by A. K. DuBoff
Sven nodded. “Very true. That’s why I have my writing.”
“Creative outlets are a great way to stay sane.”
“Well, writing can drive you a bit mad, sometimes,” he countered. “I mean, we’re literally writing down the conversations we have with voices in our heads.”
Kira frowned. “That does sound a little off, when you put it that way.”
“As long as we don’t mutter too loudly to ourselves in public places, no one seems to mind.”
“There is that.” Kira glanced at the clock on the wall and saw that it was almost time for her team’s workout. She grabbed her empty bowl and rose from the table. “Well, Sven, it’s been great, but I need to get back to it.”
He nodded and stood up across the table. “I should probably check in on everything, too.” He paused. “And, if you ever do need access to some, uh, ‘malfunctioning’ helium tanks, let me know.”
Kira grinned. “I’ll do that.”
— — —
Work in Leon’s lab was starting to feel routine. While Tess and Jack were busy with their own tasks, Leon finished his review of the latest automated test results that had been kicked over to him for review.
To his relief, the scans didn’t contain anything that resembled the TRs they’d observed in others. “I’m glad there’s nothing to worry about in these, but I wonder why the system is flagging so many?” he said to no one in particular.
Tess looked up from her desk across the lab. “Do you see any common factor between them?”
“Nothing that’s jumping out at me,” he replied. He’d been over the likely candidate criteria—age, aptitudes, genetic markers—but he was able to find an exception to each of the potential causes for the anomaly.
“Maybe it is just a genuine, random error, then,” Tess said with a shrug.
“Perhaps.” Leon didn’t like that non-explanation, but he had nothing else to go on at the present.
With his task list of semi-critical items clear, Leon decided to run an updated sequence on Kira’s nanites. The model would make a good baseline for how she was responding to the new pairing with Jasmine. He hoped her next check-in would show reduced stress levels, compared to where they’d been the past week. Maybe Jack would even be able to glean something about the nanites’ transformation triggers, like Tess had suggested.
He took a blood sample from the suspension case they used for preservation and entered it into their commandeered sequencer for analysis. It was still unclear if MTech would demand the equipment be returned to them, but Leon suspected that no one who cared was still working at the company. A lot of people connected with MTech and the Mysaran government would be getting a fresh start, and with that staff turnover came the opportunity for convenient appropriations.
Their loss is the Guard’s gain. After what he’d gone through in the lab—being misled, getting shot at, and having his girlfriend turned into a science experiment—he considered a few pieces of equipment to be a modest severance package.
Leon was just finishing up his configurations of the sequencer when an alert popped up on his desktop. It was a call from Mysar.
Either MTech is demanding their equipment back, or an old friend is reaching out, he figured.
While he didn’t have too many friends left on Mysar, he’d spent enough time on the planet in grad school to establish lasting relationships. Any number of people may have heard by now that he’d been connected to the MTech lab on Valta, and a ‘Hey, glad you didn’t die!’ message wouldn’t be out of place.
He activated the sequencer and then directed the call to a private room across the hall, which was equipped for that very purpose. Large enough to hold two people, the room consisted of two chairs, a small table, and a viewscreen mounted to the wall.
Leon initiated the call as soon as he was inside. To his surprise, he saw his sister’s face staring back at him. “Ellen? What are you doing on Mysar again?”
“Good to see you, too, Leon,” she replied with a curl to her lips. “I’m here for business.”
“Stars, not again…”
“Official business this time,” she emphasized.
“And what does that entail?”
She smiled. “Helping put the pieces back together.”
According to her recent track record, she’s a whole lot better at making things fall apart. Leon decided it was best to keep that overly antagonistic comment to himself. “I hope it goes smoothly for you,” he offered instead.
“It’s off to a pretty good start.”
Leon thought for a moment. “Say, since you’re there, would you check in on the testing they’re doing for those telepathic receptors? Some people are getting flagged here, and we’re not sure why. I’m clearing everyone on a case-by-case basis, but it would be much easier for someone to slip through the cracks in a civilian population.”
“That’s not really why I’m here, but I can mention it,” Ellen said.
“Thanks.” He looked her over. “So, was this just meant as a social call?”
“Not exclusively, but we didn’t really get a chance to catch up before,” Ellen replied. “How’s Kira doing?”
A dull ache formed in Leon’s chest hearing her name. This wasn’t the time to be apart—and he especially didn’t like her going to Gaelon. Playing into the enemy’s hand sounded like a terrible idea. Maybe it was necessary, but they hadn’t even taken the time to determine if there were alternatives.
