Ghost in the Machine (Corwint Central Agent Files) Read online

  “We are Vesparian.”

  “Oh fucking brilliant!” Keith ground his teeth and reached for the gun holstered at his hip. As Orynn turned to him, he disengaged the lock and raised it up to her face.

  “Whoa, Keith. Put the gun down.” Jhonis stopped his work on Tersai’s stomach.

  Keith ignored his brother and kept the gun steadily aimed between Orynn’s eyes. “Did you infiltrate Central? Are you here working for the Xen’dari?”

  “No.” Orynn shook her head slowly. Part of her wanted him to shoot her and end this. The friendly smile he had been giving her the past few weeks had been replaced so easily with a sneer of hatred. All because of one simple word. Her mother was leaving her, and those around her now hated her because of what she was. Her heart ached as her world crumbled around her, and she could not stop the tears that formed in her eyes.

  The ship rocked as it lifted off. The hangar was disintegrating around the ship and they were running out of time to clear the blast radius. The movement threw Keith off balance, but Jhonis seized the opportunity to come around the side of the table and disarm Keith from behind. The brothers fought for a moment, but Jhonis managed to wrangle the gun away and tossed it across the room. Amid the chaos, Orynn’s strength gave out and she fell to her knees at the feet of her dying mother.

  “Look at her, Keith!” Jhonis pointed a bloody finger to Orynn, who was now kneeling before them. Her face was void of emotion, but the tears streamed uncontrollably down her face. “The girl is in shock. Her sister is dying, for God’s sake.”

  “My mother.” Orynn corrected. They had said they were sisters so her mother didn’t have to mask their ages as well as their Vesparian features. Without the guise in place, they looked almost identical.

  “Your mother?” Jhonis shook his head in disbelief. It was all happening so fast. The beeping monitor from the table didn’t give him any time to try and sort it out. He rushed back over to Tersai as her life signs went critical. “Dammit, we’re losing her! Keith, help me get the resuscitator ready.”

  He looked up as Keith remained frozen in place, staring down at Orynn. “Keith!”

  “Fine.” Keith kept is glare trained on Orynn. “Don’t move a fucking muscle, and you will answer my questions when this is done.”

  Orynn nodded once without looking at him. Keith growled and turned to get the resuscitator from the side compartment. She listened to Jhonis’s hands moving the device in place over her mother’s chest, and his curse as the jolting surge failed to stop the emergency beep coming from the panel. The beep turned into a long droning note of finality, but Jhonis attempted the resuscitator again, and again, and again. Each sound of the device sending its charges through her mother caused Orynn to flinch and sink lower to the ground. Jhonis threw the device against the wall with a yell of frustration and hit the bed’s panel to stop the sound.

  It was over.

  She was gone.

  21 Jarren

  Ethan felt a bead of hot moisture running down one of his own cheeks as the vision played out in his mind. Orynn had told them Jhonis had tried to save her mother’s life, and now he had just witnessed it. He expected the memory sharing to end there, but it merely shifted forward on the timeline of her life. Whatever it was she wanted him to understand, she wasn’t done showing him yet.

  “Let me get this straight.” Jhonis was looking at Orynn across a long metal table. The command crew of the Telasari were gathered in the ship’s conference room. The three Eros brothers were joined by Jehdra, a male Mecha named Brel and a young Corwint woman named Elisen. All eyes were on the white-haired, silver-eyed Vesparian in their midst. “Central Command knows you’re a Vesparian, but no one else is supposed to know they really exist?”

  Orynn nodded. “That is the deal my people made with Central when we began cooperating with their efforts eight centuries ago.”

  Jehdra was sitting next to Jhonis in her normal height modified seat. “Why the big secret?”

  “We prefer...” Orynn wasn’t quite sure how to respond. She had never explained herself or her people to others before. “our anonymity.”

  “I’ll be confirming this with Command.” Keith didn’t attempt to hide the distrust from his voice.

