by T. R. Harris
Summer was against her father staying. She said it would be a waste of his time—and his life—and that she’d be fine with Lila. She didn’t include Panur in the equation. All this made for a tense week before the Arya was scheduled to leave the Aris station, cruise out a safe distance, and then jump back into the Milky Way.
During this time, Adam was having his own separation anxiety regarding Lila. He knew she would keep working on the problem of the rip in space, even if it took the full million years to find a solution. There was no doubt in his mind that when he left, he would never see his daughter again. It tore him up inside, as well as thinking how it would affect Arieel. He kept saying to himself that it was for a greater good and that she could end up saving the universe. It seemed like a small price to pay for his sacrifice.
But what was unexpected was his melancholy feeling toward Panur. He was going to miss the tiny grey mutant, even though he had trouble admitting it. They’d been through a lot together, and although their relationship often vacillated between enemies and allies, there had seldom been a dull moment. And for the adrenalin junky Adam seemed to be these days, that was a good thing.
The Sansa was moved from the hangar bay with the Arya and placed in another at the other side of the huge space station closer to the hub of the Aris operations. Cables were attached, and data began to be shared between systems. After the team returned to the Milky Way efforts would begin in earnest to find a solution to the crisis. It would become an around-the-clock affair at that point since immortals never slept.
The remaining seven Aris—not counting Kracion—had been working on a solution for a while now, as the other eight sacrificed their bodies to keep Armageddon at bay. But eventually, as the tear widened, even these seven would be enlisted in the losing battle, serving only to delay the inevitable. At that point, no one would be left to work on the problem. The universes would collide, at which point time would end for all that had been before.
But now that Panur and Lila were joining the fight, the Aris were encouraged. There weren’t a lot of immortal mutant geniuses around, and now two of the best were on the job. It gave the ancient creatures hope, something they had been in short supply since learning of Kracion’s horrific and unforgivable act at the Technician base.
Panur and Lila removed their small dimension hopper from the hold of the Sansa and with Nunki took a quick tour of the Aris facilities at the rip site. Adam and the others were fascinated at the video beamed back to the Sansa. It showed an innocuous quarter-light-year section of space glowing a soft blue. Adam was still in awe that such a tiny slice in the fabric of space-time could hold the potential for such destruction.
The Aris sentry posts were long tubes placed equal-distance along the tear. Inside each was a whole array of sophisticated equipment, and all focused on the box containing a single Aris. He was naked, his body splayed out, and his head tilted back, eyes closed. The space around the Aris sentry glowed blue, with a prominent central light radiating from the center of his chest. He didn’t appear to be in agony, but neither was he conscious. Instead, he was like a living circuit breaker, channeling inconceivable amounts of dark energy from one universe and back to another. It was an awesome sight, although no one viewing the videos back on the Sansa understood the technology except possibly J’nae, hidden within Summer’s body. Adam didn’t know if this was true or not; the entity had been strangely quiet over the past few days.
The mutants returned to the Aris station just as preparations for the Arya’s departure were being finalized. At Summer’s suggestion, a small going away party was organized on the Sansa. It was working out to be a solemn affair. Adam would never see Lila, Panur and Summer again; he was also teary-eyed about leaving the gruff old master chief, Monty Pitts. Lila and Summer were going through their own emotional roller coasters. But no one protested the party. It was just one of those rites of passage.
Adam checked his wristwatch. Yes, even in alien universes he still wore one. The passage of time needed to be tracked and schedules adhered to. He knew the going away party was just getting underway at the other side of the Aris station, yet he was still in the hangar bay with the Arya, lingering, reluctant to attend the melancholy celebration.
His comm unit chimed. He hesitated a moment before answering.
“Adam, are you coming?” asked Monty, no joy in his voice.
“Yeah; I’m on my way. I’ll be there in a few minutes.”
“Good. And have you seen Summer? She’s not here, either.”
“I haven’t seen her. But I’m at the Arya; I’ll check inside, see if she’s there.”
Adam could sense the depression in Monty’s voice. He loved his daughter, and as such, was giving up his life in the Milky Way to stay with her. Adam also knew the big man was sick from the pain he was causing his daughter, knowing that her father was sacrificing everything for her. It was a shitty situation all around.
“Understood,” said Monty. “I’ll see the two of you in a while. Hurry. Can’t start the party without you.”
Through his ATD, Adam could tell the systems aboard the Arya were activated. This was unusual. The ship wouldn’t be leaving the station for another five or six hours.
He stepped inside the ship and headed for the bridge. Summer was there, sitting in the pilot seat, her back to him.
“Hey, what’s going on?” he asked. “The party’s starting and you’re the guest of honor.”
Summer whipped around, glaring at him. But it wasn’t Summer. It was J’nae.
Then a sweet smile stretched across Summer’s face. “Oh, Adam, you surprised me,” she said. “I was just doing some pre-flight tests. I’ll be there in a minute. You go ahead.”
Adam wasn’t buying it. Even though J’nae was trying to convince him it was Summer speaking, the hard eyes of the evil entity couldn’t lie.
