Keen (2 page)

He got up from the couch and came over to give her a hug. “Enjoy yourself and keep in touch. Stop being everything for everybody else and be yourself.”

She hugged him back. “I am. Care to walk me to my car?”

He glanced back at the emotional storm of the Wendersons. “Yes, please.”

Kyna walked to her room and grabbed the only thing in it. Her go bag. The rest of the apartment was empty. Every drawer, every cupboard, it was all in storage. The only thing left was her living room set and the keys in her hand. Her apartment had been rented out and the new occupant moved in in a week.

Tonight had been her last night at home; she felt she needed to speak to all of her family face to face. As usual, none of them was focused on her. They were lost to infighting.

Terrance was the exception. He may be awkward when it came to dealing with his girlfriends, but he was a genuinely good guy.

“That is quite the suit.” He paused and looked her over.

She was wearing the brown and gold of the archivists. The suit was fitted, flattering and could stop a human bullet with ease. Not all of her people were a fan of humans in space. Two candidates had been shot in the last six months, so now, the Volunteer program insisted on the armoured suits during basic training.

“Thanks. It suits my occupation.”

Terry opened the door and they exited the apartment with her family still squabbling. “What are you going to be doing?”

She grinned. “I am a librarian. Always have been, always will be.”

Kee slipped the bag over her shoulder.

“Can you call?”

She chuckled. “I can send messages home via the Volunteer Centre. Until you get a com unit in your house, that won’t be a possibility.”

He made a noise. “I am not going to pretend I am not going to worry about you.”

She led the way down the stairs. “Good. I know, despite my comments that I am going to worry about you and all of them. I just need to get out of their reach and this will do it for me.”

“I think it is an excellent start. How did you get up the nerve to apply?”

“I didn’t. A friend on the other side nominated me for consideration.”

“A friend?” Terry was surprised.

“I do get out a little, Terry. I do have friends. It has just never come up in conversation with the family. I go out, I have fun, I just never mention it because the moment I mention having fun, a leech in the shape of Teena attaches itself to my wallet and the fun goes away. That is over now. My savings have been donated to a literacy foundation and my furniture has been donated to a local charity. They will get it tomorrow.”

“Everything is taken care of then? You don’t need anything.”

They were standing inside the security door.

“I need this.” She hugged him and he hugged her back.

“I will miss you, Kee.”

“I will miss you too, Terry. If you are in between girlfriends, apply at the Volunteer Centre. You might just find out you have something that will offer you a new chance and a bright future.” She squeezed him and let go as the car came to collect her.

He followed her out and watched her get into the car.

Brax gave him a quick look. “Your sibling?”

“One of them. The others are upstairs trying to work out how to divide everything I left behind. Lucky for me, I haven’t left them with anything.” She smiled brightly and waved at Terry while she slid into the car.

A few tears made their way down her cheeks while Brax settled in his seat and their driver pulled away from the curb.

“You are upset?”

“He is the only one I will miss, so yes, I am upset.” She wiped her cheeks. “Don’t worry. I will get over it.”

He nodded. “I am sure you will. You have surpassed all test results needed for the position at the Jhenno Archive. You have a career and generations’ worth of filing to go through. You will be busy enough to stop you from brooding over your home for a while. When you do have time to think of it, everything will be in its proper place.”

“And I will be on a strange world in a sealed archive, working it into shape. Thanks for reminding me to focus on the adventure. When you deal with families, things can be lost in the moment.”

“It was even hard for me to leave my home, and it was expected of me. I can only imagine how difficult it would be having the option suddenly presented to you.”

She smiled at his efforts to distract her. For the last ten days, he had been with the driver who picked her up and dropped her off at the training centre. Why they were keeping tabs on her, she didn’t know, but she had made it through the physical training courses and the initial introduction to the languages she would need to become familiar with to do her job. Alliance Common was played into her mind while she was at the centre and now it was becoming second nature.

Kee blinked. “We were speaking Common.”

