Astra: Synchronicity (31 page)

She pointed out into a field on their right.
Several dozen white figures worked diligently to harvest root
vegetables. "Mechanoids," Amii said.

The automatons had a humanoid shape but bore
no distinguishing features whatsoever. Like mannequins with a
single black eye, they hunched over the ground and combed it with
handheld tools to dig up the plants. Part of him expected to see
automated hydroponics facilities under domes hovering in the sky.
But the thought of it did seem to be a lot of work for minimal
gains. Perhaps the old ways really were the best ways.

If Xander were here, he'd probably try to
snatch one of them and smuggle it back to Astra for study. "You're
not thinking of taking one of these guys back with us, are
you?"

He couldn't judge her reaction through the
tinted visor. "No. Let's go."

They headed out farther until the city's
presence left a soft glow on the horizon behind them. The cropland
became sparse and dry until they stopped seeing it altogether. The
road beneath the bike faded, replaced by wisps of sand and cracked
hardpan. The faint outline of blue-black mountains hung in the
distance. Aside from some patches of scrub grass and several
boulders, the fissured track of earth resembled a valley of
death.

The two of them got off the bike and looked
around. Amii knelt down and scooped up a handful of dirt before
letting it sift through her fingers and blow away in the stiffening
breeze. "What did this?" she asked.

"It just looks like an average desert to
me."

"This whole place is just…dead."

He sat down next to her. His mind switched
gears, recalling the first night he'd been alone with Lyneea and
the one thing he'd asked her all those years ago: "Amii…how do you
feel about psions?"

She turned her whole body toward him and
stared into his eyes. "I think they're just like everyone else,
trying to get by in a hostile universe. I feel sorry for what they
have to go through. I see Nadine and know how isolated she
feels."

"You're not afraid of them? Not even a
little?"

"I don't have any reason to…do I?" Amii
blinked at him several times as though she didn't understand what
it meant to fear someone forcefully invading her mind and reading
her most personal memories. "I don't have anything to hide."

He smiled. "We all have
something
to
hide. You just don't remember any of them."

"What about you, Magnius? What secrets do you
have?"

He closed his eyes and clenched his brow. He
wanted to tell her. For the love of Astra, he just wanted to get
them all out in the open. "Too many," he whispered. He didn't need
to hide the fact he was a psion from her the way he did from Lyneea
and the rest of the world. "Amii, there's something I want to tell
you. Something I need to tell you." He paused and took a deep
breath before continuing. "I…I'm a psion."

While she stared at him in silence, he
wondered if telling her had been a mistake. He'd never felt quite
so vulnerable. Being a psion was his darkest secret, one he guarded
fervently because it could ruin his life. The admission had been
heart wrenching, knowing it had driven Lyneea out of his life
without so much as a second chance. He'd bared his soul to Amii,
and her quietness pained him. The fact that she already knew and
said nothing tortured his exposed heart.

"Who else knows?"

"Nadine. Lyneea, which is why she left me, of
course. I just…I wanted you to know."

After the words left his mouth, she put her
hand on his arm. Her cool touch paralyzed him faster than XTX. He
wanted to hold her close, to run his hands through her hair and
kiss her soft lips until morning in the shadow of the Xuranian
desert. He didn't need to fight his feelings for her and yet he
was.

"And that's the reason we rode for an hour to
the middle of nowhere? To tell me something I already knew?"

He closed his eyes and lied to them both.
"Yeah." He stood and brushed off his pants before returning to his
bike and straddling it.

"That's a shame," she said after she climbed
back onto the hoverbike behind him. "I hoped we would have
sex."

His ears got very hot and started to throb.
He turned around and stared at her. Judging by the warmth of his
skin, his whole face must've been flushed.

"Why?" The word came out more defensively
than he'd intended it to.

Amii shrugged. "Everyone seems to be
interested but you. You're the only one I like though. Maybe those
two go hand-in-hand. I don't know. Don't feel pressured. I know
you've been through a lot."

