Storm Chaser: Chapter 30

Chapter 30

Morning came far too early for Elena’s liking and she rubbed her bleary eyes as she turned off her alarm clock. She could still see the small handwriting of the guild books swimming behind her closed lids. She glanced at the dream journal she kept. If she had a dream, it was not one she remembered. For the first time in a while she did not begin her day by making notes. As she went through her morning routine the lack of dreams made her feel a little off balance. She laughed as she doled out Spin’s morning chow.

“Who knew I’d start to miss it?” She said as Spin gulped her breakfast down as if afraid it would disappear. “Don’t choke,” Elena cautioned her.

Elena decided that she would take a larger purse than her usual one today since she wanted to have the guild books on hand in case she needed to check details. They were slimmer volumes than many of the council books, for which she was grateful, but they still demanded a larger space than her wallet and keys usually called for. With the transfer complete, Elena buttoned up her coat, picked up the purse and headed out the door. Once Elena was on the street she took a deep breath and smiled. Winter still held sway but there was something in the air that said spring was not a lost cause.

‘Perhaps it is just the valentine’s decorations,’ Elena thought to herself as she walked. Valentine’s Day was three days away and everywhere she turned there were splashes of red and pink. ‘A definite change from the gray and white of winter,’ she thought. It was more than the paper hearts that brought to mind spring though. Here and there she could see the little dashes of green in the dark earth where the snow had been cleared, heralding the arrival of the early spring annuals.

“Hopefully a deep frost won’t take them out,” Elena said. This early in the year that was still a possibility. As she rounded the corner she saw a bundled form waiting in front of Nibbles. Elena slowed her pace at first, but sped up a little when she realized the person waiting was Jasmine Anderson. Elena wondered how long she had been standing there.

“Good morning,” she said brightly as she approached. She got a shy smile and a mumbled greeting in return. As Elena unlocked the door to Nibbles, Jasmine shifted her weight slightly from foot to foot and fiddled with the ends of the scarf she had draped around her neck. Elena realized she was nervous and smiled reassuringly as she opened the door.

“The manager’s should be in shortly,” Elena told her. In fact she had seen Roger’s car turn into the street as she swung the door open. She knew Susan wouldn’t be too far behind. The two women stepped inside and Elena shut the door behind her. She locked it as well but left the alarm disengaged. “We’ll leave Roger to open up shall we,” Elena said. “Watch your step.” In the semi darkness of the unopened shop Elena threaded her way around the displays and up the main staircase to the conference room. “Why don’t you get settled while I make some coffee?” Elena said. Jasmine reminded her of a skittish colt she had seen on a visit to a farm once and Elena tried to keep her tone calm and friendly, just as the horse trainer had told her to when holding an apple out to the young horse.

“Yes Ma’am,” was the quiet response. Apparently it was loud enough for Andre to hear because the footsteps she heard approaching the door stopped and then retreated.

‘I guess Andre will have to make his own coffee this morning,’ Elena thought with a smile. Jasmine moved nearly silently as Elena shucked off her own coat and set the coffeepot to brew. She motioned Jasmine to a seat and took a chair across the table from her so that they would be facing each other. She hoped the large conference table didn’t look too imposing.

Jasmine placed a large file folder on the table in front of her. Her fingers toyed with the edges, until she caught herself and clasped her hands together on top of the folder. Elena could see the knuckles of her hands bleed white with the force of the pressure. Her long black hair was pulled back in a tight bun. The hairstyle added to the illusion of a tightly wrapped individual. When Elena had asked Alexandro about Jasmine and the fact that Riko was her council head even though her last name was Anderson she had been informed that Jasmine’s mother came from Riko’s line while her father had been of the Anderson line. Jasmine was taller than Riko but still had the delicate features the council member boasted. Elena could see where the two lines blended.

“Well, I received your request for transfer,” Elena began, not quite sure how a conversation like this should start.

