“I’m saying, I believe Savrick is being used to cleanse this galaxy of Terran life, but I don’t know why. That’s why Kalian is so important. If something is trying to eliminate all Terran life, even in its devolved state,” he nodded at her, “it’s vital he not only survives, but he’s as strong as he can be. It’s possible the entire war was manipulated from the beginning.”
“The only being to ever manipulate the Terran was you. You’re just hoping there’s something worse so it can’t all be blamed on you. But don’t worry;” she said with no lack of sarcasm. “It’s a very human trait you’re emulating - so good for you.” She turned from the delusional robot and focused on Kalian.
He lay perfectly still as if his whole body had separated from his mind. ALF became a cloud of blue stars in the corner of her eye.
Everything the AI had said was crap. She was surprised it could feel guilt but knew it was grasping at straws. Savrick is the enemy and he is coming, not some bogeyman made up by a machine that’s been on its own for two hundred thousand years.
Light flooded in when the mask withdrew from his face. Kalian shut his eyes tight but the light remained as if the source was inside his retinas. He felt hands reaching for him as he stumbled out of the chair. The sensation was nauseating; he knew the hands were reaching for him before they touched him and without seeing them. He thought he was going to be sick as fingers gripped his armoured chest and back trying to steady him. He knew it was Li’ara but he didn’t know how.
Kalian fell to his knees as his mind pulsed out into the room, building a mental picture of the surrounding complex. Even through the armour he could feel every imperfection on the skin of her hands and knew she had a cut below her thumb. She felt different from everything else; it was like his brain recognised something familiar in her. They were the same and not the same all at once. He could feel her worry turn into panic as his auditory senses switched back on. Every word was accompanied by a high pitched frequency that made his head feel like it was going to split in half.
“What’s happening to him?” It was Li’ara.
“His mind is like a computer.” ALF’s voice had a strange electronic filter on it. “His brain has the capacity but it isn’t used to the speed. He just needs some buffering time. His mind is creating the extra space. As we speak, his brain will be reconfiguring into a more efficient layout.”
Kalian tried to make sense of that through the pain. He had images and voices in his head that felt familiar but he couldn’t place them. He knew he had been learning but it felt like years ago in another life. He lost all concept of time. In a moment of clarity, he knew the machine had been taking him through what a normal Terran would experience in just under a hundred years. Except all that learning had been dumped into his brain in what had most likely been only a day. Or was it a year? The pain increased and he could no longer tell the difference between a day and a year. And just then the blinding light became total darkness as his thoughts lost their cohesion.
It was hours before he regained consciousness. His first instinct was not to open his eyes, not the dark brown ones anyway. Instead, he let his mind pour out like a stream filling the area with his invisible awareness. He had to stop himself from laughing out loud, the experience was truly profound. He perceived the physics of reality like a god. He knew how everything worked right down to the orbiting electrons of every atom. It was as if a hologram had overlaid the world and explained anything he looked at. Even his sight made him feel omnipresent as he saw everything around him in one view without having to turn his head.
What was more was the feeling of control over this reality. If he wanted he could manipulate the atoms and molecules to form new structures at will. He resisted the urge to cause the oxygen molecules to spontaneously combust just for fun. The feeling was overwhelming as he experienced everything at once. He focused on Li’ara for a second, or a day, or a year, it didn’t matter. He knew he was sitting back in the recliner chair and she was sitting next to him. She had fallen asleep across his stomach with her arms folded.
He reached out to her glowing golden form. He could see every atom that grounded her to reality. But her mind was something else altogether. It looked or felt, he couldn’t tell the difference, to be a simple structure and a complex one at the same time. He knew then he was seeing the potential of her human brain stuck in the devolved state his had once been.
As well as seeing how expansive this new reality was he could also sense the almost infinite possibilities within his own mind. If he retracted back he felt he could live inside his own head for centuries, exploring new worlds his imagination created.
Li’ara stirred in her sleep and focused his attention again; it was so hard not to get lost in his exploration of everything. He could feel the frequencies that flowed out from her mind like waves of an ocean. Out of curiosity, he changed his perception from that of sight to something more akin to touch. Using a metaphysical finger he dipped it into the waves and watched it light up in ripples like the surface of a calm pond.
The reaction scared him and he withdrew from the world with a speed that made his physical body wake up. Li’ara shot up the moment he intruded on her mind’s personal space. He opened his eyes and sat up to see a very confused Li’ara. Her confusion only lasted until she realised Kalian was awake though.
“Are you ok?” Just like she had on the Icarus station, Li’ara ran a critical eye over him.
Kalian knew she wouldn’t find anything wrong, he had never felt so good. He hopped off the chair with a new found agility and control of his muscles. The armour felt like a second skin as he connected with the intelligent nanocelium.
“I feel... great!” He held his hand out, flexing it experimentally.
As he did the lights dimmed with every clench of his fist. Only this time he was doing it on purpose. Suddenly, Kalian felt the particles in the middle of the room change. Molecules of atmosphere were being pushed away as trillions of microscopic stars replaced the empty space. He saw the apparent chaos of the pattern coalesce and he knew what was coming.
