The Light-Field

  Lucian attempted to repress his amusement, unsuccessfully. ‘I could take you there?’

  Taren took her time responding; her defences were weakening and any outing alone together was bound to bring them too close for comfort. She retreated from the water to get the lid of the tank.

  Lucian noted her hesitation and so clarified his offer. ‘There are some dilapidated wharfs a few harbours away where sea dragons thrive, but the spot is hard to reach by land these days, as access has been blocked off to the public. Coincidently, we’ve just taken possession of our new hover-boats. I can get you there and back before work, if you like? I was going to give our latest acquisitions a test run today anyway.’

  To refuse Lucian now would be blatant evasion. ‘Sounds like too much fun,’ Taren accepted with a grin. ‘We’re in.’ She included her pet in the equation, as she finished placing the lid on the tank and held him up.

  ‘Great.’ Lucian seemed rather surprised, although pleased, to have gotten his way. He removed the rest of his gear to carry in his hand. ‘Let’s go.’

  Taren accompanied him down the beach to their project headquarters.

  Never more pleased to have accepted an invitation, Taren sat alongside Lucian in the project hovercraft. Although it moved about several feet above the water’s surface, it was still a bumpy ride as it bounced about on air pockets. Even the surf beaches here on the main island of Kotan Bathaar never had more than lapping waves, and so hovercraft were great for skirting around the coastal waters.

  Evidence of Frujia’s vast array of marine life was everywhere. Brightly coloured schools of fish darted out of the path of their vessel, and large flying fish jumped clean out of the water in their bid to flee. Flocks of sea birds dived from the cliffs all around the coast, and other larger species were hunting further out to sea, where schools of smaller fish were being driven to the surface by larger sea predators.

  ‘You can see why the sea dragons like to live beneath jetties and wharfs,’ Lucian commented to Taren.

  ‘Smart lifestyle choice,’ she concurred, holding on to her hat in one hand and gripping her seat with the other. Spectrum was still in his tank, which had been secured in a small holding bay on board.

  When their hovercraft pulled up to the old wharves and settled on top of the waves, Taren was rather disappointed that the ride had ended so soon. Lucian dropped anchor as she retrieved Spectrum’s tank from the holding bay.

  Through the crystal clear waters it was easy to see many sea dragons of various sizes swimming about beneath the crumbling wharves, so Lucian had not steered her wrong. ‘Right then.’ Taren removed the tank lid and made ready to pour Spectrum in. ‘I hope you find a mate and have —’

  ‘Whoa.’ Lucian came up behind her and, placing his hands over hers, he prevented her from proceeding.

  ‘Now what’s the matter?’ Taren protested, elated to be wrapped up in his arms.

  ‘You have to acclimatise the little fellow … if you don’t want him to die of shock as soon as he hits the water.’ Lucian guided her to lower the tank slowly and let only a small amount of seawater spill in at a time.

  Although she was painfully aware that the person she had made herself out to be would have escaped this uncomfortable intimate moment by now, it was pure heaven and she just couldn’t bring herself to end it.

  The tank slowly filled with water and neither Lucian nor Taren flinched from their entwined position, nor indicated any awkwardness. But at last they had to concede the tank was full, and Lucian gave Taren the all clear to tip the container and let the creature swim out. As she did this, she felt the warmth of his body leave her back, and immediately regretted not ending the moment herself. Afraid to look at him and catch his reaction, Taren watched Spectrum glide out of his tiny tank and back into the vast unknown, feeling rather gratified by their efforts to get him back home. Taren finally got up the courage to turn to Lucian, wanting to thank him for his help, to discover that he had quietly slipped into the water.

  Camera in hand, Lucian was swimming around near her sea dragon as it descended into the safety of the shadows of the old pier. Taren was truly touched as she watched him, thinking his sentiment was lovely — and so thankful he’d allowed her to escape the uncomfortable situation.

  ‘A memento,’ Lucian announced, as he placed the camera on board and then climbed back on himself.

  ‘Thank you,’ she said simply, to stop herself from gushing about what a sweet gesture it was. ‘Did he look happy to be home?’

  Lucian picked up the camera, switched it to preview and handed it to her. ‘You judge.’

