Jazon: An Omnes Videntes Novel Read online

  Table of Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Jazon

  An Omnes Videntes Novel

  By Wendie Nordgren

  Copyright © 2017 by Wendie Nordgren

  www.wendienordgren.com

  All rights reserved.

  This book is a work of fiction. The names, places, and events are fictional and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or actual events is entirely coincidental.

  Cover Design by Victoria Cooper Art

  Also by Wendie Nordgren

  The Space Merchants Book One

  The Space Merchants of Arachne Book Two

  The Parvac Emperor’s Daughter Book Three

  Omnes Videntes Book Four

  The Spider Queen Book Five

  Xavier

  Clue and The Shrine of the Widowed Bride Book One

  Clue and the Sea Dragon Book Two

  Table of Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter One

  The debriefing had continued throughout the morning. During his mission, Xavier had discovered several new leads, eliminated a threat to the Empire’s peace, and found himself a cute little wife, if not a dangerous one. Jazon shared a telepathic grin with his pod brother, Walter. He, Zared, Zeth, and Walter had been created in the same batch and grown within the same amniotic chamber. The bonds between them were strong. However, the telepathic and empathic bonds between all of the surviving Laconian hybrid brothers inextricably tied them to one another.

  They had been created in a lab by their father, Dr. Stanley Crispus. His mind had broken after his wife’s suicide and had led to their taboo existences. Nora Crispus hadn’t been able to heal her heart after the miscarriages she had suffered, and Stanley had made it his life’s mission to successfully breed their two races. There was a reason the Laconian races of Eriopis and Enyo didn’t mix. Telepathic Eriopis and empathic Enyos who managed to reproduce created doomed offspring.

  Eriopis males formed telepathic bonds with their wives for mental stability in exchange for addictive physical intimacy. Enyo males bonded with female clan members or wives to give them peace from their violent emotions. Enyo males had adapted and evolved to survive in harsh frozen climates and were fiercely protective of their females. Mentally and emotionally, such combined offspring, without anchors, often succumbed to insanity.

  Two of Jazon’s brothers had found anchors which, through their tight bonds, stabilized the rest of them to one degree or another. Zared’s wife had been experimented on by Stanley Crispus shortly after her birth. The stimulation of her supramarginal gyrus had strengthened her empathic senses to the extent that she had been able to bind Zared to her empathically. With him, she had taken all of the rest of them, and they had benefited from it. They no longer needed hours of meditation each day to be able to function. However, without intensive physical training each day, he and his brothers were dangerously aggressive.

  Now, Xavier had come home with a wife. Xavier was all professional courtesy to Inquisitor Eli Beck and Captain Kaoti Aegisthus as he gave his mission statement. However, Jazon and Walter made eye contact and then grinned. Trapped in the debriefing, Xavier forced himself to go over every detail and answer each question with meticulous care. All the while, he battled thoughts of Sparrow’s soft skin and small white breasts.

  If Sparrow and Teagan knew the extent of the telepathic connections shared by the hybrid brothers, they would be mortified. A man couldn’t always be guarded against his brother’s erotic thoughts.

  “The threat of a thermo-resonator missile attack is no longer at the apex of our militaristic concerns. With both the supplier and buyer of the missiles in Galaxic Militia custody, and the weapons expert rescued, we can move onto other concerns. Have you spoken to Lady Ponidi about creating for the Empire her frisson dampeners as safeguards against any remaining missiles?” Eli asked.

  “I have,” Xavier answered.

  Eli’s cold, dark eyes peered back at him waiting for elaboration.

  “Sparrow will design and create as many of the stabilizers as you want, but her research facility needs and the materials she would require are rather extensive. I have never even heard of some of the necessary machines.”

  “We will put the correct individuals into contact with her. Now, let us move onto other matters. Felix Jiri remains at large. The clone that murdered General Luca Braga has been executed, and through the Princess Probus, Zared killed a second clone. Our orders are to discover who is creating these clones, capture the scientist, and bring him or her into custody for questioning. We must learn how many of these clones have been created.” Eli paused to allow his words to sink in. “The clones must be questioned and destroyed.” The Inquisitor made eye contact with each of them.

  The man had often chilled Jazon’s blood. Eli Beck was ruthless and on several occasions, had brutally tortured and executed criminals to protect the Imperial family. Emperor Probus had assigned Eli to protect and serve his only child for that very reason. Eli’s loyalty to Teagan was absolute, but the man’s fantasies for what he would do to Inquisitor Drex Licinius should Teagan tire of the man were vile.

  Xavier’s thoughts had returned to Sparrow and the way she felt around his cock. His errant thoughts sent Zared’s thoughts about Teagan down a similar path.

  “I’ll go,” Jazon volunteered.

  “The rest of you are dismissed,” Eli said.

