If he decided to tell the entire planet there was nothing she could do to stop him, and she had no intention of trying. Her only reason for keeping it quiet was so that the Doftles didn’t learn about it.
After a long moment Jinjie appeared to make up his mind. One corner of his mouth turned up just a bare fraction, and he bowed his head to her. She gave him a nod in return, then turned her attention to Landor and Con. They glanced at what they assumed was a ruby on her forehead before greeting her, dismissing it as a pretty piece of jewelry.
“You ready?” Landor asked.
“Yes, I am,” she replied, picking up her duffle bag only to have Con take it from her. “I appreciate you guys doing this for me.”
“We’re happy to,” Landor said. “Speed traveling is still new enough for us that we haven’t had time to forget how long it takes to drive from here to Badia by ground car.”
Salene tried to smile, gave it up, then looked around to be sure she wasn’t forgetting anything. “We can go whenever you’re ready,” she said. Landor put one hand on her shoulder and stepped sideways, with Con and Jinjie right behind them. A blink of an eye later they all stood in the skyport directly in front of the
Ember’s
boarding ramp.
“You needn’t come aboard,” Salene said. “Jinjie and I can take it from here, and I know you want to get home to Rayne.”
“If you’re certain,” Landor said hesitantly, and this time Salene did smile despite the uncomfortable pulling sensation it caused on her scarred cheek. It wasn’t a big smile, but it was sincere.
“I adore how much you love Rayne,” she said. “Thank you for making my sister so happy.” She reached for the bag that Con was holding, noticing that both men seemed embarrassed and proud at the same time. “Go take care of your Arima and your soon-to-be daughters. Jinjie and I got this, right Jinjie?”
“Princess Salene do be right,” Jinjie said before leaping from Con’s shoulder to hers.
“You might as well know that we’ve asked Jinjie to keep an eye on you,” Landor admitted.
“That’s fine,” Salene said. “I’ll keep an eye on him, too.”
“Fair enough,” Landor said, then leaned down to kiss her cheek. “Enjoy your trip, and be safe.”
“I’ll do my best,” Salene replied, then let Con kiss her cheek as well. “Take good care of Rayne.”
“We will, on that you need never worry.”
“I know,” Salene replied. She watched as the Bearen-Hirus stepped sideways and vanished, then she turned her head so she could see Jinjie on her shoulder. “Shall we discuss Wolef now, or later?”
“It do be not necessary to discuss at all unless you do be wishing it,” Jinjie said.
Salene looked around the busy skyport. “Later, then,” she said, and turned to board the
Ember
.
***
“
We have a problem,”
Talus said to his brothers once the Controllers had shut down for the night.
“That’s not exactly news,
” Jon said.
Talus started to snap at his brother, then reined it in. Snarkiness was Jon’s way of dealing with things, and he knew it.
“
What is it?”
Kar asked.
“
My Controller just got some new orders.”
“Could you tell what they were?
”
“Yes,”
Talus said, wishing he could scream in fury and frustration, something he’d never done even once in his life. He wanted to shift into his gryphon alter-form and roar, claw, scream, rend and tear. But he couldn’t even take a breath to calm himself.
“Talus?”
Kar asked.
“
I’m sorry, Kar,”
he said, fighting to control his emotions which was so much harder when he didn’t have access to his physical body. “
There’s been a change in plan. As soon as the Blind Sight is installed we’ll leave Garza, but instead of going to a Doftle space station, we’re to return to Jasan.”
“That’s not altogether bad
,” Kar said.
“It gives us more time to try to break through these things.”
“Then what?”
Jon asked as though Kar hadn’t spoken.
“With the Blind Sight activated so we aren’t seen, we are to find Salene, transport her to the
Aegl
, and then go to a Doftle space station.”
There was a long silence as Kar and Jon absorbed that news. “
Why the sudden change in plan?”
“There was no explanation, but I think it’s because she’s our Arima.”
“Then why did they break faith with her to begin with?”
Kar asked.
“I don’t know,”
Talus said.
“I’m not sure it even matters unless we can find a way around these Controllers.”
“Talus,”
Jon said.
“
Yes, Jon?”
“Have you noticed that the Controllers don’t use our magic?”
“Yes, of course.”
“Have you tried wielding it yourself?”
“No,”
Talus replied.
“I’m worried that by trying to wield it ourselves, we’ll show them how to do it.”
“I haven’t either, for the same reason. But I think we should.”
“It’s a big risk.”
“I know,”
Jon replied.
“I think it’s worth a try,”
Kar said.
Talus thought about it. They’d reach Garza in another five days, and Khurda had informed them it would take less than one day to install Blind Sight. Six more days was all they had left before they’d be too far from anyone who could possibly help them. Their situation was growing more desperate by the hour, but he wasn’t sure that alone justified such an enormous risk. It was the thought of Salene being abducted again that decided him. He’d risk anything to keep her safe, as would his brothers.
“I agree, let’s try it.”