The next morning as the sun was just peeking over the horizon, Elara finally woke up. Glancing out her window, she thought, It's early…why don't I pack now and get out of here before the others wake up? It would be so much easier if I didn't have to face Jim again. Her heart heavy, the young president got out of bed, slipped into her every day clothes, and threw her other articles of clothing into the travel bag she had brought over from her ship.
Quietly Elara tiptoed out of her room and down the stairs and was walking out the door when she hesitated. I should at least write a farewell note, she told herself. Grabbing a scratch sheet of paper and a pen, she sat down and wrote, Thank you so very much for all that you have done for me. If you're wondering, I'm leaving this way because it's easier. By the time you read this I'll already be long gone, so don't bother coming after me. Take care of yourselves, and try to stay out of trouble. Love, Elara.
That should do it, she thought as she laid it down on the table. Hoisting her bag onto her shoulder once again, Elara took one more look around the house and then walked out the door. She put her bag in the passenger seat of her car and drove off.
Four hours later Melfina walked into the living room and frowned when she spotted the note lying on the table. She walked over to it and picked it up, then dropped it in shock once she had read it. Oh, no…she thought, collapsing onto the sofa. Elara…why did you think it would be easier this way? Jim is going to be devastated. Sighing again, Melfina stood and made her way into the kitchen where she began to prepare breakfast.
Fifteen minutes later Jim went down the stairs as he tried to rub the sleep from his eyes. Blinking, he yawned and walked past the living room table. What's that? he wondered when he spotted the note. He picked it up and read it. Seconds later he was frozen in place, his eyes unable to leave Elara's handwriting. She's gone? Without even saying goodbye? Will I ever see her again? He glanced at it again. She left like this because it's easier for her…does she mean it's easier for her to leave without seeing Gene again? That would make sense, I guess…but it doesn't make me feel any better.
Melfina walked into the room, but stopped short when she saw Jim standing by the table like a statue. "You've seen the note, haven't you?" she asked.
He held it up for her to see. "Why?" was all he could get out before a lump formed in his throat.
She moved over to his side and put her arm around his shoulders. Jim shrugged her arm off and walked away, realizing that her sympathy could break him down, and he did not want to let anyone—even Melfina—see him cry. He went directly back to his own room and shut the door behind him.
Collapsing onto the bed, Jim started attacking his pillow as his unanswered questions raged in his mind. Why did she leave without saying goodbye? Where did she go? Where is she now? Will I ever see her again? Why, Elara, why?
Gene sauntered down the stairway about thirty minutes later, since the smell of breakfast had woken him up. When he saw Melfina's sad expression, he knew something was wrong. "Are you all right?" he asked her gently.
She shook her head, wordlessly picked up the note, and handed it to him. He read it, and as he did so his eyes opened wider and wider. He glanced at Melfina again once he had finished. "Why did she think it would be easier?" he wondered aloud.
One of her eyebrows went up. "You mean you have no idea?"
He shook his head. "Not really. Should I?"
"Yes. Don't you remember what happened yesterday?"
"Of course I do. How could I forget?"
"Did Jim explain to you what a Guardian is?"
"Yeah. So?"
Melfina's voice took on an exasperated note. "A Guardian can only use his or her special powers when someone they care about is in danger. Guardians are just that—Guardians. They protect others, but have no special means of defending themselves."
All the pieces fell into place in Gene's mind. "So that's why she couldn't use those powers to defend herself from those pieces of shit…" His eyes widened in shock. "She likes Jim?"
Melfina nodded. "Yes."
Gene frowned. "But…then why did she come to my rescue as well?"
"I've been thinking about that, and I think I've figured it out. Since there were so many men after both of you, she realized that they planned to take you down first, and then go after Jim. So in order to save Jim—"
"—she had to save me as well," Gene finished. He glanced at the note again. "Do you have any idea when she wrote this note?"
Melfina shook her head. "None at all. For all I know, she could have just left right before I came downstairs, or she could have left in the middle of the night."
"That was a good strategy of hers, then," Gene said with a grudging half-smile.
"What was?"
"When she wrote the words 'By the time you read this I'll already be long gone,' she made us think that she had left hours ago, when she may have left just before you woke up. She might still be on the ground."
"Should we go after her?"
"I will." Gene glanced around the room. "Where's Jim? Has he read this yet?"
"Yes. He went back to his room after he'd seen it."
Gene shot her a quizzical look. "Does he like her?"
"I think so."
"So…I wonder why Elara thought it would make things easier for all of us if she left immediately. Or does each think the other doesn't like them?"
"You might be right, Gene," Melfina agreed. "I can't see how else to explain this."
