Vendel Rising Omnibus

by L A Warren

  When she pulled the curtain closed, Carek called out, “I’m going to change into my suit. It’s just down the way. I’ll be right back. Don’t go anywhere.”

  Elise stripped out of her clothes, all her clothes, and held the white suit up. It had the feel of gauze but felt strong, resilient, and stretchy. It had a nice high padded neck to it. At least she didn’t have to worry about exposing the training collar. With a shrug, she donned the white suit. It clung to her skin without feeling tight. She wished there was a mirror present. A quick look down revealed more than she wanted to know. It was indeed skin-tight, something she would only have worn back on earth for a dare or after several shots of hard liquor and a few bottles of wine.

  The collar at her neck, her constant companion since the Blood Rite, gave her pause. She could not remove it. None of them could. The neck of the immersion suit came up to just below her chin and fit loosely enough. Without a mirror, she couldn’t tell if the collar was visible. She hoped Carek wouldn’t notice the slight bulge.

  His steps sounded outside. “Problems?” The lilt in his voice held a breath of humor and a little expectation.

  “You might have prepared me.” She pulled the curtain aside and stepped forward.

  He cast his glance down her slender form and back up. He did not hurry and his lips spread into a wide grin.

  “Enjoying the view?” She crossed her arms.

  After standing naked in front of the WOR-guards, any modesty she might have felt in the past had long since vanished. She allowed Carek his slow appraisal and made one of her own. The muscles of Carek’s arms and chest stood out beneath the fabric of the immersion suit, as did the dips and valleys of his cut abdomen and all the rest farther down.

  “I’m enjoying it now.” Carek finally brought his eyes up to her face. He smirked and his eyes twinkled. “And, I might say, so are you. The immersion suits leave little to the imagination, but are necessary if you plan on entering the soup.”

  She giggled. “I hope I made your day.”

  “In some ways,” he replied cryptically.

  She shrugged off his remark and asked, “So, what’s this soup you keep talking about and how does it relate to the am-net?”

  He took three steps toward her and reached up to her temples. Elise breathed in his fresh scent and lifted her chin. How she wished he would plant a kiss on her lips. Instead, he attached two silver discs to each temple.

  “There. The immersion suit has its obvious purpose. The temple implants just make the experience more complete. Once we get to the tanks, I’ll hook up the connectors. Ready for a swim?”

  Elise hesitated. “So far this is nothing like I expected. Are you going to prepare me or not?”

  Carek stood inches away. He looked down at her and she watched as his gaze passed over her lips. For a moment, it felt like he was going to kiss her, but he stiffened and his eyes narrowed. His expression faded to a blank mask as he stepped away.

  “I have always found my guests find any explanations I give fall far short. I stopped preparing people decades ago.”

  “How many tours do you give?”

  “You’ll be my first tour for fun.”

  She arched a brow in surprise.

  “Most are guided tours. People with business in the am-net. Special programs that they can’t access through the gel-pads interfaces. Things for which only full immersion serves their needs.”

  “Well, I’m honored you want to share this with me.”

  “Yeah, well,” he said and then his tone grew serious. “You are a remarkable woman, as I have said before. Brilliant, daring, courageous, and deadly determined to get what you desire. I find all of those things admirable.” He tugged on his ponytail and continued, “I love my work and I love my people. I want to show you the Vendel in an entirely different way. I want you to see what I see. I hope you’ll understand why it’s worth saving. Why we must fight. All of us need to fight, each in our special way. We’ve lost two worlds to the S’Lorek. I don’t want to lose another.”

  “You’re very doom and gloom all of a sudden. I’d really like to see what you see, but I don’t see what you, or I, can do against the S’Lorek.”

  “Hmm.” He stretched out a hand. “I’ve learned to never underestimate.” He led her to a wide railing and took her to the edge. With a flourish, he said, “This is the immersion tank.”

