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

  “We’ve got more rooms than we know what to do with in that drafty old house.” He pushed. “And the cook... I’m telling you, Orynn, you’ve got to taste her Kilari pear pie.”

  “Alright.” Orynn nodded as his bright green eyes lit up.

  “Great!” Hankarron’s sheepish smile beamed. “We’re meeting at lift one forty-three in half an hour. I’ll take your bag there.”

  “Thank you.” Orynn watched him sprint back towards the loading ramp of the ship and saw Jehdra watching her with crossed arms and a deep smirk.

  Jehdra walked over to Orynn, her own large satchel hanging from one shoulder. “He’s taking your bag so you don’t change your mind, you know.”

  Orynn tilted her head. “Really?”

  “Really.” Jehdra confirmed as she and Orynn continued walking toward the lift station. “He never takes my bag. ‘Course, he probably thinks I’d hit him for trying, and he’d probably be right.”

  “He says you will be joining us after you visit your brother?”

  “Yeah.” Jehdra shifted the weight of the bag, which was nearly as long as she was tall. “He works in C-Command. Thinks he’s king high and mighty of the file clerks or something, so I like to go put him back in his place when I get the chance.” They stepped on the lift pad that would take them up to the flight deck. “I’ll be at the boys’ place in a few days. Bit of warning; the cook’s pie might be great, but her coffee is horrendous.”

  Orynn laughed. “Duly noted.”

  “You’ll get to meet Jhonis’s wife, Zera, who lives there.“ Jehdra paused. “And Keith’s son, Jarren.”

  Orynn almost missed the step as they exited the lift. “I did not know he had a son.”

  “He doesn’t like to talk about it much.” Jehdra stopped and touched Orynn’s wrist to bring her attention down to her. “My second warning is that Keith is very protective of Jarren. Keith’s wife died in childbirth and Jarren is a bit sickly. Some sort of genetic disorder. Point is, don’t be surprised or offended if Keith doesn’t want you having anything to do with his son.”

  Orynn nodded, grateful for the advice. “Understood. Thank you.”

  Jehdra waved her hand dismissively and pivoted toward one of the ticket queue lines. “Don’t mention it. I’ll see you in a few days. Try and stay outta trouble till I get there.” Jehdra continued walking away, her voice growing louder over the space between them.

  “He’s head over heels for you, you know.” Jehdra stopped and looked over her shoulder at Orynn. “Don’t do anything with him I wouldn’t.” She grinned at Orynn’s confused face, turned and disappeared into the crowd.

  The flight to the Eros Estate had been a stuffy and awkward experience. Jhonis assured her that he had called ahead and had her room prepared with an antigravity unit and that his wife was looking forward to meeting her. Hankarron ended up squeezed against Orynn on the seat with the luggage, and he kept tapping his foot and jostling the seat. Keith passed the time by glaring at her when she was looking away, or looking out the window when she wasn’t.

  The estate itself proved to be worth the journey. The moment Orynn stepped off the lift and took in the towering trees and heard the songs of the birds, her heart was uplifted. Zera was a beautiful but homely woman with long dark hair. She had the same warm smile as Jhonis, and she welcomed Orynn as if she was an old friend. Zera immediately escorted them to dinner while a maid took their luggage to their rooms. Jarren had not been present at the meal and the house showed no signs that a child lived there. Hankarron had not been wrong about the pie, nor Jehdra about the coffee.

  Orynn had trouble falling asleep that night. The low-gravity field that had been set up was perfect, the air coming in from the open window was cool and soothing and the soft sound of the lake frogs in the distance called her to sleep. There was another presence, however, and it was sharp and smelt of acrid smoke and sour milk. It left a bitter aftertaste in her mouth, and she could not dismiss the way it grated against her aura.

  Pushing away her covers and re-adjusting to normal gravity, she grabbed the provided robe hanging on the bathroom door. Pulling the robe over her pajamas and tying the belt, she stepped quietly out into the hall, the plush carpet tickling her bare feet.

