Remembrance Read online

  She wasn’t surprised when she found herself soaring through the air, landing with a heavy thud on her back. Stones from the pathway bit into her flesh with sharp pricks. The protector turned and focused his hard-sought attention back on Raiden despite her efforts as she lay there trying to fill her lungs with enough air to rise. Just as he entered the fray again, Raiden threw the first man to the ground, punching the third as he hovered nearby, blood dripping from his nose. Fists doubled he came flying at the man she’d just tried stopping as a shout echoed around them.

  “Enough!” the deep voice commanded, and halted each of them where they stood, or in her case where she sat, having only successfully half risen at this point. Commander Corsin stood at the corner of the building, laser pistol drawn and leveled directly at Raiden. Whether it was from shock or because he couldn’t fight the man he’d known as leader, she watched Raiden’s hands raise in a defenseless gesture, stilling all other movements.

  “Raiden Vargas, you’re under arrest for the murders of Specialist Dega, Phillips, Yar, and Pulman, as well as the murders of Specialist Oweins, Kana Logan, and the attempted murder of Rix Asama.” It all happened so fast. One minute he was standing there and the next he was cuffed and being dragged away. Her feet moved under her on their own will. She didn’t know what she was doing until she’d reached Raiden and the commander, dodging through the other protectors before they’d seen her pass. Not slowing, she ran straight at the commander shoving as hard as she could. Releasing Raiden, his hand went for his laser pistol but paused seeing Gwelle. Her hair swung around her as she punched out again and again. Corsin blocked the blows but didn’t hit back until he finally reached for her arms, pinning them to her side as he tried holding her still.

  “You can’t do this! He didn’t do this. How dare you? You, of all people. I’ll get proof…” Gwelle let everything pinned up out in a jumble of words that made little sense.

  “Gwelle,” Raiden hissed where he now stood between two protectors. His green eyes were void of emotion, void of everything but acceptance of this travesty. She calmed as the sting of tears filled her eyes. This couldn’t be happening. Raiden was the innocent one here.

  “If he’s innocent, we’ll find out when the council reviews the evidence.” She glanced up at the commander, tight bands winding their way around her chest, cutting off her breath. His grey eyes stared into hers, drooping at the corners. He looked tired, old, older than even the day before. If she didn’t know better, it would have looked as if he didn’t want to be doing this. Everything about his demeanor, his voice, his eyes, said he hated arresting Raiden. “Nia, please help Gwelle inside the clinic. She’s having a panic attack.”

  Her mother’s arms wrapped around her as she lead her away from the commander and Raiden. Her eyes refused to stop staring after them, hoping for one last glance from Raiden, a look, a sign, anything to let her know what she was supposed to do next. Even as her mom led her in the opposite direction, she watched until they were out of sight and was stumbling inside. Her mom led her to the last bio-bed on the long row, closest to the back of the clinic where they’d entered. Suddenly everything the commander said came back.

  “K-Kana?” Her mom didn’t say anything, sad eyes turned down as her mouth tightened in a firm line. She simply shook her head as if words would be too much work at that moment. The shock, surprise, pain, and reopened wounds from earlier today mingled with the injustice of Raiden being blamed for these heinous crimes sending the barely held back tears streaming down her face. The sobs wracked her body, and she doubled over where she stood by the bed. Her mom closed the privacy divider, and she stood solemnly to one side a moment before pulling Gwelle to her.

  “He’s… he’s not guilty. He didn’t do this,” she mumbled into her mom’s shoulder. She wasn’t even sure the words were intelligible through the sobs and hiccups. Her mother let her cry a moment longer before sitting her on the edge of the bed, handing her something to dab the tears away.

  “Baby girl, I know you care for Raiden…”

  “Mom. It’s Raiden we’re talking about. Raiden.”

  “How well do you really know someone? That’s all I’m trying to get you to think about.”

