The Lexal Affair, DM Arnold [i wanna iguana read aloud .TXT] 📗

“How long were you on Earth?”

“I don't really know -- Zander kept me inside the whole time. One day blends into another. This world is such a strange and fearsome place.”

“Earth is a beautiful planet,” Nyk replied. “Zander supplied you with euphoriants?”

“Yes. He had other drugs, too.”

“Some in green cartridges?”

She nodded. “I can barely remember being under its influence.”

“Did you ever meet Andra?”

She shook her head. “Who's Andra?”

“Zander's wife. His widow, now.”

“Zander ... dead?” Shock and relief spread across her face.

“I told you he couldn't hurt you.”

“No, I never met Andra.”

“Did you ever meet a tall, blond woman -- an ax'amfin?”

She shook her head again. “No.”

“You'd remember her if you had.”

Dyppa dropped her spoon into her empty bowl. She pressed her hand against her stomach. “That feels good.”

“Do you want more?”

“I'm fine.”

Nyk picked up the empty bowls. “Let's go back -- I don't know about you, but I'm exhausted.”

He opened the door to the house and heard the phone ringing. He picked it up. “Nykkyo,” he heard Seymor's voice, in English. “I have some information on young Dyppa.”

“Go ahead.”

“I knew the name Hawryt rang a bell. Zander stole the identity of one Frax Hawryt.”

“I remember. We surmise Zander killed Frax for his identity chip.”

“Dyppa is that man's daughter. It seems Frax left Dyppa's mother when she was a toddler and enlisted in the ExoService. Her mother's a registered psyco-addict -- probably didn't give the girl much of a home life. Dyppa herself has a rap sheet -- mainly drug infractions -- use by minor -- truancy -- that sort of thing.”

“Judging from the number of spent injectors we found, the addictive tendencies must run in her family.”

“There's more,” Seymor continued. “She ended up in a child prostitution ring on Altia.” Nyk groaned and held his forehead. “She was caught and agreed to help in a sting operation to nail the ringleader. Then, she was remanded to her mother and ordered to attend a re-education center.”

“You mean reform school.”

“She seemed to do well there. When her mother was diagnosed a psychological addictive and ordered into rehab, Dyppa went into a group home/halfway house. Then, sometime in the past year, her father paid a visit.”

“Her father would've been long dead.”

“Exactly -- who looks at faces? Zander scanned his way in to take her on a one-day leave. She never returned.”

“So, Dyppa's AWOL from the group home -- and Zander's been feeding her habit. It must be how he insinuated his control over her -- how he got her to try is hypnotic mixture.”

“I've been in contact with Internal Affairs. Her mom's been clean for the past year and wants her back.”

“How will they address her skipping out with Zander?”

“It won't be held against her so long as she cooperates and completes her re-education. Of course, she'll need treatment.”

“More than just rehab,” Nyk replied. “No telling what Zander planted in her subconscious.”

“Agreed. An Internal Affairs officer will meet her on the relay station and take her into custody.”

“-- Along with our carton of goodies. Then I ride home with Grynnya and this Zander affair is behind us once and for all. Thanks, Seymor. This helps.” Nyk hung up the phone.

He mounted the stairs to the spare room and rapped on the door. “Come,” Dyppa said. Nyk opened the door. She was lying in bed with the covers pulled up to her armpits.

Nyk sat on the bed. “Dyppa, I want you to try to trust people who want to help you.”

“I don't understand...”

“I think Zander might have planted ideas in your head -- ideas you don't know you have. Like today -- you didn't want to kill yourself, did you?”

“What are you talking about? I never tried to kill myself.”

“The injector -- the red cartridge...”

“I don't know anything about a red cartridge.”

Nyk looked into her eyes. “You really don't -- do you?” She shook her head. “If you find yourself in a situation where your instinct is telling you one thing -- and some ... some voice in your mind tells you something else -- go with your instinct. Will you try to do that?”

