Chapter 11 guests
Jordeen and Corissa were sharing ideas and adding things to their wish list as they warmed up the MRE’s Preston had bought. Neither knew what spices they might be available when they finally made it into town, but they were each interested in creating dishes for the other to try. Most of their conversations were about food, which probably meant they were hungry as opposed to just wanting to share from their culture. Jordeen brought a pot of tea to the table and set it down. Ten approached the table, sulking.
“I can’t find Preston anywhere,” Ten said.
“Even Findit doesn’t know where he is.”
“I’m sure he is around somewhere,” Corissa said, pouring herself some tea.
“Probably doing his morning meditation,” Jordeen offered. She began making a plate for Ten.
“Come have something to eat.”
“I’m worried,” Ten said.
“Don’t you guys have radio comm. links?”
“Nope, Preston didn’t buy any, but it’s on the list,” Corissa said.
“Well, I’m going to keep looking for him,” Ten said, turning to leave.
“No, you’re going to come sit here and eat with us,” Corissa said.
“You’re not my mother. You can’t boss me around,” Ten said.
“Ten,” Jordeen said, putting one hand on her hip.
“That is uncalled for.”
“What if he fell into a booby trap? What if he is hurt?” Ten said, dramatically.
“Don’t you care at all? What if he’s suffering?”
“Come sit down,” Corissa said.
“We’ll discuss it.”
Ten dragged her feet, but she came to the table and sat down. Findit entered and came to the table.
“I told you, go find Preston,” Ten said to the Droid. The Droid’s lower half pivoted and headed back the way it came, looking back, giving a sad little whine.
Jordeen set the plate in front of Ten and then sat down next to her. Corissa sat across from Ten, holding her cup of tea with both hands, savouring the warmth. Corissa pointed, indicating she wanted Ten to start eating.
“I thought we were going to discuss our plan to find Preston,” Ten said, forcing herself to take a bite.
“We are,” Corissa said.
“Just not with our mouths full. And the last thing we are going to do is split up and run all over the place like crazy people.”
“I’m not crazy,” Ten said.
“I’m worried. He is out there somewhere, alone.”
Jordeen nodded, swallowing the portion she had started.
“He’s never alone. And I’ve seen him do some pretty neat tricks, like passing through walls. I think he could get out of a trap.”
“And, he has the ability to be in two extremely distant places at the same time, so he knows where we are if he needs help,” Corissa said.
Ten paled.
“You’ve seen his ghost, too?”
“What do you mean?” Corissa asked.
“He came onto the flight deck to talk me into returning to the main cabin but when I came out, he was still in the main cabin, and he couldn’t have gotten through the locked door,” Ten said.
“And I saw him when I left my body. He helped me return to the living.”
“You had an out of body experience?” Jordeen asked, pausing in her meal.
“Well, yeah,” Ten said.
“I was dead.”
“So was I,” Jordeen said.
“Do I have to die to join the club?” Corissa asked, setting her tea down.
“Oh, no. I knew a nun who could teach people to Light Travel. I could try and teach you if you’re curious,” Jordeen said.
“You can teach people to do this willingly?” Ten asked.
“Sure,” Jordeen said.
“If you consider that you will spend most of eternity on the higher planes, doesn’t it make sense to get to know your way around now?”
Corissa stirred a fruit sauce that might have once actually been a fruit.
“I’ve read about this ability, but I’ve always been afraid to leave my body.”
“I’ve been out of my body and I’m still afraid to leave,” Ten said.
“I think I’m even more afraid now than I was before I died.”
“Fear is a natural first response,” Jordeen assured them.
“Like when you go scuba diving for the first time. You know you can breathe, because the regulator is in your mouth, but your body is telling you not to breathe in, you’re underwater, idiot.”
“If these other planes of existence are real, why is fear the natural response to going there?” Corissa asked.
“Love,” Jordeen said.
“I don’t understand,” Corissa said, but pointed at Ten’s plate to encourage her to keep eating.
“This sucks,” Ten said, spitting the breakfast out.
