The Discovery' (Alternate Dimensions Book 4) Read online

  “You were at school, right? And that terrible girl was bullying you.” I closed my eyes, the scene playing before me. “She was always so mean. I really wanted to sock her one.” The briefest of smiles flashed across the alien’s face before I continued. “It was Friday night where I was, and I remember hearing the door slam. It was my stepfather, of course, but I hoped it was a slam of celebration, not anger.

  “But then I heard him call my name. It was never good when he did that. He kicked my door open, and he had something in his hand. I didn’t know what it was at the time, but now I know it was the handle of a car jack.

  “He was angry. So, incredibly angry. He hit me in the legs with it, and I fell. In that moment, I knew that he was going to kill me.” My voice was cracking again. How could a demon that was so far out of my life still cause me so much fear? I hadn’t spoken to him since I was taken away, yet he left me in just as much terror as the thought of being trapped alone in a room with Genesis. “I remember turning to you, and saying something, then I pushed you away so you wouldn’t have to see me die. I think I pushed so hard, I broke whatever link we had, and with that, there went all of your memories of us. That’s when he hit me in the head, again, and again, and again and there went all of mine.”

  I paused to collect myself, steadying my breaths with long, long inhales. “I woke up in the hospital with a case worker and a whole basket of problems. I had to go to speech therapy, physical therapy, and I had whole gaps missing in my memory. I knew my sixth-grade teacher, but I couldn’t tell you my mother’s first name. I knew my birthday, but not how old I was. I knew my street name, but not what town I lived in.

  “There was no Jyra in my mind. No Gee-Gee. I was vaguely aware that I was missing my imaginary friend, which made me incredibly lonely, but that was it.”

  “I am sorry.”

  “Why? You didn’t do anything wrong.”

  “I know, but I have been told that in moments where someone tells you a great trauma, it is a form of sympathy to apologize for what they’ve had to survive.”

  She was trying so hard. Did I really spend the past few months finding my long-lost friend just to alienate myself from her now? Angel had given her life to reunite us. I needed to get to appreciating it and stop having a little temper tantrum that our plan hadn’t gone my way.

  So, I reached out and linked my pinky through hers. “Thank you.”

  “Am I supposed to say you’re welcome? My lesson didn’t go past the ‘I’m sorry’.”

  “Not so much. People usually go for ‘no problem’ or ‘any time’. Sometimes even ‘I’ll always be here for you whenever you need’.”

  “I see. Then I will always be here for you whenever you need.”

  Despite the churning maelstrom within me, I managed a slight smile. It was strange being so attached to someone that I hadn’t seen in over ten years, but that’s where we were. I wasn’t going to question it since Gee-Gee was the only bright spot of most of my childhood.

  Movement caught my eye, and I saw the Captain’s body do—

  …Arq.

  I saw Arq step down from the center of the room and make her way to us, striding like she owned the place. Which I supposed she did.

  “Verdandi,” she said, nodding to both of us. “Jyra.”

  “Captain Arq,” I replied. This is when it had to happen. She was going to place the blame rightly on me.

  “I know you are not from our system, so I thought you might not understand our custom here.”

  “It is… different. Although I’ve heard some people on earth do celebrate this way.”

  “It is a celebration of everything she was and accomplished. I am so lucky to have known her. I only wish…” There was that hitch in her voice again. “That I might have had been there. I always imagined us going up in a blaze of glory together. Perhaps that was a bit selfish of me.”

  “Actually, Angel’s last words were of you.”

  Her eyes softened at the corners, and I saw them redden with restrained tears. “Is that so?”

  “Yes. She wanted me to tell you that she loved you. More than anyone she has ever met.”

  “R-really? Those were her exact words?”

  “Yes,” Jyra answered.

