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Chapter Twelve: Jealous Tension
“Your drink, madam,” came the automated voice. A glass with clear liquid in it was extended from a small alcove next to Annalisa’s seat.
“Thank you,” she said in relief. It was a habit, even when the other person happened to be a hunk of technology…
Gaebriel eyed her. “Water?”
“Stomach settler,” she said with a small shake of her head, downing half the contents. When she looked back over at him, she saw the beginnings of an amused smile on his face. “What?”
“I simply find it humorous that air travel makes you sick, but your job doesn’t.”
She shrugged. “There’s nothing about my job that could make me sick. Usually all I do is go around smacking robots and running with heavy books in my hands.” He snickered and she raised a brow. “What about you? Your job doesn’t make you sick.”
He grinned at her. “True, but then, neither does air travel.” He laughed when she smacked him, using him as a substitute for the thankfully absent robots.
They settled back in their seats, each thinking very different thoughts. Well, maybe not so different in some respects.
“What are we going to do when we reach Nepal’ovio- I mean, Brune’elda?” Gaebriel asked, breaking the silence.
“Find Arias,” Annalisa said, rubbing her eyes. “Beyond that, I really don’t know. I couldn’t say. We have to figure something out, or both of us are toast. The Council will never forgive me and I doubt yours will ever forgive you-”
“Not that I’d want them to forgive me,” he put in. She gave him a long, searching look and finally nodded.
“Right. But even if we can somehow fix all of this, the Council isn’t going to trust you. You’re a natural asset. You belonged to them. The first thought will be to kill you.”
He grimaced. “Next thought?”
“Mind-wipe. But death will come first because mind-wipe doesn’t work as well.”
A frown on his part. “Why not?”
“As a natural asset, you have a more cultivated ability to throw off a long term mind-wipe, perhaps even within the space of a few days. It’s for that reason that the Council will try to off you.” She tapped a finger against her chin. “I wonder what would make them change their minds.”
“Perhaps if they used a stronger mind-wipe, they would be satisfied enough to leave me alone and I could…” He shrugged. “I don’t know. I could wait for my memory to come back. It would probably take longer than your average mind-wipe, wouldn’t it?”
“Probably,” Annalisa said absently. Silence fell again. A thought came to her. “Why were you reading the words?” she asked abruptly.
Gaebriel’s head whipped around to look at her and his face alternated between red and white. “Because… I don’t know,” he stammered. “Your friend said we were doomed. We couldn’t come up with anything. The more I thought about it, the more it seemed that he was right.” He scrubbed his fingers through his hair. “Annalisa, there probably isn’t any way to change all of this. I don’t even understand how it works, but…” He sighed. He looked defeated, and it disturbed her. His brown eyes came to rest on her and she shivered ever so slightly. “Maybe it would be better if I did it that way,” he whispered.
“I can’t let myself believe that,” she whispered back, holding his gaze. “We’re going to find a way to make this right. I’m going to help you. I’m not going to let you kill yourself for lack of a better way to fix something.”
They held each other’s gaze for a moment before each looked away. Something had changed between them in a very short amount of time. Annalisa was willing to bet anything that it had happened when she snatched the Book away from him and then kissed him.
Well, technically, it started when I didn’t kill him in the library, when I actually listened to what he was saying and started to trust him. That’s when things changed between us; this is just the next stage in the change.
How can you look at it so calmly? You don’t have a clue what you’re getting into? Do you even know how you feel about this?
Which part exactly are you referring to when you say, “feel”? Are you talking about trying to save the world, or are you talking about Gae-
She cut herself off quickly, as quickly as she could. No. I will not go there. I swear it. I’m not going to think about that. I won’t.
It was going to be a long, long ride to Brune’elda.
The whole thing with Gaebriel Enderlin was a little…disturbing. Arias didn’t like the idea of Annalisa wandering throughout the galaxy with the One as a traveling companion. He didn’t trust the man. And with good reason, really. But it sounded as though Annalisa trusted him, to some extent anyway, so…
Annalisa, Annalisa, why are you doing this? I don’t understand how you can trust him like that. Do you have any idea what he can do to you?
Maybe she didn’t. He hadn’t exactly told her. He didn’t really know himself, did he?
Annalisa…
He had to focus. If she got here to Brune’elda and he had absolutely nothing to show her, nothing to show for his efforts, life was going to get just a little bit more complicated.
Recipes, recipes, recipes…
There had to be something else in here that he could use. Annalisa had asked him to look only at the Book where the words for the One were, but so far he hadn’t found anything of use yet.
This was going to be a problem.
The other thing niggling at the back of his mind was the fact that the others were here. Well, technically he didn’t know if they were here right now, but just knowing that they’d been convening inside Brune’elda, here in this very library, among the prying eyes of so many Jinarians… It was enough to send shivers down his spine.