  Orynn nodded. “Please do. Ask for Commander Bekari or Grexn.”

  “And just how do we know you didn’t infiltrate them?” Keith narrowed his eyes at her. “That’s what you do, right? You make people think and see what you want.”

  “That’s enough, Keith.” The warning in Jhonis’s voice made Keith pause. Jhonis’s features softened as he turned to Orynn. “Orynn, are you going to alter the memory of my crew now and return to Central?”

  Orynn blinked at the question and the tone of his voice. It held no note of anger or spite. He sounded genuinely concerned about her and the well-being of his crew. “I...” Her eyes brimmed with tears again as she searched for the answer. “I do not know what to do without her.”

  “Then stay.” Hankarron had been sitting next to her in silence, staring at her. He reached out and touched her arm and she flinched.

  Stay. Orynn’s mind hung on that word. She couldn’t. Could she? It would go against the rules of her people, but perhaps this was the chance she needed to prove them all wrong. Those rules were put in place centuries ago. Why should they govern how she lives her life today? She felt Hankarron’s hand on her arm and she looked up at him. He wanted her to stay. He knew what she was, and he still wanted to be her friend.

  “I don’t have a problem with that.” Jhonis leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms over his chest.

  “Are you both out of your minds?” Keith slammed his fist on the table. “She’s been lying to us the whole time, and you want to invite her to stay?”

  “She could prove to be a great asset.” Brel tilted his head, and his golden eyes focused in on Orynn. “If you agree to remove the files in my system that you have tampered with.”

  “What?” Elisen leaned forward. “You’ve been tampered with, Brel?”

  Brel nodded. “Yes. I wasn’t sure at first, but as I understand it, Orynn’s appearance has changed for all of you, but not for me.”

  “It is true.” Orynn confirmed. “Vesparian memory and empathic abilities do not work on Mecha, however some of us are able to get around that issue. Before my mother... before Tersai and I joined your crew, I brushed by Brel in the marketplace on Last Star. I have the mental ability to connect with electronic... devices... and I...”

  Her voice trailed off as she heard how cold it had become, the years of her Mother’s training surfacing. She cast her eyes to the side. “I am so very sorry.”

  Brel shrugged. “If it was permitted by Central and can be reversed, then no harm done.”

  Orynn looked back up to him with a small smile. She always appreciated the straightforward nature of Mecha. “You will find the file hidden within your eye movement coordination script, subroutine fifty-four, line one thousand and fifty-eight. Access code: o-k-a-i.”

  Brel went still for a moment, his golden metallic eyes focusing in and out. “Ah. Intriguing.” He blinked a few times and turned back to the group. “Tampered files removed.” He looked back to Orynn. “Your eyes are quite unique.”

  “They are beautiful.” Hankarron couldn't stop staring at them. When a flush of red came to Orynn’s cheeks, he turned away and cleared his throat. “Anyone else have a problem with her staying on?”

  Keith started to protest, but a gruff noise from Jhonis quieted his tongue. Jhonis looked over to Elisen and then Jehdra, but they both shook their heads. “It’s settled then. Orynn, you are welcome to remain a part of our crew for as long as you want. You’ll be expected to continue your duties of course, and with your abilities I may have a few new ones for you. I’ll speak with Central Command and let them know what’s going on.”

  Orynn couldn’t stop the relieved smile from coming to her lips. “Thank you. Should I continue keeping my origins hidden from the rest of
the crew?”

  “I think that would be best for now.” Jhonis nodded.

  “Will you still require the special environmental settings for your quarters, or was the genetic condition part of the ruse?” Brel questioned.

  “It will still be required, thank you. And I …”

  The memory of the conversation faded, but the feelings of relief and acceptance remained strong. Orynn’s spirit had felt so light and free at that point in her life. It was like a caged bird had suddenly been released from the confines of the lonely world it had known. A fear always remained present in the back of her mind that the Sisterhood would come after her and rip her away her from her newfound happiness, but they never came.

