Treason, page 3
“It will take some time to get her here,” Meija said. “She’s overlooking the opening of the maternity clinic in District Eight. Let’s give this girl some time to find her bearings first. If that doesn’t work, we can have Briar join us tomorrow.”
District Eight was located two hours south of the capital. Eventually, each new area would have a proper name, but so far it was easier to refer to them by their cube designation.
Heigel didn’t seem impressed. “She’s been here for months and has had plenty of time to find her bearings.”
“And it has been quiet around here in the meantime, so no harm in that.” Meija turned to level a disapproving look at Heigel. “Before you state the obvious, I know a lot can happen in the shadows when everything seems too calm. I still maintain that we will find out more if we don’t pressure her.”
Heigel flung up her hands. “And if you weren’t almost always right, I would be much more annoyed than I am.”
“What do you think, Neenja?” Meija asked, shifting her focus.
Neenja groaned. She hated being put on the spot. On the surface, this was a matter of policy and the best course of action, but she wasn’t stupid. Meija was asking her to take sides. “I think we need to pay close attention to Zoem’s vital signs and the symptoms she presents clinically. With any other patient, I would have thought she’s indifferent, or perhaps trying to pull one over on us, but not this time, not with her. Zoem’s response is subtle, but it’s there. And we are completely cornering her and stressing her out.”
“Really?” Heigel frowned and scanned Zoem’s face. “Anyone can squeeze some tears out.”
Neenja knew Heigel was one of the most brilliant minds among their people, but the woman could certainly be dense at times. Still, that comment was harsh, even for her. “She’s not squeezing them out,” she said. “She’s trying to hold them back.”
Zoem stared at Neenja now, her eyes large and darker than Neenja had ever noticed them to be. “My name is Zoem.” She sounded like she had just remembered.
“Yes, it is,” Neenja said encouragingly.
“My name is Zoem.” Zoem sounded shocked. “You were right. My name’s Zoem Malderyn.” Feeling to her left, she gripped Neenja’s wrist. Surprisingly strong, the pale, narrow hands held on to Neenja as if Zoem was afraid to let go.
“And what a pretty name it is.” Meija smiled at Zoem. “That’s a great start, remembering, and accepting, your name. You have made remarkable progress today.”
“Have I?” Sounding dazed, Zoem still clung to Neenja’s wrist.
“Absolutely.” Neenja patted Zoem’s hand awkwardly. She was not cut out to be a caregiver, or a counselor. Zoem’s skin was cold and damp to the touch. Alarmed, Neenja turned to Admiral Heigel. “I think the doctor needs to join us. She’s starting to show signs of shock.”
Zoem was beyond trembling now, her body shaking visibly, making her hospital garments flutter around her.
“Fuck.” Heigel rose. “We should get her back to bed.”
Meija pressed the sensor next to the bed as Neenja reached around Zoem and lifted the frail-looking woman into her arms. Appalled at how little Zoem weighed, Neenja carefully placed her on the bed and began pulling her arms free.
“No. No.” Grabbing fistfuls of Neenja’s uniform, Zoem clung to her. “Don’t leave me here. You’re right. I must hide. If I d-do, it might not find me. I won’t—I won’t—”
“What’s happened here?” Doctor Lo Gjorda stepped into the room, disinfecting her hands under the sensor before striding up to Zoem’s bed. She took one look at the distraught woman clinging to Neenja. “What the—” She pulled out her scanner and ran it over Zoem. “Someone, talk to me.” Her words were clipped, and she clearly wasn’t pleased.
Heigel recapped what had transpired since they had entered the room earlier. As she relayed the details of their conversation with Zoem, Neenja focused on trying to hear if any of the sounds Zoem was forcing past her clattering teeth were words or mere garbled whimpers.
“Nes—tro—cal—” Zoem looked pleadingly at Neenja. “Nestro—cal—” Sobbing now, she seemed to be in a full-blown panic attack. “Nes—”
“Quiet, everyone!” Neenja didn’t care that two of the other people present outranked her and that the civilian doctor legally outranked them all, as she was medically in charge of Zoem. “She’s trying to tell us something.”
