The Alien Library (13 page)

Sil took up the litany while Daniel hurried to his cupboard and dug through it looking for the nettle pods. They didn’t keep much of a stock on hand, unless a Harvest was due. He found a basket tucked in the back, a handful of the pods in the bottom. Some had dried out and cracked open. He rifled through them and found three intact. Bringing them over to Cam, he held one underneath her nose.

“Cameron, I need you to inhale through your nose.”

She shook so badly, he couldn’t tell if his words drove her or simple human physiology. She pounded on her chest and tried to talk. Daniel shook his head, and grasped her jaw, forcing it shut. He cracked the pod, appearing to shove it into her nose. She fought, and then took what breath she could through the clogged aperture.

Almost immediately, she calmed. With another breath, her nose cleared and blinked. Another and she went limp.

Sil stroked her head. “It was the Harvest fright. Why now?”

“Delayed reaction from the implant removal, I think. Not the Harvest at all.” Daniel sighed. “Sam warned me. She holds her emotions tightly, the little outbursts don’t address the bigger issues. That’s what he said.”

She snorted; a hand rose to wipe at her nose, almost absentmindedly. Daniel broke another pod open and held it to her. She inhaled again, her eyes opened. “Oh, nice.”

“Yes, they smell nice.” Daniel smiled at her, his lips trembling slightly. “Sil’s going to put you in my bed. I’ll be right there. Okay?”

“Okay.” She blinked.

Sil did as instructed, then paused in the doorway as Daniel stripped off her tunic. “Do we need more nettle pods?”

“To be safe, yes. There’s only a dozen or so in that basket. Have you any ideas where to get more, quickly?” Daniel asked.

“No, but Pindari might. I’ll see to it.” Sil nodded. “I found her journal in the courtyard. I think it fell? Or did she throw it?”

“I don’t know. Doesn’t matter. Make sure it’s safe.” The doctor paused. “Thank you, Sil.”

“You're welcome.” He slipped out of the chamber.

Daniel gazed at Cameron. She focused on him, with as much focus as the nettle pod allowed her. He wanted her oblivious to the panic and used the last of the three pods he’d selected. She all but purred as she took it in, a hand rising to stroke her breast through the lightweight dress.

“Wow,” she murmured.

“One of the side benefits of the nettle.” Daniel eased onto the bed. “I want to touch you, love you. Together, we will find Tendar.”

“Hmmmm?” She didn’t really understand, but Daniel had decided on being truthful as much as possible. He’d explain more later.

She lay limp as he slowly undressed, his eyes on her. His cock stood erect, almost painfully so, and had been that way for hours. It came on him in the midst of the day, for no reason he could ascertain. He assumed it was part of the connection to Tendar.

He slid onto the bed and stroked her through the dress. She purred and arched against his hand, then inhaled sharply. “Tendar?”

“When we are intimate, he is here. In a fashion.” He bent and sucked her nipple into his mouth, through the light dress. “I am going to make love to you. More than anything, I want you to know that.”

“Okay.” She smiled. “I’d like that. Trust you.”

“I will be worthy of your trust, Cameron.” He sighed and lifted the dress up.

“But…” She paused. “But am I worthy of yours?”

He had to smile. “Ah, I’m working on it. Truly.”

“Okay.” She said nothing else for hours as he danced upon her skin with his fingers, tongue and focus. They rose together to worship at the altar of scent, finding Tendar’s touch hidden in folds of skin and tucked into warm, wet places. She slumbered once and Daniel left to find a small bowl of the tranquilizing pods in the outer room. He dosed Cameron twice more before allowing her to rise back to full awareness.

As she did so, he stayed at her side. Her eyes grew sharp and she set a hand at her chest. “I…my heart?”

“No, remember, I told you it was a panic attack, if I understand the diagnosis correctly from the books I’ve been reading. Sil called it the Harvest fear, since it isn’t unusual for it to manifest at the Harvest. Think, I spoke of it while you were calmed by the nettle.” He stroked her forehead.

She blinked and did remember. “Oh. Yeah, I guess. I guess that is right. Oh, what a rotten trick for my mind to play on me.”

“Not just the mind. You haven’t been sleeping well, and working very hard. Not eating enough. I was distracted, didn’t know. I am sorry, Cam, I should have been paying attention,” he apologized.

She tried to shrug. “Can’t know what I don’t let you know. I’ve been trying to figure it out, Daniel.”

“We’ve both been distracted. Part of it is Tendar’s absence and his recovery. It leaves us with a void.” He sighed. “I don’t know if you will suffer more of these attacks, but want you to carry a pouch of nettle pods with you. If you begin to feel anxious, use one and call for help.”

Cameron’s stubbornness prompted her. “What if it’s a real heart attack?”