“Yeah, well, we’re not going to let Preston buy any more food, I assure you, but for now, you need to eat so we can go walking and see if we can find his lazy butt,” Corissa said.
“I can’t believe we’re sitting here eating when Preston could be out there injured or dying,” Ten said.
“What does love have to do with anything anyway?”
“Yes, please tell how love explains the fear of leaving the body,” Corissa said, bring the conversation back on track.
“You have to understand that what I am going to try and communicate can’t be done with words. The best I can do is analogies. Analogies always come short. We all think that we know what love is, but the truth is we haven’t tapped into even one tenth of a percent of love. The first time we leave our bodies, we come up against the Greatest Love, the only true Love that exists. It has many names, but mostly, our society calls it the Force. We find ourselves immersed in it and we recognize, perhaps for the first time, that what we know about love is absolutely nothing, that we have really never loved, and we feel shame, a true shame. We are not even one photon compared to the magnitude of this light. We are not even an electron around a hydrogen atom in a water molecule, to the ocean that is. If you are not awestruck, if you are not humbled, if you are not moved to tears and complete surrender when you find yourself the focus of this Love, then you’re probably brain damaged,” Jordeen said.
Ten put her spoon down, staring hard at her plate.
“That’s what I experienced,” she said at last. She looked to Corissa then Jordeen.
“But not at first. At first, there was a darkness. I felt trapped. I heard a voice, but not a voice. I think it said, be calm, child, you are safe. And then, hands were pulling me up, and then Preston was there, and we were standing in an open field. There was grass, like real green, and we were barefoot, and it felt nice under your feet, like that’s the way it was always intended to be, like there’s a connection between standing and earth. And there were flowers, like smiling entities. And honey bees. And butterflies. But if you looked at them wrong, they were other…” Ten started weeping.
“I don’t want to be here. I don’t feel like I belong.”
Corissa joined Ten on her side of the bench and both she and Jordeen hugged her.
“Shhh, you’re safe, we’ve got you,” Jordeen said.
“This will feel like home again, once you start realizing you are still in that Light. The Force is always with us.”
Corissa touched Ten’s chin, turned her face upward.
“I’m not going to pretend I understand any of this, but I am with you. I will not leave you,” Corissa said.
When Ten had finished the outpouring of emotion, Jordeen touched her shoulder.
“Between all plateus, between all levels, there appears to be an empty space, or a dark space.
That space is the most condusive to thought forms. So, if you’re afraid, scary things come, if you’re loving, pleasant things come, with a varying degree of mitigating factors. Fear comes the easiest and if you have that on the lowest plane, the easiest way to escape is reincarnating. I like to think that’s why we have the expression of hiding, or burying our head in the sand. Like peek aboo, we believe if we don’t see it then it doesn’t exist. But there is a greater world surrounding us, penetrating us, and our thoughts about that world influence our experiences there. It alters our experiences here, too, just rarely as dramatic or as quick or as intense as it does there, unless you are trained or you’ve had an awakening experience, like you and I have had.”
Ten nodded, as if she was validating her own experience. She had cried out for help, and Preston was suddenly there. Her eyes went distant for a brief moment, as if she were looking beyond the horizon.
“There’s a ship coming,” she said.
“A ship?” Corissa said.
“Yeah, it’s going to land on the platform,” Ten said. She frowned at their skepticism.
“I’m not making this up.”
“Let’s go see,” Corissa said, standing up.
It took time to walk to the landing pad, so they took their meals and drinks with them. They arrived safely and were perhaps disappointed that there was nothing to be seen but sky, clouds gathering around the Tallest Sister. Ten was also hoping Preston would be here. Down below, parts of the diamond lake glittered with patches of sunlight and silhouettes of clouds. Mists of red haze gathered along the crest of the mountains, like fire rainclouds filtering through the trees. Jordeen found the red haze mystifying. Ten, who had rarely seen clouds, much less red haze, didn’t think anything of it at all. All she could see was that there was no apparent ship.
“I don’t see anything,” Jordeen said.
“I saw it,” Ten insisted.
