Log 1 Matter | Antimatter (19 page)

Her alert system was in the blue so she rode
to Caleb’s along the back horse trails and left Jester with the
stable master at the Delario palace. She strode out to the ponds,
feeling nervous. She saw him as he waited. He had a blanket under
his arm and a bag. Maybe she should tell him she didn’t actually
know what Al’kalay was. He stopped in a place that was private with
a number of bushes that blocked out views except to the pond.

Ara stood and faced him as he laid out the
blanket and began to undress. Hesitating for just a moment, she
slid off her pants and sleeveless top. They were soon both naked
and he was already excited. She was wet between her legs just
thinking of when Caleb’s body was close to hers in the water.

He took her hand and led her to the blanket.
He carefully pushed her down, onto her back, and eased apart her
legs. He rolled his jeans and put them under her head. He took her
hands and placed one with her finger on her clitoris. He seemed
unsure what to do with the other hand so he laid it on her stomach
but she thought he wanted to place it on her breast. She tried not
to laugh; evidently he’d been studying up on Al’kalay. He stayed
kneeling, his penis contracting, and began to masturbate. He
paused. “Ara?”

“I feel a little … shy about this.”

He smiled. “I can see how wet you are. Try?
If not, I’ll finish without you.”

She laughed at his matter-of-fact tones, and
his grin, and relaxed.

“Just look at me, Ara.”

She did. His red hair flowed over his pale
shoulders, his nipples were hard. His face was—

“Do you really want to look at my face? Not
that I mind.” He allowed his eyes to travel along her body and then
to her finger, which she began to move. She bent her legs and
spread them a little more. His face hardened and he moaned.

Touching his mind, she saw he wasn’t thinking
anymore. Pleasure was sweeping his body and he couldn’t stop
looking at what her finger was doing. Her eyes moved to his hand
sliding … the most wonderful sensations swept her body, her mind
was ablaze, and from him gushed a milky fluid that landed with a
plop on her belly and rug. They both laughed at that. Afterwards he
cleaned up and kissed her.

He blushed. “I should have started with
that.”

Laughing at him, she picked up her clothes.
“Next time with some heavy petting please.”

He laughed then too and held her hand. “I
promise.”

As Ara rode home, she sensed the heartbeat of
her guard from when she was a baby. It was a reminder that many
were protecting her, but a sharp pain in her heart made her think
that it might also be that her guards were ready to prevent her
from hurting others. She stared at her hands gripping the leather
bridle and slowly relaxed her fingers. Unexpectedly, her guard was
now soothing her mind and heart so Ara tuned her noisy inner voice
down and listened to the birds singing overhead along with the
gentle wind rustling the leaves. This was the here and now.
Clip
clop
. There might come a day when she would have to move
forward and she had a feeling that she would not have much of her
childhood left to enjoy.
Clip clop
. So Ara made a promise
that she would try to enjoy what she had now. She used her knee to
pull slightly on the rein to guide Jester to the right to walk over
the grassy plains and hills.

Jamie rode well behind her thinking of the
special moments in Ara’s life. Special moments included when she
and Caleb became friends and her first kiss with Caleb, who Jamie
liked a lot for her. Now they explored each other slowly. She was
booked in to learn to drive—officially. As a farm girl, Ara knew
how to drive a range of vehicles, cars, trucks, tractors, and
bikes. She was also learning to climb properly. Each time Ara went
somewhere or did something they had to adapt her security
detail.

He had felt her distress and, against his
better judgment, reached out to soothe her. Marc had been
distressed after he discovered how Ara had been so upset when she
thought she was too dangerous to be around. It was a perilous time
for Ara who might become introverted or extend her extrovert traits
and allow fear to drive her to become aggressive. No one wanted to
see Ara hurting that way, and they talked with her family of ways
to temper her upbringing and experiences. It was Sacha, who was of
the Sawol, who reminded them that Ara’s younger siblings were
instrumental in Ara controlling her fears and loving them
unconditionally revealed her gentle nature. Dad added that Ara had
an ability with animals too, gentle and cherishing. Jamie suggested
that he might use that somehow.

