The Terran Cycle Boxset

by Philip C. Quaintrell

  The next hour was spent with sorrowful faces and an explanation of recent events on a planet called Trantax IV. Judging from Uthor’s silence, the High Charge must have been aware of the facts. All the cards were on the table now. Esabelle’s attention was brought back to Kalian’s appearance when told of his incredible feat aboard the Nova. His ability to hold back the power of a miniature sun was more proof of the energy she felt emanating from the Medder tank.

  The news of Professor Jones was more disturbing, however. His apparent transformation, along with the presence of a new cube and their own findings on the capital, was unsettling. How many cubes are there?

  “So that old shit survived Naveen?” Roland had never met ALF, but he had been present with Esabelle for the recanting. The news was surprising to her as well. Esabelle had hoped to never actually meet the artificial intelligence. Besides being instrumental in the obliteration of his civilisation, she had mixed feelings towards ALF and choices he had made. She wasn’t entirely sure how she would react to meeting him.

  “He’s inside the suit.” Li’ara pointed to the Medder tank before looking at Uthor. “We can’t get it off him. It won’t respond to anything and they can’t cut through it. They think it’ll slow down the healing process...”

  “I can get it off,” Esabelle announced.

  “Not before you explain your actions on the capital,” Uthor interrupted. “You are facing severe consequences for that.”

  “No...” Esabelle stood defiant.

  “No?” Uthor straightened his back, increasing his size, to intimidate her.

  “I want Kalian to hear it.”

  Uthor looked to the Medder tank with disbelief on his face. “That might take some time,” he replied sarcastically.

  So primitive.

  “Leave me with him. When I am finished he will be ready to hear me, along with the rest of you. But I will not speak until he is out of that tank.”

  Li’ara was visibly torn by Esabelle’s proposal. It was clear that Esabelle knew a way to heal Kalian, but she also knew what that entailed. Kalian had healed Li’ara on Naveen and imprinted a piece of himself inside her, giving them their unique bond. If Esabelle did the same now, there was a chance that the same bond would form between them.

  “You will not be left alone with him.” Uthor looked down on her.

  Esabelle could see his true concerns. He didn’t want the AI left unattended in the hands of a Terran. If he was going to stand in the way she would be left with no choice. The Conclave feared the power and wrath of a Gomar, trapped and restricted inside the exo-suits and Harnesses. Now they would see what a single Terran could do when backed into a corner.

  “Uthor...” Telarrek stepped forward just as the smallest of sparks ignited inside Esabelle’s palm. “Let her help him. Then we can all have our answers.”

  The two aliens held each other’s gaze for a moment longer and Esabelle allowed the spark to die. The Raalak looked away, considering his friend’s councel.

  “There will be guards outside at all times.” With that he stormed out of the med bay, taking the others with him.

  Li’ara lingered for a moment, her hand not quite ready to leave the pane of glass between her and Kalian. “Bring him back to me.” There was a subtle threat in her words. Esabelle got the message - he’s mine.

  “Anyone fancy a drink?” Roland’s voice faded away as the doors sealed behind Li’ara.

  Esabelle looked down on Kalian’s broken form as she used various magnetic waves to interact with the ship’s nanocelium. At her mental command, the ceiling formed a pair of robotic arms that reached down and turned the tank so it was vertical, putting Kalian at eye level. A small appendage extended from one of the arms and pressed against the glass with a pointed nozzle. A high pitched frequency burst from the nozzle and instantly cracked the thick glass. Blue liquid gushed out in every direction before creating waves across the floor. Every drop had been telekinetically kept at bay, leaving her clothes dry.

  The other robotic arm tapped a series of commands across the panel on the tank, which released the tubes and face-mask. They dropped to the floor along with the micro-spiders and probes. Kalian fell out of the tank and into her arms, flopping over her shoulder. At that moment Esabelle was thankful for her natural increase in muscle mass as a Terran. She carefully laid him on the floor, taking care not to injure his fragile looking head. Most of his lips had been melted away, exposing his charred teeth. She could feel the telekinetic barrier around his brain and organs. He had most likely erected them in reflex more than forethought, but she was thankful none the less.

