Darkest Reach

by Eric Warren

  Grippen rolled her eyes. “Calm down. I’m just screwing with you. I’ll do it.”

  Cas had been distracted by their banter and it took him a moment to realize what she’d said. “You will?”

  She shrugged. “Sure. I’m always up for something new. Plus, unlike this one, I’m not afraid of flying something other than my own ship.”

  Jann frowned. “I never said—”

  Grippen burst into laughter. “Man, you are gullible today! Did you even have breakfast?”

  Jann narrowed her eyes. “This is serious, Lecia. We don’t know what’s out there.”

  “And dogfighting Sargans isn’t? Everything will be fine. And if it isn’t then it isn’t. And we move on. Like always.” She turned to Cas. “Which way, Commander?”

  He regarded her. “Meet me in Bay One in an hour. We’re still upgrading the shuttles.” She shot him a wink and a thumbs up. He turned to leave but stopped short of the door. “And Captain Grippen, thank you.”

  28

  Cas approached the door to Zenfor’s quarters rubbing the back of his neck over and over. He wasn’t looking forward to this. His temple hadn’t swollen up much, but it still hurt. Touching the wound with his hand caused a sharp bolt of pain to shoot through his head. But he couldn’t blame her; he should have known better. And there was no telling if she’d agree to help them anymore. The crew hadn’t been welcoming to her and Cas, despite all his authority it hadn’t made the situation much better.

  He pressed the small button on the side of the door. There was no answer. He pressed it again, wondering if she had disabled it. He was about to press it a third time when the doors slid open to reveal Zenfor, standing before him wearing her bio-suit again, sans helmet.

  Upon seeing his face, she grimaced, then stomped back into her room. She hadn’t shut the doors on him.

  “Does that mean I can come in?” he asked.

  “I suppose you want an apology.” She’d crossed her arms and stared out the window.

  “No. You weren’t in the wrong. Well, you’re not supposed to assault people. But it was my careless words that spurned you. I shouldn’t have been so crass. And I apologize.” He’d made a lot of mistakes in his time but living among the Sargans you learned you really didn’t have to apologize for what you did. Everyone just moved on. Coming back here and being a part of this organization, it felt strange yet familiar at the same time to be issuing Zenfor an apology. Not that he didn’t mean it, it was just strange coming from his own mouth. It even felt a little strange, a little too…formal.

  “You people are so chaotic. Half of you one way, another half the other way. And many of you can’t make up your minds about the smallest of things. It’s like you’re perpetually stuck in a state of indecision, always one foot in and one foot out. And when you do commit to something, you often don’t see the pitfalls before you until you’ve fallen in them.” She sighed. “I miss the clarity of the Sil. Here I find myself so…conflicted.”

  “You hit that one on the head,” Cas said. “Humans—and by extension the Coalition—are…a work in progress. We’re always trying to learn from our mistakes.” She turned to him, her stare penetrating his defenses until he had to look away. “Believe it or not, I understand how you feel. Living among people who are nothing like you. I’ve had to do it twice, and both times it was the hardest thing I’ve had to do. To become accustomed to. But I did it. I adapted. And you can too.”

  “I’m not like your people. I am who I am and I can’t change. You should know that about me by now.”

  “I guess I’m just an optimist that way.” He shrugged. “Probably the only thing I am optimistic about.”

  She took a breath, then stiffened. “Is that all you needed? To issue your apology?”

  “No. I want you to come with me to face the creature. Box and I studied your data in the weapons lab and—”

  “You used my work?” she yelled. “Sil technology I specifically told you not to access?”

  Cas didn’t back off even as she approached him. Instead, he took a step forward. “We are all going to die in about seven hours if we don’t figure something out. So yes, I used your work and I would do it again. The point is we found a way to communicate with the creature. Using your scans. I showed them to no one but Box and he can just as easily delete them as he can never speak of them again. But we wouldn’t know what we were doing if we didn’t have the information.”

