The Lexal Affair Read online

  The train pulled to a stop. Nyk climbed aboard, took a seat and Suki sat beside him. “Do you want to tell me more?” Nyk asked.

  “Not now. I just want you to hold me.”

  Nyk settled into his seat, his arm around her. She leaned against him. The train left the station and Nyk began counting the stops until it arrived at their destination in Queens.

  * * *

  Nyk lay in bed, his hands locked behind his head. Suki emerged from the bathroom in her short robe, her long, black hair clipped into a ponytail. She slipped off the robe, ran her hands along her abdomen and then slid into bed.

  He put his arm around her and she cuddled to him. “It was a rough evening for you. Are you still thinking about it?”

  She nodded. “Nykkyo, I'm scared. There's much about me you don't know -- much of which I'm ashamed. I'm afraid you'll learn something and decide I'm not worth bothering with.”

  “It's not likely. As to your past -- I wouldn't change any of it. Those were the events that formed you, and without them -- you wouldn't be ... you. It's you I love.”

  “You're so sweet.” She kissed his cheek.

  “Feeling better?”

  “A bit. There's something about tonight's session I want to share. Do you remember that Indian dinner when we told each other our sad, sad stories?”

  “Yes. I remember you told me how you entered into an arranged marriage with a man you did not love -- how he abused you and beat you. You told me you fled from him and lived with an old friend from your university days.”

  “I'm afraid it wasn't quite like that.”

  “That's not how it happened?”

  “Well -- yes. I left out an important detail, though.”

  “Which was...”

  “It was my own behavior that brought it all about. You see, Nykkyo -- I never stopped loving Alice. Even after I had married, I kept seeing her. One night my husband left on a business trip. I had planned a tryst with Alice -- I invited her over. It turned out my husband's flight was cancelled and he rescheduled for the morning. He came home and found us. He said the worst things about Alice and me -- so I slapped him. He retaliated. I threw the first blow in that fight.”

  “None of it justifies him beating you.” Nyk pondered, stroking her arm. “I suppose I understand why you wouldn't want to tell me that. We hardly knew each other...”

  “Nykkyo -- we still hardly know each other.”

  “We had just met, and you wanted to explain what you were doing by yourself in Wisconsin.”

  “There's more to it... I had lived with Alice during grad school, and I knew how dominating she was. I knew what I was in for, but I went to her, anyway. One reason I finally fled to Wisconsin was to be away from her. Now, I'm back in New York, and I'm afraid...”

  “Alice has no hold over you.”

  “She did once -- when I lived with her, she made me do the most humiliating things.”

  “Like what?”

  “I'd rather not go into it. I had such a need for her -- for her acceptance -- I submitted. My therapist asked me if I craved being dominated. I hadn't thought of it that way. Maybe it's true.”

  “I don't understand. Are you asking me to dominate you? It's not in my nature...”

  “No, Nykkyo.” She wiped tears from her face. “You've shown me the light of pure love. I fear what lurks in the shadows. Alice works as a curatorial assistant at the Museum of Natural History. I'm sure in my job at NYU our paths will cross some day. I'm afraid of what might happen.”

  “I understand your anxiety. Suki, on my world we've learned the best way is the direct way. I think you should tell Alice how you now feel for her.”

  “My therapist said the same thing.” She kissed his cheek. “I don't need counseling when you're by my side.”

  “Your situation is similar to mine with Senta. Even though I've filed for divorce, I very much wish to remain friends with her. I've told her so.”

  “How did she react?”

  He smiled. “Well -- Senta is a woman accustomed to having things go her way. It'll take a while for her to assimilate our new relationship. Florans are humans, after all -- and humans have faults.”

  “I'm afraid Alice will have difficulty assimilating, too.”

  “I trust you, Suki. You'll do the right thing.”

  “That's the problem -- I don't trust me. ”

  * * *

  Nyk sat at the kitchen table. He could hear the shower running in the apartment above. Yasuko topped off his coffee cup and sat across from him. “How did it go last night?”