“I didn’t imagine this!”
“We don’t doubt you saw something,” Jordeen said.
“Yeah, you do,” Ten said, angrily, crossing her arms.
“No one ever believes me.” Thunder peeled overhead and echoed down the canon to the east.
“Rain?” Jordeen asked.
“Nope, that’s Ten’s ship breaking the sound barrier,” Corissa said.
“Really? Where?” Ten asked.
“Wait for it,” Corissa said.
A moment later, an Imperial Tie Defender was descending upon them, orientating itself towards the pad. It settled unselfishly on a designated spot furthest from the gathered group, so as not to blow a whirlwind around them.
“Aren’t they the bad guys?” Ten asked.
“Stand behind me,” Corissa said.
“Maybe we should put another blaster on the list,” Jordeen said.
“Yeah,” Corissa agreed.
The bottom hatch opened.
“Extended pod, lower hatch mod,” Corissa mumbled, drawing the blaster but not aiming it.
“Whoever it is, they’re top brass.”
Kiesha dropped out of the lower hatched, stretched and looked up to see Nolasco following. He dropped out and she hugged him.
“I’m so glad to be out of there…” then she saw the drawn blaster.
“You’re going to shoot your first guest?” Nolasco asked?
Corissa holstered her weapon and the three of them went to greet Nolasco. Kiesha met them eagerly.
“I would love to catch up, but I want a shower first, and a change of clothes,” Kiesha asked.
“The waters cold,” Ten said, complaining.
“I’m still going to get a shower,” Kiesha said, ruffling her hair.
“The suits are designed to catch waste, but I’m sure there was leakage.”
“Ewww,” Ten said.
“How did you know we were here?” Jordeen asked.
“Preston told us,” Nolasco said.
“He sure gets around,” Corissa said.
“That he does,” Nolasco said.
“Come on down, Red.”
Red disengaged the inner locks, rose from his space, extended jets from his leg, and propelled himself down. He rolled up and gave a salutation.
“Oh, thank you!” Corissa said.
“We probably need a dozen astromechs, but this is a good start. Red, diagnose the tram system, see if we can’t get it up and running today. You’ll find me at base camp when you have a report. Just make your way down to the inner cloister, you’ll find us there.”
Red whistled an affirmation and headed towards the ramp that led down to the tubes.
“Where’s Preston?” Nolasco said.
“Oh! We still need to find him!” Ten said, her urgency returning.
“He’s missing?”
“He’s probably just meditating somewhere,” Jordeen said.
“Another ship is approaching,” Ten said.
Everyone looked to Ten. She pointed East. A ship broke through the clouds as if on cue.
“Were you expecting anyone?” Nolasco asked.
“Nope,” Corissa said, once again removing her blaster.
“But you were all here waiting for me?” Nolasco said.
Corissa nodded to Ten.
“She sensed someone was arriving. We just came to see. This looks like a freighter.”
Jordeen pulled Ten behind Corissa, trying to hug her. Ten pulled free and scowled.
“Stop trying to baby me,” Ten said.
“Good eye, Corissa. Haven’t seen one of those in a while,” Nolasco said, once the ship was close enough to make out more details.
“What is it?” Kiesha said.
“An MT/191 drop ship,” Corissa said.
“Dropping in from where?” Kiesha asked.
The ship slowed, pivoted around so that the flight deck was facing away from the mountain, and settled down on the edge of the platform. The engines powered off, but the Auxiliary power unit stayed on, adding a little warmth to the tarmac. The aft ramp lowered and Preston descended.
“Preston!” Ten said, running to greet him.
Corissa once again put away her weapon and the group moved to greet Preston who was being fiercely hugged by Ten.
“I was worried about you,” Ten said.
“Ahh, you only have to check in with the Force to know I am well,” Preston said.
“We’re not all Force sensitive. You could have left a note,” Corissa snapped.
“You’re right, Corissa. I will endeavor to do better by you. In that Light, I come bearing gifts,” Preston said, hoping to make up for his social faux pas.