  Zenfor had stopped close to him, gritting her teeth and trying to intimidate him with her size. But she wasn’t going to get away with it, not this time. “How?” she spat.

  “One of two ways. Or maybe a combination of both. We don’t know yet. Box derived a language to try from the Kryon Radiation your sensors picked up, as well as the light pattern on the scans from when the Iphigenia vanished off sensors. One of the two should at least let us talk to it. Let it know living, sentient beings are on the ship it has trapped.”

  “And if it doesn’t care?”

  “We’ll have no choice but to destroy it.”

  She chuckled, folding her arms across her chest again. “And you want me to come with you.”

  “Since you’re the only one who can use your technology, I need you to come with us and monitor the creature’s reactions to the radiation and the light patterns. See if either has any kind of effect. Unless you want me trying to translate what all your glyphs and symbols mean?”

  “How will you use the radiation?”

  “I spoke with Commander Sesster. Upon learning about Kryon Radiation, he thinks he’s devised a way for the shuttle engines to send out similar, if not exact, signals. Close enough so it should at least get the creature’s attention. Let it know we’re trying to communicate in a way. That we’re intelligent.”

  “That is still up for debate,” she replied, her nostrils flaring.

  “Look, I understand we are inferior to you. But we are trying. And if you help us, there’s a much greater chance this will succeed. You are the only person on board who has any experience with multiple dimension beings, since you are one yourself. To not have you along would be reckless.” Cas was becoming exasperated. How much did she want from him? Or was this the price he had to pay for insulting her?

  Her face relaxed. She reached out and placed her hand on his shoulder, just as she had done that very first time they’d met on her ship, when he’d been her prisoner. “You are determined, I’ll give you that much. Very well, if I am to die today I may as well be a willing participant than just sitting back and waiting for it to happen.”

  “Um, that’s not what I meant, but—”

  “Make no mistake. This is a fool’s errand. We will likely perish.” There wasn’t a crack in her visage, a hint of any humor in her voice.

  “I…uh. Okay. Fair enough. I’ll be operating the pattern on one of the shuttles, but we need someone else for the other shuttle. Any ideas?”

  “Ensign Tyler seems like a passable candidate,” she replied.

  “I didn’t think you liked him.”

  “I don’t. He’s arrogant and he has a lot of deep-seated insecurities. But he’s capable, and can get the job done.”

  Cas’s eyes widened. Were they that transparent to her? Perhaps the Sil were better attuned to pick up on the small, unspoken language people emoted every day. He returned his attention to Zenfor. “Is that how you see all of us? Or just Tyler?”

  She didn’t respond.

  “You know, there’s something I’ve been wondering. Your goodbye ceremony with Mil’less was the only time I’ve ever heard you sing. But it sounded like there was a great deal of pain in there. Are all Sil goodbye ceremonies that…emotional?”

  Her eyes flashed. “I told you, we are a social species. We require the company of others. Saying goodbye is…difficult.”

  Cas pitied her. Not because she was pitiable, but because the situation had taken her from those she loved. It was a situation he knew all too well. “We’re not that different. Humans nee
d each other too. Maybe not in the same way, but we are desperately sad when someone we care about leaves us. Whether that is because they have died or are no longer in our lives. And it takes us a long time to mourn. Often, we never get over it. Not really.”

  “Your point?”

  “You’re not alone here. Even if you feel like you are, it’s because you’re not seeing us as anything but ants. Look past our flaws, we are people just like you. And we need each other, just like you. You don’t have to be alone on this ship. I’m not saying we will ever be a substitute for your people, but while you are here, you don’t have to feel so cut off. You don’t have to isolate yourself.”

  She drew a long breath in through her nose, the sparkles in her gray eyes glittering back at him. “When do we leave?” she asked.

  He huffed. He thought he’d actually made some progress. Maybe it would take time. If they succeeded she might come around…one day. “Forty-five minutes. I’ll need to talk to Tyler.”

  Cas’s comm beeped. He tapped it, “Robeaux.”

  “It’s Evie. Meet me in Bay One as soon as you’re ready to go over the details.”

