Is the chief to be trusted? Taren wondered, as she headed down to the mission brief. Her hope was that the threat to his son’s life would keep him onside.
It felt strange to be walking these corridors again, it had been an age since she’d walked them last, and yet now that she was back here it felt as though she’d never left. As she waited for the lift that would take her down deeper into the complex from where missions were run, Taren recognised the staff and waved to the tea lady, whom she had become friendly with over the years. The elevator doors opened and Taren got the shock of her life.
‘Timekeeper?’ The fellow inside, whom Taren recognised as one of her team, stayed put as she entered. ‘I barely recognised you as a blonde!’
‘Mythric.’ She acknowledged him by the name he was known by in this time/space reality, but for the first time in their fairly long association she realised that inside the more aged form of Agent Mythric Zeon was the soul-mind of Rhun, the ever-youthful Governor of Kila. The revelation quite took her aback. ‘The dye was prep for the mission.’
‘But the mission was just cancelled, what’s the story?’ He remained inside the elevator and returned to the lower floors with her.
‘I’m just heading down to find out myself,’ she replied, for if she told him she intended to go alone, there would be a protest.
‘I was told you were in with the chief, and you don’t know what the story is?’ Mythric sounded unconvinced — he wasn’t the time-cheats’ strategist for no reason — he knew when something wasn’t right. ‘You’ve foreseen something, haven’t you?’
Taren had forgotten how difficult it was to pull the wool over this man’s eyes, and before today she had never had to face that challenge personally, and now she was, Taren was failing miserably for she had fully embraced truth as her manifesto. ‘And if I have?’
‘I would want to know about it,’ he insisted, as the lift door opened.
‘You know I cannot tell you anything if you are not involved,’ Taren said. ‘Enjoy a day off,’ she suggested and headed into the corridor, hoping he would accept the fact and leave.
‘So who is involved?’ Mythric held the door open.
Taren turned back to face him, an apologetic look on her face as she held a finger to her lips to imply that she could not divulge that information.
‘Have you got yourself another team, Timekeeper?’ He sounded rather hurt by the notion.
‘No!’ she insisted. ‘Go home. There is nothing to worry about.’ She turned and walked on, and thankfully Agent Zeon did not pursue her.
In the briefing with the chief’s 2IC, Agent Norward, it was revealed to Taren that there had been an assassin targeting MSS agents while on assignment, and that this mission was to be a staged affair, purely to entrap the killer.
‘Somehow someone is getting hold of our mission briefs at the same time we do.’ Norward was puzzled and frustrated by the fact, as he and Taren leant over the strategy screen, surveying from a bird’s eye view the area of the city where the event was to take place. ‘We are staging a presidential visit at the library of Norrodon, using a stand-in for President Tallak, of course.’
Where Esponisa was the business capital of Maladaan, Norrodon was the cultural centre on the far side of the globe.
‘Of course,’ Taren agreed; the real president rarely attended public engagements.
‘Although we believe there is no real threat to the president as this serial killer has thus far only killed our agents, not our targets or charges.’
‘Gee, I wonder why anyone would want to kill an MSS agent?’ Taren said sarcastically and Norward did not look impressed.
The image of the zone around the library on-screen before her had red dots that marked the positions of the MSS agents who would be securing the area for the presidential party.
‘Which one of these red dots represents Yasper Ronan?’ she asked.
Norward pointed to a dot on a rooftop overlooking the library located on the opposing corner of a crossroad.
‘That’s where the killing starts,’ she noted.
‘Have you had a pre-cog vision about this one?’ Norward was well aware of her capability in that department, but she usually only had premonitions about her own missions.
She sidestepped the query. ‘I know that’s where I’ll find our assassin. Do you know anything about him, her?’
‘Him.’ Norward could clarify that much. ‘Vadik Corentin, a.k.a. “the hurricane” … you heard of him?’
She shook her head. ‘Is he psychic?’ Taren asked, as those with the Powers often had a pseudonym.
‘If he is, we don’t know what he does,’ Norward said. ‘But we figure he must have some supernatural talent to be accomplishing these killings without leaving a scrap of evidence.’
Taren was thoughtful for a moment. ‘Have your presidential visit proceed as planned, and I shall intercept the target here,’ she pointed to Yasper’s red dot on the screen, ‘alone.’