“It’s a start.” ALF was standing in the centre of the room.
He knew the hologram would appear only a moment before it did, leaving him to wonder at his new perception and awareness of time. ALF walked around him with a critical eye similar to Li’ara. Kalian then became aware of the surge in neutrinos that passed through his body; it made his skin feel itchy. ALF was scanning him on every level. Kalian’s first reaction was to recoil from the intrusion. To his surprise, he felt the nanocelium react to his recoil and change their molecular structure. The scans then fell short, unable to penetrate the exotic metal. ALF gave him a knowing look as a silent conversation passed between them.
“That’s lazy. You shouldn’t need to use the armour.” ALF continued to pace while tapping his temple as an indicator of what Kalian should really be using.
Li’ara looked more confused, unaware of what had taken place between the two. Kalian ignored her look for a moment to think about what ALF said. Just thinking about repelling the scan brought memories to the surface. Were they memories? He knew with certainty that if he created a telekinetic cocoon he could keep the scanning particles at bay. Furthermore, he knew he could actually use those particles to his advantage. By vibrating the molecules on the surface of the cocoon he could absorb the neutrinos and convert them to stored energy.
He connected to the hub of nanocelium in the belt buckle and commanded them to stop blocking the scan. His skin began to itch again. He reached out for the atmosphere that surrounded him and condensed them into an impenetrable fort. His skin stopped itching confirming his success. Now he forced the molecules within this static field to vibrate. He saw the air around him ripple, as if he was standing in a desert heat. He felt a build of intense energy in his spine and he had to fight to contain it. His body wanted to expel it immediately but he didn’t know how. His concentration wavered as his left hand began to open on its own. He could feel a
growing ball in his hand that wasn’t there. Now his entire left arm felt hot inside the armour.
He couldn’t believe his eyes as he witnessed the molecules around his hand begin to coalesce in a swirling vortex of light. The phenomenon was localised to his hand but he noticed Li’ara take a step back. They had seen this happen before when he repelled Savrick in the council chamber. He focused on releasing the energy in small amounts, so he could see it build in his palm. Again he felt the memory float to the surface and he remembered learning about plasma. He knew it was one of the four fundamental states of matter. Right now he was ionising the air molecules by turning his own body into a living dynamo. He could feel the electromagnetic fields ebbing from his body and being pulled into his hand as the ball grew. It occurred to him that plasma comprises the major component of a star, but he didn’t know how he knew that.
His sudden lack of concentration altered the levels of electromagnetism. The miniature sun in his hand grew beyond his control and his body instinctively rejected it, launching the energy across the room. At the same time, his electromagnetic field expanded into the room with explosive consequences. The moment the plasma burned into the wall, the Novaarians’ and Li’ara’s weapons became overcharged. The Intrinium was ignited beyond the guns normal capacity. Kalian reacted as if he had experienced this scenario a hundred times. He flicked his right hand out towards the circular portal behind his friends. Mirroring his action, the weapons flew from their owners and into the corridor beyond the translucent door. ALF quickly commanded the nanocelium to solidify the door back into place.
The lights flickered and the ground shook briefly as the weapons detonated on the other side. Everyone turned back to Kalian with shock on their face. Li’ara’s expression turned to concern as she raised his left arm. His hand was burnt again from the heat of the plasma. He looked up to see the smoking hole in the wall where the ball of energy had impacted. He felt his emotions struggle between the thrill and horror of what he had just done. It might have been the most incredible thing he had ever done, but he had also nearly killed everyone.
The pain in his hand was becoming hard to ignore. ALF came closer and inspected it himself with little concern on his artificial face.
“You don’t need to remember.” He touched his own temple again. “You already know what to do - you just need to believe it. Think and react, Kalian.” ALF stepped away and ushered Li’ara with him.
Kalian knew he was right to do so, who knew what he might do next? Like the AI had said he thought about what he needed to do to fix his hand. On the Valoran his body had done it without thought, but that was before he learned control.
He connected to his body and felt the movement of every cell and electrical signal. It felt like the most complex factory in creation as it teemed with life. He focused on his hand trying to ignore the intricacy of everything else. The first thing he did was stop the signals being sent from his nerve endings. The pain shut off instantly. He was impressed with his new knowledge of biology, though he wasn’t sure if it was the subconducer or just his connection to his body. He wanted to bypass the clotting stage and regenerate new tissue as quickly as possible. He stimulated the stem cells in the dermis and the basal membrane of the epidermis in his skin. He used contraction to bring the connective tissue back together and seal up the margins of the wound. After he was satisfied he reconnected the nerve endings and was happy to feel no pain.
He showed the new palm to Li’ara, who gripped it in her own for a more tactile inspection. Her look of amazement quickly turned sour as she looked back up at his face. He gave her a questioning look before realising she was focusing on his nose. He reached up and felt the blood trickling towards his mouth. He looked to ALF for guidance before the room slipped into infinity. He backed up and felt the wall behind him. No, not the wall, it was the floor. He had less than a second to realise he was lying on the floor before reality left him.