“Uh, Leon?” his sister prompted.
“Sorry, it’s been a long few days. She’s okay. Adjusting.”
Ellen nodded. “I just about shite myself when she transformed.”
“Yeah, I know that feeling.” His stomach flipped, remembering what it had been like to see Kira lose herself the first time.
“I can’t believe someone was evil enough to do that to her,” Ellen murmured.
Leon knew that his sister was under a similar NDA to the one he’d signed when joining the Guard, so she was likely looking for someone to talk to who was also in the inner circle. After what she’d witnessed with Kira’s transformation and the Mysaran chancellor, the Tararian Guard had deemed it necessary to debrief her, including disclosure about elements of MTech’s work. She had already figured out the alien possession related to Hale, so drawing a connection between the subversion and the bizarre experimentation wasn’t a stretch.
“The capacity for evil never ceases to astound me,” Leon agreed.
Ellen slumped. “I’ve met some of the people who were subverted here on Mysar. It’s awful. They remember what they did, but it’s like this half-recalled nightmare that keeps nagging at the back of their minds.”
“I can’t imagine being a prisoner within myself like that.”
“What Kira did for Cynthia Hale…” Ellen swallowed. “It was a kindness, no matter what anyone may say otherwise.”
“I heard about that.” Leon looked down. “Kira hasn’t wanted to talk about what happened on Mysar.”
“I wouldn’t have believed any of it if I hadn’t seen it for myself. She transformed into that ‘Robus state’, and it’s like she skipped across the room. I’ve never seen anything move so fast. And those teeth and claws… it was terrifying and awing at the same time.”
“I’ve seen them. Definitely don’t want to be on the receiving end.”
“Better stay on her good side.” Ellen cracked a smile.
“I knew better than to cross Kira even before that,” Leon replied. Even as a teenager, Kira’s ‘I am n
ot amused’ glare had been legendarily dagger-like. He’d been the recipient exactly once, and from that point on, he’d chosen his words very carefully.
“How are things going with you two, by the way?” Ellen asked. “You being an item kind of came out of nowhere.”
“Not really. We were together for a long time.”
“Yeah, a decade ago. Had you stayed in touch?”
“No, hadn’t seen her or communicated a word since we broke up.”
She tilted her head and raised an eyebrow in the judging-older-sister pose he’d always detested. “So why now?”
“Because we reconnected, and there was still something there. I don’t think I need to explain myself.”
“It’s just surprising, that’s all.”
It was Leon’s turn to give her a nonplussed look. “And why is that?”
“You always seemed so committed to your work.”
Yeah, to fill a void. Leon hadn’t realized until he’d reconnected with Kira that he’d initially thrown himself into his work as a way to deal with their sudden breakup. One day they had been talking about moving to Mysar together for school, and the next, Kira said she was joining the Guard. He’d never learned why she’d changed her mind, though he’d been trying to find the right time to ask her. School and work had been his escape from that unresolved relationship, and by the time he was emotionally healed, focusing on his career was a way of life.
“My work is still important to me,” Leon replied to his sister. “But there’s room for other things, too.”
“You uprooted your entire existence to follow her to the Guard.”
“Ellen, you do realize that I’m now working with an organization that has galactic reach, right? Kira or not, this was a great job opportunity.”
“But what about Valta?”
Leon crossed his arms. “Is this coming from Mom and Dad?”
“Oh, don’t get me started on them.” She sighed. “I’ve only talked to them once since everything went down with MTech, and that entire conversation was about how we’d both abandoned them.”
“Seriously?”
She shrugged. “I learned years ago not to let it get to me. You have to follow your own path.”
“Well, I didn’t have a lot of prospects left on Valta, with the MTech lab getting condemned and all.”
“You don’t think they’ll reopen?”
“Ellen, I honestly have no clue what kind of future MTech will have. Their leadership was being controlled by telepathic aliens. I don’t know if there is anybody willing to pick up the torch and rebuild the company into something worthy of contributing to the Taran Empire. That’s your area, not mine.”
She evaluated him over the screen. “You said that like Mysar was part of the Empire.”
“If you’re there, I assume that’s the plan for the world. With Elusia rejoined, I can only imagine Mysar and Valta aren’t far behind.”
“That’s my hope, yes,” Ellen admitted. “It’ll take some convincing.”
“Do you think you’ll be successful?”
“It’s not a matter of that. I think it’s inevitable. This universe is too vast, and the challenges are too great, for us to consider facing it alone.”