‘The team has already withdrawn, as per the chief’s command.’ Norward was very concerned and looked to his watch. ‘How do you plan to get there in time?’ He looked up to find he was alone.
It was a bloody miserable day in Norrodon; the rooftop of the building where Taren materialised had deep puddles of water all over it. Thankfully the rain must have eased as there was only a light drizzle now, but dark storm clouds still blanketed the city skyline for as far as the eye could see, and the air was heavy with the smell of chemicals. Taren should have been wearing a mask, but she found it distracting and it hindered her movement. In her grey protective clothing, Taren blended well with the day and the concrete of the roof, where she awaited the arrival of the presidential party and the mysterious assassin — her sights more focused on the rooftops around her than on the road below.
There was only one exit onto the roof and that was via the rooftop stairwell. As she approached to check it out, Taren was alarmed to hear movement on the other side of the door and, with stealth, concealed herself just around the corner from the exit. She retrieved her phaser from her weapons belt and set it for stun.
The exit door swung open and all was silent. After a moment, Taren noted someone inching out onto the rooftop, and pulled back behind her corner so as not to be spotted. He was not silent enough to step out onto the water-pooled roof without making a splash. In one turn of her body Taren had her weapon hard at his neck, but as he was wearing a hooded jacket she could not see her captive.
‘Timekeeper?’ he uttered and raised his hands to show that he was not a threat.
Taren swung him around and was baffled. ‘Mythric!’ She lowered her weapon, stunned to see him present. ‘How did you get here?’
He shrugged, thinking it obvious. ‘I followed you.’
‘You can’t have followed me.’ She knew he was lying.
‘Why not?’ he asked, with a cheeky grin of curiosity, and was startled when Taren aimed her weapon right between his eyes.
‘Apart from our superiors, only the double agent who told the assassin that agents would be here today, and the assassin himself, know I am here … which are you?’
‘I’m none of the above.’ Agent Zeon held two hands high in truce.
‘Well, I know you can’t have fol—’ Taren suddenly had a little revelation that ran contrary to her first conclusion about how Agent Zeon had found her. ‘What city are we in?’ she asked out of the blue, but his answer would be very telling.
Mythric smiled and looked around, although on Maladaan one city looked much like another from this height. ‘We’re in Esponisa, of course,’ he replied — probably figuring she couldn’t have moved far beyond where he’d seen her last, in the few hours that had elapsed since.
Taren gasped on the implications of the answer. ‘You can teleport.’
‘What?’ Mythric panicked at the suggestion.
Taren grabbed hold of her upper arm to check her stone was still in place and it was. But it should prevent anyone finding me? And then she realised that her guardian must have made an allowance for those souls within her soul group who were meant to find her. In her heart she knew that this soul-mind could not be her enemy.
‘No, no, no,’ Mythric denied her assessment, until he figured out how she had guessed his secret. ‘We’re not anywhere close to Esponisa, are we?’
Taren grinned and shook her head.
Mythric nodded, understanding his own betrayal and finding it amusing. ‘So, you are of the royal Phemorian line.’
‘And so are you,’ she noted.
‘I’m Sermetic originally, thanks very much.’ Mythric obviously didn’t hold a lot of love for the Phemorians. ‘But my parents and grandparents were born of the ancient royal line of men and women who escaped Phemoria before it fell into the hands of spiteful spinsters.’
Like Father, Taren noted on the quiet, and she wondered how they might be related.
‘So are you going to tell me why we are here in …?’
‘Norrodon’
‘Norrodon.’ Mythric clicked his fingers, as he realised there were some buildings he might have recognised, if he’d just taken a little longer to take the scenery in. ‘So, why are we here in Norrodon on this miserable day —’ As he looked to the storm above, he was startled to see a large figure of a man descending out of the sky towards them. ‘Not to worry, I think I can guess.’
As Mythric pulled his weapon, Taren turned her sights and weapon towards the cause of his concern, and was about to fire when all the air seemed to retract from around her and she found herself struggling to draw a breath. In her panic she dropped her weapon and looked to Mythric, who was embroiled in a freak attack of a different kind.
All the water on the rooftop was drawing itself in towards Mythric, where it was climbing and covering his body like a watery animal intent on smothering him. Immersed in his struggle against the body of clinging liquid, Mythric protested as the fluid obelisk rose to engulf his head and silence his cries for help.
