Chapter Thirteen
“THE FEDERATION has arranged quarters for us in the Galactic Palace.” Kahn escorted her along a moving walkway, through a garden ripe with the spicy fragrance of exotic flowers, all in purples from ochre to lavender. The dome overhead had darkened, creating a false night sky with moons and stars, but the trees captured her attention, their trunks, branches, and leaves glowing with a phosphorescent beauty that stole Tessa’s breath.
This planet was truly a marvel of advanced engineering and art. She leaned against Kahn to take a little strain off her aching feet, pleased to share this experience with him. “For how long has Zenon been the Federation’s capital?”
“No one really knows.” Kahn seemed less tense now that the welcoming ceremony was over. He held her hand, his fingers laced through hers, his tone more relaxed than usual. “Originally, a race now called the Perceptive Ones inhabited the planet. They left behind the equipment that builds our psi-controlled suits. Our people were thrilled to get one for every citizen after my father won the Challenge.” Tessa imagined Earth’s citizens would benefit greatly as well. “Over the millennium, no one has ever replicated the machinery or produced suits like them. Therefore, over thousands of years, many wars have been fought for this world with a multitude of races taking and losing control.”
Their room at the Galactic Palace reminded Tessa of her chamber on the spaceship. Walls, ceiling, and floors decorated in the same shimmering gray bendar, their quarters boasted a domed ceiling and windows that overlooked a park-like setting where lovers strolled hand in hand or flew wing tip to wing tip. The major differences between the Palace room and the ship’s chamber were the artwork that floated from the ceiling in ever-changing shapes, the sculptures that framed the holoscreens, and the soft, luxuriant foam flooring.
The communications screen beeped, signaling that a message waited. Kahn took the call as she stared out the window, aching to explore, but too tired to appreciate more sight-seeing. She needed sleep and a change of shoes for her aching feet.
But when she approached Kahn and saw his sad expression, all thoughts of clothing fled from her mind.
“What’s wrong?”
“My father has requested a visit.”
“Don’t you want to see him?”
“I will not leave you alone, and I cannot bring you into the men’s quarters,” he spit out the last words with distaste. “I’m not going.”
“Men’s quarters?”
“Azrel keeps my father like a . . . pet.”
“Aren’t they married?” she asked.
Kahn scowled at her. “How did you know that?”
Damn. Dora had told her, and Kahn still didn’t know about her secret communications with the computer. She needed to be careful or tell Kahn the truth. She decided not to trouble him further.
“Azrel told me earlier.” Tessa shrugged. “I don’t understand what has upset you so.”
Kahn floated into a sitting position and tugged her onto his lap. “When the Federation initially contacted Rystan, my grandfather was our leader. He sent my father to compete in the Challenge.”
Though grateful to take weight off her aching feet, she still frowned. “But I thought all contestants couldn’t have any living family?”
“My grandfather lied. Since Rystan kept no written records of births and deaths, the Federation couldn’t verify the statement. Although my father had already married and I was ten-years-old, my grandfather sent him.”
“Your poor mother.” Tessa couldn’t help feeling sorry for Kahn, the little boy, too.
“My father successfully completed the Challenge, but to do so, Azrel made him give his word that he would submit to her. She refused to recognize his marriage to my mother, who died of a broken heart. To this day, Corban lives like a love slave on Azrel’s planet.”
Tessa thought of the beautiful, sensual, exotic green-skinned woman and wondered if Corban regretted his decision. “Does your father object?”
He shook his head. “I do not know. However, I cannot forgive him for what he did to my mother. He should have found another way to succeed.”
She noted he didn’t mention his own loss. “Who raised you?”
“My grandfather.”
She heard the bitterness in his tone, wrapped her arms around him, and held him tightly. He’d lost his father and mother due to his grandfather, whom he probably hadn’t forgiven either. No wonder Kahn trusted no one. No wonder he didn’t like to break rules. His grandfather’s lie and Azrel’s interest in his father had torn his family apart.
While Kahn had grown up without a family as she had, she’d become an orphan due to an accident. She hadn’t spent her life blaming the only family member she had left for her loss. Or aching for a father who had voluntarily given her up to live as a love slave to save his world.