  “I can’t believe you’d say that,” Gwelle mumbled. She stared at her mom as if the woman who’d raised her was now a stranger. But there, in those sad brown eyes, she was still the same. She was the same woman who’d tried protecting her from heartache and pain as a little girl who’d lost her dad. And who was still trying to protect her. “What do you know?” Nia worried her bottom lip a moment, before disappearing through the partition. When she returned, she held her plex.

  “You need to watch this,” Nia whispered, passing the plex to her daughter who still sniffled as she sat on the edge of the bed.

  Her hands shook as she reached out to take the plex, pressing play on the vid file pulled up. A hooded, dark figure walked through the rows of bio-beds, captured on the black and white security footage. By the time stamp, this had been filmed sometime in the early predawn hours while most of Nova-Zera slept peacefully in their bed behind unlocked doors. A chill caused an involuntary shudder to travel up her spine at the thought. The hooded man disappeared behind the partition across from where she now sat. A few seconds later he reappeared, turning to the one adjacent, his head down, no distinguishable features clear in the dark images.

  Just as the man reached the partition that would admit him to where Rix lay, his head whipped around tilting up as if listening. Her heart skipped out an erratic rhythm as her mom reached down pausing the footage. She would have taken the plex, but Gwelle’s fingers gripped the thin screen so strong it would have broken had it been made from more fragile material. Her breaths became shallow. She drew in air as if she were floating in the wide-open space above where Deliverance orbited even now. The man’s eyes stared from the screen and looked straight at her, paused so perfect they seemed to stare into her soul, their shade dark on the black and white screen. But she knew their color. Green. Deep, vibrant green. Why did Raiden stare back at her?

  “I’m sorry, Gwelle. I didn’t want to show you.” Her mom sat down beside her, neither speaking for a moment while the dark-haired girl tried to make since of the scowling face she saw on the screen. Her mom’s fingers finally pried it away from her, relief not to see his handsome features glaring back from the screen flooding through her. But that relief lasted mere seconds.

  “Who knows?”

  “Just the council at this time, although with his arrest and the news of Kana’s passing…”

  “It’ll be put together. Nothing stays a secret long in this place.” The bitter words eked from her clenched lips.

  “Gwelle, I know you trusted Raiden. We all did. But…”

  “No, Mom. I didn’t just trust him. I loved him.” The words hung in her throat, choking her as they slipped over her lips. She hadn’t even told him how she felt, but she knew. She’d known for as long as she’d known Raiden, although it had taken a lot of convincing herself of the fact before she’d admitted it. Quiet tears now slipped down her cheeks, her eyes already burning and swelling.

  “Oh, Baby. I’m so sorry.” Nia wrapped her arms around her girl, trying to heal something that couldn’t be healed with medicine. “Let me give you something to help you sleep. You can rest here.” Her mom started to rise until Gwelle reached out to stop her.

  “No. I don’t want to sleep right now.” There was too much to figure out, too much to wrap her mind around. She needed a level head for it. Not that she had one now, she thought. “I just want to go home. Please. I’ll stay inside and lie down.” Nia glanced over her more doctor than mom for a moment before nodding.

  “I’ll be here until late. Try to eat something and no leaving the house. Not until we talk again.” Gwelle nodded and slid from the bed without a word. She knew what her mom meant, until they’d discussed what would happen to Raiden should he be found guilty. And he would. There was no doubt how the co
uncil would rule with the evidence she’d seen. But there in the back of her mind a voice spoke up. Despite what she’d just seen, she couldn’t imagine Raiden being part of what happened. He’d been helping her. But he had come back into her life just before all this began, a second voice jeered. Pausing by the partition, she looked back at her mom.

  “Rix?”

  “He’s fine.”

  “What happened?”

  “As far as we can tell, he got spooked and ran before finishing what he came in to do.” Nia’s voice was soft but firm. There weren’t any doubts filling the words she spoke. Not like the swirling void of doubt overtaking Gwelle’s mind, the swirl growing bigger, darker, more violent with each step home. By the time she reached her house, her room, her bed, she was staggering under the weight. She didn’t make it to the bed before her knees gave out, leaving her in a sobbing heap on the cold, wood floor just inside the door of her bedroom.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  What Are Friends For?