The assassin floated down to land on the roof, as though he’d just blown in on the breeze, and watched with a smile as Taren and Mythric slowly died before him. ‘That is what you get for serving an evil and cruel regime,’ he said without remorse.
Taren was faint, and suddenly it was no great mystery how this man had killed without leaving a trace of evidence. Visualise. She urged her oxygen-starved brain to manifest a psychic restraining device, which she willed to clamp and lock around the ankle of their assailant and then to activate.
On the verge of blacking out, Taren was finally able to draw breath and realise that her will had overcome her assailant’s efforts.
Mythric burst out of his water cocoon and fell to his knees to cough up water and gasp in air.
Vadik was down on one knee trying to pry the restraining device from around his ankle. ‘Get it off!’
Taren grabbed up her weapon from the ground and aimed it at their attacker.
‘You bitch!’ His furious sights turned to her. ‘There is only one way you could have done this to me … you are one of us!’ Vadik spat in her direction, although his shot fell short of the mark.
‘Yes, I am one of you,’ she admitted freely, ‘and yes I work for the MSS, because knowing an enemy is the best way to overcome it.’
‘What?’ Mythric fell on his behind, amazed, and not in an adverse way.
‘Vadik Corentin, today is your lucky day …’ Taren ignored Mythric, ‘… as provided you answer a simple question, I am prepared to set you free.’
As Vadik had already murdered several MSS agents he was very surprised. ‘Why should I believe you?’
‘Because you were not meant to be captured today,’ she told him, and both Mythric and Vadik were floored by her answer.
‘You’re a pre-cog,’ Vadik figured.
Amongst other things, she thought to herself.
Thanks to her many visits to Oceane and wearing her Juju stone — which was as powerful as breathing Oceane air every day — Taren’s powers were becoming more diverse, and she felt that she was finally transpiring into the masterful psychic that the healer Cadfan had said she would become.
‘What was meant to transpire today I cannot allow either,’ she stipulated, ‘as it would mean a dear friend of mine would be killed.’
Vadik was beginning to catch her drift and forced a grin to suggest, ‘What if I were to leave Maladaan today?’
‘You can’t let him go!’ Mythric objected. ‘He’s a killer.’
Taren looked to Mythric, not impressed by the argument. ‘And what are we?’
‘We haven’t killed anyone recently,’ Mythric said and then reappraised. ‘How will we explain it to the chief?
‘You saw how easily he overpowered us.’ Taren awarded the prisoner his due. ‘But, not before I got the name of his informant out of him, which is what the chief and I really desire to know.’ She threw the ball back into Vadik’s court and he seemed reluctant to spill the beans. ‘I have the power to set you free on any planet you care to name and I will supply you with all the papers to stay there.’ Taren manifested the said visa papers in her hand ‘So, Harry Cane,’ Taren read out his new identity and then looked to Vadik, who was smiling at her play on words, ‘I put it to you, would you rather keep your informant or your freedom?’
Vadik Corentin was no idiot. ‘I choose the remote island of Lappis on Frujia, thanks.’ He smiled broadly to accept the offer. ‘Once I am standing on the beach there, with those papers in my hand and this thing off my ankle, we’ll have a deal.’
‘Fair enough,’ Taren stated and looked to Mythric. ‘Are you coming?’
‘I don’t know what the beach on Lappis looks like, do you?’ Agent Zeon outlined a small snag, and Taren had to concede that was a good point.
‘I know what it looks like.’ Vadik reached inside his protective clothing and produced a folded piece of paper that he held out towards Taren. ‘I have been envisioning myself there for years, but I never thought I’d actually make it.’
Taren moved to retrieve Vadik’s offering, and Mythric was at her side instantly; clearly he didn’t trust Corentin.
‘I’m not going to hurt the little lady and risk this opportunity, I assure you.’ Vadik grinned at Mythric, suspecting now that he was psychic too — he’d have to be one to want to defend one. ‘Who are you people, anyway? If you work for the MSS why aren’t you restrained?’
‘We’re asking the questions here,’ Mythric reminded the prisoner, as Taren opened the piece a paper to view an untouched tropical paradise.
‘Well this will certainly beat prison, hey, Harry?’ Taren nodded to confirm that the image would serve them nicely.
‘Look,’ Vadik was curious, ‘are you guys building some kind of secret psychic army to bring down the MSS? Because if you are, I want in!’