“Really?” Ten asked, excited. Freya descended down the ramp.
“Oh my god,” Corissa said.
“Tell me you didn’t spend money on that.”
“Please, tell me you didn’t spend money on that,” Nolasco moaned, wondering how he was going to justify the cost of a luxury Droid.
“I spent money upgrading her to body guard status, but the Droid was free. I found her in the observatory, unopened, new never used, just out of the box,” Preston said, excited as a child.
“You are the luckiest man I know,” Nolasco said.
Kiesha hit Nolasco’s arm.
“I don’t like it. It’s kind of sexist, don’t you think?”
“Extremely,” Corissa said, crossing her arms in front of her chest.
“Deactivate it.”
“Aww, but I like her,” Preston said, locking arms with Freya.
“Don’t worry, I bought you several Droids for you to put to work. Cute in their own way, I suppose. Alright, 2s, front and center!”
Three astromech droids rolled down the ramp. The first was black with gold highlights, the second was white with green highlights, and the third was glossy black with pink highlights.
“Introducing, R5-J2,” Preston said, patting the droid as it went by.
“R3-T7 and R2-KT, detailed especially for Ten. Don’t worry, she is EMP proof! Hug away.” Technically, they were all EMP proof. The last thing you needed was to fly two close to a supernova and have all your equipment fail due to an EMP burst.
“Really?!” Ten said.
“Preston, you didn’t buy this shuttle and the droids on the company account, did you?” Nolasco said more than asked, clearly worried about how much explaining he was going to have to do.
“Oh no. I won black outright in a card game, but used the money from my winnings for the rest of the items and the upgrades,” Preston said.
“You’ll find everything that was on your list in the shuttle, as well as a couple extra items. Shielded comm. units to facilitate intra communication without fear that that special someone who is electronically challenged will turn it permanently off.”
“It’s not my fault,” Ten protested.
“It’ll get better,” Jordeen assured her.
“It happened to me, too.”
“Really?” Ten asked
“You went into town to play cards?” Corissa asked.
“No, I went into town to speak with Senator Doya, the card games and cigars were extra,” Preston said. He offered one of his extra cigars
Nolasco closed his eyes, took a hit of his vape, and sighed.
“Please tell me you did not sleep with the Senator.”
“I did not sleep with the Senator,” Preston said, reassuringly.
“But we did have sex.”
“Preston, are you a complete idiot?!” Nolasco asked, pushing his fingers on his right hand into his forehead, hoping the pressure might alleviate pain.
Corissa whispered to Ten, “Take your Droid and head back to base.”
“Why is everyone so upset?” Ten asked.
“It’s just sex.”
“No, it’s not,” Nolasco said.
“Intimacy on this planet is often used as a formal, binding contract.”
“Yes, that was explained to me,” Preston said.
“Let’s go,” Corissa said, trying to take Ten by the hand.
“No, I want to stay,” Ten said.
“Ten,” Preston said, in a tone he hadn’t used before with her.
“Go with Corissa.”
Ten pouted, but complied. Corissa whistled, and the astromechs followed her. Jordeen remained. Freya stood idol, pleasantly waiting for instructions.
“What did you agree to?” Nolasco asked. Preston described the deal. Nolasco paled.
“They will never agree to this!” Nolasco said.
“People of our stature have ended up missing, like bottom of a swamp pit, missing!”
“They will agree to this, because we’re going to double their market value within five years,” Preston said.
“Additionally, the positive PR is going to have other worlds clamoring to duplicate our contracts, and they’re going to give sufficient subsidies to make it more feasible to expand operations to non-industrialized worlds. Conversely, not taking this deal will negatively affect the market value, which will take years to get back to its current level.”
“They won’t go for it!” Nolasco said.
“They will, especially when they hear you and I will work for free, no commission,” Preston said.
“Now I know you have lost your mind,” Nolasco said.
“Nolasco,” Preston said, calmly, as if he were speaking to a parent who didn’t understand.
