“Do any of the rest of you have gifts?” Seneca was making notes on a tablet that he pulled from his pocket. He seemed to tune out the plans about the attack. Seneca’s mind was focused on the new abilities his patients had acquired.
Hubard wagged a finger at him. “Now, if I can’t bring my work to the table, then you can’t either. It’s only fair!”
“My work doesn’t make as much of a mess as yours does. I just want to make a few notes.”
Cierra quickly answered him, trying to keep the fighting at a minimum. “Cherish has prophetic dreams. Irane has super strength. Theo can heal.”
Seneca scribbled on his tablet as she spoke. “And you, Mr. Fabois? Do you have any gifts?”
“Mine is the same as my wife’s.” Fabois was busy making sure that Makka was okay, but he answered anyway.
Hubard stroked his chin thoughtfully. “Does everyone at the monasteries have gifts?”
“No.” Cherish shook her head. “Makram never developed one.”
Irane sipped his drink slowly. “Gifts are only given to those who Batumah finds worthy.”
“That’s interesting.” Seneca looked closer at Cherish. “So, you were found worthy, even though you have been augmented? Was this before or after your glitches started?”
“Glitches?” Hubard looked at her concerned.
“Oh, you must have noticed!” Seneca clicked his tongue. “She’s been having speech pattern issues, and I’m sure that’s just the tip of it.”
“Cherish? Is that true?” Hubard’s question was answered with an ashamed nod from the red head. “I want to get you examined right away. You should have said something.”
She fought back tears that had been trying to well up for days. “I didn’t want to worry anyone. We had so much going on.”
Seneca punched in a few more things on his tablet. “Actually, I wouldn’t mind doing a few tests on all of you. I would love to see if there are any genetic changes. Makka, would it be alright if I started with you?”
“I think that would be fine.” She looked at her husband, who gave her hand a reassuring squeeze.
“Cherish, Makka, could you both please come with us? You can bring some food along if you want to.” Hubard stood up, and waited for them to follow.
Seneca’s face scrunched up at the suggestion. “That just isn’t sanitary.”
“I think we’re done eating anyway.” Cherish pushed her plate away. Makka nodded in agreement.
Cierra watched them leave. The isolation she had been feeling suddenly doubled. Irane watched her curiously. Her eyes flicked back to him. “What?”
“It was good thinking to use your gift when we were landing. Deflection is a good fit for you.” He smiled at her warmly.
“Thanks.” Cierra felt a little reassured by his kindness, even if she wished it had come from someone else.
Two
Hubard frowned over Cherish’s scans. “It’s worse than I thought, but I should be able to fix you up with what I have on hand.”
“I’m sorry, Hubard.”
“Oh, it’s quite alright. I don’t think you damaged yourself on purpose. No need to worry.” He patted her on her hand. “Wait right here. I’ll go get the supplies I need, and we can get started.”
“Okay.”
Cherish waited until Hubard had left the room. Alone for the first time since they had left Kinyah monastery, Cherish took a moment to allow herself to feel the full depth of her heartache over Makram. Through the lens of her eye, she projected an image of him on the blank wall across from her. It was the way she wanted to remember him. The image was one of her early memories of Makram. He had been dirty, and sweaty from training. In her eyes though, he had been beautiful.
“Who’s that?” A voice behind her made her turn around.
Cherish quickly got rid of the image. “Oh, Makka! You startled me. I thought I was alone.”
Makka rubbed a spot on her arm. “I didn’t mean to spy on you. I was just looking around while he ran my blood work. Was he your husband?”
“I guess he was as close to one as I’ve ever had.” Cherish laughed sadly. She knew it was foolish to dwell on the past, but she wanted some closure.
“It’s hard to lose a loved one. That’s why we’re here though, isn’t it?”
“Huh?”
Makka hopped up on the exam table beside Cherish. “We’ve all lost someone to the imperials. We fight so that maybe someone else will get to keep their loved ones. We try to protect others from the pain we have been through.”
“Is that why you went with one of the infiltration teams?”
“After our son was lost, that seemed like the only thing we could do.” Makka stared off into space. Her mind was far away, in another time. “I couldn’t stand to stay in our old home. There were too many memories. Everywhere I turned, there was something that reminded me of him. We managed to find someone who was with the Carbonari. After some persuasion, we finally got to plead our case to an intermediary with the Grand Council. They agreed to let us in, and one thing just led to another.”
Footsteps made the two of them turn their heads. Seneca was standing in the doorway, looking puzzled. “I don’t see any changes. It’s the strangest thing. I would think that something would show up.”
Makka slid off of the table. “Maybe science can’t explain everything.”
“I don’t like that at all.” Seneca frowned at her. “Everything can be explained.”
“Haven’t you heard of miracles?” Makka watched his face for any emotions.
“I’ve heard of them, but I don’t believe in them.”
Cherish laughed a little. “Earlier, you saw a woman go invisible, and now you’re saying that you don’t believe in miracles.”
“I believe that science can explain everything.” Seneca tapped Makka’s chart with his finger. “We just may not have the ability to properly explore the phenomenon.”
