Laura Jo Phillips (46 page)

Arima Katre slid her sword back into its sheath, and sat back down, much to Mara’s overwhelming relief.  The dark blue stone lying on the table glittered in the overhead light, capturing everyone’s attention.  After a moment, Saige reached out and slid the stone across the table toward Princess Lariah.

Lariah looked at the stone for another few moments, but she did not reach out for it.  Instead, she raised her eyes to Mara again.

“You have worn this stone for all of these years, haven’t you?” she asked.

Mara nodded, but she did not speak.  There really wasn’t anything for her to say.

 “I have one further question for you,” Princess Lariah said, “and a request.”

“All right,” Mara said, trying to sound calm though her heart was still racing from her near death experience a moment earlier.

“Why did you attempt to steal the blood of my daughter?”

“That was the bargain I made with William,” Mara replied.  “We exchanged favors.  That was what he wanted.  He did not tell me why, but I can guess.”

“Please do so,” Princess Lariah said.

“
Berezi
are extremely difficult to find,” Mara said.  “They always have been, and from what little I could gather from William over the past few years, they have become even more difficult to find than ever.  I believe that they wanted the blood of one of your daughters to determine if she is
berezi
.  Of course, that is just my guess.”

“I have a question for you as well,” Arima Katre put in.  “Or two.”  Mara turned to the dark haired woman, trying once again to meet the other woman’s gaze, and failing.

“How many Brethren are there, and where is the compound you lived in?” Arima Katre asked.

“When I was a child, I think there were about three thousand Brethren, from what I overheard here and there over the years,” Mara replied.  “The Brethren prefer to live in large compounds of several families grouped together.  Many of those compounds were near, or in, major cities that were destroyed during the Bolkin Wars, nearly decimating the Brethren completely.  There were a handful of Brethren who preferred to live in smaller family groups, as Stalnek did, and only they survived. 

“Stalnek sent William to Li-Hach-Cor to live for his safety, in case another attack occurred on Earth.  A few years ago William told me that there were only about 80 Brethren left.  I have no idea how many there are now, or even if William was telling the truth.  Nor do I have any idea where the compound was that I lived in.  I know only that it was in a desert.”

“I also have a question for you,” Arima Lobo said.  Mara felt the woman’s eyes boring into her and gritted her teeth against saying something rude.  She preferred the eyes over the feel of cold steel blade.

“Yes?” she asked shortly.

“You hate your mother for being weak, that is clear,” she said.  “But do you hate
berezi
because your mother was one, or do you hate
berezi
because you are not one?”

“Both,” Mara replied, surprising herself.  She had not intended to answer that question at all, but her mouth had done it anyway.

“What request did you have, Princess Lariah?” she asked, hoping to avoid further questions. 

“I would ask that you consent to a drawing of your blood,” Princess Lariah said. 

Mara frowned.

“Consider it a trade,” Princess Lariah said.  “Your blood in exchange for that of my daughter.”

She didn’t want to agree to this, but she couldn’t think of a reason to refuse. 

“Agreed,” she said as graciously as she could manage. 

Princess Lariah stood up, as did the other two women.  She reached out and plucked the necklace from the table, then nodded briefly to Mara.

“Go in peace, Amara Winicke,” she said.  “May the remainder of your life be free of the anger and hatred that has twisted your soul.”

She turned and walked calmly out of the room, with the other women right behind her.  The last to leave was the woman who had stood behind her during the entire interview.  She paused as she turned to close the door, meeting Mara’s eyes with her cold blue ones for a long moment.  Then she pulled the door closed and locked it, leaving Mara alone once more.

Chapter
50

Earth, Phoenix II

After several hours, Hope left the intensive care nursery in search of food.  She couldn’t believe how hungry she was until she realized how much time had passed since her meal with the Bearens.  Just thinking about the Bearens caused her chest to ache, so she was glad to see Grace waiting for her when she stepped into the hall.