  “Are you sure it was him?” Lark whispered in hushed tones. Gwelle wasn’t certain if her friends’ tone was because Lark didn’t want to upset her or didn’t want her mom sitting in the next room overhearing their conversation.

  “I saw the footage,” Gwelle replied, her voice dry and detached. She’d shed so many tears by the time Lark had showed up at her bedroom door with a light tap, letting herself in after work, that she was now an emotionless shell. Numb. The only pain she felt now was the burning, the stinging, behind her red-rimmed eyes as she stared at an imaginary spot on the far wall. Lark didn’t respond for a while, choosing, instead, to remain a silent pillar of strength for her friend who sat on the opposite end of the bed. After about five minutes, the curly-haired girl sat up a bit straighter.

  “Yeah, but it didn’t show anything, did it?” She overstressed the word anything to emphasize her point and to ignore what the generic term represented. Lark widened her eyes to drive her point home.

  “No, but…”

  “Shhh! I’m thinking.” Gwelle’s attention now awoke from the depths of despair it had plummeted into over the past few hours. “You don’t really think he did all that do you?”

  “No.” The word slipped over Gwelle’s lips slow and cautious. What was Lark getting at?

  “Don’t you see? They have no evidence of him doing any of the things he was charged with. It’s all circumstantial! They won’t be able to charge him with anything.”

  “Then why did they arrest him? And why was he there? He had no reason to be there?” Gwelle asked as Lark’s excitement failed to ignite a spark inside her.

  “Listen to yourself. You sound as if you want him to be found guilty.”

  Gwelle sat up at her friend’s words, her eyes narrowing as they took in the slight smirk on Lark’s face. The other girl sat there, one brow raised, as if daring her to say something, anything, just to feel. And Lark’s ploy worked; the numbness began seeping away. Pain returned to fill its now vacant spot in her heart, gripping Gwelle in its clutches. She didn’t like the feeling. She’d spent so long pushing pain away from her life, she didn’t know how to deal with it.

  “Of course, I don’t want him to be guilty! I just don’t understand anything that’s going on. I don’t know what’s going to happen next. I don’t know why there’s someone out there trying to kill or hurt us, or why Uncle Jefferson lived, and Dad didn’t…” Gwelle’s words tumbled to a halt as Lark’s face went from smirking to shock. Right, Gwelle thought to herself, she hadn’t told Lark anything that’d happened prior to Raiden’s arrest. She’d been too miserable wallowing in the despair cloaking her to share the news.

  “What? Lived? What are you talking about, Gwelle?” Lark sputtered. Gwelle had some explaining to do, and fast by the looks crossing Lark’s expressive features. But before she had time to begin, a tap came from the darkened window. Gwelle’s heart leapt remembering Raiden doing the same thing just a few nights before. Lark uncurled herself from the end of the bed, tiptoeing to the window before throwing it open. Knox’s shaggy head appeared in the now empty space.

  “Is it safe to come in?”

  “Of course. Why wouldn’t it be?” Gwelle asked as she watched Knox fold his tall, broad frame through the small space.

  “I tried giving you all enough time for the girl stuff,” Knox said with a shrug, straightening himself back up and closing the window behind him, before taking a seat next to the bed on the one oversized chair in Gwelle’s room.

  “And I’m assuming by girly stuff you’re talking about crying and anything having to do with emotions?” Lark asked crossing her arms across her chest as she sat back down in the spot she’d kept warm the past couple hours. Looking particularly sheepish, Knox nodded and leaned back in the chair before plopping his feet up on the edge of her bed. “It wouldn’t hurt you to learn to empathize a little,” Lark snapped, pushing his feet off the bed at the same time.

  “Sorry, Gwelle.” She couldn’t help the tug at the corners of her lips. Knox’s puppy dog eyes and overly sappy apology brought back happy memories of the three of them doing this same thing, sneaking into each other’s rooms and chatting until all hours. The only one missing was Raiden. At the thought, all the light-heartedness of a moment before vanished.