  Esabelle placed the pad of her thumb over the buckle, under his navel. With a short burst of electromagnetic energy, the nanocelium retracted back into the container, leaving him naked on the floor. His body was burnt red to varying degrees, depending on how well the armour held up to the heat and radiation. She looked at the Terran buckle sitting on his burnt flesh. She was hesitant to pick it up, knowing that ALF was inside it. Using telekinesis she lifted the object and placed it next to the nearest monitor.

  “It’s time to wake up, Kalian.” Dropping into his mind was like being pulled into a hole too small for her body. She felt compressed and stretched out while their minds merged. Everything was chaos. His mind was more fractured than she had expected. Li’ara’s memories collided with Savrick’s in a dizzying swirl of reality all around her. She shouted his name across the changing landscape, in hopes of drawing his consciousness out. Separating her mind, she went to work on jump-starting his immune system and rapid healing, while at the same time focusing another part of her mind to route him out.

  She had to be careful not to leave too much of herself behind as she tore through the memories looking for him. When Kalian had saved Li’ara it had been all emotion and urgency. Esabelle had to be more surgical and delete the imprints of herself that stuck to him. There was a reason this form of communication was restricted to loved ones who wished for a deeper connection.

  Esabelle suddenly found herself in the last place she wanted to be. She stood before Savrick and Lilander in the dark bowels of the Gommarian. She already recognised the memory from her own observations, millennia ago. What was left of the Tempest crew now knelt before Savrick in chains. They had each been crudely fitted with a Harness that gripped agonisingly to their spinal column. They were helpless against Savrick’s brutal interrogation techniques. She had hated watching it at the time and hated watching it now.

  The ship had been captured shortly after its arrival at Albadar, in the core system. Savrick had killed the crew slowly, one at a time, in an effort to gain information regarding their mysterious expedition. Esabelle remembered every detail about the memory, including the prisoners. She looked to the corner of the room where she had watched through the ship’s internal cameras. Right now, Savrick had the one named Ryson by the throat, lifted off his feet in a death grip. His pleas for life were nothing but unintelligible gurgles, as Savrick’s fingers began to crush his trachea. Savrick’s armoured form turned in the shadow, but Esabelle was not greeted by the face of her father, but rather that of Kalian. He was literally reliving the memory as Savrick himself.

  “You will tell me what I want to know or I will crawl inside your head and make you kill him with your bare hands.” His threat was aimed at Adanae, the leader of the Tempest mission. Her face was flushed with anger and fear, streaming with tears. She had been forced to listen for days as her friends were slowly tortured to death around her.

  “You coward!” Nalana spat the words at Kalian. She knelt next to Adanae with her hands bound behind her back. The dead body of Grif lay at her knees on the cold floor, his skin burnt and neck broken.

  Without taking his eyes off Adanae, Kalian unleashed a ball of organic plasma into her face at point blank range. With a gut-churning squelch, the front half of her head was blown away, spraying Adanae in hot blood and melted skin.

  “I will make you kill him...” Kalian repeate
d. Esabelle knew what came next and decided Kalian didn’t need to relive that horror. She stepped fully into the memory and grabbed Kalian by the shoulder. He turned on her, startled by the disturbance and break in the memory as if a part of him knew this wasn’t how it played out.

  “It’s time to come back, Kalian.” In the blink of an eye, the horrific scene evaporated until the new surroundings were that of a gloomy cave. Kalian blinked hard, disorientated by the quick change in events. She knew his consciousness would be piecing itself back together while filtering out Savrick and Li’ara.

  “What’s... what’s happening?” he stumbled around the cave, assessing the environment. “Where are we?”

  “Hadrok.”

  “Savrick’s memories?” he was looking more himself now.

  “Mine, actually. This was the last place I felt safe, before...” She kept her emotions in check, not wanting to leave any imprint. “Your body has been through a lot. I’m helping to accelerate the healing but you’ll need to do more yourself. Just be sure to leave your pain receptors until last.”

  “What’s going on, out there I mean. Is Li’ara safe?”

