Balance (54 page)

“So
,
the female is the mark?” Michael
infers
.

“Yes
.”
Takada replies
.

“
W
ho is she?” Rena
asks
.

“Whitemire
.
” Mr. Black
declares
.

“Wait, I thought Whitemire was male?” Rena
queries
, immediately realizing she was
no
t to know about
the
Whitemire
investigation
.

“So did we.
”
Ms. Smith
repl
ies
, mildly embarrassed
.

“I’m sorr
y sir.  It wasn’t anyone’s fault,
I was just fishing, bored from the
inactivity
.  I wanted something to occupy my mind.”
Rena
tries
to take back her misstep
.

“Rena
,
my dear, are you under the impression I did not want you to know a
bout Whitemire?”  Takada smiles
graciously
.

“Well, yes.”

“If
n
ot for the concussion, you’d have
been deeply involved
weeks
ago.  My direction to limit your involvement was
for your health,
to prevent you from ignoring your doctor’s orders
and
doing harm to yourself
.  It seems your skills of persuasion
, even in a diminish
ed
capacity,
are quite effective on even my most
seasoned
assets
.
” Takada
asserts
,
glancing at Mr. Black and
Ms. Smith
.

“Please don’t be upset with them.”

“I’m not.  Rena
, I am well aware of yo
ur resourcefulness and tenacity.
I knew you would eventually work you
r way into the investigation … A
ctually
,
considering our lack of progress,
I was
count
ing
on
it.  I just hope we didn’t do
any
irreparable
damage to your precious mind.”

Becoming
very uncomfortable,
Rena
look
s at
Micha
el,
knowing
only
he’
d
understand
the link between
Meg’s
wellbeing
and Takada’s fascination
.

“So
,
now that my best team has found t
heir way into the infiltration,
Ms. Smith
, Mr. Black
,
let
’
s hit the ground running.  We
haven’t got much time and we are not the only fox in the hen house.”

Michael wakes
unexpectedly.

He glances
at the wall computer,
3AM. 
A
n uncomfortable feeling
that
something
’
s off
starts to rise in his subconscious
. 
Surrendering to his intuition, he gets out of bed,
cautiously
surveying
his quarters.
Then the fear hits him
…
Rena
.

R
etriev
ing
a couple knives from his field jumper
, he
slips quietly
into
the
ir
shared living space
. 
As he
proceed
s
to
Rena’s
side of the residence
,
he notices
light coming from
under the closed door of
the
ir
private
Ready Room
.  Resting
his
ear
to the door
,
he hears intermittent typing replaced by
tap
p
ing
.

Opening it slowly, Michael peers inside. 
S
itting at the desk
in her underwear and a tank top,
Rena
looks
to have
been
t
here for
some
time.
C
hin
rest
ed
in
her
cupped
hand
,
hidden
under
the mass of
hair pulled over
one
side
, she stares at the monitors arranged before her, the fingernails of her other hand drumming ardently on the tabletop
. 
Initially
relieved, concern
starts to creep into his mind. 
I
nstead of
her
normal
angelic glow
,
reflecting her lust for
life,
she has the look of exhausted obsession.  Michael watches the person that has been his rock, the one he loves
above all else
,
and for reasons unknown, he’s
very scared
for her.

S
itting
in
the
Ready Room
for hour
s
, since Michael went to bed,
Rena’s been
pouring over information. 
Knowing
what
to
look for, she hasn’t found the
connections
, only able to
identify the
players,
‘planets’, and their
actions
,
‘
orbits
’
.
W
here the
ir
orbits should overlap
, they’
re separated,
distant,
still only
moving
slowly
toward each other.  It could be weeks
,
or months
,
before these planet
s, these people
, and their lives,
their orbits
,
intersect
.  M
onths she’s not sure she has
.

“What are you doing?”

Rena
jumps, st
artled by
the
intrusion into her placid world
.
  Turning, s
he look
s
up
at
him, her heart racing
.

Stepping quickly into the room, Michael takes Rena’s trembling hands and kneels down before her, offering his heartfelt apology,
“I’m s
o
rry.  I didn’t mean to scare you. 
Rena, what are you doing
? How long have you been in here?”

Without a word, she just shakes her head slowly.

Michael
’s
gaze takes in her appearance
and his concerns grow measurably
, her eyes, puffy and red,
her face
,
pallid from stress and exhaustion.
 