The surprised silence made it easier to hear what Zoem was saying. “Nestrocalder. It will come. The Nestrocalder. It will find me, and people will die because of me. The Nes—tro—calder—” Zoem stopped talking as if someone clipped a cable, and her eyelids fluttered closed.
Neenja could hardly believe Zoem’s staccato words. Surely, she had misheard because of the woman’s shaking voice? The Nestrocalder, also known as the creature, would come? The mythical figure that was behind the abduction of Commander Pamas Seclan? It was here on Gemocon? Neenja had read Pamas’s report from her twenty-year-long abduction back on Oconodos. She was the mother of the commander of the air group, Commander Aniwyn “Spinner” Seclan, who had thought her mother had abandoned her and most likely was dead. When Pamas had revealed herself only a few months ago, she had also told them that the Nestrocalder was no mere myth.
The creature was real. The risk that it was on Gemocon had been part of the discussion, but they had found nothing to corroborate that possibility. If this woman, Zoem, was right, and it wasn’t her fear and flashbacks talking, they were going to have to regroup and alter their approach. Legend said that the creature was the most powerful changer of them all. If it was true, what could they possibly do to countermand such power?
Doctor Lo Gjorda pressed her fingers against Zoem’s long, slender neck. “Her pulse is rapid, but steady. I think she may have just fainted,” she said and tucked a blanket closely around the still body.
Not shaking anymore, except for a faint shudder traveling up along her body, Zoem looked like she had merely fallen asleep. The red hair spilled over the pillow, flowing like a copper river down onto the bed. The dark circles under her eyes looked like bruises, and Neenja could still feel how cold Zoem was. She pulled yet another blanket from the foot of the bed and tucked it in around her. “There. You’ll get warmer soon.”
“The Nestrocalder?” Meija murmured. “Could she mean that it’s really here?”
“If it is, I want to know how it got here. On which ship. The Advance ships? The Pathfinder? And if so, which cube?” Heigel asked, her voice menacing. “Clearly this young woman is terrified of it, and we all know some of what Pamas went through.”
“Yes, we do.” Adjusting her features so none of the other women could read her expression, or see the cold dread rise inside her, Neenja cupped Zoem’s cheek. The mention of the Nestrocalder made her own body clench, and she tried to envision what being in the Nestrocalder’s presence was like. Being threatened, coerced, perhaps even tortured—and still live to tell. In Zoem’s case, it had also meant being locked in a canister connected to her every system and used to create clones. “We need to bring in Caya and Briar Lindemay again. I know Caya saw some of the creatures in her visions.” The benevolent Lindemay sisters had time and time again saved the Gemoconian people by using their powers of clairvoyance and mindreading, which made them folk heroes. Caya was also married to the Gemoconian president, Thea Tylio.
“Agreed.” Heigel stood. “We also need Pamas.” Tapping her communicator, Heigel barked an order to a nameless subordinate about setting up a meeting. She turned to her wife Meija and placed a hand on her shoulder. “I want you to be part of this, Meija. You as well, Commander KahSandra, as Zoem Malderyn appears to respond to you.”
“All right.” Meija nodded. “And if Caya is going to be part of it, so will her wife.” She gave a gentle smile. “President, or not.”
Neenja tuned them out. Hoping that Zoem would wake up again, she was disappointed when the woman seemed to slip further and further into a deep sleep. Who could blame her, though? Regaining memories, talking, having a panic attack—it was a lot for most people, and Neenja thought this woman looked frail enough for a mild mountain breeze to topple her.
If the Nestrocalder indeed was on Gemocon, then Neenja knew what her ultimate mission would be. No matter whom she was assigned to protect, her main objective was to hunt this creature down—and kill it.
Chapter Four
Caya Lindemay opened the door to the new structure on the main street crossing the capital and took in the sight of two women standing outside. “Commander KahSandra.” She greeted the stern and daunting chief of the presidential guardsmen.
“Miss Lindemay.” Bowing slightly at the hip, KahSandra, tall, muscular, and rarely smiling, was all military, all the time.
