The Caverns of Mare Cetus (60 page)

   Renata opened her eyes. She had closed them but never realized when it happened. Devon was standing in front of her, her hands at her sides, the look on her face something Renata found difficult to fathom. Devon looked happy, relieved, angry, content, sad, troubled, pained—all at once.

   "I'm sorry I had to do that this way," said Devon softly, "but I needed you more than you can understand right now. You feel weak. It will pass. I promise. The first time is always hard anyway. I know. Everything feels numb. You feel disoriented. Everything seems to stop working and it scares you. But with time you'll get used to that. Just breathe. Breathe. In a moment your head will clear. Then you'll feel hungry—very hungry. You'll need to eat—for you, for me. Food will be your obsession for a while, then it will be your friend. I promise you'll never gain a gram. In time you'll see what I've given you in return."

   She touched Renata's right hand. "You'll have to tell me how you broke your cheekbone and finger. And how did all this blood get on you?" She gently brushed Renata's hair away from her face. "Something tried to strangle you too, didn't it? You've been through a lot. I can tell."

   Devon turned toward Hunter and Ramon, who were being helped by Edison and Trent. Immediately Hunter and Ramon cried out, Edison and Trent trying to catch Ramon as he slumped to the ground. Hunter put his hands on his head, agony in his eyes. Devon rattled off the men's injuries, and Trent immediately verified them with the Mediprog.

   Hearing about Hunter's skull fracture, Renata desperately wanted to go to him, but she continued to stand completely still for what seemed like a long time. Then, as if a switch had been flipped on, her paralysis vanished. She sighed deeply and took a cautious step forward. Suddenly, like a bomb had gone off inside of her, a pleasurable sensation seemed to explode within her, spreading to every nerve ending in her body, causing her to tremble. "Wow!" she groaned. "Oh, wow!" Her eyes widened in awe. "How did you—what did you…oh, crap, I'm hungry."

   Devon handed three food bars to Renata. "They're safe. Really. There's no KNA in them. I promise. Hunter says so."

   "Of course there isn't any," said Renata as she tore the packaging off one of the bars. "Why would you even think that?"

   Devon smiled, briefly. "He needs you now. Don't you think?"

   Hunter was sitting on the ground, still holding his head in pain, Edison beside him. Trent and Richelle had already taken Ramon to the ship. "Arielle es todo mi vida," said Ramon as Richelle helped him up the steps. "Mi amor, no puedo pasarme sin tú…"

   One food bar held between her teeth, the others in her hand, Renata hurried over to Hunter and gave him a cautious hug. After she had wolfed down two bars, she began kissing him on the cheek. As he returned her hug, she stuck the last bar in her mouth, barely chewing it before she gulped it down.

   "Hungry, huh?" asked Hunter.

   "Yes. I'm famished. Do you have anything on you?"

   He brought several chocolates out of his pocket, and she snatched them from him, unwrapping them and shoving them into her mouth, one after another. She kissed him again, smearing chocolate on his cheek.

   Within a moment, Trent came out of the ship, spoke to Devon briefly, then made a beeline to Renata who was now helping Edison examine Hunter.

   "She just told me she's a Mendrax," said Trent.

   "You knew she was," said Renata, glancing at him. "Do you have any food on you? I need something more to eat."

   He rifled through his pockets, finding two packages of crushed crackers. "I asked her what she did to you. She said it was none of my business." He paused. "So—what did she do to you?"

   "She's right." Renata ripped one of the packages open, spilling crumbs down her chin as she shook it into her mouth. "It's between her and me," she mumbled, her mouth full of crackers.

   "She seemed to have you in some kind of a trance," said Trent. "I'm just concerned, that's all."

   "Don't be. I'm a grown woman. I can take care of myself."

   Trent watched in wonder as she shoveled in the other package of crackers.

   "I've done all I can out here," said Edison. "Let's get him into the ship." He helped Hunter stand.

   Renata wiped the cracker crumbs off her face, then gave Hunter another hug. "I missed you," she whispered. "I missed you so much." Her left arm around his neck, she began sucking crumbs off her fingers.

   "Marry me?" he asked abruptly.

