The Light-Field (20 page)

‘A memento,' Lucian announced, as he placed the camera on board and then climbed back on himself.

‘Thank you,' she said simply, to stop herself from gushing about what a sweet gesture it was. ‘Did he look happy to be home?'

Lucian picked up the camera, switched it to preview and handed it to her. ‘You judge.'

When Taren viewed the picture, she just melted inside and she felt her cheeks begin to burn bright red with desire. Spectrum had entwined his tail with that of another sea dragon, and with their noses touching their bodies together formed a perfect heart shape of vibrant colour. ‘Looks like true love to me,' Taren concluded with a smile, which quickly dropped from her face when she saw the coastguard headed their way. ‘Company,' she alerted Lucian, who did not appear too worried, at first.

 

As the boat neared, to Lucian's alarm, it became clear that the boat had merely been mocked up to look like a coastguard vessel, but the men on board were more like a bunch of pirates. ‘Poachers,' Lucian murmured to Taren, ‘not good.' They were coming in fast and creating waves, and there was no time to start the engine and attempt to outrun the bigger boat on the choppy water.

‘Stay behind me and don't attract attention to yourself,' Lucian advised Taren, who opened her mouth to argue instead of nodding. ‘Please,' he cut her off. ‘Hopefully they are only interested in our vessel.' Lucian looked back to the scruffy bunch, not liking his chances of that. He had no weapons on board — AMIE was all about conservation and exploration. If somehow they survived this confrontation, that was something he would remedy.

‘That's a fine looking vessel you have there,' admired the captain of the larger boat, as they cut the engine and pulled up alongside the hovercraft.

‘Yes, it is.' Lucian was tactful. ‘And we have a government permit to be here.'

‘Oh really!' The captain showed his amusement and the crew found it awfully amusing also. The slim, muscular fellow jumped down onto the hovercraft to confront Lucian, whilst the rest of the crew eyed Taren over and whispered amongst themselves. ‘We don't believe in permits.'

‘I had that feeling,' Lucian retorted, backing up a step and taking Taren with him. ‘I hope you don't believe in lawsuits either, because you are now trespassing,' Lucian stated for the record, not liking the way the locals were ogling his company.

Again the captain laughed and waved down a few more men, who jumped on board the hovercraft. ‘Possession is nine-tenths of the law.' He pulled a gun from inside his vest and aimed it at Lucian. ‘Your woman is very beautiful.'

Oh damn.
Lucian eyed the area for anything he might use as a weapon.

‘I said your woman is beautiful,' the pirate repeated, louder still.

‘I am aware of that, yes,' Lucian replied.

The locals were amused to have the professor on the spot. ‘How about you leave her and this boat to us, and we won't kill you, eh?'

‘How about you return to your vessel and we both avoid an assault charge?' Lucian suggested, remaining cool as a cucumber.

‘She looks like she might be worth it.' The pirate repeated his assessment in the local dialect and all his buddies nodded to back him up. ‘Wouldn't you agree?' He directed his query at Lucian.

‘Is there a man alive, who wouldn't agree?' Lucian appealed and the lads were amused, in a disconcerting manner.

‘If you resist, I am going to have to kill you,' the pirate said to Lucian, who could not see a way of getting close enough to the thug to get the weapon out of his hand; if the other crew members were carrying weapons, they weren't displaying them.

‘I really don't think you want to go there.' Taren piped up to caution them, and Lucian looked to her to indicate that she was not helping.

‘Your boyfriend does not look so tough,' the pirate captain scoffed.

Taren gave Lucian a sly wink of confidence. ‘Maybe so …' she taunted the armed pirate, taking several fearless strides toward him until she was within grasping distance of the man. ‘But he has a secret weapon.'

‘And what's that?' The local man grabbed hold of her with his free hand and Taren took a step closer still.

‘Me.' She head-butted the man and grabbed up his weapon, as he dropped like a stone to the floor — not unconscious, but groaning in pain.