  When Taren viewed the picture, she just melted inside and she felt her cheeks begin to burn bright red with desire. Spectrum had entwined his tail with that of another sea dragon, and with their noses touching their bodies together formed a perfect heart shape of vibrant colour. ‘Looks like true love to me,’ Taren concluded with a smile, which quickly dropped from her face when she saw the coastguard headed their way. ‘Company,’ she alerted Lucian, who did not appear too worried, at first.

  As the boat neared, to Lucian’s alarm, it became clear that the boat had merely been mocked up to look like a coastguard vessel, but the men on board were more like a bunch of pirates. ‘Poachers,’ Lucian murmured to Taren, ‘not good.’ They were coming in fast and creating waves, and there was no time to start the engine and attempt to outrun the bigger boat on the choppy water.

  ‘Stay behind me and don’t attract attention to yourself,’ Lucian advised Taren, who opened her mouth to argue instead of nodding. ‘Please,’ he cut her off. ‘Hopefully they are only interested in our vessel.’ Lucian looked back to the scruffy bunch, not liking his chances of that. He had no weapons on board — AMIE was all about conservation and exploration. If somehow they survived this confrontation, that was something he would remedy.

  ‘That’s a fine looking vessel you have there,’ admired the captain of the larger boat, as they cut the engine and pulled up alongside the hovercraft.

  ‘Yes, it is.’ Lucian was tactful. ‘And we have a government permit to be here.’

  ‘Oh really!’ The captain showed his amusement and the crew found it awfully amusing also. The slim, muscular fellow jumped down onto the hovercraft to confront Lucian, whilst the rest of the crew eyed Taren over and whispered amongst themselves. ‘We don’t believe in permits.’

  ‘I had that feeling,’ Lucian retorted, backing up a step and taking Taren with him. ‘I hope you don’t believe in lawsuits either, because you are now trespassing,’ Lucian stated for the record, not liking the way the locals were ogling his company.

  Again the captain laughed and waved down a few more men, who jumped on board the hovercraft. ‘Possession is nine-tenths of the law.’ He pulled a gun from inside his vest and aimed it at Lucian. ‘Your woman is very beautiful.’

  Oh damn. Lucian eyed the area for anything he might use as a weapon.

  ‘I said your woman is beautiful,’ the pirate repeated, louder still.

  ‘I am aware of that, yes,’ Lucian replied.

  The locals were amused to have the professor on the spot. ‘How about you leave her and this boat to us, and we won’t kill you, eh?’

  ‘How about you return to your vessel and we both avoid an assault charge?’ Lucian suggested, remaining cool as a cucumber.

  ‘She looks like she might be worth it.’ The pirate repeated his assessment in the local dialect and all his buddies nodded to back him up. ‘Wouldn’t you agree?’ He directed his query at Lucian.

  ‘Is there a man alive, who wouldn’t agree?’ Lucian appealed and the lads were amused, in a disconcerting manner.

  ‘If you resist, I am going to have to kill you,’ the pirate said to Lucian, who could not see a way of getting close enough to the thug to get the weapon out of his hand; if the other crew members were carrying weapons, they weren’t displaying them.

  ‘I really don’t think you want to go there.’ Taren piped up to caution them, and Lu
cian looked to her to indicate that she was not helping.

  ‘Your boyfriend does not look so tough,’ the pirate captain scoffed.

  Taren gave Lucian a sly wink of confidence. ‘Maybe so …’ she taunted the armed pirate, taking several fearless strides toward him until she was within grasping distance of the man. ‘But he has a secret weapon.’

  ‘And what’s that?’ The local man grabbed hold of her with his free hand and Taren took a step closer still.

  ‘Me.’ She head-butted the man and grabbed up his weapon, as he dropped like a stone to the floor — not unconscious, but groaning in pain.

  Startled by the unexpected change of fate, Lucian ran at the other two men on their vessel and barged them overboard.

  Taren had taken aim at the rest of the crew, who all reached for their own weapons, but by some miraculous stroke of luck, every one of them fumbled and dropped their weapon into the sea — leaving only Taren with a firearm. ‘Anybody else think I’m worth assaulting?’

  Stunned as they were, the local boys did manage to shake their heads when Taren took another step toward them and they all backed up in accordance.

