The Light-Field (30 page)

‘It's back,' deduced Mythric, shocked and delighted, as Zeven nodded. ‘And you still didn't use it to take out those guys?'

Zeven shook his head and Mythric was truly astounded.

‘Now
that's
impressive.' He placed a hand on Zeven's shoulder and was relieved to feel the essence of their guardian spirit once again flowing through his son.

Zeven was clearly proud of himself, as his smile could not have been broader. ‘I'm getting it, aren't I?'

‘You surely are,' Mythric agreed, ‘welcome back.'

‘Damn relieved to be here,' Zeven assured him, and heaved a great sigh of relief to be back among the ranks of the Zagriata.

Kalayna got her deal, and their work and study life became a whole lot easier. Unfortunately for Zeven, Kalayna was twice as doe-eyed toward him as she'd been before, but she was not pressing the issue. As she was not daily under threat of being bullied, they no longer spent all their free time together.

At year end, Kalayna and Zeven both applied to do the first and second unit exams. Although they had yet to learn how they fared, Zeven had gotten through both the written and practical tests with relative ease, so he felt sure Kalayna had completely aced both tests.

During the semester break from university, the students at pod-link still had work shifts to perform, but Zeven did actually find himself with a few days off, with nothing better to do than laze about on the front deck in a hammock.

This particular morning was the first of three entire days of rest, so Zeven didn't even feel pressed to hit the books and get a jumpstart on next year's units. He intended to just lay here until he baked and then fall in the water and lay here all over again.

‘Juice.' Mythric joined him on the veranda with two large drinks filled with green stuff and ice.

‘What's in it?' Zeven knew some of Mythric's juice combinations were a bit hit and miss.

‘Good stuff … don't be such a girl.' He shoved the drink in his son's hand, noting the sound of an incoming craft. He looked up to see there was a rather elite powerboat headed straight for their jetty, with a very good-looking blonde on board. ‘Speaking of girls … I think we've got company.'

‘Kalayna?' Zeven placed the juice aside without trying it, or raising himself.

‘No …' Mythric sounded a little unsure as he watched the boat pull up and a couple of crew jump off to secure the boat and aid the lady out onto the jetty.

When Mythric whistled in approval, Zeven sat up to attention. ‘I do believe your girl is here.'

‘Aurora!' Zeven sprang to his feet and semi-tripped his way out of the hammock, as he stood to see for himself.

She looked like something straight out of a high-end fashion magazine, in her white sleeveless dress that hugged her shapely upper body and then flared to a full skirt that fell past her knees. There was a red polka-dot scarf tied around her short blonde locks — red sunglasses, lips and heels.

Zeven's heart had leapt into his throat and he was finding it hard to breathe — Aurora was a woman!

‘Hi, boys!' She waved to them, grinning broadly, as one of the crew passed her a large basket, and other crew members placed the rest of her luggage on the jetty.

‘You shouldn't have brought lunch,' Mythric commented. ‘We're more than happy to feed you.' He headed out to meet her, as Zeven was still stunned by the sight of her.

‘That's good to hear because, I'm starving!' she exclaimed. ‘And this isn't lunch.'

‘So, what's in the basket?' Zeven pushed past his father to get to Aurora first.

‘Your daughter.' She laughed, as she predictably stunned them both to a standstill with the news.

Zeven felt a ball of realisation, excitement and awe, explode inside of him. ‘My daughter?' he squeaked, thrilled to tears.

‘Ah-huh.' Aurora pulled the cotton cover back to reveal their sleeping baby girl. ‘Meet Thurayya Gudrun.'

Zeven was just breathless at the sight of her fine dark hair like his already growing on her head. ‘No,' he corrected Aurora, ‘her name is Thurayya …' he leant in close to whisper in her ear, ‘… Vidor.'

The royal name made Aurora gasp, and as Zeven pulled back to look her in the eye, he found her teary also. ‘I love you,' she said, and Mythric took hold of the basket, as the lovers engaged blissfully in their long awaited reunion.

‘Thurayya,' echoed Mythric, admiring his granddaughter, ‘now that's a name I have not heard in a long, long time.' In Sermetic the name meant ‘desired power', in Phemorian it meant ‘power proof'. ‘I wonder what you do, hey, little one?' He stroked her tiny soft head, and once he had the basket in the shade, he lifted her out. ‘Hey, Satomi,' he said quietly to his wife's ghost. ‘What do you know, we have a grandchild.' The wee babe did not even wake, as he held her up to admire her and kissed her warm little forehead.

