Darkest Reach

by Eric Warren

Cas took a step back. “Well, I mean.” He stared her in the eye. “Frankly, yes. You are volatile. Tell me I’m wrong.”

  She cracked a smirk. “You’re not.”

  Cas took a breath. He hadn’t realized how fast his heart was beating. “I take it you heard all of that?”

  “Yes.”

  “Are you upset?”

  She seemed to consider him. “No. You told the truth. I am having a hard time. The longer I’m on this ship and away from my own people the harder it becomes.”

  “Do you mean physically? Like when you were separated from your ship?”

  “No, not in that way. It doesn’t hurt my body, but it does injure my soul. I told you my people are very social by nature. We depend on each other as we grow and maintain those relationships throughout our lives. It isn’t often we’re asked to be separated from them. At least on our ships we can access the space beneath. It allows us to be together even when we are millions of light-years apart.”

  They made their way back to the weapons lab. “I still don’t understand how that works,” he admitted. “Do the ships connect you to everyone? Or is it like a shared space? It’s hard for me to wrap my mind around.”

  “I wouldn’t expect you to understand. Perhaps in time you will. Either way I don’t care. I’m more interested in Commander Diazal.”

  Cas turned to her. “Why?”

  “She has so much beneath her own surface. She’s in pain, and is one of the more intriguing humans I’ve met. I also like her.”

  “You should tell her; she’d be happy to know.” Cas’s stomach hardened.

  “No. That is not our way. If she is open to it, she will realize I respect her. If not, it is her loss.”

  Cas furrowed his brow. The Sil were so odd. They didn’t tell each other how they felt? Everyone was expected to know? It was a good thing humans weren’t like that.

  “What happens on a Sil ship when someone disobeys an order? Are they demoted?” Cas asked.

  “In a way. Each Sil is bred for one purpose. For example, I was born to be a consul. I cannot be anything else no matter how much I try. If I were to disobey a direct order, I would be dismissed back to Thislea.”

  “Thislea?” Cas asked. He hadn’t heard the word before.

  “Our homeworld. It orbits the star you call Taurus Epsilon.”

  No one had ever seen Taurus Epsilon before, it was too deep within Sil territory. So far, the Coalition hadn’t even known the system had planets. He’d have to make sure to update his star maps. “So, dismissed, huh? Just like that? No second chances?”

  “Not for serious infractions. There is no excuse for reprehensible behavior. If I committed a serious infraction, another Consul would be ready to take my place.”

  “When you say you’re born to be a consul, what does that mean?”

  They reached the hypervator and got inside. “It means from the time I was born to the time I die I have one purpose: Consul. I am not a navigator, an engineer or anything else. I am only a consul. Unlike you it is not a rank I earn; it is one I am born into. We study and train all our lives for our one purpose, and work to excel at that purpose. No one in my society looks to supplant someone else above them. It is what maintains our balance and way of life.”

  “But you don’t have anything to strive for. Nothing to aspire to,” Cas said, unable to fathom just doing one thing for the rest of his life.

  “We strive to be the best versions of ourselves,” Zenfor said and suddenly Cas was sitting back in Professor Ecks’ classroom, listening to a lecture on morality. The professor had said something very similar: being in the Coalition was a privilege and it was each citizen’s duty to work toward becoming the best person possible. Only that would help the collective whole.

  “I guess I can understand that,” Cas said.

  “It works for our purposes. Your system of replacing each other seems…inefficient.”

  “Sometimes it’s necessary. But we also feel like our accomplishments deserve rewards. If we perform well, we are given new opportunities.”

  As they exited the hypervator Zenfor’s brow formed into a v. “But doesn’t that negate your commitment to your current job? If you’re always striving for a different one?”

  “Sometimes. But it has also produced some of the best officers I’ve ever worked with.”

  “It seems it has also produced some of the worst,” she replied matter-of-factly. As they reached the lab he found he couldn’t disagree, and said no more on the subject.

