‘Taren?’ Zeven sounded astonished and happy to hear her voice.
‘Yes, it’s me!’ she assured him, tears welling in her eyes, as she knew better than anyone how much trouble he was in. She was infuriated as she looked at the captain. ‘I can’t believe you let him do this.’
‘My order was to stay put,’ Lucian said defensively.
Taren heard the guilt in the captain’s response, but this was a pointless debate just now.
‘I’m so glad to hear your voice,’ said Zeven and her attention was diverted back to the cause of her concern. ‘I’m so sorry about what happened—’
‘Forget it, I’m fine. Just listen…I’ve had a premonition that when our mysterious being left this universe it took everything, including our planet, with it. The vacuum left in the wake of the planet’s disappearance has caused a black hole to form.’
‘What!’ everyone in the control room said at once.
‘She’s delusional,’ Leal suggested to his gobsmacked superior, who didn’t know what to think.
Taren heard the comment and took offence. ‘Was I delusional about Amie?’ she challenged, and both men held their hands up in truce. She looked around at the crew watching and listening behind her and they all took a step backward.
‘Shit, my equipment is starting to go haywire,’ Zeven reported, alarmed.
‘I need to talk to him,’ Leal insisted.
‘Do you know anything about psychokinesis?’ Taren retorted.
‘Not really.’ Leal was bewildered by her forceful stance and the question.
‘Then back off.’ She looked to the excess personnel. ‘And get them out of here.’
Leal looked to the captain who nodded to support her order.
Taren turned to focus her full attention on Zeven, suppressing the pain of her injuries, and once the room was cleared, she felt more at liberty to speak to Zeven about his new talent. ‘Starman, the Power you have gives you the ability to physically and intentionally direct the atomic structure of matter.’
‘What does that mean?’
‘I’ve missed something?’ Leal whispered to the captain, who did not comment.
‘Exert your will to hold your craft together and get your arse out of there!’ Taren didn’t think she could put it any plainer.
‘It’s not working, the interference seems to be getting worse, the ship is shaking like a motherfucking—’
‘Zeven, you have to focus harder on your desire,’ she urged, tears of empathy welling in her eyes. She could sense his fear, she had to calm him down.
‘I’m trying!’
‘You can do this, but you have to want to survive—’
‘I do want to survive,’ he responded, his voice straining under the pressure of the vibrating craft, ‘but I don’t know how much willpower I have…that’s a real big fucking hole that’s sucking me in…’
Taren curled up close to the intercom microphone to block out the rest of existence and focus on her intent. She knew Lucian was watching and listening, but right now, she didn’t care what he thought of her. Starman’s life was more important than her reputation or romantic aspirations. ‘I want you to want this with the same kind of passion and vigour you had on Oceane.’ She envisioned his craft stabilising. ‘You have an abundance of desire, Zeven. Draw on that and channel it into your present intention.’
‘Oh, yeah,’ Zeven’s voice had steadied, ‘now I’m reading you.’
‘Just keep the pressure on and don’t let up,’ she advised seductively into the mic, as she envisaged the pilot regaining control of his craft. ‘Feel the power of all creation streaming into your body through your heart and injecting you with the vitality to bend your reality to your bidding.’
‘It’s working! I’m turning about!’ Zeven reported, amid cheers of relief from Leal and the captain. ‘I’m clear of the vacuum…I can outrun this thing back to the gate. I totally get it now, Taren. That was awesome!’
Taren was gratified to know Zeven was out of danger, but her pain would not be ignored any more. She was overwhelmed with giddiness and before she could congratulate him, she was flat-faced on the console.
PART 2
FRUJIA—
TROPICAL PLANET
CHAPTER 10
CASTAWAYS
The bliss of unconsciousness was ebbing to an end and the woes of reality came to haunt in short disjointed spurts of awareness. The catastrophes of the past few weeks did nothing to encourage a return to the land of the living, until a conversation with Zeven came to mind and concern for his wellbeing propelled Taren from her slumber.