  Elise gasped. Below her was one of the largest tanks she’d ever seen. It reminded her of the water parks at home, except it wasn’t a tank. It was easily the size of the Confinement Deck, and it glowed purple.

  “You’re taking me in there?” White humanoid shapes flitted in the depths, darting from place to place. Several others hovered at depth. “How deep is it?” Her heart raced realizing he was indeed intending on taking her for a swim in the purple liquid.

  Carek wrapped an arm around her waist. “The deepest part is twenty meters. We won’t go that deep. See why I didn’t explain?”

  “I wouldn’t have believed you. So, what do we do?”

  “Since this is your first time, instead of jumping in, I’ll take you down the ramp so you get used to it slowly.” He guided her down a set of stairs to a ramp. “Two things. First your hood.” He pulled out two hoods and put one on. She watched as he tucked the ponytail into the back of his suit. He helped her with the white hood and got her hair tucked neatly inside. He then walked over to a cabinet and pulled out a white cylinder. He handed it to her and she took it with hesitation. It had a mouth-piece on it.

  “Put it in your mouth to breathe. You can breathe the soup, but it can be an uncomfortable feeling unless you’re used to it.”

  “What do you mean?” It had not escaped her notice that he’d only pulled one cylinder off the rack.

  “The first few times it feels like drowning. You have to force yourself to breathe in the fluid.” He laughed. “Don’t worry, you’ll be perfectly fine with that.”

  “This…” She held up the tube, “doesn’t seem to hold much air.”

  “Trust me. Just keep it in your mouth and breathe normally. Oh, and don’t breathe in through your nose.”

  “What about a mask?”

  “No need. Just open your eyes, you’ll see well enough. When we get to my node, I’ll hook you in with the temple pads and you’ll be busy seeing other things.” He jumped onto a platform and reached down, gesturing for her to grab hold.

  She grasped his warm hands and he lifted her without effort, leaving her to wonder again at the universal Vendel male physique.

  He jerked his head toward a sloping ramp. She took a step toward it.

  If other people can do this, so can I.

  They walked down the ramp until the purple liquid came to her chest.

  Carek stopped their descent. “Doing ok?”

  She nodded.

  “Good. We’re going to continue walking down this ramp until we’re swimming. This isn’t like water. It has neutral buoyancy, so you’re not going to float. That may seem weird, but keep a hold of my hand and I’ll tow you along.”

  “Sure…”

  “What I want you to do right now is dip down until your head is under the water and try a couple breaths. Let’s make sure you’re comfortable before getting in over our heads.”

  She did as instructed, surprised with how easy it was to breathe with the small canister.

  Carek nudged her elbow and lifted her to the surface. “Good, how did that feel?” He watched her closely.

  “Not bad. Pretty comfortable actually.”

  “Now try it again, but open your eyes and try to relax.”

  She hadn’t realized she’d closed them. They did it again. Elise took a couple breaths and then cautiously opened her eyes. Carek’s face filled her view. A purple haze covered everything, but otherwise, she was surprised how clear the water… the soup was. She looked over his shoulder and made out the shape of another person way off in the distance.

  “How are you doing?”

 
She flinched. His lips hadn’t moved. Elise stood and broke the surface of the soup.

  Carek’s head surfaced a moment later. He had traded his grin for concern. “What’s wrong?”

  “How did you say that underwater?”

  “Not underwater, El, but in the soup. It’s the immersion suits. I’ve linked ours together. All you have to do is think about what you want to say and the immersion suit will translate it for you. After a bit, you’ll forget you’re not actually speaking.”

  She cocked her head and narrowed her eyes. “Now that would have been useful information.”

  “Sorry, I guess I don’t think about it much. For most people who come here it’s obvious. Ready?”

  “Yes,” she said.

  “Great,” he grabbed her hand. “This is just like swimming. You can kick along beside me, or I can guide you.”

  “If you guide me, I get to hold your hand, right?”

  His expression filled with regret. “I’m a fool, but I do enjoy holding your hand. Come on, little chickadee, worlds await.”

