Being of the Field (6 page)

‘Ah…’ Kassa gave a slight moan of pain, or perhaps frustration.

‘Something?’ Taren queried.

Kassa screwed up her face. ‘Distorted sound,’ she informed. ‘It’s like it’s trying to tune into my frequency.’

‘Perhaps it is.’ Taren gave the theory some thought before doublechecking that Kassa was still keen to do this. ‘Does it hurt?’

‘I’m good,’ she hissed, motioning Taren to silence, as she was perceiving faint words in a voice not specifically male or female, but monotone and distorted. ‘Return the missing part. Return all parts to the whole.’ She repeated the words she could now hear. The unearthly tone of the being’s voice echoing in her mind caused Kassa to shudder as she continued: ‘A part is not infinite in energy, as it might at first seem. The part draws from the whole and the whole is weakened. It is damaging to us to be sucked of energy in this manner.’

Taren had stopped breathing during the discourse and drew breath to query. ‘What manner? I have only measured the electric charge of this part, which, as you say, seems infinite. But I have not attempted to extract a charge,’ Taren explained to the sample and its channel.

‘The
missing
part was the energy extraction point,’ Kassa conveyed.

‘Was?’ Taren queried.

‘Now it travels,’ Kassa relayed, ‘to the next star system to be further abused. This will not be tolerated by the whole. We will do whatever we must to protect ourself from attack. Return the parts to the whole, before the whole departs.’

‘Departs?’ Taren was anxious. ‘Where are you going? When do you leave?’

‘Fourteen more times around the planet of water and our job here will be done. Home is the next project to which we are drawn across space and time to tend.’

‘Wow!’ Taren was pleased to be taping this. The way the being referred to itself in the plural and the singular was very interesting, the implication being that the separated parts of this substance were still
in contact with each other and with the whole. And the anomaly’s use of the word ‘tend’ seemed to support her theory that this entity had been drawn to this planet to implant the potential for the genesis of life here—much like the role attributed to devas in the ancient legends of her home planet of Maladaan. Perhaps a deva was exactly what this was? Still, Taren had a big problem. ‘If you depart in two weeks, there’s no way we’ll be able to return the missing part to you in time. Our space travel is not fast enough.’

‘Release the parts from containment. That is all that is required,’ Kassa stated, snapping out of her trance-like daze. ‘It has withdrawn,’ she informed Taren, feeling a little giddy.

Taren looked at the FFRD to find the needle still at zero point. The colourful electrical activity inside the sample in the containment lab had ebbed to some degree.

How did I get in so much trouble in so little time?
Taren quashed her defeatist attitude to determine her next course of investigation. ‘Who is in charge of pod launches here on AMIE?’

‘That would be Bonar Colbers,’ answered Kassa.

‘Are you okay? Can I get you anything?’ Taren inquired as she looked towards the door.

‘I’ll come with you.’ Kassa stood, but as she was clearly still woozy Taren declined.

‘I’ll be back soon.’ Taren quickly moved off.

‘Try the mess room,’ Kassa called after her.

Bonar was punching buttons on the menu of the hot breakfast dispenser when Taren caught up with him to inquire whether any pods had departed the ship during his last shift.

‘No, nothing,’ he informed.

‘You’re sure?’

Bonar grinned, his cheeks all rosy. ‘No one gets in or out of here without my knowledge, and yesterday was dead quiet on that front.’

‘Oh.’ Taren didn’t know what to think. How could the sample possibly be in transit to the next star system if it hadn’t gone by pod? ‘No deep-space cruisers docked with AMIE yesterday?’

Bonar shook his head. ‘I told you…nothing.’

Was the sample lying? Had Kassa misunderstood the message or messed up the translation? The message had seemed extremely clear.

‘There you are,
finally
.’

Taren was startled by Zeven’s rather loud entrance into the mess room.

‘What do you mean, finally?’ Taren protested. ‘I was up early.’