  The tall Sierr let out a short, mirthful laugh. “I always thought that I was blessed that she tolerated me. And then, when it seemed she took interest with me, I was over the moons. But I figured it was always a little bit one-sided. I was so star-struck by her, so enamored. I never dared to ask her how she really felt because I thought that it couldn’t be anything like what I felt for her.” Another laugh through her tears as they rolled down her cheeks. “But all that time, she loved me? A bodyguard she picked up off the slums of Latias. With all the fantastic, amazing people she’s met, she’s worked with, how could she love me more than any of them?”

  Yet again, I didn’t know what to say, so I just reached out and pulled her to me into a hug. She responded in kind, wrapping her strong arms around me and sobbing into my shoulder. It was a melancholy sort of sweetness to the moment. It was sad it took death to realize a love, but I suppose it was better to have had the love to lose in the first place.

  We didn’t part until she was ready, and when she stood, she wiped her tears from her eyes. “Enough of that. This is a celebration, isn’t it?” She took both of our hands. “Come, have a drink with me. I want to tell you of how I first met Angel. You wouldn’t believe the disguise she was wearing.”

  We allowed her to tug us to table and I felt some of the conflicting emotions within me settle. Angel was gone, and it was terrible and tragic and filled me with a fire toward destroying whatever remained of Genesis, but she had given us the biggest step up we could have possibly hoped for. I needed to be grateful.

  So I listened at Arq regaled us with her tale, sipping at the concoction she handed to us. Angel’s story had come to an end, but it was just a continuation of a greater tale.

  And I was going to have to live with that, because Angel couldn’t.

  Chapter Seven: Recovery

  I spent the night alone. Viys’k and Janix found other accommodations. Although I was working on not resenting them for drugging me, I still needed a bit of space. Luckily enough, when I rose from my sleep, I was feeling much more capable of handling the delicate mix of conflicting thoughts within me.

  But what to do? There were no real injuries to recover from, no massive rescue we were trying to get underway, no clever plan to enact. I suppose I still needed to talk to Jyra about whatever Genesis’ final plan was.

  I went about getting ready for my day, puttering about as I spoiled myself with another heated shower. I probably should also drop in with Bajol for a checkup. Just because I was mutating, didn’t mean I couldn’t get a nasty infection from all the various nicks and gouges that I had.

  First things first, I supposed I should extend the olive branch, so to speak, to Janix and Viys’k. Too bad I didn’t know where to find them.

  Actually, Bajol might be able to get in contact with them. I headed to him first.

  My walk to the Med-bay was short and filled with a vague sense of de ja vu. Thankfully, this one wasn’t the result of a prophetic dream about all our deaths.

  …How had I had that, by the way? After everything that had happened, I had never taken the time to sit back and ask why I had dreamed what I dreamed. Or how.

  “Hello, Bajol?” I asked, stepping into his old haunt.

  “Andi, is that you?”

  “In the flesh,” I answered, going around to the back part where he usually did his experimenting and tests.

  “To what do I owe the honor?”

  “Took some hard knocks down on the facility, wondering if you can just give me a once over.”

  “Absolutely.”

  “And also get in contact with Janix or Viys’k for me. I would like to talk to them.”

  He seemed to brighten at that. “Oh, you think you’re ready to see them?”

/>   “Yeah. I think I am.”

  “Wonderful. Well, if you don’t mind unzipping your jumpsuit, I’ll take a look.”

  “Oh, geez, buy me dinner first.”

  He rolled his eyes and shook his head at me, but I knew that meant he was amused more than he was annoyed. I did as he asked and sat on one of the examination beds, watching as he gathered what he needed.

  “You’ve got some nasty gouges there,” he said, pointing to my side.

  “Yeah. A kodadt got a grip on me. I wouldn’t recommend that.”

  “A kodadt?”

  “Yes.”

  He paused a moment, before putting another pair of gloves on and attaching what I recognized as a sterile field emitter to his front.

  “Oh, come on now, is that really necessary?”

  “Better safe than sorry.”

  I thought about the virus accidentally transmuting to the Sierr and causing a whole outbreak on the ship. “That’s a very solid point there.”

  “Thank you for your approval,” he responded before getting on with making sure all my bits and bobs were in order.