‘How did you find us?' Zeven queried, once they satisfied their initial need to smooch.

Aurora tapped a finger to her head, by way of explanation.

‘You can still see me remotely?' he whispered and she laughed at how cautious he was when there was no one around to hear them.

‘You and anyone else I set my mind to,' she assured. ‘I've been in training. I'm working with Anselm and the Sermetic secret service on a new task force.'

‘Whoa.' Zeven was taken back, but delighted. ‘And you had a baby … you rock!'

‘You'd better believe it.' She kissed him again, and it was during this moment that Zeven ran his hand down Aurora's arm and noted the ornate red armband she wore and felt its spark.

‘You have a stone?' He was surprised — Taren hadn't even met Aurora in this time line.

‘You have one too?' She noted the plain black band on his arm. ‘Did Anselm give you one too?'

‘The boss is way ahead of us.' Zeven looked to Mythric, who was also stunned.

‘What's new?' his father replied, going back to admiring his granddaughter.

‘Anselm told me it was for protection, but I feel it is more significant somehow.' Aurora had always wondered about the origin of her happy stone — at least that is what she's always called it, because it made her feel so revitalised and happy.

‘No, it is for psychic protection,' Zeven assured her, and as they neared the veranda where Mythric was sitting with their daughter, Zeven's attention turned her way.

‘Hey, Thurayya, it's me, Dad.' Zeven took possession of his daughter. ‘Whoa, that sounds weird.' Yet, for someone with zero experience with kids, it didn't feel at all uncomfortable to be cuddling this child.

‘I just call her Ray.' Aurora shrugged.

‘Interesting choice of name,' Mythric noted, ‘why did you choose it?'

‘I didn't,' Aurora admitted. ‘I just looked down at her when she was born, and asked her what her name was. Thurayya was the name that popped into my head.'

‘You know that Thurayya was the name of the Phemorian queen responsible for the sexual revolution on Phemoria?' Mythric said, and Aurora tensed her jaw, a little perturbed to hear that.

‘No, I didn't know.' Aurora laughed and waved it off.

‘Clearly, she's a charmer.' Zeven had hold of her tiny sleeping form around the middle and was holding her up in one hand. ‘My little Ray
of sunshine.' He kissed her cheek, tucking her in close to him, and looked to Aurora, completely besotted. ‘How long can you stay?'

‘A few weeks.'

‘Excellent.' Mythric was very pleased, and clapped his hands together. ‘Female company is always welcome around here.' He headed down the jetty to collect the rest of Aurora's things. ‘And of course breastfeeding is most welcome too.'

Aurora found the comment funny, but Zeven was embarrassed. ‘He's not my father.'

‘I know,' Aurora confirmed, and then Zeven realised she didn't know.

‘Actually, he
is
my father,' Zeven stated to confuse the issue, and Aurora looked to him, grinning and stunned.

‘I've missed something, haven't I?'

Zeven raised his brows and gave a nod. ‘We've got a bit of catching up to do, yeah.'

‘Can't wait.' Her smile was so sincere and such a sight for sore eyes.

‘I was afraid I was going to lose you to somebody else.'

She glanced down at Ray. ‘No fear of that now, huh?'

The joy of the moment filled Zeven up. Just about all his fears had been laid to rest — Aurora was his, he had his power back and the next time he went to work he'd discover whether the study had all been worthwhile, when he got his exam results. His future seemed more on track than it had ever been, and he finally had a family to share that with. For the first time since AMIE had been disbanded, Zeven felt a true sense of being home.

 

After three days with Aurora and his new baby, Zeven really didn't want to go to work — if it wasn't for the fact that he'd be getting his exam results, he would have been calling in sick for the first time all year.

Aurora and Ray were on the jetty to wave goodbye, and Zeven kissed them both before boarding. ‘You girls have fun with Grandpa while I'm gone.'

‘Oi!' Mythric, who was already in the boat, tossed a spare sinker at Zeven's leg.

‘Ouch!' Zeven objected.

‘Don't use the G-word,' Mythric cautioned in all seriousness, and Aurora laughed.

‘It's true, that title looks ridiculous on you. BA suits you better,' Aurora agreed.

