Page 40

N aomi

When Corinne knocked on my office door, I was more than a little startled.

I hadn’t expected to see a familiar face from my old life ever again, yet here she was, as real as the vase of brilliant blooming red roses sitting on my desk.

I opened and closed my mouth in surprise, finally remembering myself.

“Dr. Moore, what a surprise it is to see you,” I greeted her as warmly as I could manage through the sudden grip of fear in my belly.

Her gaze dropped to the book in my hands. It was another wedding album. Panic jolted me for the briefest moment, but then I reminded myself that I wasn’t in New Englandia and that studying weddings and all other remains of the old-world was a normal thing here. It was safe to do so in Pacifica.

“Dr. Vaughn,” she replied politely, but I could see that she was made slightly uncomfortable by what she saw. I closed it to put my former colleague at ease, pushing it aside for now. She glanced down at my hand, seeing my wedding ring. I wasn’t going to take that off, though, not for anything.

“What brings you all the way here?” I asked. It was very unusual for any of us to travel outside of our home city state, so this probably wasn’t just a visit because she’d missed me at work.

“May I take a seat?” she asked. Her voice trembled just slightly, revealing that she was nervous about something.

I gestured to the armchair in front of my desk.

“Certainly,” I smiled. She sat down and settled her hands in her lap, looking at the floor for a long moment before finally finding the courage to lift her gaze to me. I could tell that she was uneasy by the jiggling of her foot against the floor.

“There was talk after you left, about the security team the council sent with you. About what they were really sent to do,” she began, her voice barely above a whisper. Her eyes were wide, like a deer frozen in headlights.

“They tried to kill me,” I said simply. Her face fell and her expression flinched. After a moment, it smoothed over.

“There was an investigation into your disappearance. The council values you very much and was quite upset at your loss. They learned that you survived your expedition and had decided to relocate here to Pacifica instead of coming back home.”

I didn’t say anything in response, but this new knowledge gave me a sincere sense of pride as well as a niggling feeling of trepidation.

I’d always worked hard for New Englandia, and it was nice to know that it was recognized, but I also felt there was more to this story than Corinne was currently sharing.

“The investigation uncovered information that Councilman Ericson had met with the guards in secret. He’d given your security team his own set of orders along with a sizeable payment to secure your demise. Sending me here was Councilwoman Davis’s idea.”

“Why have they sent you?” I asked.

“The council wants you to come home.”

“I don’t think that’s the best idea.” I stared back at her, aghast at the suggestion.

“You can step right back into your life,” she rushed to say.

“The council has relocated your things to a more luxurious penthouse in the center of the city, close to your work, if you want to continue at the museum that is. Your job is ready and waiting for you with a sizeable increase in salary. If you don’t want to continue working there, they are prepared to offer you a position working with the council without any constraints.

They’re offering you high-level clearance, which is very rare for them.

They are ready to give you whatever you want, if you only just return to New Englandia. ”

I licked my lips. A couple of months ago, I would have jumped at the offer. Since then, however, everything had changed, and my expanded understanding of the world beyond New Englandia, and how different- how much better- things could be, meant I could never go back to my old life. I would not.

“Corinne, I’m happy here. This is my new home. I’m happily married now and I can’t just walk away from that. I am not willing to walk away.”

“Listen. All I want to ask you to do is meet with an emissary from New Englandia. He’s going to issue a formal apology and make an official offer on the council’s behalf. That’s all. You don’t have to give an answer yet. Just listen to what he has to say,” she countered.

“All I have to do is listen? If I refuse, he’ll leave?”

“Yes,” she answered. This time her gaze was steady.

I couldn’t detect any of the uneasiness I’d sensed before.

Maybe she’d just been anxious about being in a new place with an entirely different culture, manners, and environment than she was used to.

I could understand that; I’d been there before myself only a few short weeks ago.

“I’m really happy to see that you’re okay. I was so worried when they told me that… that you had a husband now.”

She didn’t say anything more about it, but I knew she was thinking about the rumors of Pacifica men, how they were cruel brutes that controlled their women’s every move. Those rumors had been so very wrong. Ryker wasn’t like that at all, except, of course, in bed.