Leon’s eyes widened. “Wow, you’ve come around since your Sovereign days.”
“I’ve seen another, better way. People are allowed to change.”
“It’s encouraged.”
“And I’m a better person for it.” She looked down and took a slow breath. “I didn’t mean to judge your relationship with Kira. I just don’t want you to get hurt.”
“What makes you think I would?”
She hesitated. “As committed as you were to your work, Kira is in the Guard. That’s a lifestyle, not just a job.”
“I know, and I accept that.”
“But do you really? It doesn’t bother you when she goes off on a mission to stars-know-where and is getting shot at or being infected with experimental nanites?”
Leon’s eyes narrowed. “What kind of question is that? Of course it bothers me. But I accept it as a reality, and I’d never ask her to change who she is for me.”
Ellen smiled and chuckled to herself.
“What?” Leon demanded, a bite in his voice.
“You passed the test.”
“Huh?”
Ellen met his gaze, soft and compassionate. “You love and accept her for who she is. Too many people fall in love with someone and expect them to be molded into the partner they want to have. But you understand what you’re getting into. That’s real. That’s what lasts.”
Leon relaxed. “Oh, that.”
“I know, sage analysis from the person who hasn’t ever held down a relationship for more than six months. But still, I know something that’ll last when I see it. I just haven’t been lucky enough to find that for myself.”
“I’m in this one for the long haul, so you better say something now if you have concerns,” Leon cautioned.
“I hope the Guard has dental insurance, because those fangs—”
“Ellen!”
She laughed. “Sorry, I couldn’t resist.” His sister composed herself. “But seriously, I’m really happy you two got back together. I always liked her for you.”
“Thanks, me too.”
Ellen straightened. “Oh! So I said this was partially a social call, but I did have one official bit of news to pass along.”
“What’s that?” Leon asked.
“I have a feeling something still isn’t right on Mysar.”
Leon wiped his hands down his face. “Ellen, not again. I won’t be your intermediary for getting help from the Guard.”
She bristled. “I’m not requesting help. I’m just letting you know that I’m not yet convinced the problem was completely taken care of when Hale and her possessor died.”
“Well—” Leon bit his tongue.
“What were you about to say?”
“Um.” Leon wished he were better at backpedaling. “Just because Hale died, that doesn’t mean the alien presence died, too. It’s possible that only its control point was severed.”
“That thing could still be alive?”
“Possibly. I can’t be certain,” he hedged, “but we’ll have more information once Kira and her team get back from their current mission.”
“Shite! How many more of those things are out there?”
“I have no idea. We think they’re based in Gaelon,” he revealed.
Ellen slumped back in her chair, dropping her image to the bottom half of the screen. “They were our neighbors this whole time?”
“Keep that need-to-know,” he cautioned. “I probably shouldn’t have said anything to you, but since you’re investigating what went on there—what might still be going on—it seems like good information to have in the back of your mind.”
She nodded absently. “Yes, thanks. I’ll learn what I can.”
“Be careful, Ellen. We don’t know the extent of what these aliens can do.”
“Don’t worry about me. I can’t possibly get myself into as much trouble as I did last time.”
Leon sucked in a breath. “Please don’t take that as a personal challenge.”
She laughed. “No. I’m over trying to fix everything myself. My recent glimpse behind the scenes at how the Guard operates was a good reminder of how it’s best to let an experienced team of pros handle the heavy lifting.”
“All right, I’ll hold you to it.”
“Won’t be a problem.”
Leon nodded. “Okay. Well, let us know if you come across anything concrete. I suspect we’ll learn a lot more on this end over the next day or two.”
“Good luck,” Ellen wished him back. “If there’s something still amiss, we’ll find out what it is and fix it.”
CHAPTER 6
The Raven dropped out of subspace at the navigation beacon that serviced the Elvar Trinary. Rather than its previous route into that system, the ship instead veered to
ward the adjacent Gaelon System—the place Kira had always been taught to avoid.
In retrospect, she should have questioned the travel ban. Rarely were places completely off-limits. Of course, some systems had more environmental hazards than were worth messing with, but the fact that no one had ever given a definitive reason as to why Gaelon was such a bad place should have raised suspicions.
As the Raven glided into Gaelon space in stealth mode, a feeling of profound disquiet overtook Kira. She wandered into the galley and stood by the back viewport, which afforded a clear survey of the starscape beyond. It appeared peaceful… but anything could be lurking in the black.
What kind of countermeasures do they have in place? If no one has documented the details of this system before, there has to be something keeping people from reporting back.