"I'm going to go to the spaceport and see if she's still around. If she is, I'll try to bring her back, or at least talk to her. If she's not, I'm going to find out where her company's headquarters are and pay her a visit."
Melfina laid a restraining hand on his arm. "Gene, be gentle. She's been through a lot over the past few weeks. She's still tender."
Gene shook his head as if to clear it. "You're right, Mel. I do tend to be brusque at times, don't I? Even when I have the best intentions in mind." Impulsively he kissed her. "I love you, Mel."
She looked into his eyes, her own shining. "I love you too, Gene."
With a nod he left the room. He got into his car and started the engine. Seconds later he was out on the road heading toward the city spaceport.
* * *
Out in space, finally, Elara allowed the tears to flow. Reid had already taken over, so there was nothing that needed her attention. The sudden lack of activity had broken down all of her barriers, and she cried. The stars blurred as the tears coursed down her face. Five minutes later, after regaining her voice and composure, she asked Reid, "How much longer will we remain in ether drive before entering Inuran space?"
"One hour, forty-three minutes, twenty-two seconds, to be exact."
"Thanks, Reid." Elara leaned back in her seat. I'd better send a message to the office letting them know my return is imminent once I'm back in normal space. I wonder if Stinson realizes I know all about the attempt on my life. He's sure to know that I'm still alive.
Hugging herself, a memory rose unbidden to the front of her mind. The way Jim held me that night… With a harsh shake of her head she tried to quell the recollection, but found that it would be harder to forget him than just willing the memory away. The way her pulse raced and her breathing quickened when she thought of that moment proved that to her immediately. Heaving a great sigh she tried to push him as far back into her mind as she possibly could, and turned her mind back to thoughts of her immediate future, and what it might hold for her.
Reid's calculations were perfect. They reentered realspace about ten thousand kilometers out from the planet Inura, where Alcyone Enterprises' headquarters was located. Then Elara sent a tight-beam message to her office on the surface letting them know where she was and that she would be heading over to headquarters as soon as she had finished landing procedures.
* * *
Gene arrived at the spaceport to find that the Free Spirit had blasted off three hours earlier, and was apparently headed for Inura. He thanked the man who had supplied the information and left for the nearest business directory. He found one in a library, and the directory informed him that the company was located on Inura. So, she's heading straight back home. Now all I have to do is find an excuse for us to go there as well…and I'll have to keep Jim off my back. I want to talk to Elara alone. If I can persuade her to come back, or at least visit with us briefly, it would be a great surprise for Jim.
He smiled ruefully. Suzuka would call that wish an example of me being tough on the outside and a softie on the inside. Oh, well. Won't hurt to be a sensitive guy every now and then, will it? I'll have to ask Mel to help me find something to get us over to Inura. Gene sighed when he remembered something. I wish we didn't have this whopping 1.6 million wong debt over our heads…it would make finding an excuse to go to that planet that much easier if we weren't in debt. Going there will put us in further debt still. Man, everything is so expensive around here.
Gene shook his head to clear it, and then left the library. He got into his car, started it, and headed back to the house.
* * *
Five hours after sending the message Elara was in her office. Almost as soon as she had sat down behind her spacious oaken desk, Stinson burst into the room. Elara's secretary followed him in meekly. "Where have you been?" he demanded.
"Need I remind you, Stinson, that you are my subordinate?" she replied coolly. "I can have you fired, you know."
He glared at her. His expression said Yeah, right. All words and no backbone, that's what you are. Aloud he said, "Would it be too much trouble for you to answer my question?" he queried icily.
"I have been on Centennial III, awaiting repairs on my ship. I was attacked by pirates on my way there for the board meeting that I was to attend. During that battle I sustained much damage, which took almost four standard weeks to be repaired. I attended the meeting and waited for my ship to become space worthy once again." Elara deliberately glossed over the whole attempted murder incident. She was rewarded with Stinson still standing there, silent, as if he was waiting for her to say more. You're incriminating yourself, Stinson. I wouldn't have anything more to say if you hadn't tried anything.
More time ticked by. "Are you waiting for me to say something?" she asked sweetly.
Stinson shook his head as if to clear it. "Why would I be?" he said, trying to recover.
"Oh, I don't know," she replied. "I was just wondering. Did you require anything of me?" she asked pointedly.
"Nothing more, thank you. I have work to do," he said, excusing himself and leaving the room.
Elara's secretary still remained at the door. "Did you receive the papers I sent you from Centennial III?" she asked the young woman.
"Yes, I did."
"Who has seen them?"
"The VP, for one."
"And who gave him permission?"
"I believe he gave himself permission, if I remember correctly."
"Interesting. That will be all, Serena."
Serena nodded and left the office, closing the door behind her.