“Yes ma’am,” Jasmine said. She took a deep breath and then with her exhalation words streamed out as if she had kept them bottled too long. “I have a letter from my council head approving my application for transfer as well as all of my documents both pre and post grounding and all of the records I thought would apply but I can get anyotherrecordsyoumightneed.” The last came out in a blur as if Jasmine were running out of breath. She sucked in air and pushed the folder towards Elena in a jerky motion.

Elena smiled and took the folder. She opened it and flipped through the first few pages. Riko had been the one to sign the paper giving permission to apply for transfer. Elena was not surprised by that maneuver and wondered if she thought Jasmine would report back to her the workings of Elena’s daily life. She noticed the date coincided with the first trip through with the military and thought it interesting. Riko had not yet approached her or heard of Mateo’s transfer at the time.

“You have been grounded for six years?” Elena asked, reading through the file.

“Yes,” Jasmine said.

“By the Calling,” Elena asked softly. She received a tight nod in response. The stigma of the Calling was not one usually discussed. “The Calling grounded me five years ago.” Elena told her. Jasmine leaned in.

“But you can pilot again,” she said. Her eyes were bright with longing. Elena nodded.

“Yes, I can pilot again.”

“You can show me how?”

“Riko could…”

“No,” Jasmine cut her off. The force behind the word was more than Elena had heard from her and she blinked in surprise. “When I was grounded I was useless to her. She does not waste time on useless things.” There was a world of bitterness in the last word and Elena simply nodded instead of pressing too hard.

“You have been running transport duty since being grounded?” she asked instead.

“Yes,” Jasmine confirmed. She appeared to be pulling herself together. “Mostly between the Mei Ling and port.” Elena nodded. Transport duty was something of an embarrassment for a pilot. Often it was given as punishment. A pilot grounded or not, knew where the channels were. A transport ship had none of the equipment a channel rider possessed and was deliberately too heavy to pass into the channels so all a pilot could do would be to take goods from a channel rider into port. It shortened the amount of time a channel rider had to be earthside during the busy season but was a galling route for a pilot to run.

“I see,” Elena said. Avoiding things such as transport duty had been one of the reasons she had left the guild all together when the calling became too great. She had no doubt Therese would have made that insult and as many more as could be found sting. She imagined Riko would be even better at things of that nature than Therese would ever be. Elena scanned Jasmine’s pre-grounding record. It was quite impressive and she let out a low whistle.

“The Wastnal run for three years without loosing a ship,” Elena said. “Impressive.”

“It was a near thing a couple of times,” Jasmine said with a smile.

“I’ll bet.” Elena smiled and closed the report. “I have no problem with your transfer but there are some issues that might cause you to reconsider.” Jasmine opened her mouth but before she could speak Elena cut her off. “Please, hear what they are before accepting. Even if you don’t want to transfer we can arrange a temporary transfer so you can work on dealing with the Calling. I won’t send you back with out that even if you don’t want to stay,” Elena reassured her. Jasmine nodded slowly.

“All right, I’ll listen first.”

“Good.” Elena explained about the military and how they had come to know of the guild and that they were watching and building their own ships. She told Jasmine about Peter and Alexandro’s involvement in Nibbles and that Riko was pushing for an alliance. She did not explain what she and Mateo were doing. That could wait until the spoke of the Calling. As she finished, Elena realized both that the coffee had finished brewing and that Jasmine was rubbing her temple. Elena didn’t know if Jasmine was just processing the information of if she had a Calling related nightmare. “Would you like some coffee?” She asked Jasmine as she stood. “It’ll help with the headache.” Jasmine blinked.

“It will?”

“It helped me,” Elena said. That Jasmine did not know this surprised her as Riko and Siobhan had been the ones to tell her. She fixed two cups and handed one to Jasmine before sitting back down with her own cup.

“If you do decide to transfer here you will need to have some form of employment, even if it is just for show. I’d rather not have the military know other pilots were moving into the area.” Privately Elena wondered how long that pretense could be maintained. What was the critical mass for the guild in a confined area? Jasmine nodded slowly as she sipped.

“I think I can arrange something,” she said slowly. “Would I have to work with Riko?”