“Good try, J’nae,” Adam said. “But Summer wouldn’t know how to do pre-flight tests even if they were needed. What are you doing?”
J’nae stood up, facing Adam in a balanced fighting stance.
Adam smirked. “Really?” he said mockingly. “You’re going to fight—”
J’nae/Summer jumped, slamming her smallish body into Adam’s with unexpected force. He was thrown back against the bulkhead, hitting hard enough to knock the air from his lungs. Summer’s face was contorted with rage, as strong arms pressed against Adam, holding him to the wall. He had a free arm; he lifted his fist. This wasn’t Summer he was about to hit, but the creature J’nae. He felt no remorse.
When he swung his arm, a vice-like clamp closed on his wrist, stopping his arm in motion.
“Shut up!” Summer’s voice screamed. “He is trying to stop us!”
Both the scream and his blocked hit caught Adam off guard. It took him only a moment to realize the danger J’nae posed. Although he was stronger than most Humans, that came about as a result of the residual effects of Panur’s melding with his body. Summer was completely under the influence of J’nae, a superbeing in her own right, with one hundred percent of her strength and abilities manifesting in the tiny Human female. Bottom line: she was a lot stronger than Adam.
This realization came to him just as J’nae head-butted his forehead. The blow was debilitating, nearly knocking Adam unconscious. His knees went weak, and a moment later he was upside down and being carried by the back of his clothing toward the exit hatch of the Arya. His mind swirled, seeking control of his body. By the time he regained any his coordination, it was too late.
J’nae tossed him out the hatch, phenomenal strength sending him twenty meters or more from the ship only to slide another twenty meters on the smooth surface of the hangar bay.
Through his foggy vision, he saw the hatch close.
Adam struggled to his hands and knees, knowing he was in no physical condition for a rematch with J’nae. So he sought out his ATD, hoping to enter the inner workings of the Arya and shut down the systems.
Then a strong rush of air swept
over him. He looked around the huge landing bay, sensing security doors closing as lights began to flash. J’nae was dumping the air from the chamber, preparing for launch.
He took in a deep breath, knowing he had longer than normal before suffocating. But that was the least of his worries. If J’nae managed to lower the electrostatic wall which served as hangar doors aboard the Aris station, the cold of outer space would invade, freezing him instantly.
Through his ATD he scanned for control circuits for the hangar bay. But this was a station designed by the Aris, using Aris technology, not Formilian. His ATD was useless. He shifted his attention again to the Arya, but before he could locate any critical systems aboard the ship, the shimmering screen of electricity vanished.
The cold rushed in. Adam recoiled, watching as a white sheen covered the skin of his arms, knowing the same effect was sweeping across the rest of his body. He only needed a heartbeat to realize what an incredible amount of shit he was in before his consciousness slipped away.
28
A buzzer chimed on the Sansa, signifying an incoming call from the Aris. Panur was in the common room of the ship, surrounded by the rest of the team, minus Adam and Summer. Monty had told them that the pair would be along shortly; that they were just a little reluctant to make an appearance.
Nunki was on the comm.
“Panur, a development. Your second ship has just exited the station. It is currently on maximum chemical drive yet energizing the trans-dimensional system. Forgive me… but the vessel has transitioned.”
Lila was already on her way to the bridge, followed by a parade of others.
“What are they doing?” Riyad asked.
“I am still detecting Adam’s ATD,” Lila said as she activated a scope, hoping to get a track on the Arya. “He is still in the hangar bay.”
“But… but the hangar—” Sherri began.
“Is open to space,” Lila finished for her. “The device is drawing brain power. He is still alive, for the moment.”
Sherri was the first one out of the Sansa. It would take six minutes to reach the hangar bay.
Adam awoke, which a second later he realized was a miracle in itself. His eyes fluttered open. He was in a bed, in a compartment he recognized as one of the small staterooms aboard the TD starships.
I shouldn’t be alive.
There were others around him. In fact, the compartment was crowded with people, some of which stood in the corridor outside the room.
“He’s awake,” he heard Sherri say.
More bodies leaned in. Lila was there.
“How do you feel?”
Surprisingly, he felt fine. He pushed himself into a sitting position. “I’m okay. What happened?”
“That happened,” Riyad said, pointing at his exposed chest and arms.
Adam gasped at what he saw. There were huge flakes of greyish flesh curling up on his skin, looking dry and brittle.
Panur pushed his way next to Adam’s bed. “Apparently, your body reacted to the cold by creating a second layer of skin. It was this new layer that froze. It was a temporary fix, but it kept the rest of your body from freezing all the way through. Then with your increased ability to hold your breath, you also didn’t suffocate. We got to you in time to save your life. By the way, you’re welcome for all your special abilities.”
“And don’t worry,” Sherri said. “From what they say, all that second skin will eventually peel off, like after a bad sunburn.”
“And the Arya?”
“It has jumped back to the Milky Way,” Lila reported.
“It wasn’t Summer; it was J’nae.”
“Yes, and no,” Panur said.
“It wasn’t her fault!” Adam heard Monty say from out in the corridor.
“Indeed, she was under J’nae’s influence.”
