Laura Jo Phillips (10 page)

Now, here was a long lost niece.  Family.  Once again she leaned back in her chair as she tried to take it in.  She wished that Aisling had given her more details, but the message was very short and hurried.  Berta wiped her eyes and saved Aisling’s message in her personal file. 

That done, she quickly wrote a message to the Falcorans, asking if they still wanted to meet her in the garden in one hour.  She added the news that five Arimas had been identified, knowing they’d be excited about it too.  She sent the message, her hands shaking slightly with anticipation.  Then she left the vid-terminal and went to get dressed.

***

“Berta just sent a message to confirm our meeting this morning, and to tell us that five male-sets have identified their Arimas,” Tor said.

“Five?” Merrick asked, stunned.  “That’s astounding!”

“Yes, it is,” Tor agreed, shaking his head.  After three thousand long, difficult years, it was hard to believe that things were changing so quickly for their people.  At this rate, Clan Jasani would once again be a real people.  And to think, it was in large part due to their Arima, Berta.  Tor felt pride fill him.

“What time does she want to meet?” Jerri asked.

“Same time as yesterday,” Tor replied. 

“Too bad,” Jerri said with a sigh.  “I was hoping she’d let us come earlier.”

“The sun has barely risen, Jerri,” Merrick pointed out.  “Don’t forget, she worked all day yesterday, and with five male-sets on their way or already here, she’ll be working again today.”

“I know,” Jerri said.  “I just want to see her.”

“As do we all,” Merrick said.  “There must be some way to kill an hour besides walking across the ranch again.”

“I suggest we fly into that little town again, what’s its name?” Tor asked.

“Granite Falls,” Merrick replied.

“Yes, Granite Falls.  Let’s go buy Berta a gift in appreciation for her invitation,” Tor said.

“Great idea,” Merrick said.  “Do you have anything in mind?  I don’t want to get anything too romantic right now.  It might seem too pushy.”

“I saw a market there last time we visited,” Jerri said.  “How about we see if they have some sugar peaches?  That would be a nice gift, wouldn’t it?”

“Brilliant idea,” Merrick said with a grin.  “Let’s go.”

The Falcorans stepped outside and, within seconds, they were winging their way toward Granite Falls as quickly as they could fly.  They now had only fifty minutes before their meeting with Berta, and they didn’t want to be late.

***

The day before, Berta had been uncertain how the Falcorans would react to her, so she’d dressed neutrally in a pair of jeans and a sweater.  But today was different.  She felt excited, happy, almost giddy.  The Falcorans wanted her, she wanted them, and they were willing to give her the time she’d asked for.  She’d never been so optimistic about her future.

She decided to dress to fit her mood, selecting a red skirt and top that she never would have considered wearing a few short weeks earlier.  In fact, she hadn’t even owned such clothing until Hope, Talinka, and Saige Lobo dragged her into Granite Falls and all but forced her to select a new wardrobe.  It was the only time she’d left the ranch since moving there with the Bearens, and she would never have agreed to it if the Lobos hadn’t accompanied them.  They maintained a barrier around the women that, like the barrier around the ranch, would prevent any Xanti from reaching them. 

The a-line skirt was short, though not scandalously so, and the blouse appeared to be simple, but was cut in a very flattering manner that emphasized her figure.  It had long sleeves, of course, as all of her clothes did, but it was so pretty that, for once, she barely gave the necessity a second thought.  She added a pair of sandals to complete the look, leaving her legs bare.  She’d had a few lessons in the application of cosmetics over the past weeks as well, so it was easy for her to add just enough to give herself a fresh, finished look.  She left her hair down and fifteen minutes later, she was ready. 

She left her room and exited the house through the side door, then walked around to the garden, wishing she had told the Falcorans half an hour instead of an hour.  She hoped they might have come early, but one quick look around proved that they hadn’t.  She was just getting ready to sit down on a bench near a small water fountain to wait when she heard rapid footsteps approaching.  She turned around and grimaced slightly when she saw Sergio Farnswaite trotting toward her.

