Justice Keepers Saga--Books 10-12, page 122
It pleased her to see how happy her words made him. If it was up to her, Jack would be happy all the time. Which was why she had been dreading this conversation all day. Couldn’t she put it off a little longer? Seth’s growing annoyance gave her the answer to that question. The Nassai valued honesty.
Clearing her throat, Anna looked down at the floor. “There’s something I have to tell you.” Her words came out in a rasp. “And before I do, I want you to know that I love you more than I could ever express.”
“What’s up?”
“I told you about the raid on the factory,” she said. “But I didn’t tell you about how we got the intel on where they were keeping their weapons. Lady Braynar invited a bunch of Ragnosian dignitaries to dinner. One of them was a general. I got him drunk, made out with him a little. And when he passed out, I hacked his pocket computer.”
“Cool!”
Anna blinked.
Was she hallucinating? She had expected anger from him. Or hurt, at the very least. Not whatever this was. She was afraid to look at him, but Spatial Awareness forced the image into her mind whether she wanted it or not.
Jack had a dreamy grin as he rotated the chair back and forth. “I’m dating a femme fatale,” he whispered. “That is so hot!”
“You’re not upset?”
“Hey, if I got you a yogurt shop uniform, would you wear it?” That clinched it. This had to be a hallucination. She was still on Telixa’s flagship, and the admiral had drugged her with something. “I will, of course, get the requisite electronics store shirt.”
Anna stood up slowly and shuffled over to him. Clamping her hands onto Jack’s shoulders, she pushed him back against the chair and crawled into his lap.
Her lips came down on his, hands caressing his face. The kiss lasted only moments, but each one was a blessed eternity. Finally, she pulled away.
Jack stared up at her with those gorgeous blue eyes. “Yeah,” he panted. “I’m thinking we can forego the yogurt shop uniform.”
“You’re not mad?”
He laid a hand on her cheek. Anna closed her eyes, leaning into his touch. “Why would I be mad?” he asked. “First of all, you did what you did to save lives. I know that.
“Second of all, I’m not bothered by the thought of you kissing or even having sex with other people. I mean I’d rather you did it for fun and not just to steal enemy secrets. But I’ve seen Gabi looking at you. I’m pretty sure she would love a night alone with you. And speaking from experience, that’s not an opportunity you want to pass up.”
Touching her nose to his, Anna giggled. “Noted.”
He shut his eyes, breathing deeply. Anna could tell that he was exhausted. Come to think of it, she was pretty tired herself. Just a few more hours until the bridge crew came to start the morning shift. And then it was happy, sleepy, cuddle time.
“I just remembered something,” Jack mumbled.
“Oh?”
“Telixa said something about taking you up on your offer. What was she talking about?”
With a heavy sigh, Anna stood up. A lock of hair fell over her face, and she brushed it away. “She’s been infected with the same virus Slade used on you,” she said. “I told her that I would contact Dr. Veneray to see if he’s made any progress developing a treatment.”
Jack was rigid, trembling as he fought his way through the anger. Mention of Slade or the virus usually had that effect. “That’s good,” he croaked. “If we can free her…”
“It might be enough to stop this war.”
“At long last.”
Anna bent to kiss him tenderly on the forehead. “I’m sorry, love,” she murmured. “I didn’t want to talk about this because I know it triggers you.”
“No, it’s better that you told me.”
“I know,” she whispered. “But it means that sooner or later, I’m gonna have to go back to Telixa. And I don’t relish the thought of being at that woman’s mercy.”
“When the time comes,” Jack said. “We’ll go together.”
30
DAY 42
Harry knocked on the front door of a little, round house that was so very like the one he had left behind on Leyria. Della answered a moment later, stepping out onto the porch with a disapproving frown. “No Melissa?”
Standing on the step, Harry hung his head and clamped a hand onto the back of his neck. “She wouldn’t come,” he explained. “Said the people of Salus Prime needed her.”