  “I don't know. It's not easy for her.”

  “Just getting her to go and to cooperate is an enormous step. She wouldn't have without you, Nick. Her father and I are grateful.”

  He sipped his coffee. “Yasuko, was Suki molested as a child?” Her mother gaped at him. “I'm sorry, Yasuko, but it came up last night. Suki claims she can't remember.”

  Yasuko shook her head. “I suppose dirty linen has to be aired sometime. I wasn't expecting it so soon.” She looked into Nyk's eyes. “I don't know for sure. I never had proof.”

  “Her therapist wants to hypnotize her.”

  Yasuko bit her lip. “I don't agree with that sort of probing. It's too easy to ... to...”

  “To contaminate her memory?”

  “Exactly.”

  “Who would've done it? Her father?”

  “Lord, no -- it wasn't George.”

  “Who, then?”

  “George's father seemed to have an unhealthy interest in her. He was a very peculiar man, Nick.”

  “Suki told me some about him -- how he dressed in traditional Japanese clothing.”

  “He did have a strange fascination with the old country. That foolish crest hanging on the wall is a product of his fancy. When George and I first married, we lived in the very apartment you and Sukiko now use. George's father lived downstairs. I ended up his de- facto housekeeper. He enjoyed having a real Japanese in the house -- I had to wear the kimono -- put my hair up in the traditional way. He even had me attempt to teach him Japanese. I'm no sensee -- I have no idea how to train someone in the language. I think he wanted me, physically -- though if he did, he never acted on those desires.”

  “You think he may have with Suki?”

  “I have my suspicions. She was a beautiful little girl.”

  “That's not surprising -- she's a beautiful young woman.”

  “I stopped using him as a baby-sitter and tried to make sure someone was in the room with him when Sukiko was there.” She shook her head. “It's not possible to watch someone twenty-four hours a day; seven days a week -- month after month, year after year...”

  “You never pursued it?”

  She shook her head. “No... You must understand my situation -- our situation. We depended on George's father for a roof over our heads. George was just starting out, and my own immigration status was unresolved. I was terrified I would be sent back to Japan and George and Sukiko would be left homeless. It wasn't until after her grandfather died that my status was sorted out. I've since become a citizen.” She stood and turned from him. “You'll learn soon enough. When you become a parent -- you do your best and hope it's good enough.”

  Nyk stood and embraced her. “I'm sure you did your very best, Yasuko.”

  “You are such a fine young man, Nick. My daughter is very fortunate...”

  “Am I interrupting something?” Nyk heard Suki's voice. Yasuko pulled from him and adjusted her hair.

  “Your mother and I were having a talk.”

  “How are you feeling this morning?” her mother asked.

  “Not too bad. Come on, Nick -- we'll be late.”

  “Aren't you having breakfast?”

  “No time, Mom -- I'll grab a bagel or something at the union.”

  Nyk picked up his case and headed toward the front door.

  “Sukiko -- wait.” Yasuko embraced her daughter and looked into her eyes. “I love you and I did the bes
t I could for you.”

  “Yeah, Mom -- I know.”

  “Forgive me if it wasn't enough.” Yasuko's eyes filled and she headed back into the kitchen.

  Suki looked back toward her mother; then, proceeded down the front steps. “I wonder what brought that on.”

  “I think I know. I asked your mom whether or not you had been molested as a child.”

  Suki stopped in her tracks. “Just like that -- flat out?”

  “On my world, directness is...”

  “I'm afraid in Mom's culture, directness isn't cherished as it is on Floran. What did she say?”

  “She said she thinks you were ... but she has no proof.”

  “Who? Who does she suspect?”

  “Your grandfather.”

  “Not my father?”

  “No -- your mom seemed quite certain it wasn't him.”

  Suki closed her eyes and drew in a deep breath. She smiled. “Oh! I'm so relieved!”

