The Light-Field (4 page)

‘As powerful as you are, Bob … Or should I call you, Starman?' Anselm queried. ‘Or perhaps you'll tell me your real name, now that we are working together?' Anselm pulled out a handheld database, and showed Zeven an article in the local news about a promising young pilot referred to as Airman Gudrun, who had gone missing. ‘There are a few loose ends we might need to square away.'

Zeven was shocked and then frustrated, but only for a second. ‘So, you know who I am,
answer my question
, or I'll pop off and you'll never see me again.'

‘Why do you mistrust me so much?' Anselm had obviously never met someone so openly wary of him. Most perceived him as charming and accommodating — the Peacekeeper of the USS.

‘Things you did in the future give me cause to be cautious,' Zeven stated.

‘You cannot hold things I'm yet to do against me,' Anselm reasoned. ‘Besides, we share the same Juju now, if not the same
bloodline, so how can I possibly fall short and not be held to account by you and our Timekeeper?'

Zeven let down his guard a little, as Anselm obviously realised that it was Taren who Zeven answered to; clearly Anselm was happy to take his cues from her too. ‘You broke a couple of promises to me once before, not that I remember much of it, because you then had my memory
altered
.'

‘I'm very sorry.' Anselm apologised, as he sanctioned such things before today.

‘Still,' Zeven had to confess, ‘I always did respect you, and found you pretty likeable, because you remind me of her.' The thought of not seeing Taren for five years hurt quite a bit more than anticipated.

‘Well, besides testing my spacecraft and saving pilots' lives, I also want you to be a go-between for me and Taren.' Anselm finally answered Zeven's question. ‘You have the ability to do that quickly and quietly, and you are the only person Taren really trusts.'

‘You got that right.' Zeven was proud that although Taren may have been in love with Lucian, she could not yet trust him with all her secrets, and she had
many
— only Zeven knew them all.

‘You are the
only
man for the job,' Anselm concluded. ‘So you see, that makes you my best and only ally. And quite apart from the business side of things, I like you, Starman. You're just like I was a hundred years ago. I see a kindred spirit in you.'

Zeven had to admit that he'd always been well disposed toward Jabez Anselm. Despite his misguided actions, he knew that the man had always just been trying to protect his daughter.

‘Please, if you could judge me on that which I have done, rather than that which I might do, I give you my word, as Taren's father and leader of the United Star Systems, that I will never betray your trust again … the truth is, I need you too much.'

Zeven could literally feel the sincerity flowing forth from the dignitary. ‘I believe we have a mutual cause that makes our ties to each other morally binding …'

Anselm nodded in serious agreement.

‘… but the universe help anyone who betrays the Timekeeper or any of her Chosen.'

‘In that knowledge, Starman, I've slept well this week, for the first time since Taren was born! The effort it takes to keep her hidden and maintain contact with her is near impossible, being who I am. How I
envy
your talent.'

‘We both know your viceroy has PK, right?' Zeven pointed out he was not completely unique.

Anselm nodded. ‘I discovered Khalid's power at around the same time he discovered I was trying to hide a child, so we made a pact to keep each other's secrets. I didn't know Khalid was a half-blood prince of Phemoria!'

‘You didn't guess?' Starman scolded.

‘Up until recently it has only ever been a rumour that PK is only strong in the royal line of Phemoria. Most Phemorian legend has been banned in Sermetica since the revolution that saw my forefathers banished from their home planet.'

‘Does Khalid know Taren is the daughter of the queen, and heir to the Phemorian throne?'

‘I thought not,' Anselm confessed. ‘But if my viceroy was behind my falling out with the queen, as Taren claims, then I must assume that he does know exactly who Taren's mother is. Still, as I never really trusted Khalid fully, he does not know her identity, what she looks like, or where she is.'

‘Then we'll ensure we keep it that way,' Zeven said, and Anselm was in complete agreement.

