The sofa carried greater than usual appeal, and llhaesa wasted no time giving in to the inviting upholstered indulgence.
It had been a long day.
The day started with worry, moved through a period of relaxation, onward to discovery and connection and playfulness, followed by a scare she just as soon never live through again.
Now they were back in their lake home, actually breathing, something that for a while felt like something they had forgotten how to do.
“Thank goodness for Jahlaera,” llhaesa thought, her mind sending out a constant stream of thanks to the universe for the young woman’s uncommon courage and incredible athleticism.
Just before flopping on the great room sofa, the four shaken sailors pulled up to their dock, with llhaesa and Addie securing the boat. Adie and Jahlaera, still carrying stored and unreleased energy, set off down the drive, off for a walk along the winding road that followed the shore contour of the lake.
While llhaesa sought out the comfort of the sofa, uncaring she wore only her one piece, Jahrae went upstairs to change.
Minutes later, llhaesa watched as Jahrae circled the spiral staircase, heading down into the great room, her destination the very same sofa, her purpose to settle in with her partner.
“Goddess, I never wish to live such an experience again,” Jahrae spoke for both of them. Before she could say more, the home telephone rang off, causing Jahrae to sprint a few metres away, to an end table on the opposite end of the sofa.
“Hello?”
“This is Trooper Calley of the state police. We have apprehended the alleged operator of the boat. We arrested him upon his arrival at the docks in Wolfeboro, and for now, we charged him with operating under the influence.
“For now?”
“The video recording sent to us clearly shows reckless operation and excessive speed, but the investigation continues, including whether that is admissible evidence.
He was not very happy – or very coherent – when we approached him. In fact, the two others on the boat were quite belligerent, resisting arrest.
He obviously has some wealth at his disposal, and already has a high powered attorney here, seeking his release.”
“What of his boat?”
“It is confiscated as evidence.”
“Thank goodness they have him off the lake. Thank you calling and sharing what happened. If you need anything more, please call this number or my mobile, which I gave you earlier.”
The call ended, with Jahrae returning to the sofa. “The trooper is uncertain whether the recording we supplied can be admitted as evidence, given its legally unrecognised source.”
“I agree that is unlikely, J’har. It isn’t the charge so much that I worry over. I suspect both of us wish him to learn and change his behaviour; that is primary and paramount. If he does that absent the charges, I would be happy.”
“Yes; that is how I feel.” Jahrae shook her head, still disbelieving what occurred.
Hours earlier, she and Jahrae had disappeared below deck of their sailboat, now anchored a kilometre past Governors Island. They left Addie and Jahla alone, with Addie helping the young woman come to terms with the horrific incident in her childhood.
A half hour passed before llhaesa and Jahrae heard the two young women moving about the deck, the movement followed by a splash, and then a second in quick succession.
Jahrae and llhaesa took that as their cue, leaving the cabin and returning to the deck. Addie had inflated a bright lime green float, one big enough to hold both of them. They played on it for a while, perhaps fifty metres from Musical Diplomat - the name for their 8-metre sailboat – splashing, giggling, and knocking each other off the float.
The two decided to race, using disparate means, with Addie using small, lightweight oars to move the float, versus the talented swimmer in her natural element. Agreeing on a finish line that consisted of a floating piece of foam about one hundred metres distant and closer towards shore, the two set off.
The expert swimmer’s ability left Addie and the cumbersome flotation device far behind, with Addie only halfway to their goal as Jahla reached the foam debris.
Mark Retineau thought it a glorious day to take out and play with his newest and most precious toy, a tri-engine cigarette boat. He rarely let pass a chance to show it off for visiting friends and acquaintances.
Purchased but a month before and at the start of the new boating season, he considered it a worthy investment in securing a desired place for his ego.
Mark was insecure in reality, and he compensated for this through things such as his boat. He felt that the high-performance water machine moved him up in peer status, believing others regarded him with newfound awe. His boat was the talk of his social group.
Two friends happened to be with him on this day, and Mark eschewed conversation for an immediate trip on the boat. Although together for all of twenty minutes by the time they shoved off, the three finished their second beer, with one of Mark’s guests quickly moving to a built-in cooler to furnish another round.
Setting off slowly, once he cleared the reduced speed area, Mark took the boat to almost full power, the front of the hull rising out of the water, intending to show his friends how fast he could traverse the lake, one end to the other.
He looked toward the two others on board, and then pointed at the estimated speed indicator, which registered 137 kph. His smile was wide, loving the feel of the fierce wind that now blew with some force over the windscreen. Turning to look behind him, he felt a surge of thrill in seeing the receding high spray rooster’s tail that flared out into the air well behind the boat, a product of the boat’s high speed.
It mattered not to Mark that a new state law limited boat speed on the lake to a maximum of 72.5 kph, to his way of thinking, no one in authority could tell or see him out here; the chance of getting caught was minute, and if he did, well, he would just pay the fine and move on.