Her eyes opened to take in the recovery room of Kassa’s medical chambers. Taren looked aside to the clock, eager to discover the time, and the sight of Lucian Gervaise asleep in the chair beside her bed filled her heart with delight. He must have been sitting there for some time, if he actually managed to fall asleep. The thought tickled her insides and brought a smile to her face.
Her head was not throbbing as it had been and as she reached up to check on her wound, the tube attached to the drip in her arm passed across a trolley of medical instruments and sent several crashing to the floor.
Lucian awoke with a start and his sight turned straight to Taren, who was wincing.
‘I didn’t want to wake you…this stupid thing—’ She tugged the long thin tube that had caused the calamity away from the trolley.
‘I’m glad you did.’ Lucian rose to move the trolley and take a seat on the bed, ‘I’ve been waiting for you to wake up. How are you feeling?’
‘The head is good.’ Taren finally touched the area to find the bandage had been removed and replaced with a large padded sticking plaster. The spot still felt bruised and sore to the touch but, even on dragging herself up to a seated position, it no longer made her entire head throb. ‘It’s the recollections inside my head that are more disturbing.’ Immediately Zeven came to mind. ‘Starman?’
‘He’s back and safe,’ Lucian assured her. ‘His discoveries have been reported to the United Star Systems, and they have had the inter-system gateway to Maladaan evacuated and shut down.’
Suddenly, the implications of what she had seen in her visions of Maladaan’s last moments in this universe overpowered her in all their shocking reality. ‘Our planet is gone.’ She looked at Lucian, who could only nod in sympathy with her rude awakening. ‘Everyone and everything I’ve ever known…Not that I had anyone I really held dear…’ she confessed, feeling sorry for those on the crew who had family and friends on the planet. ‘All the people I healed—What have we done?’ She was increasingly distressed. ‘This catastrophe is equal to none that the USS have ever seen!’
‘Taren…’ Lucian gripped her shoulders and glared into her eyes. ‘You did everything you could, everything! I should have listened to you.’
When she heard Lucian take the weight of this disaster upon his shoulders she snapped out of it. ‘In your place, I would have trusted my brother over some lunatic scientist sent to me by the MSS.’
‘That is not what I think of you,’ he assured, tears flooding his eyes against his will. He endeavoured to look her in the eye so that she might know how sincere he was. ‘I have wanted to put a gun to my head many times in the past few weeks, and the only thing that discouraged me from doing so was you.’
Taren burst into a smile and her tears flowed at hearing his words. She’d never thought she’d see a man lay himself open and be so vulnerable—could he possibly be any more perfect? She breathed in deep the relief of feeling free to confess a few things herself. ‘I am not having an affair with Zeven Gudrun,’ she blurted out.
Lucian tipped his head, confused. ‘But something happened down on—’ He stopped himself from finishing. ‘Sorry, that is none of my business.’
He rose to return to his chair, but Taren grabbed his hand to forestall him. ‘I’d like very much for you to make it your business,’ she said shyly, her heart doing backflips like it never had. They had lost their plan
et, their world, and she couldn’t contain the joy that was rushing in surges through her entire being.
‘In that case.’ Lucian backed up to sit down again, and listened to Taren tell the tale of Oceane, including a complete analysis of the scientific data, which proved her temporary attraction to Zeven had not been entirely of her choosing.
‘I can’t imagine that I have made such a fantastic first impression either.’ Lucian wanted to set her at ease about her misadventure. ‘I’ve mistrusted you, accosted you, passed out on—’
‘Ah, so you remember the kiss,’ Taren grinned and his grin was as good as a confession. ‘You’re braver when you’re drunk,’ she teased him.
‘Am I?’ He cocked an eye to dispute this and in all sobriety moved in close to claim the kiss she was inviting.
A quiet knock on the door averted the event and Kassa entered to find Lucian hopping off the bed. ‘I’m sorry,’ Kassa said, knowing what she’d interrupted, ‘but a spokesman for the United Star Systems is on the phone for you.’
The joy fell from Lucian’s face. ‘I’ll take it in my office,’ he advised Kassa and she politely retreated, the door closing behind her.