‘Is that what we are doing?’ Mythric put the question to Taren. Although he’d only discovered her adverse feelings about the MSS this day, he had suspected and he’d had the same feelings for as long as he’d been in the service.
‘When the time is right,’ Taren told Vadik, ‘I will be sure and look you up on Lappis.’ She handed over his picture to Mythric. ‘I’ll see you there.’ She walked up to Vadik and held out a hand to him. ‘Are you ready?’
The assassin hesitated. ‘How do I know you will not take me straight to MSS detention?’
‘I guess you don’t,’ Taren told him, ‘but if you don’t take hold, that is definitely where you are going, so what do you have to lose?’
Put that way, Vadik overcame his instinct to mistrust and taking hold of Taren’s hand he was swept away by etheric light to the Maratosh system, where, upon the planet of Frujia, the remote island of Lappis was to be found.
The sound of the sea, the smell of the saltwater air and the intense heat all registered to the senses and rapidly intensified as Taren, Vadik and then Mythric materialised on the empty stretch of coast. The colour of the water here was aquamarine green and the jungle beyond the beach was thick and lush. It was hard to know whether to run to the shade of the trees or to the cool relief of the water.
‘Whoo-hoo!’ Vadik cried out like a man possessed. ‘Is this an illusion?’ His eyes filled with tears to be standing inside his dream.
‘No illusion, Harry,’ Taren confirmed with a smile, heartened that such a potentially terrible situation could be transformed into a dream come true. ‘Now, what about that name?’
‘One moment,’ Vadik begged her patience as he stripped off his excess clothing. ‘It won’t feel real until I hit the water,’ he said and took a running jump into the calm, warm water and then surfaced, splashing and laughing like a loon.
‘I think he’s a bit excited.’ Mythric walked over to join Taren, who nodded to agree, keeping her eyes firmly planted on the prisoner. ‘And you, Timekeeper, are full of surprises. Was it Yasper who was destined to be killed today?’
She was a little winded by the query, but her eyes did not leave Vadik. ‘It was Yasper, yes. His death set off a chain reaction in my life that it has taken me ten years to repair … and now I shall know who was ultimately responsible for his death and my sad twist of fate.’
‘Whoa.’ Mythric was shocked by her claim. ‘I sure would hate to be in that person’s shoes right now.’
Many islands away in Frujia’s pleasure capital of Kotan-Bathaar, Jazmay and Yasper were holed up on a private yacht that Jazmay had chartered and sailed out into the middle of the lagoon, where she’d anchored for the night.
Jazmay had never learnt to sail, but since she had begun wearing her Juju stone, her psychic powers were strengthening and there was nothing she could visualise that she couldn’t make happen, including sailing a boat.
Yasper had never been sailing and was amazed to have an instant affinity with it; Jazmay knew this would be the case as Jahan had loved this form of recreation. Yasper was so high on the experience, full of questions about Taren’s future past and how she and Abi had met, that he’d completely forgotten about cheating death.
‘So who is this guy in Taren’s future?’ Yasper queried from his reclined position on the bowsprit, where he’d been since dinner many hours ago — the sun was yet to set.
‘What did Taren tell you about him?’ Jazmay was wary of this topic.
‘Not much, that’s why I am asking you.’ Yasper sat up. ‘Was he one of the crew on that space project you were talking about earlier that took the sample from Oceane?’
‘Why does it matter,’ Jazmay appealed, ‘if your future is with someone else?’ Her reply was rather more impassioned and annoyed than she would have liked, and she took up her cup to get another drink.
‘You know about her?’ Yasper crawled right in off the bowsprit to pursue Jazmay downstairs into the cabin. ‘What do you know, Abi?’
‘Nothing.’ She waved off his interest but he grabbed her hand and held it.
‘Is that why you are being so nice to me?’
His question made her heart stop. He knows! No, he can’t. But he suspects. She felt ill prepared to confess her feelings, having known this incarnation of him less than a day; she’d not expected their attraction to be so intense this soon. ‘Taren is my mistress, my charge —’
‘But Taren said that she owed you? So why do you claim to serve her?’ Yasper was confused.
‘That is not for me to say, but Taren requested I be tolerant of you,’ she told him coolly, though she could not let go of his hand.
