‘Dr Lennox?’ inquired Kestler, to get Taren to turn his way. ‘What a pleasure this would be under different circumstances … I am most impressed by your research.’
‘The honour is all mine, Professor.’ His introduction had Taren curious. ‘Is there a problem?’ She looked to the captain for an answer.
Lucian was reluctant to state the facts; although all the evidence pointed to Kestler the captain did not believe it.
‘It’s not your fault, Lucian.’ Kestler excused himself, ‘I’ll be in my quarters if you need me.’
By the time they were alone, Taren’s exhilaration had turned to concern. ‘Why are you out of sorts with your mentor?’
Lucian strolled to the desk and played the surveillance tape that Kestler had just viewed. ‘I suspect Kestler is one of your sleeper agents,’ he commented as she watched with horror. ‘Colbers is still missing.’
‘No,’ Taren corrected, ‘Zeven and I just recovered his body and your pod from the surface of Oceane.’
‘The pod went to Oceane?’ Lucian was shocked to hear her refer to one of his crew as a ‘body’. ‘Colbers is dead?’
Taren nodded. ‘He was shot, point blank, in the head.’
It took a second for Lucian to absorb the information. ‘Someone murdered him?’
Their sights fell to the screen where the old professor was releasing Colbers.
‘No.’ Lucian stepped away from the conclusion the footage posed. ‘I cannot believe such a great man would stoop to cold-hearted murder. How did he even know that Colbers had been detained? It was not something I advertised.’
‘How indeed?’ Taren felt this was a very good question. ‘Kestler is a sleeper, the only one left, so far as I am aware. He doesn’t remember anything, does he?’
‘You think Amie directed Kestler to do this?’ The question coursed like acid through Lucian’s veins, aggravating every fibre of his being.
‘I’m afraid so.’ Taren hated this part; why was she always the one to witness his heart shattered to pieces? ‘And this is the very least of her sins against you and this project.’
‘Why didn’t you just tell me that in the first place?’ Lucian’s anger came bursting out, but Taren did not react.
‘Because you wouldn’t have believed me,’ she replied. ‘You still don’t. The last time we lived through this, Colbers was the killer on board, and with him locked up I wasn’t expecting any more casualties. Kestler’s brief and involuntary involvement in all this had slipped my mind … I am so sorry, I shouldn’t have left.’
Lucian’s anger swiftly departed as Taren’s mystique held him spellbound once more; her manner was so serene and sincere he felt almost compelled to trust her. ‘Is it true what they are saying about us, that, in the future you keep referring to, we were …’
‘… lovers,’ Taren concluded frankly, which brought a flush and a smile to Lucian’s face. ‘Would that be pleasing to you?’ She ventured to move closer and Lucian did not object as he watched one of his recent fantasies come to life.
Still, her question was not easy to answer. Taren Lennox was obviously a very powerful, unrestrained psychic, with a dubious history and a habit of creating chaos wherever she went — any sane man would be backing out politely about now. But for some insane reason Lucian believed the word of this near stranger over the word of his lover of ten years! His key crew were all supportive of Dr Lennox and her cause, so either she had enchanted everyone, two telepaths and himself included, or she really was here to prevent the project from ruin.
‘I believe your love is my saving grace,’ uttered Lucian as their lips met.
Taren’s kiss was like an intense mind injection of a euphoric, empowering and deeply spiritual drug. ‘Whoa.’ Lucian was very surprised to find himself staggering in the wake of it, and Taren laughed, thinking he was faking his giddiness.
‘Are you okay?’ Her tone became more serious when Lucian took a seat on his desk, but he did not let her hand go.
‘Incredible.’ Lucian felt more than okay, he felt liberated, high even, and tugged at Taren’s hand to bring her close, so that he might kiss her again.
‘What about —’ She attempted to point out how many problems they had to sort out, but Lucian was not in the mood to talk.
Unconsciously, his hands were all over her, seeking something, but stopped when his right hand hit upon a flat, hard item that was inside the tight upper sleeve of Taren’s project wetsuit. ‘What is that?’ Lucian asked; he was no psychic, yet he could feel the good vibrations surging forth into his hand from this source.