“There you are,” Grace said, giving Hope a quick hug.  “I was hoping you’d come out soon.”

“What’s up?” Hope asked, noting the worry in Grace’s eyes.

“I have to go home,” Grace said.  “I’m sorry Hope, really I am, but my little sister isn’t well and she needs me.  Faith is off-planet, and there isn’t anyone else available right now.  I need to check on her, and find someone to watch over her, but I promise to come back just as soon as I can.”

“Family comes first, Grace,” Hope said.  “Don’t worry about me.  I want you to keep in touch with me, but there is no need for you to come running back unless that’s what you want to do.”

“Thanks,” Grace said with a relieved smile.  “Come on, I have a few things to fill you in on.”

Hope followed Grace into the elevator, listening as she began rattling things off.  “We got a bungalow right next to the one the Bearens are in, and I moved our things over there.  I went and got you some more clothes since the ones I got yesterday seem to fit you, but I warn you, almost everything is military green or gray.  I got a few more toiletries, towels, stuff like that too, but if there is anything else you want or need, just give them your name at checkout.

“Also, the kitchen is stocked and here, this is your vox.  I got one for both of us and I already programmed yours with my number and vice versa.  I put Clark’s vox code in too since he insisted when he saw me programming them.” 

Hope took the vox from Grace and slipped it into her pocket.  “Thanks,” she said, hurrying to keep up with the smaller woman who was all but running down the street. 

“You’re welcome.  Okay, here’s the bad news.”  Grace stopped and turned to face Hope.  “Berta woke up for a few minutes this morning.  I was able to talk to her, and she was very happy that she was no longer a prisoner.  She didn’t remember how she got hurt, or what happened to Aisling.  She asked about you, and Karma, and I told her you were both fine.  Then she said thank you for freeing her and, well, she closed her eyes and slipped back into a coma.  The doctors aren’t sure if she will wake up again or not, but they don’t seem too optimistic about it.” 

“I’m glad you were able to talk to her, and that she knew she was free,” Hope said.  “That’s the important part.  The one thing that meant the most to her was being free.  She didn’t want to die a prisoner.  Because of you, she won’t.”

“No, not because of me,” Grace corrected as she turned and began walking again.  “Because of all of us.  Which brings me to my other worry.”

“Aisling,” Hope said.

“Yes,” Grace replied.  “We have to find her, Hope.  We promised.  I don’t know how we’re going to keep that promise, and that bothers me.  Now I’m leaving, which is worse.”

“It’s going to be fine,” Hope said.  “I have a plan.”

Grace glanced quickly at Hope, frowned, and paused again.  “I know what you’re thinking Hope, and I know it’s not an easy thing for you to do.  But to be honest, I don’t know what good it’s going to do to tell the Director about your ability.  It’s a great ability, and without it we wouldn’t be free right now.  But I think those Brethren took Aisling a lot more than a few miles away.”

“Actually, I’ve been holding out on you a little,” Hope admitted.  “I have more than one ability.”

“Really?” Grace asked in surprise.  “So what’s the other one?  Or is that too personal to ask?” 

“No, it’s not too personal for
you
to ask,” Hope said.  “I consider you a friend.”

“Thanks, Hope,” Grace said, smiling.  “I consider you a friend, too.”

Hope returned Grace’s smile, a little surprised at how quickly she had come to care about this small, intelligent, energetic pixie of a woman. 

“I can read objects,” she said simply.

Grace frowned as she considered that for a few moments.  “Read objects in what way?”

“It differs,” Hope replied.  “Mostly I read the most relevant fact about an object.  Where it spent the most time, where it was created, a strong emotional event connected to it, a birth, a death, a murder, things like that.  Whatever emotion or event leaves the strongest impression on the object, I get.  If nothing else, I can get the origin of the object.”

“Now that’s a gift you could really do something with,” Grace said.  “All I can do with mine is bonk an occasional person on the head with a rock, and turn off the light after I get into bed at night.”

