Being of the Field

  For Selwa, Sue and Steph.

  My dream team!

  Thanks for all your guidance.

  Table of Contents

  Cover Page

  Dedication

  Astro Marine Institute Explorer

  List Of Characters

  Part 1 Oceane—Water Planet

  Chapter 1 Amie

  Chapter 2 The Crew

  Chapter 3 Anomaly

  Chapter 4 Reasonable Force

  Chapter 5 Bearer Of Bad News

  Chapter 6 Propagation

  Chapter 7 Interrogation

  Chapter 8 Homeward-Bound

  Chapter 9 The Void

  Part 2 Frujia—Tropical Planet

  Chapter 10 Castaways

  Chapter 11 The Invitation

  Chapter 12 Appearances

  Chapter 13 Unguarded Moments

  Chapter 14 Precognition

  Chapter 15 Disclosure

  Part 3 Phemoria—Planet Of Women

  Chapter 16 Stowaway

  Chapter 17 Damage Control

  Chapter 18 Naked On The Inside

  Chapter 19 Best-Kept Secret

  Chapter 20 Fem-Libertine

  Chapter 21 The Two-Fold City

  Chapter 22 Angels In Fast Motion

  Part 4 Sermetica—Desert Planet

  Chapter 23 Provocation

  Chapter 24 Anathema

  Chapter 25 Tryst

  Chapter 26 Snatch

  Chapter 27 Ghost Ship

  Chapter 28 Heavensgate

  Chapter 29 Cross

  Bibliography

  Planets Of The United Star Systems

  The Powers

  Acknowledgements

  About the Author

  Books by Traci Harding

  Copyright

  About the Publisher

  Astro Marine Institute Explorer

  LIST OF CHARACTERS

  Ship—AMIE (Astro-Marine Institute Explorer)

  Anomaly Expert—Taren Lennox

  Captain—Lucian Gervaise

  Lucian’s Wife—Amie Gervaise

  Project Manager—Swithin Gervaise

  Lucian’s Personal Assistant—Aurora (Rory) DeCadie

  Pilot—Zeven Gudrun (Starman)

  Co-pilot/Navigator—Leal Polson

  Ship’s Doctor—Kassa Madri

  Systems Engineer—Bonar Colbers

  Youngest Tech—Raggus

  Botanist/Horticulturalist—Ringbalin Malachi

  Physicist—Eleazar Kestler

  Marine Botanist—Ayliscia Portus

  Head of the United Star Systems—Jabez Anselm

  Anselm’s Viceroy—Khalid Mansur

  Stowaway/Systems Tech—Kalayna Zuri

  The Being of the Field—Azazèl-mindos-coomra-dorchi

  Phemorian Queen—Qusay-Sabah Clarona

  Phemorian Viceroy—Jalila Lamus

  Presidental Guard—the Valoureans

  The Grigori—Azazèl, Armaros and Sammael

  PART 1

  OCEANE—

  WATER PLANET

  CHAPTER 1

  AMIE

  After achieving eight different degrees at the University of Esponisa on Maladaan, Taren had finally scored a research visa and a six-month stay on the esteemed land, sea and space vessel that had been the brainchild of Professor Lucian Gervaise.

  Gervaise—whose explorations of space Taren had long admired—was captain of the mobile institute that he had designed. The professor had named the craft the Astro-Marine Institute Explorer, or AMIE, after his wife, Amie Gervaise, who was a well known marine-biologist herself. The AMIE project worked in cooperation with the University of Esponisa, and their home base office here on Maladaan was located on campus. AMIE’s earthbound operations and research centre were run by Lucian’s older brother, Swithin Gervaise, who raised the finance to fund the AMIE project.

  Taren thought it a damn shame that Lucian Gervaise was a happily married man as, besides being a brilliant scientist, writer and inventor, he was remarkably good looking, charismatic and, from all accounts, a pleasure to work with.

  One last briefing and Taren would be getting the lowdown on Gervaise from a personal perspective. She couldn’t wait to be off this overpopulated planet and exposed to the vast wildernesses that space and the planets of the neighbouring star systems had to offer.

