Octavia Girl

Chapter Twenty

Too Many Plants and Not Enough Men

Jenna stood in her living room. She and Josh were making a video of Jenna walking around all her gifts and showing her appreciation. There wasn’t much talking since the Octavians liked to see gestures and expressions more than being left to interpret words. That was the largest reason why Jenna had had such a huge outpouring of love from the Octavian people. The look on her face when she said goodbye to Sardius had been leaked on Octavian media as well as Adamis media and convinced them of her heartache as much as her wailing had done.

In the video she was making with Josh, she touched the leaves of the plants, breathed in the scent of the flowers, tossed things like balloons between her hands, and smiled for the camera. When her smile got too weak, Josh would pull his face away from the camera and give Jenna a look that was half disapproval and half compassion.

He was like an Octavian. He didn’t have to talk to get the message across.

Jenna understood. She’d pat her cheeks, to give them color, take a few deep breaths, and do some more. Josh could edit out her sorrowful looks.

She and Josh weren’t going to be able to show all of her gifts. There were too many and quite a few of them were in places no one wanted to show on film because they’d just been bunched up next to Celestina and Excelyn’s palaces. Which provided all the more fuel to make the video with Josh. She had to release a statement that showed she was all right so the gifts would stop coming.

Jenna did what she needed to do, but she was restless and irritable. She had been told that Sardius had come out of surgery. They’d put him on board the pod with a robot to wake him up when there was only one hour left of his journey because Jenna wanted to give him the best possible chance at victory. To do that, he couldn’t be unconscious when Don Leo’s crew opened the pod door and he couldn’t chat on the communicator with Jenna for twelve hours.

As she waited for Sardius to wake up, time that used to tick softly had changed to angry footfalls on a tile floor. It didn’t feel like Jenna would get to talk to him anytime soon or, perhaps worse, it would come too soon.

“That will do,” Josh said, folding his camera. “I’ll send you a copy for approval before we send it to the Octavian news outlets.”

“Wait,” she said, stopping him from leaving. “What would you have done if you were me in this situation?”

He didn’t clarify or ask her exactly what she meant. Instead, he said simply, “Exactly what you’re doing. Being brave.”

Then he walked out.

It was good he walked out. If he had stayed Jenna might have done something stupid, like cry on his shoulder.

“Do you need me to send another man in?” Ixy cut in. “There’s a handful to choose from. I could send in Scion. He’s young and fresh.”

Jenna stretched her arms. “Shut up, Ixy. I don’t want Scion to comfort me.”

“For your information,” Ixy said smugly, “I suggested Scion because I thought he was someone who’d bother you less than the man who’s waiting outside your palace asking for permission to see you.”

“Is Fallcet outside?” Jenna asked with an eye roll.

“Yeah. I’ve kept him away for as long as I could, telling him you were filming with Josh and he shouldn’t disturb you, but now he’s getting all impatient. Can I tell him he can come inside?”

“Tell him if he comes in here, I’m going to put him to work.”

“Doing what?”

“Helping me with all these presents. Obviously, they can’t stay here. Most of them are plants, so they need to be distributed to all the palaces. He can do some leg work while I wait for Sardius to call.”

Ixy took a wretched breath in.

“What is it?” Jenna questioned.

“Are you going to be okay if Sardius can’t get through to talk to you before he makes the trade? It’s not completely impossible that he might not be able to manage it.”

Jenna didn’t know how to answer. She fumbled to push a stray piece of her hair out of her face when Ixy suddenly piped up with different news.

“Dr. Brazel Russell is on the line for you.”

Incredibly relieved, Jenna turned toward the screen in the living room as Ixy brought up the transmission of the doctor.

“Good day, Madam Diplomat. How are you faring today?”

Jenna shrugged. “Makeup hides a thousand flaws.”

“That it does,” the doctor said. “Phane is on his way to be prepped for surgery, so I have a few minutes while they do the initial work without me. I wanted to tell you that Ryatt’s surgery went well and he should be in tip-top condition by the time his pod arrives. Just in case I could ease your discomfort at all with the information.”

“Did Favel ask you to make this call?” Jenna wondered aloud.

“Well, yes,” Brazel rasped over the speaker. “It was interesting for me because I’ve never sent a soldier into battle. I’ve never actually treated a soldier afterward either. I have cleaned up after accidents, corrected deformities, and prettied up people who were pretty to begin with. What I saw when I cut him open was something else. I came to the space station with the intent to tell him that he didn’t have to do the surgery for me. I didn’t need to cut him open when he was about to leave your service, especially to defuse a hostage situation. He insisted I do the surgery. What he had in mind was different from anything I’ve done before. I’m very interested in the outcome.”

“So, you’re asking to be told what happens to him?” Jenna asked, settling her eyes on the doctor.

“I want to know if the augmentations were helpful for him,” she amended over the video feed. “I thought you’d find out, but it would be classified, so you wouldn’t share the information with me if you didn’t have to share it. In exchange for this, I will provide you with three surgeries on demand without charge.”

That was quite a good offer. Jenna nodded and agreed.

“For the record,” the doctor said. “If he comes back and is interested in more experimentation or augmentation, I would be very interested in pursuing that course. Please see that he gets that message.” She paused. “Thank you, Jenna, for keeping your promises to me even when things are tight.”

Jenna wished Brazel good luck with Phane’s surgeries and they hung up.

The screen went blank.

Jenna hoped she was right.

