Authors: Imogene Nix
“Of course, that is not the only reason we have made contact. We also desire allies.”
Jessa smiled, pulling away. “Really? Why is that?”
He smiled. “Small planet. Agrarian in nature.”
Jessa wrinkled her nose and he felt captivation weave through him. It would be so very easy to be lost in the web that Jessa wove effortlessly. “Umm…should we go down and continue the negotiations? You really should meet with the officials.”
“I would, but do you believe they will allow you to continue to participate?”
“Probably not.” He felt her gaze settle on his once more.
He shook his head. “Then that is not acceptable to me or my people.” He sat back, the act regal and self-assured.
“Then how will we…?”
He smiled enigmatically at her. “We tell them what we want. Then we wait.”
* * * *
The daylight hours passed slowly, while communications moved back and forth between the ship and the single globally agreed point of contact. The Australian Prime Minister continued to insist on high level officials taking over the negotiations and Galan continued to refuse. The stalemate revolved around his desire for Jessa and Seth to take the lead role of intermediaries. In the meantime, Galan showed Jessa and Seth images of his homeland, giving them a crash course in the history of Hesparia. He tapped the rotating orb and it stilled in the air.
“This is the main continent, Orsar. It is the centre of trade and commerce as well as where I and my family live.”
“Really? Can we see your home?” Seth was eager but Jessa could see the darkening of Galan’s eyes.
An instant of disorientation filled her then the seed of fear grew in her chest. “Galan?” But instead of answering, Galan turned away.
“Not now.” The fear of what he hid warred with any positive emotions she was experiencing. Ones that told her he meant no harm.
How do you know that?
Her brain demanded answers she couldn’t possibly provide. She let her eyes catch Seth’s and saw for the first time the hint of fear in his too. But unlike Seth, she was no puppy, blindly following. Now was the time to make a stand.
“Galan, we need to return to our homes and families.” Jessa spoke carefully but with intent.
“No.”
The words filled her with concern. Was he holding them prisoner here? “Galan. We have families who will be worried about us. We have lives…” Turning carefully to search his face she could see a cold implacability there.
“No. I won’t let you go. You can make contact with your families, I am sure. Once this is settled.”
Seth rose, jerking her attention back to him. “Now…mate, you can’t keep us here. We are Aussies…” He spoke with a forced tone, as if he too had just come to the conclusion of their status as prisoners. How she wanted to laugh at the look on his face, but the situation was less than funny.
One more time. She had to try one more time. “Galan, you haven’t told us everything up front, though. If you don’t let us go, they will likely see you as a threat. You need to release us.”
“Why? Because I won’t show you where I live?” The angry tones stopped Jessa. “My father rules Hesparia—the whole planet. That is what I didn’t wish to raise with you. Satisfied now?”
“Not really. If you father rules Hesparia, then why are you here?” She already knew about some of the difficulties, the problem with the women and children… But surely not? Her mind scrambled wildly. She took a deep breath, settling her wild conjectures. She needed to know that they, Seth and herself, hadn’t made the worst decision of what could, potentially, be their short lives.
“Because we need women. Women happy to travel to Hesparia. To take partners and to bear children.”
The stark words stole her breath.
Dear stars in heaven
. The situation was worse than anything she could have imagined. Not once, even though he had told her about the issue of women on Hesparia had she even considered this possible outcome.
“But… We may not even
be
compatible!” Jessa was shocked and horrified.
He laughed, harshly. “You are. Generations ago, our people and yours were the same. Deposited on these planets to populate them for another species, one that we have since lost contact with to be honest. But our scans… They have told us that we remain compatible.”
“This is the first time, since then, that we have made contact with your people. Among us were technicians and educators. They kept their knowledge alive. The knowledge of travel, ships and language were documented and saved. They were studied by the greatest minds on our planet. Our shared history means that your genetic material and ours are more than compatible.”
The harsh outburst sat Jessa on her backside in the chair.