  Taren’s job on the mobile observatory—to study and advise on space anomalies—had been specifically created for her because of a recent discovery that those in the know at the Astro-Marine Institute’s headquarters on Maladaan were not disclosing to anyone outside the presidential office and the Dean of the University on Esponisa. It was widely rumoured that most of AMIE’s major discoveries had not been made public as yet; the mobile institute had only been in space for five years, although the project had been in existence for closer to ten. Apart from the construction of the mobile institute, AMIE also built a planet-bound port and maintenance dock for the institute, its recon vessels and its interstellar pod transport system.

  Taren was dying to get on that vessel and be made privy to AMIE’s discoveries herself. She’d have top-level security clearance soon—well, top-level clearance so far as astro-marine research went, and that’s what she was interested in.

  The majority of Taren’s peers and teachers over the years had questioned the value of the subjects she chose to investigate. She had studied everything from genetics and cell communication to quantum theory, astrophysics and extrasensory perception in hopes of proving her inter-dimensional field theory.

  Taren was convinced there was an ocean of microscopic vibrations connecting everything in the universe. This ocean—or field—influenced, and was in turn influenced by, every single particle within creation. The field could control you, or you could control it, unconsciously or consciously, for better or for worse.

  The flora and fauna of the natural world was instinctually connected to the field and utilised it unconsciously to their advantage—especially pack animals and those that moved in schools. A largemajority of human beings in Taren’s day and age, who lived in highrise cities, had lost their connection with the natural world and the macrocosm. Most liked to believe that life was a string of fated events, because in this belief they need not take responsibility for their own sickness, misfortune, or misguided acts; it could all be blamed away on others or circumstance, but not the self.

  So of course, all the serious scientists and scholars at the university of Esponisa had found the concept that they created their own reality and were responsible for everything that happens to them in life a bit confronting. They had ridiculed her theories that all life was telepathically connected, that disease is caused by emotional and mental imbalance, and that it might be possible to influence the past.

  Intriguingly enough, after ten years her peers on the research funding board at the University of Esponisa had stopped laughing and had been questioning her about her research with some interest of late. Then, out of the blue, Taren was invited to apply for a grant and a visa to study on board AMIE. This was Taren’s greatest dream come true. She’d never bothered to apply for a visa before now; knowing her work was not regarded seriously, Taren strongly suspected she’d be rejected.

  Now the heads of AMIE on Maladaan were offering her a job.

  The large office where Taren was receiving her final briefing was minus many of the board members she’d been dealing with regarding her place on the space station. The chairman of the board at AMIE home base, Swithin Gervaise, was present.

  In Taren’s opinion, he was not as appealing appearance-wise as Lucian. Swithin was a serious businessman and came across as very cool and very confident. He was still a bachelor and, by all accounts, was always very charming when in fe
male company. His light brown hair with blond sun-streaks and his tanned skin made it obvious that Swithin was more interested in the marine side of things at AMIE.

  There were also a couple of other professors and doctors from Taren’s past who she’d not really expected to see at this meeting…or this institute.

  ‘Dr Lennox,’ Swithin Gervaise began as soon as she was seated. ‘Before you commenced your study here at our institute, you did some work for the MSS. Is that correct?’

  The MSS was the Maladaan Secret Service and it was the last thing Taren wanted to discuss at this meeting—especially if people were finally beginning to take her research seriously. ‘Yes, that is correct…but I don’t see—’

  ‘This work was of a psychic nature, was it not?’ Gervaise cut to the chase.

  ‘Look,’ Taren began to fret that her trip to the stars was going to be cancelled, ‘I haven’t used anything in regard to my research that—’

  ‘I believe you,’ Gervaise cut her short again, though seeming polite, ‘but I would like you to assist the board and the AMIE Project with your rare talent.’

