Rogue Talent

By “Amaranth Rose”

Griszhas continued silently down the corridor, almost identical to many others on the huge Ring Ship. His nose, large and prominent, was leading him to the source of a pungent odor he’d detected. It spoke of a mixture of pain, loneliness, homesickness and intense sadness. It was also undeniably a human female, he noted with some distaste. A Gallarian Gnome, or Gnomayini as they were called in the Gallarian tongue, lived and died by his nose. His incredibly accurate sense of smell, combined with his diminutive stature and dark wood-brown skin made it easy for Griszhas to evade detection when he wanted to. His full height of less than four feet, a distinct advantage on any planet if a person wanted to avoid being detected, also served him well in the artificial gravity of the huge rotating Ring Ships; there were many nooks and crannies a small man could secrete himself in to evade pursuers or avoid the omnipresent computer sensors. He'd been aboard this particular Ring Ship for a long time, watching, waiting, searching for clues, traces of a certain artifact and Vardos, the man who had stolen it from Gallaria, Griszhas’ home planet. He made it his business to investigate anything and anyone unusual. As a Senior Investigative Specialist for the Gallarian government, it was his job, after all.

Ordinarily Gnomes did not have much use for humans, but something about this one seemed undefinably different, and his curiosity was piqued. As he drew nearer, he also sensed a strong disturbance in the life force. Normally when someone was strong in the force he felt it swish around him, like ripples on a pond, but this was much stronger; it was as if he was being buffeted by high waves in a storm. He hesitated. That much power usually meant one thing: someone had brought a rogue talent onto the Ring Ship, and they had evaded their caretakers and were probably potentially dangerous. Only a relatively high-ranking Crystal Matrix Knight would have the authority to do that.

A rogue talent was someone who had grown up among people who did not share their gifts, and often they did not know how to control what they could do. Bringing them onto a Ring Ship where they would come into contact with advanced civilization was risky for all concerned. Ordinarily a Knight would keep such a person under very close supervision. Rogue talents had on occasion been known to accidentally kill people before they learned the necessary control. Sometimes they ended up being killed themselves, usually by a Crystal Matrix Knight, to stop them from harming others. This was a situation to be approached with great caution, at best.

Griszhas sniffed carefully. He smelled water, along with the scent of the human. He detected a sense of urgent need as well. There was no indication of anger or violence. His initial perception of pain, loneliness, homesickness and intense sadness was greatly enhanced, however. Whatever the source, it was a very unhappy being, he thought to himself, but not likely a danger to him. The scent was emanating from the food court at the end of the corridor, a place normally deserted at this time of day. The water would be the fountain in the courtyard. He smiled. Beings of many races were drawn to the sound and smell of running water when they were distressed. The designer of the Ring Ships had known this and taken it into account. He was very clever, Griszhas admitted grudgingly to himself, for a human.

He peeked cautiously around the corner at the end of the corridor. The food court was deserted; the shops were shuttered, it being a slow period, though a person could always get something if they would merely knock for attention. The disturbance in the force attracted him to a figure beside the fountain, a slender young woman. Her back was to him, and her thick auburn hair fell in gleaming ripples to the middle of her back. Well, he thought she was young; Gnomes being very long lived creatures generally tended to think of most other beings as seeming young anyway, but there was a sense of extreme youthfulness about this woman. She was also slender beyond the point of thinness. She was kneeling beside the fountain. As he watched, she cupped her hands in the water and brought it to her lips, drinking thirstily of the few drops that did not run through her fingers. Griszhas grimaced with distaste; the fountain's water was heavily treated with chemicals, and not intended for drinking purposes. The woman must be desperate indeed, to drink it so heedlessly.

As he approached her, the source of her need became clear; she was pregnant, he discerned, with twins, both of whom were strong in the force as well. They became aware of his presence, and gradually, so did she. She turned her gaze on him then, and he was surprised. When her green and brown flecked eyes met his they held no alarm or mistrust, only a calm, frank regard. She did not shrink from him or draw back in fear. A most unexpected reaction, for a human, he noted. Even more so, given that she was a rogue talent.

