Bouchers world, p.30
Boucher's World, page 30
Wren, their other group-mate, had come to the camp twice since they’d been there, each time for scheduled matings, and to see its mates whom it loved and missed very much. Though she didn’t see it very often, Jade liked Wren. It was sort of, well… motherly.
Owl had come too, said Kendis, because it needed to visit the luanna house at the enclave. Owl was still a single Elvwist and usually visited the luanna house twice a week but hadn’t been there since arriving at the camp, having been busy with helping to train them.
Alex and Ro were staying with Ro’s aunt and uncle, and were meeting them at the clinic. Before they went back to the camp, they wanted to visit Ro’s family in Nine. Her parents were anxious to meet their future son-in-law.
Jade knew sooner or later she was going to have to meet Kendis’ parents, but they hadn’t planned to visit them this trip.
They pulled up to the building, and as they got out of the van, Jade spotted Alex and Ro waiting on the walk in front of the clinic doors. She noted how good Ro looked. She was wearing a mid-thigh tunic with lavender and white diagonal stripes and white slip-on sandals. She had decided to be a red-head today and was wearing it loose around her shoulders with a slight under-flip to the ends.
It was the first time Jade had seen her in anything other than pants, tees, work boots, and a pony-tail, in weeks. She was envious. She wished she looked half as good. She still hadn’t regained the weight she had lost, so all her clothes hung on her like shapeless wheat sacks. One reason they were going shopping. She just had to get something that fit. Alex, as usual, was wearing black, but at least he’d ditched the work boots in favor of black soft-siders.
“Hi, guys,” she greeted them. “I am so ready to get this over and done.”
“Yeah, me, too,” said Ro, eying Jade’s too-big blue and black tunic with black leggings, “if for no reason other than we gots to git you ta a clothin’ shop, girl! Cute shoes, though,” she added, looking at Jade’s brilliant blue ballerina styled shoes with small black diamond shapes across the toes.
They trooped through the doors and into the waiting area where Lark, along with two Human Healers, awaited them.
Four hours later, after enduring every kind of test they’d ever heard of and a lot they’d never heard of, a couple of them being run twice - just to be sure, said the technician operating one of the machines they were put through - they were finally allowed to stagger back out to the waiting area, one by one.
Jade was the last one out, mainly because she’d had to endure more double testing than the others.
“Holy Mother Earth!” she muttered, plopping down into a chair between Alex and Kendis. She had never been so poked, prodded, scrutinized, looked at, and in general, examined, inside and out, in all her life. She looked around at Kendis, Alex, and Ro. They looked just about as fuzzed out as she felt. Maggie, Lark, and the two Human Healers were nowhere to be seen.
Kendis put his arm around her and drew her to him, heaving a big sigh.
“I never want to be tested again for anything! Ever. For the rest of my life,” she said grimly. She got murmurs of agreement from everyone.
They heard a door opening, and turned to see Maggie and Lark coming out of a room to their right.
“Okay, children,” said Maggie, smiling cheerfully at them, “You’re done.”
“We will have all the results back within two days,” said Lark. “I will meet you at Maggie’s home, at that time, to discuss why we wanted these tests and what we have learned. Please, Jadewyn” - it held up one of its hands at Jade as she started to ask it a question - “We will answer all of your questions then.”
It smiled at her. “I know you have quite a few of them, and I know we have not been forthcoming with you, but I promise: you will get your answers.”
Jade regarded it steadily. Finally, she nodded. What choice did she have? She could see it wasn’t going to budge on its decision, so she would have to wait.
“Okay, who’s hungry?” she asked, as her stomach rumbled.
They left the clinic and headed for a nearby sidewalk café where they placed their orders by mind-speak.
The server, a small yellow and black Cat who said her name was Aster and she would be their server for the day, sported a set of the new evolved arms that gave ex-pets more flexibility and enabled them to hold jobs they’d previously not been able to handle. Extending and retracting the arms flawlessly, she set their meals before them with obvious pride.
Excellent service - and the food was good. They determined they definitely were going to eat there again before they went back to camp. They authorized a nice tip for Aster.
Alex and Kendis didn't want to go shopping, so they decided to check out a holo game room that Alex frequented a lot when he was in town. It had all the latest interactives, and if no one else was there, they figured they could form teams with some of the holo populace and play against each other.
Jade and Ro went to the market district where there were lots of clothing shops and a number of shoe outlets, among other types of shops, not to mention the open-air markets. And if they needed a snack, there were food vendors all over the place.
They were coming out of their third clothing shop, arms laden with their purchases, when they were surprised to see Caine Montford coming toward them.
He waved at them, smiling. They looked around for the other high-head or maybe Norm, but he seemed to be alone. They waited to see what he wanted. Jade was annoyed to see him here.
She’d had her fill of him back at the camp and really would have preferred to not have to look at him ever again. But, she felt she needed to at least be polite, especially since she was planning to go back to Nuisance Apprehenders one day.
“Good afternoon, ladies. I see you’re taking a break from that dreary camp too. Getting a little shopping in, I see.” He stood there, grinning at them.