How can I not feel pressured now
, he
thought. "I do want to, Amii, but…we're going to get back to Astra
and you'll go off with Xander and I'll never see you again. I like
you too much to settle for a casual relationship with you." He
handed her the helmet and started his bike.

She'd told him when they first met she'd
break his heart. He could already feel it happening. For that
reason alone, he refused to kiss her.

So they returned to the city, and he tucked
his hoverbike back into the bowels of the
Schenectady
. Back
in their room, Xander lay snoring on the couch. Magnius thanked
Astra for that since the thought of answering for staying out with
Amii infuriated him.

While she made herself a cup of tea, Magnius
headed to the shower. As the cold water pelted his body, he
couldn't stop thinking about her and how he'd passed up the perfect
opportunity. But in a week she'd be gone from his life again,
leaving another gaping hole in his heart. If it weren't for
Xander's unlikeable personality, he'd run away with them. He
doubted Tiyuri or Aliane would give up the chase anytime soon, and
his uncertain future plagued him.

Anxiety spiked in his brain, and once the
sensation faded, he peeked out the frosted door to make sure he was
alone. Part of him expected to see Amii standing there naked
waiting for the right moment to make something happen. Deep down,
he wanted her to be.

The wisdom he'd accumulated over the past 115
years fought his emotions like the War of the Roses. A truce could
not be struck between the warring factions because his attraction
to her went beyond her physical attributes. Her mental toughness
and fearlessness surpassed that of most self-proclaimed tough guys
he knew. She hadn't said a word about the hoverbike being unsafe or
his questionable antics on it. At the same time her insight and
intelligence surprised him, given her whimsical charm. Perhaps her
blind trust in him was more than it appeared since he would not
knowingly put himself in danger to prove his macho pride.

He planned to say something to her about it
after he got out of the shower and pulled on some pants, but he
didn't have the chance. She'd fallen fast asleep on the bed in her
clothes. There was only one problem with that: she didn't sleep on
the bed. Magnius did. She'd planned to sleep on the sofabed next to
Xander, but it wasn't pulled out. Instead of facing another night
on the floor, he decided to lie next to her.

He lay there for a long time staring up at
the ceiling, fighting the swirling lust he felt for her. And even
though he was so tired he wanted to pass out, the anxiety of the
situation kept him awake. In a moment of feeble exhaustion, he
wrapped his arm around her and cozied up next to her. In a few
minutes he would be asleep. Nothing was going to happen. And if it
did, he could think of worse fates in the world.

The next morning when Xander shook him awake,
he realized it was the worst thing in the world.

"What time is it?" Magnius asked in a daze,
blinded by the bright room lights above him. Amii still lied next
to him asleep. He didn't remember dreaming at all and felt as
though he'd only taken a short nap.

"Morning. Time for you to get your shagging
hands off her," he hissed.

Magnius glowered at him after he jumped out
of bed and stared at Xander for a long, cold minute before saying
anything. "Amii's a psion, isn't she?"

A smile crept across his face. "Hardly."

"And what happened to her? Why doesn't she
remember anything?"

"Dissociative Fugue State," he clinically
responded. "What does it matter to you anyway?"

"I'm not the asshole keeping secrets from
her. She could be a psion and not even realize it."

"Her parents were not psions, you dolt."

"Right…because you can tell a psion by
looking at them." Magnius shook his head. "Idiot."

Xander's nose flared. "Look—go find someone
else to snog. Just stay away from Amii. I don't want anything to
happen to her. She's the only person I've got." He stormed away and
disappeared through the bathroom door.

Magnius sighed heavily and put on his clothes
for the day. He couldn't even tell it was morning due to the lack
of windows in the palace to let in the sunlight. He wondered how
the Xuranians could live in buildings with no visible access to the
outside environment. To watch the rain. To see the stars. It was
one of those facets of life he couldn't imagine living without.

