Beyond (14 page)

Aimee kept her eyes shut tight. As long as she could not see reality, then reality was not there. It worked somewhat. She could still smell coffee brewing
downstairs. Any moment now, her mother would knock on the door and yell, "Time to get up, Aim."

Tears leaked from the corners of her eyes.

"I'm okay, Mom," she whispered. "Don't worry…I'm okay."

What could her parents possibly be thinking? Was there a federal search underway, or did they just assume she ran away from home. No, her father was the
federal search
type. He was probably personally grilling Corey Burnfield. That thought made her smile. She opened her eyes and rolled onto her side. There was no sunrise to look out on. But it was a brand new vista of rainbow-colored constellations. God knows how far they had traveled. Today Zak would be flying to visit a planet.
A planet
.
He would set foot on a new world. How many had he seen? Was this mundane for him?

Aimee draped the comfortable spread across her shoulders and padded barefoot behind the columns. She still did not trust the
lock
. After cleaning and dressing she felt human again. Hah, human. Or should she
say,
mecaw
? Carrie would laugh at that. She wished she could share the joke with her.

There was a mirror above the pool and Aimee stared at her reflection. Tracing her hand down the side of her suit, she noticed curves she didn't think she had possessed before. Her hair was longer, hanging in rich sable waves below her shoulders. Her face was clear with a healthy touch of pink to her cheeks. Her deep blue eyes, framed by long dark lashes grabbed her attention. She had not seen her reflection in quite some time, and her eyes fascinated her. They looked wiser, if that was possible. The Aimee in this mirror was not a high school graduate…this Aimee looked like a woman.

A sound outside startled her. She whirled away from the mirror and poked her face around the edge of the column. It was a staccato tap at her door. Not a
knock. It was artificially produced. It sounded like a mechanical woodpecker.
It was their cute idea for a doorbell.

Aimee swung her hand from left to right and the barrier slid open, but the silhouette that filled it made her stumble back.

"Hello, Aimee. I see you have settled into your new accommodations."

Salvan.

His thin form filled her doorway. With her room dimly lit and the outside corridor so bright, she could only see his profile. He stepped inside and it was all she could do not to chastise him for his callous assumption that he was welcome. She refrained though. She was still the outsider here and did not know the rules. Perhaps such an invasion of privacy was commonplace.

"Hello Salvan. I was just leaving."

"Oh." A pale eyebrow jerked up. "Where are you heading? I can travel with you."

To wish Zak luck on his journey
.
"Vodu asked that I meet up with some of the scientists today. He said it would be a good learning experience."

Something flickered in Salvan's eyes.
Disapproval?

"Good, then you can definitely pass the time with me. I'm a scientist."

Not a very good one according to Zak
.

"I—uh—" Aimee started inching around him so that she was closer to the door. She felt his eyes trace her every move.

"I would love to show you my laboratory, Aimee." His voice had a strange ring to it, as if he was afflicted with allergies.

"Vodu is expecting me," she lied.

Sylvan's lips quirked.
"Is he?" He stepped closer, which blocked her access to the door. "He would certainly understand if you took an excursion to the lab first."

Aimee didn't know which was greater.
The fear of being physically attacked by Salvan if he got her alone in his lab.
Or the fear that he wanted to dissect her there.

Salvan’s eyelids dropped as his gaze dipped down her body. All those curves she had noticed last night felt exposed right now in the tight-fitting body suit. His gaze drifted back up and lingered on her mouth for a moment before he returned to her eyes. He smiled. There was no warmth to the gesture.

"No, really.
I'm going to be late," she cried as she charged past him, using her shoulder to forcefully brush aside the arm that sought to corral her.

With the element of surprise on her side she managed to bolt into the open corridor. Aimee spun back to determine whether Salvan pursued. In the corner of her eye she caught sight of a JOH floating a few feet away. She lunged for it and smacked the screen.

“Hello Aimee.” The blue face beamed.

“JOH.” her voice was raspy as she saw Salvan advance a step towards her. “Can you tell me how to get to the deck? Vodu is waiting for me.”

“But Aim—”

She knew JOH was about to divulge that she had already figured out how to read the walls. She didn’t want Salvan aware that she held that trump card.

“JOH, please hurry.”

JOH’s mouth thinned into a solid line. “Follow me.”

Aimee positioned the JOH between herself and Salvan as if the weightless monitor could wage a battle for her. She swiveled the device so that it now faced Salvan. That incited a dark glare from the man. He ambled out of her doorway and said, "I see you are busy.
Perhaps later then."

She watched the back of his silver uniform as he stalked away and only released her breath when he entered a lateral transport.

Aimee sagged back against the wall. Beside her, JOH swung around and the crystal face did not look pleased.

"Is there something wrong, Aimee?"

She cast one more glance down the hall, expecting Salvan to reemerge at any second. Perhaps she was overreacting. Perhaps he was just a quirky man looking for a friend. Perhaps he was sincere with his invitation for her to see his lab. But if it was all so innocent, what was that malevolent look on his face a second ago? As if his plans had been foiled and he blamed her.

"Aimee?"

Aimee nodded and managed an unconvincing smile. My God, she was trying to comfort a computer.

"Yes."

JOH looked confused, a blend of straight lines.

"Why did you
lie
, Aimee?"

Damn, he was
intuitive.