Knowing Kahn as she did, he hated not only the bargain that his father had made with Azrel, he also hated the fact that his father might be content with his lot. The story explained much about him.
She kissed Kahn’s neck, snuggled against him, pleased that he no longer bristled when she initiated contact. Every day he accepted more of her Earth customs, and the closeness between them grew. This was the first time he’d spoken to her of a personal concern, and she badly wanted to help. “How long since you’ve seen your father?”
“He never returned to Rystan after the Challenge.”
“You hadn’t spoken via your hyperlinks?”
He shook his head. “At first, we feared the Federation might learn of the deception. After the statute of limitations on Corban’s Challenge win finally passed, so much time had gone by that opening up old wounds seemed pointless.
“You must go speak with him,” she urged. “I would give anything to talk to my parents again—just once. You cannot give up this opportunity, or you may regret it for all your life.”
“No.”
“Kahn, the choice must have been difficult for him. Think of the decision he had to make—to give up the family he loved so his world could join the Federation—the choice could not have been easy. You owe it to him to listen to what he has to say.”
“No.”
Although he sounded certain, she caught a certain convince-me look in his eye that made her keep pushing. “Carrying such bitterness inside can taint the soul. Go talk to him. See if you can find it in your heart to forgive him. And if you cannot—at least you’ll have judged him with the eyes of an adult and not those of a child.”
He hugged her. “Woman, your words have merit.” He astonished her by admitting that much. Whether he realized it or not, Kahn was changing, and she couldn’t have been more pleased by his open affection. “However, I cannot leave you.”
“Of course, you can. I will be fine.”
He fisted his hand in her hair, gently tugged back her head so he could stare into her eyes. “Promise me that you will not leave this chamber until I return?”
“I promise.”
TESSA MADE the promise with every intention of keeping her word. She was tired enough to sleep for a week. Her feet ached from her shoes, and the tension of the long day had caught up with her. Most important of all, she had committed herself to her marriage and to Kahn. His honor attracted her, and when he wasn’t bossing her around, she genuinely liked and cared for him, even if she didn’t always understand him. Before he left, Kahn released her from the shoes, and she changed her dress so she could comfortably sleep, and she figured Kahn would be back long before she awakened.
Still, before she rested, Tessa examined the tiny slip of paper Azrel had secretly placed in her hand. She frowned at the series of numbers there, but too tired to consider questioning Dora, Tessa closed her weary eyes and immediately slept.
Several hours later, Tessa awakened to a pounding on the door. “Who’s there?”
“Azrel.”
Kahn still hadn’t returned. While Tessa had promised him not to leave the chamber, she hadn’t agreed to refuse visitors. Besides, Tessa was curious about the middle-of-the-night visit from Azrel.
Using her psi to cover her body, Tessa also opened the door. “Come in.”
“I’m sorry to disturb you, but while Kahn is detained I thought I’d pop over for a visit.” The green-skinned woman entered the chamber, her expression serious.
“What do you mean? Why has my husband been detained?”
Azrel laughed, delighted with something Tessa didn’t understand. “Do not worry. His father requested that I arrange for the two men to spend the night in conversation. They have years of catching up to do.”
“So why are you here?”
“I thought we should become . . . acquainted.”
“Why?” Tessa knew Kahn didn’t trust this woman and kept up her guard.
Azrel sighed. “Our society is a matriarchy. And while Corban claims he is happy, he is not.”
“Kahn says his father is a love slave.”
Azrel smiled. “Corban does not object to that.”
“So what is the problem?” Was Kahn’s stepmother, Tessa’s mother-in-law, asking her for advice? She didn’t have any. She wasn’t even sure what was going on. But if Kahn was anything like his father, she imagined the adjustments Corban had to have made to live on Azrel’s world had to have been enormous.
Again, Azrel’s smile faded. “Corban can never be free on my world. I was hoping a visit from his son would cheer him. They haven’t seen one another in over twenty years.”
“Kahn told me . . . that you broke up his parent’s marriage.”
“Kahn believes what his grandfather told him. His grandfather lied again.”
“I don’t understand.” Tessa rubbed the last of the sleepiness from her eyes and helped herself to a cup of coffee. “Would you like some?”