Once he was satisfied with his outward
appearance, he left the room and headed to see Nadine. He didn't
want to be around when Amii woke up. He feared she'd say something
quirky and charming and he'd want to stay in bed with her all day.
And while he still fought with all those romantic notions in his
head, he realized he couldn't let her disappear from his life.

He had a strong feeling fate wouldn't let her
either.

***

"There are essential differences between the
Pan-Asian Union and the Allied Confederacy in their social systems
and foreign policies. However, the two sides agree that planets,
regardless of their social systems, should conduct their relations
on the principles of respect for the sovereignty and territorial
integrity of all states, non-aggression against other states,
non-interference in the internal affairs of other states, equality
and mutual benefit, and peaceful coexistence. Intergalactic
disputes will be settled on this basis, without resorting to the
use or threat of force."

Chairman Dodd stood at the podium, addressing
a multitude of humans and Xuranians. The sun hung high over their
heads and made the perspiration on his balding head sparkle. He
paused and took a long drink of water before continuing.

"The people of Astra will work for a just and
secure peace with the Xuranians: just, because it fulfills the
aspirations of peoples and nations for freedom and progress;
secure, because it removes the danger of alien aggression."

Amii sat sandwiched between Nadine and
Magnius with the rest of the AC delegation. She crossed her legs
and shook her left foot. She hadn't seen Magnius all morning until
he'd sat down next to her, and she worried she'd made a terrible
mistake in their conversation the night before.

"Astra supports individual freedom and social
progress for all people, free of outside pressure or intervention.
We believe that the effort to reduce tensions is served by
improving our communication—which by accident, miscalculation, or
misunderstanding has strained our relationship. We hope that by
learning from the mistakes of our past, humanity will continue to
grow as an important partner with Xur."

Amii noticed Nadine and Magnius were glaring
at each other with mild annoyance. She looked back and forth
between them, as though there was some telepathic conversation
going on that she wasn't part of. She distracted herself by
glancing down at her implant. The date and time jumped off her
wrist in bright blue: April 10
^th
, 18:41.

"Coalitions should treat each other with
mutual respect and be willing to compete peacefully, letting
performance be the ultimate judge. No planet should claim
infallibility, and each star system should be prepared to
re-examine its own attitudes for the common good of the prospective
alliance."

The crowd in attendance applauded while
Chairman Dodd yielded the floor to Chen Jintao. Amii marveled at
how similar Jintao looked to Sibo aboard the
Kearsarge
, as
though he could be the lieutenant's older brother. She felt Magnius
staring at her, and she turned to look at him momentarily before
casting her eyes back toward the podium.

"Some citizens of Astra believe the Xuranians
seek to contain us and to prevent the development of our economic,
political, and military influence. Frankly speaking, this litany of
propaganda against our neighbors does not serve our mutual
interests. It promotes a sense of mindless nationalism that can get
out of control when relations are tense between our two
coalitions."

The bright sunlight caressed Amii's raw soul,
and she closed her eyes. She focused on Jintao's inspirational
words to the people of Astra, considering herself fortunate to be
on-hand for such a historic moment. If everything went well, this
could be the start of an incredibly prosperous age for all
humankind.

"A thwarted, dissatisfied Astra is not in the
Xuranian's best interests. We would like to see a stable,
prosperous Astra that can work with the Xuranians in a constructive
manner to face the problems that matter to us both. I'm speaking
specifically of environmental protection, economic development, and
trade rights. I have no doubts that a resolution on these issues
would be fruitful if we set aside our differences and joined
together in mutual respect and understanding."

The loyal PAU crowd cheered at his statement.
He thanked the applauding patrons and stepped down while the two of
them politely returned to their seats. Amii knew others in the PAU
government did not agree with Chen Jintao's optimism. Like the AC,
a conservative majority dictated their course. The desire of the
younger generation to end the policy of isolation represented a
huge step in the right direction for Astra.