The Great Beyond

by A. K. DuBoff

  The realization slowly came into focus. “Oh.”

  Curtis gave him a sage smile. “Spending time outside your comfort zone is healthy. You may have graduated without having a formal internship, but I don’t think your father ever let you off the hook.”

  “You and the other Primus Elites never had one, either.”

  “I went toe-to-toe against the Bakzen in the war inside the rift. Don’t try to put your part in ousting the Priesthood on the same level.” There was a hint of levity to Curtis’ tone, but Jason sensed that there was no room for debate.

  The brutal war had ended before Jason was born, and it had scarred those involved in ways he couldn’t know. While there was no denying Jason’s role in the historic events that followed, he hadn’t been fundamentally changed by his experiences. He’d never had to confront his inner self. Facing such bare, personal truth was the cornerstone of the TSS internship experience—to address parts of one’s character that were denied in all but the most trying of circumstances. No test had ever pushed Jason to those limits, if he was being honest with himself. He doubted any encounter with the Lynaedans could, either, but maybe it was a valid evaluation of if he could keep a level head in the face of direct opposition.

  “I’ll try to keep an open mind,” Jason finally replied to Curtis.

  A chime sounded, indicating an intraship communication. “Sirs, we just received updated telemetry from TSS Ops. There’s unexpected activity around Lynaeda. You’ll want to see this.”

  Jason was on his feet before the captain had finished. “We’re on our way.”

  “That doesn’t bode well for our negotiations,” Curtis said, following Jason toward the door.

  “No, it does not.”

  The two men quickly traversed the short corridor leading to the ship’s flight deck. The captain and pilot were seated at control stations in the front, facing a broad viewport with an augmented holographic overlay wrapping around the front third of the room. The information overlay presently displayed a planet schematic with surrounding space traffic. More than half of the ship notations were illuminated in red.

  “What’s the situation?” Curtis asked.

  Captain Ambrose swiveled around in her seat. “It looks like we may be dropping out into a trap.”

  “I take it those ships aren’t normally positioned around the navigation beacon?” Jason speculated, examining the schematic.

  “No, they are not. And it’s a far cry from the diplomatic envoy we anticipated,” the captain replied.

  This is turning into a test, after all, Jason thought to himself with an inward sigh. Most of the time, he was able to draw on his superior telekinetic abilities to get himself out of a bind. Diffusing the tensions in this matter, however, would require more finesse in order to come to terms with the Lynaedans—assuming an agreement was possible. It couldn’t be a coincidence that Curtis, a seasoned liaison, was along for the ride.

  “Were you expecting this kind of reception?” Jason asked the other Agent telepathically.

  “We’d considered the possibility, though it had seemed unlikely,” Curtis replied, the mental communication almost instantaneous. “Now you’re glad I’m here, aren’t you?”

  Jason concealed a smile. “Maybe.”

  “Still, I’m second seat on this. You take the lead.”

  “I’ll try not to start another war.”

  Curtis groaned in his mind. “Great, thanks for the clarification. Not that it should be needed.”

  “You never know.” Jason sensed the older Agent’s annoyance with his casual approach, but having the lead meant that he could do things his way. For now, that meant employing sarcasm to diffuse the tension. “How long until we reach Lynaeda?” he asked aloud.

  “Seventeen minutes,” the pilot replied.

  “We could drop out early to avoid the fleet,” Captain Ambrose offered. Based on her concerned expression, it was clear she was voting for that option.

  “I have every intention to attend that meeting, but this development is worthy of a call ahead. Drop out so we can have a chat with the ambassador,” Jason instructed. There was too much riding on the mission for him to call it off prematurely; the presence of the Lynaedan ships wasn’t cause enough. “Not that we could necessarily trust whatever excuse they offer,” he added privately to Curtis.

  “But whether or not they take our call will be quite telling,” Curtis replied.

  “Yes, sir,” Captain Ambrose said. “I’ll drop us out at the next beacon.”

  “Let us know if there’s any change in the conditions around the planet.”

  “Aye,” she acknowledged.

  The two Agents returned to the lounge room so they could speak privately with the Lynaedan representative who’d been serving as their point of contact. As soon as they entered the room, there was a moment where time appeared to elongate as the ship returned to normal space.

  “Just once, it’d be great if one of my missions went to plan.” Jason sighed.

  “That’s asking a lot.”

  “Is it?” Jason couldn’t help but let out an amused chuckle as he thought back on his prior missions. He was still too green to have a long list of ops on his record, but those he did have had had a tendency to go sideways. “I take it back. This was doomed from the start.”

  “Get ready for a crash course in politics—and I don’t mean the corporate maneuverings your family deals with on Tararia.”

  Politics. The reason I wanted to stay in the TSS in the first place—to avoid that very thing. The Sietinen family had recently diverged along two paths, with his grandfather assuming political leadership on Tararia and Jason’s twin sister electing to learn the family business. Jason’s father, however, had abdicated his political claim in favor of the TSS, and Jason was inclined to follow that path. Even so, it was wishful thinking for Jason to believe he’d been able to avoid Taran politicking entirely. He hadn’t anticipated he’d be all but on his own when the time came, though.