“No, thank you.” Azrel composed her body, floating into a sitting position. “Corban’s father lied to the Federation about the fact that Corban had no family. He certainly wasn’t a virgin, and although the Federation can bring people through time and make psi suits, they have no way to prove whether a Rystani man is telling the truth. Anyway, after Corban won the Challenge, his father couldn’t allow him to come home. He still feared the Federation would discover the lie and revoke the Challenge win. So he told another lie. He told Corban that while he’d been gone for the Challenge, his wife and son had perished in a storm. He begged Corban not to return until the law of limitations had passed and ten years had gone by. My husband did as his father requested, never knowing he’d left behind his wife and son.”
“Oh . . my . . . God. Kahn doesn’t know . . .”
“He does now.” Azrel’s face was grim. “My soldiers had orders to keep Kahn there if he tried to leave before Corban tells him the truth.”
“Kahn may not believe him. There’s much anger inside him and hurt. It might take more than one visit to overcome . . . the distance between them.”
“Exactly. After you complete the Challenge, I thought we could visit Rystan. This is presumptuous of me, but I hoped you would offer an invitation.”
Wow. Tessa knew Azrel could be lying, but she didn’t think so. The woman truly appeared to want Corban to regain ties with his son. “I’ll see what I can do, but I have promised to follow Rystani custom, and I’m not sure if I’m allowed to issue invitations.”
“Trying is all I ask, and it is generous of you to accommodate me. After seeing what a mere two decades of marriage have done to Corban’s spirit, I fear how several hundred more years on my planet will affect him.”
“Several hundred years?” Tessa eyed the woman over her coffee. “Excuse me if this is a personal question, but how old are you?”
“On Scartar, no woman likes to admit her age. It is probably much the same throughout the galaxy, at least among humanoids,” Azrel qualified. “I am four hundred and fifty-four years-old. My life expectancy is about nine hundred years, just like yours,” Azrel told her.
“No,” Tessa shook her head vigorously. “We only live about eighty to one hundred years. Unless my suit isn’t translating your numbers properly.”
“Your translator is in perfect working order. The numbers are accurate. You see, the suit increases life expectancy for everyone, eight to ten times normal.”
Tessa rocked back on her heels. “Nine hundred years,” she repeated, stunned.
“Yes, and you are married to Kahn for all nine hundred of them.” Azrel brought Tessa back to reality gently. “Do you love him?”
“Why is this your business?” Tessa asked warily, still stunned by Azrel’s story and her new life expectancy.
“Do not be insulted. Corban was forced to adapt to Scartar, and obeying the laws of my people was a difficult adjustment. Do you realize on Rystan you will not be allowed to work outside the home, keep credits in your name, and that your value will be decided by how well you cook?”
Tessa tried to hide her dismay. “I suspected some of this, but Kahn has been damn secretive about Rystani culture.” She didn’t know if she could live in such a repressive society. Live for nine hundred or a thousand years? Her mind boggled, and she focused on the mundane. “I don’t even know how to cook.”
“Earthling, you have nine centuries to learn,” Azrel’s voice was kind, trying to console her.
“Maybe I should buy a food materializer since there are none on Rystan.”
“Those machines are very expensive. Only a few wealthy races have them, like the Zenonites and the Osarians,” Azrel explained.
“But I’ve one million credits. I could buy one,” Tessa said excitedly, and then she could drink coffee whenever she liked. “Or isn’t that enough money?”
Azrel laughed. “You have plenty of credits.”
“Great.” Tessa had many purchases she wanted to make before Kahn returned and they headed to Rystan. “Where are the stores? Are they open all night?”
Azrel’s green tinted skin deepened to emerald as she headed for the holovid. “You, my daughter, are going to set Rystan on its head. This is how you shop.” A neatly organized viewscreen appeared. Categories were indexed and items priced. “I’d recommend that you ship all merchandise directly to your ship. And I must take my leave. Corban will fret if I do not return soon. One last thing.”
“Yes?”
“The paper I gave you has numbers on it. If you ever want to contact me, plug the sequence into a communication console.”
Communication console? Hmm, Kahn had told her they hadn’t had one on Rystan until recently, but maybe she could buy one of those for personal use, too.