“Miss Simms,” he panted, not shouting, but his voice frantic nonetheless. 

Berta frowned as she took a step toward him.  She was not a big fan of Sergio, either as a person, or a decorator, but even she had to admit that he’d worked hard to help them get Arima House and the Rami Houses finished on time.  As he stumbled toward her, she noted that his face was red and sweaty, his hair flat rather than the carefully spiked style he usually sported, and his clothes were dusty.

“What’s the matter, Mr. Farnswaite?” she asked worriedly.

“I just saw one of those ladies of yours, the one with the short dark hair, I don’t know her name,” he said, speaking quickly as he stopped a few feet from her on the garden path. 

“Saw her?” Berta asked, confused.

“Yes, she was running down the road, crying,” he said, waving his hand in the air.  “I saw her and asked her if she was all right, but she just yelled at me, knocked me down, and started running.  She said she didn’t want to live any more.  I didn’t know what to do, so I came here to get you.”

Berta’s eyes widened in alarm.  The woman he described sounded like Erika, since she was the only one of the eight
berezi
with short dark hair.  But Erika had seemed very quiet and sweet to her.  Well, it didn’t matter.  She was responsible for these women, and clearly one of them was in distress.

“I’ll go after her,” Berta said, already heading for the garage.  She glanced over her shoulder, happy to see that Sergio was following her.  “Can you tell me where you saw her exactly?”

“No, I’m sorry, I just don’t know this place well enough,” Sergio said.  “But if you let me drive, I’m sure I can find her.”

“All right,” Berta agreed easily since she’d only had a couple of driving lessons herself.  She reached up to her ear and realized she hadn’t even brought a vox out with her.  She’d been too busy getting ready for the Falcorans.  Well, she’d try to find Erika first, she decided.  Then, if she didn’t find her quickly, she’d go straight to the Bearens for help.

She hurried into the garage, Sergio at her heels, and opened the front passenger door of the ground-car.  As she bent to get in she felt a small pinch on her shoulder.  She turned her head in time to see Sergio withdraw an injection device.  He caught her as she started to slump down, opened the rear door and pushed her in with a hard shove.  She landed across the seat, fighting to stay awake, but it was no good.  Darkness settled over her, silencing the terrified screams in her mind.

Sergio slammed the door and paused a moment to take a deep, calming breath.  He knew that the people who lived on the ranch arose early, but this far away from the garrison and the other houses it was unlikely anyone would be out and about at this time of morning.  He checked his watch and winced.  He was quickly running out of time.  He’d been ordered to enter the house and force Miss Simms out at knife point, but the security wouldn’t let him in because he was unauthorized for after-hours entry.  He’d then tried all of the doors and windows on the building, but they’d all been locked.  He’d given up when suddenly she’d walked out into the garden.  He didn’t know why, nor did he care.  Her early morning visit to the garden was going to save his life, and his mother’s life.  That’s was all he cared about. 

He hurried around the ground-car, got into the driver’s seat and backed out of the garage.  Then he turned down the gravel road, relieved that there was no one around to see him.  He would be so glad when this was over.  That damn Xanti madman, Xi-Kung, had promised him that this would satisfy all of his gambling debts, and he meant to hold him to it.  He was an interior designer, for stars sake, not a laser blasted espionage agent!

He reached the bottom of the first turn on the gravel road and instead of following it down toward the garrison, he turned off the road and headed north.  The ground-car was not meant to be driven over rough terrain and it immediately began bouncing him around.  He glanced over the seat behind him and saw that Berta Simms was being bounced around as well, though she was still unconscious.  He didn’t really have anything against the woman.  In fact, he respected her.  She was different from the usual run of young, pretty females.  She was sharp, this one.  Xi-Kung had sworn that she would not be harmed, which was the only reason he’d agreed to this.  Not that he really had much of a choice.  He gritted his teeth and kept driving.

Berta opened her eyes in shock when her body flew up, then slammed down onto the leather seat.  For a moment she had no idea where she was, but it quickly came back to her.  She glanced up and saw the back of Sergio’s head, as she reached up with one hand to her earring.  She pulled the back off just as she saw Sergio’s head begin to turn.