  Taren was frowning. ‘I don’t understand.’ Why was a doctor of hypnotherapy present for this conversation? What has he got to do with AMIE? She had recognised the elderly and well-known fellow from her time with the MSS, where he had often been employed. Taren figured he must have told the board about her business with the secret service.

  ‘Allow me to explain.’ Swithin rose and walked around to sit on the front of his table, which joined others to form an arc in front of her chair. ‘We at AMIE believe that there may be a spy on board our research vessel and we’d like you to use your talent to help us pinpoint this person.’

  ‘How—’

  ‘Do we know there’s a spy?’ Swithin pre-empted her query. ‘Information about some of the project’s discoveries has been leaked to sources other than those that we officially reported to.’

  ‘Then couldn’t the leak come from inside the government rather than from on board the craft, or even come from this office?’ Taren reasoned on behalf of her soon-to-be crewmates.

  ‘Do you have a vibe on that?’ Swithin asked in a condescending manner. Taren felt put on the spot and did not respond, so he continued. ‘We do have those areas under investigation, but we need you to be our eyes in the sky, as it were.’

  Taren didn’t like the idea of having a hidden agenda when she’d have her hands full trying to accomplish her research goals in the six-month period she’d been allowed. ‘Do I report to Captain Gervaise?’

  ‘No,’ Swithin quickly replied, and gave a half laugh at his own eagerness to make that clear. ‘Lucian doesn’t know about the problem. He’d have a fit if he knew any of his precious research might be going astray, or that one of his team out there might not be faithful to him and the rest of the crew. None of his people are aware of the spy, nor are they to become aware that you are seeking one.’

  ‘And if I refuse?’ Taren had already realised this was a stupid question.

  ‘You do want to go, don’t you, Dr Lennox?’ Gervaise proved to be predictable and Taren gave a heartfelt sigh.

  ‘So what do you need a hypnotherapist for?’

  ‘To ensure you cannot be unwittingly persuaded by any said spies into not reporting your true findings to us,’ Swithin explained. ‘That’s been a bit of a problem in the past, I understand?’

  ‘I’m not going to let anyone screw around with my brain any more!’ Taren had quit the MSS and studied hard to get away from all the cloak-and-dagger crap she’d had to participate in as an agent.

  ‘According to your own theories, Dr Lennox, all mental and emotional activity is stored outside the brain in a great field of consciousness. Therefore, we won’t be screwing around with your mental functions as they are stored and preserved on some microscopic part of the universal superconscious.’

  What was the point in arguing? Both she and Swithin knew that she wasn’t going to walk away from this golden opportunity to be taken seriously and work on AMIE.

  ‘It’s your choice, of course,’ Swithin prompted her to commit.

  Taren had had this type of hypnotherapy performed on her before and had a good part of her childhood memories go missing, along with all her MSS training and mission knowledge. The little she did remember suggested she had been lonely and miserable, so she didn’t consider the missing memories any loss at all. ‘I guess I’m your stooge then,’ she conceded, none too thrilled by the honour.

  ‘This particular mission will not be as distracting as you think,’ Swithin assured her with a smile. ‘Your research is much more important to us, believe me.’

  According to Taren’s calculations they must have had her under for about half an hour. Lord knows what they’d been asking or telling her—she didn’t want to know. All that mattered was that she was on her way to the dock to get suited up and shipped out.

  She was flying express to AMIE via the institute’s own deep-space pod system. Her top-level clearance brief stated that AMIE was in the neighbouring binary-star system and was presently stationed off a planet that was primarily covered by deep ocean, and had so been named Oceane. Taren had had a short test run around her home planet in a single-occupant pod, but the thought of being shot into deep space in one, for a journey of some weeks, was a wee bit scary— it was a good thing she’d be in stasis for the entire journey! As she dressed in her battery suit, Taren did her best not to think about the voyage and focused on how good it would be to arrive.

  Suited up, she reported to the launch tube, where her luggage and equipment were being loaded into the storage section of her pod.

  ‘Dr Lennox?’ queried the man standing by her transport. Taren guessed him to be the launch supervisor.