  “Before we call Ambassador Greggor, is there anything not in the mission brief that I should know about the Lynaedans or their feelings toward the TSS?” Jason asked. If the mission was going to shift from a simple technical evaluation to political dealings, it was time to get caught up on the relevant points. He could fake his way through most conversations, but times like this, his childhood on Earth was a major disadvantage—missing out on knowledge of cultural details that most took for granted.

  “To be clear, it’s not only the TSS they don’t see eye-to-eye with,” Curtis replied. “Lynaedans consider any un-modded people to be unevolved.”

  “Seems a little narrow-minded.”

  “They’d say the same thing about your mindset,” Curtis pointed out. “It’s these kind of ideological differences that are the most difficult to navigate.”

  “All right, fair enough.”

  “People are willing to put up with the Lynaedans’ attitude if they want or need anything done with cybernetics. Being the renowned experts has its perks—treat outsiders however you want, and if they don’t like it, tough luck.”

  “It won’t be easy to win over people like that.”

  Curtis shook his head. “No, but I’ve heard once there’s sufficient mutual trust, they’re willing to set aside their insular ways to collaborate.”

  “Question is, how do we establish that trust?”

  “That’s what we’re here to figure out.”

  “Well, we need them.” That aspect of the proposed Lynaedan partnership has been abundantly clear in Jason’s research. Aside from being the group with the highest likelihood of successfully adapting the Aesir’s bioelectronic tech, the Lynaedans had a monopoly on ateron.

  Ateron was the most efficient known substance for bioelectronic conductivity, making it critical to everything from cybernetic systems to telepathic interfaces to computers. Even with the Sietinen Dynasty’s extensive reach, the Lynaedans had claim to the richest mining veins that had yet been discovered. I
f plans to implement the recently rediscovered tech from the Aesir were ever going to move forward, demand for ateron was about to grow exponentially.

  “We’re sitting on a goldmine of tech the majority of the population can’t use because they don’t have innate telepathic abilities to interface,” Jason continued. “If we can come up with a scalable means to allow the average person to integrate, we’ll be able to unite the population in ways that have been impossible for centuries.”

  “In lieu of a genetic solution to enable abilities, a technological means to allow at least telepathy,” Curtis mused.

  “Yeah, but it’d be more than just telepathic communication. The Aesir’s nanotech is more advanced than anything widely available across the Taran worlds. Once someone masters control, the feats they could accomplish might be all but indistinguishable from our genetically inherited telekinetic abilities. Of course, that opens an ethical can of worms.”

  “Indeed. Power is dangerous in unknown hands, but restricting access denies personal liberties.”

  “I guess that’s why we need to find out what the Lynaedans can offer and if they’re willing to work with us.”

  Curtis nodded. “They already have a workable neural interface, but they could never guarantee what might become of the tech if it was put out on the open market.”

  “Which is why we may determine it’s better to keep the Aesir’s technology under wraps.”

  “It’s a delicate dance of transparency and shielding people from themselves.”

  “Stars, look no further than the mission brief,” Jason said. “There was nothing about the Lynaedans’ attitude toward outsiders in there, and certainly nothing about the Aesir’s tech. We want to know everything but don’t want to share anything about ourselves.”

  “And so it’s been for generations, across civilizations at all stages of development.”

  “You’d think we would have learned by now.” Jason let out a slow breath. “We’re going to be late for our meeting if we delay much longer. Let’s get the call out of the way.” He gestured to the viewscreen to bring up the communications interface.

  “What will you ask them?” Curtis questioned.

  “Opening with ‘What the eff?’ probably isn’t the best move, huh?”

  The other Agent cracked a smile. “There are ways to get the point across with more grace.”

  “I think I’ve got it.” Jason initiated the teleconference.

  The viewscreen went black, aside from a spinning animation of the TSS logo. After several seconds, the image of a dark-haired, middle-aged woman appeared. Her eyebrows were raised with surprise, though the eyes beneath were strangely expressionless. Upon closer inspection, Jason realized that the silver irises were a tell that her eyes were artificial—and she didn’t care to hide it.

  “She answered. That’s good,” Jason commented to Curtis.

  “It will come down to what she has to say.”

  Jason smiled in greeting. “Ambassador Greggor, hello. I don’t believe we’ve corresponded directly before. I’m Jason Sietinen.”

  “Ah, yes. The familial resemblance can’t be missed,” she replied. “I hadn’t expected to hear from you before your arrival.”

  “Well, in our final preparations, we noticed some unexpected activity around Lynaeda. May I ask why there are ships gathered around the jump point?”

  “It’s a natural place for ships to convene in preparation for a journey,” the ambassador replied.

  While technically a fair statement, Jason didn’t buy the excuse. Sub-light engines were quick and efficient, so it would take no more than a few minutes to traverse the distance between the expansive spacedocks around Lynaeda to the designated jump points for the navigation beacon servicing the planet and its satellites. The only reason for ships to gather so closely together would be to surround a foe and catch them off-guard.