‘On your second day of sleep,’ Zeven informed. ‘You slept right through your shift last night.’ He had to laugh at the stunned look on Taren’s face.

‘Tell me you’re joking,’ she requested before panicking too badly.

‘I’m deadly serious. But don’t worry, everyone tends to oversleep at first.’ Zeven did his best to allay her horror.

‘I’ve really been asleep for two days?’ Taren gripped Zeven’s shirt, desperate for the truth.

‘It’s no sweat—’

‘Oh, my cosmic forefathers.’ Taren ran back to Bonar, who was now seated at a table with the rest of his crew. ‘Did a pod leave for Maladaan any time during your last two shifts?’

Bonar seemed a mite bored with her obsession, but as he cast his mind back he recalled, ‘Yep, the shift before last. Eleazar Kestler left for Maladaan. He’s finished his sabbatical and was headed home with his research results.’

‘Kestler?’ Taren knew that name. ‘The physicist?’ Her heart jumped into her throat. She’d attended some of his lectures at the University of Esponisa many years back. His passion was electrodynamics. The man was a legend and she didn’t want to be the one to accuse him of stealing a quarantined sample. ‘No other craft?’

‘Nope,’ said Bonar, biting into his sandwich to avoid having to pursue this conversation any further.

‘We did have that pod misfire when Kestler’s launched,’ mentioned the youngest technician at the table, whose name was Raggus, which kind of suited him as he looked like a bag of rags. All his clothes were too big and his blond hair hung past his shoulders in long knotted clumps.

‘Really?’ Taren looked back to Bonar. ‘Did you chase the pod up?’

Bonar shook his head as he slowly chewed up his mouthful.

‘It’ll show up on Maladaan in a couple of weeks,’ Raggus added.

‘Does that happen often, pods misfiring?’ Taren now directed her questions at Raggus, as he was more eager to oblige her with responses.

‘First time for us.’ He looked to his companions, who nodded confirmation, and then, noting Bonar’s dark expression, he shut up and went back to his food.

‘Thanks, guys.’ Taren wandered back to the doorway in a daze.

‘What’s the matter?’ Zeven headed her off. ‘Why are you so interested in departures?’

‘Where is Lucian?’ Taren needed to see him yesterday.

‘I’m here.’ He walked in with Kassa in tow. ‘You need to speak with me, I believe.’ He motioned to Kassa, who’d passed on the message.

‘I haven’t told him anything,’ she said, letting Taren know Kassa had left that pleasure to her.

‘My office.’ Lucian led off, and Kassa served Taren a smile of reassurance as they both fell in behind him.

Zeven wanted to follow them and find out what had everyone so excited, but he’d not been invited so he decided to grab a sandwich and see what he could discover about the missing pod.

‘Okay, Taren, you have my undivided attention.’ Lucian reclined comfortably in his desk chair, appearing eager to be enlightened. Kassa had taken a seat on the lounge, but Taren was too full of information and theories to sit.

‘When was the last time you saw your wife?’ Taren began and Kassa looked at her, stunned that Taren would choose to begin her explanation this way.

‘Amie’s been analysing data from the recent dive on Oceane for the past few days.’ Lucian was frowning. ‘So, I guess the pick-up of E module was the last time I saw her…why?’

‘Would you page Amie and ask her to come to your office, please?’ This was more of an instruction than a request. Taren had to determine if that part of the vision was true or false and if it had any bearing on anything else that had transpired.

Lucian detached his communicator, punched in Amie’s number and at the tone left a message, all the while never taking his eyes from Taren.

‘Okay!’ Taren slapped her hands together and drew a deep breath in preparation for her confession. She fixed her eyes on Lucian and let him have it. ‘How well do you trust Swithin?’

‘What do you mean?’ Lucian smiled but he was very disturbed by this question. ‘He’s my brother. What are you driving at?’

‘Yes, what indeed?’ Kassa echoed, concerned, and as the telepath focused on the other woman she perceived the memory of Swithin that was playing on Taren’s mind.