‘Tolerant?’ Yasper queried gently, his large blue eyes burning a hole into her soul. ‘Abi, apart from being dumped this morning, this has been one of the best days of my life!’
To hear him say so was very gratifying and it was impossible to pretend she didn’t care. ‘I’ve waited for ten years to hear you say that again.’ She gasped at her own honesty and fearful tears.
‘Ten years?’ He was stunned but overjoyed as she nodded to assure him it was quite true. ‘I get the feeling I’ve been asking all the wrong questions today. I was so sure Taren was the one, but … and I know this is going to sound really shallow, but, now that I’ve met you I feel —’
Jazmay couldn’t wait for him to reach a conclusion and kissed him.
‘Ooops,’ Yasper uttered in the wake of the passionate moment. ‘I guess you’ve sucked my genetic memory clean out of me?’ He made a joke of it as he couldn’t have cared less.
‘Not to worry.’ Jazmay grinned. ‘I’ve wrapped my lips around your genetic code before.’
‘Oh, to be in touch with my cosmic memory,’ he sighed, delighted, as she led him off towards the main cabin.
‘Is it true what they say about Phemorian women killing their mates?’ Yasper wondered as he allowed the exotic warrioress to lead him into temptation.
‘Would you be deterred?’ she replied playfully.
He considered. ‘Highly unlikely,’ he said, having been evermore captivated by her beauty throughout the day.
‘Good.’ With one great tug she drew him into the cabin and cast him onto the bed. Like an animal stalking prey, she straddled his form and drew down close to go in for the kill. ‘Then perhaps you’ll get lucky and I’ll make an exception in your case.’
‘Not so fast.’ Taren startled them both with her arrival in the cabin.
‘Taren!’ blurted Yasper, feeling guilty.
‘Yasper!’ exclaimed Mythric, who arrived right behind Taren and was shocked to find Yasper clutching another woman when he’d only just taken up with their commander. But noting the beauty of the woman in his team mate’s arms, all he could say was, ‘Wow.’
Yasper objected to the invasion. ‘You said we were over.’
‘And we are,’ Taren assured him, sounding more than a little awkward. ‘I don’t have any problem with this. I just need to speak with Abi.’
‘Right now?’
‘Right now.’ Taren reached out and grabbed hold of her arm and the next thing Jazmay knew she was leaving her love behind.
‘What in the universe is going on?’ Mythric appealed to Yasper, as the women vanished. ‘Who is the Phemorian?’
‘I have no idea, really,’ Yasper admitted and had to smile. ‘My future lover, methinks.’
‘But the commander just spent all day fighting to save your life.’ Mythric was completely baffled by their break-up.
‘I know that,’ Yasper said. ‘At first Taren’s strategy completely baffled me too, but I do believe that it’s beginning to make a lot more sense now.’
‘To you, maybe,’ Mythric scoffed. ‘I really should have taken the day off today like the Timekeeper told me to. But no, I had to know what was going on,’ he scolded himself in retrospect. ‘Now I’m embroiled in … I still don’t know what.’
Yasper’s nod allied to his sentiment. ‘Sure feels good though, doesn’t it?’
Mythric, despite his ignorance, had to agree.
It was dusk on the Isle of Lappis now, and the heat was not unbearable on the open beach.
Jazmay ripped herself from Taren’s clutches the second they arrived on the beach and stumbled backwards to refrain from hitting her charge. ‘You could have waited for me to climb off of him before you dragged me off here!’
‘It was you!’ Taren pointed a finger at Jazmay and let fly with a few harsh truths of her own. ‘You were Vadik’s informant! Thanks for warning me, Jaz! Were you hoping he would knock me off and ensure I was out of Yasper’s life altogether?’
‘No!’ Jazmay denied the accusation. ‘That was not the way of it.’
‘It all makes sense now …’ Taren wasn’t listening as she already knew the truth. ‘How the assassin could have been getting the information at the same time it was being decided; you have the chief’s memory for the next ten years!’ So furious was Taren that her anger burst through into the physical world in the form of a great wave of force that shot out in Jazmay’s direction. The etheric impact knocked Jazmay clear into the water where she landed on her back with a great splash.
‘I trusted you!’ Taren knew she was out of control, but she couldn’t prevent the release; this anger had been bottled up for a decade.