Jamie reached out, caressing Ninja on the
head. For a horse, she was quite stealthy. While the consensus was
that love would act as the tempering agent to Ara’s unrest and
fears, it was Ersen who identified that Ara was already doing
things to ensure people were safe and often at the expense of her
own comfort or values.

To Jamie that was a major worry.

Ara was just cresting a hill, and he veered
off to his mountain trail. There were enough guards but he just
tapped in randomly to keep everyone at their best. He had ways of
punishing that many didn’t like. In fact, most didn’t even like the
stories so he rarely found anyone slacking off. His nickname,
“Spook”, had followed him to Saratoga. That gave him an idea but
he’d have to get it approved by Simon first. Yes, a test to see if
Ara was in fact going down a dangerous route, but whether it was
better or worse than becoming an introvert or aggressive he wasn’t
sure yet.

Saratoga City

Ten years later, Jamie waited for Ara to come
visit.

His office was large, and full of furniture
he had made. A large desk, which he was currently sitting behind,
faced most of the room. He didn’t like doors or even windows behind
him. His comfortable chairs down the other end were in a loose
circle surrounding a low, wooden table. He had decent bookshelves
that reached all the way down the right side of the wall and a
weapons display directly to his right. The shelving system was only
broken for the door to the reception office.

Terance and Pen made the appointment for the
morning so that while Ara was visiting schools she might apply her
new knowledge. But he wasn’t hopeful. Over the years, Ara seemed to
be determined to enjoy each day as it came, and kept up with her
wild activities. He felt her to be a little irresponsible
especially when he thought back to his own problems and decisions
to take charge of his life. Ara just wanted to forget the outside
world and pretend everything was wonderful. Pen told him Ara always
walked out from the lounge when the news was on, especially if it
was about the Avatara war brewing. When Terance approached her
about fighting lessons, she had said, “But I don’t want to hurt
anyone.”

To make matters worse, Marc was off doing his
own thing after an argument with Diane. He needed someone close to
her again. A knock on the door brought him out of his reverie. The
door cracked open.

“Jesran here to see you, Jamie.”

“Thanks, Marla.”

She opened the door wider and let the tall
male in and then closed the door quietly behind him. Jesran was six
foot two, broad shouldered, lean, and had lovely, forest-green
eyes. He was an Avatara Modernus, one without wings. His eyes
momentarily glanced towards the weapons display.

“Sit down, Jesran.”

“Thank you for seeing me.”

Jamie leaned back and smiled. “You passed all
your training I see and come highly recommended.”

“I’m looking forward to my first
mission.”

“Good. You know it’s Ara Katron?”

“Yes, Simon briefed me but said you’ll give
me the details.”

“It’s pretty easy. Become her friend and
become as close as makes you comfortable because she’ll pick up on
disingenuous behavior.”

Jesran nodded but remained quiet.

“You’ll need to become ‘young’ again.”

“I have no problems with that. You know I
grew up on a farm?”

“It is what nudged you past the three other
candidates.”

Jesran chuckled. “Anything I need to be
especially careful of?”

“If she asks you if she is your mission, be
honest.”

“Ah.”

Jamie studied him for a moment, confirming in
his own mind that Jesran had been the right choice. “We need her to
learn greater self-awareness, trained to fight would be best.”

“Methods?”

Jamie leaned forward and rested his arms on
his desk. “Would you consider a rigged event to force the
issue?”

Jesran considered this but said, “No. That
might increase her fear, rather than her confidence. She’d remember
the self-doubt and vulnerability being a Pure-Gen. Their neural
pathways rarely degrade and memory engrams are resistant to
decay.”

Jamie nodded, pleased with the response.

“I will need to work in with her for a few
years before I can really make that decision. If an event crops up
then I will protect her, but not pressure her.” He gave Jamie a
measured look telling him he wouldn’t approve of any rigged
events.