Claire was at his side with her hands shoved into the pockets of her windbreaker, staring down at her feet. “You should have told her to come,” she mumbled. “Can’t you be all paternal or something?”
“I couldn’t even convince you not to come down to the planet’s surface. Why do you think I can convince Melissa of anything?”
His words were a mistake, and he knew it as soon as they were out of his mouth. Della hit him with a very dangerous glare. “You let her go down to the planet’s surface?”
“It’s not his fault,” Claire insisted, putting herself between them. “Super powers, remember? I made him.”
“Claire!”
Harry raised his hands defensively, shaking his head. “It’s fine,” he said. “I’ll take the blame for this one too.”
The interior of Della’s house was somewhat different than what he was used to. A narrow front hallway with pink walls provided just enough space for a coatrack and a closet. At the end of that stubby corridor, a doorway opened into a much larger living room, complete with a red sofa. Three slanted windows in the house’s curved front wall looked out on the garden.
Della seated herself on the couch. “There’s an interstellar war going on,” she muttered. “And we never knew.”
“Mmm.”
“Why would they keep it from us?”
Harry opened his mouth, intending to say something about the Overseers, but the words died on his tongue. That was not a subject he wanted to bring up. It would only get Della talking about the deal he had made. “Jeral Dusep does not believe in the ideals of democracy as much as his predecessor did.”
“Is that why you preach against him?”
“That and other reasons.”
Heaving out a sigh, Della covered her face with both hands. She split them apart, groaning. “Melissa’s a grown woman,” she said. “I have to respect her decision. But I can’t help but think my baby girl is going to get herself killed.”
“Now, you know how I feel.”
Claire walked over to rest a comforting hand on her mother’s shoulder. “Maybe we should have stayed too,” she said. “We both have super powers.”
“No,” Harry said, grimacing as he shook his head. “Claire, you might be a telepath, but a war zone is no place for a twelve-year-old. And me? Well, let’s just say I have debts to pay.”
He felt the pressure of his daughter trying to read his thoughts and ignored it. She could never get at the things he wanted to keep hidden. He wasn’t sure why. Maybe that first Overseer, the one who had modified his brain so that he could use the N’Jal, had done something to shield him from telepathic intrusion.
Why had that first one changed him?
After meeting with some of the others, he was fairly certain that Harry Carlson using a N’Jal was not part of the Overseers’ master plan. It was almost as if…as if there were factions among them.
It was a shock to him when a second Della appeared, this one dressed in slacks and a blouse while her twin on the couch wore sweatpants and a tank-top. “Opportunities present themselves.”
Harry nodded.
If the Overseer avatar was in any way troubled to be in the same room with the real Della, it gave no sign of it. “You will resume your ministry.”
Harry said nothing. He didn’t want his family to wonder why he had started talking to himself. The Overseers would just have to explain these new opportunities to him at a more opportune time. He-
Claire’s head snapped up, dark eyes fixed on the spot where the phantom Della stood. “I told you,” she hissed. “Never take my mother’s form!”
“What are you talking about?” Della asked.
Ignoring her, Claire strode forward, thrusting her hand out with fingers curled. “Show yourself!”
The real Della gasped, falling back against the couch cushions with a hand over her mouth. She was deathly pale. Which could only mean one thing: she was seeing it too.
Trembling with rage, her eyes wild like a feral cat, Claire raised both hands, clenched her fingers into fists and then brought them down. Just like that, the second Della was gone. And something else took its place.
A spindly figure with limbs so thin they should have broken under its weight floated about six inches above the carpet. It had a bulbous head that was much too large for its neck. Harry couldn’t see it, but somehow, he could trace the shape of it with his mind. Telepathy, he suspected.
“An Overseer?” Della asked.
Claire never took her eyes off the alien. “Go back to the others,” she growled. “Tell them saving me was the worst deal they ever made. Because I’m going to expose you sons of bitches to everyone.”