  17

  After four more hours in the weapons lab with little to no progress, Zenfor notified Cas she was returning to her quarters to rest and she’d be ready to begin again in six hours. He agreed but instead of heading back to his own room as he should Cas couldn’t help but find himself headed for the ship’s bar.

  The last time he’d been here was when he found Negotiator Laska sitting alone in the dark, drinking Scorb. The ship had been on lockdown and the bar hadn’t even been open but she’d found a way to break in and have a few. She had been a woman after Cas’s own heart, and he found himself strangely missing her on this mission. He half expected Coalition Central to send her along to attempt to negotiate with Andromeda but Tempest’s mission was strictly reconnaissance only. No unnecessary contact. It wasn’t as if one ship could have very much impact against an entire army anyway. Cas only hoped the engines held out.

  He was surprised to find the bar open, despite the fact the ship was dealing with a mild emergency. But he supposed since an attack wasn’t imminent not everyone was required to be at their duty stations. Still, there weren’t many patrons this evening. A couple sat in the far corner, nursing their drinks while exchanging conversation in low whispers. The male was human but the female was Dorsai, a medium-sized gray-skinned lifeform. Dorsai were characterized by their huge, insect-like eyes which almost glowed green and small antennae where a human’s ears sat. She was rail thin, like all Dorsai, her long arms reaching almost twice the distance as her companion’s. If Cas remembered correctly her name was crewman Ulag’tcha.

  Cas wasted no time heading to the front to order. “Give me a Scorb.” He pressed his thumb to the bar granting access.

  The bartender was a man in his mid to late forties, with long black hair pulled back into a ponytail and a thin beard and moustache. He regarded Cas a moment before turning and grabbing one of the bottles off the middle shelf. The ship’s manifest had his name listed as Martial, though Cas wasn’t sure if that was his first or last name. He poured Cas a half glass then set the bottle beside the glass. “Thanks,” Cas said, lifting the glass to toast him before knocking it back. “One more.”

  Martial only stared at him.

  Nonplussed, Cas took the bottle and poured a little more than half a glass, then retreated to one of the small tables in the back. From here he had a great view of the nebula and he studied it while sipping on the Scorb. Should he have gone back to his room to get some rest? Probably. But he needed something to take the edge off his confrontation with Evie. If getting a reprimand on your record didn’t warrant a drink at the end of the day he didn’t know what did. As he stared at the light brown liquid in the glass he couldn’t help but wonder if the Sil had alcohol, not that he could imagine them inebriated. How would that go? Someone could say the wrong thing and Zenfor very well could rip their head off. Then again, that was a possibility when she wasn’t drunk.

  His attention was broken by someone else sitting down at his table. Cas turned to tell them to go away and let him drink in peace until he saw it was the one person who never would have stepped in a bar if Cas hadn’t been here already.

  “You know what’s fun? Liver replacements. I’ve been brushing up in anticipation of your appointment,” Box said, his yellow eyes blinking.

  “How did you even know I was in here?” Cas asked.

  Box pointed to Martial who remained stone-faced, though his gaze was still trained on Cas.

  “Guess I can add one more per
son on my list of people not to trust,” Cas said, taking another sip.

  “I dunno, boss. That list is pretty long already. There’s Rutledge, obviously. And Page. And Maddox. And that smuggler Juula. Oh, and remember that weird little animal she had that bit you on the—”

  “Is there something you need?” Cas asked.

  “Just to watch you methodically kill yourself. Also if you collapse I can resuscitate you. Or carry you out. Whichever Martial lets me do.”

  “Did you finish everything in the Bay?” Cas asked.

  “Oh, you mean the indentured servitude that was a favor for you? I told the pilots all of your most embarrassing stories, and they lapped them up. I’m like their new best friend. We’re all supposed to come here tomorrow night for a get-together. That is, if the ship is still in one piece. You’re not invited.”

  “Are they done?” Cas asked, exasperated.