  He was surprised. The scorn in her voice from before was gone. What had changed? “Acknowledged,” he said. “Can you also ask Ensign Tyler to meet us there? The consul suggested he might be a good fit for the crew.”

  “I’ll speak to him,” Evie replied. “Diazal out.” Cas tapped the comm again, turning it off.

  “The commander approves of your plan,” Zenfor said. “And she’s been upset with you for some time.”

  “Yeah,” Cas said, staring at the small implant in the back of his hand. “I noticed that too.”

  “Maybe you’re right,” Zenfor said. “Maybe my…interactions with the crew haven’t been entirely their fault. I’ll attempt to…adjust.”

  “Make no mistake,” Cas said, his attention back on her. “I don’t want you to change. I want you to manage your expectations of us. And be open to possibilities.”

  “We’ll see.”

  That was the best he could hope for. Cas led the way out of her room, with them walking down the wide corridor. From behind Cas heard someone running to catch up. He turned to see Crewman Welles jogging behind them.

  “Welles? What’s going on?”

  Welles stopped and took a breath, straightening his security uniform. He was out of breath. “Lieutenant said if…the consul left…her room…to follow.”

  Right. She had assaulted Cas. Greene didn’t want her going anywhere on the ship without an escort or a guard. “It’s okay, Welles, I’m with her.”

  “You sure? I can—”

  “Are you deaf?” Zenfor said. “I don’t need you to babysit me. I’m per—” she stopped, closed her eyes for a moment, then reopened them, forcing a smile on her face. “You were just doing your duty, good for you, Crewman.”

  Welles looked perplexed; his face contorted with confusion. “Uh, thanks?”

  “Report back to Lieutenant Uuma, I’m sure she’s got another assignment for you,” Cas said.

  “Right,” Welles replied, having caught his breath. “Right, thank you. Sir.” He turned and jogged off the way he’d come while Cas turned to look at Zenfor. She shot him a quick look then returned to her course, headed back toward the Bays.

  Maybe it wouldn’t take so long after all.

  29

  Evie watched Box work with the maintenance team on the shuttles, directing both of them at once. It was amazing, to see an artificial life form in control of both these teams, and all of them working efficiently. He would check on their progress and show them if they were headed in the wrong direction before they could cock it all up. Was there anything he wasn’t good at?

  “You called for me, Commander?”

  Evie turned to see Ensign Tyler, immaculate as always. It wasn’t often she interacted with him as her liaison was Commander Blohm, but she’d had the odd encounter once or twice. “Do you know about the mission to the center of the phenomenon?” she asked. “To where the creature lies?”

  “Commander Blohm informed me and the rest of the engineering team earlier. Sesster is interested to find out what it is and is looking forward to communicating with it.”

  “I didn’t ask you here to find out what Sesster is thinking,” she said. He seemed surprised, which she could understand. Ninety percent of the time when someone wanted to speak with him it was because he was Sesster’s avatar. It must get annoying. “Commander Robeaux thinks you might be a good fit for the crew of this mission. Is that something you’re interested in? It’s on a volunteer basis only.”

  He screwed up his face, producing a small smirk as he did it. He’d accept, no doubt about it. And hopefully it would be good for him, getting out from under Sesster’s shadow for a little while.

  Evie turned to see Cas and Zenfor enter the Bay, with Captain Grippen behind them. Apparently, Cas had found his other pilot. Evie’d had the inclination to volunteer herself but thought better of it. Her position was on the bridge, helping to coordinate, not on the shuttle flying through Kor knew what. Cas nodded to her as he made his way over and she returned the gesture. She had to admit, it had taken some time to adjust, but maybe that uniform fit him better than she’d originally thought. But there was still something off about it.

  No, she shook her head. That was just her prejudice talking. She needed to give him a fair chance. After all, he’d been the one to insist they not destroy the creature immediately. That was Coalition 101, and he had embraced it. In a weird way, she was proud of him.

