Danielle had thought of that. It was what she hoped herself. They’d been ordered to stay put, told the seriousness of the situation. If the virus was spreading, and killing, as fast as Robert had indicated …. “Robert seemed to think the kill rate was in our favor, that the virus was killing off its hosts so fast it was slowing the spread. If it didn’t go airborne ….”
Lindsey managed a tremulous smile. “That’s probably it. They shut everything down and quarantined people in their homes to stop the spread. The kill rate was only about sixty percent when he gave us the first report, right?”
Danielle shrugged. He’d actually said they thought the kill rate was around sixty percent. The last report had it at closer to eighty percent.
“Well … a lot more people sick than well. I imagine they have their hands full. We just need to keep trying until we reach somebody. Had you thought about trying another bandwidth?”
Guilt made Danielle’s cheeks redden. “I toyed with it a little,” she lied, avoiding Lindsey’s gaze. The fact was, she’d tried every channel when they’d lost contact with Houston and when she hadn’t been able to pick up any of the other stations, she’d begun frantically scanning the airwaves for anything at all. She’d picked up a few transmissions—all bad, all indicating a global pandemic and then she’d lost even those. All was quiet on planet Earth. There hadn’t been so much as a radio or TV station broadcasting anything but static, or prerecorded shows on a loop, for over a week.
It was almost as if someone had set off a viral bomb.
There hadn’t been any indications, though, that it was viral warfare.
That didn’t preclude the possibility, unfortunately. It just meant that things had gotten so bad so fast that there hadn’t been time to investigate. They hadn’t had time for anything but trying to fight it and burying the dead—not to contain it, not to find a treatment or a cure.
The abrupt surge of static from the microphone made Danielle and Lindsey both nearly jump out of their skin. Both women whipped their heads toward the microphone, holding their breath. “ISS Pegasus, this is Lymra Sabin Au-ture of the Galatic Federation flagship Mertosin.”
Danielle felt her jaw sag. She whipped her head toward Lindsey again. They stared at one another blankly in shock for an endless moment.
“Dr. Danielle Stevens, this is Lymra Sabin Au-ture ….”
Danielle and Lindsey both let out a scream of hysterical joy, launching themselves at each other and bouncing up and down.
“Do you read? Dr. Danielle Stevens of the ISS ….”
Danielle broke from Lindsey’s frantic embrace. “I have to talk to him. Run! Get the others!”
Her hand was shaking so badly when she flopped into her chair and grabbed the microphone that she nearly dropped it. “This Dr. Danielle Stevens of the ISS Pegasus speaking,” she said in a voice quavering with excitement.
“This is Lymra Sabin Au-tere of the Galactic Federation vessel Mertosin ….”
Danielle’s mind went abruptly blank. “Who?”
“Danielle!” Lindsey called from down the corridor. “Come here!”
“I’m trying to talk to this … person!” Danielle yelled back at her impatiently.
“Don’t!”
Danielle swiveled around in her chair, frowning. “What?”
When no one responded, Danielle debated with herself a moment and finally got up, moving to the doorway. She could hear a mumble of voices coming from the rec room area. After glancing at the com again, she finally stepped into the corridor.
“We have communications!” she called.
“Get in here!” Clancy bellowed.
Danielle’s lips tightened but after glancing at the com again, she jogged down the corridor to see what was happening, skidding to a halt when she reached the rec room and discovered that the entire crew was bunched around the viewing ports on either side, gaping at something outside. A wave of cold crested over. Uncertain she could handle more bad news, Danielle moved slowly toward the nearest group and glanced outside.
A silvery gray object filled the entire view port, blocking out any view of space that would ordinarily have been visible. Danielle stared at it uncomprehendingly. Of their own accord, her eyes moved, recording, tracing the smooth surface from top to bottom and end to end, noting view ports, lights—strange markings along the side of the vehicle—the space craft—that looked like some sort of writing, although it wasn’t like any written language she’d ever seen.
Feeling perfectly blank, she dragged her gaze from it after a moment, glanced at Lindsey, Clancy, Bud, Joyce, and Richard and finally turned to look across the rec room at the other group. There was another ship like the first hovering on that side of the space station.
Clancy finally turned away from the port, staring at Danielle, or rather through her for several moments before his gaze finally focused on her. “You’ve had communications?”
It took Danielle several tries to find her voice. “Yes,” she managed to say a little hoarsely. “I couldn’t … He has an unfamiliar accent. It sounded like he said something about Galactic Federation.”
Their conversation seemed to snap everyone out of their shock. They all started trying to talk at once.
“It’s them. It has to be them! Who else would it be?”
“Houston?”
“Give me a fucking break! We haven’t heard from Houston in weeks. She said an accent!”
“What kind of accent?”
“Will you all shut up!” Clancy roared abruptly, sweeping a glare around the room. “I’m trying to think, god damn it!”
“I left him on the com,” Danielle said uneasily. “What do you want me to do?”
Clancy’s lips tightened. Finally, he motioned her down the corridor and followed her. “Let’s try to find out who they are and what they’re doing here.”
