The weather on Oceane proved predictable — steaming hot, torrential rain.
As soon as Taren and Zeven manifested on the surface they sank to their ankles in cold mud and to their knees in warm water, while the rest of their bodies were pelted by just bearably hot rain. Around them huge tundrells rose high into misty clouds that were tightly veined with coloured lightning bursts.
‘Yep, this is pretty much how I remember it,’ Zeven commented, shielding his eyes from the downpour — there was no point trying to wear a mask or goggles as they would only steam up.
Taren began wading towards a large rock formation.
‘So what’s the plan then?’ Zeven followed her through the steamy swamp. ‘You know how to infuse Juju into an amulet, do you?’
‘I’ve got some idea.’ Taren hauled herself out of the water and onto a large rock, where she took a seat. ‘I learnt quite a bit about the psychic arts from viewing the histories of Kila.’ She spoke loudly to be heard over the rain. ‘I now know the crown of Phemoria was fashioned from metals dug from the Abyss of the Obstinate because that way the metal is strongly imbued with the spirits of the site. I will bet my life that Khalid’s amulets were fashioned from metals found at Dead Man Downs on Sermetica.’
Zeven nodded, catching her drift. ‘So what you’re saying is we need to find something on Oceane to fashion an amulet from.’ Zeven looked around and was uninspired. ‘Tundrells … water … rock.’
‘Rock it is,’ Taren announced, looking about for smooth pieces as amulets had to be worn next to the skin. The rock was slate-like and split easily into flat pieces.
‘Okay, now what?’ Zeven queried as they held their rocks in hand.
‘I need you to leave me in peace for a bit.’ Taren took Zeven’s rock from him.
‘How long?’ he grumbled.
‘I’ll come and find you.’ She patted his shoulder and took a seat.
‘I may as well go sightseeing then.’ He willed himself to the next large rock in his vision, and then repeated the procedure until he was out of sight.
Left alone, Taren felt at liberty to breathe deep the virgin air, so pure and invigorating that it made her tingle from head to foot, and with every inhale she felt herself draw nearer to her soul source, which permeated everything on Oceane. ‘I request the protection of Azazèl-mindos-coomra-dorchi, so that I might return the missing parts to the whole.’
The sensation of the rain pelting down upon her decreased in intensity, as did all the earthly discomforts of Taren’s five physical senses. Like a chill, a vibrating sensation crept over her body. Every molecule of her being began to vibrate faster, perfused and quickened by an internal fire that burned away her tiny physical shell, allowing her subtle body to expand and connect with the much larger entity that was her higher self. Her perception soared up through the colourful cloud phenomenon in the stratosphere, mesosphere, thermosphere and into the exosphere, where the mighty creation deva she would one day become had been residing for centuries. There her consciousness expanded again to a point where Taren felt herself fully immerse into the entity with which she wished to converse. There was no need to communicate, however, as her questions and concerns were absorbed into the great seething mass of electro-chemical activity.
In an instant, her consciousness withdrew into her tiny physical form, still being pelted by the steamy rain, and Taren burst into tears. At first her tears were of anguish at her return to a constrictive, physical form — but when she saw the flat rocks in her hands glowing with a colourful gaseous vapour, her eyes flooded with tears of joy. She had the blessing of Azazèl-mindos-coomra-dorchi, for this pretty cocktail of electrochemical reactions was how she had come to identify the physical presence of the entity. ‘Thank you.’ She held the treasures to her heart, for the close essence of the entity incited memories of all those people dearest to her, in this universe and the next — Lucian most of all.
However, Azazèl-mindos-coomra-dorchi could only extend them protection for a little under two standard weeks when the entity would detach from Oceane, taking anything still in contact with it into the universe parallel. After that Taren and Zeven would have to find another way to shield themselves from the psychic sight and pursuit of others.
‘More than enough time.’ Taren recovered her sensibilities quickly, of a mind to get back to Maladaan. ‘Starman.’
With the thought of Zeven, Taren found herself waist-deep in water. ‘Aw, what are y—’ When she saw Zeven standing next to one of AMIE’s deep space pods, which was near covered by water, she gasped back her complaint. ‘Oh shit.’
‘How did you do?’ Zeven was eager to know.
Taren held up their Juju stones.
‘Whoa.’ Zeven took hold of one of the stones, surprised to be able to see the enchantment clearly.
‘Who do you think is in here?’ Taren was more concerned with Zeven’s discovery.
‘You hope it’s Amie,’ he guessed.
‘I hope it’s no one,’ Taren insisted, although it was doubtful the pod had misfired with no passenger.
‘Shall we raise it up and find out?’ Zeven asked, in a not-so-eager fashion.
The way Taren saw it, if there was no one inside it was just a misfired pod and they could head back to Maladaan. If there was a dead body inside, there was a murderer loose on AMIE and they would have to return to the project.
She nodded to second Zeven’s suggestion, whereupon he raised the submerged pod with a thought, to a height where the exterior control panel and the passenger hatch were above water. He opened the control panel and began punching in an instruction code that would open the hatch door. ‘You know, the last time we were here —’
‘Please, don’t mention that right now,’ Taren appealed for mercy, as the fertile atmosphere of Oceane was arousing her urge to procreate and once again Zeven was looking like a most desirable prospect. Why do I never get stuck here with Lucian?