“Can I let Fallcet in now? He’s begun threatening me,” Ixy whined.

“Sure. Send him in.”

Jenna was on her face on the couch when Fallcet strolled into the living room. He was carrying a blanket and a pillow.

“What, exactly, is in your arms?” Jenna asked testily.

“I thought you might need someone to stay the night with you since Ryatt left. He was your bodyguard who stayed in your bedroom to watch over you while you slept, right? I notice you haven’t hired anyone new and I thought you might prefer me to no one.”

Fallcet was not the last man she wanted with her in her room, but of the people on Octavia Prime, he was the lowest on the list.

“Don’t take him!” Ixy suddenly squealed over the earpiece.

Jenna crushed her eyes shut, like moving her eyelids could block out the sound in her ears. “Ixy! Why the hell are you screaming like that? Please do not make sounds like that unless you are literally dying or at the very least someone is bludgeoning your brain out.”

Ixy quieted down.

That dealt with, she turned to Fallcet and put a finger up as if she could put Fallcet on hold with the movement.

Back to Ixy, she asked, “Is Sardius ready to talk to me?”

Ixy didn’t answer immediately. Jenna waited, wondering if Ixy was just having trouble connecting the call.

Fallcet tried to talk, but Jenna glared at him with her finger still in the air.

“Ixy? Are you there?” she tried again.

“I’m here!” Ixy said triumphantly. “Nothing on Sardius, but something wonderful has happened. Smoothie is in orbit. She’s begging to come back to cook for you and watch over you at night. Her pod can’t land at your palace without your permission.”

“You’re sure it’s her?” Jenna asked anxiously.

“One hundred percent. She’s been cleared by Temptic. Can you give her clearance?”

“Yes,” Jenna said before turning to Fallcet. “My midnight problem has been solved. My beloved cook, who you drove away, who protected me after the AAMC’s first attack is coming back!”

Fallcet’s shoulders fell, but he was clever enough to pick up on the most important part of her conversation with Ixy. “Who’s Sardius? That isn’t the name of your cook.”

Jenna had made the mistake of saying his real name instead of the lame fake name he’d adopted when he arrived in their solar system. She shook her head and prepared to shrug it off. “He’s nobody.”

Fallcet wasn’t having it. “That was not the way you say no one’s name? That was the way you should say my name. Who is that person?”

Jenna frowned. “Fallcet, I’m never going to say your name with the least degree of pleasure. You are still lucky I haven’t killed you and ripped the crown off your head.”

He thought she was joking. The expression on his face said as much without him saying a word.

“It’s no wonder you think I sounded different. I actually like someone, but it’s not you, and it’s none of your business. Here,” she said, pulling the bedding out of his arms and handing him a plant. “Take this to the Salt Palace. When you come back, I’ll send you out with another plant. I need to get these presents put in places where they have a chance at living. The Octavians are not going to like it if I am so despondent that I let them all die. Help me like you’re pretending you want to.”

“I do want to,” he stressed, taking the plant.

“Good. Then do,” Jenna said before turning away from him and picking up another plant. “Oh, and Fallcet,” she said over her shoulder. “If you want to have even the tiniest chance of being in my good graces, you’ll apologize to my chef, Smoothie, when she arrives. If you’re smart you’ll never show your face to her. She’s in a room, you leave it. Get it?”

“How am I supposed to apologize to her if I can’t show her my face?” he asked in a voice so devoid of attitude, that he had to have practiced it like he was learning a foreign language.

“Write her a note and enclose a bundle of cash,” Jenna answered simply.

“Cash? Isn’t that a bit crass?” he wondered.

“No. She’s here because she’s trying to make money to send back to her family. Giving her anything else would just be annoying. If I were you, I’d keep a little money on your body whenever you enter my palace in case you run into her. That way, when you see her, you can apologize again, and slip her the money.”

“Just the first time I run into her, or every time I run into her?”

Jenna was all about killing two birds with one stone. If he had to pay an admittance fee every time he came to her palace, maybe he’d stop by less often. That had a strong appeal to Jenna, so she didn’t back down. “Every time, until she tells you she’s forgiven you, and it’s okay if you stop. If you think the money is awkward, I’ll have a word with her to help her understand that I was the instigator.”

“Do you think she’ll ever be comfortable around me? Was what I did eating the mushroom here really that bad?” he asked skeptically.

“Do shut up, Fallcet. You did it because you knew it would be that offensive. And don’t act like paying her is a burden for you. Don’t you still have that huge suitcase full of cash cards that you couldn’t use to bribe me and haven’t been able to return? Isn’t the person who gave you that getting what they want?”

He lowered her eyes. “I’ll do what you say.”

Jenna didn’t like the way he said that. It sounded like he was promising to follow any instruction that came out of her mouth instead of just how she was advising him to handle the matter with Smoothie. It was a lie. He served other masters, namely his father and his uncle, but he wanted Jenna to think she had cast some romantic spell over him that made him obey her. He was still trying to wheedle his way into an intimate relationship with her and even she had to agree that it was a good time for it if the man she normally depended on was gone.

She handed him another plant in a pot that hid her from his sight once both his arms were full.

Through the leaves, she found his eyes and said, “That’s wonderful, Fallcet. If you’re doing everything I want, then take these plants to the Salt Palace. Then come back and get another one.”

He gave her a smile he’d obviously designed to make a woman’s heart melt.

Jenna waited until he was out of earshot before she scoffed noisily.