“We were, still are actually.” He grinned at her as they bypassed the normal turn off and headed for the launch site.

This was it. She was leaving the Earth and she was doing it that very evening. Her hands shook and she clutched the strap of her bag, exhaling slowly.

“I am overdue for change. Change will be good.” She kept it going around in her head as they arrived near the enormous bulk of the shuttle.

The moon base was still under construction as far as anyone on Earth knew, but that is where she would get her final training and the implants in her skull. The languages she needed to know were ancient and dead. The implant would allow her to access the information she needed with the flick of her eyes. She was going in for a heads-up display that would print the information onto her retina. It wasn’t strictly necessary, but the information whore in her wanted it the moment she found out it was available.

It would involve a procedure in something called a tank, but when she was healed, she would be sent on her way to Jhenno. She didn’t care where she was as long as she had something to do. Being bored was not going to be an option.

Brax opened the door for her, and she stepped out, looking at the huge ship with a sudden attack of nerves.

“Come this way, Archivist. Recruiter Hembri is waiting for his farewell.”

She smiled and ran a shaking hand through her hair.

Brax offered her his arm. “It will be all right. Change is good.”

Kee grinned. “You keep saying that.”

“It’s true.”

“If I do well during my first year, I will send you a present with the message,
You told me so.
”

He laughed. “I look forward to it.”

She was still smiling when she faced off against Recruiter Hembri. “Well, we have made it this far.”

“We have indeed. There is a surprise for you waiting on the ship.”

Kee turned to look at the large craft as if she could see through the hull.

He smiled, “Not that ship. The ship you will be taking is on the other side of it.”

She heard a footfall behind her and turned.

“Sorry, Hembri, I couldn’t wait.” Pandora grinned. “So, Kyna, would you like a ride?”

Hembri tapped his foot. “I was making my fancy speech about welcoming her to the Alliance.”

Kyna hugged Pandora and smiled. “I thought you said you were worlds away.”

“I was, but I am here now. While the moon base can do a good job on your implant, the Alliance medical centre on Azon Prime can do it without any issues. They are some of the best, if not the best, doctors in the universe.”

“What will I be doing on the voyage?” Kyna asked her.

“Babysitting. I am teaching Peter to fly the ship and Ikil has to do some negotiations with his family.”

“Ikil?”

“Ikil Huek, my husband. He doesn’t bite strangers, I swear.” Pandora grinned.

“So, we are taking a ride in the family car?”

Hembri sighed. “Fine, Madam Huek, take her. She is cleared for departure. Check in when you get to the med facility.”

Pandora linked her arm with Kyna’s and hauled her out of the reception centre and to the opposite side of the field from the waiting shuttle.

A sleek, silvery ship the length of four city busses and twice the height was waiting. “We are going all that way in that ship?”

Pandora straightened her shoulders. “Let me begin your education. This is a small shuttle. It will deliver us to the much larger ship in orbit. From there, we will be on our way.”

“So, will I be doing this a lot?” She tried not to drag her feet as they approached the ship.

“Not as much as I do. Since the first round of Volunteers were locked away from humanity, they miss certain objects from home. Chocolate and lingerie are popular requests and, of course, books and music.”

Kyna looked around to make sure that they weren’t overheard. “I have heard of that one.”

Pandora laughed. “I have had to source another person who can provide me with the crystals. It was more difficult than it had to be, but I am sure that your brother will do just fine.”

“Terry?” She laughed. “That explains why he wasn’t shocked by my announcement.”

“I told him that until you announced it, he had to keep his mouth shut. I had the equipment delivered to him and he has promised to keep it hidden from your family. There are bio locks and monitors on it in case anyone tries to tamper.”

Kyna tried not to flinch as a set of stairs descended from the ship. From inside the ship, a joyous squeal rang out and a small body ran down the steps directly for Pandora.

He thudded into her, and she made a fake, “Oof.”