"Are you thirsty?" he asked, in the usual language of the Ring Ships. She looked at him with a puzzled expression and indicated by a gesture that she did not understand. This confirmed his suspicions about her being a rogue talent; she hadn't had time to learn their language yet. Cautiously, he scanned her mind, catching glimpses of people, a large, fuzzy, black and white creature with orange lamp-like eyes and long, sharp teeth and claws, a blue and green planet receding unexpectedly in a viewscreen. Her home planet, he sensed, seeing her thoughts yearning toward it as well as a tall, dark haired man with eyes of deep coffee brown, a man Griszhas knew, though only by reputation. "Husband", her thoughts labeled him.

He frowned. From what Griszhas knew of the Ring Ship Emperor, as he was fondly called on many worlds, he was not the sort of man to let his pregnant wife wander alone through a Ring Ship without at least an interpreter and a bodyguard. Even more so because she made such a strong disturbance in the force. That would have the effect of drawing some very unpleasant beings to her like moths to a flame. He also noticed her almost complete lack of mental shields.

He projected an image of a glass of water to her mind. She nodded then, and smiled.

"Yes, I'm very thirsty," she said in her language.

It was his turn to look puzzled. She projected an image of two glasses of water to him.

He took her by the hand then and led her away from the fountain to a nearby table in the food court. He motioned her to sit, and stay, and he went casually over to the nearest food vendor. He rapped briskly on the shuttered window.

"Oy! Open up in there!" he snapped sharply. The window was flung open, and the attendant looked out. At first he did not see Griszhas.

"Who's there? Is this some kind of prank?"

Griszhas reached up and pinched him lightly on the arm.

"Down here, pipsqueak."

The man looked down and drew back quickly when he saw the Gnome.

"Relax, I won't bite you. Give us two glasses of water, Milady is thirsty." He motioned to the woman. The man looked at her, then at Griszhas. He seemed dumbfounded. In his experience it was unheard of for Gnomes to concern themselves with humans, much less fetch water for one. Griszhas sighed.

"Come, now, man, water's free. Don't make me have to invoke the law." By Ring Ship laws, water was a free commodity, and anyone who asked a vendor for water was to be given it free of charge. Hastily the man set a tray before him with two glasses of water on it. Griszhas took it and bore it to the table where the woman sat watching him. She drained the first glass very quickly. He smiled and pushed the other glass over to her. After some hesitation, she drank it as well.

"Thank you," her thoughts formed in his mind. "It tastes much better than the fountain."

"I shouldn't wonder. The water in the fountain is treated with chemicals. It's not intended for drinking," he responded automatically in the same way. She looked at him, a mixture of surprise and confusion on her face.

"What?" came her startled thought.

"Ah! You understand how to mind-speak?" he thought back to her.

"Yes," she replied after a moment's hesitation. "That is, I seem to do it, but I don't understand it."

He looked into her mind again then. "Ah, I see. It is not done where you come from. You are a very quick learner, Milady."

She winced slightly at the formal title he used.

"Please, just call me Amaranth. "Milady" sounds so--glorified," she said.

He looked into her mind again and saw then that she knew nothing of her husband's dealings or titles. Far be it for him to inform her. If her husband hadn't told her, he must have his reasons, and Griszhas was not one to interfere in other people’s affairs. Especially in the affairs of very high-ranking Crystal Matrix Knights. He shrugged.

"You will get used to it one day, Milady Am-aranth. It is a proper way of addressing a gentleman's wife," he said gently. "But what are you doing wandering around a Ring Ship on your own, when you don't even speak the language? These are treacherous times. Your husband must be very worried for you."

Amaranth looked down at the table for a long time. She looked uncomfortable.

"I ran away," she admitted at last in a low voice.