  “Relieved?”

  “I'm doubly -- triply relieved.”

  “How so?”

  “For starters -- I had thought my difficulties were my own fault. Now I know for sure some of them, at least, aren't.”

  “You can't be faulted for actions beyond your control.”

  “Exactly.” She grabbed his hand and headed down the street toward the bus stop. “Secondly, it was someone who's no longer around to threaten me. My grandfather was a truly creepy man, Nykkyo. I don't remember much about him -- maybe I've blocked it out -- but I do remember I dreaded being with him.

  “Finally -- it wasn't my dad. I knew my therapist would sooner or later come round to my relationship with Daddy. When she mentioned hypnosis I was so afraid she'd put two and two together and...”

  “And come up with five?”

  “Worse yet -- come up with four. If it had been Daddy -- how could I continue to live in that house?” She patted her stomach. “How could I hope to bring him up there? It would've torn our little family unit apart -- dysfunctional as it is.”

  “Don't underrate what you have. I'm not sure there's any such thing as a functional family -- anywhere in the galaxy.”

  She lifted her face to the sun and inhaled. “Oh, Nykkyo -- smell the spring air -- the leaves are on the trees...”

  “All I smell is fumes.”

  She skipped along the sidewalk. “It's like a burden's been lifted from me.” She grabbed his hand and embraced his arm.

  “I don't think I've ever seen you like this -- maybe once -- that New Year's Eve.”

  “And, look what happened then.” She stroked her wrist. “All right -- I'll tone it down ... I guess I was never meant to be happy.”

  * * *

  Nyk sat at his desk reviewing field reports. An incoming vidphone call signaled him. He pressed keys on his laptop computer to answer the call. An image of a middle-aged man appeared. He wore insignia indicating he was an ExoService official. “Nykkyo -- I'm Illya Kronta. We worked together on the Zander Baxa incident.”

  “I remember -- you helped interrogate Andra.”

  Kronta nodded. “Good to speak with you again. How are you enjoying your new assignment?”

  “Very much, so far.”

  “Nykkyo, I know you had some sort of ... attraction to Andra.”

  “She and I are good friends.”

  “When was the last time you spoke with her?”

  “Right before making transit -- why?”

  “Nyk -- this may be difficult. I'm coming to you for your help. Andra has disappeared. I hoped you might know where she is.”

  “Disappeared?”

  “Central Admin has performed a locator code trace. We tracked her to the shuttleport in Floran City.”

  “And, from there?”

  “The trail ends at there. We have no record of her boarding a vessel, or leaving the shuttleport.”

  “I'm baffled, Illya -- she never confided any plans in me. Did you ask my wife? The two of them were living together.”

  “Your wife has been less than cooperative, and there's little we can do to encourage her cooperation.”

  “Senta is not an ExoService person.”

  “As she rather forcefully reminded me,” Kronta replied.

  “Why are you looking for Andra? I thought she was exonerated.”

  Kronta shook his head. “We had insufficient evidence to pursue her -- with the operative word being had. The more we delve into Zander's activities, the more likely it appears Andra was a participant. We have asked Internal Affairs to detain her...”

  “Arrest her?”

  “Detain her -- for questioning. Nyk, if you should locate her -- you'll let us know, won't you?”

  “Of course, Illya.” The vidphone session went dark. Nyk drummed his fingers on the desk, then typed commands to initiate another vidphone call.

  A woman appeared in the window, one with a high, broad forehead and bushy red hair. She glowered at Nyk.

  “Senta, where's Andra?”

  “Wouldn't you like to know...”

  He sighed. “Tell me, Senta -- I know you know.” She shrugged her shoulders. “The Service overseers have traced her to the Floran City shuttleport.”

  “Have they, now?”

  “From there, the trail goes cold. I think you know where she went.”

  “Have you been recruited to be one of their flunkies?”

  “No -- I...”