‘That’s a little bit of our soul source,’ she replied and then gasped. ‘Perhaps that’s why you’re dizzy?’
‘That might explain it.’ He grinned, he didn’t care why he felt so good, only that he did. ‘Now explain it to me?’ He rested his buzzing forehead against hers.
‘Cosy.’
Shocked from their intimate embrace, Lucian and Taren looked to the open doorway, where Amie stood with a laser gun in her hand pointed at them.
‘Unfaithful husband,’ she stated, as the door closed behind her.
Amie appeared to be upset, which was designed to make Lucian feel guilty; Taren was not about to stand aside and allow Amie to sidestep her own bad deeds with her fake dramatics.
‘Khalid Mansur and Swithin Gervaise,’ Taren piped up, ‘what do these two men have in common?’
The question knocked the wind right out of Amie’s body, which made Lucian very curious.
‘I don’t know.’ Amie finally managed to squeeze out an answer as Zeven Gudrun appeared alongside her and took the weapon from her hand.
‘She caught you snogging, didn’t she?’ Zeven asked to taunt his prisoner and make his superiors blush.
‘We were just discussing what Swithin Gervaise and Khalid Mansur have in common.’ Taren brought him up to speed and Zeven winced.
‘Uncomfortable,’ he commented as an aside to Amie, who was still trying to make out she didn’t know what they were talking about, though she appeared increasingly distressed.
Amie objected to Zeven appearing beside her. ‘I didn’t realise we had an infestation of psychics on board.’
‘Stop trying to divert attention away from yourself … it’s all about you today.’ Taren conjured some restraints upon Amie’s ankles and wrists. ‘And if you do not start confessing everything that I know you’ve done for the men aforementioned, then Kassa will get it out of you under hypnosis …’ a chair slid up behind Amie, whereupon she took a seat, ‘… every sordid detail.’
‘What do the Viceroy of Sermetica and my brother have in common?’ Lucian hoped he was not following this inquisition correctly.
Amie’s expression turned from flustered to lethal, and she looked back to Taren to avoid her husband’s expression of betrayal. ‘Have you got any idea who you are fucking with?’
Zeven had to laugh at that query and Taren was amused also.
‘We know more about you and all your buddies within the MSS than you do,’ Taren assured her. ‘So be truthful, as I will be filling in the blanks.’ Her sights turned to Lucian, who was still looking a little woozy. ‘Are you all right?’
Lucian nodded, and rubbed an eye. ‘I’ll be fine … I just can’t seem to get my eyes to focus properly.’ He pulled up a chair to question the prisoner.
‘I’ll leave you to it then.’ Taren cued Zeven who was already heading for the door.
‘You’re not disappearing anywhere, are you?’ Lucian queried before Taren left his sight again.
Taren shook her head to assure him. ‘I’m not going anywhere this time. I’ll see you after.’ She followed Zeven to the door.
‘Lennox!’ Amie called after her. ‘You don’t know everything about me.’
There was something about Amie’s malignant smile and bitter tone that compelled her to believe the statement, but Taren refused to award the woman any more of her energy by debating the claim. Taren left the office and closed the door
— for once Amie could explain her own mess.
‘Thank heavens that’s over, hey?’ Zeven commented, as Taren caught him up. ‘Now we just have to get that sample back and we’re done.’
‘Zeven! You came back!’ Aurora spied them coming from up the corridor and came running to jump on Starman and smother him with kisses. ‘I knew you’d be back for more.’
Taren had to roll her eyes at this; clearly Zeven had seduced Aurora before he’d departed, despite his claim that he had not. Mental note … do not believe a thing Starman says when he’s horny. At that moment Taren felt her gut tie into a knot as if she’d done something wrong, and she racked her brain to work out what that something was.
‘I think I need food, my guts hurt,’ Zeven whined.
‘Mine too.’ Taren gripped his arm, as her foreboding intensified and when their eyes met, she saw the same dread staring back at her from Zeven’s eyes.
There was a huge explosion that rocked the steady ship enough to throw them off their feet.