Danielle swallowed a little convulsively, nodded jerkily, and preceded Clancy to the com room. When she’d collapsed weakly in her seat, she took a moment to try to collect herself. Striving to steady her madly pounding pulse, she closed her eyes and took deep even breaths until she felt a little more calm. “This is Dr. Stevens. I apologize for breaking communications. Is that … are you aboard one of the vessels currently alongside the ISS Pegasus?”
There was a lengthy delay. Finally, the same deep male voice that had spoken before answered her. “Yes. I must apologize, as well. There is a delay in the translator.”
Danielle slid a wide eyed look at Clancy. She saw immediately, though, that Clancy wasn’t going to be any help at all. He was staring into space as if his mind had simply shut down. Depressing the link again, Danielle spoke into the microphone. “What are your origins?”
“The Kirsian Galaxy,” Sabin responded after another lengthy pause.
“That’s bullshit!” Clancy snapped, uttering a bark of laughter that held no humor.
Danielle sent him another wide eyed look. “Have you lost your mind! For god’s sake, Clancy! What if they’d heard you?”
“I don’t give a flying fuck! Kirsian Galaxy? Where the fuck is that? He’s trying to say they’re … aliens?”
Danielle stared at him. “You think they aren’t? Just who, on Earth, do you think would have ships like that? Did you see the size of them?”
Clancy ran a shaking hand over his face, glanced around the room, and finally dropped heavily into the only other chair in the room.
After studying him for several moments, waiting to see if he meant to give her any input, Danielle returned her attention to the console. “What is the purpose …. What are your intentions, Lymra Sabin?”
“The people of the Galactic Federation send greetings,” Sabin said formally. “We have come to offer aid.”
A jolt went through Danielle. Part of it, she knew, was hopefulness. Part of it was shock that the aliens obviously knew they were in trouble. Fearful questions pinged around in her mind even while she struggled to gather her thoughts. “I’ll … uh … I’ll have to sp
eak with my superior and convey your message.”
The pause was longer that time. “Permission to board?”
Danielle stared at the console as if she could see through it to the being on the other end. “Clancy? A little help here. He wants to come on board.”
“We understand that the situation is dire. If it will help to work things out more quickly …?” Sabin continued after a slight pause, almost as if he knew the chaos he’d thrown them into.
And maybe he did? What must their puny space station look like to beings capable of building ships like those surrounding them?
Clancy frowned, obviously considering it. “Tell him permission granted.”
Danielle felt her jaw slide to half cock. “Clancy! We don’t know anything about these beings—nothing! Don’t you think we should discuss this among the crew …?”
Clancy glared at her. “I’m in charge. And just how the hell do you think we could stop them from coming aboard? We need to try to present a front of friendliness until we can figure out what’s going on!”
Danielle was almost as surprised that what he’d said made sense as she was that it hadn’t occurred to her.
She turned to the com again. “You have permission to board. You may dock with the starboard bay.”
“That will not be necessary. I will transport to the large central area of the station.”
Danielle turned to Clancy again. They stared at one another. “The rec room!” they both said at almost the same instant, leaping up and rushing from the com room.
Danielle saw when they reached the room that a blur of light had appeared in the center of the room. Drawn by her and Clancy’s entrance, the rest of the crew turned from the view ports, staring as the blur rapidly became more solid and finally vanished altogether, leaving a man standing where the light had been only moments before.
Frozen, no one moved. Danielle didn’t think she even breathed.
His suit looked like nothing she’d ever seen, almost more like some sort of armor than a space suit, and fit him almost like second skin. As she stared, he reached up and unfastened the helmet that completed his suit, slowly removing it. Her heart slammed into her rib cage. Her gaze riveted to the emerging face. Long, inky black hair fell around his shoulders. The throat exposed was the color and texture of her own skin, sending a jolt of surprise through her, but not nearly as hard a shockwave as the lean face that emerged.
Braced as she’d thought she was to see something completely and totally alien, maybe even horrible, what she did see completely disarmed her.
He’s human, she thought blankly.
Read an excerpt from the upcoming novel by Kaitlyn O’Connor, coming Fall of 2008 from NCP.
Cyberevolution V:
Illumination
By
Kaitlyn O’Connor
Chapter One
Seth prowled the spacious great room restlessly. Three nights ago, when they’d finally tracked the vixen to her lair, he’d been tense with both dread at what he was about to learn and anticipation of the same. Adrenaline had been pulsing through him at the potential for discovery, as well, when they were so close to learning what they’d come so far to discover. To their surprise it had taken skill, ingenuity, and good deal of care to breach Dr. LaMotte’s security.
None of them had anticipated that, even though he supposed they should’ve given the remote location.
Of course they could’ve breached it without any difficulty whatsoever if it had been merely a matter of getting in, if they hadn’t cared whether or not they left their signature behind. He wasn’t certain anyone could have, but they certainly wouldn’t have been deterred for more than a few minutes.