Jazmay staggered out of the water coughing and spluttering, and waving her arms about in a plea for Taren to hear her out. ‘I didn’t know Yasper was going to be on that mission!’ she exclaimed in her own defence. ‘I swear to you I have been faithful to your cause since I committed.’
‘Liar!’ Taren challenged.
‘No, I swear … I forgot that I’d even sold those mission details, as that was all ten years ago for me!’
‘Do you have any idea what you did to me?’ Taren screamed out her years of pent-up frustration that had resulted from ignorance and manipulation. ‘After his death, I allowed them to take my memories and much of my personal power along with it. I forgot my motivation, my reason for being —’
‘I know!’ Jazmay yelled back, in tears. ‘I carry your memories too! Why do you think I am here now, supporting you?’
‘Supporting me, ha! You’re here for Yasper … but I don’t know how interested he’ll be when he discovers it was you who arranged his murder.’
‘No, please,’ Jazmay appealed, seemingly weary. ‘I beg you, don’t tell him.’
‘Hold on.’ Taren pretended to have a coherent moment. ‘It cannot have been you who set these events in motion in the very first place … or can it?’ Taren actually knew the answer to this question — Vadik had enlightened her — but would Jazmay tell her the truth, or lie to save face?
‘I …’ Jazmay was fiddling with the Juju stone band on her upper arm.
‘What are you doing?’ Taren was annoyed by Jazmay’s distraction.
‘I’m trying to lift this bloody thing away from my skin!’ she barked, becoming frustrated. ‘I cannot lie to you when I am wearing this! I can’t even think bad things about you!’ She grumbled her woes and Taren found the claim most interesting — her guardian was working even harder than imagined to ensure her people remained faithful.
‘Then tell me the truth,’ Taren demanded.
‘Yes!’ Jazmay yelled in spite. ‘Yes, it was me! As a Valourean I was assigned the task to make skin contact with Chief Ronan and glean from him any mission directives he might have planned for the immediate future; unfortunately for you and Yasper, his final mission was one of them.’
‘So you did not forget what you had done, nor did you forget the powerful assassin who would be awaiting me this day.’ Taren sought a full confession.
Jazmay shook her head remorsefully. ‘I did not forget. But in my own defence, I did not know that you intended to take Yasper’s place on this mission, only that you intended to make sure he wasn’t on it.’
Taren thought the excuse a little weak. ‘You carry my memory, Jaz, you should know I would never send another to be killed for my cause.’
Jazmay bowed her head in quiet admittance to her shame.
‘Why didn’t you tell me?’ Taren appealed to know once again.
‘I didn’t want Yasper to know,’ she answered, knowing Taren knew damn well why. ‘As a Valourean, I was celebrated for being part of the murder of Chief Ronan’s son, it was seen as a great victory for Phemoria — however accidental it had been. The MSS didn’t catch up with me for five years, but when they did, I paid.’ Her voice went hoarse. ‘I suspect it was Vadik who ratted me out to them, too, as he was caught just before I was.’
Taren could feel her heart overflowing with compassion; she wanted to forgive Jazmay, and yet she wondered if that would be her undoing. ‘When do the lies stop, Jazmay? Telling more to cover past mistakes is only creating new mistakes.’
‘I know that,’ Jazmay insisted. ‘But I’ve had fear instilled in me all my life, it’s not easy to give it up.’
‘I would not have told Yasper,’ Taren assured her, ‘I still won’t tell him —’
‘Really?’ Jazmay gasped on her hope and near choked on it.
Taren nodded. ‘— despite the fact that you nearly got Mythric and myself killed. It’s not my place to tell Yasper your secrets,’ she pointed out, ‘that’s your privilege.’
‘Oh goody.’ Jazmay looked to the ground, none too eager.
‘I’m not going to make you tell him, that’s not my place either.’
‘I didn’t rat you out, sweet cheeks,’ Vadik spoke up in his own defence, as he wandered out of the jungle to make his presence known to Jazmay. ‘The MSS hooked me up to their memory bank and sucked the information right out of my head.’
‘What are you doing here?’ Jazmay was furious because of what he had told Taren, and now he was on the same planet as Yasper!
‘I brought him here,’ Taren announced, ‘because he asked to come here.’
‘We made a deal.’ Vadik grinned, happy with his lot, although he was gripping his upper left arm, which appeared to be bleeding. ‘So, I’m afraid our association is over.’ He looked from Jazmay to Taren. ‘Shall I kill her now?’