  “Everyone,” Cas said as he approached. “Here’s the plan. The Consul, Box, and I will all be on one shuttle. She will monitor our transmissions from there to ensure they reach their destination and to determine which, if any, are successful. I’ll be manning the shuttle transmitting the light signals. Ensign, are you in?”

  Tyler nodded with a touch too much enthusiasm. Evie was aware they’d had their conflicts in the past, but it seemed either Tyler had put it behind him, or this opportunity was too good to pass up and he wasn’t about to sour it.

  “Then you and Captain Grippen will be on the other shuttle. She will pilot while you transmit the messages using the radiation language Box has devised. Hopefully one of these two will get the creature’s attention and it will stop its attack. I don’t know how detailed of a conversation we’ll be able to have, but maybe if it realizes we’re intelligent too, it will allow us to leave.”

  “And if it doesn’t?” Rafnkell had come up behind Evie, she hadn’t even seen the woman. She could be quiet when she wanted to be.

  “Then we’ll have no choice but to move to plan B, which will be to seal up the tear in space, hopefully the creature will go with it. Zenfor will be able to pilot one of her probes remotely and we’ll attempt to seal it while we’re out there. And if that doesn’t work…” He glanced around at all of them.

  They knew what it meant. Killing the creature was the last resort option, but what else could they do? They couldn’t let it destroy the ship. And help was still too far away.

  “What about backups?” Evie asked. “If something goes wrong with the sequences? Or if you’re injured in some way. Didn’t you say it was turbulent out there, Chief?”

  “When our ‘wings quit responding like we needed them to it got jerky. If you’re not strapped into a seat like we were it might be a bumpy ride.”

  “No worries, it’ll just be like a roller coaster,” Grippen said, leaning on a nearby crate. “You ever been to that one on Altair? That thing is a bitch and a half. It’ll twist you—”

  “You think each ship needs another crew member?” Cas drew his brows down.

  “Just in case. It never hurts to be prepared,” she said.

  She could tell he was wondering if she was challenging him or offering a helpful solution. Which was fair. After everything she’d put him through the past few days, she couldn’t blame him. But in this case, she was actually trying to be helpful. They neede
d someone else in the shuttles with them in case of an emergency. It was good protocol, even if it wasn’t strictly by the book.

  “I can operate the light sequence,” Zenfor said. “At the same time I’m monitoring the response. If I have to.”

  “So then we’ll just need a third person for the other shuttle,” Cas said. Evie could get on board with that. She turned to Tyler.

  “Anyone in mind? Someone to back you up?”

  “Pearson could do it. Or even Commander Blohm,” he replied.

  Evie caught the slightest shift in Cas’s body language at the mention of Blohm’s name. “I’ll contact the commander to see if she’s up for it,” Cas said, turning away from the others.

  Rafnkell leaned close to Evie. “Are you on board with this? I’m not liking the idea of those shuttles out there alone.”

  Evie smirked. “The captain thought you might have a problem with it.”

  Rafnkell tapped the comm on the back of her hand. “Ryant, Jann, Linkovich, Iavarone, mount up. We’re going to escort the shuttles out there. Reset your anti-grav units and be ready to launch in thirty minutes.” Four acknowledgments came across her comm. “The corps don’t do anything alone,” Rafnkell said to Evie.

  Cas returned from the other side of the Bay. Why had he needed to make that call privately? What was going on between them? “She’s on her way down, she was happy to volunteer. That okay with you, Tyler?”

  The ensign nodded. “As long as I’m taking the lead, it’s fine with me.”

  “Jeez, enough yapping already. Are we going to do this thing or what?” Grippen said, hopping off the container she’d sat on only a few moments earlier. She struck Evie as a person who had to be perpetually in motion, like slowing down wasn’t an option for her.

  “Box?” Cas called across the bay.

  “Another fifteen minutes, boss. We’re right on schedule,” the robot called back without even turning around.

  “I’m going to talk to Box again. You know, go over strategy and…stuff,” Grippen said with a wink to Cas before sauntering off in his direction.