It was as well they—or at least he—had contained his impatience. Dr. LaMotte, to his vast disappointment, hadn’t been in residence at the time and if they’d simply burst in, as he’d been more than a little tempted to do, the chances were they would’ve spent months tracking the wily doctor and thrown away any possibility of finding out what they’d come to learn in those few moments of impatience. The residence was miles from the city, but it wouldn’t have taken the authorities long to arrive at the scene if they’d tripped the silent alarms.
He’d been both surprised and annoyed when they’d discovered Dr. LaMotte wasn’t at home. Before his impatience had gotten the better of him, though, it had occurred to him that it was the weekend. Dr. LaMotte was single. The chances were probably good that she’d decided to join friends in the city.
They’d contented themselves with searching the house for any useful information and, when they’d come up empty, settled to wait for her return with what patience they could muster.
He had, he thought irritably. He couldn’t tell that either Simon or Cole suffered from that particular problem.
He still wasn’t entirely certain what to make of the rogues.
He wasn’t sure that allowing them to join him was one of the wisest things he’d ever done, but then, at the time, he hadn’t exactly been thinking clearly—not beyond the possibility that they were proof of his suspicions, at rate—and that they clearly weren’t berserk.
It was nothing short of amazing that they’d managed to rub along together as well as they had, all things considered.
Hell, if not for the circumstances one or all three of them would be dead now.
Fortunately for him, since coming face to face with himself had been enough of a shock to completely shut down all of his Hunter instincts, it had had the same effect on both Simon and Cole.
Feeling his gut clench at the memory, Seth ceased to pace the room and moved to one of the windows to stare out at the darkness beyond, unconcerned by any possibility that he might be spotted since they’d disabled the motion activated lights within the residence to prevent giving away their occupancy to anyone who might happen to fly by … or to Dr. LaMotte when she finally decided to return.
Deep down, he knew there was only one possible explanation for the fact that Simon was identical to him in every way, and yet he was still wrestling with it. Despite the doubts that had already begun to circle his mind and torment him, he was having trouble coming to grips with the horrific truth hovering in the back of his mind that nothing he’d believed he knew about himself was real.
He had to suppose he hadn’t completely accepted the suspicions. He’d wondered if it was merely a reluctance to accept, or an inability to accept, his ‘past’ that had given rise to the suspicions to start with.
More accurately, it was the fact that the company managed to prevent every attempt he’d made to track down concrete proof of his past. He hadn’t even tumbled to that much, not at first. It had taken a while before the ‘coincidences’ had added up to the suspicion that it wasn’t a coincidence at all that he was balked at every turn. Generally, he was summoned to rush off on another mission, which as often as not turned out to be a wild goose chase, or to some meeting, or a training session. Or, if he asked for leave and stated his purpose, it was simply denied.
Twice, he’d actually managed to get to the spaceport before he’d run into a problem that prevented him from leaving Earth for Taurus V—the colony where he’d supposedly grown up and where his family had been interred after they’d been slaughtered by the cyborgs.
He hadn’t been able to access any records in any computer system—nothing about his family—nothing about him before he’d become a hunter.
When it had finally occurred to him that it wasn’t mere chance, that he was being prevented from returning to his home colony, from visiting the site where his family had been slaughtered, where he had been left for dead, he’d managed to elude them. It was then that he’d discovered that, although there had been a tragic accident when one of the reactors had blown up that had wiped out nearly half the colony, cyborgs had had nothing to do with it. The colony hadn’t been attacked at all. The equipment had been damaged in a meteor shower.
His family hadn’t existed—not his parents and not his woman, not hi
s infant son or his three year old daughter.
He’d found one family that seemed to match—the age and description of the woman and her two children—but the woman’s man had been interred with her.
How was it possible, though, that neither his woman nor his children had ever existed at all---not as his? How could he feel such a devastating sense of loss for something that had never happened anywhere but in his mind? Why torment him with such a terrible past that he’d felt at times that he would go mad?
How could his parents not have existed?
How could Simon exist—a cyborg, an identical twin?
Almost as if his thoughts had summoned him, Simon strolled into the great room at that moment, naked and still dripping water from his shower. Seth turned and surveyed him a little irritably.
Both Simon and Cole seemed fascinated with the doctor’s decadent shower, he thought wryly, wondering if it was because both cyborgs were so enthralled with the changes they sensed in themselves, engrossed in experiencing things they’d never known before—according to them.
They’d assured him that they were evolving, just as the rumors had said about the other rogues, that they had awareness, felt things they never had before.
He wasn’t sure he believed that either.
He didn’t know what the fuck to believe anymore.
“There is still hot water,” Simon said after studying Seth’s expression for several moments as if trying to interpret his thoughts.
Seth shook his head, moving from the window. “I don’t need a shower,” he said irritably.
“The hot water soothes tension.”
Seth tamped the urge to ask him what the hell he’d know about tension. He was a fucking machine. “Why the fuck not?” he muttered. “At least it’s something to do to pass the time.”
“Cole is not likely to return before dawn,” Simon pointed out coolly as Seth stalked past him. “… If he returns at all.”
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