  “Have we done something to indicate our intentions aren’t honest?” Jason asked.

  “Smooth,” Curtis commented in his mind.

  “Well, if they’re going to play it like that, there’s no sense pretending there isn’t an issue.”

  “Honesty often does win out in the end.”

  Ambassador Greggor appeared unfazed by the question. “It has come to our attention that the TSS has access to a repository of advanced technology, which you failed to disclose in our preliminary discussions.”

  “With all respect, this meeting was intended to be the start of our discussions,” Jason replied levelly.

  The ambassador cocked her head. “Did you intend to share this information?”

  Is it better to lie or tell the truth? Jason telepathically reached out to his colleague, but Curtis unexpectedly had closed off his mind. “Well, uh,” Jason stumbled, “information is tricky. It means different things to different people.”

  “Yes. On that much, we can agree.” Ambassador Greggor evaluated him. “Your ship is already in transit, and yet you call me now to discuss this matter. What do you hope to learn?”

  “Honestly? If we’re about to drop into an ambush.”

  “You already seem to know the nature and position of our ships in the area.”

  “But not what you intend to do with them.” As he spoke, Jason kept a close watch on the ambassador’s body language. The entire conversation was for show, simply to give him an opportunity to study her demeanor.

  It was unlikely she would have accepted the call if the Lynaedans intended to make an offensive move, which meant the fleet’s presence was an intimidation tactic. Ambassador Greggor’s movements supported that conclusion, with squared shoulders and a stern expression that seemed much too rigid for her soft features. She was trying too hard. Were they in the same room, Jason would have been able to glean deeper insights, but the superficial observations told him what he needed to know for now.

  “I don’t think we’re in danger,” he relayed to Curtis.

  The other Agent received the message, but he kept his mind closed to a response.

  “Why are you blocking me?” Jason pressed. “Is this entire thing a setup to test me, or something?”

  Curtis didn’t reply, but the ambassador reacted to Jason’s previous statement. “Our ships are gathered not as a show of force, but to display for you what we have.”

  “Laying all of your cards on the table, as it were,” Jason said.

  She inclined her head.

  “While I appreciate the openness, it does send the wrong message.”

  “Doesn’t it say more about you to interpret an innocuous action as aggression rather than saying anything about us?”

  The reversal caught Jason by surprise. Next to him, Curtis raised an eyebrow questioningly. “I suppose it does,” Jason replied after a slight pause. What in the stars am I walking into with these people?

  “Do you expect us to betray you?” the ambassador asked, her tone growing colder.

  “No.” Jason held up his hands. “I just wanted to make sure you hadn’t already made up your mind about us.”

  “We make no assumptions, yet you continue to expect the worst from us.”

  “I’m sorry if it’s come across that way, but it isn’t our intention. We’d like a closer working relationship with the Lynaedans.”

  The ambassador’s eyes narrowed. “Perhaps you’re not ready.”

  “Please, give us the opportunity to prove our good intentions,” Jason urged. “We’ll be there soon.”

  “That’s your choice.” The ambassador ended the commlink.

  Jason shook his head. “What just happened? She was all over the place.”

  “These interactions will define our relationship moving forward,” Curtis said at last.

  “What happened to you helping the Lynaedans take me seriously?”

  “I allowed you to take the lead. Doesn’t that deference send a message?”

  “I suppose.”

  Jason sent an order to the flight deck for them to resume the jump.

  A
s the journey neared its completion, Captain Ambrose made an announcement over the ship’s comm. “Dropping out of subspace in one minute.”

  “Time to see if they’ll be any warmer in person,” Jason said under his breath. He headed to the flight deck, followed by Curtis.

  As he stepped through the flight deck’s entry doorway, the scene out the front viewport transitioned from the blue-green light of subspace to a starscape. A multitude of ships snapped into focus as the spatial disruption dissipated.

  “Where to, sir?” the pilot asked.

  “They should have sent us rendezvous coordinates.” Jason’s confidence from only minutes earlier vanished. Perhaps the ambassador’s cryptic words had actually been a warning to stay away.

  “You need to tell them what you really think,” Curtis stated. He turned to look Jason in the eyes. “Are you ready?”

  Jason’s brow knitted. “What—”

  A sharp buzz swelled in Jason’s skull. He brought his hands to the side of his head in a vain attempt to minimize the pressure. As the high-pitched whine intensified, white light crept in from the corners of his vision until nothing of the transport ship remained.

  —

  “Should we go over it one more time?” Curtis asked.

  Jason startled in his seat, suddenly disoriented. “The Lynaedan fleet. Where…?”

  He faded out, realizing he was in the lounge room of the TSS transport ship. Out the viewport, the swirling ribbons of blue-green light danced through subspace.

  “You’ll need to focus in order for us to see this through,” Curtis stated.

  “Yeah, I know. I—” Jason shook his head. “Sorry, I was somewhere else for a minute there.”

  “We were just about to go over our strategy for the negotiations with the Lynaedans. What do you hope to get out of this exchange?” the older Agent prompted.