Mythric looked more mature than Zeven did, but they acted more like mates than father and son, and Mythric was still the source of many admiring glances from the ladies. He loved to flirt with women — he did it constantly — but as long as Zeven had known him, he'd never slept with any of them. He suspected that it was not just the Juju stone on Mythric's arm that was holding him back, but that he was still in love with his long dead princess.

‘Good luck today.' Aurora waved to Zeven as he boarded their runabout. ‘You should bring your study buddy back to meet us, we'll celebrate!'

Zeven wasn't so sure that was a good idea, but he hid this well. ‘I'll see what she's up to.'

Aurora had heard from Mythric the tale of Zeven's heroic rescue of Kalayna, and Zeven had been afraid that Aurora might get the wrong impression. He need not have feared, for Aurora had been viewing him remotely since they'd parted and knew that he'd done right by her. Zeven never would have imagined that his girlfriend being a remote viewer could have advantages too. Aurora sincerely just wanted to meet the girl that he and Mythric had become so friendly with.

 

At pod-link, Kalayna was waiting where they usually met, out on the tree-lined green by the fountain in the shade, and she was bouncing around all jittery. ‘Hey!' She ran to meet him. ‘Are you nervous?'

‘Nope.' Zeven grinned, strolling along like the world was his oyster and he was in no rush to eat it.

‘Jeez, how can you be so relaxed about this?' Kalayna was bouncing
out of her skin. ‘We might have just accomplished something that's never been done before! Aren't you excited?'

‘Sure.' He shrugged.

‘Sure?' Kalayna emphasised how non-thrilled he sounded, and then swung around in front of him to grab his upper arms and grind him to a halt. ‘Hold on, what gives?' She demanded an explanation with a large grin on her face. ‘You've got the chilly factor of someone who has just got laid.'

Zeven grinned. ‘Guilty as charged.'

Kalayna's jaw swung open, but she did not seem down about it. ‘If it wasn't me, it had better have been your girl, or I'll kill you!' She shoved him away.

He wiggled his brows a few times to confirm. ‘And guess what else?'

‘What?' Kalayna was still grinning.

‘I've got a daughter,' he announced proudly. The comment shocked the life out of Kalayna, and she clasped both hands over her mouth — this hid her true reaction, but there were tears in her eyes. ‘Her name is Thurayya, and I'd really like you to meet them both.'

‘Wow,' Kalayna found her voice at last, but she was sounding a little flat. ‘I'm so stoked for you, Kale, really, that's … amazing!' She found her enthusiasm.

‘Will you come over to celebrate after work?' He repeated the question.

‘Yeah, sure …' she agreed. ‘I'd love to.'

Zeven stopped in his tracks — pretty sure he'd just put Kalayna on the spot. ‘Look, I completely understand if you'd rather not.'

Kalayna looked at him, pained but convinced. ‘You're my best friend and I'd really like to meet your family.' She swallowed hard on those words, but she meant them.

‘They really want to meet you,' he assured, grateful she was taking it so well.

Aurora and Kalayna had been more than just friends once, what were the chances that they wouldn't at least get along this time around? Zeven wasn't sure if he was looking forward to finding out.

 

There was a large company meeting held to present the pod-link trainees with their exam results. In the program they worked their way from the first year trainees up to the year ten graduating class. However, when the unit one students all got their results, Kalayna and Zeven's names were not called, nor were they called with the unit two students. They were both really starting to worry as the last of the ten unit graduating class got their results.

‘However,' the head of the student program announced in closing, ‘top honours this year go to two of the unit one students, who have accomplished a first in the pod-link trainee program by completing two units in one year, and achieving passes in both.'

Kalayna had a killer grip on Zeven's arm as their names were read out. They rose and headed up onto the platform to receive their results, but then the MC had another special announcement.

‘We at the pod-link trainee program feel such an extraordinary achievement deserves an extraordinary reward …'

Again Kalayna gripped Zeven's arm, as nerves and excitement got the better of her.

‘… and we would like to offer you both a scholarship in the space program where you can complete the rest of your degree with …'

Zeven didn't hear what the MC said after that, Kalayna was cheering so loudly, and then the applause was deafening. This scholarship was the ultimate dream for Kalayna; he knew that from their time together in space in the future, and he was ecstatic for her. Yet, for Zeven, the space program would bring with it the kind of attention he was trying to avoid!