“Hello, Mr. Montford,” said Jade, looking at him warily. She just wanted him to get from in front of them so they could continue their shopping spree.
Ro nodded at him without smiling. They hadn’t seen him or the other pest company men except in glimpses around the camp, as they went about asking questions, since that day at the mess tent, and had mostly ignored them. Now here he was in front of them, holding up their quest for shoes.
“Well, I’m just out looking for a gift for my vow-mate. I saw you and thought I’d come over and speak, and Jade? is it? I wanted to offer my apologies for not believing you about the levitating. Heh, heh, I guess I need to start checking my facts before I put my foot in my mouth like that again.”
Jade just looked at him. Something about him was making her extremely uncomfortable, and she wanted him to leave.
She said, “Yeah, well, apology accepted, Mr. Montford. Um, we have a lot of shopping to get done, so…”
“Of course. You ladies enjoy your day. I’m going to run into this little jewelry shop, see what they have in there.” He went down the walk, turning into a door a few feet away.
Jade and Ro looked at each other, shrugged, and continued to the shoe shop where they’d been heading.
After they left the shoe shop, their arms were so laden they decided they needed to go drop off their packages before continuing, and since they were closest to Jade’s cottage and she had planned to go there anyway, they headed in that direction. By the time they staggered up on her little porch, and she got the door open, she was wishing she had Kendis’ ability to lift.
They stumbled in and dropped their packages on the couch and floor, and collapsed on the chairs in the kitchen.
“Whew!” Ro leaned back and stretched her legs out. “Girl, I was ‘bout ta drop! Gimme somethin’ cold to drink! Hey, ya got any iced coffee?”
Jade laughed and shook her head. “You and your coffee. No, but I have some of the regular kind if you want to make it. Coffee pot’s in the cabinet over the sink. And if you want it cold, I’m sure there’s ice in the ‘fridge.”
She leaned back in her chair. “Gods, I should’ve asked Kendis to meet us and lug this stuff.” She shook her head again, “Too late for this round, but I’ll sure ask him when we go back.”
And they were going back. There were many more shoes to see.
“Jade,” said Ro as she got up to make the coffee - and had to wait until Jade reached up to get the coffee maker for her, as she was too short to reach it - “I got a new esa.”
Jade’s eyebrows went up. “You do? And you didn’t get sick? Oh, you’re so lucky! What is it?”
Ro smiled as she got the coffee from the pantry and measured it out into the maker. She turned it on and sat down.
“Well, it’s not like I got a bunch at one time like you did. No, so far as I know, I jus’ got th’ one new one.” She stopped and thought for a moment. “Although my old ones seem to be gittin’ stronger. Watch.”
She stretched her hands out on the table, and her fingernails abruptly changed colors - from red to purple, and so did her hair.
Jade gasped. “That’s fantastic, Ro! Wow, I wish I could do that. Sure would save a lot of time - and nail polish!” She grinned at her friend.
Ro grinned back, and her hair rearranged itself into a cascade of soft curls. “I jus’ figured out how to do this one, I been practicin’,” she said proudly.
Jade was floored. If only she could do that. Ro had always been able to change the color of her hair, but it used to take a lot longer.
This was almost instantaneous, and changing her nail colors was new. Not to mention styling her hair like that.
“Shards! All I can do is grow mine fast, and I get that from Kendis.” She had her hair more or less under control now, after finding out what was happening to it.
When she came out of her fugue, it had changed, and Lark said it was because she and Kendis had taken on some of each other’s attributes.
Her normally black hair was streaked with platinum, the color of Kendis’ hair - and there was also a blue streak going down the back that she was pretty sure hadn’t come from Kendis, which Lark had yet to explain to her - and its growth rate was tremendously accelerated. She had to cut it every night to keep it from getting ‘way too long.
It took Kendis having an accident with his hair for her to find out why hers grew so fast.
He was playing a game with Louis that they called “toss-and-burn,” where Kendis would toss something small into the air, usually a wood block or a stick, or even a rock, and Louis would try to pinpoint it and set it afire before it landed.
Kendis had gotten distracted when Jade flew over and came in for a landing near him. He whipped around to watch her just as he tossed a stick, and his locs got tangled in it just as Louis fired it up. He hadn’t been hurt, but his hair had gotten well singed.
Jade had watched in amazement as he cut the singed part off with his pocket knife and grew his locs back out to their regular length, stopping the growth when the length was where he wanted it. He hadn’t thought to tell her he could do that or that she might be able to do it.
She’d chased him around the practice field, threatening to take him up and drop him on his massive head of hair. Her mother had collected enough hair from her to get several skeins of yarn spun. She said she was going to weave it into a wall hanging of black, platinum, and blue.
Ro smiled. “But wait - there’s more!” She reached over and touched Jade’s hand - and Jade’s nails turned blue. She touched the other hand and changed the nails to blue, there, too.
“That’ll only last a few days - ‘less I change ‘em back for you - but I’m gitting stronger with it. When I started, it only lasted a few minutes.” She laughed at the look on Jade’s face as she stared with disbelief at her new, perfect nail color.
“Ro! This is incredible!” She grinned happily at her friend. “Can you do the same thing with other peoples’ hair that you do with your own?”