  Lucian grabbed the dazed captain. ‘You had best clear out of these waters, because I am definitely pressing charges.’ He shoved the pirate backward into the drink after the others.

  As he made a move to start their engine, he looked to Taren, utterly grateful and yet bewildered: where did she learn to fight like that?

  She shrugged, keeping one eye and her aim squarely on their guests. ‘I have many skills.’

  ‘I’m very glad I haven’t tried anything untoward with you.’ He made light of his inner panic — Taren Lennox was far more than she appeared to be, that was now blindingly obvious.

  ‘Me too,’ she concurred, as Lucian started up their hovercraft and they left the scene.

  The ride home was fast and furious, which made it impossible to converse. Taren knew she’d blown it with her show of force. Lucian kept glancing at her warily, his notion of her as a refined, congenial businesswoman shattered forever.

  When they reached AMIE’s dock, Swithin and Amie were awaiting them.

  ‘Where have you been?’ Swithin had assumed Lucian had taken their new toy out for a spin, and he was annoyed. ‘Don’t wait for us or anything?’

  ‘We ran into some pirates up the coast,’ Lucian advised, to both Swithin’s and Amie’s horror.

  ‘How are you still in possession of our craft?’ From his black market past, Swithin knew pirates.

  Lucian shut off the motor, and jumped off onto the hangar bay wharf to tie off the boat. ‘We fought them off.’ He shrugged, sounding not particularly thrilled by the feat.

  ‘That’s awesome! How many of them were there?’ Swithin was excited, as Lucian had never been much of a fighter.

  ‘Four or five,’ he lied, as it was more like ten.

  What were the chances of seven hardened sea dogs all fumbling their weapons at once? was what Taren guessed Lucian might be thinking.

  ‘I don’t want to talk about it, really. She’s all yours.’ Lucian motioned to the hovercraft Taren was climbing out of, and kept walking.

  ‘I don’t get it.’ Swithin turned back to Taren, hoping she could explain why his brother was so down on being a hero.

  ‘I’ve done a bit of street fighting in my time,’ Taren said. ‘And I think I might have shocked the professor a little with my head-butting skills.’

  ‘Oh.’ Swithin felt that made sense.

  ‘You let him go?’ Amie pointed to the empty tank in Taren’s hands.

  ‘You know me,’ Taren grinned, ‘always setting free the wrongly imprisoned.’

  Amie found this amusing. ‘I should have done it myself before now.’

  ‘Shall I toss this?’ Taren asked of the tank. ‘I’ve fixed the bug, so you can keep it if you like?’

  ‘I don’t expect I’ll need it,’ she declined.

  ‘You guys have a fun ride.’ Taren waved, of the mind to head home and work there today.

  ‘I would not have taken her for the head-butting type?’ Taren heard Swithin comment to Amie as she walked away, and the comment made her smile, as did Amie’s response.

  ‘Well, I’m not eager to butt heads with her again, I can tell you.’

  7

  THE RONANS

  At midday, Lucian came knocking at her door, and Taren was a little nervous about what the next few minutes would hold.

  She opened the door and the professor looked very serious — not the general vibe she’d been hoping for. ‘It’s been a hell of a day at sea, captain.’ She attempted cheer and managed to coax a brief smile out of him.

  ‘Can I come in?’

  ‘Of course.’ She motioned with a sweeping hand movement for him to come inside and pressed the button that closed the door once he had. ‘After all the excitement, I thought I’d stay close to home today.’

  Lucian raised a sarcastic half grin, which was nowhere near as becoming as his alluring grin in Taren’s opinion. ‘I’m surprised you don’t have concussion.’

  ‘I told you, I have skills.’ She walked past him to the kitchen, of the mind to offer him something to drink.

  ‘Not the kind of skills one expects from their financial manager.’

  ‘Well, I did have a life outside of work once,’ she said with a trace of offence in her tone. ‘What’s wrong with a girl learning to defend herself?’

  Lucian nodded as if that were fair enough. ‘And what of the other miraculous occurrence this morning?’

  Taren knew damn well he was talking about their enemies all dropping their guns in the drink, but she smiled bashfully to play ignorant. ‘Our cuddle, you mean?’

  Lucian was thrown from his train of thought. ‘That was not a cuddle.’