  While his brothers filed out of the room, Jazon studied his console where the cumulative data of the inquisitors’ investigations into the clones appeared. His brothers knew why he had volunteered. Dreams of the persona that Teagan had adopted on their last mission, Sara Eos, continued to plague him. There was nothing worse that Jazon had ever experienced than suffering from the unrequited love of an imaginary female.

  Later that evening, he had devised his preliminary mission plan. He wasn’t going to say goodbye to Teagan. It would just make her cry. For a time, he had hoped that she might take him as a husband as well. However, when Zared had almost been lost to them, and his consciousness had been trapped in a comatose state, Jazon had realized that he wasn’t in love with Teagan. He loved her, but it was the same platonic love that she felt for him. The realization had come like a cold, wet slap.

  Jazon needed some time and distance. This mission was just what he needed. He put in a request for a small merchant ship and a crew. His mission would be taking him to the Laconian Sector.

  Chapter Two

  Looking at the two of them made her feel sick. Her father, who had been her entire world, had died only four months ago. While her pain had gotten more manageable, her anger and resentment had taken some of her pain to fuel themselves. Duran Jarreau had begun his courtship of her mother at her father’s funeral. They had married earlier in the week. She had tried to convince herself to be grateful that Dur
an had saved her mother from the bottomless abyss of pain in which she had begun to sink.

  However, when she had caught the man looking at her legs with lust while her mother’s back had been turned, she had gone to her mother with her fears. An angry, heated argument had ensued. Now, as a result, she felt as though both of her parents were lost to her. Her father’s death had killed their family.

  A nanny had been hired to raise her younger brothers. They were handling things far better than she was. It was mostly due to the fact that as their new patriarch, Duran had formed telepathic bonds with her brothers. With their father gone, they had need the mental stability that Duran provided. She had refused. Duran was taking her mother on a two-week honeymoon to Sinope.

  She looked around at her new room and wiped away her tears. Duran had sold their family home and moved them into his mansion. The swimming pool and extensive grounds had enticed her brothers, but for her it had been a cruelty. Most of her memories of her father had been in that house.

  “Behave while we’re gone and don’t exceed your daily budget,” her mother said. Her mother made no attempt to hug or kiss her goodbye.

  Duran must have nudged her mother’s mind and furthered the distance between the two of them. At least he hadn’t killed her affection for her sons. The boys looked more like their mother than their father. She watched through the window as Duran’s private shuttle lifted off to take them to the land port.

  She answered her vid-screen when it pinged.

  Strass’ solid black eyes and unruly black hair filled her screen. “I heard your parents are leaving town. Are you finally ready to have some fun?”

  Strass had been her boyfriend on and off for the past year and a half at the academy. They had met in an oceanography class. He had shown an interest in her after learning who her father was and had been attentive and affectionate with her to make a good impression on him. Being awarded a chance to serve as one of her father’s research assistants had been her most attractive feature to Strass. He had always had other girlfriends. That didn’t bother her. It was expected in their society. She had gotten along with a few of the other girls, but giving Strass her understanding and her virginity hadn’t been enough to keep him around after her father had died. She was no longer of benefit to his career plans. Had her father lived and decided to give them another mother, not that he would have tolerated another female distracting him from his work, she would have accepted it. However, hearing Strass refer to Duran as one of her parents turned what feelings she still had for him to dust.

  “No, I’m on my period. Sorry,” she said with a shrug.

  Obviously disappointed that sex wasn’t anywhere in his immediate future with her, Strass made a little small talk before ending their conversation. He’d find some other female or a couple of females with whom to slake his lust. Glad his telepathy was as weak as any feelings he might have ever had for her, she changed into a swim dress and went out to the pool.

  Some light remained on Aurilius. She hadn’t joined her brothers for dinner with their new nanny, Angelica. The woman had come with an impeccable resume, but she worked for Duran and answered to him. She wasn’t sure if Angelica was truly there to care for her brothers, or if it was just an act to throw her off as she spied on them for Duran. Tracy stayed in the pool until Angelica came out and reported to her that her brothers were asleep.

  “If there is nothing you need, Miss Tracy, I will retire to my room for the night.”

  Tracy observed the woman. It wasn’t fair of her to be unkind to Angelica. “Thank you. I’ll see you tomorrow,” Tracy responded.

  Angelica curtsied to her and left. Angelica was plain as far as Laconian women went. It was why she was a servant and not a mistress. In the beauty department, high standards were set for Laconian women. Laconian women outnumbered Laconian males, and competition for males was fierce. Tracy closed her eyes and fantasized about marrying a human male, maybe from the Galaxic Militia. He would be faithful only to her and look at her with worshipful eyes. Human males were enamored of Laconian females. The only drawback to taking one as a husband was that children of such unions were weak telepaths. The squeaking of Megachiroptera as they flew overhead in search of food pulled her from her musings.