  “They’re done. But since you were supposed to be the one down there and not me I haven’t submitted the report. I almost did it. But then I realized you’d owe me. By the way, you owe me.”

  Cas scoffed. “She already knows I wasn’t down there. Go ahead, you should get the credit.”

  “How uncharacteristically generous of you, boss. Something is really eating at you.”

  Cas took a deep breath. “Evie gave me a formal reprimand because I disobeyed orders.” Box was silent except for a minuscule whirring somewhere inside his cortex. His eyes blinked once. “I know I probably shouldn’t have done it but I was pissed because I felt like she was throwing her weight around. Like she was making it her job to bully me. I still don’t think she’s happy with the idea that I got my rank back, though she won’t admit it.”

  “So your theory is the first officer of a starship is threatened by a lower-ranked officer turned criminal turned vigilante getting his job back? Even if that job isn’t an official job? Because let’s face it, all you have to do every day is watch an alien work.” Box folded his metal arms behind his head and leaned back in his chair. It creaked under his weight.

  “Well—”

  “Despite the fact she’s highly competent, highly decorated, with a solid moral compass. And all of a sudden you have your old rank back and now she can’t function as an individual.”

  Cas huffed. “I mean it’s not—”

  “Oh noooo, my life is in such tatters that I don’t know what to doooo,” Box said in a female voice that wasn’t dissimilar to Evie’s.

  “I think you’ve made your point,” Cas replied.

  Box’s eyes blinked rapidly. “Maybe if you weren’t disobeying orders, she’d go easier on you.”

  Cas took another, larger sip. “Yeah. I guess you’re right. Though I think she’s overcompensating.”

  “Or maybe you’re just being a dick, like you tend to do when things don’t go your way.” He leaned his chair back down again and leaned over the table. “Remember Ostollon King? How demanding he was and how you finally got so sick of him you just dumped his hab suite from the ship and dragged it behind us for the rest of the trip? Veena gave you one hell of a lashing for it.”

  Cas drained the drink. “I hate it when you’re right.”

  “I know, that must be so annoying for you. By the way, how is our newest comrade holding up? I heard there was some tension in the conference room earlier.”

  “Oh, you mean when they accused her of being the one who trapped us here? Yeah, that went over really well.” Cas sighed. “It’s hard. It’s kind of like keeping an eye on you, except a lot more dangerous. She’s so different from us and yet she looks so much alike. Sometimes I forget she isn’t a tall human who’s had their pigment altered. As I tried to tell Evie, had I not gone back when I did there’s a good chance you’d be trying to save Ensign Tyler’s life right now.”

  “Xax does say I have the steadiest hands.” He raised his metallic appendages and inspected them, flipping them back and forth to see both sides.

  “You’d better. The day you start shaking is the day we need to retire you.” He glanced out the window again. “Is Xax keeping you busy at least?”

  “Very. There are a lot of volumes of medicine to study, especially once you get beyond humans and Claxians. I’ve studied thirty-five different species so far and know over two million medical procedures. It’s a lot more challenging than just flying some old junky ship around.”

  “Hey, that was my junky ship.”

  “Well, technically it was Evie’s as she paid Veena for it and cleared your debt. Soooo…”

  “So what?” Cas asked, eyeing him with suspicion.

  “I’m gonna guess since you guys are fighting no coupling has happened yet.”

  Cas groaned. “Why do you bring this up every time? I told you, it’s not happening. She has no interest in me and vice versa. We will be coupling with other people.”

  “Who?” Box asked, his eyes blinking in rapid succession.

  “I don’t know, someone else.” Cas stood, leaving his drink on the table. “I need to go get some sleep.”

  “Hey, wait,” Box said. “I was wondering if you found out anything else about the Iphigenia. Did the probes pick anything up?”

  Cas placed his hand on the table, a drunken fog descended on his brain. “Not the ship, but we’re still getting the telemetry from the distress signal. Zaal thinks it is coming from the hole in spacetime created by the creature.”

