Giles Kurns_Rogue Instigator Read online

  “Pointless?” Arlene offered.

  “Empty,” he said at the same time.

  She bobbed her head, then turned to pour water on the tea. “Well, as long as him up there doesn’t mind, I don’t have any objections. And I’m sure there’s stuff around the university that you could do. If you wanted to.”

  She handed him one of the cups of tea. “Tell me, Bill. You’re not hiding from anything, are you?”

  Bill breathed out heavily through his nose as if humored. He didn’t smile, but then he looked up at her, his gaze locking hers. “No, Arlene. I’m not running from anything. And I’m not keeping anything from you. You have my word.”

  They stayed like that for several seconds, understanding streaming between them.

  Finally, Arlene remembered herself, and her normal no-nonsense exterior reappeared. “Well, good then,” she concluded, joining him at the table. “I think we might even become friends,” she added, half smiling and holding her tea mug up in salute.

  He clinked her cup with his, and they drank their tea.

  Mining Settlement, Mallifrax-8

  Anne made her way through the settlement, heading straight to the mines. It was quite a distance, but she didn’t mind. It was worth it to see her friend one last time before they disappeared into the stars forever.

  Her mind raced with all the things that’d happened. How her relationship with Arlene had shifted, and how her newfound control over her abilities might evolve. Playfully, as she walked, she threw tiny fireballs into the dust, watching them pitter out as she caught up to them on her path.

  She wondered about what she’d discovered in the labs and patted her pocket to make sure she still had the storage device. If she ended up telling Giles and Arlene about her suspicions, she may well need evidence from a source other than Arlene’s own lab notes. Scamp thankfully had been very accommodating in supplying her with a universally formatted stick that would probably interface just fine with the Queegert systems. She hoped.

  But then there was the question as to how much to tell them. She deliberately hadn’t told them where her own talisman was hidden because, well, she’d promised her uncle she would keep it safe.

  But then, he must’ve given it to her for a reason, and if Arlene and Giles had a purpose for finding the others, then maybe it was in line with what her uncle had been trying to do.

  Giles and Arlene seemed genuine. Like they were actually trying to help people. Heck, Arlene got kidnapped and all sorts on this mission . . . all to help those people.

  But what if their interest was only academic. What if they just wanted to know for the sake of it, and then never actually use it to do whatever these talismans were meant to do?

  Her thoughts churned so loudly she found herself putting her hands to her ears as she trudged across the valley.

  But maybe, at least she could work with them to find out what the big picture is, and then even if they aren’t willing to go forward with whatever it was all about, she could always do it herself. Unless they locked all the talismans away . . .

  Even then though, at least they’d all be in one place. And she’d know what they were for. That would be a hell of a lot closer to where she was right now.

  She had decided. She’d tell them. Probably.

  As she arrived at the mine entrance, she looked around for anyone she might know. She hadn’t thought ahead as to how she’d find Voyved, and now, standing in front of the mine with people walking past her like she was a strange irregularity in the place, she felt very self-conscious.

  “Excuse me,” she said quickly to a miner walking closest to her. “Can you help me? I’m trying to find my way to the lab.”

  “Oh, you’re one of those space people who helped us,” he said, recognizing her blue skin and strange form probably more than anything.

  “Yes. That’s right.”

  “Yes. Well. The lab. You need to head in and then take the elevator down two floors. That’ll put you on the right level, and the lab is just down that long corridor.” He paused, looking her up and down again. “You’re meeting someone?” he asked.

  She nodded. “Yes. I’m here to say goodbye to my friend before we leave.”

  The Queegert’s third eye flicked around as he realized they’d be leaving. “Well, thank you to you and your people for everything you did.” He stepped in and grabbed her elbow, patting her arm down in their form of greeting.

  She clumsily caught up with what he was doing and reciprocated before he walked away, thanking her.

  Anne turned back to the mine entrance. “Ok. Down two floors,” she muttered to herself and set off walking again.

  ***

  Arriving at the lab, she recognized where Voyved had taken her previously. She located his office with not too much difficulty. Navigating through the benches with ores and computers and data charts on screens, she breathed a sigh of relief when she found him perched on a stool, peering at another screen of information.

  “Voyved!” she called quietly so as not to disturb the other Logan scientists sitting around.

  He turned, beaming when he saw who it was. “Anne the Wise!” he declared, giving her their customary handshake. “What brings you here?”

  Anne pulled away from him to look into his three eyes. “I’ve come to say goodbye. We’re leaving in less than an hour.”

  Two of his eyes drooped. “Really? Well, I guessed you’d probably be leaving at some point, though I guess I put it to the back of my mind.”

  “I thought I might ask a favor of you before I go though.”

  “Of course. Anything,” he said with a genuine warmth. He’d released her from the arm-shake, but gently laid his hand on her skinny shoulder.

  “Remember the diagrams you showed me . . . of the core and the composition of the etheriam?”

  “Of course.” He moved over to his screen and pulled them up. “You want copies?”

  Anne smiled and produced her data stick.

  He plucked it from her and turned it over in his hands. “Give me a second. I need to see about converting this.”