  She felt wrong invading the stillness of the house and exploring property that was not her own. She had done this hundreds of times while on missions, but this was different. This was the home of her friends. She shouldn’t be sneaking around like a person coming to rob from them. Still, her empathy pushed her forward and guided her down the hall and up a small set of stairs leading to the upper north wing.

  The acrid smell grew stronger and the beat of her heart increased as she neared a door that was slightly ajar. The light beyond was harshly bright and hurt her mercury eyes. Shielding them against the violent and artificial light, she pushed open the door. The room was full of electronic monitors, an old woman who jumped up and a small boy trembling within the covers of his bed beneath a panel of the offensive lights.

  “Who are you?” The old woman, dressed in the cloths of a nurse, stormed across the room with a hushed and hissing whisper. “Get out. You’re not allowed...” The woman stopped and gasped when Orynn turned her mercury eyes to her. “Y..y..you're ...”

  Orynn found it hard to hide her appearance in this room. It was suffocating and everything about it felt wrong. She ignored the stuttering woman and stepped closer to the bed. The woman ran out of the room and left Orynn alone with the boy.

  She looked down at the dark-haired child and frowned. His limbs trembled, his breathing was labored and his aura was a jumbled mess. Her eyes moved to the monitors, then the artificial lights and the closed and shuttered windows. Her jaw set in a sudden feeling of anger.

  “This is all wrong.”

  She had no idea what was guiding her thoughts and movements, but some deep instinctual force took over her. She placed her hand on the lighting apparatus and sent out a shockwave across its electrical circuits. It sparked in protest, then died and plunged the room into darkness. Her mind called out to the monitors and they disconnected their tendrils from the boy’s skin and went silent. Quick purposeful strides moved her to the large windows next to the bed and she pushed them open. The cool night air and moonlight flooded into the room and she heard the boy take a deep breath.

  Placing a hand against his hot skin, she could feel the fever that had taken over his body and the heavy labored beats of his heart. Still guided by instinct, she slid her arms beneath the boy’s knees and shoulders and lifted him from the bed. With a slow gentle turn, she sat down on the edge of the bed and cradled the trembling boy against her chest. Her mind connected with his as she lightly rocked his small form.

  A song from a clouded memory of her father filled her thoughts and she gave it voice. Humming to him, the boy reacted by clutching his small fingers onto the plush fabric of her robe and let out a long sigh. His heart steadied and aligned with hers, and his trembling stopped. She felt the presence of his aura and it smiled at her. A tear slid down her cheek, and in that moment she knew what she desired more than anything in the universe.

  She wanted to be a mother.

  The door slammed open and the Eros brothers poured into the room, led by Keith and followed by the elderly nurse and Zera. They all looked red in the face and flustered, having been woken up from the solace of sleep by the nurse’s bleating cries. Their eyes looked around in confusion at the disarray of the room. The light fixture above the bed sparked and fizzled in a final protest to what had been done to it and the nurse jumped in place.

  “See! That creature is in here with him!” The nurse rushed over to the equipment with fretful murmurs. “What have you done? She turned the equipment off!”

  “Get away from my son!” Keith growled and approached the bed.

  Orynn continued gently rocking Jarren’s small form and holding him to her heart. She held her finger to her lips as her humming briefly paused. “Shhh” Her eyes fell back to the
face of the child with a smile as her humming continued.

  The shushing only infuriated Keith further, and he reached out to grab his son away from her arms. Jhonis yanked his brother’s wrist away and pointed at the boy with a heated whisper. “Look at your son, Keith. Calm your anger and look.”

  “By the stars...” Zera brought her hands to her mouth in shock. She moved beside the bed and looked over Orynn’s shoulder at the sleeping child. “He’s breathing normally and his shaking has stopped.” She shook her head in disbelief. “I’ve never seen him so still.”

  “Orynn?” Hankarron sat down gently on the bed next to her. “What did you do?”

  “I listened.” Orynn kissed the top of Jarren’s head, then brought her eyes back up to Keith. “The boy’s mother was Xen’dari?”

  Keith stammered for a minute his anger resurfaced. “And if she was?”

