The Lexal Affair - DM Arnold (feel good books .txt) 📗

did the best I could for you.”

“Yeah, Mom -- I know.”

“Forgive me if it wasn't enough.” Yasuko's eyes filled and she headed back into the kitchen.

Suki looked back toward her mother; then, proceeded down the front steps. “I wonder what brought that on.”

“I think I know. I asked your mom whether or not you had been molested as a child.”

Suki stopped in her tracks. “Just like that -- flat out?”

“On my world, directness is...”

“I'm afraid in Mom's culture, directness isn't cherished as it is on Floran. What did she say?”

“She said she thinks you were ... but she has no proof.”

“Who? Who does she suspect?”

“Your grandfather.”

“Not my father?”

“No -- your mom seemed quite certain it wasn't him.”

Suki closed her eyes and drew in a deep breath. She smiled. “Oh! I'm so relieved!”

“Relieved?”

“I'm doubly -- triply relieved.”

“How so?”

“For starters -- I had thought my difficulties were my own fault. Now I know for sure some of them, at least, aren't.”

“You can't be faulted for actions beyond your control.”

“Exactly.” She grabbed his hand and headed down the street toward the bus stop. “Secondly, it was someone who's no longer around to threaten me. My grandfather was a truly creepy man, Nykkyo. I don't remember much about him -- maybe I've blocked it out -- but I do remember I dreaded being with him.

“Finally -- it wasn't my dad. I knew my therapist would sooner or later come round to my relationship with Daddy. When she mentioned hypnosis I was so afraid she'd put two and two together and...”

“And come up with five?”

“Worse yet -- come up with four. If it had been Daddy -- how could I continue to live in that house?” She patted her stomach. “How could I hope to bring him up there? It would've torn our little family unit apart -- dysfunctional as it is.”

“Don't underrate what you have. I'm not sure there's any such thing as a functional family -- anywhere in the galaxy.”

She lifted her face to the sun and inhaled. “Oh, Nykkyo -- smell the spring air -- the leaves are on the trees...”

“All I smell is fumes.”

She skipped along the sidewalk. “It's like a burden's been lifted from me.” She grabbed his hand and embraced his arm.

“I don't think I've ever seen you like this -- maybe once -- that New Year's Eve.”

“And, look what happened then.” She stroked her wrist. “All right -- I'll tone it down ... I guess I was never meant to be happy.”

Nyk sat at his desk reviewing field reports. An incoming vidphone call signaled him. He pressed keys on his laptop computer to answer the call. An image of a middle-aged man appeared. He wore insignia indicating he was an ExoService official. “Nykkyo -- I'm Illya Kronta. We worked together on the Zander Baxa incident.”

“I remember -- you helped interrogate Andra.”

Kronta nodded. “Good to speak with you again. How are you enjoying your new assignment?”

“Very much, so far.”

“Nykkyo, I know you had some sort of ... attraction to Andra.”

“She and I are good friends.”

“When was the last time you spoke with her?”

“Right before making transit -- why?”

“Nyk -- this may be difficult. I'm coming to you for your help. Andra has disappeared. I hoped you might know where she is.”

“Disappeared?”

“Central Admin has performed a locator code trace. We tracked her to the shuttleport in Floran City.”

“And, from there?”

“The trail ends at there. We have no record of her boarding a vessel, or leaving the shuttleport.”

“I'm baffled, Illya -- she never confided any plans in me. Did you ask my wife? The two of them were living together.”

“Your wife has been less than cooperative, and there's little we can do to encourage her cooperation.”

“Senta is not an ExoService person.”

“As she rather forcefully reminded me,” Kronta replied.

“Why are you looking for Andra? I thought she was exonerated.”

Kronta shook his head. “We had insufficient evidence to pursue her -- with the operative word being had. The more we delve into Zander's activities, the more likely it appears Andra was a participant. We have asked Internal Affairs to detain her...”

“Arrest her?”

“Detain her -- for questioning. Nyk, if you should locate her -- you'll let us know, won't you?”

“Of course, Illya.” The vidphone session went dark. Nyk drummed his fingers on the desk, then typed commands to initiate another vidphone call.

A woman appeared in the window, one with a high, broad forehead and bushy red hair. She glowered at Nyk.

“Senta, where's Andra?”

“Wouldn't you like to know...”

He sighed. “Tell me, Senta -- I know you know.” She shrugged her shoulders. “The Service overseers have traced her to the Floran City shuttleport.”

“Have they, now?”

“From there, the trail goes cold. I think you know where she went.”

“Have you been recruited to be one of their flunkies?”

“No -- I...”

“You know, Nykkyo -- you have some nerve. You call me after all this time and the first words out of your mouth are, 'Where is Andra?' Not, 'I'm sorry for taking this assignment' or 'I want us to work this out.' No -- it's 'Where's Andra?'”

“Senta, I'm doing what I must do.”

“You think you can get away with this. You can't -- you think you're safe on Earth. Some day you'll have to return to Floran and then we'll see who has the last laugh.”

“What do you think you could do?”

“I'll bring charges.”

“On what grounds?”

“Abandonment.”

“It won't work, Senta. You're the one with the important job. You lost a liability when I left -- not an asset. It doesn't make sense to sue to recover a liability.”

“Loss of companionship, then.”

Nyk laughed. “Senta, you've never been at a loss for companionship. You and I slept together only one night out of five.”

“You and your provincial upbringing... My social life has always bothered you.”