“You and I are going to make more money together than we can spend in fifty life times. I already reimbursed your account the purchase price of the property with my winnings today. Though I haven’t found the products yet, I know we will be adding three product lines from items that can only be derived from this planet. This is a good deal. Others will follow.”
“Who are you?” Nolasco asked.
Preston smiled.
“What a great philosophical question? Shall we discuss it on the way down?”
♫♪►
Nolasco and Preston sat at a table together, eating lunch, discussing the arrangement Preston had made. Preston ate as if he hadn’t eaten in several days, which gave Jordeen joy as she had prepared the food with love. Ten sat next to Preston, teaching Pink some sign commands. Kiesha sat further down, talking with Jordeen. ‘Findit,’ bobbed, trying to win Ten’s attention back.
“I see you, too,” Ten assured it, laughing at her own joke.
Preston missed the pun, finding it challenging to be peaceful, given the level of stress radiating from his companions. Corissa wasn’t even present and he could feel her rays of anger. To help mitigate some of it, or perhaps just to make himself feel better from the idea that maybe he had been wrong, he decided to give the ‘Boss’ a visit. He barely had to blink his eyes and he was able to zero in on Mr. Conlay the Third. He had not met the man personally, but had seen his photos in the hallways at the firm. As instructed, this time before popping in, he knocked. For some reason, knocking didn’t seem to ease Mr. Conlay’s unease at having a sudden visitor. He and his companion scrambled for covers.
“Preston? How did you get in here?” Conlay demanded.
“Good day, Mr. Conlay,” he said, bowing. He bowed to Conlay’s companion.
“Mrs. Nolasco. Nice to meet you again.”
“Call security,” Tillia demanded.
“What do you want, Preston?” Conlay asked.
“I brokered a deal on Darthormir that I believe is in the best interest of the company,” Preston said.
“However, I may have violated the social protocols of acquisition within the company. Nolasco is worried and I was hoping that a dialogue with you might alleviate his concerns, as well as provide you and I an opportunity to build rapport, seeing how I work for you and all.”
“This is hardly the time and place to conduct business,” Conlay said.
“It is mid afternoon, during business hours, and we’re at a hotel. Per your secretary, this is where you usually conduct your business meetings, with the second choice being the Gentlemen’s Club,” Preston said.
“Just call security. Have him arrested and fired,” Tillia said.
“And tell security what, exactly? That one of my employees who was just awarded the largest contract in the history of my corporation caught me in bed with my partner’s wife?” Conlay snapped at her, getting out of bed and going for his pants.
“I will have you know, Mr. Waycaster, that I will not be blackmailed.”
Preston was a bit confused.
“I’m not sure I understand. I mean, I understand the word. I’m curious about the word, mostly, as to why it’s not white-mail, or any other color mail, but I have not come here to coerce you into doing something you don’t want. Technically, the deal I made is solid and legally would be extremely difficult extricate ourselves from, without severe penalties, but I could see Nolasco perspective of how the company could potentially be dissatisfied with the initial cost benefit structure and might want to take punitive actions against the person, or persons, involved.”
Conlay began to button his shirt.
“If Nolasco is worried about a deal, it’s probably because it’s a bad one,” he said.
“Based on the history of your contracts, I suppose this one would fit this category. We’ll have a slower growth rate, but I believe the long term benefits outweigh the short term costs,” Preston said.
“Based on what statistical analysis?” Conlay demanded.
“Based on my understanding of sociology and my Force intuition,” Preston said.
“Oh, hell no. You didn’t just enter a long term contract based on superstition and feelings, did you?” Conlay asked.
“Technically? Yeah, I guess I did,” Preston said.
“Leave your report, the contract, and your product proposal and get out,” Conlay said.
“I have none of that prepared or with me. I was merely guaging your receptivity, in order to understand what I might need to bring to the table to eliminate any potential negativity,” Preston said.
“Get out, Preston,” Conlay said.
Preston bowed.
“Thank you for your time, Mr. Conlay. Mrs. Nolasco.” Preston vanished before there eyes.
“What was that?” Mrs. Nolasco asked.
“One of those high definition holographic displays? Are you filming us?”