“I'll try. I think I trust you, Nykkyo.”

“By the way, Dyppa -- I was proud of how you handled yourself at the airport today. It took courage and poise. You sized up what you had to do and executed flawlessly.”

She smiled. “Thanks.”

“I'm going to call Suki and then turn in. I'll see you in the morning.” He kissed her forehead and switched out the lights.

Nyk lay on his bed, his fingers laced behind his head. “Andra and I were much closer to the abyss than I imagined,” he said to himself. He closed his eyes and tried to relax.

His sleep was shattered by a shriek. He ran to the spare room and rapped on the door. “Dyppa -- are you all right? Dyppa?”

He heard another scream and opened the door. Dyppa was standing on the bed, pointing toward the floor. “No! It's coming! Don't let it... Don't let it... Don't let it get me!”

Nyk switched on the light. “Dyppa -- you're having a bad dream.” Panting, she looked at him. “Come, lie down.” He coaxed her into the bed and tucked the covers around her. “What was your dream?”

“I don't know -- I can't describe it. It was as if a pool of ... of evil seeped under the door and crept toward me. I knew I'd die if it touched me.” She took his hand and pressed it to her chest. “Feel my heart...”

“I have no doubt it scared you -- but it was just a dream. Have you had bad dreams before?”

“Now and then. Nykkyo, do you have any drugs?”

“No -- none in the house.”

“Oh... I'll be all right, I guess.”

Nyk kissed her forehead. “Try to get some rest.” He switched off the light and headed for his own room.

He was almost asleep when he heard a knock on his door. “Yes?” he said as he switched on the light.

The door opened and Dyppa entered. “May I sleep with you?”

Nyk averted his gaze. “Dyppa, go put on a shirt.”

“I want to sleep with you. I'm afraid of being alone.”

“Put on a shirt, and then if you need me to hold you, I will.”

She returned wearing the blouse she had worn earlier. Nyk turned back the covers and patted the mattress. She lay beside him and he held her.

“Nykkyo -- who's Suki?”

“A woman -- a native of this world.”

“I deduced so much. Tell me about her.”

“How much do you know of the founding of our homeworld?”

“Some.”

“Suki is destined to have a great-great-great-grandson with the name of Koichi Kyhana. He will be the astral navigator aboard the Centauri mission. After the warp jump accident, it will be Koichi who will discover the planet we know as Floran. Suki is right now pregnant with Koichi's forebear. She and I are lovers.”

Dyppa lay quietly, contemplating. “Nykkyo, you shouldn't have contact with her. Suppose you do something...”

“I'm afraid I did do something -- I made her my friend before I realized who she was. Then, it was too late. It's called temporal interference, and all ExoAgents are trained to avoid it. I diverted her from her intended destiny, and now I must replace the Earth man who was to be in her life -- to keep her timeline in balance. Destiny has a way of punishing temporal offenders, Dyppa.”

“Suki is your punishment?”

“Oh, no -- she's my joy. I love her with all my heart and would no matter what. Her child is my punishment -- I have promised to love and care for him as if he were my own.” A tear ran down his cheek. “I must never reveal my true nature to him. I can never introduce him to my homeworld friends or family, or let him know the glorious achievement of his descendants. Imagine what it would be like to experience interstellar travel for the first time through the eyes of a child. Those are gifts I am prohibited from giving him, and I have little else.”

“No, Nykkyo. You'll give him a gift I never received.”

He kissed her forehead. “I'm going to turn the light off. Try to go to sleep.” Nyk closed his eyes and tried to relax.

“Nykkyo?”

“What?”

“Is she pretty?”

“Suki? Yes -- very. She has the most beautiful eyes. I was smitten the moment I gazed into them.”

“Do you think I'm pretty?”

“You're young, Dyppa -- all youth is beautiful. Yes, you're a pretty girl.”

“Do you like me?”

“I feel sorry for you. You're a smart girl who's been misused.”

