Chapter 4

Riki’s eyes flew open and he found himself in a field of flowers. The sun was shining, the sky an incredible blue and there was a strange, but pleasant chirping sound in the grass at his feet. He heard laughter, one low and rumbling, the other close to a squeal and he moved forward, suddenly needing to see where that laughter was coming from.

He stumbled to a halt as he spotted a colored cloth draped across the grass, the smell of homemade food and, there again was the scent of chocolate.

A man with luxuriously long, dark hair and opal-colored eyes was laughing as he held up what looked like a small, square cake of chocolate, between his two fingers. A toddler, with the same dark hair and eyes was giggling and trying to jump for the treat. Suddenly the boy threw himself at the man’s legs and they tumbled to the ground in laughter.

“Papa,” Riki whispered and dropped to his knees in the soft, sweet-smelling grass.

The child climbed across his father’s chest and grabbed the brownie, shoving it all the way in his mouth before his father could take it back.

“You little rascal!” The man laughed and grabbed his son, started tickling him, delighting in the squeals that followed. “Now I’m gonna eat you up!”

Riki rubbed his suddenly cramping chest, could feel the smile forming on his lips without his knowledge as he watched himself being playing. When had he ever played? He could feel the waves of affection filtering towards him and remembered how the grass had tickled his skin, how the crickets chirped and the sun shined and his father had played with him. Was this his family? Was this love?

Suddenly, a shadow fell across the sky, blocking out the sun and Riki turned his eyes upwards as an unexplained, yet seemingly ancient fear crawled through him,

“Run!” he screamed but the pair could not hear him. “Run! Papa, run!” He didn’t want to be here. He didn’t want to see this!

The sounds of nature halted abruptly and the grass that had once felt like silk, now cut and stabbed at his skin. The man was no longer smiling, and instead was pulling the little boy to his feet.

“Run boy!”

The child’s laughter turned to tears as his father grabbed his hand and they started running, but his little legs weren’t big enough to keep up, and even when his father swooped him up into his arms Riki’s heart pounded in his chest.

The massive ship remained over them, they couldn’t outrun it on the ground, and Riki already knew this. Even as that child, he knew this, and had feared what was going to happen to them.

The man dodged into a thicket of trees, never broke his stride until they were well inside the brush, then he stopped by a particularly large tree.

“Climb, son. Climb as high as you can but stay under the canopy.”

“Papa!”

“Do as I say!” The man hefted his son up so the boy could reach the lowest branch. “Keep climbing and don’t look down. Stay there until I come for you, do you hear me?”

“Papa! Don’t leave me!”

“I love you, son.”

Riki watched his father kiss the boy’s forehead, his forehead; and he lifted trembling fingers to the same spot on his face, as if he could still feel the impression. Terrified, he watched the boy climb.

“You can do this. I’ll be back for you.”

“P ... Promise?”

“I promise.”

Riki watched his older body fade, and then suddenly, he was looking through the eyes of the child as he climbed higher into the tree. His face and bare arms were scratched by the branches, tears blurred his vision, but still he climbed and then, when he was just shy of pushing through the top of the leaves he settled on a thick branch and waited for his father to return.

He waited. The sun went down, and the moons came up and he trembled, because he was only four and he was still afraid of the dark. Every sound made him jump. Every movement threatened to push his heart out of his tiny body and sleep was an impossibility. Tears streamed freely now, as he shivered in the cool evening air, and still he waited.

His father had told him he would return and his father would never lie to him. The sun rose again but there seemed to be less warmth than there had been the day before. He was exhausted, cold and hungry and he wanted his father to come back. Sun and moons. Sun and moons. How many days had passed he wondered as he shivered from cold and fever? Still his father had not returned.

Why had no one come for him? He didn’t understand what was happening. Had his father left him? He was a good boy. Why would his father do this? Had he been forgotten? He tried to think what he could have done to be abandoned. Had he been too loud, laughing and squealing when he was having fun? Had he talked too much? Papa did say he was a chatter-box. Had he been too greedy when asking for toys?