Slowing some as he made a wide turn southeast, he quickly passed Governor’s Island, hastily resuming his previous speed on this new heading.
Addie laughed as she worked toward the established foam finish line, the effort seeming futile in comparison to the quick sprint by Jahla. While Jahla won, that fact was no reason to stop striving for the goal, although in her laughing and enjoyment of the moment, Addie relaxed and paused, her eyes focused on her waiting friend, her insides feeling another sparking of affection.
Jahla heard the threat before she actually saw the boat, her ears sensing its closing proximity and approach. Her eyes opened wide as she screamed to Addie to get out of the way, to no avail.
Reacting, Jahla’s arms stretched to their maximum limits as she reached out, morphing into competitive swim mode, her legs already kicking in coordination with her pulling arms. Within a few seconds, Jahlaera moved faster than any human ever officially swam, yet no one was around ready to measure her incredible effort.
Keeping her focus, Jahlaera’s stroke stayed purposeful and powerful, while her eyes stole an occasional glance ahead and to her left, assessing and evaluating the threat and situation.
Time slowed as so often happened in moments of instantaneous crisis. Later, Jahlaera could recall how she felt as her body pulled forward, how she could hear her own scream, how she could see Addie not seeing or understanding the threat, instead smiling at Jahla, how she could see the boat fast approaching on a fatal vector, how she could hear her mind thinking it might be too late.
In the distance behind her, she heard two other voices cry out a warning; cry out in horror, and splashes following.
Jahlaera reached Addie first, two seconds ahead of the boat. It was fortunate Addison was unaware; she did not panic or resist.
Reacting with lightning quick reflexes and thinking, with only two seconds to work with, Jahlaera scooped the tether in her teeth by sinking her face partially into the water, and resumed swimming. She managed but two strokes, the mouth-borne tether jerking the float forward as she pulled with her considerable but last reserves of strength, taking the float and Addie out of the path of the onrushing boat.
Jahlaera turned back to watch, the boat passing not a metre behind the shocked Addison, who, as the wake struck with its immediate churning ferocity, toppled over and submerged, while the float hissed out its deflation.
Addie came up gasping for air, her mind struggling to process why she was under water, why a boat buzzed them, and what she now needed to do to be safe.
Jahlaera saw Addison’s momentary confusion, and again acting with clarity and purpose, wrapped an arm around Addie’s chest from behind, thrusting with her legs, pulling with one arm, moving Addison toward their boat, to llhaesa and Jahrae, who swam toward her, ready to assist.
Mark saw nothing in his path, not that he gave what was immediately in front of the boat anything more than a cursory glance. This was a huge lake, with plenty of wide-open space, what could be out here? He scoured the water well ahead, and only saw a sailboat at anchor, one hundred metres from his expected point of passage.
He maintained the high speed, zooming past where the two young women barely moved out of the boat’s course, and as he did so, his head tilted slightly back as he finished off his third beer in fifteen minutes.
The group moved together to the boat, with Jahrae climbing back aboard while llhaesa guided Addie up the ladder, next insisting that Jahlaera climb aboard before llhaesa left the water.
Jahrae already had Addie in her arms by the time llhaesa stood on the deck. She then turned her attention to tend to the brave young athlete who saved their daughter’s life, sweeping her into a bear hug before easing up and gently guiding the young woman’s head onto her shoulder. Llhaesa knew what could not be far behind, and she was right.
Llhaesa suspected the incident opened an old wound, drew on a memory from eleven years before, bringing it all back to the present in one horrific near miss in the water.
Yet there existed another aspect as well; Jahlaera might realise and accept just how decisive and wonderful she acted in the face of crisis, in the process saving a life, Addie’s life.
While llhaesa comforted Jahlaera, Addison recovered, pulling out of Jahrae’s embrace with a “wow, wow!” along with a “what the fuck was that?”
Jahrae let the expression slide; Addie earned that right to speak so freely and colourfully.
“Mum, I’m ok, but that idiot needs to be stopped.”
“You are right, Addie. I will radio in now.” Jahrae disappeared below, calling state police and advising of the incident, promising she would check to see if a recording was available.
This comment confused the officer, but Jahrae did not take the time to explain. “I will be back to you on this momentarily, officer.”
Jahrae then called AISV llhaesa ahrella t’yaeli, connecting to planetary observation, and asked them to run a recording, giving the time and coordinates.
“We will have the recording in a few seconds, Jahrae.”
Jahrae fidgeted about, waiting, impatient in the face of all that occurred in the last fifteen minutes.
“We have the recording, and it clearly shows the swimmers, the boat, and the near miss as a result of the action of one.”
“Please stay on the line,” Jahrae asked. Reconnecting to the state police, she asked where they could send a file electronically, and with that information, ended the call, returning to the connection to the Arrhazonan ship.
