Niya
I’m in the mess with Chlo and Nik Arca. It’s odd meeting someone I’ve heard about but never seen. Nik’s just as Chlo described him—golden eyes, longish blond hair, big, muscular body. The typical Big World Terran. An extremely good-looking male.
But not half so good-looking as the reckless Chorynean pilot, I think as I see Joston come into the room with Aeryen and a very pregnant female.
“Aymee?” I say to Chlo, who nods. Aymee also looks very much as Chlo’s described her, with a head of lustrous black hair I’m instantly envious of, and there’s something about her that reminds me a bit of Joston. Maybe it’s the cheekbones. They are both Chorynean.
I watch as Aeryen, Aymee, and Joston get their food. It takes them a moment to spot us, but when they do, they come over to our table and sit down.
Joston sits right next to me and I’m half afraid he’s going to kiss me right here in front of everyone. I’m also half afraid that he’s not going to kiss me.
He doesn’t.
Then a new fear arises. That he’s never going to kiss me again. Although that would probably be best.
But he’s sitting dangerously close to me and every once in a while I feel his hand on my arm. Innocent contact, yet it sends shivers through me. My body’s been awakened and I suspect it’ll take a long time to put it back to sleep, where it belongs.
If I have to spend two months on the Marinax with him, I don’t know if it’ll ever go back to sleep.
“Chengdry food is the most delicious in the universe!” Aeryen says after he’s finished eating. I’ve never seen him eat with such enthusiasm. I do agree, though. These Chengdry dishes are among the best food I’ve ever had.
Aymee tilts her head at me and I shake mine in response. No. He doesn’t know. I didn’t know until Joston told me.
“Ensign Nightbird,” Nik says in a very casual way, “I’d like to speak with you.”
Chlo stands up. “Yes, sir,” she says.
That was our cue.
Chlo and Nik have to discuss the arrangements for tonight—arrangements I haven’t given my agreement to, yet they seem to have become a foregone conclusion—but now Joston has gotten involved. He’s following us down the corridor back to Chlo’s quarters. It’s as though everyone but me has just assumed that Joston will be part of tonight’s getaway.
I couldn’t figure out how to stop him without calling attention to all of us. We’ve passed several crew members on our walk.
We get to Chlo’s quarters and enter when no one else is nearby.
“I think we should go during the vid,” Nik says after he’s brought Aymee and Joston up to speed on our, that is, Chlo’s, plans. “No one will notice we’re gone.”
“I can’t leave in the middle!” Aeryen says. “It’s my favorite!” He hasn’t asked about why we’re going to Engra, what’s happening, why this is a secret. Nothing. It’s not like him.
“You won’t be leaving,” I say. “You’ll be staying here.”
“On the Marinax?” Aeryen says.
You’d think I’d just told him that he could play in the backyard until midnight and never have to wash his hands again—his idea of heaven. At least it was his idea of heaven until Joston Lynar showed up and skewed that idea more toward piloting and reckless aviation maneuvers.
“Niya’s staying right with you,” Joston says, taking charge of something he’s got no stake in. That he’s got no business taking charge of.
“I’m not even sure we should be doing this,” I say.
“But this is so exciting!” says Aeryen, who doesn’t even really know exactly what it is we’re planning.
“That’s just it,” I say. “It’s too exciting.”
“There’s no such thing,” Joston says. He probably means that. Aeryen’s nodding in hearty agreement.
“Some of us had better get some sleep right now,” says Aymee.
“You’re not going either,” says Nik.
“Of course I am,” Aymee says. “How could I miss this? It’s the most excitement we’ve had since the Centreale.”
Nik sits back and sighs. “Then you’ll have to come with me. I’m not going to let you out of my sight.”
“I don’t think Aymee should go,” Chlo says.
“Is that your medical opinion?” Aymee says.
“It is,” Chlo says. “You should stay here. This close to your due date is not an ideal time to be sneaking about on covert missions.”
Aeryen looks at Joston, who says, “It means the same thing as secret,” and Aeryen nods.
The two of them have already developed a silent method of communication. It’s going to rip Aeryen’s heart to shreds when we settle in the Triangulum and Joston goes on his merry way with the Marinax.
“Maybe we shouldn’t be doing this,” I say.
“Decide now,” Nik says. He seems to be in charge of this so-called mission.
I look at my son, so enamored of his new friends and circumstances, so unaware of what awaits him in the future on Engra, and oblivious to what it is we’re really planning.
“I have to talk with Aeryen,” I say. “Can you give us a few moments alone?”
“Go into the bedchamber and shut the door,” Chlo says. “It’s soundproofed.” She looks a little embarrassed as she says this, and when I go into the room with Aeryen, I realize why. There’s a gigantic bed in here, which I imagine is another of Lasson’s purchases. He’s outfitted this suite like it’s a luxury hotel room. A soundproofed luxury hotel room.
“Mom,” says Aeryen after I shut the door. It’s dead quiet in here. We can’t even hear the conversation in the adjacent room.
“Yes, Aeryen,” I say.
“What’s really happening?”
“That’s what I want to talk with you about.”
“Are we going to stay here? On the Marinax?” But he gives me no chance to answer him. “We are! I knew it! This is the best thing that’s ever happened to me!”
“Aeryen, we have to discuss this, because once we decide, there’s no turning back.”
Aeryen jumps up and down on the bed.
“Sit,” I say, and I’m startled when he listens to me.
“You wouldn’t ever be able to go back to Engra,” I say.
“Okay,” he says, kicking his legs into the side of the bed.
“Or see your friends again.”
“I already have a lot of new friends,” he says.
“But, Aeryen, you have to understand something.”
I have to tell him now. I can’t dare keep it from him. He’ll never forgive me.
“What is it, Mom?” I guess he’s sensed the mood, because he’s sitting still, no longer kicking his legs. He’s gotten off the bed and he’s standing in front of me, daring me to tell him something dreadful.
“We’re not going to stay on the Marinax forever,” I say.
“Well, I know that,” he says.
“We’ll be here for a couple of months, then we’re going to find a new home in the Triangulum.”
Aeryen is unaffected by this news, which I thought would devastate him.
“With Joston,” he says, undevastated and so sure of himself that I can’t bear it. But I have to tell him the truth. Now.
“No,” I say. “Just us.”