by Erica Rue
Lithia was glad Colm had come. Bel had a machete, but Colm and the Ficarans all had guns. They had scavenged enough ammo from the Field Temple to feel comfortable sending it along with Colm. Bullets should go a lot further against the Green Cloaks than the Vens.
The thought caught Lithia off guard. She hadn’t asked Cora whether this was a kill or capture mission. She dearly missed the stun rifle. She didn’t think she could kill a human being, but if she could, there was no likelier target than a Green Cloak. She decided not to put Cora on the spot in front of all these people. No need to make her feel locked in to whatever choice she made spur of the moment.
From the corner of her eye, Lithia saw Elijah standing apart from their group, flanked by an enforcer type and with a few others. They were listening, too, and Lithia guessed they didn’t have good intentions. Everything about Elijah set off her sixth sense. He was bad news, and Lithia didn’t like the smug smile on his face.
12. BRIAN
When Brian woke, the haze of sleep lifted slowly from his mind. Too slowly, like he had spent the previous night drinking. Dione was staring at him. He was shirtless and didn’t remember how he got that way, which made him uncomfortable.
“Checking me out?” he asked. His attempt to lighten the mood failed. She frowned at him.
“Yep, just making sure your injuries aren’t getting worse,” she replied. “I want to put some more of the aloe gel on your neck. Just finishing a message to Lithia and letting her know we survived the night.”
Her message sent, Dione pulled some leaves from her bag and worked them into a gel.
He pushed himself into a sitting position and groaned. Now that he was awake, his perception of pain was heightened. He put a hand to his neck, which was hot to the touch.
“In all seriousness, Brian, how much do you remember?” Dione asked.
“It’s a blur, really. We were arguing at the shuttle, then I left. I remember running into some hanging moss. That had to be the most painful thing I’ve experienced.” He reached up to touch his neck again, wincing as he did. “I think I passed out. After that, things are really hazy.”
“So you don’t remember running off into the jungle after I saved you from the moss and brought you back to the shuttle?”
Brian’s eyes went wide. No wonder she was so pissed. This was about more than his mistake with Lithia.
“And you don’t remember talking to that rock last night before stumbling into the giant sundew over there and getting trapped?” She motioned to the red and green plant across the clearing that was obviously missing a few leaves.
He remembered it now. In the late morning light, he got a good look at the sundew. Its vibrant green leaves, speckled with long, red feelers, looked festive. In the dark, its muted tones, all appearing gray, had seemed more ominous.
“In case you didn’t know, sundews are carnivorous plants,” Dione said. “Those tentacle-like leaves curl around their prey. The gooey balls that look like dew? They stick to struggling prey and also contain digestive enzymes. That’s where these faint pink lines came from.” Brian followed her gestures and touched the line across his chest, as well as the one on his legs.
“That’s why I cut off your shirt. It was soaked in digestive juices.” She pointed to a heap of fabric several meters away. It still looked damp, but more than that, it was now unusable.
“Damn. That was my favorite shirt.”
When he looked back to Dione, she wasn’t laughing. Last night must have been rough on her.
She moved closer until she was sitting right across from him. “Here, let me put this on your neck,” she said. “It will soothe any residual pain. Jameson must have engineered his aloe plant to be extra potent.”
Brian obediently leaned forward, allowing her to smear the cool gel on his back. “You’re hurt, too,” he said, catching sight of her wrist.
“It’s nothing.”
“The sundew got you when you charged in and saved me?”
“Just barely. I’ll put some of this gel on it when I’m done with you. Your body has taken a lot of punishment in the past twenty-four hours.”
When she touched his neck, he flinched, even though she applied the ointment gently. Dione took some of the gel for her own wrist, then leaned back and offered him the rest. “You can coat wherever still hurts.”
“Thanks,” he said, taking the ointment. A few moments of silence hung in the air before he spoke again. After everything Dione had done to save him from the moss and the sundew, he knew his next words wouldn’t go over well.
“He’s here, you know. My dad.”
Dione sighed. “You were hallucinating last night. I think you just imagined it.”
“I remember now. I didn’t see my dad. I wasn’t talking to him.” Brian paid close attention to the administration of the salve, avoiding eye contact.
“Then who did you see?”
“My mom.”
Dione had never met his mom, who had been sleeping every time Brian had checked on her at the Mountain Base.
“Okay,” she said.