“We will send the file to them now,” the observations person advised.
“Thank you,” Jahrae replied and then ended that connection.
Returning to the deck, she saw llhaesa and Jahlaera had separated. Both she and Addison looked shaken, but they were smiling, a good sign.
“There is a recording of the incident, and it is on its way to the state police. They will identify the boat and find the operator,” Jahrae advised, suddenly realising her inner tenseness.
“How are all of you? Do you wish to stay out here, or go back?”
Everyone expressed a wish to stay for a while and not let the day fall prey to the idiot in the boat.
“Very well, suppose we continue on toward the island, drop anchor in secure waters, and have lunch?”
The remainder of the day unfolded without incident, though all were exhausted by the combination of sun, swimming, heightened emotions, and narrow escape.
Now back at their home, llhaesa and Jahrae managed to extricate themselves from the sofa, with llhaesa first scooting upstairs and sliding into shorts, returning to find Jahrae waiting with two beers, ready to accompany llhaesa to the beach for the evening’s sunset.
As they walked out onto the deck and down onto the ground, heading beach-ward, llhaesa remarked, “J’har, I was pretty scared that day when they dragged you away. I had no idea what they were up to, but there was hope even then. When they took me, long term hope disappeared, replaced by short-term hope, little victories I might achieve.
Today, as that boat approached, I could feel Addison’s happiness as she interacted with Jahlaera, and no matter my level of fear, which she undoubtedly would normally sense, heck she could sense me 50 light years away, it did not overcome her in the moment happiness, at least not fast enough to alert her.
Jahlaera…has earned a spot in my heart, forever. She acted decisively, with little regard for her own well-being, gave it everything she had, and…successfully saved Addison.
In one day, I have learned she is truthful, trustworthy, considerate, caring, loyal and dedicated, intelligent, athletic, decisive, level-headed – and in love with Addison.”
“You think so?”
Llhaesa smiled as she thought of her reasons why. “Yes, I do, and I suspect before too long, we will be hearing a reciprocal feeling expressed to us privately. What happened the last two days is like a month of normal interaction. Those two already know; I can feel it.
With my eyes, I see how Addie smiles when she catches sight of Jahla. In an interesting twist, we usually expect Addie as most likely to rescue someone in distress, as she does in school, with her acumen, her strength, her foresight.
Today, someone saved her, and I do mean saved. Those two are completely complementary to one another, in the same league, in a way somewhat different from us, yet we too are a perfect complementary match.
I just have a hard time believing these assessments when our child is not quite 17, the other, just short of 18. Goddess that is young to fall into this. We just have to stand back, and let them run with things.
There is something we need to do, J’har…”
“I know, call her parents, right?”
“Yes, if she is all right with us making that call. My guess is they would welcome hearing of their daughter’s recent activity and doings.”
“You have something else in mind; I can sense it, my dear generous wife. And yes, I agree.”
Jahrae moved in front of llhaesa, back to her, taking llhaesa’s free hand and pulling it around and in front of her waist.
Llhaesa responded with a quick kiss of the nap of Jahrae’s neck, drawing her closer with her front hand, watching as the sun set in front of them, thinking of the Arrkarharan saying, ‘red sky at night…’ “If there is truth to the saying,” llhaesa thought, “tomorrow promises to be another warm day.”
She sensed Addison drawing closer behind them, although she did not turn to look; llhaesa just knew. With Addie and Jahlaera now with them, if visitors arrived on the beach in that moment, they would see two women who looked remarkably like one another holding tight to partners, to a loved one that stirred their affections.
Llhaesa smiled, somehow finding satisfaction in knowing Jahlaera was in Addie’s strong yet gentle arms.
They lingered for a while after the sun disappeared, captivated by the like glass smoothness of the now becalmed lake. Every now and then, a fish jumped out in chase of a bug, while in the distance, a loon would disappear below the surface, popping back up a hundred metres away. Water barely brushed the shoreline, its soft and subtle rhythm soothing to one’s soul.
Jahrae broke the lake-cast spell, turning and pressing her lips against those of llhaesa, breaking away to take her hand and as they walked away from the beach.
Addie and Jahlaera followed suit in leaving, the four re-entering the home, having battled an onslaught of mosquitoes upon reaching the lawn area.
Llhaesa and Jahrae settled immediately on the sofa, while Addie and Jahla continued on to the kitchen, returning ten minutes later with a huge platter of nachos, and four drinks – beers for llhaesa and Jahrae, soda for themselves.
Setting the nachos strategically within reach of everyone, the four passed on entertainment, preferring to chat.
“You struck at mum J’har’s weakness, Addie,” llhaesa wryly observed, looking at the nachos. “And thank you, that was very considerate of you both.”