  At first, she had trouble finding her place in the bustling rhythm of the Telasari crew. Slowly, Jhonis began trusting her with more tasks and taking her on the off-ship missions for Central. She did the best she could to use her Vesparian abilities to aid the crew, but she knew she still had a great deal to learn. Being close to two hundred years of age may have seemed like a great deal of time to the common races, but for a Vesparian, she was barely entering young adulthood. Her empathic abilities ended up causing a few incidents among the crew, so as she struggled to learn to control her growing empathy, she often sought the solace of the places of the ship that others seldom visited.

  The engine room hummed with mechanical brilliance, and the pulsing of the reactor churning its energies through the ship soothed Orynn's mind as she leaned against its cold steel outer casing. The crew barely came this far into the belly of the ship unless there was something wrong with the engine itself. It had become her place of refuge when her mind needed quiet focus. With her eyes closed and a small smile on her lips, she let the humming vibration consume her.

  The access shaft on the ceiling to her left opened and she could hear the steady cling cling cling of someone stepping down the metal ladder rungs that led into the room. The noise stopped and the feet of the intruder into her quiet time shuffled slightly in an uncertain manner, then took three steps toward her. The door to the access shaft closed and Orynn sighed, hoping the engineer didn't give her too much grief for being down here.

  “Are you alright, Orynn?”

  Orynn let out a relieved breath and looked up at the sound of Brel’s voice. If anyone was to disturb her, she was glad it was the Mecha. He was immune to her empathic abilities and so she felt more at ease around him than anyone else on the ship. “Yes. I am well, thank you.” She sighed and leaned her head back against the condenser. “I am just taking some time away from them.”

  “You mean the Organics.”

  She nodded. “Causing two fist fights and a hysterically crying engineer in one week is a new record for me, I believe.”

  He lifted the corners of his mouth in an awkwardly mechanical smile. A tick in his left cheek followed. “You are making a joke. Good. Your humor has improved. Soon yours will be better than mine.”

  She laughed. Although the smile of his pale lips was lopsided, and his golden eyes were so strange, his face was comfortingly honest. “I would not count on that.”

  He knelt down next to her and removed a panel from the condenser's regulator pump. “I believe you are making more progress than you give yourself credit for. When I first began working around Organics, I had issues relating with them. Sometimes, I still do. I do believe the crew likes you, though.”

  “Even when they are punching each other over the last piece of acha bread in the mess hall?”

  Brel gave a short laugh and nodded. “Yes, even then.” He removed one of the switch boards from the regulator and examined it.

  “Perhaps they would feel differently if they learned what I really was.” She looked away again and frowned.

  “Perhaps.” He replaced the board in its slot and turned to her. “But that is not your fault. Some Organics do not like me simply because I am Mecha, but I can no more stop being a Mecha than an Orellian can cease being an Orellian or a Ruisk a Ruisk. I would not change it if I could, either. Be who you are, and make friends with those who accept it, and ignore those who do not.”

  She smiled and looked back at him. His straightforward wisdom had become a welcome voice of reason in the often chaotic nature of the ship. It was pleasant having someone on board who could relate to her, and with whom she could relax around without the fear of her empathy getting in the way. “Does this mean I can ignore Keith?”

  “Especially Keith.” He smirked and the tick appeared again.

  She pointed towards his cheek. “How long has it been doing that?”

  He brought a hand up to his cheek and rubbed it. “It started yesterday. Elisen was going to take a look at it sometime this week, but she isn't exactly a Mechatronics technician. I'm sure it's nothing. I will have it looked at next time we are on leave.”

  “I could probably fix it.” She lowered her eyes and regretted her offer. “It would require for me to connect with your system again. I understand if you would prefer not, as the last time I...”

  “I would appreciate the attempt.” He stopped her. “As I told you before, since you were under orders from Central and no damage was done, I have no ill feelings towards what you did.”