“But, do you like me?”

“Yes, Dyppa -- I care for you -- I like you.”

“I like you, too.” She slipped her arm around him. “Nykkyo, do you like me enough to make love?”

“Dyppa -- you're too young.”

“I'm not inexperienced -- I'm not a virgin. You probably know that already. I like sex and I like you.”

“I obey two rules, and making love with you would violate both of them. First, I don't make intimate with strangers. And, secondly -- never with minors. You're two Floran years from the age of consent.”

“A year and a half.”

“If it were a single day it would be one too many.”

“If I were older, would you?”

“Let's not speculate on such -- might-have-beens don't count.”

“Then, let's make a date in a year and a half.”

He kissed her forehead. “We'll see.”

“Good night, Nykkyo.” Her body relaxed and she began to breathe deeply and regularly.

Nyk drew in a deep breath and released it slowly. He closed his eyes. What a day, he thought.

Daylight waked him. Dyppa was asleep, her back to him. He stood, dressed and went into the kitchen to see what food was edible. He reflected on the collection of pots and pans. Suki had left them when she moved back to her home in New York.

He found some waffles in the freezer and dropped a couple into the toaster. Dyppa walked into the kitchen and sat at the table.

“Good morning,” he said and placed a waffle before her. He noticed her hands were trembling. “Are you all right?”

She nodded and began eating. “Nykkyo, do we have any drugs?”

“I told you -- none in the house.”

“I need a euphoriant. What about the ones from Zander's?”

“I don't have them.”

“Did that other man take them?”

“Yes -- they must go to the homeworld. You'll have to do without.”

“I need one.”

Nyk paced around the house. Dyppa sat on the sofa. Her hands were shaking. She folded her arms across her abdomen. “Ohhh...” she moaned.

“What's wrong?”

“Cramps... I need a euphoriant...”

“Dyppa, I wouldn't give you one if I had it -- and I don't have it.”

“Ohhh...” She rocked back and forth on the sofa, clutching her stomach. “I need to lie down...” Dyppa headed up the stairs and stumbled, doubled over. Nyk helped her to the spare room. She lay on the bed, writhing. “Please ... I don't want to die...”

“You won't die from lack of euphoriant.”

“Yes I will ... ohhh, the pain...” She began to cry. “Help me!”

“Try to hold on until we can get you to the packet tonight,” he said.

Nyk heard pounding at the front door. He bolted down the stairs and opened the door. “FedEx for Nick Kane.”

Nyk signed for the package and carried it into the house. He set it down, cut open the tape sealing it, rummaged through the contents and withdrew a cartridge and an injector. Turning it over in his fingers he examined it. It was a class-A euphoriant. When injected into a thigh or shoulder muscle it would impart a sense of moderate intoxication lasting an hour or so. He shook his head and replaced it into the box.

He grabbed his laptop computer and jacked it into the network port at the house. Some keystrokes brought up a vidphone window and he entered a locator code. The call initiator flashed and then went dark.

Nyk composed a telemessage and sent it. He paced around the room and then mounted the stairs to check on Dyppa. She was curled into a fetal position, trembling and moaning.

An incoming vidphone call signaled him and he rushed down the stairs to answer it. He saw his friend Aahhn.

“Sorry I missed your call, Nykkyo -- I was in surgery.”

“Aahhn, have you ever heard of physical addiction to Floran recreational drugs?”

“Psychological addiction is a well-known phenomenon,” Aahhn replied. “Which drug?”

“Euphoriant.”

Aahhn nodded. “We see it most often with euphoriants. The patient becomes dependant upon the effects of the drug, not the substance itself. I'll be honest -- we don't deal with this problem very well. Our response is to deny them access -- which drives them to use dangerous substitutes like alcohol. We should be treating the underlying problem.”

“No, Aahhn -- I mean real, physical addiction -- cold sweats, trembling, abdominal cramps...”