I loved him and he loved me, and our life together here was happier and more fulfilling than anything I could ever hope for in New Englandia.

“I’m very happy here,” I answered softly.

“May I arrange for a meeting tomorrow?” Corinne asked hopefully.

“Yes. Tomorrow after work. I’ll show you and the emissary my new home,” I smiled.

She nodded quickly, her whole face lighting up.

“I’ll do arrange it with the emissary,” she replied.

Then, before I could stop her, she slipped out the door.

It was somewhat of a relief to be alone again in my office.

I’d been expecting something terrible, to be honest. Now the workday was ending, and it was almost time for my call with Ryker, the high point of every day since he’d left on his latest trip.

He’d gone off to the southeast about a week ago, to a place once known as Florida, and we’d set up a specific time to speak each day.

I finished up my work for the day and shut down my office. There was a car waiting outside for me that drove me home just in time for my comm to ring. I picked it up as I was walking through the front door.

“Good evening, my beautiful bride.”

His voice still caused shivers to go racing down my spine.

“Hello, my handsome husband,” I replied softly.

“It’s so nice to hear a woman’s voice,” he answered. “I’m surrounded by men and it’s exhausting.”

I laughed heartily as he broke into a story about his muddy, sweaty trek through bug and alligator infested swamps.

A frightened jolt sank through me when he told me that he’d almost stepped on an apparently poisonous water snake but stumbled just in time to miss it.

His ankle was a tad sore from the resulting twist he’d given it, but he insisted that it was nothing serious.

When I told him about my day and the visit from Corinne, he grew strangely quiet.

“You will not meet with the emissary until I am home,” he finally said. His voice sounded deep and serious.

A stab of annoyance struck me at the dictatorial tone in his tone.

“It’s not a problem, Ryker. I’ll meet with him, hear what he has to say, and send him along. I have no intention of going anywhere,” I vowed.

“It’s not that, little girl. I don’t trust the New Englandia council. I want to be there to protect you,” he continued.

“I understand,” I huffed.

“You will delay the meeting and then we’ll deal with it together when I get home. We recovered the fusion reactor and are on our way back to the airstrip. It will only be a few more days. I promise,” he continued.

“Okay,” I replied.

“Be a good girl for me, Naomi,” he pressed, his voice a bit gentler this time.

“I will,” I answered.

I lied to him for the first time.

All night, I thought about whether to cancel the appointment. A big part of me wanted to prove that I could handle this on my own. I didn’t need him to deal with it for me. Another part of me was just annoyed that he was gone and not here to be by my side during the meeting.

Even though I was happy here and had no intention of leaving, New Englandia had been my home my whole life.

I couldn’t turn my back on them completely, especially not when they had gone to such lengths as to send an emissary as well as someone who had once been my friend and colleague to make things right after they’d gone so terribly wrong.

If anything, I deserved to hear their apology.

This meeting had the potential to open the lines of communication between our two city states and I wanted to be the one to initiate that.

I didn’t delay the meeting.

The next evening, I came home from work and tidied up around the house.

I prepared the sitting room for guests, dusted, and prepared a small tray of fruits, vegetables, cheese, and meats.

I put on a fresh pot of coffee and poured a cup for myself before Corinne and the emissary arrived.

I sipped it slowly and by the time I was done, there was a knock at my door.

My heart skipped a little beat as I stood from my chair.

Taking a deep breath, I pulled my shoulders back and lifted my chin before I went to answer it.

There was no one there.

Peering out into the darkness, my eyes searched the shadows. I stepped out onto the porch and turned my head side to side.

Nothing.

Had I been hearing things?

A rush of sound to my right caught me off guard.

As I spun toward it, a huge hand clamped around my upper arm.

Another grasped the back of my neck so roughly that I cried out.

Nails dug into my skin hard, gouging my flesh.

Adrenaline surging, I brought my hands up to try to defend myself, scratching and tearing, but the arms holding me were thick and strong.

Mine were half their size. Whoever this man was, he was huge.