   She pulled away from him. "Good God, Hunter. My head's still spinning from everything that's happened. I'm absolutely flattered, but I-I-I don't…I mean, I have feelings for you, but don't you think we need to get to know each other more before we do something like that?" She put her lips to his, and they became locked in a long, deep kiss.

   "That's a good start," he said when they had finished kissing. He spit out some cracker crumbs, then smiled. "How about a first date then—when we get back to Novia? But to some place with no crackers, okay?"

   "I'd love that." She gave him another quick kiss.

   As they helped Hunter up the steps, he pointed toward Devon who was standing a short distance away from the ship. She had her hands on her hips and was staring at Richelle who was a couple meters in front of her, staring back. "You need to check her out. The poor girl's got a broken neck."

   Renata gasped. "Trent, did you verify that?"

   Trent looked down. "Um, yeah. That's what the Mediprog says. She should be completely paralyzed. The results can't be right."

   "They are," said Hunter. "She got it in the fall. Somehow she was able to hold herself together. Us too. I don't know how."

   Once they had situated Hunter behind the pilot's seat, Renata grabbed a small box of Novian sugar-red berries from a drawer, and she and Edison hurried back out. Edison started toward Devon, but she waved him off without even looking at him. He turned around and walked back into the ship.

   Renata had already finished devouring the berries. She reached into Edison's pack, which was next to the steps, and pulled out an assortment of foods. As she watched Devon and Richelle, she continued to feed her face.

   "Don't you realize who you are yet?" asked Devon.

   Richelle shook her head. "What are you talking about?"

   "You have to know by now," said Devon. "I know exactly what you are."

   Richelle laughed, then pointed at Devon. "You think I'm you? A Mendrax? Come off it."

   "She's mine, you know," said Devon.

   "Who are you talking about?"

   "You know who I'm talking about."

   "You're not making any sense. You've never made any sense."

   Devon began slowly walking in a wide circle around Richelle, her head turned toward her, her eyes trained on Richelle's face. "This is crazy."

   "Hey. I'm not crazy," said Richelle. "No more crazy than you."

Devon continued her circle, Richelle slowly pivoting to follow her.

   "What did you do to Rene?" asked Richelle. "I saw. You've been doing something to her ever since we got down here. You're not right, you know."

   "You know what I did…" Devon stopped walking; Richelle turned to face her. "I want to know what you did to her."

   "Why? What did she tell you?"

   "She's mine, you know. She can't have two of us."

   "Why can't she have both of us as friends? What's wrong with that?"

   Devon scoffed. "Damn, you're a sinister bitch. Don't tell me she's just your friend. You've already connected with her, and you won't admit it."

   A smile slipped through Richelle's lips.

   "I've been on to you all along. You were born in Russia, weren't you?"

   "And what if I was? So what? I know where you were born— Kazakhstan."

   "You could read my BIO, couldn't you?"

   "What about your BIO? Is there something in it I should know— other than you're a headcase?"

   "I thought so," said Devon. "Don't think you can have her. Because you can't. She's mine."

   Richelle turned toward Renata, then smiled. Devon turned as well.

   Renata blushed. "Uh, uh, girls…"

   "We're almost ready to go," said Edison, a bottle of fruit juice in his hand as he walked down the steps. He put a hand on Renata's shoulder. "We've got the boys as comfortable as we can make them. Arielle's still out, but she seems to be stabilized now. Ramon won't leave her side. You should hear that guy. I was telling them some of the stuff that happened to us, and he started calling you—Renata el magnífico—and he's dead serious…"

   "Do me a favor? I have to have something to eat. I'm starved. And something to drink, too."

   "Here." Edison gave her his bottle of juice. "Let me get Kalo Four loaded on the ship, then I'll bring you some grub. The IRM should be through repairing the ship's damage in about ten." He watched in amazement as Renata quickly chugged down the entire bottle, then he went into the ship.

   Devon and Richelle walked up to Renata, stopping in front of her.

   "I'm going in to look after your friend Ari," said Richelle. "I'm going to take good care of her for you. I know how much you love her, Rene. I love her too." She sneered at Devon, then started up the steps.

   "She's one of you," said Renata, "isn't she?"

   "I warned you about her," said Devon, "but you didn't listen."