Elara sighed heavily. Same old, same old, she thought. I'm going to inspect this floor's offices, do some paperwork, and then head home. I'm exhausted. Tomorrow, I think I'd better visit my doctor. She sighed again and left the office to conduct her inspection and questioning.
When she returned, an idea came to her. "Wait a minute," she thought aloud. "Weren't they in major debt when I left them? I think Jim's figures said something like 1.7 million wong… I'd better send Gene a message—it's high time those guys got out of debt. Besides, I owe them a lot." Elara tried to block Jim's image from coming out from the back of her mind as best she could as she typed her message. She sent it, and then began to transfer a certain amount of money from her account into Fred Luo's, the man Gene and Jim were indebted to.
* * *
Ten minutes later Gene got her message. He was surprised to get one from her, so he began reading immediately.
Gene,
I realize you are probably surprised to receive this message. I'm writing to tell you something that otherwise you would eventually hear about, but from him it wouldn't make any sense. In short, I've placed three hundred thousand wong in your personal bank account, and am sending Fred Luo a fixed amount of one hundred thousand wong every month until your debt is paid in full. The only catch is he thinks you're paying him. If you're wondering why I'm doing this, consider it a payment for all that you three have done for me. Besides, I feel like doing it, and—I'm not trying to brag—it's not all that much money to me. (Since you're kind of stuck with this arrangement, you can't argue with me, can you? Ha ha.) So now you're three hundred thousand on the positive side, and hopefully this will give you enough of a boost to avoid having to borrow ever again from Fred. Personally, the guy scares me. Anyway, take care of yourself.
Elara
P.S.
Don't tell Jim about this unless you absolutely have to…wait a sec. Isn't he the one who usually handles the financial side of your business? Then he's bound to find out about it soon. See you around, Gene.
Gene was dumbfounded by her letter and by her generosity. She's paying off our entire debt, as a repayment for what we did for her? Sheesh, she sure must have thought we did a lot more than we actually did.
The phone rang. Gene got off the chair he had been sitting on in order to work on the computer and answered it. It was Fred. "Gene, I can't believe it! You've finally done some sort of job and started to pay me back. Wonderful! Am I going to keep getting payments like these?"
"Every standard month, Fred," he replied, trying to keep his expression casual, knowing that Fred could see it over the visiphone.
"Great! Say, Gene, how did you get into the money like this?"
Gene winked at Fred's image. "Trade secret, Fred. You know how it is."
"Right, Gene," Fred said, his expression doubtful.
"I need to go, so—"
"Right. More of this 'trade secret' type work?"
"Yeah, something like that."
"Talk to you later, Gene."
"Bye, Fred." Gene hung up and let out a sigh of relief. Good, he took the bait.
"Who was that, Gene?" Jim asked as he entered the room.
"Oh, just Fred," he replied with a shrug.
"Oh. So, what did he want this time?"
"Ah, nothing," he dodged the question.
"Gene, Fred never calls for nothing," Jim pestered him.
"There's a first time for everything, Jim. I need to go take care of something."
Jim watched him leave with his hands on his hips and a scowl on his face. "I wonder what he's trying to hide," he said aloud to himself. He shrugged and went into the kitchen to grab a cup of coffee.
* * *
Elara arrived at her mansion at eight that night. I'm starved. I haven't eaten since lunch, and that was before noon. Wearily she trudged up the stairs, greeting every servant she passed along the way. Once in her room she collapsed onto the bed and called her doctor. She made an appointment for the next day, changed into the t-shirt and shorts she usually wore to bed, and tried to fall asleep. But thoughts of Jim, far away on another planet, haunted her and prevented her from falling asleep immediately. Forty-five minutes later she finally drifted off into a restless slumber.
The next morning she called her office to let them know that she would not be coming in until the afternoon. Then she drove over to the complex where her physician worked and had her look her over. The results of the examination were not good—in Elara's eyes, at least.
"You're in perfect health," Dr. Thornton told her. "When you told me you had been raped, I had expected your condition to be less than good, but you seem as good as new—as if it had never happened. Did you see a physician directly afterward?"
"No," Elara replied.
The doctor frowned. "That's odd. I can't explain your condition, then. Even though you're young and healthy, one would think you'd have a few scars."
I agree, Elara thought silently.
"Here's your evaluation card, Elara, showing that you're in perfect health. I don't think we need to see you for at least another year. We'll call you in advance and let you know."
"Thanks," she replied, shaking her hand. Elara left, consternated. Now I don't have any physical evidence to prove what happened to me! This is bad… Unfortunately, Elara was never told that Gene had found the ID papers of the hired men, so she had no idea that she could use those as evidence.