"I didn't
lie
, JOH. For a moment I just forgot my way."

"You're lying again. It makes me curious." JOH's
normal falsetto faded into a whisper. Was he capable of sensing danger?

Aimee hefted off the wall and started down the corridor, tracking the symbols that would lead her towards the deck. She paused, realizing that she had just validated JOH's suspicions. But instead of harping on that fact, he floated patiently at her side.

"I was just nervous, JOH. I'm new here. I don't know everyone. I don't know how to gauge people."

"You are afraid of Salvan." It was a statement.

"No. No.
Of course not."
She started walking again.

"There are others who fear him."

Aimee stopped.

"There are?" She grabbed JOH and held him steady before her. "Why?"

"I have not been able to determine that. But I have seen others react like you just did. It makes me curious. I need to investigate."

Somehow that admission made her feel better. As if JOH represented the authorities and he believed in her anxiety.

"If you ever learn anything, can you tell me, JOH?"

"All you have to do is ask."

JOH thrived on questions nearly as much as he thrived on answers.

"I like you, JOH. You are alright."

"I like you, Aimee. You are completely right too."

Aimee laughed and stalled at the next intersection. She studied the symbols up high on the corner. The familiar X with the line through it pointed towards the left. A new icon pointed to the right. It was a diagonal line with a straight line intersecting across the top. It looked like a gun.

"What is that, JOH?"

"That's the launch bay."

The launch bay.
Zak.

"Okay." She nodded. "I know my way now."

JOH’s crystal eyebrow descended. "I sense you are about to leave me."

"You sense correctly," she grinned. "But no worries, I’m sure I’ll run into you again in a few feet.” Her smile faded. “Thank you for—"
For saving me
, "—for helping me."

"I'm just doing my job, Aimee." His familiar smirk returned. "I am going to do some investigating now."

She would be curious to see what his research yielded, but right now there were more pressing matters to address. Like a hieroglyph that resembled a gun.

"Bye, JOH." Aimee tapped his blue face on the cheek and he faded away.

Spinning around, she looked up at the gun and started down that corridor with reserved enthusiasm.

***

If the launch bay seemed active yesterday,
today it was teeming with personnel as if in preparation for the arrival of a dignitary.
The layout reminded her very much of an aircraft carrier with the
exception that they were indoors. A raucous noise filled the air and Aimee clamped her hands over her ears. Only a hundred yards away, a craft similar to
Zak's now hovered about three feet off the ground. The massive
cylinders which looked like a tympani drum set were aglow with
blue flames.
Not really flames, per se, but a blue charge similar to the ripple of air visible atop a jet engine. Inside the low-slung cockpit of this
terra angel
was a seated man. He wore an egg-shaped
helmet
that bobbed around as he checked the interior. With a final nod his head jerked back a split second before the craft roared through the bay, its radiant tail nearly blinding Aimee. She squinted at the vehicle as it slipped through the partition at the end of the bay and was swept away into the perpetual night.

In the very next slot another craft ignited and the sound rumbled up her legs, making them unstable. She pried her hands away from her ears and began paralleling the wall at the rear of the deck. If people noticed, they were too preoccupied to acknowledge her.

Terra angels
.
She liked that. These were not harbingers of death. These were chaperones meant to explore and protect. Of course, they were commandeered by warriors. That didn’t play into the whole
angel
concept.

Along the back wall she passed by groups of warriors—tall, strong and resplendent in their silver uniforms. Personnel with lesser physical attributes executed visual examinations of the uniforms, typing in notes on hovering JOHs.
One warrior possessed a tinge of yellow across his abdomen and seemed to be arguing its innocence. From what Raja had explained, a trace of yellow could be anything from hunger pangs to a bout of
diarrhea.

Aimee slipped unseen behind their debate. Yesterday this bay had been quiet and she and Zak were able to cross over the deck without incident. If she were to attempt that same path today, a host of vibrating space crafts with nuclear reactors strapped to their backs would treat her like an inconvenient gnat in their haste to take flight.

She could see Zak's ship
now.
Zari.
It was idle. No throbbing engines. There was also no sign of the man himself. A sea of silver uniforms blanketed the rear end of the deck, but nowhere could she locate the familiar stunning figure in black. She reached his
terra angel
and ducked down
under the frame between the engines and cockpit. She peeked around to see if anyone was approaching, but
the closest
group of men were
busy examining the adjacent craft.
One man barked off an order in a language she could not interpret.

Aimee ran her palm along the sleek underbelly of the
terra angel
. It was so cold to the touch. She inched closer to the cockpit, and shivered from the pervasive chill. Yesterday she had not been in close enough proximity to realize that this machine
was a giant Popsicle. Blowing into her clamped hands to induce warmth, Aimee searched for the secreted lever that Zak had used to open the cockpit. Locating it, she cast a hasty glimpse over her shoulder and then touched the release mechanism. The door lifted with a soft hiss. Again she looked around, but no one paid her any heed. The warmth of the cockpit beckoned,
not to mention the allure of the bank of gadgets
as beguiling as diamonds to a tech-hungry college student.

Aimee slipped inside and gasped when the door fastened shut behind her. Crouched on the tips of her toes behind the pilot’s chair, she swiveled to see if the
culprit was outside. There was no one. It must have closed automatically. She fished near the door for a latch that would release it, but was unsuccessful.