  It was about ten minutes before he finished, and pulled off his gloves. “I’m not pleased with the colors of those marks, so I’m going to give you an injection for that. I have a salve that should have those minor burns healed overnight. Anything else you need?”

  “Uh, a new conscious and a past with considerably less trauma?”

  “Sadly, those aren’t prescriptions I can dole out.”

  “Well, it was worth a shot.”

  “Right then,” He threw all of the examination tools in the incinerator, then looked to me with a smile. “I think Janix was in one of the common rooms, last I knew. I’ll send a hail for him.”

  “Thanks. You can tell him to meet me back at our room. And Viys’k, too, once I find her.”

  “And Jyra?”

  ‘Jyra won’t know where that is. I’ll find her in a bit if I need.”

  “All right then. You be safe now, I’m going to finish up a couple tests before I get ready for my return to Jyra’s old lab.” He paused for a moment and seemed to consider something. “Do you think she would want to come down and reclaim her territory?”

  My eyes went a bit wide and my stomach churned at the thought. “Maybe?” I said, trying to keep my tone even.

  But Bajol was far too clever for that. “Right. You’ve just been united, I suppose you don’t wish to speak about being separated again. I’ll be calling Janix just shortly.”

  “Thanks, furiendo. I’ll make my way back to my room.”

  I hopped off the table and zipped myself up. With a little wave and a catch of the bundle of meds Bajol tossed to me, I returned back to the quarters I usually shared with the rest of my crew.

  We had spent a lot of nights together, hadn’t we? All huddled in one bed while we clung to what small bit of consistency we had. I couldn’t keep them away any more than I could give Jyra up.

  The only issue, I quickly realized, was that we didn’t have any chairs or table in our humble abode. It had never been a problem before, as I would usually just perch at the end of my bed, but that seemed a bit informal for the conversation I wanted to have. Yet it didn’t seem like I had much of a choice, so I sat cross legged on the foamy mattress and waited.

  A knock sounded on the door and I hastily cleared my throat.

  “Come in!”

  The entrance slid open and I saw Janix standing there uncertainly, his hair pulled back into a bun not too different from how Jyra’s.

  “Bajol said you wanted to speak with me?”

  I nodded. “Yeah. I think we need to have a talk.”

  “Thank gods,” A broad smile broke out across his face and he strode over to the bed across from me, sitting on it in a muscular mirror of my own position. “I was really worried about you, you know. But I wanted to respect your need for space.”

  “I appreciate that,” I said, trying to find my words. “I had a lot of complex… feelings.”

  “Yeah, I imagine. It’s never easy, losing a friend you know, but I hope you realize that you don’t have to be alone in this.”

  “Yeah. I’m starting to get that. Which is nice. But that’s not entirely what I wanted us to talk about.”

  “Huh? What do you mean?”

  “Um, well, I-uh…” I swallowed, trying to wet my very dry mouth and reordered my thoughts. “We should probably talk about what happened between Jyra and I. In the facility.”

  “Oh, right! That was certainly something, wasn’t it?” His smile didn’t fade, which puzzled me to no end. “You know I had wondered if there were some grown-up feelings there, but I recon neither of you knew yourself until you saw each other for the first time. That’s a soulmate’s tale if I ever heard one.”

  “Well, I mean, I’m not sure I would go that far. But I guess there was something there, maybe, I… uh-”

  “Come on, what are you being so bashful for? She’s fairly adorable, obviously smart as an ionic whip, and broke about every known law of the universe to get you here. If that’s not a good start of a relationship I don’t know what is.”

  Wait, what was happening? I thought that we were kind of a thing. Why was she so okay with this?

  “Do you think I’m her type at all? Does she go for the charming, wrong side of the law type?”

  “What are you going on about?” I blurted, completely at a loss.

  He looked quite taken aback, and tilted his head to the side quizzically. “What? Isn’t this what couples do? Discuss if we’re going to be a trio or more of a V?”

