“Oh.” She absorbed that. “Will you be doing the data retrieval or shall I?”
“I will set you up, and you can do the recall on your own. I will be nearby in case you need any assistance.” He pressed his palm to a door pad and leaned forward for an optical scan.
The door slid open, and he ushered her inside. She got her first look at the Archive access, and it was distinctly underwhelming. Three terminals, one master control and a view screen that reached from floor to ceiling made up the entire structure.
Penodal helped her to a seat and pulled a second seat close for Targo. “You can enter in the data that you are seeking, and I will begin the uplink.”
She entered Resko-Devi into the terminal in front of her and watched as Penodal sat in the master control, and he set a metal halo onto his head. He placed his hands flat on the desk surrounding him, and he breathed deeply. “Uplink commencing.”
The screen in front of her flickered to life, and she saw the data streaming regarding the possible location she would be spending the rest of her life in.
Chapter Nine
Resko-Devi had a peculiar life form that took the representation of dancing sparks of light. They had the odd ability to create objects from raw materials around their world. It was this ability that had thrown their very existence into jeopardy.
Raiders and casual passersby had scooped up a few of the Resko-Devi for their own purposes and depleted the population to the point where it was in danger.
After engaging the Sector Guard to help them, the Resko-Devi sat behind a phalanx of satellites and defensive weaponry, but the passive population did not like having that much metal in the skies above. Their view of the stars was blocked.
Rathi absorbed the information as it scrolled past on the screen. She had been designed to assess information and make a decision as quickly as possible. With all the information on the Resko-Devi absorbed, she quickly typed in
Ichadra.
The information was old, but she watched the rise and fall of the species that had designed her. When the data stream was complete, she sat back and turned off the monitor. Her skin shivered, and she welcomed Targo as he hopped into her lap.
Penodal rose to his feet. “Is that all you need to look up?”
“It is. Thank you.” She waited for him to open the door, and when he paused next to her, she felt his hand on her waist.
“If you are not doing anything this evening, I would love to discuss data mining and the histories of your people.” His low tone had a smooth and practiced rhythm to it.
She lied. “I don’t know anything about my people other than that which I have learned today.”
He didn’t open the door. “Would you care to learn more about the Citadel?”
His hand on her waist was making her uncomfortable. She reached out and gripped his arm. “I am sure that the Guard can tell me what I need to know. I am not interested in spending time with you socially if that is where you are heading.”
He blinked and backed up. “I understand…I think.”
“Good. Now, let me out, and I will return to the base.”
Targo was growling in her arms, and when Penodal reached out to touch her arm, he snapped at the archivist with his little beak.
Penodal quickly opened the door with the same security protocols that the entry required.
Rathi walked out with a distinct stride as she called out, “Thank you that was helpful.”
It wasn’t quite a run, but she made her way out of the Citadel at the most decorous speed she could manage. The moment she was clear of the building, she took off and headed back to the base for some meditation and some time to make out the details of what she had picked up. One thing rang in her mind over and over. She was not alone.
She paced back and forth in her room, Targo was romping in the open garden just outside her balcony and Jarrod had not answered her ping. If they sent him off world without letting him say goodbye, she would not forgive them.
A knock on her door brought her head around. She quickly opened it and hauled Jarrod inside.
He was confused. “What?”
“They made more than one.”
His eyes widened. “You? They made more than one of you?”
“Not exactly like me. A goddess of the elements and a goddess of green nature. There are two more out there. Or there were. I don’t know if they are still alive, but I want to find out. How can I access the archive without Penodal groping me again?”
Jarrod changed colour. “He did what?”
“He put his hand on my waist and tried to get me to agree to see him in a social venue.”
Jarrod’s hands clenched and released in irritation. “I will have to address that.”
“So, when are you heading out on your next assignment?”
She sat on the edge of her bed and stroked the fabric with her hands.
To her surprise, he knelt in front of her, leaving his head just slightly below hers. “I leave in a day. It is a non-essential assignment, but they want someone there just in case.”
Rathi caught on. “You can’t tell me because it is classified.”
He nodded. “Correct. Will you be all right when they send you to Resko-Devi?”
She shrugged. “I think so. I hope so.” Before she could change her mind, she held his head in her hands and pressed a soft kiss to his lower lip.
He trembled in her hands, and she followed her first kiss with six more, each slowly taking one of his lips between her own as she learned the different sensations that ran through her with every light touch.
He gripped her waist and held her lightly as he tilted his head to increase their connection.
When she stopped and looked into his eyes, his slow smile brought her back to him as he slowly stood and bore her back to the bed.
With delicate touches, he eased her out of her bodysuit, pausing to let her halt him if she chose to. She opted to let things run their course.
His clothing disappeared under her hands, and she felt a wince of guilt when she realized he wasn’t going to have anything to wear back to his room. Ah, well. His skin felt too good under her fingers to regret anything for long.
Jarrod moved over her, into her and they rocked together until she felt the strange sensation of leaving her own body in a burst of energy. When her system settled, she was curled against him, and he was on his side, stroking her slowly from shoulder to knee.
She shivered and looked up at him. “So, I can’t see how cloning ever caught on.”
He grinned and kissed her with a hand on her belly. “I think you need to get a meal. I will join you in the dining hall, all right?”
Rathi kissed him back. “I am sorry about your clothing.”
He chuckled and pressed his lips to the back of her hand as he faded from sight. “Oh.”
The tip of one breast felt the flick of a tongue before the door to her room opened and closed. She giggled. “I forgot about that.”
Rathi got to her feet and wobbled into the lav, taking a quick solar shower so that she wouldn’t feel sticky. A fresh suit and a quick brush of her hair later and she was on her way to the dining hall.