Dear heavens
. The Hesparians wanted breeders. And she had been the first to enter. What did that mean for her? For humanity?
Galan knew he’d frightened her. It was clear in the pallor of her face and the way she carefully avoided touching him. The moving away each time he stepped near her angered him.
It wasn’t what he had planned, but at this point, he also couldn’t call back his words. They had been said. In trying to keep his own true identity hidden, he had damaged the fragile connection growing between them. Leaving him frustrated and on edge.
He hadn’t even had a chance to explain about the other aspect of their mission. No. She needed to know, but perhaps he should focus on dealing with this?
Even now, negative emotions welled as she sat next to Seth, silently watching him. The growing need to reach out and soothe the look on her face tore at every fibre of his being.
“They have agreed,” Joras called out to him and Galan didn’t know if he felt relief that this part of the stalemate with the government of Earth was over or frustration that Jessa would leave the ship any time.
That he could no longer request her presence made him want to rage. Irritation coursed through his system. The unfamiliar emotion angered him.
With Gospah there had been no need to command her obedience—she’d been naturally easy-going. Truly, he didn’t even think that would have been what he wanted, anyway.
“Fine.” He couldn’t give more than a single word answer. To do so would push him too far and he was sure his temper would snap, leaving him to react in a forceful manner that would push her further away.
Instead, he turned and left the room, yet even as the door sealed behind him he castigated himself for his foolish behaviour. He had only known her for such a short period of time. Maybe he was wrong about the
Quickening
too.
“Galan?” Joras had seen his action and followed him. Galan knew of his concern that something was afoot. Perhaps it was because they had been serving together for so long, that they knew each other’s action and reactions. But he knew that wasn’t right. He had been acting wrong since the moment he had met Jessa.
“Joras, I don’t think I can…” He sucked in an unsteady breath, staring sightlessly at the wall opposite.
“You have to let her go. At least for now.” Joras touched his shoulder and the urge to throw it off raged for an instant. The intense feelings within him swelled and Galan tensed, fighting off the unwanted feeling.
“I know.” But saying the words had him acknowledging the pain that filled his body. Let go of his partner? The one he had experienced the
Quickening
with? If that was actually what he had experienced. Letting her go was wrong, in every way. His muscles coiled tightly with anguish.
He dragged in an unsteady breath and then another, attempting to push the pain away. “You have to do it now.” Joras muttered but Galan knew that Joras understood his pain.
“Escort them out.” His gut churned and his voice was low and harsh, yet he also knew, if it came down to it, and he had to escort them out himself, he wouldn’t be able to let her go. The primal directive was of holding onto a partner too strong. “Take over the negotiations.” He whispered the words, passing Joras a small information cube. “This is the information we currently have.” With that, he willed his legs to move, carrying him down the long corridor towards his office. Each step away from her caused a new layer of pain and by the time he found his seat his whole body rebelled while the ache in his chest grew. It was too much. He couldn’t let Jessa go.
* * * *
Joras, Galan’s second, returned to the room where Seth and Jessa had waited. Joras’ careful behaviour agitated Jessa as she watched him in the growing silence. She remained seated, fingers twined around each other. It was a vain hope that she could contain the inner struggle. Seth had moved closer to her, as if sensing the silent dispute that carried on within her, and she was thankful that he held his counsel. She didn’t want to attempt any kind of normal conversation.
On one level, there was a fear of the unknown. After all, what did she know about Galan and his intentions? On the other, there was a connection she couldn’t explain between them. Knowing that Galan had left her here, in this anonymous room with Joras had hurt. It left her aching internally, in a way she had never before experienced. A feeling she didn’t want to experience again any time soon and that increased her sense of confusion.
But no matter, Jessa told herself, she was a realist. So instead she tried vainly to shrug off the hurt and confusion, while she let her brain search for explanations to her current state. Maybe it was some weird form of Stockholm Syndrome? Jessa nearly laughed out loud at that thought, but deep down, even that didn’t exactly describe the emotions running through her.