Griszhas was surprised at this confession.

"Why? Has he been unkind to you? Has he misused you in some way?" He looked at her very carefully. “He hasn’t...hurt you?”

"No, of course not!" She looked shocked.

“No, I really didn't think that of him." Griszhas murmured.

She looked at him curiously. "Do you know him?"

"Only by reputation, Milady,” Griszhaz said slowly. “I have not had the pleasure of making his acquaintance yet. But he is reputed to be a fair and kind man. A great many people will be glad to see him with such a beautiful and gentle wife as yourself at his side." She blushed prettily at his compliment. "So, why did you run away?"

"I just, well, I got tired of being a laboratory rat." She looked down, pushing idly with her forefinger at a drop of water on the tabletop, swirling it out into a spiral.

"A what?"

"An experimental animal. A pet in a cage. To be let out only on a leash or a chain. Even my very thoughts are public knowledge." Her anger and frustration radiated strongly. She found another bead of moisture and slashed across the spiral with it. Griszhas regarded her calmly.

"Perhaps he only means to protect you, Milady Am-aranth. You, and the life you carry, must be very precious to him."

She shook her head mutinously.

"I can't live in a cage, being constantly tested and prodded and provoked. Doug and Jeb and Master Shan-ji seem to hear my every thought. I wouldn't be surprised if they knew what we were talking about right now." Tears of frustration fell on her cheeks. She wiped them angrily away.

Griszhas was mildly surprised to hear her mention Master Shan-ji. Their mission to her planet must have been much more serious than he had been aware of. He wondered briefly how they had managed to coerce venerable old Master Shan-ji out of his retirement for such an undertaking. It must have been important indeed for the High Council of the Knighthood to impress two of the highest-ranking Crystal Matrix Knights in existence into doing their errand. He made a mental note to look into the matter more closely.

"Don't be concerned on that account, Milady. No one can monitor thought-speech electronically. And not even Master Shan-ji could probe our thoughts at this distance. Nor would he."

She looked at him, wide eyed.

"I'm sure your husband knows where you are right now, and with whom." Griszhas also expected that he was about fit to be tied at that very moment, but he did not tell Amaranth that.

“How…. How would he know?” she asked hesitantly.

"The computers know. They keep track of everyone. All he needs to do is ask. Your husband is the sort of man who would never allow you to come to harm if he could prevent it. And he would prevent it."

"So even now I'm still on the leash." She looked crestfallen. She stared down at the table, her head bent. Her hair slid across her cheeks like a glistening curtain, shutting out the world.

"No, Milady. But I'm sure he must be terribly worried right now."

She looked at him then, her eyes troubled.

"Why? I'm in no danger from you, am I?"

Griszhas smiled.

"Of course not. But Gnomes and Humans have not always had the best of relations. And there are...other dangers. I'm sure he must be quite concerned."

"Do you think he's--watching us right now?"

"I'm quite certain of it." He saw her face fall. "Don't worry. If he were going to interfere, he would have done so already."

"They're testing me again." She sounded dejected.

"They?" he asked quizzically.

"Doug, Jeb, and Master Shan-ji. My zoo keepers." Her mental voice was bitter.

"No," Griszhas countered. "You are testing them."

She looked at him questioningly.

"Your husband and his associates must learn to trust you, just as much as they need you to trust them. It is hard for the rest of us to accept rogue talents sometimes, Milady Am-aranth. And you have a very great amount of talent. It is your lack of shields that makes your thoughts so vulnerable to being overheard, but that will change with time. Try to have patience, Milady; it will come in due time." He looked at her carefully then.

"You are hungry, Milady. Wait here, I will get us something to eat." He went over to the same vendor and knocked on the shutters. When the man looked out, he saw Griszhas.

"May I help you?" he asked, somewhat timidly, but pleasantly enough. Griszhas placed an order and smiled at the man's expression when he handed him a green plastic card for payment. It was imprinted, "Government of Gallaria, Diplomatic Corps, Special Services Agency." Gallaria’s SSA was in his culture what the CIA or the KGB was in hers. The man's face paled visibly.