She closed her eyes at once and lowered her hand just as the ground-car tossed her up, then back down again.  She waited a few seconds, then opened her eyes carefully, relieved to see the back of Sergio’s head once more.  She reached for the earring, nearly sighing aloud with relief to find the post still in her ear.  She slipped it out, felt for the tiny disk on the back, and tapped it sharply with her fingernail three times. 

She glanced back up at Sergio, who seemed to be focusing on his driving now, and put the earring back into her ear.  It took a few moments of feeling around on the seat before she found the tiny earring backing caught in her hair.  She used both hands to put it back into place, her eyes never leaving Sergio’s head.  Then she slid herself forward along the seat and tried to open the door.  From the feel of things, Sergio was not driving on a road, but cross country.  And he was going as fast as he could.  She figured that jumping out of the ground-car would probably cause her injury, but it was better than letting herself be abducted without trying to prevent it. 

She pulled the handle on the door, but it refused to budge.  She looked up, noting that the lock was engaged.  She was directly behind Sergio now, but he hadn’t turned around to check on her again.  Yet.  She reached up to unlock the door, but the switch refused to budge.  He had it locked from the front.

She thought frantically, trying to think of some way out of her current predicament.  She considered leaping over the seat and attacking Sergio, but there was the small complication that he was driving.  She didn’t want to die because he ran them over a cliff or into a tree when she kicked him upside the head.  It was escape she was after.  Not death.  She had a future to look forward to now and, she suddenly realized, she wanted that future very much. 

It seemed she had only one option.  Working with Sergio over the past ten days had not made her like the man.  He was rude, self-centered and obnoxious.  But she didn’t think he was evil.  She took a deep breath and made up her mind.

Sergio drove until he came to a distinctive rock formation sticking out of the side of a small hill.  He turned and kept driving, looking for a group of tall trees with blue-gray leaves.

“Where are you taking me?” Berta asked, causing him to jump so hard that his head hit the ceiling of the ground-car.

“You’re supposed to be unconscious,” he said, realizing as he said it how stupid it sounded.

“Gee, I’ll just lay back down, shall I?” Berta said, sitting up and folding her arms against the top of the seat.  “You know the Dracons are going to kill you for this, don’t you?”

“Kill me?” Sergio squeaked, his whole body jerking with surprise.  The car swerved dangerously and he fought to regain control.  “Why would they kill me?”

“You can’t be so stupid as to think they won’t know you’re the one who’s kidnapped me.  They’ll smell you.”

“I know they won’t be happy about it, but I don’t see why they should kill me,” Sergio said.  “You’re not going to be hurt, and I’ll take you right back to where I found you.”

“Then why are you taking me at all?” Berta asked.

“I have some debts,” Sergio said.  “With the Xanti.  I do this one favor for them, they call the debts even and release my mother.”

“They have your mother?” Berta asked, her mind racing.  Why would the Xanti want to talk to her?  Sure, the Xanti wanted to take over the galaxy and enslave every being in it, but what did that have to do with her?  She knew that the Brethren dealt with the Xanti, but she had been found and abducted on Earth.  There was no reason for the Xanti to even be aware of her existence.  Could the Brethren have found her and decided to get her back?  If so, why?  She was a used up old woman, as far as they knew.  And why involve the Xanti?

“Yes, they have my mother,” Sergio replied.  “They had me too up until just before I came here.  That’s why I was two months late.”  Sergio spoke quickly as he drove, realizing that it felt strangely good to get this off his chest.  He wasn’t the nicest person in the Thousand Worlds, but he wasn’t a criminal either. 

“Why did they release you?” Berta asked, noting that Sergio was driving slower now that he was talking. 

“They learned that Arima House was being built on the Dracons’ ranch,” Sergio said.  “They sent me to find out if it was true, and to find out who was running it.  All they want to do is try to enlist your help.  They will pay you more money than you can imagine.”