“Thank you. And I’ll do what I can to see that Kahn issues that invitation.”
After Azrel departed, Tessa scanned the lists of services and merchandise in fascination. Detailed descriptions with pictures could be accessed for further information. Quickly, Tessa searched for the food materializer. Azrel had told her they were expensive, yet they only cost a thousand credits. In addition, Tessa bought the stock elements to create enough food to last ten people one thousand years. This set her back another twenty thousand credits, but she didn’t hesitate.
After all, there was absolutely no point in saving the credits. If she died, the credits were returned to the Federation. If she lived, Kahn probably got to control them.
As rich as she was, the next item, even she couldn’t afford. A small space ship with a warp drive was out of her league. Reluctantly, Tessa skipped the transportation systems and moved on to communications.
Tessa also looked for hand weapons, but couldn’t find any. However, she did purchase a beautifully crafted knife to give to Kahn as a present. When she scanned for computer information, she hit pay dirt.
“Dora. Take a look at this stuff.”
“Compliance.”
Tessa was tired of being ignorant. She couldn’t make informed decisions when she didn’t comprehend the kind of new situations she faced on a regular basis in the Federation and was delighted for the chance to rectify her situation. Knowledge was power and she could improve her opportunities by educating herself. “Buy every scrap of information to update your memory banks.”
“I cannot hold all the information available.”
“Then buy more memory. And hardware so I can keep you with me on Rystan.”
Dora squealed, clearly delighted. “These purchases will be expensive.”
“If I’m to survive, I need an education. I’m tired of working in the dark.”
The information and technology were remarkably exorbitant and Tessa’s available funds significantly dwindled. Yet, she felt her money was well spent. She just wished she could find information on the Challenge—but that was classified.
Quickly, Tessa spent the rest of the credits, picking out gifts, toiletries, vid-tapes, a cleaning machine, a robotic baby sitter and a weather forecaster. Anything which caught her interest, she quickly bought and sent to the ship.
When she finished, she checked the time. She’d shopped for hours and Kahn still hadn’t returned. About to check into his whereabouts, the door chimed and Dora announced, “You have another visitor.”
“Who?”
“The Osarian.”
“What could he want with me?”
“Why don’t you open the door and ask him?” Dora prodded.
Tessa knew Kahn wouldn’t approve, yet curiosity got the best of her. Using her psi, she opened the portal and the Osarian slithered inside.
She immediately grabbed a tentacle, seeking the reassurance of the link. “Greetings, Osari.”
Linked brain to brain, she could “feel’ the Osarian hesitate as if making a difficult decision. Then he opened the mind link wider and invited Tessa to enter his head.
She sensed no danger but after she delved into a maelstrom of emotions and the core of the alien being, she lost all conscious awareness, lost her sense of individuality. Gently, Osari guided her within his mind until Tessa read his true essence. There was a mixture of love and hate, charity and greed, suspicion and curiosity, but the predominant and overwhelming feeling was a generosity of spirit and loyalty toward a new friend from Earth.
She understood this was Osari’s way of reassuring her, a link that left him vulnerable. He spoke to her mind-to-mind. You are free to leave at any time. But I hope you will stay. I went to considerable trouble to arrange this meeting.
“Why?”
You do not speak freely in front of your mate, and you have secrets I wish to hear.
“What if I don’t choose to share these secrets?” Tessa challenged the Osarian boldly.
“Then we are not the mind-meld friends I’d hoped for, and I beg your pardon for pressing myself upon you,” Osari spoke in a flat voice, but through the mind-link Tessa sensed his hurt.
She held onto Osari’s tentacle. Harmony, friendship, curiosity and excitement came through. She didn’t know if he could lie to her through the link, but it seemed to her he had let her see and feel his genuine essence. And he meant her no harm.
“Forgive me, friend, Osari. I do not trust easily,” Tessa murmured in apology. She withdrew from his mind, but kept the emotional link. “Now, tell me why you are here.”
The Osarian spoke words, but emotions came through his tentacle. “My planet,” began Osari in a dry tone colored with pride through the emotional link, “has the dubious distinction of the best trade location in the galaxy. We are centrally situated between many natural space lanes. What makes our location unique are two black stars of equal mass, equi-distant from our planet.”