  “How can you trust me so easily.” She shook her head.

  “It’s what friends do.” Brel lightly touched her shoulder and offered her a smile. “How do we start?”

  She sat up on her knees facing him and held out her hand with her palm facing out towards him. “I need to touch you to initialize the connection of our electrical energies. I have found that the palm of the hand is one of the best conductors.”

  He matched her position and held his hand out, hovering his palm in front of hers. He looked at her small hand in comparison to his large one, then brought his eyes up to hers.

  “Promise not to make me put on one of Elisen’s dresses and sing ‘My Love is Like a Ruisk In Musk’’ while standing on a mess hall table?”

  Orynn let out a loud giggle at the image. Her eyes went wide in shock and she covered her mouth with her other hand. She hadn’t laughed that way in over one hundred years.

  Brel reached out and took her wrist, gently pulling her hand away from her mouth. “You should laugh like that more often.”

  Before Orynn could form a reply, Brel pressed his palm against hers, and her mind instantly reacted. The connection between them was like nothing she had ever experienced. It was the first time she was connecting with someone who was willing. Her energy raced through Brel’s system like lightning and nanoseconds passed by like hours. The feeling of it brought a peace to her spirit that she had long thought impossible. Fixing the tick had been easier for her than she expected, and she began to reluctantly remove herself from his system.

  Brel slipped his fingers between hers and held her palm to his, keeping the connection open. He could feel the peace it brought to her, and he was able to experience it with her. They sat there for hours, still and silent, with only the humming of the engine and the pulsing of the energy between them.

  As the months passed, Brel became her lifeline on the ship. He was a stabilization buoy on a crashing sea of the emotional torrents of the crew. He let her connect with him whenever she needed to calm her mind or release her built up empathy. She would often apologize for using him in this way, but he would always assure her that it was what friends do. The quiet release it allowed helped her to build up her abilities, and she slowly gained control. As she needed Brel less and less as an outlet, she remained attached to him for his good conversation and honest advice.

  Though happy for her constant company, Brel encouraged her to seek out friendships with others. Jehdra became her next friend and Elisen happily offered an open ear and comforting hug when needed. Jhonis agreed with Brel’s advice and pushed her into more and more situations, encouraging her to take part in the normal day to day lives of the crew.

  The fights over bread stopped and she finally found her place on the ship. She began
to feel accepted and at home. Keith still had trust issues and was always bitter about something Orynn didn’t understand, but he tolerated her for the benefits she had given them on missions. Hankarron was another matter completely.

  “Orynn, wait up!” Hankarron ran down the corridor towards the open loading ramp. The ship had docked at a south side port in Easton on Corwint. They had just completed a mission for Central, and the crew had been granted an entire two weeks leave. He caught up to her as she neared the bottom of the ramp, her small tote bag in one of her hands. He reached down and took it from her and slung it over his shoulder. “Two whole weeks, can you believe that? Where are you headed?”

  “I was heading towards the lift station.”

  He rolled his eyes at her literal response. “And after that?”

  She shrugged. “I really had not planned that far ahead.”

  He scratched the back of his neck with his free hand. “Well Jhonis and I... and Keith.... are heading to our family’s estate in Cavernton. It’s south of the city at the edge of one of the reserves, and it’s near a lake.”

  She stopped as a forklift blared its horn and sped past. “Sounds peaceful.”

  “Yeah, it is.” He dropped his hand away from his neck. “Jehdra said she'd come by after she checks in with her brother, and heck even Brel and Elisen usually show up.”

  She smiled. “So even off duty, you all choose to spend your time together?”

  “Yeah...” Hankarron’s hand lifted toward his neck again, but he caught himself and lowered it. He placed his hand on her shoulder. “You want to come with us?”

  “I do not want to impose...” But she really did want to go. She had been dreading the leave time ever since it was rumored last month. She had nowhere to spend that amount of time.