Taren’s heart had jumped into her throat and all she could hear was the sound of it beating. It took a second to regain her bearings and figure out that the explosion had come from behind them. ‘Lucian,’ Taren uttered, knowing in her heart that he was gone. Yet, she hauled herself upright and ran back in the direction of his office.
The office door was buckled from the blast, and there was a loud howling sound coming from beyond it.
Taren’s screams could barely be heard over the din, and Zeven struggled to restrain her from trying to enter the room.
‘You can’t go in there,’ he yelled in her ear. ‘You’ll be sucked into the open vacuum of space!’
Taren relented from her struggle, overwhelmed with the realisation that that was exactly what had happened to Lucian; she coiled over and collapsed to the floor defeated. ‘I can’t do this any more!’ she moaned, exasperated and overcome with grief.
‘But if you don’t, then Lucian is going to remain dead,’ Zeven stated, knowing she would not let that happen.
‘I know,’ she whined, annoyed that he was pointing out the obvious. ‘I didn’t mean this as in this mission, I meant this as in this instance of time! I can’t do this, any more! There has to be another way.’
‘How?’
‘Just stop!’ Taren placed a hand over Zeven’s mouth. ‘I need some time,’ she requested, her emotions highly unstable. Taren knew she had the capability to get Lucian back, but that did not detract from the fact that he’d just been blown to pieces in the next room. Amie was right, Taren had not taken her for the suicide agent type, but perhaps Amie had been programmed to self-destruct by her superiors to protect their identities and suppress any evidence.
‘You will come see me before you go anywhere?’ Zeven made her swear, and she nodded.
‘I’ll just be in my quarters.’ She forced a smile to reassure him she was okay, and as Aurora arrived on the scene Zeven rose to head her off and Taren vanished before the rest of the crew arrived to discover the devastating event.
22
ELUCIDATE
The teeming hot water of her shower tube was not having the usual elucidative effect. How could she focus on what to do next, with her entire being still reverberating from the explosion that had killed the one she’d been enduring all this for?
How do I make this right?
Taren felt she’d been going round and round in circles and getting nowhere good — from her own life experience she knew that meant that she was going the wrong way! She was desperate to go back to any day where Lucian was alive and well, but not if it meant it was all going to end in tears again. This moving two days forward and one day back was a nightmare and the outcome was getting progressively worse!
A knock on the outer side of the steamy glass of her shower tube got her attention. Taren switched off the shower and grabbed for a towel. ‘Who’s there?’ She figured it was Zeven.
‘Interesting rock you have here …’
Taren smothered her gasp when she realised it was Jazmay Cardea beyond the steamy screen. Shit, I should have the stone with me! Taren scolded herself on the quiet. Even willing herself to where she’d left her Juju stone, on the side of her washbasin, she was not fast enough to stop Jazmay taking possession.
‘… this wouldn’t have anything to do with why it has taken me hours to find you?’ Jazmay pondered, as she observed the piece of flat grey rock imbued with gaseous rainbows of colour. ‘This looks strikingly similar to that gas sample?’
Jazmay was a little different these days, she was a lot more refined as a person, and she was articulate in Taren’s native language.
‘It’s not just a gas.’ Taren resolved to be calm about the temporary loss of her stone, and wrapping her towel about her, she did not attempt to take it back.
Were Jazmay and Jahan part of her soul group? Taren suspected that they were, and if so, direct contact with the Juju stone was bound to have a positive effect on Jazmay.
‘I know what the gas is,’ Jazmay said, ‘I have access to your memories.’
As Taren did not feel at all threatened by Jazmay in this instance, she moved past her to find some clothes. ‘Well, if you have such a sterling grip on my past, I have to wonder why you wanted to make the whole Maladaan disaster happen again?’
‘You know why.’
Taren could sense the Phemorian felt guilty for betraying the crew of AMIE.
‘Look back into my memory ten years,’ Taren suggested, ‘the man you are seeking is there.’
‘Jahan?’
Taren nodded, but Jazmay was wary.
‘This is a trick.’