“This is good?”
“The black stars are extremely dense matter and exert tremendous gravitational forces that expedite commerce.”
“I don’t understand.”
He shot a mental image through the link. “Our planet is like the center of a sling shot which launches the star ships into space at minimal cost. Since my planet has such a prime location, certain members of the Galactic Federation have actively sought to prevent us from becoming too powerful. All traders are offworlders. No one will share or sell us the information we need. For centuries we have been forbidden from participating in the lucrative contracts that use our world as a center of commerce.”
“What is a trader?” Tessa asked still confused but appreciating the time she’d spent guarding Daron, the business tycoon who’d wheeled and dealed his way to a financial empire. During the months she’d spent protecting him, she’d also listened to his power plays, to his contract negotiations, and, most of all, to his business acumen. She hoped a little of his skill had rubbed off on her, so she could understand the dynamics of Osari’s situation.
“Traders negotiate the contracts of goods and services passing through space and earn their commission by charging a percentage of each transaction.”
Tessa understood that the Osarians would have to be upset that their world was so useful and that they weren’t profiting by it. But she didn’t understand why the Osarian was here. “What does all this have to do with me?”
Dora answered through her earrings. “We have purchased the information the Osarians need to conduct business, details others refuse to sell them due to their prejudice. That information came in with a batch of data concerning planetary imports and exports. We also have up-to-the-moment credit reports and detailed starship schedules.”
“I was told you did some interesting shopping,” Osari pressed gently.
“Your source is accurate.” Tessa saw no reason to lie, but she didn’t like being spied upon. “I bought the information you want or so Dora informs me.”
Startlement swept through Osari’s link. “Who is Dora?”
“Dora is a computer and my friend. She’s sentient and I would ask you to please keep all knowledge about her a secret.”
“Osarians keep many secrets. Have no fears, Tessa. Osari thanks you for the trust. Now I have a request.”
Tessa tensed, sensing the Osarian had finally come to the real purpose for the meeting. But she didn’t speak. Daron Garner had taught her that often the person who spoke first in a negotiation lost the upper hand. So she schooled her patience and simply remained silent.
“I would like to purchase shipping information from you. Before you answer, I must warn you that though I will keep our arrangement a secret, there’s a possibility others may find out and the discovery could put you in danger.”
Tessa shook her head in frustration. Once again she had to make decisions without enough information. “What kind of danger?”
“Our use of this information will cut into the profits of others.”
“I’ve always believed in a free market.” Still Tessa hesitated. “Will this information affect Rystan?”
A negative came through the link. “However, the Endekians, Cytons and Rangoji will not be pleased. They have kept this information from us for centuries.”
“So how did I end up with it?” Tessa asked Dora.
“I purchased in bulk,” Dora explained. “Vast quantities of economic data came in, and I pared it down to the essentials. The information came from a variety of sources, each person believing their piece was common knowledge. The Osarians can’t do the same thing. Too many aliens refuse to deal with them.”
That’s terrible. “Dora, how lucrative are these contracts?”
“Traders charge a standard rate of two percent of all transported cargo. Profit depends upon the number of contracts and volume of business. The Osarians are a very enterprising and hard-working race.”
“Will I break any laws by selling this information?” Tessa asked both Dora and the Osarian.
“No, dear,” Dora replied, “you’d only break an unwritten law of discrimination.”
“I would never ask a friend to break a law.” The Osarian’s voice came through flat, but from the link Tessa sensed she might have insulted her new friend.
“Forgive me, please,” Tessa said. “I’m new to Federation ways and must gather all the data I can before making this decision.”
“I understand.” Osari sent more warmth through the link.
Tessa wondered if the emotions he sent could influence her judgment. Yet, she didn’t release his tentacle and return to verbal communication. “Osari, how much will you pay for the information?”
“Five million credits.”
Tessa whistled in appreciation at the size of the generous offer. She had bought the information for less than one million that afternoon. Yet, still she hesitated. Azrel had told her that she couldn’t keep credits in her name, and she’d assumed if she didn’t spend the funds Kahn could take them after they arrived on Rystan. However, if she had a source of income and she kept her credits on other worlds, she could protect her assets—especially if Kahn didn’t know about her side business.