Hubard walked back into the room. His arms were loaded down with supplies. “Seneca, do you think you can give me a hand with these repairs? It’s going to be a bit more extensive than I thought. Makka, can you step out, please? We’re going to need to focus.”
“Oh, of course.” Makka seemed a little upset by the request, but a reassuring smile from Cherish sent her on her way.
Once she was out of the room, Hubard turned back to Cherish. “Just lie down. I’m going to give you a bit of a sedative to help put you to sleep before we operate. It may take a few hours, but you’ll be good to go after that.” He tapped a needle to get out any air bubbles from the syringe he was holding.
“Okay.” She hoped that she sounded more confident than she felt.
Lying back, Cherish felt the sharp prick of a needle piercing her skin. She winced, and then felt a warm wave wash over her. She heard Hubard and Seneca talking overhead, but the voices were becoming distorted. In a few moments, her body was numb. Something about the conversation they were having tugged her back towards consciousness. She fought the sedative for as long as she could.
Hubard was whispering to Seneca. “I’ve never seen anything like it.”
“These are her scans from when she was at headquarters?”
“Yes.” Hubard hissed at him.
“And these are her scans now?”
“Yes! I took them myself.”
Seneca was silent for a moment. “It looks almost as if her body is trying to heal around her augmentations. If I didn’t know any better, I would say that it was almost like her body was rejecting her enhancements.” At that moment, Cherish succumbed to the drugs pumping through her veins.
Three
Rix hovered close to Theo. “Are you sure you wouldn’t much rather go to your quarters?”
“For the third time, no.” Theo resisted the urge to shove the robot into a wall.
He had been wandering the corridors for quite some time. Eventually, he came to a lower level door that drew his attention. There was a keypad on the door to keep it sealed.
His fingertips trailed over the number pad.
“If you punch in the wrong code too many times it’ll lock the door and I’ll have to do a system reboot.” Rix moved closer to the door. His sensors were split between Theo’s face and the keypad.
“Oh, really?” Theo pressed a random button.
“I cannot lie. What are you doing? Do not press the buttons!”
Theo hovered another finger over a different button. “Maybe you should tell me the code.”
“I was not authorized to tell you that.” Rix’s motors revved into a higher gear as Theo pushed the key. “Stop! Perhaps…perhaps I can enter the code for you. That way I will not have to tell you, and I will not have to do a reboot.”
“That sounds like an excellent solution.” Theo’s pent up aggression was coming out against Rix, but he didn’t really care. He was on a self-destructive path, pushing away anyone who might still want to be in his life. A robot was the least of his worries.
Rix plugged into the system, and rendered the correct combination. The door slid open with a hiss. A puff of steam hit Theo in the face. The room was actually the surface of the planet, encased in a clear bubble plexiglass bubble. Natural hot springs steamed against the chill of the rocky ground. The area was protected from the outside elements, but the cold ground was still about twenty degrees colder than the interior of the ship. Several towels were stacked on a rack near one of the hot springs.
“What is this place?” Theo walked slowly into the room.
Rix buzzed in the doorway. He seemed unwilling to move closer to the steam. “Hubard sometimes uses the waters to help his aching joints when the pain gets too bad. He calls the room his Steam Pain Alleviator—S.P.A. for short.”
“A steam bath doesn’t sound bad, actually.” Theo dipped his fingers into one of the pools. It was warm, but not scalding. He paused for a second, and looked at Rix suspiciously. “I’m not going to get locked in here, am I?”
“The doorway from the S.P.A. to the rest of the ship is motion sensor activated. Only the doorway from the ship to the S.P.A. requires a code.”
“Excellent.” Theo started to strip down. “Can I have some privacy, please?”
“As you wish.” Rix zoomed out of the doorway. The room sealed shut behind him.
Theo slipped into the warm waters. His arms rested on the chilled ground. The mix of temperatures complimented the emotions battling inside of him. His bruises were still unhealed. Theo hated knowing that his ability to heal was becoming blunted because of the old hate that was slowly filling him. Part of him felt that losing his gift was somehow a fitting punishment for the evil he had accidentally brought about. If he had never convinced Philo to infiltrate the monasteries, now many more people would still be alive? The thought haunted him.
The door hissed open again. Theo turned, expecting to see Rix again, but instead Irane was walking towards him. Theo moved his hands to cover himself. “How did you find me?”
“It’s a ship. It wasn’t too hard.” Irane smiled, and sat down at the edge of the pool. “Plus, I ran into Rix.”
“Figures.”
“The group has decided that we are going to do a retaliation mission tomorrow.” Irane trailed his fingers across the surface of the water. Ripples spread across the pool.
“Good.” Theo clenched his jaw. “I could use a good fight.”
“Actually, I have something else in mind for you and I.”
Theo blinked at him in confusion. “What do you mean?”
“The others will be leaving to attack an imperial garrison in the morning. You and I will be leaving after they do. Sometimes, two forms of attack are better than one.”
“Just us?”
“Yes. Is there a problem with that?” Irane gave him a charming smile that Theo had seen him use dozens of times. Somehow, the young man had a way with people. Even in Theo’s angry state, he felt his inner turmoil calm a little.