‘No,’ Taren insisted, ‘it is the truth. The soul you are looking for went by the name of Yasper Ronan, check for yourself.’
‘Ronan?’ The Phemorian’s eyes narrowed in spite, she knew the chief all too well these days, and she still didn’t like him very much. ‘Surely, that can’t be right?’
Taren shrugged. ‘Then prove me a liar. You have the stone, so I can’t go anywhere you won’t find me. Besides, I want to speak with you, after.’ Taren left the bathroom for her dressing room.
The awful foreboding feeling in Taren’s gut had switched to one of growing excitement; this unexpected meeting could have been fatal for one of them, if not both, but instead it felt synchronous. Jazmay had sought her out right when Taren was asking the cosmos for a new plan. If she could get Jazmay working with her, instead of against her, that opened up many more possibilities — they would be a formidable team.
If I went back ten years not only could I stop Yasper from being killed — a desire of Taren’s that she’d never expected to be able to fulfil — but I might be able to expose Swithin and Amie before they ever become involved with the Astro-Marine Institute!
It was a complete revelation! Why try to unravel this matted ball of time twine, when she could go back to before the twine became so matted?
Why should Amie get to be with Lucian for ten years when she doesn’t give a damn about him? Taren was inspired by the prospect of saving Lucian from the entire heartache. But then, how could she stop Lucian from being seduced by Amie without seducing him herself? Ten years ago Taren broke all ties with the MSS and she knew now that they had never stopped watching her — making her just as dangerous to Lucian as Amie or Swithin! Her father had cut a deal with Ronan at that time, to wipe her memory and give her a new life, so maybe this time around Taren could cut her own deal with Ronan? Jazmay was not the only person who would like to see Yasper alive and well again.
Jazmay wandered out of the bathroom and leant on the door frame, bemused. ‘In order to change the course of my life to end up here on AMIE and not in prison, I went back ten years. I studied, schemed and worked my way on board this project, just so that I could create a chance to be with Jahan again …’ She gave a heavy exhale. ‘When I could have spent the past ten years with him —’ she looked at Taren, with daggers in her eyes, ‘— after I’d killed you, of course.
’
Taren felt for her, being so close to the prize and then to discover this. ‘The point is, Yasper is of this universe and is therefore far more likely to be the man you are destined to be with. I cannot help but wonder what would have happened if I’d said no to Yasper’s advances, as I know I should have. He would have lived. Would he have gone on to be one of the agents who arrested you and —’
‘The Jahan I know is a conservationist, not a guerrilla!’ Jazmay couldn’t see herself having the same deep rapport with this macho incarnation of her lover.
‘That was the path Yasper chose so as to spy on his father’s operations. He hated the MSS persecution of psychics, which was part of the reason he was attracted to me in the first place.’ Taren offered a little more insight. ‘So you see, if he’d met you instead of me, I know —’
‘He’s dead!’ Jazmay objected to the entire conversation.
‘I can change that,’ Taren stated surely.
‘He won’t know me,’ the Phemorian said.
‘I can change that, too.’ Taren grinned.
‘He’s Chief Ronan’s son!’ Jazmay threw her arms up in dismay and Taren winced and shook her head.
‘I can’t change that, unfortunately.’ Taren’s argument ran out of steam. ‘Tea?’ she offered.
‘Sure.’ Jazmay followed Taren out of the dressing room and into the main living area. ‘I’m sorry your little Starman was shot, is he all right?’
She had to chuckle at Jazmay’s reference to Zeven, although admittedly Jazmay did stand a good head taller than him. ‘He has recovered,’ Taren said as she made tea.
‘Is he a lover?’
‘Not to me,’ Taren assured her.
‘Your memories led me to believe you are in love with Captain Gervaise,’ Jazmay stated.
‘Captain Gervaise is deceased …’ Taren said, suppressing an urge to get emotional, ‘… for the moment.’
‘That was not meant to happen!’ Jazmay was truly astounded. ‘I am so very sorry, the captain was a good man,’ she said, toying with the stone in her hand as though it was a hot potato. She finally felt compelled to put it down on the bench near Taren.