‘Lucian doesn’t know about the problem. He’d have a fit if he knew any of his precious research might be going astray, or that one of his team out there might not be faithful to his project and his people. None of the crew are aware of the spy, nor are they to become aware that you are seeking one.’

‘I believe I might be a double agent.’ Taren further shocked her company. ‘I believe I allowed a spy to steal a sample of our quarantined substance, because I was stupid enough to permit your brother and an old acquaintance from my MSS days to hypnotise me before I embarked for my stay on AMIE.’

Lucian was dumbfounded. He didn’t know whether to start fuming or laughing. He looked across at Kassa, who appeared equally confused. ‘There’s more to this than I knew about,’ she told him, ‘but I believe Taren might be telling the truth about Swithin.’

‘What?’ Lucian was surprised by this turn of events.

‘And I know there’s more to that sample in the lab than meets the eye…best hear her out,’ Kassa encouraged.

‘All right.’ Lucian pressed his fingertips into his forehead in an attempt to maintain his composure. ‘How about you start at the beginning?’

Once brought up to date, Lucian only had one question. ‘What has all this to do with my wife? And what is keeping her?’ Lucian buzzed for Rory and sent her on a mission to find Amie.

‘Hopefully, nothing.’ Taren was starting to get a bit concerned at Amie’s failure to arrive or communicate with Lucian and, clearly, so was Kassa.

Taren had not mentioned anything about Kassa’s channelling session, as promised. She had only revealed enough to get Lucian interested in investigating the matter further.

The chime on Lucian’s office door alerted them to company.

‘At last.’ Lucian pressed the intercom key on his desk. ‘Enter.’

It was Zeven Gudrun at the door and on sighting him, Taren’s and Kassa’s moment of relief was snatched away.

‘Sorry to interrupt.’ Zeven noted that they all seemed disappointed to see him.

‘State your business, Zeven,’ Lucian said shortly, as his mind was awhirl with other matters. ‘We have a bit of a situation unfolding.’

‘I understand that you do.’ Zeven’s eyes turned to Taren. ‘I decided to run a trace on that missing pod for you.’

Despite the horrible day she was having, Taren felt warmed that the pilot cared enough to take the initiative in this matter.

‘And, guess what?’ Zeven handed her a printout. ‘It’s not headed back to Maladaan at all. It dropped like a stone when it misfired and fell to Oceane’s surface…smack bang in the middle of the area covered by our anomaly.’

Taren was mortified by the news and cast a horrified gaze towards Kassa. They both realised that the misfired pod could not contain the missing sample because the stolen substance was on its way to the next star system. Therefore, Taren could only assume that the missing sample was on the same pod as Eleazar Kestler. Still, she could not tell Lucian of her suspicions without giving away Kassa’s secret. ‘Can we retrieve the pod?’

‘We’d bloody well better,’ Lucian objected. ‘Our insurance is bad enough without that kind of a claim. What the hell was Bonar thinking, not chasing it up sooner?’

A very good point,
thought Taren.

‘I plan to give Bonar an earful on the matter,’ Zeven assured Lucian. ‘I tried to extract the pod from Oceane’s surface with the magnetic retrieval system but the electromagnetic disturbance inside the anomaly must be jamming it. I thought I could take a salvage vessel down to the surface and see if I can locate it that way.’

‘And risk losing another expensive craft and my chief pilot? I don’t think so.’ Lucian was most annoyed, although Taren knew it was Amie’s failure to turn up that was worrying him more than the thought of financial stress. ‘We’ll just have to cop the loss of the pod.’

‘Maybe not,’ Taren proffered, and Kassa stood, knowing what the young woman was thinking. If their sample was still in contact with the whole, then perhaps it could help them to get the pod out.

‘Let us try something,’ Taren begged Lucian, who was not in the mood for playing games.

‘Like?’ he queried impatiently.

‘Why, an experiment, of course.’ Kassa intervened to take some of the heat off her younger colleague. ‘Have a little faith, Lucian.’ She ushered Taren out the door ahead of her. ‘We’ll report back presently.’