“There's an Earth saying, Senta -- you make your own bed and you must lie in it. It certainly applies to you.”

Senta stared at him, her mouth open. “Mark my words -- you won't get away with this.”

“Senta -- let's look at the reality of the situation. You and I were never right for each other. We never loved each other. I had no idea what true love felt like until I met Suki.”

“How dare you!”

“It's the truth, Senta. But, it's more than that. This is something I must do -- I interfered with Suki's destiny. I must replace the man who was to be in her life.”

“That temporal interference nonsense.”

“You really think it's nonsense? Do you want to take the risk to find out? Do you want to be the one initiating a temporal disaster?”

“Nykkyo...”

“There's more. Right before I made transit here, I learned who my real father is.”

“I know.”

“I had a talk with your stepdad. He told me there were two women he loved -- my mother and yours, Senta. Did you ever do a DNA sequencing analysis to see if Veska might be your...”

“It's impossible!”

“It's not impossible.”

“What did he tell you?”

“Only what I told you. Senta, if you press this, I'll bring the whole Veska thing out into the open. At that point, we're not just talking divorce...”

“You wouldn't dare! You'd ruin both our reputations!”

“My reputation on that world is of no consequence on Earth.”

Tears began spilling out of Senta's eyes. Her lower lip trembled. “Mark my words, Nykkyo -- you will regret this.”

“We'll see -- now, tell me where Andra is.” Senta glowered at him. “Senta -- tell me!”

“Why don't you call her up and ask her yourself?” The vidphone window went dark.

2 -- Dyppa

Nyk disembarked the train at Grand Central. He pushed his way through the throng and spotted Suki standing against the wall.

He embraced her. “How was your day?”

“Quick -- our train!”

Holding Suki's hand, Nyk pushed back through the mass of humanity and onto the train. The car was full so he stood and held onto the overhead rail. Suki stood with her arms around him and smiled broadly. “I like strap-hanging this way. You pushed our way onto the train like a native.”

“I'm accustomed to crowds. There are some good-sized ones in Floran City. You look like you have big news.”

“I do. You'll never guess who I ran into today.”

“Who?”

“Vlad Donatovich.”

“You're right -- I couldn't possibly have guessed. Who's he?”

“He's my old thesis advisor from grad school. Now, he's a curator at the Museum of Natural History. He still has ties with NYU, and this summer he's conducting a mini-dig in Turkey. He's asked me to join him.”

“You're not thinking of doing that, are you?”

“Why not? It's only for three weeks. I called my obstetrician and she said it was okay.”

“Three weeks!”

“I thought you'd be happy for me.”

“I'm not happy with the notion of you being so far away.”

“Nykkyo, I know you'll need to make trips in your job and they'll be a lot further than Turkey. I spent six months in Syria with Vlad when I was in grad school. I'm sure I'll survive. It's probably my last chance to use my training before the baby comes. It'll look good on my resume, I'll be networking, and...”

“Have a great time in Turkey, korlyta.”

“You're letting me go?”

“Suki, you're an adult and adults have free wills. I hold no authority over you. If this is what you want to do, then you have my blessing.” She squeezed him. “Now, tell me all about this dig.”

“Nick -- maybe you can reach this for me.” Yasuko handed him a lacquer tray and he placed it into a high cabinet. “Before I forget -- a man from the phone company was here to install ... I don't remember what it was.”

“A broad-band data circuit?” Nyk asked.

“Yes -- that's it. I opened the apartment and showed him where you wanted it. He left the paperwork on the table.”

“Thanks, Yasuko.”

Suki hung the dishtowel to dry. “What's that for?”

“So I can connect the laptop computer to our office's data network.” Suki gave a knowing nod. “Maybe we can try it out when we go upstairs.”

Yasuko began wiping the counter tops. “I'm all right here -- you two can run along and play.”

Nyk led Suki up the stairs to the apartment. “You didn't mention Turkey at dinner tonight.”

“It's not a done deal,” she replied. “No sense upsetting them until I know it's a sure thing.”

Nyk flipped open his laptop computer, jacked it into the broadband circuit and powered it up. “I'm going to see if this connection is fast enough for a full-video vidphone session,” he said.

Suki stepped into the bedroom. “Who are you going to call?”

“I was going to try Andra.”

She emerged in her short robe and gave him a frosty look. “Andra? You mean your Floran girlfriend?”

“Suki -- we've gone over it. Andra is a dear friend. She knows you're my true love and she sent me to you with her blessing.”

“If you say so.”

“Believe me -- you have no reason to be jealous of Andra.”

“How can I not be jealous of a woman who's made love with you more times than I have?”

“For starters -- you don't know if she has.”

“All right -- how many times?”

“I'm not the sort that kisses and tells. Suki -- Andra wants to meet you -- she wants desperately to be your friend, too. Andra means a lot to me. It would please me if you'd try liking her, too. If I get through -- will you speak with her?”

“I don't know...” Suki headed into the bathroom.

His computer running, Nyk entered the commands to initiate a vidphone call. He selected Andra's locator code.

Custom software on his laptop computer routed his call through the newly-installed broadband circuit, via Earth's Internet to one of the clandestine ExoAgency comm uplinks concealed on Earth. There, it was sent to the Floran TachNet relay station moored above Earth's sun's north pole, outside the heliopause -- and from there to the Floran communications network.

A blue window opened and flashed. An image formed -- one of a young woman with pale blue eyes and shoulder-length oat-straw