“Of course, you never eat any,” Jahrae rebutted as llhaesa held a nacho in her hands, ready to bite. “And yes, thank you both.’
“Mmmm…mmmm these are good, Addie!”
“Thank Jahla; she suggested adding a few ingredients.”
“Very well, I shall do just that. Thank you, Jahla!”
“You’re welcome,” was her modest reply.
Finishing the nacho, llhaesa drew a quick sip of beer and set it back down on the provided coaster, her expression turning slightly serious. “Jahla, I have a couple of questions for you, if you don’t mind my asking. If you do, please tell me to mind my business.
The first is, are you on a full scholarship to N’rellia?”
“A half-scholarship, my parents and I have a loan out for the remainder.”
“Thank you. Secondly, would you mind if J’har and I contact your parents?”
Jahlaera looked at llhaesa, her surprise evident. “No, I would not mind at all, although your request caught me by surprise. May I ask why?”
“You may. We would like to share our thoughts with your parents, that you are an extraordinary young woman. We are highly impressed – and there is something I wish to mention.”
Jahlaera blushed noticeably as her expression changed to appreciation, and as she did, a hint of a dimple formed on either side of her face.
“You’re blushing!” Addie teased, loving their interaction, learning these little things about Jahlaera, hopeful of more to come.
“Yes, and I could make you blush in less time than it took me to, so I’d tread carefully on that score, Addie!”
“Interface, please redirect information for display on front monitor,” Jahrae casually called out, wishing the communication to be via their wide screen television. Seconds later, the television activated, showing various options.
“Please connect to Arrhazonan Athenaeum and video call Galirha and Kahelira Oserehi, Arrhazon City, southwest.”
The connection took but twenty seconds to establish. A handsome man of llhaesa and Jahrae’s age appeared onscreen, surprise evident as he read the identified source of the call.
“Hello?”
“Mr Oserehi? Hello! I am llhaesa t’yaeli, and I am here with Jahrae Khentavra, Addison Lorrie-T’yaeli, and your daughter Jahlaera.
“Hello to all of you! Has my daughter put you up to this call?” he asked, smirking.
“No, not at all,” Jahrae answered. “Actually, llhaesa and I wished to chat with you and Kahelira.”
They watched as Galirha turned and called softly to his wife, who appeared alongside him seconds later. A new round of greetings ensued, before Jahrae explained in detail the first part of their reason for calling. Finishing, she observed, “In summary, your daughter acted with uncommon courage, with much intelligence and great strength, and llhaesa and I are forever grateful to her.”
Everyone watching could see the emotion growing in the parent’s expressions, both obviously fighting back tears. Their memories were undoubtedly long, and painful.
“We met your daughter for the first time today, and as I told Jahrae earlier, I can cite a long list of virtues gleaned about her in this one day. She is welcome to visit with us at any time she chooses.”
“That is so very kind of you,” Kahelira replied, sincerely touched by llhaesa’s words. After pausing for a moment, another thought led her to ask, “Has Jahlaera and Addison been friends for long?”
“They actually met this morning as well,” Jahrae fielded this question. “There was…interest evident to us from one party yesterday and mutual interest today.”
“Mutual interest, really now,” Kahelira beamed, a knowing smile forming, her thoughts quickly processing, assessing, and concluding. “I think I get your meaning, Jahrae. How interesting for parents to contemplate, isn’t it?”
“That it is! It seems but yesterday I met llhaesa, but…” Jahrae’s voice trailed off as her mind retraced time.
Llhaesa used the pause to jump back into the conversation. “There is something I wish to share with all of you; Jahrae already knows. We understand that Jahlaera is on a half scholarship to N’rellia.”
“Yes, that is correct,” her dad replied, uncertain why llhaesa made mention of this.
“No longer; consider her education paid for. We will have someone contact you in the days ahead to pay off the loan you already have.”
“I-we…don’t know what to say,” Kahelira managed to convey how touched she was through the emotion in her wavering voice.
“We also establish a trust fund for her under your direction.
She proved herself worthy today. Not only that, but her skills are considerable, in school, in sport, in life. We give scholarships as a matter of course, and please understand that with what we know, even without having met her on the level we did today, we would grant such a scholarship. She earned this all the way.”
“From the sounds of things,” her dad dryly remarked, it sounds like Jahlaera has earned more than financial assistance today.
Reading between the lines, it sounds like you and Addison are hot for one another, my dear daughter. Well, I know llhaesa and Jahrae are there to douse the flames if they burn too brightly, but otherwise…have fun!”
Kahelira laughed at her husband’s comment, simply remarking, “Oh, Galirha! Shall I tell stories of when I met you?” Everyone in the great room on Arrkarhara laughed at their good-natured interplay.
“Your daughter blushes altogether too easily,” Jahrae observantly remarked, “but then again, as I look over that way, in the moment, Addison could light the way through the darkest of night.”