It was nauseating.
Heaven help me, I must find something…something. There has to be something here.
Annalisa was almost here. He could see her in his mind, sitting next to Gaebriel Enderlin on the ship bound for Brune’elda.
It was a little more frustrating to him than he’d thought it would be.
I…don’t…understand…
But then, perhaps none of them did, really.
And that fact was even more frustrating than knowing whom Annalisa was flying here with.
“Here goes nothing,” she whispered, walking in. He followed her with a faint smile tugging at the corners of his lips.
The library appeared exactly the same, as it had been the last time she’d been here, but it felt different to her. Maybe it was just the knowledge of the evil that dwelt here, however sporadically. The atmosphere rivaled Gaebriel for tension and the air felt thick, heavy, and more difficult to breathe.
“What floor is he on again?” Gaebriel murmured in her ear as they walked casually over to the closest eight foot shelf of books.
“The second from the top,” she whispered back. “Computer translations.”
“Right.” He picked a book off the shelf and thumbed through it. Annalisa studied him for a moment and then followed his example.
To the eyes of the common observer, it appeared that the young woman could not find a book to her liking, but the young man seemed quite enraptured with his. He carried it around with him, following the young woman as she roamed from shelf to shelf, keeping it in front of his eyes, managing to read with apparent avidity and not trip over his own feet at the same time.
“How much longer are you going to stall?” Gaebriel demanded, almost bumping into her.
Annalisa fixed a smile on her lips when she turned back to him. If he hadn’t heard what she said, he would have thought she was sincere. “Shut up and go back to your book,” she snapped under her breath.
He smirked at her and did just that. It occurred to him at that moment that he was actually bantering with the woman he’d been trying to kill a matter of hours before. Actually, it was more like a reoccurrence. He’d realized this before.
It was just taking some time to sink in.
Finally it seemed that Annalisa was finished keeping up appearances. From a detached viewpoint, Gaebriel approved of her casual actions, but there was an itch between his shoulder blades that represented apprehension and a strong desire to move for real, instead of strolling around the first level of Brune’elda’s famous library.
“Let’s go,” she said, touching his arm briefly. She headed for the elevator and he followed her, tucking his book under one arm.
Keeping up appearances…
Once inside, Annalisa spoke to the computer operating the metal lift. “Second floor to the top, please,” she said clearly.
“Permission granted. Transporting,” the computer responded. The elevator gave a small jerk and began moving upward smoothly. Annalisa and Gaebriel glanced at each other.
“I hope elevators don’t have the same effect on you that the Confederation’s ships do,” he remarked.
Annalisa forced herself to stare straight ahead. “If I get sick in here, it’ll be because of the situation we’re in, not because I’m claustrophobic,” she said tightly. But then she had to look at him. “Just don’t you get sick,” she ordered. “That would be disastrous.”
“And you being sick wouldn’t?” he retorted.
She frowned and glanced around. There was a small device embedded in the wall that monitored Brune’elda’s breathable gas mixture. Annalisa peered closer and then looked back at Gaebriel.
“Have you been here before?” she demanded.
“Maybe once or twice,” he said warily. “Why?”
She shrugged. “It might not turn out so well if we discover that you can’t handle the Brune’elda’s air solution halfway through this mission.”
He smiled faintly. “I think I can manage.” A grimace followed that. “As high as the second to the top floor might be a different story though…”
Annalisa bit back a curse. She should have brought an acclimation device with her; it worked sort of like a gas mask, only it would filter in small amounts of Brune’elda’s solution so the wearer would become, ah…acclimated.
He’s a natural asset. Shouldn’t he be used to these things, not to mention equipped to handle them?
Yes, he’s a natural asset. That’s why I should have brought my acclimation device! He’s a human, for crying out loud! Just because he’s a natural doesn’t mean that his lungs can take this much change!
“Annalisa?”
She jumped a little, startled. “What is it?” she demanded shortly, clearing her throat, irritated at being caught unawares.
“We’re here,” he said softly. She turned toward the elevator doors just as they drew back into the wall, revealing the second-to-top floor.
Computers lined the walls and stood back to back in the middle of the huge floor, adorned with potted palms and various other fashions of greenery. There weren’t very many people sitting before the monitors; only a few tapped away on slender keyboards, eyes glued to their screens.
Annalisa scanned the floor swiftly.
No sign of Arias.
Gaebriel leaned toward her slightly. “See him?” She had forgotten that he had no idea what Arias looked like.
“No,” she whispered. “Come on. Let’s go sit down.” She led the way to two empty computers and sat down in front of one. Gaebriel seated himself next to her. She had to admire how well he fit the role of one of the library’s common frequenters.
“Is there anything in particular that you would like me to research?” he inquired in a low voice, a faint layer of amusement hidden beneath the solemnity.