 

It was first class all the way to Sermetica for Zeven and, even though it was the first class treatment of a decade ago, and he'd seen all the in-flight movies before, the pilot liked being treated as if he was somebody. He travelled with Jabez Anselm all the way to Heavensgate, and not once did anyone query who he was. Maybe the president's men
already knew that Zeven was the pilot missing from Maladaan? That only added to Zeven's mystique, as such a disappearance had secret service recruit written all over it.

In Heavensgate, Anselm and Zeven climbed into a transporter inside the loading bay of the president's interstellar craft, alone. They sped down a ramp from the back of the spacecraft, out of the airport and straight on to Anselm's apartment.

‘How is it that a man of your stature gets to move about by himself so much?' Zeven marvelled at the lack of security.

‘Because I have always insisted on it … I run Sermetica and the USS; they do not run me,' Anselm advised. ‘I have a life to live too, you know.'

The high-rise penthouse boasted the best view of Heavensgate's outlying, floating cities, hovering above the desert planet. The president had his own private parking facility on the rooftop.

The most beautiful security guard Zeven had ever seen met them at the entrance door to the house. ‘Welcome home, Mr President.' She took his hand luggage from him.

‘Thank you, Tyra. This is Starman.' Anselm introduced Zeven. ‘He is the son of a departed friend and my charge now.'

‘Hello,' she greeted him warmly. ‘I'm sorry for your loss.'

‘Hi,' Zeven replied, rolling with his cover. ‘I'm okay … really.'

‘Starman is taking up residence here for a while, so I trust you girls will ensure he's well taken care of?' Anselm kept walking and so did Tyra.

‘Of course, that's our job,' she replied.

Zeven was stunned to a standstill as he noted the plural. ‘Girls?'

‘My housekeepers, Rada and Rebi,' Anselm explained. ‘You don't think a place this size keeps itself clean, do you? And unless you are a real good cook, I can tell you now that you'll be pleased to have these girls around.'

As they passed through an office area, Tyra headed toward her large reception-cum-security desk. ‘I'll inform the office of your return.'

‘I won't be going in until tomorrow,' the president instructed, ‘but I'll be staying at the government residence this evening.'

Tyra nodded as she sat down behind her work station.

‘Don't worry.' Anselm grabbed Zeven's attention from the beautiful security guard, and directed him through the twin glass doors into the penthouse proper. ‘All my personal staff are female.'

The first thing that was clearly apparent about the magnificent penthouse was the vast amount of sunlight, glass and space. Half the ceiling in the large open-plan living, dining and kitchen area was angled glass windows that allowed direct sunlight to beam into the room. The furnishings were modern, streamlined and chic, even by Zeven's futuristic standards.

‘Whoa,' Zeven gazed up at the high ceiling, ‘your place in the government sector must be pretty amazing if you chose to live there.'

Anselm scoffed. ‘It's nothing compared to this place. This is my escape house. I own it, not the government.' Anselm headed toward what appeared to be a huge enclosed glass sunroom, which ran off the end of his living room. ‘Now, where are my girls?'

Zeven followed his host out to discover it was, in fact, a huge pool area, where one of Anselm's young housekeepers was sunbaking topless and the other was swimming naked in the pool.

‘
Girls
.' Anselm called for their attention and received very different responses from them. The sunbather pulled on a wrap, whilst the other girl in the pool merely waved excitedly. ‘This doesn't look very good for my wholesome reputation, now does it?'

‘You could have warned us?' bantered the partially clothed brunette.

The blonde in the pool climbed out and presented herself dripping wet and naked. ‘What could be more wholesome than young naked women adorning your water feature?' she asked playfully.

‘Absolutely right.' Zeven had to agree.

These girls were gorgeous: tiny, slender and fair-skinned — like the girls back on Maladaan — and, apart from their hair colour, they were completely identical in appearance.

‘Have you brought us a playmate?' The naked blonde kissed Anselm's cheek as she gave him a hug. The brunette kissed and hugged Anselm also, and with one girl under each arm he presented them to Zeven.

‘Girls, this is the son of a deceased friend of mine, who is now in my charge —'

‘Oh …' both the girls murmured sympathetically as they left their employer to give Zeven a hug and console him about his loss.