‘Why didn’t you tell me about Swithin’s suspected involvement in this theft sooner?’ Kassa asked on the way to quarantine.

‘I’m winging this, Kassa,’ Taren confessed, sorry that she had the need to keep secrets. ‘I love this project and having admired the work you do here for so long, damned if I will be the one to bring the project into ruin or disrepute. I just want to do whatever is best for AMIE.’

‘I know you do,’ Kassa assured her. ‘I know the inner thoughts of all and you are a good soul, Taren Lennox.’

Taren’s curiosity was sparked by the comment. ‘What do you feel about Bonar Colbers, Kassa?’

‘You don’t think
he’s
the spy you’re looking for?’ Kassa was half stunned, half amused by the suggestion.

‘Only he has access to all the equipment and technology needed to sneak a sample out of quarantine unnoticed.’

Kassa shrugged; this was true but he had no motive. ‘Bonar might be a little obnoxious and simple minded at times, certainly, but he’s a simple man. He loves his work and the people he works with. I feel very sure he is loyal to AMIE.’

‘But he might not be consciously aware of being party to the crime,’ Taren said. ‘It’s only because I have such extraordinary powers of subconscious recognition that I began to suspect I’d been involved in the burglary.’

Kassa nodded to concede the point. ‘That would also explain how a spy on board could conceal their intentions from me.’

‘And what of Eleazar Kestler? Could he too have been involved without conscious knowledge?’

Kassa had gone very pale. ‘It makes me sick to think that Lucian was diligent in keeping the corrupt away from our work but even all the way out here, covert operators have managed to infiltrate our tightknit crew.’

‘Yeah, and I’m the key member of the covert op.’ Taren hated that she’d been party to it all.

‘No, Taren.’ Kassa stopped, stressing her words. ‘Our enemies didn’t know how badly they would cut their own throat by sending you to us. You’re a very brave woman, one of the bravest I’ve ever known, and you will be this project’s saving grace, I know it.’

This was the nicest thing that anyone had ever said to Taren. ‘Thanks…but I don’t think Lucian is sharing that viewpoint right now.’

‘You’re fond of him, aren’t you?’ Kassa sounded a little sorry for her.

‘It’s just a schoolgirl crush really,’ Taren shrugged it off and punched in the code that opened the lab door. ‘I hardly know the man, bar that he is obviously and happily married.’

‘Perhaps.’ Kassa hated to think that Taren’s foreboding about Amie could prove to be valid but she had an awful feeling about it.

‘Do you sense something regarding Amie?’ Taren wondered aloud.

Kassa merely shook her head. ‘I just wish she’d bloody well make an appearance and put us all out of our misery!’

Lucian was clearly distraught when Taren and Kassa returned to his office. ‘What prompted you to ask after the whereabouts of my wife?’ He demanded an answer from Taren the second she set foot through his door.

‘Why?’ Taren didn’t like the note of panic in his voice.

‘No one has seen Amie for at least two shifts. She was headed to see me when she was last spotted this time
yesterday
.’ He was full of fear, which was highly out of character. ‘She never arrived.’

Taren didn’t want to tell Lucian what she’d seen in her vision and looked to Kassa for aid.

‘Kassa?’ Lucian understood that she’d been made privy to Taren’s reasons.

‘Taren had a prophetic vision regarding Amie at the same time that she had a vision of the theft,’ Kassa began diplomatically.

‘What did you see?’ Lucian directed the query at Taren, having lost all desire to be diplomatic. He did not doubt Taren’s abilities, as precognition had been a large part of Taren’s work with the MSS.

‘I could be wrong…’ Taren hesitated again.

‘I’ve read your MSS files, Dr Lennox. I know you have never been wrong.’