Daniel took a deep breath. “I’m not going to yell at you. I understand you worry. If, and it is a big if, you suffer a real heart attack, the nettle pod will still be the right medicine.”

She knew that was a huge acknowledgment for him to make and she appreciated his not simply dismissing her concern. She nodded, her memory coming back into focus. “I…you talked about Tendar, about Pandra-I and Sam?”

“Nettle pods do not blank out memory. You will remember everything I told you as we made love. They are not a sedative of the type used on your old world.” He bent to kiss her. “You’ll have questions. Write them down and I will do my best to answer them.”

“About Tendar…” She paused then shook her head. “I’ll wait. I feel so good. Daniel, thank you. For the…” She blushed. “For the attention.”

“Cameron, it is a struggle not to pay you constant attention, adoration and worship.” He began to ease off the bed.

She snorted. “Uh huh. Not to mention argue, snipe and lecture.”

“That, too.” He smiled. “We are reconciled?”

“Yes. I still don’t understand and I want to understand. But I get it, it's going to take time and, and I guess, faith.” She stared at the ceiling. “I hope none of the books were damaged.”

“Stop in the kitchen and let Pindari feed you, then you can go check on things. I’ll be in my lab for a while. I’ve been remiss on several tasks I set myself some weeks ago. I want to get them done before we leave for Opal Bay,” he answered.

“Opal Bay? A human name?” she ventured.

“Many places have human names. Humans named them. To the Ix, they were just the bay, the mountains, the plains. You’ll find the water holds a real opalescence to it. Very good for the skin.” Daniel helped her dress.

She paused in the outer room and kissed him, sweetly and calmly. She touched the pouch of nettle pods. “Do they stifle inhibition?”

“They can, but none totally disable the mind,” he reassured her. “Let’s meet for dinner.”

She nodded, then almost shyly headed for the library.

She and Daniel had been sequestered in his quarters for three days.

The seamstress, Honi, wrote up the episode and sent it to Jefarin. She enjoyed keeping him up to date on the estate happenings. His perspective on this extra Thinker made her question Tendar’s intentions. Hopefully, he’d visit soon. She’d sent the letter via one of the flying lizards he’d given her, able to hone in on his scent. He was closer than she realized.

Daniel worked at tiding his laboratory. He knew they might remain at Opal Bay for some weeks and wanted the room organized in case items were needed while they were gone. As he straightened, he found the sealed bottle of oddly tasting wine Jefarin had been drinking the day of Cameron’s reveal. At the time, he’d sensed something wrong with the vintage but hadn't time to investigate.

He eased open the stopper and inhaled slightly. “Yes, something isn’t right. More than sourness.”

Placing the stopper on a shelf near the window, he carefully emptied the dregs into a shallow bowl. It appeared slightly oily and the color held a deeper shade of red than he’d seen before in a wine. He used a dropper to dilute it, then turned to take it to the window, where the light shone brighter. A flutter of movement saw him freeze. He gazed at the action.

Flutterbees had clustered on the rag he’d used to stop the wine up, come through the windows in a rush. He could just hear the slight hum of their wings, growing more frenzied. The bowl he held drew their attention. He calmly set it down and took several steps back.

Flutterbees weren’t harmful to large animals. They lived in the Kharmon Garden, defending the flowers from the hungry reptiles. The males were slightly larger than the females. They had a strict breeding cycle and seldom seen in bright sunlight. This flocking was highly unusual.

The hum grew in intensity as they descended on the small bowl. The liquid disappeared under their flurry, and the pitch of their humming changed. Suddenly the entire hive rose and began a flurry of mating. Daniel stared, realizing what this meant. The wine contained an aphrodisiac of some sort. The flutterbees found it irresistible but the drive overcame everything else. He saw the males fight to take the females; the females appeared less susceptible to the drug and tried to get away. The males were determined and what normally provided a lovely spectacle, became a nightmare.

In less than three minutes, all the flutterbees were dead or dying. Most lay damaged in the mating drive. Some torn to pieces, some worn out. Scattered about his laboratory, they lay spent. He slowly examined those still alive and saw them die in his hands.

“Oh, this is horrible. What is it doing to Jefarin?” he whispered. Almost reverently, he gathered up the hundreds of small corpses into a box. They had left the iridescence of their wings sparkling in the air. He wiped a sudden tear away and found himself suddenly furious.

Daniel stormed from the lab, the box in hand, to show Pindari. She grimaced in horror and took the book from his hand. “I will see them buried and a new hive ordered for the garden. What will you do?”

“Write Tendar, warn him against drinking anything from his father and suggest he warn the rest,” Daniel sighed. “What an abomination!”

“I agree.” She shuddered. “I’ll make sure Cameron understands. We don’t know if Jefarin used it on any in the house. Or how it would work on humans.”