She rolled her eyes at him. “Look up the Books, if you want something to do.”
“You can’t give him my job, mon cherie,” Arias said, suddenly appearing behind her, his voice pitched to match theirs. Annalisa twisted around slightly to look up at him and couldn’t stop the smile of relief that bloomed on her face.
“You’re alright,” she said softly.
For some reason, Gaebriel didn’t feel too pleased to hear those words come out of her mouth; nor did he appreciate the look she was giving the young man in front of her. His irrational displeasure increased when she rose from her seat and embraced that young man.
Emphasize on the irrational part…
“Yes,” Arias said, drawing away slightly so he could study Annalisa’s face, a hint of worry working its way into his expression. “But I fear that you might not be so alright, mon amie. This is dangerous, you know.”
Annalisa snorted. “Of course I know it,” she said disgustedly. “You know, you were the one who suggested this in the first place.”
“Since when have my suggestions held any sway over you?” the young man inquired playfully.
She probably would have kept up the conversation in this same vein if Gaebriel hadn’t cleared his throat pointedly. They both turned and looked at him, as though confused as to why he was here and who he was, for that matter.
“Forgive me for the intrusion, but I was under the impression that we were pressed for time,” he said with a small smile. He stood up and offered his hand to the young man. “I am Gaebriel.”
“Arias,” he replied, taking the proffered hand. “A pleasure.”
“Yes…a pleasure.”
Annalisa watched them with a strange look on her face. Gaebriel glanced at her and she shook herself. “Come on,” she said abruptly. “We need to find some other place to talk.” She started walking away from the computers. Gaebriel claimed a position at her side, and Arias at the other.
It felt strange, and brought back to mind the thought of being pulled in two directions at once.
Unpleasant and uncomfortable, to say the least…
They found an empty room at the end of a hall off the main room and slipped inside. Annalisa locked the door handle and turned to face the two men. No one seemed to quite know what to say. They just regarded each other, some more warily than others.
“I guess it’s a little bit of an understatement to say that we have a bit of a problem,” she said finally.
“Just a little bit,” Arias murmured.
“The question is; what are we going to do about it?” Annalisa glanced from one to the other. “I suppose it’s too much to hope that anyone would have an idea…?”
“I guess I’m not really clear on what it is exactly that we’re trying to accomplish here,” Gaebriel said shortly. Arias muttered something under his breath that neither of them could hear and probably didn’t want to. Annalisa scowled at the latter and turned her attention back to the former.
“We need to find something in the Books about…ah, you, and we need to somehow apprehend your former leaders, assuming that they might be convening here at Brune’elda sometime today.” She paused. “Would they be?”
He gave a tight nod. “I was supposed to report to them today, preferably with the Books in hand, since I sent word that I was going to go to the library and…” His voice faded away, but Arias filled in the silence.
“Kill her?” His tone held anger, most prominently, and maybe a touch of fear. Maybe. “You went there to kill Annalisa; why don’t you just say it?”
“Arias!” Annalisa hissed angrily, but he didn’t pay attention to her. He was on his feet, facing Gaebriel, who was mimicking him, both their faces tight with fury.
“Well?” Arias prodded.
“Yes! I was going to kill her!” Gaebriel snapped. “Satisfied? But I didn’t kill her obviously. If I had…” He leaned closer to the other man. “There’s a good chance that you’d be dead, if only for being in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
Arias opened his mouth, no doubt with a hot reply on his lips, but Annalisa crossed the distance between her and them and slapped both of them. They turned toward her as one, mirroring shocked expressions.
“Stop it,” she growled. “This is not helping things any.” Gaebriel glanced at Arias and gave a stiff nod, and Arias repeated the gesture. Annalisa supposed that was an angry male’s way of apologizing. They retreated to the opposite corners of the room.
She couldn’t say that she expected them to explode at each other like that, at least not this soon, but there was nothing she could do about it now. Likely Arias was thinking that she was the insane one, trusting the man who’d been her enemy just a little while ago. As for Gaebriel…
Maybe it was best not to wonder what he was thinking about…
“Arias, did you find anything in the Book?” she asked, changing the subject.
“No,” he said shortly. “Nothing like you wanted. It’s almost as if the whole thing was written in lore fashion; you can barely understand half of it, and what you can understand doesn’t make a lot of sense.”
She smirked. “Aw, is one of the best translators in the Confederation having difficulties?” she cooed. Arias glared at her and she held up her hands. “Never mind. Come on; you can give Gaebriel and I the parts of it that you’ve translated, and we’ll start analyzing them while you keep working on the interpretation.”
“Alright,” Arias said, though he eyed Gaebriel fairly reluctantly. Gaebriel pretended not to see him and gave a short nod. Annalisa stifled a sigh. This was not exactly going the way she’d planned.