  “She’s fine. There’s a lot to catch you up on and we don’t have time. I’m going to need you at full power for what comes next.” Kalian looked confused without all the facts. “Don’t worry; it’ll all make sense soon. We’re going to share everything we’ve experienced, all our senses at once. In an instant, you’ll know everything I’ve seen and done as if you lived it. It’s going to be intense but you need to focus, take it all in and process the information as fast as possible.”

  Kalian slowly nodded his head in agreement.

  “Take my hand...”

  Kalian wrapped a towel around his waist, feeling slightly awkward about his nakedness. He paddled his feet on the wet floor, noticing three of his toes were still skeletal with veins and muscle growing over the top. He formed a fist, feeling his strength returning with a tingle running through his spine. He had been sure he would never survive the Starrillium, that he would never feel the cool air on his skin again. It was like a dream, remembering the white-out as his power left him and his skin burned.

  Esabelle was watching him closely from behind, he could feel her. There was the faintest of echoes left in his mind of her intrusion. He had cautiously viewed her memories of the discovery on the capital and didn’t like the picture he was putting together in his mind. As well as having a new enemy in the form of a powerful corporation, the Highclave were now aware of ALF, Esabelle’s existence and the captured Gomar. He pushed out his awareness to cover every inch of the Gommarian and felt the alien biology that made up the Conclave soldiers. They were everywhere. The ship was now theirs and humanity were once again at the mercy of another race.

  Feeling the proximity of some very familiar electromagnetic frequencies, Kalian moved to retrieve his Terran buckle. The device was on the brink of folding back together after a series of web-like strands retracted from the surrounding monitor. What was ALF up to?

  He placed the device below his navel at the same moment Li’ara and the others he had felt came through the door. The nanocelium covered his body, but not before everyone caught a glimpse of the towel falling to the floor. Li’ara looked from him to Esabelle with a hint of suspicion on her face.

  “Well, that’s disgusting.” Roland wasn’t talking about seeing Kalian naked. He could feel his eye socket rebuilding the healthy flesh and retina before his dark brown eye took shape again. This wasn’t the moment Kalian had hoped for. He wanted Li’ara to rush in so he could take her in his arms and tell her how he never thought they’d get the chance. He could tell she was overjoyed at his health, but there was a cautious edge to her that kept them apart. Esabelle was evidently a source of friction between them.

  Telarrek ignored Roland and clasped forearms with Kalian, using his upper arm to grip his shoulder, a broad Novaarian smile on his face.

  “Greetings of peace, Kalian. It is good to see you so well! I feared we had lost you for sure.”

  “I thought the same about you. It seems you don’t go down easy, old man.”

  “I have you to thank for that. You saved all of our lives on the Nova. I did not know you were capable of such a feat.”

  “Neither did I...” Kalian noticed Esabelle was still watching him closely. Seeing her reminded him that time was of the essence. He looked at Li’ara and decided their long overdue conversation would have to wait. For now, he simply walked over and gave her a small hug. It was more awkward than he had planned. He could feel the frequencies jumping out of her mind like golden strands trying to make contact with his own. She wanted to speak to him as much he wanted to speak to her.

  Kalian quickly went around the room, acknowledging everyone, and thanking Ilyseal for taking care of Telarrek. Ch’len was a little confused as to how Kalian knew him without any introduction. He saved Roland for last, not really sure what to do with the trouble-maker. At one time he had put their potential Conclave membership in a sensitive position.

  “I knew she’d get you back here; I just didn’t think it’d be in one piece.” Kalian thought for sure that Esabelle would have had to drag him back.

  “What can I say, I got bored. This had better be as exciting as Captain Serious over there thinks it is.” He flicked his head in Esabelle’s direction. Same old Roland North. He could never really tell what the bounty hunter was thinking. His motivations changed like the wind, depending on his current mood.

  “With that in mind,” Captain Fey was standing in the doorway with High Charge Uthor, “perhaps we should continue our conversation on the observation deck?” Fey looked haggard and exhausted. Kalian could only imagine what Garrett had put them through in his absence. Her uniform was torn and dirty, with blood stains across the shoulders and legs.

  “Actually, I would prefer to have this conversation in the basement.” ALF was standing in the middle of the room, his image projected from Kalian’s exo-suit. There was a moment of stunned silence in the room. This was the first time for the majority of those present to actually see and hear the ancient artificial intelligence.