“No, but I would wager Jefarin does,” he all but growled. “I’ll fetch a messenger from the clutch. Cameron and I will dine together and I’ll talk her about avoiding Jefarin, should he visit.”

“She told me of the dinner, I’ll see to it.” Pindari set the box down. “Go, I’ll take care setting the table.”

He nodded, and strode to Tendar’s tower, considering how to word the warning.

*****

Cameron worked in the library, oblivious to the drama in Daniel’s office. She had found the fallen books stacked on the table at the top floor. Her journal set on her bed, though it looked terribly battered. She shook her head, and sat, taking the book in hand. She wrote her impressions of the time with Daniel, discovering her acceptance of all he’d told her. She and Daniel were part of Tendar, or Tendar was part of them. They touched each other, even at a distance. At least that is what she understood.

Words to encompass it all were fleeting, but she wrote anyway. Giddiness built inside of her. Suddenly, she wished she could paint. There were colors to her emotions that were bubbling for expression. Finally, she gave it up and returned to the shelves, leaving the journal on her bed.

Once she began work in the library, she lost herself in the shelving. A new crate of books had arrived featuring art and illustration. They were colorful, appearing to concentrate on fantasy topics. Cameron enjoying flipping through them before putting them up. Many were artists she recognized from book and magazine covers. As she slid the last one home, a noise from downstairs caught her attention.

She hurried to the landing. “Daniel?”

There was no answer. She looked over the railing and saw a small stack of books on one of the long tables; something about them looked familiar. She headed downstairs to see what they were.

“Oh.” She focused on the titles and tiled her head. The missing books from the sex series lay there, appearing battered, and the covers faded. She could see folded pages and ones torn free and pushed back to the binding. A shudder ran through her as she reached over to touch the top one, a small book on sadomasochism. It felt odd. She set it down, the next one featured bondage. It also felt sticky. Lifting her hands to her nose, she lightly inhaled. With a grimace, she pushed the books away. She knew the scent of Kharmon sex.

“I found them quite diverting.”

Cameron whirled to see Jefarin, sprawled on the small couch. She stared while he lounged, as if posing, a lazy smile on his face.

“Oh. I didn’t know you were here, Jefarin. Forgive my…what are you doing here? Does Tendar know you are visiting?” She decided not to play at diffidence with him. One hand rose to caress the stiff badge of office she wore, like a shield.

“My dear son doesn’t need to know what I am doing, or where I am. None of them do.” He slowly rose. “Are there more books like those?” He pointed at the scattered stack.

Her eyes narrowed and she paused before answering. “Yes. The same area as before.” She slid to the other side of the table, putting some distance between them. He watched her, observing her hands with special interest.

She’d left off the tunic and rubbed at her fingers, not even aware doing so. She saw how Jefarin smirked, and moved closer to her. Cameron didn’t know what was going on, only that something felt wrong. She darted for the doorway, but Jefarin got there first. He wrapped a hand around her mouth, one hand groping to the pouch at her neck.

“Nettle pods. That will help, I’m sure.” He calmly spoke, holding her with little effort. The pouch fell, the pods spilling and he took her to the floor, kneeling with her struggling in front of him. He held one of the pods up and crushed it, attempting to force her to inhale the sedative. She used a trick she knew from singing lessons. She took the breath in. Jefarin loosened his hold on her and she went limp, exhaling the same breath through her mouth. She knew part of the drug entered her system, but not the entirety.

He seemed pleased with her sedateness and stood up. He lifted her and took her to the couch. She watched through partly closed eyelids as he pulled a bottle from his pocket. “My dear son. So selfish and stupid. Treating you animals as worthy life partners. All you’re good for is sex. The new books just confirm it. Such deviant practices! I’ll prove it.”

He turned back to her but she’d taken advantage of his distraction and slid away. She darted to the stairs, knowing he would be faster, but she hoped to prove more nimble. He grabbed at her legs and she stumbled, but kicked herself free. A lucky jab with her foot landed at his eye and she succeeded in gaining more ground. He quickly caught her again at the top of the stairs and gripped her arm tightly. She screamed and shoved him against the decorative knob at the top of the stairs. He groaned as she wrested herself away and dashed into one of the smaller book rooms.

Jefarin put a hand to his back. “Close, but not enough, slut. I’m going to enjoy breaking you.”

He entered the tiny room and stopped. She watched from the secret nook as he appeared baffled. The Kharmon cursed and began to shove the bookcases about, looking for her. The heavy books scattered and he took out his frustration on them, tearing pages and throwing them about. She stayed silent. He bellowed and tore from the library, muttering that he’d find Daniel.