Jamie smiled and stood. He walked around his
desk and held out his hand. Jesran shook it and followed him to the
more comfortable seats. “Good. Let’s talk a bit more, and then you
can move into the observation room and watch when Ara comes in with
her parents.”

Since Jesran just nodded, Jamie grinned. It
seemed Jesran didn’t mind the spying part, which was exactly what
they needed. Jesran would need all his wits about him to tackle Ara
and help her to shift her perspective. An hour later, Jesran
observed Ara and Jamie observed Jesran observing Ara. A smile
appeared on Jesran’s face and Jamie glanced into the office. Diane
was still chatting to Ara who had crossed her arms over her chest
and yawned.

Ara walked through one of the schools
situated in the city. Saratoga City was laced with tall and elegant
buildings, grand parks and few vehicles. It was right at the edge
of the ocean and Ara wanted to choose the school near to the water.
She had choice of four. Mum and Dad walked around and they sat
through numerous meetings about what the schools had to offer. Dad
was muttering about having to find a new mechanic.

“I’ll still do that!”

“Ara, are you sure?”

“I have plenty of time.” Indeed, after her
stupid talk with that woman she decided to make sure she was too
busy for the defense classes and self-awareness courses. How
boring!

Pen nodded. “Her efficiency timetable is
quite impressive.”

Mum and Dad grinned at each other.

Ara shook her head. “Making fun of me
again?”

“Just a little, darling.” Pen hugged her.

Ara was into her skills training. And one of
these schools would link her to the skills she favored. She
completed the basics, and needed to take another major. She chose
zoology after a good talk with Dad. She liked farm animals but he
suggested she look beyond agriculture. They had worked hard on
maintaining their wildlife corridors across the farmlands and had
recently taken part in a survey to register and log the types and
quantity of animals that used them.

Caleb had been away a lot and she tried not
to miss him too much. He said his father was moving to a new
province. She felt some pain at that remembering Marc’s separation
from his first love. Not that she compared him to her and Caleb
because they hadn’t really seen that much of each other. She was
into a lot of climbing, caving, spelunking, and volunteering with
various Inferor communities while Caleb partied, hunted,
participated in dangerous sports, and preferred to spend time with
peers and girls.

When they arrived home, talking about Ara’s
choice for her skills training, she found an invitation to King
Slavian’s for a party.

“Apparently Caleb is there hunting. He’s been
there for a week.”

Ara turned around, hugging Sacha tightly.
“You’re home, how long?”

“Long enough for us to go camping I
hope.”

Ara nodded and smiled.

Sacha pointed to the gold lettered and black
card invitation. “I’ll do your makeup and hair.”

For once Ara didn’t complain and Sacha grew
excited at her lack of resistance.

Void

Consortium

On board the Crusader

One night, soon after the ball, Ara woke to a
nightmare.

She was in some kind of space station from
what she could work out, in her nightie, but no one noticed with
the sirens, the lights blinking on and off, smoke, fires, and the
smell! Burning flesh assaulted her senses; the smell almost
propelled her from the scene. She reached out to steady herself and
distract her from her heaving gut.

“Ara!”

She turned seeing Trickster trying to move a
beam and heard someone moaning under that beam.

“Ara! Come.”

It was a distraction from the carnage around
her. While annoyance was her primary emotion and the need to
lecture Trickster as to his absence, she gingerly moved forward
aware of her bare feet, seeing Trickster was barefoot as well but
in his loin cloth only. The man was being ridiculous! Grey
particles were settling over his brown flesh, though it was greener
in this light, and her own skin was slowly being coated.

“What are we doing here?”

“What do you mean?” He gave her an
indecipherable look.

Was he nuts? She gave him a glare. “I mean
what are we doing here?”

He seemed disappointed with her response.
“Help me.”

She moved to the other side of the beam and
took hold, seeing that she could actually lift it while Trickster
pulled a body out. He checked the male but Ara released the beam
carefully. Around them voices were screaming, yelling
instructions.