Hope laughed.  “Do you know how often I’ve wished I could turn off the light without having to get out of bed?” she asked.  “I’d love to be able to do that.”

“Yeah, I admit, it comes in handy,” Grace said with a grin.  “Now, back to serious stuff.  Do you think that if you can get your hands on that ground-car, you can find out where it came from?”

“Maybe,” Hope replied.  “If not, I think there might be things inside of it that could point us toward the main compound Berta mentioned.  It’s worth a try.  And Aisling is worth the risk of letting the Directorate in on my secret.”

“If it helps, I really don’t believe that the Directorate will force you to work for them, no matter what your ability is,” Grace said.  “Maybe I should stay here though.  It feels wrong to run off right now, with Aisling still being held prisoner.”

“Grace, your sister is your family and, believe me, you don’t want to forget how important your family is to you.  She must come first.”

“I know,” Grace replied.  “I feel torn though.”

“I promise to keep in touch with you,” Hope said.  “If I need you, I won’t hesitate to let you know.  How’s that?”

“That’s good,” Grace replied with relief.  “Call me if you need me, and I promise, I’ll come back just as soon as I can.”

After seeing Grace off, Hope returned to the hospital to check on the babies again.  Since they were sleeping she didn’t stay long.  As she turned to leave, she sensed the Bearens close by, and couldn’t prevent the quick surge of excitement she felt.  She paused for a moment, focusing on changing the babies’ diapers in an effort to compose herself before stepping out into the hall. 

The Bearens she expected to see, but the tall, bald, middle aged man with deep lines of worry scoring his face and sad gray eyes, was a surprise. 

“Hope,” Jackson said with a short bow.  “This is the Director.  Director, this is Harlan’s cousin, Hope Strigida.” 

Hope took a deep breath and stepped forward, reaching out to shake hands with the Director.  “It’s nice to meet you, Director.”

“It’s nice to meet you as well, Miss Strigida,” the Director said, shaking her hand gently.  “I only wish it could have been under better circumstances.”

“Yes, I agree,” Hope replied.

“I was just telling the Bearens that there really is no need for you to remain here, on the base,” the Director said.  “I understand that the infants are doing well, so it would not be difficult to transfer them to a hospital in Virginia, along with you, of course.”

“What about Aisling?” Hope asked.

“Aisling?” the Director repeated blankly.

“There were four of us abducted by the Brethren,” Hope explained.  “They still have one of us.  Her name is Aisling, and we need to get her back.”

“Yes, yes, I apologize, the name escaped me,” the Director said.  “We are doing everything we can to locate the Brethren’s main compound, Miss Strigida.  As soon as we find it, we will do everything in our power to rescue Aisling, and any other women that might be held there.”

“I would prefer to remain here, Director,” Hope said.  “Berta and Karma are still here, in the hospital, as are the babies.  The other woman, Grace, will be coming back in the next couple of days.  We promised Aisling that we would not give up until we found her.  I can’t break that promise.”

“I understand,” the Director said.  “You are as loyal as your cousin.  You may, of course, stay as long as you want, or feel that you need to.”

“Thank you, Director,” Hope said around the lump that always seemed to form in her throat at the mention of Harlan.  “At a later time, I would like to discuss my cousin with you.”

“Of course, Miss Strigida,” the Director replied.  “Whenever you are ready.”

“Director, would you like to join us for the evening meal?” Jackson asked politely. 

“I really would,” the Director replied.  “Unfortunately, I have several meetings to attend over the next several hours.  Perhaps another time?”

“Certainly,” Jackson replied.  He turned to Hope.  “How about you, Hope?  Would you care to join us for dinner?”

Hope hesitated, but she really didn’t want to be alone, which surprised her.  She usually enjoyed being alone.  Then she realized that once she was alone, she would be forced to allow the full impact of her grief to hit.