  “Now, back to what you were about to explain,” Lark urged, drawing her from the sudden down swoop of emotions threatening her again. “Uncle Jefferson is alive? And here on Varax?” Knox’s feet dropped to the floor with a thud from where he’d just slipped them back up on the bed.

  “What are you talking about? What did I miss?” he exclaimed, sitting forward with rapt attention turning from girl to girl.

  Over the next hour both Lark and Knox sat with undivided attention. The expressions on their faces went from shock to awe to anger as Gwelle explained the events of the day. Everything from the time she got the warning, following Jexxa into the forest, finding out exactly who she was and who her people had harbored all these years, to returning to the clinic and what awaited them there tumbled from her mouth.

  “There ar…are aliens on this planet? But all the scans showed there were no higher intelligence found. No intelligent life, remember? It was a day of celebration when the drones came back with the information.” Lark’s eyes were bordering on too wide.

  “I know. I remember.”

  “Are they… will they hurt us?”

  “No. At least, not if Jexxa has anything to do with it. She says her people are divided, but I believe she leans towards making an alliance. That is if this whole killing doesn’t blow up into something more.”

  “More? How much larger can it be?” Knox asked, a hint of frustration in his voice.

  “Someone’s trying to hide the Zanareen from the settlement, someone who knew they were here on the planet before we ever colonized this world,” Gwelle whispered, leaving out exactly who she and Raiden thought that someone was. It was one thing to think it, another to speculate in private with Raiden, but to speak it aloud to her best friends seemed to give it life. There’d be no turning back if she did.

  “What aren’t you saying?” Lark gave Gwelle a knowing look. The look Lark gave her when she figured out Gwelle was keeping something from her. How her best friend knew, she’d never figured out yet, but it happened all the same when she tried sparing Lark from certain unpleasantness or even kept her birthday gift a secret too long.

  “Raiden and I have a theory about who it is,” Gwelle whispered. She remembered her mom in the next room, if she was still here. She hadn’t heard the door open, but it wasn’t unlike her mom to run back to the clinic this time of the evening.

  “Who?” Knox and Lark both asked at the same time, leaning closer to Gwelle.

  “Commander Corsin.” She blinked her eyes closed the moment the words left her lips not wanting to see their expressions. It didn’t help, though. She heard Lark’s gasp and Knox’s loud exclamation. All three teens jerked at the knock on the front door and jumped in surprise.
Sitting up straight and stiff, guilt ridden looks crossed their faces as if they’d been caught blaspheming about the commander even though they all knew that was impossible. There was no way anyone could have found out what they’d been whispering about mere seconds before the knock sounded through the small house.

  Nia Airda appeared in the doorway, sliding the door back before peeking her head in. Her brow rose glancing over Lark and Gwelle sitting upright on the bed and Knox slouching in the chair trying his best to look invisible.

  “There’s a friend at the door wanting to see you, Gwelle.”

  “Who?” she asked, nerves fluttering in her stomach.

  “Jexxa.”

  “Of course.” She wondered if she’d see the alien princess again after this morning in the cave.

  “I’ll show her in,” Nia replied taking a step back into the hall before glancing over her shoulder. “Get your feet off the bed, Knox.” Lark giggled at her mom’s departing words eliciting a grumble from Knox as he sat up.

  Moments later, Jexxa appeared in the still-open door, stepping through slowly when Gwelle waved her forward. She slipped her feet off the bed and rose to close the door behind the latest arrival only to stop after the first step. She glanced behind Jexxa, just inside her room three separate distortions appeared. The air shimmering slightly around Jexxa as she moved. Whoever she’d brought with her was remaining close. Maybe bodyguards, maybe friends? Gwelle raised a brow at the blonde girl as she wrung her hands in front of her, one foot scooting forward only to return to its previous position. The princess was nervous. Lark picked up that something was wrong before Knox, scooting to the edge of the bed they’d just been lounging on. The curly haired girl shot an inquiring look between Gwelle and Jexxa.