‘Duty calls.’ Taren roused a smile, as she witnessed the weight of the world return to settle on Lucian’s shoulders.
‘I shouldn’t keep him waiting,’ Lucian hated that he had to rush off, ‘but when you are feeling more recovered, we could have dinner perhaps?’ he suggested, just coyly enough to seem uncertain.
‘That would be wonderful,’ Taren told him sincerely and made him smile. ‘I’ll look forward to it.’
‘You and me both.’ He gave a reluctant wave and left to take the dreaded call.
Kassa was outside Taren’s door directing traffic and as Lucian came out and hurried past, Zeven attempted to get in to see the patient. ‘Now is not a good time,’ Kassa informed him sharply. ‘You’ll have to come back later.’
‘So who is going to help me get a grip on this thing?’ Zeven protested. ‘I mean, if I sneeze, is the ship going to explode?’
Kassa rolled her eyes, frustrated. ‘Go spend the morning in a meditation chamber. That ought to keep you out of trouble.’
‘I’ve tried that before, but I just sit there in the dark, nothing happens, then I fall asleep.’ Zeven shrugged, not understanding all the hype about meditation. ‘I really don’t see how that will help.’
‘You really do need to learn how to meditate,’ Kassa said seriously, as she considered who might have the time and patience to instruct him. ‘Ringbalin,’ she concluded resolutely, and spoke up to stop his protest. ‘Ringbalin is very practised at the art and, what’s more, he is the only other crew member who knows about your predicament.’
‘Actually, after witnessing my escape from a black hole, Leal has figured out that something supernatural is going on with me. He won’t gossip though.’
‘I don’t think Leal is going to be much help with meditation,’ Kassa pointed out. She would not betray her lover’s secret, not even to his best friend…when Leal felt compelled to confide in Zeven, he would. ‘Ringbalin is your man.’
‘But he’s—’
‘No buts.’ Kassa turned him away. ‘Doctor’s orders.’ She gave him a shove in the right direction and immediately retreated into Taren’s recovery room.
Zeven was disturbed by the doctor’s orders and thought about consulting the captain to see if he couldn’t have them overturned. What did Kassa, or Ringbalin, or anyone bar Taren, know about his predicament? They didn’t know how it felt to be a borderline outcast of society. Only Dr Lennox was going to be able to empathise and help him to master this potentially deadly talent he’d been infected with. Maybe there was an antidote? If the atmosphere on Oceane had enhanced his Power, maybe there was another planet somewhere, where exposure to the atmosphere would restore him to normal?
As Zeven pondered his many woes, he realised he’d bypassed the captain’s office and was now in front of the double glass doors that led into Module C. ‘What harm can there be in giving it a go?’ He trudged into the greenhouse and upon breathing deeply of the moist fresh air, he paused to appreciate the potent scents in the atmosphere and bask in the artificial sunshine from above.
The voice of Dr Portus somewhere in the vicinity made Zeven’s ears prick to attention and as she was something of a fascination to him, he moved more stealthily to investigate.
He found the lovely doctor, leaning against a well-developed fruit tree, speaking with Ringbalin who was down on his haunches inspecting an exotic bunch of blooms growing amid the large, partly exposed roots of the tree.
‘Where will you go, now your home is gone?’ she asked Ringbalin, obviously very concerned for him.
‘AMIE is my home,’ he replied in all seriousness, his eyes still very much focused on the flower. ‘And when the day comes that I have to leave…’ He paused to consider this, as he’d never had to think about where home was before.
‘You shall come and live with me,’ she insisted, in a very inviting manner.
‘Perfect,’ he decided, picking the flower and rising. ‘This is one of the rarest blooms in the known universe,’ he said to Dr Portus to enlighten her.
How many more hints does this poor woman have to drop? Ringbalin’s indifference seemed completely insane to Zeven! But then—
‘It is exquisite,’ Ayliscia said, reciprocating his interest, despite her invitation for him to live with her being ignored.