  Orynn nodded softly to herself and looked back down at the boy. “He has Reux’gatxs Syndrome. ”

  The nurse placed her hands on her hips and scoffed. “What nonsense! There is no such thing as Re..ux.ga..whatever syndrome.”

  “Reux’gatxs.” Orynn repeated, the word rolling off her tongue in a well-practiced Xen’dari accent of secondary syllable annunciation, rolling r’s and buzzing x’s. Her smile softened into a sad frown, and she brought her hand up to brush the boy’s dark hair away from the pale skin of his forehead. “It is a disorder that affects only the Xen’dari genome, typically in children born of mixed race parentage. It is not well known because the cases have become so rare.”

  “What does it do, this... syndrome?” Jhonis wasn’t even about to attempt to pronounce that Xen’dari word.

  Orynn smiled again and cupped the boy’s cheek in her palm. “Everything has a certain energy to it. You, me, this sleeping child, and even the electronics you had running all around him. Sometimes, the energies are not able to harmonize, and they grate against one another, often violently.”

  Orynn raised her eyes to Keith. “Simply put, your son is allergic to electronic devices.”

  The nurse huffed louder. “That’s not possible! I’ve been a nurse for fifty-three years, and I have never heard of anything like this.”

  Orynn’s eyes moved over to the nurse. Her voice went cold and flat in annoyance at the nurse’s ignorance. “I have been alive for nearly two hundred years, and the first eighty of that was spent learning about every history and culture of the known worlds. I can assure you, there are many things that exist in this universe of which you have never heard.”

  Her eyes turned back to Jarren as he stirred against her chest, and her expression and voice softened again. “The Xen’dari have had quite a sad history of trying to keep their numerous failed genetic experiments a secret.”

  “Is there a cure?” The anger had left Keith’s voice, and it was filled with a timid hope as he looked at his son.

  “I am truly sorry, Keith.” Orynn’s sadness drifted into the room. “The Xen’dari tried for decades to find a cure for what they had caused, but none was ever found. Instead, they simply discouraged interracial copulation.”

  “But now we know what it is!” Jhonis was ecstatic and wore a broad smile. His happiness countered Orynn’s sadness and he squeezed his elder brother’s shoulder. “We will provide him a home free of unnecessary devices.”

  “And what kind of life is that?” Keith’s hope had been dashed. “To be stuck here in this place with no hope for a normal future!”

  “It is a life better lived than trembling in this bed!” Jhonis grew angry.

  “Orynn?” The tiny voice that came from Jarren startled her, and when he opened his bright blue eyes to look at her, a piece of her heart became his forever. “I had a dream about you... but you’re not a dream...”

  Orynn couldn’t stop the tears that came as she held the boy tightly to her chest. She didn’t know what was causing the feelings inside her, but they were overwhelming. “No Jarren, I am not a dream.”

  22 Veltu’azi

  She wanted to be a mother.

  Ethan opened his eyes and looked down at her. She was sleeping deeply in his arms, but the connection between them still hummed with life. Her body had finally given in to her exhaustion, but her mind continued to feed memories into his processor. He wasn’t sure if he should disconnect, but he felt that there was still more he needed to understand.

  So far, he had witnessed the cause for her mother’s fear and adherence to the rules of the Sisterhood, and then Orynn’s rebellion against it. Her strong connection with Brel and her friendship with Jehdra and Hank’s father. Her happiness. Jarren.

  It all seemed to be leading up to a pivotal point where that rebellion against the laws of her people would spin out of control and lead her to be the person she was today. Ethan brushed her hair away from her face, still drawn by her soft beauty.

  Her spirit had been so happy and free aboard the Telasari. It reminded him of the playful moments he had just experienced with her, and he couldn’t fathom what could have gone so wrong to lead her to living her life so apart from others.

  “What happened to you?”

  “Tell it to me again!” Jarren’s blue eyes gleamed pleadingly at Orynn.

  Orynn giggled and tickled the boy’s stomach. “Tonight. Now you must get dressed and come down to breakfast.”

  Hankarron watched Orynn and Jarren with a smile from the doorway. “Hope I’m not interrupting the fun, but Zera sent me to tell you breakfast is getting cold.”