She let go of Kyna and lifted her son. “Kyna Wenderson, meet my son, Peter Ikil Huek. It took some doing to get him here, but he is alive and bright.”

Peter had his mother’s blood-red hair, but someone else had bestowed darker skin and amethyst-coloured eyes. “Hello.”

He stuck his little hand out, and Kyna had to respond.

She shook his hand. “Hello.”

He grinned and hid his face against his mother’s shoulder. Soft giggles came from his lips and his shoulders shook.

“How old is he?”

“He’s three.” Pandora climbed up the steps into the shuttle with her child in her arms. She set him down the moment they were inside and his little feet pounded him up the aisle.

Kyna came inside and the stairs folded in behind her, the door sealed and power began to flow through the ship.

“Come on, you should be sitting for your first takeoff. Preferably where you can see the world fall away beneath you.”

“That does not really sound attractive.”

Pandora pulled her by the hand through the halls to a segment with seats. She put Kyna’s bag into a locker and settled her in a window seat.

“I will be right back but don’t worry. Peter doesn’t get to do takeoffs. He is strictly a straight line kind of boy.”

“His father is up there?”

“Yes, Ikil is behind the controls. I will just tell him you are settled in and I will be right back.”

A deep voice came through speakers on the walls. “Never mind, darling. We are on our way.”

The ship shook and Pandora smoothly moved into another seat, buckling in.

Kyna did the same, checking the tension on her restraints.

She watched the ground speed by, and seconds later, they were smoothly climbing through the sky of Earth, and for the first time, it clued in that Kyna was leaving everything behind.

She kept her gaze fixed on the spinning orb until the larger ship swallowed up the shuttle. Time for phase B of the plan.

Ikil Huek was definitely impressive. Dark hair, amethyst eyes and seriously wide shoulders. He and Pandora had a connection to each other that went more than skin deep. They touched, held and caressed each other absently, as if they didn’t know they were doing it.

Peter was all energy, and once he realized that she was perfectly safe to be around, he spent much of his time hauling her around the larger ship, showing her where he hid his toys.

The ship overwhelmed Kyna but having a little boy with smiling eyes showing her where he hid his favourite fluffy toys gave a surreal aspect to the experience of being in space.

With the suddenness of the young, Peter decided that it was time to sleep. He tapped her on the leg until she picked him up, and then, he fell asleep with his head on her shoulder.

Finding her way back to the command centre was a bit awkward, but eventually, Kyna walked onto the deck, looking for Pandora. Ikil was at the controls, and he did a double take as he took in her burden.

Quietly, she said, “Apparently, it was naptime.”

“I can take him if you like.” Ikil smiled.

“Don’t you have to drive or whatever?”

“No. I am merely catching up on personal correspondence. Pandora is preparing dinner.”

Kyna looked around. “Is that difficult?”

“Not usually, your species specifics are in the computer. She chooses to argue with the machine and that takes a few minutes extra.”

He was looking her over with more than casual interest and she got nervous.

“Should I go help her?”

“No. Are all your people different colours? You and Pandora grew up in the same neighbourhood from what she has told me, and your skin has a golden cast along with your dark hair while hers is pale and creamy.”

She smiled, a little bit relieved. His interest had freaked her out. She was away from home and there was no one for her to call on this ship. “Our world is in the middle of a genetic jumble. My ancestors came from a different continent than Pan’s. It has only been two generations, so there is no time for amalgamation yet.”

He nodded. “Are you nervous about being out here?” He gestured with his hand and the motion took in the view screens and the stars.

“Terrified, but moving forward and falling on your face is still progressive motion.” She sighed and stroked Peter’s hair. He snuffled and stuck his fist in his mouth, sucking noisily.

“That is a very positive attitude.”

She shrugged. “Currently, it is the only one I have. If I think about this too much, I might just lock up. Better to keep moving forward.”

Pandora came in, and she took one look at Peter and grinned. “Dinner is served. You can drop him off with the bots if you don’t want to wear him.”