Zeven laughed, delighted by her distress. ‘I knew you’d have to be feeling it by now.’ He refrained from pressing the last digit of the instruction code, knowing that the contents of the pod would definitely kill the mood. ‘Maybe I should hold off for a bit?’
‘You promised you wouldn’t be a hindrance,’ Taren reminded him, in the hope he would snap out of his intoxicated moment; for if Taren was feeling the effects of the amorous atmosphere of Oceane, Zeven surely was and had shown amazing restraint until now. ‘There could be a murderer loose on AMIE! Please f—’
‘Focus,’ he urged himself to press the last digit, and the hatch unlocked and began to open.
Taren was sick of wading through the mud and swamp and rose up to walk on the water’s surface. Zeven gave an ironic laugh and joined her.
‘We really are a bit slow sometimes,’ he commented as he followed her around to view who was inside the pod.
‘We’re just new, not sl—’ Taren’s jaw dropped as she spotted the body slouched in the pod.
‘Colbers?’ Zeven was rather startled to find the tech inside, with a neat, bloodied, laser wound right through his head. ‘But, if Colbers was the murderer last time around, then who is the murderer now?’
Taren’s eyes narrowed, she knew in her gut who had done this. ‘Amie.’ She backed up a few paces. ‘I need to protect Lucian,’ she said, her voice breaking over the thought that it might already be too late.
‘I’ll get this to the launch bay.’
With one last deep inhale of Oceane air, Taren sensed, deep within her being, that Lucian was still safe and in that knowledge she found her calm and confidence before willing herself to the captain’s side.
This was turning out to be quite a day for Lucian, as the mysterious dramas on board his vessel continued to unfold. At present he had Professor Kestler in his office, who, of all people least likely, was suspected of being an MSS agent.
The captain, unbeknownst to any, had planted a tiny camera inside the quarantine lab where the gas sample was to be housed in the hope of capturing the MSS agents that Dr Lennox claimed were on board. His gamble had met with mixed success, as, according to reports, the sample had mostly been destroyed by Dr Lennox before it ever got to the bio-lab. Dr Cardea had fled with a small sample of the gas, and Bonar Colbers had been exposed as Cardea’s accessory in the theft. Thus, Colbers had been locked up in the bio-lab the captain was monitoring instead of the sample.
This morning Bonar Colbers was discovered missing and his whereabouts were still unknown. According to the camera footage of the bio-lab recorded on Lucian’s workstation, the person who came to spring Colbers from his imprisonment was the frail, old, and highly respected scientific genius, Professor Eleazar Kestler.
As Professor Kestler was viewing the footage of himself releasing Colbers, Lucian voiced his suspicion that Colbers had escaped AMIE via a pod, as there had been an unscheduled launch of such a vessel in the wee hours of the morning.
‘I don’t know what to tell you, Captain.’ Kestler was bemused by the footage. ‘Either I am living another life that I am not aware of, or I have finally gone senile, as I cannot account for any of this.’
Lucian felt very uncomfortable doubting the word of the man he’d always respected above all others — if Lucian had had a father this man would have been his choice. He suspected that Kestler was a sleeper agent and not the ringleader he sought; the MSS would have targeted Kestler for the very reason that Lucian trusted him so implicitly and had done all throughout his scientific career.
The other shock of the day was learning he had two self-professed telepaths on board, who both swore blind that Amie was the traitor in their midst. Their claim had been confirmed by Zeven Gudrun, who claimed to be time-hopping along with Dr Lennox.
‘This is insanity.’ Lucian shook his head, as reality as he’d known it crumbled to dust around his ears. What was even more astounding was that he really didn’t care. Since Dr Lennox had arrived on board he’d been in a state of wondrous shock, watching his perfectly ordered world of deceit collapse into the chaos of one huge eye-opening revelation after another. After very little sleep, the adrenaline rush of it all was becoming addictive. Lucian had not been able to stop fantasising about Taren ever since she’d professed her love to him in leaving. Even Zeven, who obviously adored Taren, had confirmed her devotion, and Kassa insisted that she had perceived from Taren’s memory glimpses of Lucian and Taren together in the future that no longer was.
Lucian shook his head as he realised he was drifting off into another little Taren fantasy when he was supposed to be tracking down his missing crew member. ‘I am afraid I am going to have to confine you to quarters, Professor, until such time as your memory improves.’
‘I would never betray you, Lucian.’ The old man was annoyed to see doubt in the captain’s eyes. ‘But I will do as you wish.’
As Kestler slowly rose to stand, he and Lucian were startled when Dr Lennox appeared in between them, soaked to the bone.
‘Dr Lennox!’ Lucian nearly had heart failure — he was so elated to see her. ‘Where did you spring from?’ She appeared even more beautiful all dripping wet.
‘The surface of Oceane,’ she replied very amicably.
‘You’ve been on the surface of Oceane?’ The captain nearly had a heart attack for the second time over.
She smiled to confirm. ‘I would love to take you there sometime.’
‘That’s an offer I will take you up on,’ Lucian replied, barely aware that he spoke at all. Dr Lennox was exuding the most attractive energy and the thought of kissing her was all-consuming.
‘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.