“Holy shit...” Roland couldn’t believe his eyes.
He knew the ship was big but the narrow corridors had helped to disguise that fact. But the structure he was standing in now was epic in proportions. They were occupying a gantry half a mile up from the masses of humans and Laronians below, all of which had been dumped into a similar situation to the one on the Laronian warship. He could see the Laronians had clumped together in one corner while the other seven thousand humans milled around.
It was the sight above that gave him pause. The massive Laronian warship easily fitted into the hangar lying suspended a mile above. As he watched, the alien ship was pulled apart like a dissected frog in a biology lesson. Every piece was surgically removed and passed along giant black arms into the walls of the bigger ship. The Laronian vessel was being ripped apart and used for raw materials. Roland could just hear the people below over the sounds of the operation above and wondered if Captain Fey was in there somewhere.
“So what now?” Roland looked to Selek and Ilyseal.
They both examined their surroundings and compared scans from their bracers. Ilyseal looked about to say something before a square piece of flooring hovered down in front of them. It looked like a health and safety nightmare with no rails or handholds. The barrier melted away as the slab met the gantry. The Novaarians looked at one another in what he assumed was puzzlement. He didn’t care; he had already assumed they were being led. If it was a trap, he’d deal with it; he just needed a way down. He stepped onto the platform and the Novaarians followed after a moment’s hesitation.
It felt solid under his boots despite the obvious lack of support. The slab detached and dropped down at a steady speed to the level of the prisoners below. He looked over the side and watched the startled humans scatter to make space. The people they were faced with looked dirty and malnourished. It appeared their new captors had not been as accommodating as the scaly ones. They were all whispering while staring at the Novaarians, clearly a new species to them. He had to admit it was refreshing to see some human faces.
A group of Laronians pushed through, having recognised their fellow Conclave members. They didn’t look half as bad as the humans though.
“You have come to rescue us?” the lead male asked.
Thanks to the implant Roland understood his alien words. Roland moved past the warriors to face the scaly bastards. To his satisfaction, they looked bewildered at his place among the Novaarians.
“Don’t get ahead of yourself, scales; I’ve not decided whether I want to forgive you yet.” He deliberately placed his hands on both of his holstered weapons.
The Laronians took a step back while looking to the Novaarians for an explanation. Before one could be had the human ranks opened up to reveal a dishevelled looking Captain Fey and a few of the lead scientists. She blinked slowly in disbelief at the site. Her eyes quickly darted between him and the Novaarians, obviously not sure what to make of the new situation.
“It’s a long story - like really long.” Roland did a quick scan of the surroundings trying to plan the next move. He had no idea what they were going to do next. How do you rescue seven thousand people with no ship?
“How is this possible?” the captain’s words came from a dry and croaky throat.
“These guys are friends.” Roland gestured to Ilyseal. “Those guys are their friends.” He nodded at the Laronians like it was really obvious.
“This is a problem.” Selek stepped forward while looking at the dismantled ship above. “We were hoping to use that ship to escape.”
“Well that’s not really an option anymore,” Roland replied sarcastically.
Captain Fey looked even more confused at their conversation. “How can you understand them?” she asked.
Roland didn’t have time to get into this. “Long story, remember.” He turned his back on her to face Ilyseal. “What else do your scans show? Are there any escape pods or hangars?”
“This is not a conventional ship; its designs are alien, even to us,” she explained.
In that same
moment, Roland noticed the wall behind them begin to ripple. He moved through the group to get a better look as it took shape. He was now looking at a circular door built into the wall, though how it did that he had no idea. Following his attention, the others readied their staffs and the masses began to trip over one another to get back.
Roland removed his weapons as the door became translucent and two armoured bipeds passed through. They were both his height but their armour covered them from head to toe, preventing a complete assessment. They both marched in clearly confident in their ability to intimidate any who thought to oppose them. Roland thought he saw them hesitate at the sight of the Novaarians and himself with his weapons drawn. Had they not known they were aboard? How could they not be aware if they sent those drones after them?
Time seemed to slow down in the standoff. Those seconds were vital in keeping the upper hand. He didn’t look to his companions for advice; he already knew what to do. Using his coat to conceal a hand, he replaced one of the LX’s and primed an MID on the back of his belt.
Unfortunately, they reacted first.
A Novaarian warrior, number two he thought, got the brunt of some energy weapon that burst from their hands. The ball of plasma knocked the warrior into the crowd in at least three burnt and bloody pieces. The other armoured bastard waved his hand to the side shoving Selek and Ilyseal into the Laronians with what must have been telekinesis. The force of it knocked half a dozen Laronians over with them and broke Selek’s neck with an audible snap.
The two remaining warriors let loose with their staffs releasing bolts of blue energy into the attackers. Each bolt did nothing but piss them off. Roland used the chaos to his advantage by throwing the MID underhand, aiming for the door behind the attackers. It flew through the portal as the first armoured goon ran at the Novaarians with a speed that could kill.
The Terran Cycle Boxset Page 40