  ‘Then what was it?’ she posed, playfully.

  ‘A rescue, is what it was.’ He denied participation.

  ‘Who said I needed rescuing?’ she teased.

  ‘I was referring to the fish.’ He grinned, knowing he was being sidetracked, but was intrigued all the same.

  ‘All business then, was it?’

  Lucian nodded. ‘Is that not how you like it?’

  ‘It is not how I like it, Lucian,’ she took this opportunity to clarify, ‘it’s how I need it, to ensure our project’s success.’

  Lucian didn’t appear convinced. ‘Sure there isn’t another reason?’

  ‘Another reason?’ Taren was infinitely grateful when her communicator chimed to announce an incoming call. ‘So sorry, excuse me a second.’ Taren picked up the phone and seeing that the caller was an old friend of hers, she answered and walked out onto the veranda to converse. ‘Abi, how are you doing? Long time, no hear? What can I do for you?’

  ‘I need to see you, pronto,’ Jazmay stressed — Abi was an old code name Taren used for her — much as they used Bob when referring to Zeven at times.

  ‘Right now is not good for me,’ Taren told her, looking back to see Lucian watching her from inside.

  ‘We’ve got trouble,’ Jazmay advised. ‘I’m real pushed for time.’

  ‘Can you give me five minutes?’ Taren requested; she couldn’t have Jazmay popping over with Lucian still here.

  ‘At the very longest.’ Jazmay terminated the call.

  Taren returned to Lucian. ‘I’m so sorry, a girlfriend of mine is having a huge personal crisis. I really need to talk to her right now.’

  Lucian drew a deep breath, looking very put out.

  ‘Could we talk later?’ Taren thought to throw in the only card that might appease. ‘… Over dinner, perhaps?’

  Lucian cocked an eyebrow to consider this. ‘Tonight?’

  ‘I’ll even cook.’ Taren grabbed his arm to lead him toward the door.

  ‘Can you?’ Lucian wondered.

  ‘I guess you’ll find out this evening.’ Taren opened the door for him.

  ‘I’ll see you then.’ He still seemed wary, but was content to leave it for now
.

  ‘You will.’ Taren waved, and had no sooner closed the door than Jazmay and her husband, Yasper Ronan, materialised in her lounge room.

  ‘Sorry for the short notice,’ Jazmay apologised, ‘but we had to get off Maladaan.’

  ‘What’s happened?’ Taren returned to her lounge to hug them both.

  ‘The MSS have taken my father.’ Yasper was clearly worried for the chief.

  ‘Your father is head of the MSS,’ Taren reasoned, ‘so how can that be?’

  ‘Not anymore.’ Jazmay brought her up to speed. ‘Ronan quit when Maladaan would not come to the negotiating table on the new psychic laws.’

  ‘So who is charge of the MSS now?’

  ‘No one knows,’ Yasper stated the obvious. ‘But they took my father, so I wasn’t waiting around for them to come for us … especially since —’ He cut himself short and Taren looked to Jazmay to find her shaking her head.

  ‘Okay … what gives?’ Taren knew they couldn’t lie to her when she asked a direct question, as they were both wearing Juju stones.

  Jazmay was grinning, so it was not bad news. ‘I’m pregnant,’ she confessed, seeming a little unsure about how she felt about it. Jazmay had once been a Phemorian Valourean who hated men, and now she was pregnant to one. Yasper’s blue eyes and easy smile beamed with pride, however.

  ‘Congratulations!’ Taren hugged Jazmay, who was uncomfortable about that too.

  ‘Thanks, boss,’ she rolled her eyes, ‘but this does not mean I’m going soft on you.’

  ‘I know, Jaz,’ she pulled away, ‘you’re my rock.’ And then a thought made Taren gasp on her emotion.

  ‘What is it?’

  Taren was doing a calculation in her head. ‘It times out right; he would have been conceived about now.’

  ‘Who would?’ Jazmay urged.

  ‘Fari Doon,’ Taren announced, and the name brought Jazmay to tears. ‘Maybe he was always meant to be your child, but as you didn’t connect with Yasper that time round …’

  Jazmay was nodding as Taren spoke. So much for not going gooey — they fell into each other’s arms sobbing with joy and sentiment.