  ‘Yes, indeed. How did you guess?’ she asked, looking down at her strange rubber suit with hoses sprouting out of the body and heat sensors scattered all over it.

  ‘The octopus suits you.’ He chuckled at her discomfort.

  ‘You’re too kind.’

  ‘Are you ready for the ride?’ He motioned her to the cockpit.

  ‘As I’ll ever be,’ she replied, trying not to wince.

  ‘Then hop inside! I’ll hook you up and strap you in.’

  As Taren was plugged in, turned on and harnessed, the butterflies in her stomach proceeded to increase.

  ‘You know how this works?’ the middle-aged supervisor asked in a calm voice, obviously used to nervous passengers.

  Taren nodded. ‘You’re going to launch me into space and once the initial boost has dissipated, the heat gathered from my body and converted by my battery suit into energy, is going to fuel my pod the rest of the way.’

  The launch supervisor gave her a friendly wink as he finished fastening her in. ‘There’s a homing beacon on the pod that will find AMIE, and AMIE’s own tracking system will pick up on your pod as soon as you’re through the inter-system gateway. They know precisely when to expect to see you on their scopes and should you not arrive on time, we’ll be notified and a search team sent out.’

  ‘So how often does a pod go astray?’ Taren said, doing her best not to sound fearful of the answer.

  ‘If you go missing, you’ll be the first.’ He watched as the pod door lowered to encase her. ‘Enjoy the ride.’ He gave a very reassuring smile.

  Taren gave him the thumbs-up and then the pod door was locked. The subtle lighting of the pod’s control panels was rather nice actually and she had a sensation of being safely wrapped up in a little space cocoon.

  ‘Dr Lennox…’ A soothing female voice came through her headset. ‘We’re going to put you under now and prepare for launch.’

  ‘I’m good for stasis,’ Taren confirmed, wondering how long it would take to knock her out.

  CHAPTER 2

  THE CREW

  What seemed like seconds later, Taren awoke. Everything was white.

  ‘Welcome to AMIE,’ said a woman with a velvetty voice that was immediately calmi
ng. ‘You have arrived safely and are in fine health. The perception of white light will pass as your eyes adjust to being open. The lighting in this room is very dim, but to eyes that have been closed for weeks, it’s blinding.’

  ‘Who are you?’ Taren asked, all her other questions having been answered.

  ‘I am AMIE’s medical practitioner, Dr Madri. Call me Kassa.’

  Taren loved the sound of Kassa’s voice; it was warm and friendly. Normally she’d probably feel more distressed at being blind in an unknown place, speaking with a total stranger who could have been an alien creature with six heads for all she knew.

  ‘And you are the infamous Dr Lennox,’ she chuckled, though not in an offensive way. ‘I’ve been telling Lucian to get you on the AMIE project for years!’

  ‘You’ve known about my work for years!’ Taren was surprised. ‘I didn’t think my work had been that well publicised…my reputation, yes, but my actual theories? I thought they were only read by those who had to assess them for further funding.’

  ‘Ahh…but they kept giving you funding,’ Kassa pointed out. ‘They knew you were onto something.’

  Taren didn’t know what to say as she was flattered speechless. She had judged from the voice that this was a mature woman of middle age…maybe a couple of hundred years old. Taren was a relative baby at fifty. Still, she’d done a lot of living and learning during her short life. But a woman and fellow scientist of true importance was excited about her work! Taren had to wonder if she was still in stasis, dreaming.

  ‘People in stasis don’t dream,’ Kassa informed.

  ‘Because they’re in a suspended—’ Taren gasped so deeply she nearly choked herself. ‘You read my mind!’

  ‘I did.’

  ‘You have the Powers,’ Taren stated surely.

  ‘Well, one of them,’ Kassa replied.

  ‘So do I!’ Taren blurted out, instantly realising she was telling her deepest secret to a stranger she couldn’t see.

  ‘I know,’ Kassa replied. ‘That’s why I’ve been watching you.’ She sounded a little excited. ‘If anyone is going to prove that we heretical psychics have been right all along, it’s you.’