  “You know, Nykkyo -- you have some nerve. You call me after all this time and the first words out of your mouth are, 'Where is Andra?' Not, 'I'm sorry for taking this assignment' or 'I want us to work this out.' No -- it's 'Where's Andra?'”

  “Senta, I'm doing what I must do.”

  “You think you can get away with this. You can't -- you think you're safe on Earth. Some day you'll have to return to Floran and then we'll see who has the last laugh.”

  “What do you think you could do?”

  “I'll bring charges.”

  “On what grounds?”

  “Abandonment.”

  “It won't work, Senta. You're the one with the important job. You lost a liability when I left -- not an asset. It doesn't make sense to sue to recover a liability.”

  “Loss of companionship, then.”

  Nyk laughed. “Senta, you've never been at a loss for companionship. You and I slept together only one night out of five.”

  “You and your provincial upbringing... My social life has always bothered you.”

  “There's an Earth saying, Senta -- you make your own bed and you must lie in it. It certainly applies to you.”

  Senta stared at him, her mouth open. “Mark my words -- you won't get away with this.”

  “Senta -- let's look at the reality of the situation. You and I were never right for each other. We never loved each other. I had no idea what true love felt like until I met Suki.”

  “How dare you!”

  “It's the truth, Senta. But, it's more than that. This is something I must do -- I interfered with Suki's destiny. I must replace the man who was to be in her life.”

  “That temporal interference nonsense.”

  “You really think it's nonsense? Do you want to take the risk to find out? Do you want to be the one initiating a temporal disaster?”

  “Nykkyo...”

  “There's more. Right before I made transit here, I learned who my real father is.”

  “I know.”

  “I had a talk with your stepdad. He told me there were two women he loved -- my mother and yours, Senta. Did you ever do a DNA sequencing analysis to see if Veska might be your...”

  “It's impossible!”

  “It's not impossible.”

  “What did he tell you?”

  “Only what I told you. Senta, if you press this, I'll bring the whole Veska thing out into the open. At that point, we're not just talking divorce...”

  “You wouldn't dare! You'd ruin both our reputations!”

  “My reputation on that world is of no consequenc
e on Earth.”

  Tears began spilling out of Senta's eyes. Her lower lip trembled. “Mark my words, Nykkyo -- you will regret this.”

  “We'll see -- now, tell me where Andra is.” Senta glowered at him. “Senta -- tell me!”

  “Why don't you call her up and ask her yourself?” The vidphone window went dark.

  2 -- Dyppa

  Nyk disembarked the train at Grand Central. He pushed his way through the throng and spotted Suki standing against the wall.

  He embraced her. “How was your day?”

  “Quick -- our train!”

  Holding Suki's hand, Nyk pushed back through the mass of humanity and onto the train. The car was full so he stood and held onto the overhead rail. Suki stood with her arms around him and smiled broadly. “I like strap-hanging this way. You pushed our way onto the train like a native.”

  “I'm accustomed to crowds. There are some good-sized ones in Floran City. You look like you have big news.”

  “I do. You'll never guess who I ran into today.”

  “Who?”

  “Vlad Donatovich.”

  “You're right -- I couldn't possibly have guessed. Who's he?”

  “He's my old thesis advisor from grad school. Now, he's a curator at the Museum of Natural History. He still has ties with NYU, and this summer he's conducting a mini-dig in Turkey. He's asked me to join him.”

  “You're not thinking of doing that, are you?”

  “Why not? It's only for three weeks. I called my obstetrician and she said it was okay.”

  “Three weeks!”

  “I thought you'd be happy for me.”

  “I'm not happy with the notion of you being so far away.”

  “Nykkyo, I know you'll need to make trips in your job and they'll be a lot further than Turkey. I spent six months in Syria with Vlad when I was in grad school. I'm sure I'll survive. It's probably my last chance to use my training before the baby comes. It'll look good on my resume, I'll be networking, and...”

  “Have a great time in Turkey, korlyta.”

  “You're letting me go?”