Startled by the unexpected change of fate, Lucian ran at the other two men on their vessel and barged them overboard.

Taren had taken aim at the rest of the crew, who all reached for their own weapons, but by some miraculous stroke of luck, every one of them fumbled and dropped their weapon into the sea — leaving only Taren with a firearm. ‘Anybody else think I'm worth assaulting?'

Stunned as they were, the local boys did manage to shake their heads when Taren took another step toward them and they all backed up in accordance.

Lucian grabbed the dazed captain. ‘You had best clear out of these waters, because I am definitely pressing charges.' He shoved the pirate backward into the drink after the others.

As he made a move to start their engine, he looked to Taren, utterly grateful and yet bewildered: where did she learn to fight like that?

She shrugged, keeping one eye and her aim squarely on their guests. ‘I have many skills.'

‘I'm very glad I haven't tried anything untoward with you.' He made light of his inner panic — Taren Lennox was far more than she appeared to be, that was now blindingly obvious.

‘Me too,' she concurred, as Lucian started up their hovercraft and they left the scene.

 

The ride home was fast and furious, which made it impossible to converse. Taren knew she'd blown it with her show of force. Lucian kept glancing at her warily, his notion of her as a refined, congenial businesswoman shattered forever.

When they reached AMIE's dock, Swithin and Amie were awaiting them.

‘Where have you been?' Swithin had assumed Lucian had taken their new toy out for a spin, and he was annoyed. ‘Don't wait for us or anything?'

‘We ran into some pirates up the coast,' Lucian advised, to both Swithin's and Amie's horror.

‘How are you still in possession of our craft?' From his black market past, Swithin knew pirates.

Lucian shut off the motor, and jumped off onto the hangar bay wharf to tie off the boat. ‘We fought them off.' He shrugged, sounding not particularly thrilled by the feat.

‘That's awesome! How many of them were there?' Swithin was excited, as Lucian had never been much of a fighter.

‘Four or five,' he lied, as it was more like ten.

What were the chances of seven hardened sea dogs all fumbling their weapons at once?
was what Taren guessed Lucian might be thinking.

‘I don't want to talk about it, really. She's all yours.' Lucian motioned to the hovercraft Taren was climbing out of, and kept walking.

‘I don't get it.' Swithin turned back to Taren, hoping she could explain why his brother was so down on being a hero.

‘I've done a bit of street fighting in my time,' Taren said. ‘And I think I might have shocked the professor a little with my head-butting skills.'

‘Oh.' Swithin felt that made sense.

‘You let him go?' Amie pointed to the empty tank in Taren's hands.

‘You know me,' Taren grinned, ‘always setting free the wrongly imprisoned.'

Amie found this amusing. ‘I should have done it myself before now.'

‘Shall I toss this?' Taren asked of the tank. ‘I've fixed the bug, so you can keep it if you like?'

‘I don't expect I'll need it,' she declined.

‘You guys have a fun ride.' Taren waved, of the mind to head home and work there today.

‘I would not have taken her for the head-butting type?' Taren heard Swithin comment to Amie as she walked away, and the comment made her smile, as did Amie's response.

‘Well, I'm not eager to butt heads with her again, I can tell you.'

At midday, Lucian came knocking at her door, and Taren was a little nervous about what the next few minutes would hold.

She opened the door and the professor looked very serious — not the general vibe she'd been hoping for. ‘It's been a hell of a day at sea, captain.' She attempted cheer and managed to coax a brief smile out of him.

‘Can I come in?'

‘Of course.' She motioned with a sweeping hand movement for him to come inside and pressed the button that closed the door once he had. ‘After all the excitement, I thought I'd stay close to home today.'

Lucian raised a sarcastic half grin, which was nowhere near as becoming as his alluring grin in Taren's opinion. ‘I'm surprised you don't have concussion.'