Another thing Elara did not know was that Stinson had paid Dr. Thornton off the day before so that she would tell Elara that there were no marks. An hour later an email arrived at Stinson's desk. He read it eagerly. Wonderful—no physical evidence. But what's this? She really had no marks on her of any kind? That's odd…and she didn't see a physician while still on Centennial III. Oh, well. No physical marks means that if she ever thinks I had anything to do with the attempt on her life, she has one less way to prove it.
Sighing, Elara got into her car and headed over to her office. She worked late that day, as usual, and tried to go about her day as nonchalantly as she could. The fact that Stinson was watching her every move unnerved her more than a little, and soon her front began to fall apart.
The next day Elara received a call before she left for work. "You seem stressed, President Alcyone," Stinson's voice sounded from the other end. "Why don't you take the day off? All of us here at the office have noticed your changed behavior, and are a bit concerned. Maybe you should see someone about it. If you want to talk to someone, visit Dr. Duraine. He's free at two this afternoon." Elara heard a click as the vice president hung up.
Sounds like he made an appointment for me. I don't think seeing that guy would be a bad thing, though. And a day off sounds nice. I'll just relax until then.
Precisely at two Elara showed up at the psychiatrist's office. "President Alcyone? Why, it's a pleasure! Your vice president told me to expect you," he told her.
He did now? Interesting way to put it. "Thank you for having me, Doctor."
He led her inside. "Will you have a seat?"
"Thank you."
Dr. Duraine began to question her. They were light, easy questions at first, but eventually they became harsher and more painful—emotionally painful, at least. Elara wanted to leave, but she felt pinned to her seat by those dark, sinister eyes of his that remained locked onto her own. She felt he could see into her very soul—which unnerved her greatly.
Eventually the whole rape ordeal was out in the open, but somehow Elara had been unable to tell him that she had overheard that Stinson had been involved. Finally, over an hour after the interrogation began, Dr. Duraine finished his questioning. He shook her hand and smiled benignly at her, as if he had put on another, kinder face.
Elara left his office thoroughly disturbed. Why was I stupid enough to go someplace that Stinson had told me to go? I should have known better. Now what is Stinson going to do?
Dr. Duraine's report arrived in Stinson's e-mailbox thirty minutes later. "How interesting," Stinson said aloud to himself as he read the report. "He is fairly detailed, isn't he?" He sighed with malicious pleasure. "I'm holding all the cards, dear Elara. Soon, I will be able to prove you imagined the whole ordeal. Hopefully that will cast enough doubt into the minds of the Board members for them to question your capabilities. Then we'll boot you out, and I'll become the president of this company. Maybe, just maybe, I'll be able to wrest the ownership of this company out of your hands into mine." He began to cackle softly to himself as he rubbed his hands together eagerly in anticipation.
* * *
Five days later, Stinson confronted Elara in her office with a folder full of papers in his hand. "I have just received astonishing news. This packet of papers shows you to claim that you were raped by two men and have appropriate emotional scars. On the other hand, another sheaf of papers proves that you have no physical marks or damage of any sort, which is utterly astonishing in a case such as this." Stinson changed his tone to one of worry. "President Alcyone, why did you imagine that you were raped? Are you all right?"
Elara was enraged. How dare he accuse me of such a thing when he knows very well that that is not the case? But how did he prove it? Oh, no…he got the report from my physician somehow. And then, like I had figured, he has my full psychiatric analysis. What is he going to do with it though? "I am fine, Stinson. And I did not 'imagine' it, as you so eloquently put it," she said in an icy tone.
Stinson sighed theatrically and shook his head. "You poor girl. Do you feel like you need more attention, and is that why you forced this upon yourself? I think you need some professional help here."
"Get out, Stinson," she ordered in a deathly quiet voice.
He shrugged as he turned to leave. "I'm only trying to help you, my dear."
Only then did Elara realize he had left the door open. Crud! The whole office must have heard our conversation! And he must have rigged it that way. She was fuming, yet helpless to do anything in her defense.
The next day, as Elara sat in her office trying to get her mind off Stinson, she noticed a small, odd metallic object high up on the left wall. What the…oh, no. He's planted some sort of device in here! Whether it's a listening or visual device, I have no idea. How would I figure it out?
An idea came to her. She began waving a notebook over her head and tried to act semi-retarded, but made no sound. Then she stopped and waited for a few minutes. Nothing happened; no one came. She sighed with relief. It's not visual, so it must be audio. I guess I'll just act as normally as I can in here. How was he able to bug my office without getting into trouble? Maybe he claimed that it was for my own good or something that they keep some sort of eye on me. But then someone must have chimed in and said that it would be best to give me some privacy and suggested audio instead of visual.
Elara frowned. Now what? Knowing that isn't really going to do me any good. Oh, well. At least I know it's there.