  “Fun. Tell me about it.” Box crossed his hands in front of him and sat attentively. Cas exhaled and sat again, explaining to Box everything they’d found out from the probes. When he was finished Box’s eyes only blinked once. “Don’t you think that’s weird? All that and the ship still isn’t there?”

  Cas shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe? Why? What does it matter?”

  Box leaned forward. “Because I looked through the database and it turns out the Iphigenia wasn’t the only ship lost in this area.”

  Cas snapped to attention. “What? Who else? When?”

  “The USCS Genesis. Lost in the same general area fifty-four years ago. But my access is limited. I don’t have the same privileges like you do.”

  Cas jumped out of his seat. “Holy shit, Box. Why didn’t you say that earlier? This could be important; it might establish a pattern we can follow.”

  It was the machine’s turn to shrug. “I knew if I told you that immediately we wouldn’t get to talk and if there’s one thing I miss it is our late-night talks over stale coffee. It used to smell horrible; I don’t know how you ever drank it.”

  Cas was already headed for the door. This could be important and they didn’t have a lot of time.

  Blasted, manipulative robot.

  18

  Cas made his way down the hall, stumbling only once with Box on his heels. He needed to find the closest info terminal to access everything he could on the Genesis. But his head was swimming and he wasn’t sure he could trust his judgement.

  “Here,” he said, reaching the first terminal outside the bar. It had only been a few steps away but for some reason it felt like half a marathon. Cas pulled up all the information he could on the ship using his credentials, Box watching over his shoulder. “USCS Genesis, FCD-6025 lost Ionicon 17th, 2545. No explanation given. Searches revealed no trace of the ship or any of its crew. The Genesis was a destroyer?” He glanced back at Box. “Which means it was heavily armored. The old Coalition destroyer ships were massive. And hard as hell to penetrate. Whatever got her, it had to be powerful.”

  “Do you think this creature could be responsible for the Genesis as well?” Box asked.

  “It sure looks that way. Lost in the same area of space, same circumstances. I wonder why this didn’t come up when Zaal scanned information about this sector.”

  “It was a long time ago. He might have thought something happening that far back irrelevant.”

  “Look at this,” Cas said. “The Coalition sent out search parties for two seasons. That’s over a hundred and fifty days searching for one ship
. And they all came up empty. You would have thought with a ship that large it would have left something behind. Some piece of debris, or a radiation trail.”

  “Space is big. If the ship was powerless with nothing to lead them to it, theoretically it could still be out there, adrift,” Box said.

  “And no one’s come upon it in over fifty years?” The machine shrugged. “I need to get this information to Evie and the captain.” Cas disengaged from the terminal and began making his way to the hypervator. But he stopped halfway.

  “What?” Box asked.

  “I just had a thought. Maybe Evie’s not the best person to tell. Would she even listen to me right now?”

  Box’s eyes blinked rapidly. “But you’re going to tell the captain, right? You have to tell someone.”

  Cas thought about it a moment, leaning up against the wall. Should he tell her? Or would she dismiss whatever he said as unimportant? He could see her waving him off, saying she’d investigate it later. Or not even giving him time to speak, something to have to do with his reprimand. This was too important, it couldn’t be ignored. “No, I don’t think so. She’ll accuse me of trying to go around her authority.”

  “You can’t just go take care of this yourself like last time. It isn’t like you can take a shuttle out into the middle of the anomaly; you don’t even know if a shuttle will work out there.”

  “No, but I do know someone who might be able to give us some more information. Something concrete. Then I can go to Evie.”

  “Boss, are you sure about this?” Box tapped his fingers against his thigh.

  “Absolutely, this will be better than just going to them with nothing more than a theory. And it might help wash away some of that reprimand.” Maybe even erase it entirely. “You head back to duty; I’ll take care of this.”

  Box lingered a moment, then turned in the other direction.

  “Hey, Box, thanks for the help.” The machine stopped and turned, giving Cas a wave before continuing on his way.

  ***

  “Consul?” Cas pressed the call button beside her door again.