A spike of fear went through Harry when the apparition clutched its head with three-fingered hands. He couldn’t hear anything, but he knew the pose of someone screaming in pain.
The Overseer flitted away, vanishing.
Rushing to his daughter, Harry grabbed her by the shoulders. “Claire, what were you thinking?” he demanded. “They’ll come for you now! I can’t stop them!”
The stony expression on her face froze his heart. “I’ve got news for you, Dad,” she said. “They were already coming. You still think that if we just play by the rules, powerful people won’t hurt us. How many times does the world have to prove you wrong before it sinks in?”
He was speechless.
Della’s reproachful glare didn’t help matters. She just kept shaking her head the way she used to when they were married. But the worst part – the absolute worst part – was the disappointment in his little girl’s eyes.
“It’s time to stop being a cop, Dad,” Claire said.
Anna stepped through Lauren Hunter’s patio door and found herself in a cute, little backyard surrounded by apple trees. Crystal and Steve sat at a round, white table in the grass, talking quietly.
When she turned around, Lauren was on the step that led up to the sliding door, a cool breeze teasing her hair. Behind the tiny house with its domed roof, the towering oaks of the Talnen forest formed a wall at the edge of this little community, their green leaves fluttering in that same wind. It was a gorgeous day, crisp and cool with a sweetness in the air that only came out at the start of fall.
Most of the people Jack had rescued from the detention centers had moved here, and now the neighbourhood was bustling with Antaurans and Earthers who had come to Leyria in search of a new life. Hopefully, they would find it here.
Descending the steps in a blue dress with short sleeves, Lauren smiled as she approached Anna. “I’m glad to see you’re all right.”
“Thank you.”
The sensation of motion behind her made her turn around. Crystal was walking slowly through the grass, coming toward her. “Hi, honey,” she said, taking Anna’s hands. “How are you feeling?”
“A little freaked out.”
“Well, two weeks as a prisoner will do that.”
Anna resisted the urge to point out that her time on Telixa’s flagship was not the source of her anxiety. Family gatherings: the bane of every misfit’s existence. It didn’t matter if it was your family or your partner’s; either way, the whole thing was a minefield.
Anna took a seat at the table, nervously hunching up her shoulders. After a moment, she forced herself to relax. No need to put the others on edge. “Steve,” she said. “Good to see you.”
He lifted a glass of lemonade in a toast. “You too.”
“How are you settling in?”
His face lit up as he turned his head to inspect his surroundings. You might have thought that he was looking at a buffet of the finest deserts. “It’s amazing here!” he confessed. “You show up, and they just give you a house! You can go almost anywhere on the planet in a matter of minutes.”
Planting her elbow on the table, Anna leaned her cheek against the palm of her hand. She studied him for a very long moment. “You have SlipGates on Earth,” she said. “Don’t tell me you’ve never used one before.”
“Yeah, but they don’t charge you to use them here.”
“They’re charging you to use SlipGates?” When had that started? She had never had to pay to use a Gate during her time on Earth. But then there might have been some exception for Justice Keepers.
Jack came out the back door with an oven mitt on each hand, carrying a tray of pizza. “Okay,” he said, setting it down on the table. “I think it’s edible.”
One glance, and Anna’s tummy rumbled. He had divided the toppings in half, one side with green peppers and mushrooms, the other with goat sausage and green olives. Five days of field rations had left her with a hankering for real food.
Sliding a spatula under the pizza, Jack lifted a slice off the tray, strings of cheese stretching until they snapped. He set it down on Anna’s plate. “Milady,” he said, bending to kiss her forehead.
She smiled up at him.
Hungry as she was, she waited for him to serve the others. Manners and all that. Mustn’t be a rude guest.
Lauren took a bite and then made a face. She chewed thoroughly before remarking, “It tastes odd…Not bad but odd.”