“I’ll b ... be good, P ... papa,” he whispered through chattering teeth as the sun started to dip once again. “I ... I won’t talk so much or make any noise. I ... I won’t ask for anything e ... ever again.” Oh, please come back, he prayed. Please come and take me home!

When the sky had turned to a deep black, he decided to climb down, despite his father’s orders.

He dropped to the ground and looked around. “Papa?” he called. “Papa? Co ... come back. You p ... promised!”

Silence. Slowly, he started to walk.

Riki gasped as Jupiter released him from the mental connection. He ripped the headset off his head and struggled out of the chair just as he started to vomit.

“Riki!”

Papa? He thought as he saw a figure coming towards him, but his vision was too blurred to make it out clearly. “You ... came back ... I’ll be g ... goo...” His eyes rolled up as darkness claimed him.

“Come back ... I’ll be good.”

Iason glanced down at the sleeping young man in his lap and gently caressed Riki’s hair, allowing the ebony strands to filter gently through his fingers. “Sssshhh, love. You’re fine.”

He’d been quite concerned when he’d received Jupiter’s call, during a meeting. He had quickly excused himself and hurried to the chamber, no doubt making a spectacle of himself in the process. The sight of an Elite actually running was sure to set the rumor mill to overflowing by tomorrow.

When he arrived at Jupiter’s chamber, he found Riki throwing up, and then his lover fainted dead away just before he could reach him. Jupiter had claimed that She had breached a part of the barrier that had been in Riki’s mind, and he had suffered a shock. Iason didn’t ask for details, he was too concerned about Riki, so he carried Riki back to the condo in his arms, and unlike when he had retrieved him from the conservatory and could move under the cloak of darkness, this time it had been in broad daylight for all of Eos to see.

Once they reached home, rather than put Riki to bed, he’d decided to settle on the sofa and wait for the mongrel to wake on his own. Riki was obviously still caught in whatever memory Jupiter had unlocked, and watching his lover sob and fret made him quite anxious, but he remained quiet and patient and continued his vigil.

“Cold ... so cold.”

Iason glanced at Bean, who was lurking in the corner somewhere. “Bring me a blanket.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Come back.”

“I’m right here, Riki,” Iason assured as Bean reappeared and draped the blanket over Riki’s shivering form. Iason adjusted it so it was over Riki’s shoulders, then again turned his attention to the head on his lap. “You are safe, love. You are warm and safe now and nothing can hurt you.”

“Papa?” Riki’s hand curled into the one Iason had laid across his chest. “Sorry. I’m ... sorry.”

Papa? Riki’s buried memories had been of his father? The young man had never mentioned either parent, and Iason’s initial investigation into Riki only showed him as a ward of Guardian. There had been no information on a family. Obviously, there had been a father involved prior to Riki’s arrival at Guardian, but like with most human offspring, the father never came forward to admit to the act, or the female could not determine who the specific sperm doner was out of so many.

“You’ve done nothing to be sorry for,” he said and continued to caress Riki’s hair until Riki finally drifted off into a more peaceful slumber.

“Do you care for anything to eat or drink, My Lord?” Bean asked.

“Yes, bring me a glass of wine. The Periot ‘82.”

Bean nodded as Iason’s wrist communicator beeped. He pressed a button on it and a hologram of Raoul’s face appeared in front of him.

“Iason. What happened? Why did you leave so abruptly?”

“I had business to attend to.”

“There are reports you were running in the corridors.”

“I was in a hurry.”

“So I see.” Raoul’s gaze narrowed on the sleeping pet. “Is he ill?”

“He’s suffered a shock.”

“Oh?” The scientist in Raoul immediately took notice. “In what way?”

As no one else was aware of the deal he and Riki had struck with Jupiter, Iason chose his next words carefully. “I threatened to show him a picture of you, unclothed.”