‘No really.' He was going to confess he was not hurting, but as the beautiful twins closed in on him, Zeven thankfully thought better of it. ‘I'm handling being on my own pretty well … lately.'

‘You poor, baby,' said the brunette. ‘We'll take care of you.'

‘Would you like a massage? I give a great massage,' advised the blonde with much enthusiasm. ‘I'm Rada and this is Rebi.'

‘I cook.' Rebi, the brunette, winked at him.

‘And here I was afraid you wouldn't all get along,' Anselm said, with sarcasm and a touch of envy.

‘Can we keep him, boss?' Rada pleaded.

Anselm grinned. ‘I was just about to say that Starman will be staying here for a while and —'

‘Yeah!' The girls began jumping around in excitement, and Zeven was too dazed to respond — he was just so happy to be there.

‘But I'm just going to steal him away for a little bit …' Anselm peeled Rebi off Zeven. ‘We need to discuss a few things before I go.'

‘Oh!' the girls protested, but waved to Zeven as they returned to their recreation.

Zeven finally found his tongue as they entered the living area once more. ‘You are my new personal hero.'

‘And you mine,' Anselm granted.

‘So when do I get to work?' Zeven rubbed his hands together, eager to delve into his new lifestyle.

‘In a few days,' Anselm said, giving him leave to enjoy his hospitality.

‘A few days?' Zeven was disappointed. ‘What's the delay?'

‘I have a few things I need to organise.' Anselm seemed exhausted by Zeven's stamina and headed for the bar. ‘So take a few days off and enjoy the place.'

‘What things?' Zeven followed Anselm and took a seat.

‘Well, for starters, you are going to need a flight controller stroke navigator stroke project manager who we can trust to protect your psychic secrets.' Zeven immediately thought of Leal, but hesitated to suggest him, for fear of exposing his future friend's Powers or altering his future. ‘I'll run my problem by the Timekeeper and see if she can suggest someone.'

Zeven nodded. ‘Good call.' If Taren thought someone was trustworthy then he did too.

‘In the meantime …' Anselm placed an iced shot of bright green alcohol in front of Zeven. ‘I suggest you take a moment to forget the future, cast off the past and enjoy
this present
.' He held up his glass in toast to Zeven, who returned the gesture and drank to that.

 

Amusing himself for a few days really wasn't too much trouble for Zeven. The girls massaged him, cooked for him, showed him around town and even took him shopping for some new threads.

Amorous and attentive, Rada and Rebi ran around wearing very little most of the time, which Zeven found utterly delightful. Yet he could not bring himself to take advantage of his hostesses — even though they were inviting him to do just that at every given opportunity.

Yes, Zeven had come to realise that Taren's Juju stone was a curse upon his love life. If he took it off, he could expose himself to psychic detection and attack — Taren had made this mistake once before and they had both vowed not to repeat the error. If by some slim chance these girls were part of his soul-mind then intimate contact with them whilst wearing the Juju would enhance their psychic skill; Zeven was still nursing the battle scars on his heart from the last time he'd
allowed that to happen. The downside of wearing a stone exuding love and goodwill was that one was always compelled to do the right thing. He'd never have thought in his wildest dreams that having sex with young, willing twins was the wrong thing to do. Yet every time the opportunity presented itself to him, Zeven felt sick, fell asleep, got interrupted — and in the end just abstained of his own free will. He was getting a very clear cosmic message that the romp he'd been envisioning since he'd arrived just wasn't meant to be.

Anselm's home security-cum-personal secretary, Tyra, was all business however, and Zeven was rather happy about that, as she scared him. She was a lot taller than he was, dark-skinned, and just as muscle bound. Still, she was all smiles for her president's charge, and Zeven hoped he'd never see her angry side.

 

On the day that marked a week since his arrival on Sermetica, Zeven was eating breakfast by the pool when Tyra found him. ‘The president is sending a transport to collect you within the hour,' she advised.

‘Aw!' the twins objected.

‘But we were taking him sight-seeing today,' Rada explained their disappointment.

‘I guess we all have to go to work sometime.' Tyra smiled sweetly, and the twins' reaction was ‘not amused'.