Anna had no idea what she was talking about. The cheese had a nice, nutty flavour; the vegetables were fresh and juicy. It was the best pizza she had ever tasted! Granted, she had been surviving on field rations, but she had spent a year teaching her boyfriend the artistry of cooking, and his success was a point of pride.
Standing on the other side of the table, Jack cocked his head, and his eyebrows shot up. “Almond cheese,” he explained. “The Leyrians don’t use cow’s milk. And neither do any of the colony worlds.”
“We noticed that when we were ordering groceries,” Steve replied. “Is it true that the meat is cloned?”
“Every particle of it.”
The man turned his gaze upon Anna, sunlight reflecting off of his glasses. “Then why are you still a vegetarian?”
She answered him with a shrug while chewing a bite of pizza. “Started it on Earth,” she said after a moment. “Decided that I liked it.”
Taking the chair next to Anna, Jack cleared his throat and then looked up at his mother. “So, how are you guys settling in?” he asked. “Is there anything you need?”
“Oh, we’re fine,” Crystal said, waving his concerns away. “We have everything we could possibly want.”
“Except for something to do,” Lauren put in. “Are we really stuck here forever?”
“For the foreseeable future,” Jack replied. “Sending you back to Earth would be far too dangerous. Dusep’s people would love to get their hands on you.”
Twisting around in her seat, Crystal smiled at her daughter. “You know, I think I might start volunteering at the local hospital,” she said. “They could probably use another nurse.”
Sighing with exasperation, Lauren rolled her eyes. “Mom, you don’t know a damn thing about Leyrian medicine.”
“I can learn!”
“Well, that’s great for you,” Lauren muttered. “I’m an accountant. What am I supposed to do with myself?”
Jack froze with a piece of pizza halfway to his mouth. “You’d be surprised,” he said. “The Alosians might not use money, but there are plenty of people here who specialize in resource management.”
“Well, I suppose that’s something.”
The setting sun left a golden glow over the Talnen forest. Tall trees stood hundreds of paces high, casting shadows over uneven ground with roots poking out here and there. It was cool but not unpleasantly so.
Hunched over as she climbed a steep hill, Anna grunted and stepped over one of those protruding roots. “Almost there,” she said, looking back over her shoulder. “At least, according to the GPS.”
Jack was right behind her, smiling down at his own feet. “You know,” he said. “I think using a GPS is officially cheating according to most hikers.”
Anna chuckled, continuing her ascent until she reached the top. She listened to the wind sighing through the trees. “You think they’ll be okay?” she asked. “Your mom and sister, I mean. Do you think they can get used to living here?”
Jack reached the top of the hill, propping his foot up on a rock and looking back at the climb he had just made. “My mom, yes,” he said. “My sister…She had a life back on Earth. I think it’ll be hard for her to let that go.”
“You were right though.”
“Hmm?”
“They can’t go back.”
No one could. Anna had lost her home too. And though she would like to pretend that Leyria didn’t mean that much to her, the thought of never again seeing the little town where she grew up left a hole in her heart. She had hoped to take Jack there one day. She had been meaning to do it for some time, but there had never been an opportunity. Crisis after crisis had kept them busy.
After a brief pause, they continued on, following a dirt path that meandered through the forest. A soft breeze ruffled the leaves of tall oaks, bringing with it a slight chill. She noted moss growing on the trunk of almost every tree they passed. “You seem pretty chipper,” she remarked. “All things considered.”
Jack was smiling up at the heavens. “I like forests,” he said with a shrug. “Always have.”
“Me too.”
Another five minutes brought them to their destination, a cliff that overlooked the sprawling forest. The sun hovered above the horizon, painting the western sky orange and red, casting soft, warm light over a sea of leaves that were turning yellow with the onset of autumn.
Anna stood about a pace back from the edge, closing her eyes as the wind caressed her face. “It’s beautiful,” she murmured. “The brochures didn’t lie.”