*****

The message sent, Daniel lingered in Tendar’s quarters. As angry as he was at Jefarin’s experimenting, he also dealt with a heartfelt sense of sorrow. He knew Pandra-i’s involvement with him didn’t bring about Jefarin’s downfall, but the closer they grew, the more distant Jefarin had grown. Pandra-i had tried, but her husband wasn’t interested in what the old scrolls had to say. He pushed her away, drawing closer to Teemin.

It hadn’t happened overnight, it had taken centuries.

Daniel wondered where the compound came from and how long Jefarin had been using it, as well as the wine. He heard the commotion from the lower level and strode to the stairway. Jefarin glared up at him, his eyes wide with fury and lust.

Daniel wasn’t stupid, he ran.

Not far behind Jefarin came Darjing, following the battle cries that had come from the library. As Darjing and Daniel struggled with Jefarin, Sil entered the library, looking for Cameron.

She heard the familiar voice, calling out for her and tried to shove the bookcase off her back. Her voice was weak, breath hard to catch. “Sil! In here.”

Her head spun from the effects of the nettle pod, but she’d kept her wits enough to use some of the scattered pages to wipe at her fingers. Thank God, she’d been reticence to touch the books Jefarin had left. The residue made her fingers itch, almost unbearably. The look on Jefarin’s face had boded worse. The odd little niche she’d found behind the stacked bookcases had probably saved her life, at the least it kept her safe. But the rage Jefarin had let loose with had seen her buried under books and shattered bookshelves. It took Sil several minutes to see her free.

She took his hand as she stepped over the wreckage. “Jefarin,” she wheezed. “He’s insane.”

“Darjing is after him.” He lifted her into his arms. “Are you hurt?”

“Bruised.” She tried to clear her throat. “I used a trick with the nettle pod and hurt my throat. Fingers burn, he put something on the books downstairs. Make sure no one touches them.”

He carried her to the window opening and set her on the ledge. She took several deep breathes. A scream of rage came from the tower overlooking the courtyard at an angle to the library. She and Sil started at the scream.

Jefarin glared at her from Tendar’s tower window; Daniel and Darjing were visible behind him. It looked as if they were trying to calm the Kharmon. Instead, Jefarin jumped up to the ledge and with a shout launched himself toward the library. Cameron screamed as it appeared for a moment as if he’d succeed in reaching her. Then, he fell short, hitting the wall several feet below the window before falling back. Sil held Cameron to his chest as a loud crack came from below the window.

Jefarin twisted as he fell, and through a trick of fate, he struck the stone bench below at the exact location Kharmon were vulnerable. His dragon scale, given centuries ago, was affixed loosely and he died instantly.

Daniel rushed to the courtyard with Darjing at his side. They knew he was gone. There were no final words, no recriminations or excuses. His body had rolled from the bench, into the bed of flowers. Daniel knelt, a deep sorrow cut into his heart. He didn’t touch the Kharmon, knowing their custom. Darjing sighed, gazing upward at the sky. “It is late afternoon. By tomorrow evening, his scale can be claimed. I will inform Pindari that the Opal Bay party must leave then.”

Daniel nodded, then peered up at the library window. His bruised throat gave his voice a hoarse cast. “Cameron?”

Sil called down. “She’s fine. Scared.”

“Daniel?” her voice barely carried, but it was enough. The doctor climbed to his feet, knowing Sil would see to it that the body remained undisturbed. Ix would reclaim it quickly.

The news traveled quickly through the estate. Daniel cleansed the skim of aphrodisiac from Cameron’s fingers and saw her throat eased as the rest contemplated Jefarin’s death. The estate stayed silent, the courtyard left dark and quiet. No one saw the small figure that stole in as dawn neared, then left the estate. When Pindari searched the earth that had welcomed Jefarin, the dragon scale had disappeared.

Honi ran, the scale safe in her pack. Along with Cameron’s journal and the letters from Jefarin, she was determined to see the truth reach Teemin.

Cameron did what she could to comfort Daniel. He kept talking, though his voice sounded raw. Jefarin had held his throat at one point, long enough to bruise deeply, before Darjing had freed him. Daniel rambled, sometimes angry and sometimes full of nostalgia for better times.

She let him talk for several hours, offering what encouragement she could. Finally, he wound down and turned in her arms. “He didn’t hurt you?” There was a hint of longing in his voice.

Cameron wanted to lie, to say he’d just threatened, but the truth was more important. “Not for lack of trying, Daniel. My arm is bruised, as well as my legs where they struck the stairs. He meant more. Don’t try to fool yourself. He was mad. Whatever he’s been using made him violent.” She coughed. “He wasn’t the man you once knew.”

“I know, not for a long time.” He sighed. “Sleep, Cameron. We’ll have a very long day ahead tomorrow.”