"I'll have that right out, Sir," he said respectfully. "Would you like me to bring it over for you?"

Griszhas smiled wryly.

"No, thanks anyway. I'll wait for it." He stood watching Amaranth until the tray arrived. She looked deceptively frail, possibly because she was so painfully thin. It would appear that pregnancy was not agreeing with her very well. He felt in his pocket for a small pouch. Perhaps he could do something for her. Not for the sake of her husband; he owed Dou-Gai-Han Chang-Tsi-Yar nothing at all. But somehow Griszhas felt drawn to this too-thin woman with the green and brown eyes; he sensed in her an enormous talent, a great potential from her and both her children. No human had ever regarded him with the calm, unflinching acceptance with which she had faced him when first they met. More commonly, they were fearful and distrustful. That was why, when a mission involved dealing with humans, a Gnome was usually accompanied by a Gallarian Elf agent. She was very special indeed. In fact, she was unique, in his experience.

He watched her as she ate. The food could not have been familiar to her, but she ate it without question or complaint. She looked over at him.

"This is delicious, Griszhas, what is it?"

He smiled. "It is called "feszha". It is the equivalent of chicken on Gallaria." It was as common as chicken. He did not tell her it was a type of lizard. Some things were best found out later.

"Feszha. I like it." She smiled at him. Her plate was almost empty. He pushed his toward her. It was still half full.

"Here, have the rest of mine. I'm not very hungry today."

She looked dubiously at him.

"Go on, eat it. It will only be wasted if you don't," he urged her gently. When she finished that he looked at her thoughtfully.

"I can get you some more, if you'd like," he offered. She blushed faintly.

"Oh, no, thank you. I.…" She hesitated for a moment. "Food and I haven't been keeping very good company lately," she said ironically.

Griszhas nodded. "It happens," he said blandly. He reached in his pocket and took out a small leather pouch. He cleared an area on the table and proceeded to dump out the contents. He sorted though the small pile of coins, tokens, odd bits of stone and metal, scraps of paper and other oddments, until he found two smallish stones, intricately carved and polished. He placed them on the table in front of her.

"Take them," he urged her. She made no move to do so, however. He silently applauded the wisdom of her innate caution, knowing it would stand her in good stead.

"What are they?"

"A bit of Gnomayini magic. They are given to pregnant women to help ease the difficulties of pregnancy. They cannot be bought or sold, only given."

She still hesitated. "They must be very valuable," she said tentatively.

Griszhas shrugged.

"They are of value only as they are of use. I have carried those two stones for a very long time. Now I give them to you." He picked them up from the table and placed them in her hand, folding her fingers over them.

"There. Now they are yours. Keep them near you, for their magic fades with distance." He swept up the remaining items and dropped them back into the pouch. He regarded her thoughtfully.

"You have a very great amount of talent, Milady Am-aranth. You are very strong in the force. So are your children. Go carefully, that you do not fall into the ways of darkness. In time you will understand much more. You have no idea what a rare and precious person you are. For now, try to forgive your husband and his associates; they know what a treasure you are, and they are only seeking to protect you from those who would harm you." He rose and took the tray, with its empty containers, to a waste receptacle. He returned to the table for a moment.

"I must go now, but if you ever have need, tell the nearest computer to call Griszhas of Gallaria. I will help you in any way I can. Not for your husband's sake, nor Master Shan-ji's; for your sake alone."

"Thank you," she said simply. He nodded. She offered him her hand; he shook it gently. In that moment he knew her to be a very strong healer; he felt it in her hand. It surprised him, for most healers were not able to affect beings of other races. He studied her for a moment. She practically radiated healing power, now that he looked for it; perhaps that was why he'd been so drawn to her. He hoped her husband knew what a treasure he had in her. It was obvious that healing was as natural to her as eating or breathing; she wasn't even aware that she had such power.