  He rummaged around for several minutes in his desk, and Anne casually glanced around the lab. There were only a few other Queegerts working, but there seemed to be more samples lying around.

  “So what’s happening around here?” she asked as he worked on the device, trying various adapters. “You know . . . since the regime change.”

  “Oh, you wouldn’t believe it,” he said, chattering as he worked. “Everyone’s so excited about the new possibilities, there’s been a surge of applications to the lab. The new bosses are due to arrive next month, but in the meantime—”

  “So you’ll be staying?”

  “Of course. Why ever not?”

  “I just figured what with everything that’s happened, and your friends, now that you have the chance to leave . . .”

  “Oh, goodness no. I mean, I’m sad about my friends, of course, but Razeene and Bokmom knew what they were doing, and they crossed the line. In my opinion, they deserved what they got.”

  Anne’s eyes flicked open in horror.

  “Oh, don’t be so shocked. Life out here is hard. It’s disposable almost. We lose several people each week in these conditions . . . if it’s not from mining accidents, it’s from arguments and the pox.” His eyes drooped. “Gives you a new appreciation for the life we have though.”

  He clicked something into place on her device and plugged it in to his console. “Anyway, this looks like it’s going to become the opportunity we signed up for in the first place. It’s already looking like things will be different with the MacKegans gone.”

  Anne wandered over to watch him pull the data on the screen.

  “They’re letting Shepherd Bulthug stay in charge for the time being. It’ll probably become permanent. He’s been working with the new partners off-world over holo connection, and things seem to be going well.”

  “Good.” Anne smiled. “I’m glad. And what about
you?”

  “Well,” his third eye whizzled around to look at her, “they’ve asked me to head up the lab. Everyone else that was in the pecking order bought it in the uprising, and well, they liked the idea of my prototype, too. Looks like I’ll be able to do some good for the whole mine. Not just me and my little phenhite!”

  Anne was sure she saw him blush. “That’s wonderful!”

  He handed her storage device back. “Anything else you need?” he checked.

  Anne thought for a moment. “Actually . . . you know, a small sample of the ore would be really helpful.”

  Voyved regarded her suspiciously for a moment. “What are you up to?”

  It was Anne’s turn to blush. “I have a theory . . . but I want to be sure before I tell Arlene about it.”

  “Ahhhh, Anne the wise, indeed.” He wandered across the lab and picked up some samples from the bench. He returned and handed them over to her. “Here you go. This one is ore, obviously,” he said handing her a small rock the size of a marble. “And this is actual etheriam. You’ll want to keep that safe. Worth a fortune out there…”

  Anne moved to give it back to him. “I couldn’t . . .”

  He waved his hand. “Take it. It’s just a sample we have sitting around down here. No one will miss it. Especially not with the changeover and everything. Go do your scienc-ing. Think of it as my small contribution to your education.”

  Anne smiled up at him, still embarrassed. He put his hand on her shoulder again. “You did save my life after all . . .” He winked at her.

  She guessed he meant from Arlene. She was about to protest that Arlene never would have killed him in cold blood . . . but then, she wasn’t entirely sure. She hugged him. “I’m going to miss you, Voyved,” she muttered into his tunic.

  “And I’ll miss you, too, little one. Let me walk you up to the surface. Don’t want you missing your lift.”

  Anne tucked the data stick and samples into the pockets of the atmosuit. She thought for a moment of Paige, who’d ordered her suit for her when she first arrived at the base where she’d met Giles. Her heart throbbed, and she realized that as frustrated as she’d been there and as eventful as this adventure had been, she longed to go back to be around the familiar surroundings and people she might one day call friends.

  Voyved gave her one last arm-shake as he walked her out of the mine into the daylight of the surface.

  “Thank you for everything,” she told him, tears forming in her eyes.

  “Hey, none of that, he said, touching her chin. You’ll be onto the next adventure and forget all about me.”

  She opened her mouth to protest.

  “And so you should,” he interrupted her. “Have a good life, my little blue friend. And pass on my thanks to Arlene, too.”

  “For what?”

  “For not killing me, of course!” he chuckled.

  Anne giggled through the tears that’d already fallen on her face. “Ok. I will,” she promised. She started walking, turning back to wave. “Bye, Voyved!”

  And with that, she started trekking back through the valley to rendezvous with the Scamp Princess. She felt the two samples in her pocket. It’s good to have something to remember him by, she thought as she wiped the rogue tears from her face.

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  Aboard the Scamp Princess

  Giles sat nursing a mug of mocha at the kitchen table, casually checking the details of their flight plans on his holo. “Are you sure this is right, Scamp? You want to take us past that nebula? That close?”

  “Are you questioning my judgment?” Scamp asked over the intercomm in the kitchen.

  Arlene spun around and looked at Giles in surprise. She nodded in the direction of the intercomm and mouthed to him. “I detect a tone!”

  Giles pushed out his bottom lip and shrugged. “Not at all, Scamp, just wondering why we can’t gate from just outside orbit?”

  “Because there’s a lot of traffic due in this area, and we’re meant to be keeping a low profile on the whole gating thing.”

  Arlene’s eyes widened. “Is that why we’re letting passengers in on the tech?”