   "Warned me about what? You never said she was a Mendrax."

   "I told you not to let her get close to you. You let her connect with you."

   "Connect with me? When?"

   "You know when. It happened a little while ago."

   "How? And if she did—how was I supposed to stop her? Hell, I don't even know when you and I connected."

   Devon grabbed the chain attached to Renata's cuff. "Interesting bracelet you're wearing. Richelle has one just like it." She yanked on the chain.

   Renata began to explain how she and Richelle became handcuffed together, but Devon cut her off.

   "How could you come all this way, then let her connect with you right before we get back together? Of all the goddamn luck." Devon looked down and began nudging small rocks with the toe of her boot. "She doesn't know exactly what she's done to you yet, but it won't take her long to figure it out."

   "Come off it. How can she not know what's she's done?"

   "She doesn't know yet because she's just become a Mendrax."

   "Devon. That's just plain nonsense. You expect me to believe a woman can just somehow magically turn into a Mendrax? So, when's my turn?"

   "She's always been one," said Devon, looking up. "Only something happened to her in her youth. I've seen it before. An accident or a botched operation leads to a block that stops her development. Perhaps that's why she used to stutter. I think the creature that attacked her down here pushed her beyond that block."

   "It's not a creature," said Renata. "It's a mineral. You were right. It's in the rocks, but it's not alive. It affects our brain impulses…"

   "You're wrong," said Devon. "It is alive. It attacked me too."

"It did? How? When?"

   "None of that matters," said Devon. "What matters is Richelle. She's a Mendrax, and she's already nailed you."

   Renata's mouth opened in shock. "Nailed me? So, did you nail me too? What am I? A thing for you and Richelle to fight over? If you haven't noticed, I'm all grown up. I don't need you or her."

   "Really? Who did you run to first when you came off the ship? You need me more than you think."

   Renata couldn't counter her. She knew too well Devon's cries for help had incited her to take the Jumper into the caves. Renata noticed Kalo Four was now moving behind Devon, toward the rear of the Jumper.

   "But I can't blame you for my mistake. I warned you, but I never told you how to avoid her—and you could have." She lowered her gaze. "I expected too much of you too soon." She looked up. "But I'm telling you, I don't want half a Sister. You're going to have to cut your ties to her. As you're going to find out, I'm extremely possessive and very jealous."

   "What?" Renata's voice rose. "You're making this sound like I'm a lesbian."

   "Look, Rene. I'm not a lesbian—you aren't either. Only the misinformed think that. What we have goes way beyond the physical." She touched Renata's shoulder with her hand. "I connected with you before you even realized."

   Renata stuttered. "B-b-before I went to the spring? When you touched my shoulder…"

   "Yes. That's when we first connected."

   Renata was stunned. Then anger overpowered her. "You never asked me if you could do that. What gave you the right to do that to me—t-t-to change my life forever?"

   "Desperation," she said, but with Devon's inflection, Renata couldn't be sure if it wasn't a question instead. "What I did was a gamble. You hardly knew me then. You could have totally rejected me, but you didn't."

   "Why me?" asked Renata. "No, better yet, maybe you can explain the transmission Keyes sent me. I know all about the double-dealing that went on. Who the hell is Aris? And why does she hate my guts?"

   Devon lowered her gaze. "Oh, so you saw Alexa then?"

   "Damn right I did. I don't trust that woman. Did she put you up to all of this? She seems like a controlling bitch."

   Devon began nudging rocks with her foot again.

   Renata began motioning with her hands. "And do you have any idea how much it hurt me when I found out I was sold—I can't think of a better term—sold to you over some damn velandrite deal? I felt about this small." She held up her forefinger and thumb, barely separated.

   Devon looked up. "Do you have any idea how far I've come for you?" She spread her hands apart as if she was showing Renata the fish that got away. "Do you have any idea how much you mean to me? She stretched her arms out wide. "You're special, Rene. Without you—I'm nothing. I need you."

   "And just who are you? And I want to know who Aris is too. No more games, please. If you want me to be your Sister, you have to come clean with me. God, I'm hungry." Renata glanced up at the ship's doorway. "Edison! Where's the food already?"