"You are most welcome, Milady Am-aranth." He saw her downcast look. He touched her cheek gently, and she looked up at him. "Do not worry. Our paths will most assuredly cross again. You will always have a friend in me. And on Gallaria it is said that a person is wealthy indeed who has at least one friend."

She made an effort to smile. She looked down at the table for a long moment, and when she looked up again he had vanished as mysteriously as he'd appeared. Had she imagined him? She felt the two stones, warm in her hand. She looked at them, studying their intricate carvings. Griszhas of Gallaria. She reflected upon what he'd said for a while. Was Doug watching her, even now? Was he worried for her safety? At last she rose and entered the nearest corridor.

"All right, Computer. I'm ready to go home now," she said, resignation in her voice. A strip of blue lights lit up on the wall, and she began walking slowly in the direction they indicated. It was a long trek; she hadn’t realized how far she’d gone in her headlong flight earlier.

As she neared the door to their quarters, she felt her heart quaver. She touched the two stones in her pocket. Maybe, just maybe, everything was going to be all right. The door opened, and she entered, to face her husband, flanked by his apprentice Jeb and his elderly teacher, Master Shan-ji. They were all staring at her silently, their expressions stern and sober. It was like facing a tribunal of judges. Doug took one hesitant step toward her. His deep coffee brown eyes searched her face apprehensively.

"Amaranth," he began, then stopped, as if uncertain what to say. His face was written over with several hours of anxiety and worry.

She drew a deep breath, and went to him then. She looked up into his eyes; they were twin pools of turmoil.

"Doug, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you worry," she said in a small voice.

Jeb looked taken aback. Master Shan-ji regarded her with an appraising glance, full of respect. He was smiling faintly, and he seemed very pleased. She sensed then that she had surprised them all, though how she had no clue.

"Shh, Amaranth, no. It is I who should apologize." He took her in his arms then like some very precious fragile thing that he feared he might crush. She leaned into his embrace, drawing comfort from his gentle strength. One hand lovingly stroked her glossy tresses.

"I've treated you abominably, and I'm sorry." He kissed her cheek tenderly and gathered her close to him. "I don't deserve to be forgiven."

She put her arms around him and pressed even closer to him.

"It's all right, Doug. I think I understand better now." She felt as well as heard his sigh of relief.

"I thought I'd lost you, sweet Amaranth," he muttered hoarsely.

She glanced around; Jeb and Shan-ji had disappeared, leaving them alone. She reached up and kissed him tenderly.

"You make my soul complete," she whispered softly. "How could I not come back?" She kissed him more passionately then. He groaned softly.

"Oh, sweet, precious Amaranth! Heaven knows I do not deserve you!" He kissed her with a growing urgency that she answered with a need of her own. Finally he took her in his arms and carried her into their bedroom. The caress of her gentle hands on his skin combined with the heady sweetness of her clean, fresh scent fed the flames of his desire ever higher. Their passion became a rising sea between them, and they rose together to great crests, to crash sweetly upon the shores of their souls.

When at last their passion was spent, they lay in each other's arms. Amaranth fell asleep quickly; the morning's events had taken their toll on her, and she was tired. Doug lay watching her, his arms a gentle haven in which she lay peacefully asleep.

"Will I ever tire of just looking at you, I wonder?" he whispered softly. He kissed her cheek, and the delicate curve of her jaw. She murmured his name in her sleep and snuggled closer to him. He gathered her close in his arms.

"My sweet Amaranth," he whispered softly. “What will you think of me when you find out who I really am?”

Presently he too fell asleep. The problems of running the Ring Ship Corporation and whatever other business was in need of his attention would have to wait at least a couple of hours longer. Jeb and Master Shan-ji could manage things without him for that long, undoubtedly. All too soon the cares of the world would intrude, but for now all that mattered was the two of them and the wonders of their love for each other.