Friday, July 14, 2006

129. No Doubt

As the crew entered the Grand Conference, Taren turned to his mentor and seventh-level Cog, the highest ranking attainable. “Shen, what do you sense?” asked Taren as they surveyed the crew of Bravo-Four-Zero.

“No doubt she is here,” whispered Shen from behind his hood, purple eyes glowing with anticipation and excitement. “I could not be more pleased with her abilities. I have heard rumor of such facility but never did I dream this opportunity would present itself. Fate does work in mysterious ways does it not?”

“You’ve always taught fate speaks to those who open to possibility, to those who embrace the flow rather than resist it, to those who believe like children. I’m not sure I would have intuited the gift this vessel imparts to us and our cause without your mentorship Shen.”

“Don’t be modest Taren. I did not give you your gifts nor did I sharpen them. I pointed the way. You did the rest.”

“Does she know the gift she has?” asked Taren.

“Impossible to know without private inquiry. May I suggest we arrange a personal interview.”

“Absolutely. Kyra?”

“Yes, Taren?”

“The girl on the end, with the red hair, what is her name?”

“Mairi.”

“She is the one. May we have a private audience with her?”

“Mairi? Are you sure?”

“No doubt in our minds.”

“Can you tell me what special gift you believe she has?” asked Kyra, completely puzzled at what they saw in Mairi. Deep inside she watched as her own sense of vanity rose and whispered softly in her mind’s ear. Papa always said humility was the doorway to truth. She wondered if Taren was inside her head, watching with amusement and seeing her innermost feelings. Pride was a funny thing. She must spend more time looking at this pride when time allowed for weeding the garden of her mind.

“I’d rather not say in the open. Besides, the less you know the better.”

Kyra looked at Taren, trying to judge intent and purpose. So hard to read an alien species.

“You can use my quarters if you like.”

Categories: Story, Kyra, Taren, Mairi, Shen

33 comments:

Anonymous said...

...weeding the garden of her mind.

Ooh, I like this line. :)

Trée said...

You make me smile Deb. This phrase is one of my fave metaphors and I'm always looking for a chance to use it. So don't be surprised to see it again, and again. LMAO

:-)

Anonymous said...

Great Fractal, I "know" that one. The story just gets deeper, into the mind.

Trée said...

Thanks TC. The APO community is such a generous and sharing group not to mention a very inspiring group with the great work they do.

So glad to see you enjoying the story. I wish I knew exactly where it was going. :-)

Anonymous said...

Waiting to see where it is going...

Trée said...

Me too Terry. :-)

Anonymous said...

I am loving this story! I also "know" that fractal :) This one is a tweak of the one you posted. Actually, its more of an "extreme tweaked it to death" graphic, but it started off the same way.

Anonymous said...

You are sooooo good!
Kyra just gets better and better, close to perfect in her imperfection :-) "Deep inside she watched as her own sense of vanity rose and whispered softly in her mind’s ear."

Happy weekend Poppet, xo

Trée said...

Jenni, that is just an incredible image in the link--wow. I am always inspired by the work you do with this program. :-)

Trée said...

Happy weekend to you to Sunshine. This morning we went Hot Air Ballooning, my first time. The views and the ride were incredible. I'm leaving in just a few for the airport. After a week away I'm looking forward to getting back home. I'm sure you are too. :-)

Perfect in her imperfection--I think I like that view. See how much I miss your input. We need to talk before you decide to leave home again for this long. :-D

Anonymous said...

you.
are.
amazing.


okay, BBB, so there's no cake left in the kitchen, but frosting aplenty. :)

Anonymous said...

It feels like a gift that Kyra might find that she is grateful not to have,

Trée said...

Sweetbabyk, icing is good. In fact, I rather like a little icing. See you in the kitchen. :-)

Trée said...

Liz, you could be right. Then again, I haven't decided exactly the extent of this gift Mairi has, so it still could be just about anything. :-)

Anonymous said...

Great Post (again - how boring a comment is that - ha ha). My favorite line tho is "Kyra looked at Taren, trying to judge intent and purpose. So hard to read an alien species"......sound like a man trying to figure out a woman (and vice versa).

Sounds like you had a great weekend. Hot Air Ballooning - how fun!!! It was just about a year ago that I skydived for the first time - hot air ballooning was going to be my next adventure.

Trée said...

Meg, I hadn't thought of men and women in that way but that sounds about right--LMAO. Sounds like a book. Oh wait ... :-)

If you've been skydiving, hot air ballooning is not going to rawk your world. It was nice, but once you get up there and look around the first thought that goes through your mind is "okay, what now." And then you look at your watch and realize you have fifty more minutes of just kinda looking around. :-D

Thanks, as always for the kind words. Have a great week Meg.

Anonymous said...

Hot air balloning, bet that was a wonderful experience!!

Afternoon sweetheart, hope you're having a good one, xo :-)

Trée said...

Hey Sunshine, so nice of you to stop by. I had never been before so it was a new experience. The weather was gorgeous. Not quite as exciting as I thought it might be, but worth doing at least once.

Hope and trust you are doing well. Poppet says hello. :-)

Anonymous said...

Doing just fine (Hello Poppet), enjoying the summer weather etc, just missing you guys.
Hope all is fabulous down your way. :-)

Trée said...

All is well here. It's hot and dry, but who am I to complain. :-)

Missing you bunches.

Anonymous said...

**weeding the garden of her mind

wow u possess a very unique skill of expression Tre!

Keshi.

Trée said...

You are too kind my dear sweet southern angel. How goes you? :-)

Anonymous said...

wow, I leave for 2 weeks and have all sorts of goodies waiting when I come back, so good to get back to the story and once again you have managed to outdo yourself :0)

hope all is well in your world

Trée said...

Thanks Trace. Life is good, hot, but good. :-)

Anonymous said...

If you stare at the image long enough, the pink centre starts to blink... or is it just me. I'm mesmerised.

Anonymous said...

good ta n urself? :)

Keshi.

Trée said...

Chicky, I'll be sure to bring this picture along when we meet. :-D

Trée said...

Feel good Keshi. Been back on my bike this week. Much like the story, I'd forgotten how much I missed it.

Anonymous said...

bikey boy thats cool! :):)

Keshi.

Trée said...

Oh my dear angel, no one has ever called me that before. I kinda like it. :-)

Anonymous said...

Dude, I soooo don't like the way he's looking at me. It's scary.

Excellent image, Tree.

Trée said...

Thanks Jack. This image comes from a script another Apo artist, Trystan, published a few weeks ago. I did only a very, very slight tweak. As soon as I saw where this one was heading I knew I had to use it somehow in the story. Thus, Shen, was born. :-D

Autumn Storm said...

Deep inside she watched as her own sense of vanity rose and whispered softly in her mind’s ear. Papa always said humility was the doorway to truth. She wondered if Taren was inside her head, watching with amusement and seeing her innermost feelings. Pride was a funny thing. She must spend more time looking at this pride when time allowed for weeding the garden of her mind.
Just one of the numerous times I fell anew tonight.