  Carek squeezed her hand and led her down the ramp and into the soup, then he kicked off and headed into the purple sea.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Gambit, Day 239

  After a few minutes of brisk swimming, Carek dove down, towing Elise with him. They stopped at a white sphere floating in the middle of the purple expanse. Several long threads hung from the device. He attached two to his temples and gestured for her to do the same.

  “What do you think so far?” Carek crossed his arms and hovered in front of her in a lotus pose.

  “What is this stuff? Is this the am-net? All this fluid?” How does this form a computer?

  “Yes and no. This is one hub of the am-net, specifically Gambit’s hub. Floating inside are biologics that act as nodes or nubs.” He scratched his head. “It might do to think of it like your brain. The biologics are the nerve cells.”

  “Okay, but don’t they have to connect through something. Is that the purple soup?”

  “In a way.”

  “Then didn’t we just destroy millions of connections by swimming through them?”

  “Not really. The soup is their nourishment, but the connections are formed through sub-space. We stirred up billions of biologics, but all their connections are still intact in subspace.”

  “So, is it alive?”

  Gambit was one hub, Carek had said. One? How many hubs formed the am-net? The computing power had to be astronomical.

  “No, it’s biotechnology. It’s not alive.” He unfolded his legs and kicked to her. “Here, hold my hands.”

  “Do we need to touch for you to show me whatever it is you brought me here for?”

  He laughed. “No, I just want to hold your hands. Do you mind?”

  “Not at all,” she said with warmth. “Not at all.”

  He gave a sad smile she didn’t understand. His emotional reactions had been off all day.

  “For this part, you need to close your eyes. I’m going to take you on a tour. You’ll hear me, just relax and follow along, and we’ll talk at the end.”

  “Ok,” she said with some degree of hesitation, but she closed her eyes, trusting Carek’s guidance.

  Her sisters poked their heads out of the darkness, interested in what Carek wanted to show her. She hushed them, but welcomed their company. Malice came to sit by her side, Whimper and Shriek were content to stay where they were, and the other lurked, as always, in the shadows.

  A slowly rotating planet filled her mind’s eye. Twin to Earth, it had blue oceans covering much of its surface and white clouds dotting its atmosphere. She counted eight large island continents, reminiscent of Australia in size. Ice capped the northern and southern poles. Three moons orbited the planet. One was smooth and round, somewhat larger than the Moon. The other two were much smaller and lacked the uniform smoothness of a sphere.

  Carek brought her down through the atmosphere to a large city full of beautiful spires and sweeping ramps. People hurried to and fro along moving walkways and disappeared into towers soaring miles high. He swept her up and around the city until they flew above the land. They came to the edge of a coastline and he plunged her beneath the waves.

  Beautiful reefs dotted the coasts and he gave her a moment to appreciate the wonder of the sea life. They went deeper until he brought her into a submerged city. Children played on the backs of porpoise-like creatures in a game of chase with little bubbles encasing their heads.

  He took her inside the underwater domes and showed her the city parks. A group of two- and three-year-old children played on a lawn and giggled with delight. A couple pointed to the kids at play. The woman whispered into the man’s ear. He beamed back and nodded.

  Carek sped up time and Elise followed the couple as they checked into a clinic. The couple donated blood samples, then left. They returned the next week to donate sperm and an egg. Time flipped forward and an embryo grew inside a clear crystal globe. It matured into a little, perfect human. The man and woman returned several months later, accompanied by their friends on the day the pod was opened. The little baby screamed its distress at this rude awakening, while its father held it in his hands.

  Elise clapped with joy at the birth of this precious child.

  Carek took her out of the dome and they soared to the clouds and into space, leaving the beautiful world behind. He headed past six different planets, reminiscent of her solar system. They passed an asteroid belt, crossed the paths of five gas planets, and headed to the stars.