  “T-trio? V? What?” I was probably more exasperated than I should have been, but this wasn’t going any of the ways I had imagined it in the hundred or so times I had run it through my head.

  His puzzled expression only grew more intense before he finally let out a sound of revelation. “Oh, right. You’re human and you’re not from here to boot.” He nodded and gathered himself. “I think you’re acting this way because your culture is largely monogamous?”

  It was so bizarre to hear him say that like it was something unusual. “For the most part, yeah.”

  “Ah.” He brought his hands together, as if he was trying to compress his thoughts into an easy to digest conversation. “Okay, so how do I go about this?” I didn’t say anything, waiting for him to find his words. “My culture is very much not monogamous. I mean, it’s fine for the odd people who are the most comfortable that way, but it’s not the norm. The majority of relationships are trios, but when a lodee is involved, there’s often four partners. Of course, not all partners need to be in a relationship with each other, hence the V versus trio labels, but many clusters are closed within each other.”

  “Oh…” I stammered, not sure what to say at all. “I… I didn’t know that.”

  “Yeah, I’m piecing that together.” His smile diminished significantly. “But if you didn’t know that, was this meant to be a break up conversation?”

  “What? No!” I blurted. “I mean, probably not. That largely depended on what you said.”

  “Okaaaay…” He was right back to looking critical. “So, what was the point then?”

  “The point was to tell you that I might have feelings for her, but I don’t know. Before the facility I thought we were just best friends that were drawn toward each other. But now… I’m not as sure. I can’t deny that there was something in that kiss.

  “But on the other hand, I’m a fairly sexual person, and from what I know of Jyra, she is not. I don’t even know if we’re compatible, or if it’s selfish of me to worry about that at all.”

  “Oh, Andi.” He crossed over to me, looping an arm over my shoulders. “Life’s a lot harder when you try to cram every emotion into a proper container. Just feel what you feel. If you like Jyra, then you like Jyra. And if you don’t, you don’t.”

  “And you’re fine with all this?”

  “Of course, I am.” He turned my head toward him, and I was look
ing into his electrically bright eyes. “Look, I know that I come off as a cocky ass, but if you think for one moment that I believe I could possibly demand all of you when there’s dimension upon dimension of people out there to share your heart with, you’re crazier than I thought.”

  “But I don’t know if I’m like that,” I said, tears squeezing up. This was so silly. Why was I crying? Janix was being all together lovely, yet my anxiety wasn’t easing. “What if I only can love one person?”

  He rolled his shoulders. “I would be upset, of course, and a bit confused at how that’s possible, but I suppose, I would have to understand. But for now, in this moment, if you tell me that you still want me by your side, then I will be there until you kick me away.”

  “Thank you,” I whispered.

  “There’s nothing to thank me for.” He stroked away my tears with his thumbs and cupped my cheeks with his palms. “I would like to kiss you now, if I have permission.”

  I laughed through the salty little rivulets. Trust Janix to break the serious mood with some levity. “You have my permission.”

  “I was hoping you would say that.”

  And then his lips were pressing to mine and the maelstrom within me was replaced by a very different sort of frenzy.

  My hands went to his jumpsuit, fingers scrambling for his zipper. I practically yanked it down, and my digits hungrily explored his much warmer skin.

  He was an amazing mapwork of muscle and scar tissue. Stories wrote themselves across his flesh, and I wanted to learn every single word of them.

  His hands were also not idle, and I found my jumpsuit quickly pooling around my waist.

  “You’re so beautiful,” he whispered, breaking away from our kiss to press his lips along my neck and collarbone. I could only hum into his attention, and I felt him smile into my pale, blemished skin. “I quite like that sound.”

  “Do you?” I asked, my hands finding purchase at his back and pulling him flush to me. “You’ll have to make me do it again then.”

  “I think I can work that out.”

  His smile was devilish, and I couldn’t help but laugh again. The smuggler had such a knack for making even the most serious of matters something to have fun with. And we were going to have quite a bit of fun. I was sure of that.