  Ch’len simply looked confused. “Who the hell is this guy?”

  Not long after, the group found themselves in the small antechamber of the basement. Eight Conclave guards stood to attention at the sight of their High Charge and moved aside. Kalian couldn’t believe the twisted and broken state of the heavy door. Garrett was even stronger than he remembered. Standing next to Li’ara, he took the opportunity to grab her hand and get her attention. With a look, he asked her if she was okay, but really he wanted to know if they were ok.

  She yanked his arm down, pulling his ear to her lips. “If you ever pull a stunt like that again, I’ll kill you myself,” she whispered.

  Her darker mood made more sense now; she was angry about his choice to die for her. He didn’t want to point out that he had done the very same thing on Naveen when he forced her into the lift, away from Savrick. He now knew he could survive the raw energy of a Starrillium up close, but he knew for sure that he couldn’t win a fight against Li’ara.

  “Sorry...” He didn’t really mean it and she knew it. Li’ara squeezed his hand reassuringly before letting go.

  The cube was in front of them.

  Several light orbs floated around the room to illuminate the dismantled cube. It looked to have opened up from the inside as it now lay spread out in different compartments like an old Chinese puzzle-box. All eyes were on ALF again as he appeared next to Kalian in his usual long robes and grey hair. He clapped his hands together before rubbing them like an excited child as he bent down to inspect the cube.

  “Ok...” The AI turned to see everyone. “All roads lead here, people. It’s time to bring and share. I’m ALF by the way, artificial life form.” His crystal-blue eyes rested on Esabelle. “Had I a heart, it would ache for what your father put you through. Having said that, I don’t trust you. Kalian vouches for you, however, so that
will have to suffice, for now.” Without waiting for a reply he moved on to Uthor. “No hard feelings about the Helion. I’m sure in your position you understand that a little evil is sometimes necessary to ensure the greater good and all.” A look of revelation fell across the Raalakian’s stony features. “And yes is the answer to your question; you should fear me, I’m really powerful and stuff.” Kalian tried to hide his smile from the shocked Raalak - ALF’s sense of humour was a unique one. Kalian had disagreed with sacrificing the crew of the Helion, but couldn’t argue with the results. The alternative would have been Savrick killing him and going on to wipe out the Conclave.

  “I don’t see what’s so big and scary about this. It looks more damaged than the last time we saw it.” Roland kicked the edge of the cube.

  “Ah, the bounty hunter...” ALF regarded him with a thankful smile. “In the spirit of sharing, I will go first. Shortly after the events on Naveen, I used the excavation team as a door through which I gained access to the Conclave. Your firewalls are so easily cracked, by the way. I hopped on a laser-com and found my way on to every planet with an AI hub. I spent the next few months researching everything.” Kalian understood that when he said everything, he meant everything. “I started to find discrepancies in the historical archives when it came to the creation of the AI the Shay take so much credit for. They went from barely understanding the required components to having a fully functioning, yet malleable, artificial intelligence. Suddenly a small and unknown company became a galaxy-spanning corporation with controlling rights to their machine, and a contribution worthy of joining the Highclave.”

  “Protocorps...” Uthor’s powerful arms were clasped behind his back.

  “Indeed. I decided to take a closer look at Protocorps. Aside from their obvious ties to multiple crime syndicates, which have been forever overlooked, they are given an unusual amount of anonymity with their maintenance of the AI and those who are allowed to work on it. What was more surprising was the level of security surrounding Protocorps Headquarters. If I wished I could have seen what every Highclave councillor ordered for dinner, but I could not penetrate Protocorps’ main tower. They control so many other companies and influence an army of officials on every planet that their operations are almost impossible to follow. I believe if you could, you would see that the mercenaries that attacked us on Trantax IV were employed by them. Specifically, Gor-van Tanar, whose connection to the underworld runs much deeper than the rest. He is part of a select group that sits at the top of this empire, and have done since its inception. So I decided that one of these fellows must have the answers to their ancestors’ apparent creation.” ALF turned to Roland and Ch’len. “It was I who employed your particular set of skills, Mr. North.”