‘You’re here to verify the facts,’ Taren replied bluntly. ‘Your killing days are done.’
‘But we have to kill her,’ Vadik insisted.
‘And why is that?’ Taren didn’t feel the subject worth pursuing.
‘Because she is a Valourean!’ Vadik said to Taren, and then laughed. ‘And I still cannot believe you assigned a Valourean to protect your boyfriend from Phemorians —’
‘My boyfriend!’ Jazmay corrected.
‘Whosever’s boyfriend he is,’ Vadik persevered with his explanation, ‘as Phemorians implant all their agents with a tracking device,’ he revealed the bloody hole in his left shoulder, ‘they’ll know exactly where she’s been and where she is. So … I’m off to do a little island hopping. See ya.’ He disappeared back into the jungle, leaving Jazmay and Taren mortified by the information.
‘Yasper!’ Jazmay cried out and vanished before Taren could stop her.
‘Jaz — Damn it!’ Taren followed her unpredictable ally back to the yacht.
When Taren teleported herself after Jazmay, she’d rather expected to find herself on board the yacht they were heading for. To her great surprise Taren found herself swimming, but as she surfaced alongside a small Phemorian aircraft floating in the water next to the yacht in question, Taren didn’t question Jazmay’s course of action.
Jazmay was treading water with a finger raised to her lips and they both floated still in the water a moment, to listen.
The sound of a scuffle could be heard coming from inside the yacht, and both women glided quietly towards the stepladder at the stern. As they crept onto the deck, two of the visiting Valoureans emerged from below deck.
‘We were just coming for you!’ the burly woman in charge exclaimed as she spotted Jazmay, and the Valourean’s blood-splattered form sent a chill through Taren’s being. ‘Fancy trying to hide your target, you treacherous whore-to-a-man!’
‘Where is he?’ Jazmay’s tone threatened retaliation if she got a response that was not to her liking.
‘We killed him, like you should have done!’ the Valourean roared, and Taren’s heart began pumping so hard with panic it felt like it had jumped into her throat.
Without Yasper she could not seal her deal with the chief. She would have to renegotiate her way through this entire minefield of a day again, and she knew her chances of making it all come out right in the end would get slimmer with every attempt she made to change the future.
Another red-leather-clad warrioress carried Yasper’s bloodied form onto the deck and dumped him roughly on the ground where his moan was sweet music to Taren’s ears.
‘Okay, so we nearly killed him,’ the Valourean corrected herself, ‘but he’ll be dead by the time we deposit his body on some remote part of Frujia … from a great height.’ She pointed towards the sky and Jazmay flew at the woman, transforming into a huge snake that wrapped itself around the Valourean to incapacitate her; Jazmay’s clothes dropped to the ground. The deadly viper’s head was positioned above the crown of its victim and stuck its fangs deep into the scalp of the warrioress who began screaming uncontrollably. The second Valourean pulled a sword with which to sever the animal from her commander, as two more Valoureans emerged onto the deck, one carrying the limp and bloodied form of Mythric.
Taren’s world slipped into slow motion, which was frightening until she realised she could move faster than anyone else. She willed the sword from the hand of the Valourean and cracked her over the head with the hilt whereby she fell unconscious. Taren booted another rival overboard and the remaining warrioress dropped Mythric from her shoulder to confront Taren, whereupon Taren felt time speeding up again.
‘What the —’ Her opponent seemed surprised as Taren imagined her back inside her own ship, along with all the others.
The Valoureans vanished, leaving two battered bodies and a very large snake on deck, which drew up tall and transformed back into Jazmay. ‘How did you move so quickly?’ She willed her clothes back onto her body.
‘Not a clue, not important right now.’ Taren headed towards Mythric as Jazmay made straight for Yasper. ‘How did those Valoureans get past Mythric?’ she wondered to herself, before calling to Jazmay, ‘Is he alive?’ She detected a slight pulse from Mythric’s neck as his wounds brought tears to her eyes.
‘Barely.’ Jazmay was distressed. ‘I must have been insane to think we could cheat death itself.’ She hugged his battered body to herself and began to weep.
‘Save your tears, they’re not dead yet,’ Taren commanded. ‘Grab hold of him and follow me.’
‘Where are we going?’ Jazmay was bemused. ‘Do you know a healer?’