Lucian’s certainty stunned Taren a little; people weren’t usually eager believers. ‘To tell you what I saw would be to influence the outcome in this affair. Outcomes are influenced by what we all collectively believe, Lucian. I don’t want to direct energy into the wrong probability. I have not had the sight in a long time, so my senses may not be as attuned as they once were. Neglected for ten years, any talent is bound to suffer.’

Lucian could see what she was saying but it brought him no peace. ‘Your vision regarding the theft seems to be proving true enough.’

‘That event was most likely one that I witnessed first-hand, so I’m employing nothing more than subconscious recall to perceive the information. To know what has become of Amie would require ESP, unless I have taken up sleepwalking. In other words, there is a greater chance of me being wrong about Amie’s whereabouts.’

‘But the very fact that you knew she’d gone missing, when no one else has noticed! Please…’ Lucian appealed. ‘Your insight cannot be worse than all these terrible scenarios running through my mind.’

‘Give energy to the good scenarios you can imagine,’ Taren suggested. ‘Like, she’s bumped her head and passed out somewhere, or overslept like I did last night. I suspect our spy-cum-thief subliminally induced me into a deep slumber. Perhaps the same fate has befallen your wife?’

As Kassa felt some of the weight lift from the captain, she thought Taren’s attempt to comfort him was very wise. Kassa also believed that will could affect and even change the future.

‘You’re right.’ He backed away to take a seat at his desk. Every conscious soul on board was looking for his wife; someone was sure to locate her soon. ‘Did you find a solution to our pod problem?’

‘We believe we might have,’ Taren said, ‘as it seems that the pod cleared a trail through the anomaly as it fell. A small craft might be able to enter and retrieve it.’

Of course, this was a fabrication of the truth. In fact, Kassa and Taren had persuaded the anomaly to clear a path to the missing pod. Finding the missing craft was vital to solving the mystery surrounding the stolen part of the anomaly’s essence. The degree of electromagnetic activity surrounding this path through the anomaly did not allow for
remote retrieval of the pod, but they had safe passage for their recovery craft to go to Oceane’s surface.

‘What!’ Lucian wondered how this possibility had escaped Zeven’s attention.

‘It was just a hunch that checked out.’ Taren was pushing her luck and, clearly, Lucian was sceptical.

‘You’ve been chatting with your sample again, haven’t you, Dr Lennox?’ Lucian still wasn’t sure he trusted Taren’s method of communication with the sample via the FFRD. ‘You expect me to put Zeven’s life at risk for what could be nothing more than a fault in your machinery.’

Taren noticed that Kassa was obviously in two minds about mentioning her involvement in Taren’s plans. Taren jumped in to save Kassa from having to expose herself just yet. ‘I have been in telepathic communication with the anomaly as well,’ she blurted out, having had a brainwave. She would simply get the computer to swap Kassa’s voice and her own on the recordings, then it would seem like Kassa was merely asking the questions on her behalf and that Taren was doing the channelling.

Lucian almost smiled at this. ‘You swore to me that telepathy wasn’t one of your attributes.’

‘You also knew I was lying,’ Taren ventured, and momentarily held her breath, hoping he was convinced.

‘All right,’ he conceded reluctantly. ‘I said I’d support your theories and I shall.’

‘I’d like to go with Zeven, if that’s okay,’ Taren volunteered. ‘This was my suggestion and if anything goes wrong—which it won’t—I want to be there.’ In truth, she was eager to get a look at what the entity was tending beneath its mists.

Lucian briefly dwelt on her request. With his wife missing, accusations flying around about his brother, and this theft from quarantine, Lucian didn’t like to risk the loss of Taren—the only link in all these mysteries. Then again, he knew he’d feel safer sending Zeven down if Taren was with him. ‘You may go,’ he decided in the end.

‘You are a total star!’ Zeven told Taren as they suited up for the trip. ‘Do you know how long I’ve been trying to persuade Lucian to let me fly into that mass?’

The man was clearly excited. His enthusiasm was catching and it tickled Taren’s heavy mood into retreat. ‘Starman, you’re a maniac, you know that, don’t you?’