“If the alliance goes through I think we can arrange it so that you don’t work with her directly if that makes you feel better. I can’t promise you that you won’t run into her now and again.”

“As long as I don’t have to work directly for her again I will be fine.” Jasmine responded firmly. “If I have to see her I can do that. I just don’t want to work for her.”

“We should be able to manage that.” Elena told her.

“Good,” Jasmine said. “I can accept the military and the danger it represents. I would like to continue with the transfer if you are willing.” Elena smiled. Inwardly she wondered how bad things had gotten for Jasmine at home.

“All right then,” she said. Elena stood and walked over to the shelves against the wall. The shelves still looked empty now that the off world goods had been named, relabeled and the samples were no longer needed. Elena took a file folder and a leather bound notebook from a mostly empty shelf and walked back to her seat. She opened the folder and took out the top three pages. After a few seconds of digging around in her purse Elena also came up with a pen. The document was only one page long. She signed each page and then handed the three pages to Jasmine. Jasmine scanned the transfer acceptance letter and then signed her name to each of the pages on the appropriate line.

“One copy is for your files, one for mine and one for Riko’s. I can send it to her if you would prefer or you could hand it to her yourself. I believe she is still in town.” Elena was unsure if Jasmine would prefer to have Elena deal with Riko or if she would want the satisfaction of severing the ties in person. Jasmine handed two copies of the letter back to her. Elena tucked one in the front of Jasmine’s folder and left the other on top.

“I’d prefer you sent it to her.”

“Not a problem. She will have it by the end of the day.” Jasmine’s smile took ten years off of her face and Elena realized that she was actually older than Jasmine. “Now the first thing you have to know about the Calling is that it isn’t a disease to be cured but an evolution of ability.” Elena explained what she had learned and how she had worked on it. She passed the leather journal to Jasmine. She took the blank book as if it contained the holiest of scriptures.

“That is why Mateo is working with you,” Jasmine said after Elena stopped talking and she had a moment to think things through. Elena nodded. Jasmine was quick.

“Yes,” she said. I’m not about to go charging into a new channel without taking some safety precautions.” She paused a moment and took a sip of coffee. “This is why Riko wants to work with me. She doesn’t know the details but she suspects Mateo and I are working on something.”

“She is many things,” Jasmine said. “Stupid isn’t one of them. You are the first pilot to overcome the Calling and you immediately contact Mateo who is known for finding solutions to new problems. The fact that you can deal with the Calling means that other pilots who have been grounded will come to you. If they can be ‘fixed’ then you will end up with the largest alliance of pilots in your house. She would defiantly want an alliance.”

“And I thought it was to get back at Peter,” Elena said. She thought of the interviews she had lined up for the day. It made Jasmine’s assessment seem plausible.

“That would be a bonus,” Jasmine said. “There is certainly no love lost between them. But power and wealth are what would drive her.”

“I don’t suppose you know why they don’t like each other?”

“Unfortunately not.”

“Oh well. Worth a shot to ask. I suppose I could ask Peter,” she said. Jasmine giggled then covered her mouth as though surprised by the sound.

“I can’t imagine Black Pete being very forthcoming with an answer.”

“Only if telling me would benefit him,” Elena said. “I haven’t mentioned the alliance Riko is seeking, even though I’m sure he already knows.” Elena sighed heavily and rubbed her temple. “Great now I’m playing politics.” The thought made her grumpy.

“Happens to the best of us,” Jasmine said. She had a few more questions for Elena, primarily regarding the neighborhood and the availability of apartments. Elena strongly suspected Jasmine would be moving straight from the hotel to a place of her own without bothering to return home. Elena shrugged off the thought as not her concern as she wished Jasmine goodbye and escorted her back down the stairs.

Jasmine was clutching the journal and the letter of transfer to her chest like a treasured infant. She had a smile on her face and her movements were no longer hesitant and nervous. As she saw Jasmine out Elena noticed her next appointment lingering among the cookware. She looked as nervous as Jasmine had been. Elena greeted her with a warm smile and led her back upstairs. She had the feeling it was going to be a long day.