“Still workin’ on it. Alex’s been lettin’ me practice on ‘im, so long as I do it where it don’ show. So far, it only lasts for less than a day, which is an improvement from when I started.”
She snickered. “You’ll never guess how I found out I could make th’ changes on other people.” She waggled her eyebrows at Jade.
Jade burst out laughing. “Bet I can, and I’m betting it had something to do with Alex, but I’m pretty sure I don’t want to hear the particulars!”
Ro laughed. “No, you probably don’t. Okay, those are jist var’ations on my old esa. Here’s my new one.”
She went over to the sink. “Come over here, I’ll show you.”
Jade followed her, puzzled as to what her new esa had to do with the sink. She stood looking as Ro pulled a paper napkin out of the dispenser and dropped it in the sink.
Ro stared at the napkin, and it smoked briefly, and then burst into flames. She quickly turned the facet on and put out the fire.
“Ro! You’re a firestarter!” gasped Jade. “That is amazing. When did you find out?”
Ro grinned. “Las’ night, when Alex ‘n I were sittin’ out on th’ patio at my Ant and Uncle’s. Alex leaned down ta git a napkin he dropped, and I tried to beat ’im to it - after all, I am closer ta th’ ground than he is - and the thing caught fire. I felt th’ fire come out Jade. It felt wonderful.” She grinned again, “Alex put it out.” She snickered. “He’s great at puttin’ out my fire, you know.”
Jade chuckled at her little friend, but she was blushing. Ro loved to tease her like that. Come to think of it, Kendis enjoyed doing that to her too. “How did he put it out - and I’m talking about the napkin! Poured water on it?”
“Well, no. I think he did it with a combination of his in-sight and somethin’ new. He said he could see th’ atoms, then somethin’ else smaller, and he jus’ removed somethin’ and scattered it, and th’ fire went out. Don’t know what that is, but whatever it is, he’s got it.”
Jade thought about it for a moment. She had a feeling they were getting stuff that no one ever had before.
She shrugged. Sooner or later, she’d get around to asking Sparrow or Lark about it. “Well, it’s a good thing he has that. It’ll keep you from burning stuff up accidentally until you learn to control it.” She smiled. “That’s probably why he has it - just so he can put out your fires.” She blushed as Ro laughed at her unintentional innuendo.
They talked for a while, resting their feet while Ro slurped down two cups of coffee, and they made plans to go out on real dates with their guys the next day. Then they left to finish their shopping spree.
It was three blocks back to the market district. Jade could feel Kendis. He and Alex had broken off gaming to go for a snack.
She linked with him, and told him she and Ro were going back to finish their shopping, and she asked him if he and Alex would be available later to help them carry their loot back to her place.
He said he’d make sure they were. She smiled and sent him a mental kiss.
She caught a motion out the corner of an eye and saw Caine Montford rushing at them. She heard Kendis yelling at her, asking her what was wrong, and her head hurt terribly, then she saw a bright flash and smelled something burning, and her world went dark.
Chapter Twenty-seven
Confined
Light gradually brightened against her eyelids, and she opened them slowly, feeling nauseated.
She seemed to be lying down, but when she tried to get up, her arms and legs wouldn’t move. Where was she? Where was Ro? And what had Kendis yelled at her just before she blacked out?
Then she remembered seeing Montford, and she stiffened. She turned her head and saw she was lying on a bed - somewhere. And not just lying there: apparently, she was tied to it.
What the hell?
She tried to call Kendis.
She began to get anxious. “Hey!” she called out, wincing when her head throbbed.
She heard a door opening, and raising up as far as she could, looked into the grinning face of Caine Montford.
*
He looked down at her, smiling. She was finally awake. He had started to get worried; after all, it had been two days. He knew she’d come around, though. He had his Healer check her, and he said just to let her sleep it off, and she’d be fine.
He started to have the Healer fix her the way he had the precog, but after he thought about it, he decided he wanted her to have his child. He had the Healer remove her fertility inhibitor instead.
Flying was a commanding esa, and with his powerful psyscan esa, just think of what their child would be like. It would be worthy of his empire. Not like those brats he’d got on the precog.
He had her taken care of by the precog, and she was now dressed in a beautiful white tunic, the way he liked. He was quite pleased with himself. She was the best one he’d collected to date. And she was a prize, too. He shivered with anticipation, thinking of all the things he was going to do with her; all the different ways… he shivered again.
Unfortunately, some things were going to have to wait.
His face clouded. The purple-eyed little zarbon hurt him! Burned him right where it hurt the most. He wished he’d had his handgun with him. He would’ve shot her instead of just using the tranq gun.
It had been too dangerous to take that, though. They did searches at the Dome door, so he’d left it at the chateau. No matter. He could always go back and finish the job later if he had to. Or better, have it done. Right now, he had Jade.
And that’s what mattered.
*
“Hello again, Jade,” he said mildly, “Welcome to my little mountain hideaway. And you can quit trying to mind-speak.” He shook his head. “That doesn’t work here.” He smiled again.
Jade stared at him. “What? Why not?” She had already discovered she wasn’t reaching anyone, and she was trying her best not to panic.