“Rena, when
’s the last time
you slept?”

“
I don’t know, been awhile. 
I’m okay.”
She answers, her voice cracking and course.

“No
,
you’re not … your
scar
ing
the hell out of me. 
You’re
sitting here
, in your underwear
,
at
three in the morning
,
doing research
.  What
do they have
you working on
?
  Is this
Whitemire
?”

“Some of
i
t is.  I’
m sorry.
I didn’t mean to
worry
you.”

“Worry
ing
me?
Y
ou
’ve
been on edge for weeks now. 
Something
’
s
going on
.
Is it us?”

Her armor c
rumbling
,
she
starts crying
uncontrollably
, laying her head on his shoulder.

H
e
pull
s
her
close
, holding her
quaking
body
,
recognizing
that
fatigue
is elevating her emotions.

“Michael
,
it
could never be us.  I’m so sorry.”
She whimpers.

Holding
her until she
re
gains her com
posure
, he
petitions softly,
careful not
to
push
her,
“Please
Rena
.
Whatever
you
’re
doing, I can help.”
E
motionally
,
she could
no
t handle it, not tonight.

She smiles at him, “Michael
,
you are helping me, more than you could ever know, more than I ever expected.  Please
,
for now, can I do this
on my own
? 
I’d ask you not to
worry,
but
I
know better.  I
will tell you everything, I will,
I promise.  Please
believe me.
”

He does beli
eve her.
Always protecting
him,
she’s never lied to him
, not without a very good
reason.
He nods in
compliance
,
“The
n
at least come to bed
…
now
.  You need some sleep.  Let me at least help you in that way.”

She looks at him, emotions boiling up again.
She knows she’s exhausted,
recognizing
this outburst
a
s the result.
 
“Michael
, Takada was right you know
… on so many levels
…
on so
, so many levels
.”

Understanding,
Michael reaches over and shuts down th
e computers.  W
hatever
she’s
working on
can wait one night. 
He picks her up, cradling her
tiny body in his arms.  Light as a feather, s
he curls up
against
him
, putting her arms around his neck, resting her head
on his shoulder.  He carries
the fragile
creature
into her
bed
room,
laying
her in the center of
the
b
ed
.
He
slides in
behind her,
wrapping her in his arms
, pulling her into his protective embrace
. 
Stretching
her back and legs
to conform to
him
,
she
relax
es
;
mind and
body
.  She lifts his hand to her lips and kisses it. 
He
returns the gesture, kissing
her
bare
shoulder.  Together, they drift off to sleep.

P
lanet
s
slide
through
a vast
space, independent
and
random.
S
lowly
,
the
y
start moving
toward each other. 
Glowing circles
,
illuminating
each
orbit
,
begin to overlap
, the planet
s
turning through space
moving
closer and closer to each
other
.  In her mind’s eye, she watches, transfixed,
until
it happens … planets
converge on each other, all colliding simultaneously.
 
Rena wakes with a start
and a yelp
.  She
rolls
over in her bed,
disoriented
and
alone.

“Hey, I’m right here.”

She turn
s to the sound.
Michael enters from the sitting room.

“What time is it?
” She
asks.

“9:30, I wanted
to let
you sleep.  You
need rest,
tossing and turning all night.”
He offers, sitting down on the edge of the bed.

“I’m okay, I need to get up.”
Working to extricate herself from the bundle of
a
sheet wrapped about her.

Placing has hand on her face gently, capturing her attention, he rebukes. 
“No you don’t.” Michael
’s tone
firm
, yet
sincere
.

At that moment, s
he realizes
just how worried he is.
 
“Okay, maybe I don’t, but I can’t lie here all morning stressing. 
So
,
what do you suggest
?” A
sking
,
beca
use
she needs
help
and
s
he can’t tell Michael
what she’s doing
, at least not right now.
S
he also cannot continue at this pace, it could jeopardize both of their lives.

“I have an idea.  I had something made up this
morning. 
H
erbology training
offers
some
nice
fringe
benefits.”
 
He suggests
playfully
.
G
o
ing
into her bathroom,
Michael
return
s
with several towels. 
Helping
her out of bed
, he p
ull
s
the blankets
back
,
and
lays the towels
down across
on the
sheets
. 
T
urn
ing, he
’s
surprised to find
she
’
d already disrobed entirely
and wrapped herself in a towel.