Although Tessa fully intended to make her marriage work, if it didn’t, she wanted the means to return to Earth. This might be her chance to give herself a way to escape Kahn—one she hoped she’d never need. She’d already known that Kahn would put his people’s needs before his own, but since she’d learned how his grandfather had lied to him, how his father’s affection had been withheld, she couldn’t help being proud of the man he’d become. Although she and Kahn had had a rough start to their marriage, he was coming around. He’d made many concessions, letting her train for the Challenge as a man, listening to her opinion about his father, and she was certain she’d won a measure of his respect. Besides, the wondrous psi link when they made love was simply indescribable.
“Why don’t we barter?” Tessa bargained. “I’ll trade you the information for partial ownership in your venture.”
“You wish to be our partner?” Osari asked. Through the link, he sent astonishment. Apparently no humans had ever wished to go into a partnership with an Osarian.
“Yes,” Tessa said firmly, instinctively sure she had made the correct decision.
“I am unprepared for such an honor.”
She’d shocked the normally serene Osarian into confusion.
“Friend Osari, have I offended you in some way?” Tessa asked as jumbled emotions flooded the tentacle linkage, dazing her.
“I must contact my home planet with your offer. Osari does not have the authority to accept. May I please use your communications vidscreen?” Osari requested.
“Help yourself.”
Tessa broke the link but not before learning that the Osarian was even more isolated on Zenon that she’d imagined. Osari hadn’t just sent emotions through the link but information about his people. The Osarians used telepathy among themselves and often linked many minds together, enjoying a vast communal “thinking pot” that she had difficulty expressing in words. Osari could function as an individual, but he preferred to be part of a group and with his own kind.
The link didn’t take long. Osari slithered back to her and placed a tentacle in her palm. “They’ve agreed,” Osari told her exuberantly. “We’re partners. At first, my people were just as shocked by your proposal as I was, but now the entire planet will celebrate.”
“As will I—in private.”
“Here is our contract.” Osari handed Tessa a shiny disk that Dora scanned and quickly translated. Tessa was a fifty percent partner of all Interstellar-Osarian trade agreements negotiated by an Osarian that used the data she’d supplied. Tessa was to provide the current information she’d acquired, plus updates, if she could still obtain them. She signed the contract, provided a thumb print and retinal scan, and recorded her copy of the contract in Dora’s memory banks.
As Tessa, Dora, and Osari worked out the practical details into the early hours of the morning, Tessa fought to stay awake with coffee. Osari would personally oversee one-third of her credits, one-third would be sent to Rystan, and one-third sent to a bank account on Zenon. In addition, she and Dora modified an encrypted communication system so Dora could contact the Osarian wherever he might be in this quadrant of the galaxy—without using the spaceship’s network.
Satisfied and exhausted with her new business arrangement, Tessa hugged Osari good-bye. His cold slimy tentacles left her covered with ooze, but her suit automatically cleaned up the mess. Her eyes burned dryly from sleeplessness, and she felt empty and drained, yet jazzed about this new venture, too. Despite her caffeine induced coffee buzz, she was so tired, her nerves throbbed. Bone-weary with fatigue, Tessa wished she could activate her null-grav and sleep on a cushion of air.
However, without Kahn there to float her, she simply lay on the floor, closed her eyes, and fell into an immediate sleep. It seemed only moments until Kahn shook her awake.
She didn’t want to open her eyes, but he kept shaking her. When she ignored him, he clasped her shoulders and yanked her to her feet. She opened her eyes and then wished she hadn’t. Kahn glared at her, his expression fierce, his jaw tensed, the cords of muscles in his neck bulged with tension.
“What? What’s wrong?” She’d never seen him this angry and would have taken a step back—except he held her up in the air, rage twisting his mouth into a tense, grim line. Only once before had his anger come close to this kind of fury, after she’d stolen the shuttle. Although she knew he would never strike her, fear shot up her throat and made her mouth dry as the Zenon desert.
“Tell me there’s been a mistake,” he ordered. “Tell me that you didn’t spend all the credits.”