Getting better at not letting other people’s private thoughts and lives enter her mind if she could avoid it, Caya still couldn’t help but pick up on how hard it was for the commander to keep her equilibrium at times. Turning toward the other woman, whom she was honored to call one of her closest friends, Caya smiled. “And Korrian.”
“Caya. You look even more radiant than usual,” Korrian said and kissed her cheek. “I know we’re early, but—”
“No, you’re fine. I just got here, and so did Briar. She’s making herbal tea.” Noticing KahSandra’s quick frown, she tilted her head. “I take it that’s not your favorite beverage, Commander? What can I get you instead?”
“Just water will be fine, sir.”
Cringing at the “sir,” Caya merely nodded and walked over to the kitchenette counter by the far wall. There her sister was pulling three mugs from the recycling unit.
“I heard,” she said and poured some bottled water into a tall mug. “Here you go, Commander.” She turned and handed it to KahSandra. “It is the first of a test batch from the wells in the north.”
KahSandra looked dubiously into her glass. “Oh, yes?”
“It has been tested and retested multiple times. Truth be told, we never saw such pure water on Oconodos. At least not during the last century.” Gesturing around her, Caya smiled. “What do you think of Briar’s and my new office space? We’re very happy with it. We can see clients in our special room at the back. It’s decorated in a way that gives the client a feeling of safety and of being in a regular home.” She motioned them over while opening a door.
Inside, soft, plush chairs and a couch created a perimeter around a low table. Paintings, books, and sculptures gave the space interest without overpowering the client. No technology other than the state-of-the-art mood lighting was visible.
“Amazing, Caya,” Korrian said, looking around. “Very restful. What do you think, Commander?”
KahSandra had walked into the room and studied it. Caya had never seen her grin broadly, but now she smiled faintly as she turned to them. “This is a lovely room, Miss Lindemay—”
“Caya. Please. All this ‘Miss Lindemay’ and ‘sir’ is totally confusing. I never know if the person I talk to means me or my sister when we’re in the same room. And we have gone through quite a bit together, Neenja. Can I call you that?” She hoped KahSandra would agree. Caya preferred to be on a first-name basis with the people she worked with.
“Absolutely, um, Caya.” Neenja looked rigid again, but Caya sensed she was not averse to the familiarity that using first names implied. Perhaps the woman was simply shy?
Korrian took a seat at the elliptical table and opened her briefcase. Pulling out her tablet, she motioned for the others to join her. “As you have been informed, the woman who is known as Zoem Malderyn has regained consciousness completely. The first two days after she came to, she was in and out of it, but during the last three, she’s been stable and managed to move about the security ward, regaining her strength.”
“You mean her physical strength, I would imagine?” Caya had sat down next to Korrian and opposite Neenja. She studied the commander, who looked apprehensive, or perhaps even disapproving. Without Briar reading Neenja’s emotions—and neither she nor Caya would ever enter anyone’s mind without explicit permission—they couldn’t be sure.
“Yes, of course. Although,” Korrian said and motioned toward Neenja, “Neenja has been able to reach her more than most. You may have a better insight to her emotional state.”
“I’m not so sure about that, but Zoem does seem to relax marginally around me.” Neenja shrugged. “I don’t like how fast some of this is going, though. She’s barely gotten her bearings and is already being interrogated as if she’s this damn Nestrocalder.” Her frown deepening, Neenja glared at the three of them as if she expected them all to overrule her instantly.
“I’m all for taking it slow with her, from her emotional well-being’s point of view,” Briar said, looking sorrowful, “but we also have to consider the safety of more than two million people.”
“She’s one of them. Zoem’s a victim too,” Neenja said darkly.
“As far as we know,” Briar said and tapped her chin. “I have been getting regular updates of her physical status, but something doesn’t add up. I can’t quite put my finger on it, but it’s as if she…is holding back, or even masking something?” She shrugged. “I mean, anything physical ought to show up on her regular scans, and any psychological issues should be flagged by Doctor Lo Gjorda?”
Korrian tapped commands into her tablet. “Can you do a reading with her?”
“We could, but—”
“Probe her mind, you mean? Will that help her get her equilibrium back?” Neenja snapped.