‘I told you, I have skills.' She walked past him to the kitchen, of the mind to offer him something to drink.

‘Not the kind of skills one expects from their financial manager.'

‘Well, I did have a life outside of work once,' she said with a trace of offence in her tone. ‘What's wrong with a girl learning to defend herself?'

Lucian nodded as if that were fair enough. ‘And what of the other miraculous occurrence this morning?'

Taren knew damn well he was talking about their enemies all dropping their guns in the drink, but she smiled bashfully to play ignorant. ‘Our cuddle, you mean?'

Lucian was thrown from his train of thought. ‘That was not a cuddle.'

‘Then what was it?' she posed, playfully.

‘A rescue, is what it was.' He denied participation.

‘Who said I needed rescuing?' she teased.

‘I was referring to the fish.' He grinned, knowing he was being sidetracked, but was intrigued all the same.

‘All business then, was it?'

Lucian nodded. ‘Is that not how you like it?'

‘It is not how I like it, Lucian,' she took this opportunity to clarify, ‘it's how I need it, to ensure our project's success.'

Lucian didn't appear convinced. ‘Sure there isn't another reason?'

‘Another reason?' Taren was infinitely grateful when her communicator chimed to announce an incoming call. ‘So sorry, excuse me a second.' Taren picked up the phone and seeing that the caller was an old friend of hers, she answered and walked out onto the veranda to converse. ‘Abi, how are you doing? Long time, no hear? What can I do for you?'

‘I need to see you, pronto
,' Jazmay stressed — Abi was an old code name Taren used for her — much as they used Bob when referring to Zeven at times.

‘Right now is not good for me,' Taren told her, looking back to see Lucian watching her from inside.

‘
We've got trouble
,' Jazmay advised. ‘
I'm real pushed for time
.'

‘Can you give me five minutes?' Taren requested; she couldn't have Jazmay popping over with Lucian still here.

‘
At the very longest
.' Jazmay terminated the call.

Taren returned to Lucian. ‘I'm so sorry, a girlfriend of mine is having a huge personal crisis. I really need to talk to her right now.'

Lucian drew a deep breath, looking very put out.

‘Could we talk later?' Taren thought to throw in the only card that might appease. ‘… Over dinner, perhaps?'

Lucian cocked an eyebrow to consider this. ‘Tonight?'

‘I'll even cook.' Taren grabbed his arm to lead him toward the door.

‘Can you?' Lucian wondered.

‘I guess you'll find out this evening.' Taren opened the door for him.

‘I'll see you then.' He still seemed wary, but was content to leave it for now.

‘You will.' Taren waved, and had no sooner closed the door than Jazmay and her husband, Yasper Ronan, materialised in her lounge room.

‘Sorry for the short notice,' Jazmay apologised, ‘but we had to get off Maladaan.'

‘What's happened?' Taren returned to her lounge to hug them both.

‘The MSS have taken my father.' Yasper was clearly worried for the chief.

‘Your father is head of the MSS,' Taren reasoned, ‘so how can that be?'

‘Not anymore.' Jazmay brought her up to speed. ‘Ronan quit when Maladaan would not come to the negotiating table on the new psychic laws.'

‘So who is charge of the MSS now?'

‘No one knows,' Yasper stated the obvious. ‘But they took my father, so I wasn't waiting around for them to come for us … especially since —' He cut himself short and Taren looked to Jazmay to find her shaking her head.

‘Okay … what gives?' Taren knew they couldn't lie to her when she asked a direct question, as they were both wearing Juju stones.

Jazmay was grinning, so it was not bad news. ‘I'm pregnant,' she confessed, seeming a little unsure about how she felt about it. Jazmay
had once been a Phemorian Valourean who hated men, and now she was pregnant to one. Yasper's blue eyes and easy smile beamed with pride, however.

‘Congratulations!' Taren hugged Jazmay, who was uncomfortable about that too.