“Summer tried to fight back,” Adam said. “I heard the conflict inside them—inside her. She just wants the damn thing out of her.”
“It doesn’t matter at this point,” Panur said. “The ship is gone.”
“And you can’t track it?”
“No. J’nae angled into the Milky Way at an unexpected degree. Since then, she will have surely jumped again, covering her tracks.”
“What’s she doing? She’s going to get Summer killed. I thought everyone agreed Te’moc would kill a Human during the extraction process.”
Adam frowned, studying the look of concern on the faces of the mutants.
“What’s wrong? You two look like you just swallowed a fly.”
“I’m afraid the situation is much worse than you realize,” Panur began softly.
“Worse than getting Summer killed?”
Panur nodded.
“Go on,” Adam prompted.
“Although we are concerned for Summer’s welfare, it is the fate of the Arya that concerns us most.”
“The ship?” said Monty. “You’re more concerned about your fucking ship than about my daughter?”
“We worry for both,” Panur corrected. “Yet our concerns are prioritized.”
“What the hell does that mean?”
“It means that before the Arya jumped, the computer systems between the two ships were slaved. All the data regarding the Aris and the anomaly is in both systems.”
“And that’s a problem, why?” Sherri said.
“Yes. Within the database of the Arya is the location of this base, as well as the sentry stations where the eight Aris are locked in place.”
“You’re losing us,” Adam said. “Why is that more important than Summer’s life?”
“Because if we can’t prevent J’nae from turning the Arya over to Te’moc, there will be no life left.” Panur took in a deep breath before continuing. “I haven’t told you everything there is to know about Te’moc. Let me explain now the catastrophic consequences should he get hold of not only the Arya, but Summer as well, consequences not only for her but for the Aris, for me… and for the universe.”
“I’ve already described Te’moc’s unique nature. However, I have not told you how my use of him while creating J’nae turned tragic. First of all, Te’moc has a limited life essence of his own, yet as I used him to incubate and refine the essence of the various J’nae models, he would take on that identity, along with the related abilities. Then when an infusion occurred, he would lose all that awareness, you would call it, that identity. This had a profound effect on his personality. I also came to learn that during his long hibernation, his mind was still active and aware of the passage of time. Five thousand years passed, during which he felt punished for something he could not understand.
“When I resurrected him, he was a different Te’moc than before, yet I was so engrossed in my project to notice. However, I am not solely to blame. He hid his new emotions, even as he conspired against the Sol-Kor and me.”
“He fought you?” Sherri asked.
“Not directly, not at first. Instead, Te’moc began to retain a little of each batch of essence for himself. I didn’t notice at first, figuring only that the modifications were taking longer than I anticipated to metastasize. He became stronger, more intelligent, and more paranoid. And then at one point, when I had a working version of J’nae, he rebelled.”
“But you’re immortal,” Tidus pointed out. “He must have realized his effort would be futile.”
Panur grimaced. “Normally, that would be true. But Te’moc has the unique ability to strip away essence-born immortality.”
“What’s that?” Copernicus asked.
“Just as it sounds. Since he can extract the essence from living organisms, that also includes the ability to be immortal.” Panur looked to a sad-faced Lila. “The only immortal immune to his power is Lila. She’s a natural-born immortal, the only one of her kind. The rest of us—the Aris and myself—our immortality comes from the essence we carry in our bodies. We are vulnerable to Te’moc. An analogy would be he is our kryptonite.”
“You’re leading up to something,” Adam
said. “I know you too well.”
“Better than you realize,” Panur answered cryptically. “But yes I am. You asked why J’nae would help Summer steal the Arya? It is because she knows that she will have a more willing partner in Te’moc than she does with Summer. And I was serious when I told Summer not to consider an extraction. Her Human body would not survive. But just as J’nae did with her last host, she won’t care.”
“It will kill her?” Monty barked.
“That is what I’m saying. And once he has that first portion of J’nae, the two of them will seek out the rest. I can destroy the vials I have, but that will only slow him down. If he extracts the essence from the Aris, he’ll be able to synthesize more over time, boosting his supply until both he and J’nae are more powerful than anything you have encountered to date. And if by chance he is able to absorb my essence, even I cannot contemplate the variables.
“You see, during the process of creating J’nae, Te’moc and her developed a very close relationship. They considered themselves brother and sister, if not more. They were a single entity divided in two. By the time the final conflict arrived, I had begun to sense the dynamic. I was able to stop Te’moc by segmenting his body. With J’nae, I imprisoned her, restraining her powers until the time came to use her as the new Queen. Both instances were not welcomed by the parties involved. ”
Adam sighed and shook his head. “I can imagine. So we could have another mad superbeing screwing things up, possibly two. That’s just great.”
“Yet it goes far beyond simply vindictive behavior, Adam. Unlike Kracion—who had designs on ruling the galaxy as a god—there is a very real possibility Te’moc’s and J’nae’s efforts could contribute to the eventual destruction of the universe.”
“You’re thinking they would come after the essence in the Aris, even knowing what they’re doing to save the universe?” Riyad asked. “That would be stupid.”