“No, I’m not filming us,” Conlay said.
“You know I am more careful than that.”
“Then how did he know we were here?” Mrs. Nolasco demanded.
“I don’t know, but I did tell you, if anyone discovered us, we were done,” Conlay said.
“Because of him? We’re not done. I made you, not your wife. I’m the second largest share holder, and if you think for a moment that I won’t go public to protect my interest in this company, that I haven’t groomed my husband to take over in your absence, then you have completely forgotten why you got into bed with me in the first place.”
“Oh, I have not forgotten,” Conlay said.
“I will tell your wife,” Mrs. Nolasco said.
“My wife has known from the start,” Conlay said.
“Who do you think gave me the green light to sleep with you? It is you who are mistaken about who was using whom.”
Conlay departed the room, putting in an earpeace and making a call as he headed for the lift.
♫♪►
Corissa entered, went right up to Preston, planted her feet sharply, and put her hands on her waiste. He didn’t seem to notice. She waved a hand in front of his eyes. His eyes shifted and he focused.
“Day dreaming?” Corissa demanded.
“Yeah, sort of, sorry,” Preston said.
“What’s wrong?”
“Did you not consider topping off the fuel tanks on the shuttle before you flew the shuttle out here?” Corissa asked.
“There’s not enough fuel?” Preston asked.
“No, this is my pretend mad face,” Corissa said, hands akimbo.
“What were you thinking? What if you had had to pass through a storm and you ran out of fuel? That thing isn’t exactly a glider!”
“I could see the weather was good all the way here,” Preston rebutted.
“I’m not sure what you can see or how much you know, but flying that junker, which is in a bad way for maintenance, with no fuel reserve put your life at risk and makes me question your judgment,” Corissa said.
“There is insufficient fuel to fly it back to the nearest town, much less the nearest hub.”
“Isn’t there a fuel tank embedded in the Second Sister?” Preston asked.
“Yeah,” Corissa said.
“Which has to be drained, the tank cleaned, and the fuel revitalized before we can put it back in there.”
“Oh,” Preston said.
“Oh,” Corissa said, sitting down.
“You really don’t have a clue what you’re doing, do you? Before you go and get yourself or someone killed, you’re going to have to let the more experienced adults handle the details.”
“So, does that mean we’re not going into town to get carbonated drinks?” Ten asked. No one responded.
“What am I supposed to drink around here?” Ten asked.
Corissa pushed a glass of water towards her.
“I’m not drinking that! It came from the lake, and there are fishes in the lake, and the fish pee and poop in the lake, and I’m not drinking it,” Ten said.
“It goes through a filter,” Corissa said.
“Just like on a starship, where water is recycled right from waste products.”
“Ewww, no way!” Ten said.
“Drink the water,” Corissa said.
“I did. It tastes funny,” Ten protested.
“It shouldn’t have a taste at all,” Corissa said.
“It still tastes funny and I’m going to die of thirst if we can’t go into town and get something carbonated, or at least some juice,” Ten said.
Preston waved her closer. She complied and he touched her forehead with a single finger, and then handed her the glass.
“Try the water again.”
Ten frowned, but lifted the glass and touched the water to her tongue. She took a sip. She took a swig.
“That’s a neat trick. Can you teach me that one?” Ten asked.
“Yep,” Preston said.
“Now, if you will, I left a pile of books on the far table in the library. I want you to go pick one that interests you and start reading. I’m going to test you over it, so pay attention.”
“Okay,” Ten said, excusing herself.
“Come on, Pink!”
No one spoke till Ten was out of ear shot, but it was painfully obvious that people were bursting at the seams to get at him. Corissa started:
“Did you just use the Force on her?” Corissa asked.
“Of course not,” Preston said.
“That would be inappropriate.”
“But the water tasted different?” Jordeen asked.
“No, it’s the same water, same taste,” Preston said.
“The only thing that changed was her thoughts about the taste of the water.”
“So you tricked her?!” Corissa asked.
Preston sighed.
“I feel a great deal of hostility directed towards me,” he