‘Thanks, boss,' she rolled her eyes, ‘but this does not mean I'm going soft on you.'

‘I know, Jaz,' she pulled away, ‘you're my rock.' And then a thought made Taren gasp on her emotion.

‘What is it?'

Taren was doing a calculation in her head. ‘It times out right; he would have been conceived about now.'

‘Who would?' Jazmay urged.

‘Fari Doon,' Taren announced, and the name brought Jazmay to tears. ‘Maybe he was always meant to be your child, but as you didn't connect with Yasper that time round …'

Jazmay was nodding as Taren spoke. So much for not going gooey — they fell into each other's arms sobbing with joy and sentiment.

‘Who in heaven's name is Fari Doon?' Yasper asked, having never heard of him before, or seen either of these women so emotional. ‘Is he someone from that other time line you changed?'

Jazmay sniffled back her shock and smiled. ‘He was a little boy I saved from the MSS, who was very dear to me.'

‘In that case,' Yasper said. ‘I'll welcome him with open arms.'

‘The MSS code name for him was “the thrice strong”,' Jazmay informed him with a laugh.

‘So he's going to be a strong little tike, hey?' Yasper shrugged off the challenge. ‘It's a good thing I levitate then.'

Taren and Jazmay both laughed.

‘Considering that this could be Fari,' Jazmay held a hand to her flat, muscular belly, ‘I feel more … honoured.'

‘Well, that's the way you should feel,' Taren advised with a smile. ‘You'll both make wonderful parents.'

‘Speaking of which.' Yasper brought them back to more pressing matters. ‘What are we going to do about my father?'

‘Nothing,' she replied, and Yasper looked at her in alarm, ‘until we find out why he's being detained.'

‘How do you expect to do that,' Yasper queried, ‘when we don't have anyone on the inside of the MSS anymore?'

He may have been Taren's lover at one time, but Yasper had no idea of the extent of her connections these days; Jazmay knew, but had obviously not disclosed anything, not even to her new husband.

‘Trust me, I'll find out.'

‘And what are we to do in the meantime?' Yasper asked.

‘Stay here on Frujia,' Taren suggested. ‘I have a feeling Lucian might be well disposed toward putting some security people on the project soon. You're both more than qualified and I do all the hiring.'

Yasper could think of worse ways to earn a living, and Frujia held a special place in his heart and Jazmay's, as they had fallen in love on this planet. Staying near Taren also meant Yasper was close at hand if she got any word about his father.

‘I'll find you some accommodation in town,' Taren offered. ‘And once you're hired, you can move into one of the project units.'

Yasper and Jazmay had been living in the chief's house since the head of the MSS had his heart attack and then began a crusade to free psychics from oppression, to make up for years of doing exactly the opposite. Yasper had wanted to watch out for his father's health and see to his protection on the home front, but the chief was the only thing that had bound Jazmay and Yasper to Maladaan.

‘Sounds good.' Yasper grinned.

‘It sure does,' Jazmay agreed. ‘I hate Maladaan, almost as much as I hate Sermetica and Phemoria!'

Taren found this amusing, as that didn't leave many planets within the United Systems. ‘Frujia it is then.'

 

By the time Jazmay and Yasper left, it was near on dinner time, and Taren knew Lucian would be arriving any second for their dinner date. With a moment to ponder a menu, Taren conjured a three-course meal — all cold dishes — ready to be served when required. She then thought herself into a cool evening dress, swirled her hair into a messy bun and lit the candles on the table — without lifting a finger.

The door chimed.

‘Perfect timing.' She moved to the control panel.

When the door slid open and she found Lucian, all spruced up with a bottle of wine in hand, she smiled in quiet approval — and so did he.

The ring tone of her communicator shattered the lovely moment.

‘I swear I'm going to shut that thing off … come in.' She waved him forth as she moved to act on her promise. However, the call was a text message from her father that simply said:
Have you seen the news?

‘Curious.'