  “Uncle Hankarron!” Jarren hopped off the bed and bounded across the room in his pajamas.

  Hankarron lifted Jarren up and sat the five-year-old on his hip. “You’re getting big! Not causing Orynn any trouble, are you?”

  “She was telling me a great story!” Jarren’s smile turned mischievous and he turned to Orynn. “I bet Uncle Hankarron wants to hear it!”

  “Nice try.” Orynn grinned and shook her head. “Tonight.”

  “Okay.” Jarren huffed. “Promise?”

  “I promise.”

  Hankarron set Jarren down. “Now go get dressed.” Hankarron and Orynn left Jarren to change and headed into the hallway. “I think he likes you.”

  Orynn nodded with a smile. It had been three days since that night and Jarren had become full of life as he tried to experience everything he had missed while his world had been entrapped by the very technology everyone thought had been helping him. Everyone was grateful for Orynn’s discovery, even the reluctant nurse.

  Keith had thanked her, but she knew it was only because Jhonis had been standing behind him. Then he had disappeared for the past two days. She couldn’t blame Keith for his continued bitter behavior. The man’s son may be feeling better, but he was still trapped. The known worlds were all dependent on technology and finding a place within society would be difficult for the boy as he grew older.

  Hankarron watched Orynn silently for a moment in the sunlit hallway. His hand reached up and scratched the back of his neck. “So, what was the story about?”

  “Hmm?” She blinked out of her thoughts. “Oh, it was just a tale from a very long time ago.”

  “I’ll have to come listen in tonight.”

  “I am sure Jarren would love to have you there.” Her smile faded into a frown. “His father has only come to see him once. I think perhaps I am getting in the way.”

  “I don’t know what the heck Keith’s problem is, but it’s not your fault.” He turned to her and stared at her frowning lips. “Thank you for helping my nephew. Without you, who knows what might of happened. They could have killed him with all that damn tech the nurse kept bringing in.”

  Orynn looked to him, taken back by the steadfast tone of his voice. “You are welcome.”

  He moved to stand in front of her and stepped closer. She took a step back to the wall and he matched it. He reached out and brushed her hair away from her cheek. She didn’t move away, but stood there staring at him.

  “I mean it. Thank you. Ever since
you came on board, even when you weren’t who I thought, you’ve been so kind to all of us. I don’t understand how Vesparians have gotten such a bad rep if they are all like you. I had heard they were ugly beasts that left death everywhere they went, but you’re so kind hearted, and you’re so... God, you’re so beautiful, Orynn.”

  Orynn felt her breath leave her body, and the muscles of her chest tightened so much that she couldn’t take in another. She could feel his aura shifting around her and it was so warm. When he leaned down and kissed her lips, she felt her heart leap into her throat. The feeling of his lips pressing gently against hers was the oddest sensation to her. It left them tingly and hot, and she felt a stirring within her that scared her.

  Hankarron pulled away and immediately realized his mistake. She had gone rigid and her eyes were wide open, but her cheeks were flushed with color. “You... you’ve never been kissed before?”

  Orynn slowly shook her head. “No.” But she had liked it.

  “One hundred and eighty-something years... I figured in all that time... I... shit.” Hankarron had his hand up to his neck and he was looking at the ceiling. “I’m so sorry.”

  Orynn touched her fingers to her lips as the heat began to leave them. She had no label for the feeling triggered within her, but her spirit craved loudly for more. She stood on her tiptoes and reached up to Hankarron’s face. Caressing his smooth chin, she pulled him down to her lips again. This time, she closed her eyes and reveled in the sensation. Losing herself in it, the kiss became heavy and almost violent in its passion. She had no emotional feelings from it, but physically it was captivating in its intensity.

  They pulled away from each other breathlessly, a shared lust in their eyes. Orynn wanted only to feel more of the strange sensations coursing through her body. Later that night, instead of telling Jarren more of her fables, she let Hankarron lead her to his bedroom and show her how many more sensations were possible. It would be the first time she broke a promise to Jarren, and it would not be the last.