“We need to go out now.” Joras’ voice dragged Jessa from her internal ruminations and she stood, turning briefly to see if Galan was in sight as they left the room. But he was nowhere in the long, pastel coloured corridor, and her heart sank.
“Galan isn’t coming?” How bitterly she wanted to call the words back as Joras smiled at her. It was a sympathetic movement, making her feel as if her emotions were transparent. Something she didn’t want to happen.
“No. He has tasks he must complete.” His words were kind but left Jessa with no doubt that the conversation revolving around Galan was now closed. With that, Jessa and Seth were hastened to the small elevator area they had entered the ship through. The moving pad was steady beneath their feet as they boarded it and Jessa promised herself, she wouldn’t look back. Instead she locked her knees and looked determinedly forward, ignoring the crushing pain growing in her chest.—every step and move exacerbating the situation in a way she couldn’t understand. As if there were an unseen otherworldly tether between Galan and herself.
On reaching the ground they stepped forward to be met by a crowd of armed personnel, demanding that she and Seth step towards them. Jessa looked around, trying to understand what was happening. They had willingly exited the ship, so what had caused this? She stepped forward, slightly confused.
Jessa felt a brutal hand extend through the barrier of guards. She cried out, trying to pull away from the harsh bite of the grip on her wrist. The pressure was hurtful and she tried to pull away in fright.
At her cry, a pushing and shoving war erupted between the Hesparians and humans. Jessa struggled against the hold that bit cruelly into her flesh, even as she reached out for the small knot of Hesparians with her other hand. To her dismay, they had begun retreating back towards the ship, leaving her lost in the seething morass of bodies, Seth looking back at her from the circle of guards. His mouth moved but in the middle of the boiling confrontation his words were lost. She noted his distress even as she jerked against the tether.
Voices continued to babble around her, but there were too many drowning each other out so no one direction was clear enough for her to understand, among the yelling combatants.
She twitched and turned, pulled and pushed, attempting to escape. Finally, Jessa managed to wrench herself away from the restraining clasp. “Wait!”
Her shriek was ignored as another action knocked her back to the human camp. A shove from behind left her balance precarious, and the final stomp of a foot on hers resulted in a fall to the wet trampled grass.
A body tripped over her, and pain radiated through her leg, stealing her breath. Another fell over them crushing her further and the sounds changed, swelling as a hard object hit the back of her head and darkness grew around her. Finally, she closed her eyes, letting the welcome blackness swallow her.
* * * *
Galan quickly depressed the communications button, hoping to contact Joras before he exited the craft, ready to demand him wait, but it was too late. The thought of her being unable to contact him flashing through his mind as he remembered the item he had planned to give her. He quickly patted his pants. The small communication device he had meant to give remained in his pocket. How could he have overlooked that?
He pressed the button to engage the viewer, only to see his worst nightmare taking place. Joras being pushed back to the ship and Jessa…his beautiful Jessa…pulled forcibly from within their protective circle. His people worked to ensure Joras’ safety before Jessa’s. She fell, lost in the mêlée and he shuddered, gut churning at the horrifying sight.
“Noo!”
He rose unsteadily and rushed through the doorway, then down the corridor. Heart thumping wildly. He couldn’t lose Jessa. Not now!
Joras and the security details had returned to the ship, as Galan made it to the room with the eli-pad. “What happened? We need to send men…”
Joras laid a calm hand upon his arm, and how Galan wanted to pull away. “We have Seth still. We have leverage.”
But the words sat badly with Galan. “No.” He pushed forward, then surprise filled him as Joras clasped him, forcing him to stop.
“Now is not the time.”
His words aggravated Galan but he pushed the emotion aside. The connection he felt with Jessa grew, stealing his breath then was abruptly cut off. He shuddered. “Something is wrong. Something has happened.” He looked into Joras’ face. “I can’t feel her anymore.”