‘What is?' Lucian closed the door.

‘It's a message from our favourite benefactor, asking if I've seen the news?' she informed, heading toward her work station to find a news site.

‘Well, the big news from Sermetica today was that the man you love to hate resigned as Viceroy of Sermetica,' Lucian hazarded a guess.

‘Khalid resigned!' Taren was even more eager to read up on the story. ‘Why?' By the time she asked the question she found the answer on her screen. ‘To pursue personal business interests on Maladaan.'
He's the one taking charge of the MSS!
The thought was horrifying!

Chief Ronan was the only one on Maladaan who knew who Taren really was and what she was capable of, and if Khalid had the chief in custody … ‘This is very,
very
bad.'

‘Why?'

Taren was distracted; she had to get the chief away from the MSS immediately! What she needed was a remote viewer — someone who
would be able to physically perceive the situation the chief was currently in. Taren knew of two women who fit the bill, but neither of them knew or trusted her yet. Someone who could see through physical matter would be the next best thing and this was one of the talents that Lucian was destined to develop. He was not ready to be taken into confidence, however, or to be introduced to his repressed psychic talents. Taren was going to have to take a huge risk, and soon!

‘Never mind.' Taren switched off the work station and communicator. ‘It will all keep,' she lied through her teeth. ‘Let's eat.'

Once they were seated before their entrée and the wine was poured, Taren drew a deep relaxed breath to cover how her heart was pounding in distress.

‘You're unusually quiet,' Lucian noted.

‘To tell you the truth, I'm a bit exhausted. A lot has transpired today.' She smiled, ahead of picking up her glass and raising it to him. ‘But this is certainly a nice way to wind it up.'

‘You've gone to a lot of effort,' Lucian said, impressed by her culinary skills at such short notice. ‘I am very impressed.'

‘Oh gosh.' Taren grabbed her stomach and her head at once. ‘I feel a little odd, would you excuse me a second.'

‘Of course.' Lucian appeared concerned and yet perturbed at once.

Taren rose and headed to her bedroom and bathroom beyond. ‘I'm so sorry.' She closed the bedroom door behind her and did not even pause to curse. In her mind, Taren conjured an image of Jazmay and teleported to her side.

 

Taren found Jazmay and Yasper in front of their hotel room entertainment unit, watching the news, and they were both very relieved to see her.

Jazmay stood. ‘Have you heard about Khalid?'

‘That's why I'm here, we have to get the chief away from the MSS
now
!'

‘Agreed.' Yasper was all for it.

Taren imagined herself dressed as a Valourean, with a full face mask, and it was so.

Jazmay did not have to be asked to follow suit. ‘I like your thinking, boss.'

‘What about me?' Yasper objected, for he had no transformational or teleportation skills.

‘Wait here,' Taren instructed. ‘We'll be back in five.'

Jazmay and Taren gripped hands, and with the thought of Zelimir Ronan, teleported themselves to him.

 

They were in luck, as their target was alone in an isolation cell.

‘What now?' was Zelimir's reaction to witnessing two Valoureans materialise in his cell.

‘It's Abi,' Jazmay hissed as she got close to him.

‘Abi?' He frowned, until he remembered that Abi was his daughter-in-law's code name, and was even more distressed. ‘
No.
Why did you come? You
silly
girl.'

‘Let's go.' Taren grabbed his arm, and as Ronan recognised her voice, he went even paler.

‘Oh no, not you too.'

‘I know you love me really,' Taren teased, but his distress did not ebb.

‘It's not that I'm not grateful.' He was teary, which was so unlike him. ‘But this is a psychic containment unit —'

‘He's right.' Jazmay took a moment to check out the cell and was immediately pissed off. ‘I've been held in one before.'

‘You can't get me,
or you
, out of here,' Ronan concluded, bitterly.

‘Want to bet?' Taren challenged their pessimism. ‘Have you seen Khalid yet?'