An irritated chirp from behind her stopped her just before her door closed. Wincing, she opened the door wide and picked up Targo. “Sorry, squirt.”
With him chattering his displeasure in her ear, she walked down the hall and got him a full plate of greens and seeds while she loaded up her own plate with some edible selections. She put Targo and the tray on a table before she returned to the beverage station for a glass of water and a small pot of tea.
She passed Jarrod on her way and smiled brightly at him as he went to collect his own meal. Though she was not up on the finer points of post-coital interaction, she was sure that a smile was in order.
They ate, and he asked her if she could remember any details about the clones in question.
“No. They were decanted before I was and taken from the Ichadra without any attempt at purchase. Two cities were burned to the ground to take them, so when I was decanted, they moved me.”
“Where did you learn all this?”
“I mugged the Archive. I know it was probably against protocol, but the information offered by the Cheekan archive was very interesting. I can’t confirm it until I find another source, but it is a wonderful thought that I am not the only one of my kind.”
He smiled. “I have a number of siblings, so I can understand how you feel. If I knew that there was someone out there related to me, I would engage in every possible means to find them.”
She sighed and toyed with her salad. “I am fairly sure that they have passed on. The only reason that I survived as long as I did was my situation underground in my resting state.”
Silence fell between them.
Rathi perked up and fed Targo a piece of lettuce that he was having problems with. “Of course, if either of them had children, I would have grandnieces and nephews out there. That would be interesting.”
Olaris walked in and got his meal. He paused next to them. “May I join you?”
Jarrod waved his hand in invitation. “Rathi, if you want to mention it to Olaris, now might be a good time.”
Rathi grimaced and explained the topic to the ex-stellar Avatar. When she was finished, he sat for a moment.
“Are you sure?”
She shook her head. “No. I am not. I have no idea if the Cheekan were correct when they recorded the first two Ichadra goddesses and their departure from their home world.”
Olaris nodded. “I understand the pain of separation. I will have some of the Seekers look into the possibilities. The Raiders are still in orbit around your home, so we will have to wait until they leave to get some good samples for a Reader to work over. Do you have any younger siblings?”
She frowned. “Not that I know of. There was never anything mentioned to me when I came out to defend the world, but I only came out, performed my duty and returned to my compound. I believe there would have been more notice if someone else had been decanted.”
Olaris ate in silence for a moment. “Is it possible that one of the clones caused the destruction of the Ichadra?”
Rathi paused while feeding Targo. “What?”
“An entire species was wiped out without notice. They disappeared without a whimper. Do you think one of the clones could have had a talent for disease?”
Jarrod was staring at her, and she shrugged. “Biological manipulation is definitely a possibility.”
Olaris nodded. “I will give Relay the data that you have accumulated and tell her what to look for. She may be able to locate the most likely places for your siblings to be.”
Rathi nodded, a ball of hope starting to swell in her chest. “Excellent. Now, when do I try out for Resko-Devi?”
“You leave at dawn. We have a pre-programmed shuttle that will take you there. We can’t broadcast co-ordinates, because it is a secure world. We are trying to keep the remaining population safe.”
She bit her lip and looked at Jarrod. “Can I have visitors?”
Olaris shook his head. “If the Resko-Devi accept you, you will be on your own with the exception of supply drops. I understand that you may feel cut off from contact, but you will have access to a secure com unit. You can talk with any of the Guardsmen and Citadel personnel anytime you wish.”
His bright smile sank her heart. She looked at Jarrod, and he met her gaze. Targo hopped over to her and nuzzled her chin.
“You can, of course, take Targo. If the Resko-Devi accept you, they accept him.”
It was a bit of brightness to her day that would have to keep the memories of the last twenty-four hours burning. Tomorrow, she would leave it all behind.
Chapter Ten
Jarrod was gone when she strapped into the automated shuttle. Targo had his own safe box on the seat next to hers, and Rathi kept her breathing even as the shuttle took off and accelerated away from Balen.
A tear tracked down her cheek as hours passed and the ship ran through its first automated jump. The moment that they had resumed travel to the next jump site, she felt a hand on her skin.
Looking down, there was no one there. She whispered, “Jarrod?”
A kiss to her lips left her in no doubt that she wasn’t alone in the shuttle. A tiny smile crossed her lips, and she enjoyed a stroke on her cheek before a tiny movement behind her told her he was settling back to the floor.
Rathi chuckled and stroked Targo. He was hopping up and down eagerly, enjoying his first space flight.
The second jump was followed immediately by a third, and an hour after that, the ship began running a complex web of signals that were picked up by the satellites in orbit around Resko-Devi.
The shuttle slipped through the defence grid and began its pre-programmed descent to the surface.
She scooped Targo up and let him look out the viewing window. “See that? That’s going to be home if all goes well.”
He chortled and shifted from foot to foot on the control panel.
The shuttle passed over green and scarlet trees, deep amethyst water and settled next to a building designed in a similar manner to the Citadel.
There was no sign of the locals, so Rathi got to her feet, cuddled Targo and slipped past the reclining form of Jarrod on the floor. He chuckled, and she heard him stand to follow her out the door of the shuttle.
She walked across the smooth stone surface toward the structure that seemed built for her. The first light flickered in her peripheral vision. She didn’t turn to stare, and it was soon joined by another light. She smiled and let Targo waddle around.
Rathi turned to the Resko-Devi, and she bowed. “Greetings. I am afraid that I did not come alone. This is Targo, and this is Hidden, a member of the Sector Guard.”
Jarrod shifted into view and the lights swirled in alarm.
“He has come because we are beginning a pair bond. The emphasis is on pair.”