Taren smiled confidently. ‘The very best.’ And in this instance it was not Ringbalin Malachi nor even Kassa Madri that she intended to seek, but the source of all their power. It seemed the universe had decreed that it was time for these two souls to get the big cosmological upgrade.
It was daytime on Oceane, and pouring with rain. A colourful electrical storm lit the sky above. The field of tundrells were unfurled and rose high into the sky in front of Taren’s rock of choice.
‘Where in the universe are we?’ Jazmay called through the pouring rain, leaving Yasper reclined on the slightly slanted surface to speak with Taren.
‘Oceane,’ Taren replied, closing her eyes to speak with her guardian spirit.
‘You know a healer here?’ Jazmay gasped at her own query as she looked skyward to see a great white light amid the colourful storm, and she recalled the name that Taren knew the entity by: Azazèl-mindos-coomra-dorchi.
The rain ceased, the light burst forth and was blinding in its intensity.
Within the light Taren felt unified with her guardian; it knew her wishes and she knew why it hesitated in this instance to grant her desire. These souls were meant to die this day, but the being resolved to admit that the final decision, to endure further physical world service, lay with the souls in question.
The light withdrew and left in its wake a moment of utter peace and tranquillity. The pelting rain resumed with force to break the euphoric spell, and Jazmay gasped from the shock of having the heavenly moment snatched away.
As Jazmay was hyperventilating, Taren asked, ‘Are you all right?’ but the huge smile on her face gave the clear indication that she was not distressed.
‘That was … incredible!’ She held her head and laughed. ‘Whoa … I’m so high!’ As Jazmay staggered on the slanted wet surface, a strong hand gripped her arm to steady her. ‘Yasper?’ she gasped, turning to find him smiling back at her, his wounds near washed away by the rain.
‘Hey, Jaz.’ He smiled, and Jazmay was winded.
‘You know my name?’ she rasped; they had gone to great pains to conceal her true name on this mission.
‘Yes, I know your name …’ he assured her, wiping the wet hair from her face, ‘… in this life and in many others.’
‘What?’ Jazmay smiled, enchanted.
‘And I know my names too … for I am Urien, I am Jahan, I am Yasper and a million other men who have all loved you.’
Jazmay would have burst into sentimental tears had Yasper not kissed her.
Taren, bemused by Yasper’s words, looked to Mythric who was seated in the pouring rain smiling at her. ‘And how many names do you have?’
‘Many,’ he concurred, as he got to his feet. ‘Although the one you may know me best by is …’
‘… Rhun,’ Taren chimed in and the premise brought a smile to her face as she overwhelmed him with a hug.
‘Pleased to have you back with us.’ She sniffled back her tears as she took comfort in the embrace of an old dear friend.
‘No point going anywhere,’ Mythric assured her, ‘you are where the action is.’
Taren smiled at this; he sounded just like Zeven and she just knew they’d get along. She looked back to Yasper and Jazmay who were still glued to each other. ‘I think we had better get them off this planet real quick.’ She bent down and pulled her stone tools from her belt to chip off two more pieces of Juju stone for her two new team members. She then manifested two armbands and, placing the stones inside, she passed one to Mythric. ‘Welcome back to the newly reformed time-cheats.’
‘And what is the objective of our mission, Timekeeper?’
‘Oh, we have a long and illustrious agenda,’ Taren assured him, ‘but the first thing we should do is see if we can get that tracking device out of Jazmay.’
The mention of her impediment brought Jazmay crashing back to reality and she let Yasper go. ‘I am a danger to you all,’ she panicked, unsure of what to do with herself.
‘We need to get back to the MSS,’ Yasper suggested.
‘The Phemorians wouldn’t dare pursue us there.’ Taren nodded to confirm his reasoning was sound. ‘See you in debrief room seven.’ She vanished.
‘Catch you.’ Mythric disappeared also, and Jazmay took hold of Yasper’s hand to teleport him back.
‘Hey, how come everyone else has the Power to teleport but me?’ he wondered out loud. ‘Why am I the only one who is Powerless?’
‘Not for long, I expect.’ Jazmay was well aware of the side effects of this planet’s atmosphere. ‘But today, you’ll just have to ride with me.’ She smiled suggestively.
‘That will be my pleasure, entirely.’ He kissed her again, and was swept back to his home planet.