  “Actually, Arlene, under your instruction, you gave me permission to give Anne access to any information as long as it wasn’t putting anyone in danger or sending communications.

  Arlene narrowed her eyes, frustrated she was having an argument with an EI. “One might deem that giving her sensitive information like that is potentially putting us in danger.”

  Scamp’s voice clicked on again. “Well, it was my opinion that she doesn’t pose a threat.”

  Giles repeated the word, mouthing to Arlene. “Opinion! Judgment!”

  “Well, er . . . anyway, Scamp, that’s fine,” he said out loud. “I’m sure Anne will keep it to herself.”

  Arlene shook her head and started rummaging through the lower cupboards under the sink. “I need a drink,” she muttered.

  “I also thought it would be nice to see the nebula from a closer vantage point. It won’t be dangerous, but I suspect it’ll be pretty quiet once we’re clear of the solar winds and debris.”

  Giles stopped again and locked eyes with Arlene, who’d also stopped and turned to look at him.

  “Well, er . . . very good then, Scamp. It sounds like a good idea. Let’s proceed.”

  “Proceeding,” Scamp confirmed before closing the intercomm.

  Arlene had found the bottle she wanted and plonked it down on the table as she grabbed two glasses.

  “Hey, that’s my good stuff!” Giles protested.

  She sat down, pushing the glasses in front of them and opening the bottle. “And after all these years, I finally know where you keep it!” She poured them each two fingers.

  Anne wandered in, and without saying a word, picked up a third glass and put it on the table.

  “Well,” Giles continued. “The Crown was right. It does indeed feel good to help others.”

  Arlene rolled her eyes as she lifted the glass to her lips.

  Only Anne saw her, as she watched carefully for a reaction out of the corner of her eye and reached for the bottle to pour herself a shot.

  Arlene caught her and took the bottle from her. “We’ve been through this. You’re too young, AND it’ll mess up your training.”

  Anne stuck out her lip in protest. “I thought we’d had a moment . . . you know, when I saved your ass.”

  Arlene raised one eyebrow as she took another sip of her drink. “We did,” she confirmed firmly. “Orange juice is in the fridge.”

  Anne tutted through her teeth and headed to the fridge.

  Arlene’s attention was back on Giles. “So what’s changed?”

  Giles closed his holo and sat back, gazing at his drink on the table. “You know, I think the seed was planted when I caught those guys throwing the smoke bombs at the school,” he said as if watching the moment as a movie. “The way my students looked at me. You don’t get that kind of look from adults. Not for doing the criminal-catching, Indiana Jones-type things.”

  Arlene watched him carefully, reading between the lines. “This hasn’t got anything to do with Molly has it?”

  Giles took a deep breath, thinking of his answer. He was about to speak, when Scamp interrupted again. “Anne, I’ve located the data you were looking for,” he announced.

  Anne scraped her chair, standing up. “Ok. On screen in the cockpit. I’m heading up,” she told him. “Boring talk down here anyway,” she commented, grinning at her guardians.

  Arlene tried not to laugh, but she couldn’t hide the smile or the bouncing of her chest as she laughed silently. Giles watched her leave, also endeared by her adolescent commentary.

  Arlene waited until Anne was out of earshot, then leaned forward quickly. “I’ve been thinking, but I haven’t had a moment where I could tell you . . .”

  Giles leaned forward, picking up his drink.

  “It’s about Anne.”

  “Oh?”

  He braced himself
for a showdown about having to be the parent. He took a looong swig of the Leathe Liquor Arlene had poured him and put his glass down. “Ok. I’m ready . . .”

  “I think she’s an antenna.”

  “Anne?”

  “Yes.”

  “How do you mean?” He poured himself another two fingers, then topped up Arlene’s glass. This was far more interesting than being instructed to be more firm with her.

  “Well, I get a sense of her energy flow and what she’s doing when she’s channeling. It’s like the energy around me is getting pulled.”

  Giles frowned, intensely focused on what she was saying.

  “I put it all together when we were at the Royal Court celebrations. When she was doing her trick with the candles. And then I remembered what it felt like in the room when she came in to rescue me. Its—”

  Giles cocked his head. “So you’re admitting she rescued you?”

  “Well. Er . . . yeah. I guess. She saved my ass.”

  Giles smirked behind his cup as he brought it to his lips. “Well, well, well . . .”

  “Anyway,” Arlene continued briskly, “that’s not the real issue. It was hard to distinguish before because it always went hand-in-hand with her emotions. I thought that was what I was picking up on. But then when she was in the drawing room and almost dancing with her skill, I felt it more clearly.”

  “So what are you saying? That she has a talent?”

  Arlene shook her head, her lips pressed tightly together. “No. Well . . . yes, she does. And she’s powerful. But more than that, I think she’s, like I said, an antenna. She’s transmitting something, or at least telegraphing ripples through one of the dimensions . . . every time she pulls on that energy.”

  Giles’s look of amusement fell from his face. “Is she in danger?”

  Arlene shrugged with her lips. “I have no idea.”

  “And what dimension?”

  Arlene took a sip of her drink. “I can’t be sure . . . yet. But it’s possible it’s the etheric.”