  Ten enormous ships, each easily dwarfing the Gambit, traveled in the depths of space. They had just exited WOR-space and she sat on the command bridge as the expectant captain brought his colony ships to their new home. This stellar system lacked any habitable worlds, but was rich in all the materials necessary for life. They brought everything they needed to build their new home and maintain their fleet of c-ships. The bridge crew toasted their safe arrival.

  Carek brought her light years away to a new planet. This planet was a mirror opposite of the first. It was covered in deserts and the empty basins of long dried up oceans. Only a few landlocked seas peppered its surface. Few clouds dotted the sky and a brown haze of dust covered the globe. Two suns and no moons decorated the heavens of this world.

  He brought her down and showed her cities carved out of rock, which formed brilliant sculptures. As before, he picked a family and followed them for a brief period of time.

  On this planet, a young boy stood with his mother, along with hundreds of other boys with him. The hot wind blew down on an open bowled amphitheater and provided little relief from the heat of twin suns. The dust cast a golden glow to the setting of the first sun. A mother caressed the top of the boy’s head and then, at a prearranged signal, knelt at his feet.

  She presented her son a carved dagger, which he took with solemn care. Along with the other boys, he gave the first of several oaths as a Vendel male. This First Oath he swore to Emperor, family, and to the Master of his accepting Conclave. The people in the open bowl burst into applause as thousands of happy onlookers cheered. The boy shed a single tear and walked away from his mother to his new master. Elise felt the joy and pride of the boy’s mother and wept tears of sorrow and delight at this first important step in the young boy’s life.

  What beautiful people.

  Carek spoke. “How are you doing?”

  “It’s beautiful.”

  “Would you like to see them again?”

  “Can we?”

  “Let me show you those worlds again.”

  Carek transported her back to the first world. They hung above the blue marble planet, which reminded her so strongly of Earth. She counted the island continents as they rotated into view.

  “Do you want to go closer again?”

  “Yes.”

  They soared through the atmosphere and across the rolling hills. Only the green pastures and dense forests were dry and parched.

  “Is this
the dry season?” she asked with concern.

  “No,” he said, flatly.

  They came upon the city of spires. Where beautiful ramps had soared before, broken devastation littered the city. The spires had cracked and fallen, as if a giant had stomped on the town. An unnatural stillness hung in the air.

  She gasped.

  Carek remained silent.

  He took her beneath the waves. The coastal reefs were quiet. No fish swam in the waters and the corals were coated in detritus, empty of life. They raced to the undersea domes, which were cracked and flooded.

  “What happened?”

  Carek did not answer.

  He brought her up and out of the ocean and sped her toward the fleet of colony ships. Warped and twisted metal greeted them. Where ten ships had flown with grace, a field of debris littered space.

  He took her to the dessert planet and the proud little boy. The sand had been scoured clean. Carved out of hard rock, the bones of the city withstood the devastation, but no signs of life were to be seen. It was dead, deserted, dried up. The few seas evaporated.

  Elise sobbed. “Carek, what happened? What did this?”

  “The first planet was Saphirah. The couple you saw were my parents, you saw my birth. The c-ship Bravo fleet was home to Dove. The twelve-year-old boy on Dunlaap was Larkin giving his First Oath to Emperor, family, and the Pilot Conclave. This is the devastation left by the S’Lorek. They sterilize planets. This is what the empire faces, Elise. This is what Emperor Gregor Ulysses vlor’Malita must fight. This is an enemy for which we have no defense.”

  He paused and took in a deep breath, then blew it out slow. “It is why you must return to him. It’s why you must stop this nonsense with the jump-jet finals. You cannot run from him, from us. We need you to fight for us.”

  She ripped her hands out of his grip and clutched at her heart. She gasped and the breathing tube slipped out of her mouth. Purple fluid filled her mouth, poured down her throat, and sought to drown her. She panicked and kicked for the surface, but strong hands held her in place and powerful legs encircled her waist. She clamped her throat shut against the water.