Briar leaned back into her chair, scrutinizing Neenja’s expression. “Nobody is probing anyone, Neenja. Certainly not without either their consent or a court order signed by all five judges of the Highest Court. Those are the new laws Caya and I have suggested and said judges have approved.”
Caya nodded. “We are adamant about keeping our new homeplanet safe and, yes, bring down the malevolent changers that are the root of the problem here just as much as they were on Oconodos. That said, we’re not about to violate the rights of innocent civilians caught in the crossfire.”
“Good.” Neenja rested her elbows on the table. “As long as we don’t forget that fact.”
Clearing her throat, Korrian brought up a video file on her tablet. “Ms. Malderyn’s night staff sent this for us to peruse. They have reported her having restless nights before, but according to Doctor Lo Gjorda, this is like nothing they’ve ever witnessed before.” She pressed a few sensors, and the video file appeared on the large screen. The clear image showed Zoem Malderyn in her hospital bed, seemingly sound asleep.
“Do they give her any sedatives or relaxants before she goes to bed?” Caya asked.
“Yes, but only for the last week. Before then, Ms. Malderyn’s catatonic state made her ‘calm enough,’ to quote the night nurse.” Korrian shook her head. “I had hoped they would make sure she actually slept, not only lie still with her eyes closed, but they began to provide Zoem quality sleep only when she ‘made a fuss.’ Still quoting.”
Caya could hardly believe what she heard. Briar, her sister, was a nurse who put the patient’s wellbeing first and her own comfort last. She would never have let this go on. “Do we have reason to believe that the night staff knew she wasn’t actually sleeping well before this?”
“No proof, of course, but it’s likely. I’ve given orders that they screen new staff members to care for her during the night shift, so I’m not sure how the former ones slipped through our strict screenings and your in-depth readings, Caya. Perhaps they started out the right way but deteriorated for some reason.” Korrian pointed at the screen. “Here we go. Look.”
Caya and the others directed their attention to the now-twitching Zoem Malderyn. She tossed and turned, her face distorted in agony or anguish, or both. Caya narrowed her eyes. “Why—Creator of…Is she strapped down?” Aghast, she saw Korrian nod. “On whose orders?”
“No orders of such a measure are noted by Doctor Lo Gjorda.” Korrian rubbed the back of her neck, her face showing her age for once. “Seems the staff of one particular night shift didn’t feel safe unless she was restrained.”
“Fuck that.” Neenja snarled. “They need to be charged and dismissed.”
“That’s for the hospital administrators to decide, but I don’t disagree with you.” Korrian nodded grimly.
“Can we zoom in?” Caya asked, squinting at the screen. “Looks like she’s saying something. And is there audio to go with the surveillance equipment?”
“Yes, there is.” Korrian tapped at her tablet. “Brace yourselves.”
Every single hair on Caya’s body rose at the soft wails coming from Zoem as the woman tossed and tugged at the restraints. Every now and then words broke loose. “D-don’t hurt her. Please, don’t. I’ll be good. I promise.” Switching between moans, grunts, and screeches, Zoem begged some nameless creature for mercy, shaking so hard the bed rattled. After ten minutes of this agony, a nurse entered and simply placed a medicine infuser at her neck, watching as Zoem instantly sank back, murmuring, but then went quiet.
“How’s she doing?” a voice asked out of frame.
“She’ll be quiet the rest of the night, if we’re lucky. It’s enough that we’re risking our lives putting up with a traitor like her. We shouldn’t have to listen to that racket all night long.” The nurse then gave the bed a kick before she left.
Caya could barely see for the tears rising in her eyes. “Damn it.” She was trembling, and even if she hadn’t touched either Zoem or the nameless nurse, she could feel the panic of the first and the contempt of the latter. “I can’t bear to watch this anymore.” She covered her eyes.
“Sweetheart,” Briar said and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “Come here.”
Caya turned her head and buried her face against her sister’s neck. “Just give me a moment.”
“We need to see Zoem, but some changes have to be made to her care before we can do that,” Briar said. “She can’t stay in the same environment where she has been systematically abused.”