‘Just like you.’ Ringbalin spread his legs to stand upon the two exposed roots that Dr Portus was standing between, effectively making himself taller than she was. ‘It grows wild in the remote mountain rainforests on Frujia, where they call it Lotu-rina, meaning Heaven’s bell.’
The ‘bell’ part of the name was obvious due to the large bell shape of the flower. ‘Heaven’s bell?’ Ayliscia questioned, enjoying being cornered by him.
Ringbalin smiled. ‘The scent of the flower is said to be so euphoric that it sends the senses into a state of complete bliss.’
‘May I?’ Ayliscia invited him to hold it to her nose.
But he did not. Rather, he teased her with it, gently brushing it across her cheek. He touched it to her chin and as she raised her eyes to look at him, he slowly slid the flower down her long neck and back up the side of her face, never touching her skin with his own, his lips but a breath from the kiss she so desired.
With only a flower connecting the lovers, Zeven was stunned to admit he’d never witnessed such intense passion pass between two people. He had to back away from such a private moment, but it had been a real eye-opener for him.
The pilot tiptoed back to the entrance, of a mind to leave them to their gardening, but in his hurry rounding a corner Zeven kicked a metal bucket and made a hell of a ruckus.
‘Hello?’ Ringbalin called out from behind him.
Zeven now wanted to kick himself. This just gave Dr Portus another reason to dislike him. ‘Malachi, where the fuck are you?’ Zeven covered his departure with an entry.
‘If it isn’t my angry little test subject.’ Ringbalin was surprised to see him back again. They’d been on this ship for five years and barely spoken two words to each other before this week. ‘What can I do for you?’ Ringbalin noted the flower still in his hands. ‘One second…’ He held up a finger and ran back through the foliage.
As Zeven was playing dumb, he felt at liberty to follow Ringbalin and watch from a distance as he handed the flower to Ayliscia. She breathed in the scent and with a smouldering gaze returned to her lab.
Zeven decided that Ringbalin was turning out to be something of a legend in the art of romance and seduction—every time they met Zeven seem to have an epiphany of some kind. ‘Am I interrupting something?’
‘Just my life’s work,’ Ringbalin said with good humour. ‘Your mission to Maladaan will be one for the history books.’ Ringbalin felt he owed the pilot some accolades for solving the mystery; many more may have died trying to discover what ha
d happened to the planet. ‘What you did was insanely brave.’
‘Yeah, well, insanely brave is the only thing I do really well,’ Zeven bantered back. ‘I think Taren had more to do with my narrow escape than was apparent at the time, but they won’t—’
‘What makes you say that?’ Ringbalin was curious.
Zeven pulled his head in, put off by the question. ‘All I know is that I was losing the plot badly and the next minute I’m in control and feeling like I just scored with Miss Universe! I can’t even remember what she said to me, all I know is that she brought me home.’ Even Zeven was surprised by how solemnly he said this and meant it.
Ringbalin dwelt on this only a moment, as Zeven was looking uncomfortable. ‘So, what brings you to Module C again?’ He noticed a tree that needed pruning nearby and moved to tend it.
‘The doc said that, in order to master my psychic disorder, I have to learn how to meditate.’
Ringbalin was amused to hear Zeven describe his talent as an affliction.
‘She doesn’t have time right now and said I should come see you.’ Zeven shrugged to distance himself from the idea, in case Ringbalin objected.
‘Well,’ Ringbalin pruned as he spoke. ‘There’s not that much to it really…you just get comfortable, focus on your breathing, clear your mind and go within.’
‘What does that mean?’ Zeven was frowning, bemused. ‘Go within? I just fall asleep. Is that the same thing?’
Ringbalin stopped what he was doing and took a deep breath, accepting that the doctor’s order was going to eat into his time. ‘I’ll tell you what. I’ll teach you how to meditate, but for every minute I invest in you, you in turn will help me catch up on my work here. Deal?’
Zeven was of precious little use as a pilot until he mastered his emotions and, secretly, he found Ringbalin to be one of the most intriguing people he’d ever met. ‘Sounds fair,’ he agreed. ‘When—’