“Nope. No problem here.”
Irane stood up, and brushed himself off. “Good. I’ll see you in the morning then.”
Theo nodded mutely. As soon as Irane was gone, he was left to stew in his own self-hatred again. A fight would release a little of the darkness that was building inside of him. He hadn’t expected to go back into battle so soon after the monastery, but it would be a welcome distraction. Theo stretched his arms and winced. Until he could find some way to resolve the hate in his heart, he would have to be more careful. There wasn’t a magical healing gift to save him right now.
After a few more minutes in the hot spring, Theo felt himself becoming agitated again. The initial allure of the hot water was gone for him. His mind was fickle. Grinding his teeth, he climbed out and dried off. Theo threw on his clothes haphazardly. The only thing he wanted to do was climb into bed and seclude himself from everything and everyone.
Back inside the ship, he suddenly wished that he had let Rix at least take him by the room he was supposed to be staying in. Theo wandered around the ship a bit more, slowly making his way back up to the more familiar levels. He figured that eventually he would run into one of the others. A familiar buzzing sound made his ears perk up. Did robots hold grudges? Maybe he shouldn’t have been so mean to Rix before. The bot was just trying to fulfill his function of making sure the organic crew was taken care of. It was just one more thing Theo could add to the list of things he had done wrong lately. He took a few steps towards the noise.
Cierra’s voice caught him off guard. “Thanks for showing me the way back. I was a little distracted the first time.”
“My pleasure.” Rix hummed his response back at her.
Theo froze. He didn’t want to have to face her, but there wasn’t anywhere for him to duck into. He was caught out in an open corridor. He barely had enough time to swear at himself before Cierra and Rix rounded the corner. Theo and Cierra stared at one another for a moment. Neither of them knew what to say. They both stepped to the same side, trying to get past. It was awkward. Eventually Cierra grabbed Theo’s shoulders to hold him in place so she could side step around him. Her skin on his made his heart race. He hated himself for that, too. Feeling anything for Cierra would only put her in more danger. That seemed to be the way his life was working lately.
“I’ve got it from here, Rix. Thanks.” Cierra hurried down the hallway, away from Theo.
“Don’t leave me with him!” Rix hissed at her, but she was already gone. He slowly turned to face Theo. “Hello. How may I assist you?”
Theo was sure if a robot could have winced with displeasure, Rix would have. Trying to remedy his earlier actions, Theo tried to quash the irritation bubbling up inside of him. “Rix, I’m sorry about earlier. Could you please show me to my quarters?”
The little robot gave an almost happy whirl. “Certainly! Follow me, please!”
To Theo’s relief, Rix led him in the opposite direction to where Cierra had gone. He managed to mumble a thank you when the bot stopped in front of a door. It slid open easily. The interior was plain, but it had a bed. That was all he needed.
Flopping down on the mattress, Theo stared at the ceiling for what seemed like hours. His mind kept replaying the scenes from the monastery. He couldn’t help but feel like he should have been able to stop it somehow. Maybe there had been a clue that he had missed, something that would have linked Karl to the imperials. Was there anything that might have showed that Makram wasn’t on their side? Both of them had been so convincing.
Worries and regrets kept him awake late into the night. Eventually, however, the tide of trauma was beaten back by sheer exhaustion, and Theo fell into a deep sleep.
“Wake up!” Theo felt himself being shaken roughly. His eyes flew open, in his disorientation, he was able to see that Irane was the one shaking him.
“What? What is it?” Theo sat up. His heart was racing. It felt as though he had only been asleep for a few moments. It couldn’t be morning already, could it?
Irane stood up. “The others have already left. You s
lept in. Come with me.”
Theo swung his legs out of bed. He followed Irane, but adrenaline had him on edge. There had to be a better way to wake someone up. He wiped the sleep from his eyes. “Where are we going?”
“You’ll see.”
The two of them made their way to the docking bay. A ship that Theo had never seen before was parked in the hangar. “Where did that come from? Why is there a second ship? This wasn’t here yesterday, was it?”
“This is a very special ship.” Irane ran his hand along the outer hull. “Time is capable of operating in two different ways. It can be changing, and relative to perception, or it can be constant, and absolute. That is why you can fall asleep for hours, and to you it only feels like a few moments. That is the relative side of it. However, if you were to measure it in increments, the passage of actual time would be the same, even though it felt different to you. If you think of time and space like a string, you can pinch two parts of the string, and pull them together. It can make a journey that would take a much longer time, or two places that would not typically connect, meet in a much closer, more accessible way.
“Now, I want you to imagine that the string of time and space is a path you can travel down. It is not a path that can be accessed by normal means of transportation, but it is there, nonetheless. If you were able to manipulate the string, to pinch and pull together two specific instances of your choosing, then you would come close to understanding what this ship can do.”
Theo blinked a few times. It was too early for him to have to think so much. “Are you telling me that this ship can move in both space and time?” He wasn’t sure if this was some sort of a joke. How could Irane expect him to believe that? If such technology existed, why hadn’t he heard about it before?
The Relissarium Wars Omnibus Page 43