  What kind of life did she want for herself? Did she want to emulate her mother and try to become one of Strass’ future wives, always coming in as second or third in his life? Or, did she want to give up on the idea of marriage and devote her life to her own scientific pursuits in honor of her father’s memory?

  “I’m not staying here. I need to be gone before they get back.”

  She went inside, dried off, and changed. Activating her vid-screen, she navigated to the academy’s site. With her father’s encouragement, she had graduated with a degree in oceanography. Dr. Heintz had been grooming his daughter to take over his research on Asteroidea, sea star, regeneration. There were several research assistant positions available on Epopeus for graduate credit, and she intended to secure one. Desperate to leave her mother, Duran, and Strass behind, Tracy began to fill out the first application.

  In order to complete one of the sections, she needed her family’s census code which had changed with her mother’s marriage to Duran Jarreau. He was now their patriarch. Tracy got up and went to his office to find it. She flipped through a few folders on his desk to no avail before moving on to search the drawers. The last thing she wanted to do was call the pervert and ask him for the code. She didn’t even want them to know what she was doing until it was too late.

  Under some financial plasti-forms, she found something that never should have been in Duran’s desk. It was one of her father’s vid-pads. Tracy pulled it out from under the pile of documents and held it to her chest. Her heart constricted with pain and longing for her father. What was Duran doing with this? Like every scientist at the academy, her father’s work and research belonged to the facility so that it could be continued. Tracy powered on the vid-pad.

  She closed her eyes on her tears that the sound of his voice evoked. He was recording his findings on the Asteroidea’s ability to order particular stem cells to differentiate in order to regenerate an amputated limb. In the recording, he was describing the sea star’s ability to take inventory of its body’s cellular imbalances, and how it could order what replacements it needed to regain equilibrium. It had the ability to create its own cellular inventory and could release chemical commands much like humanoid pituitary glands.

  A gate in her mind rushed open and swept her away in a memory.

  “Never! It is an abomination! I will not contribute my research to the pursuit of such a travesty of science. The entire concept is one that I find repugnant and against the order of creation. Keep your credits! My goal is pure research. No, my family does just fine on my earnings. No, I will not reconsider. You know where you can put your credits, Jarreau.” Her father had ended the call and met her wide-eyed stare with a furious stare of his own. “One lesson I hope you will learn from me is not to allow your research to be corrupted for a profit. It sickens me what some biological research facilities want to attempt. If nature didn’t create it….”

  “It shouldn’t be,” Tracy had finished for him.

  Her father was of the belief that if left alone, biological systems evolved best according to their own designs. He studied life. He didn’t tamper with it. Unfortunately, he had stumbled across something profitable in his research. Her father had been arguing with Jarreau, her new stepfather, months before his death. Tracy’s heart thudded in her chest. This was all too convenient. The most logical conclusion was that Jarreau had killed her father, making it look natural, and had married her mother to get his hands on her father’s research. The first thing Duran had done was to pack up their family home, sell it, and move them into his mansion. All of her father’s things had been placed in storage, supposedly for his children to have one day.

  Tracy had kept something of her father’s. She put the vid-pad and everythi
ng else back just as she had found it. The thick, tan carpet squished softly under her feet on her way back to her room. Duran must have had all of her father’s things put into storage so none of them would notice if any of his things were missing, like his notes and ideas that came to him randomly which he had recorded to explore later. Had she been living, along with her brothers, with their father’s murderer? Had Duran blocked that memory from her mind?

  Tracy hadn’t been able to part with what her father had always referred to as his lucky writing stylus. He had been able to write his ideas down on his vid-pad much faster than he had been able to type. Tracy had spent several hours searching for his stylus on more occasions than she could remember which had given them lots of reasons to laugh. Eventually, Tracy had programmed the stylus and the most recent data entries that he had made with it to trace signals back to each other. It had worked to save his work and ping on her vid-screen where his stylus had ended up.

  More than once, his stylus had been on the academy’s floor in the men’s restroom. She shook her head at the memory. Now, she took the stylus from her jewelry box and closed the application page on which she had been working. Pulling up the old program made her feel close to her father once again. The ping on the map that appeared wasn’t at the storage facility. The ping for her father’s notes was out in the middle of nowhere.

  Tracy secured the stylus to a lanyard and put it around her neck. She put her black, shoulder-length hair into a ponytail and dressed in dark serviceable clothing appropriate for field research. Arming herself with a sonic blaster, she slipped her satchel’s strap over her head, put her vid-screen inside of it, and left the house via the door to the pool. She waited until the security drone had flown to the front of the house before running full-speed at the back stone wall where she scaled up and over it. At least her former nightly escapades with Strass had been good for something.