“I saw my mom the way she’s supposed to be. The way she was, before he left.”
“What do you mean?”
“After my dad left, my mom just… stopped being herself. She doesn’t eat. She spends most of her time sleeping. I take care of her the best I can, but…” He trailed off. It was hard, and only getting harder. Melanie helped, but some days his mother ate next to nothing. Other days, she wouldn’t get out of bed.
“What did she say?”
“Nothing really. We just talked. We haven’t done that in years, and I miss it. I have to find my father. Seeing her was a reminder of why I’m here. It was a sign.”
Dione blinked at him. “It was an hallucination,” she said. “I’m really sorry about your mom, but finding your dad isn’t going to magically fix whatever’s wrong with her. She needs a doctor.”
Brian said nothing. For the first time in years, he felt hopeful. He had been carrying this burden for so long that the chance of finding his father and bringing his mom back to life had become like a dream. He was finally here on the island, and he wasn’t going back until he found his father, dead or alive. He had to know.
Dione’s voice cut into his thoughts. “Look, we’re almost out of water. I used a lot last night to clean off the sundew’s residue. We need to go back to the Flyer. There’s more water on board, and that’s where we should wait for the others to find us.”
“You can go wherever you want. I’m going to find my dad.”
Dione stiffened at his words. She pointed emphatically across the clearing. “Normally, sundews catch and eat insects. Some of the largest ones I’ve seen could catch small mammals, like a squirrel, maybe even a cat. That monster over there almost got its first taste of human last night. That is the island we are trapped on. Why don’t you get this?”
“No, I don’t think you get it,” he said, raising his voice. “I’m grateful for all of your help, but I’m used to every move I make putting me in danger. Whether it was pissing off Victoria or getting captured by the Aratians, my world has never been safe. Your world was safe. You’re the one who’s nervous, not me.” He paused and looked her up and down. “Maybe it was unfair to ask for your help. I’m sorry for that.”
He watched Dione’s shoulders slump.
“Look, we’ll come up with another way to search for your dad,” she said softly. “This doesn’t mean you’re giving up. It means you’re being smart about it.”
“If we need water, there’s a stream nearby,” he said.
“You’re changing the subject.”
“You said we need water. Well, there’s water in that direction.” He pointed northeast.
“How do you know that?”
“I can hear it. Can’t you hear that?” It was faint, but he was certain it was running water.
She cocked her head to one side, as if straining to make out the sound. “I don’t hear it. How do I know you
’re not lying to avoid going back to the shuttle?”
“Because I’m telling the truth to avoid going back to the shuttle,” he said. He got up and took a few steps in the direction he had pointed. “Victoria will never give me another chance. If I don’t find my father now, no matter what’s happened to him, I never will. If I can’t bring him back, at least my mom and I will have closure. I’m going to look for my father, then fly out of here in the colonizer. Are you with me?”
Dione closed her eyes. Brian balled his fists. He didn’t want to do this alone, but he wouldn’t force Dione to head deeper into the jungle with him. It was dangerous, but to him it was worth the risk.
Finally, she opened her eyes and looked at him. “We should stick together,” Dione said. “Who knows what else is out there.”
“So you’re coming with me?” he asked, surprised.
“With your track record, you’ll be dead in a few hours without someone watching over you.”
Brian grinned at the insult. “Let’s go find that creek,” he said.
As he led the way, he couldn’t help feeling something warm billowing up inside him. Gratitude? Maybe. He looked back at Dione. No, it was more than gratitude. It was the same thing he had felt before. He wanted to be close to her. He wanted her to forgive him.
13. ZANE
After the Vens were taken care of, Zane thought he’d be able to spend some time with Bel. Instead, he was alone in the basement of the Mountain Base, running another diagnostic on Sam. She hadn’t noticed yet. She was overtaxed.
Zane visualized it as a rope bridge. Before the Ven arrival, Sam had been doing very minor tasks on rare occasions, like one person crossing the bridge every now and then. When she had been helping Dione and Lithia, that had been like regular foot traffic. In time, it would take its toll. After the Ficaran escape to the Mountain Base, it was like a crowd was jumping on the bridge all the time.
He checked the progress of the translation on his manumed. About halfway there. He was surprised that she’d made so much progress, then grimaced, wondering what this was costing her.
Zane sighed. He wished Bel had stayed with him, but he knew her too well to try to hold her back. Everyone was doing their part. It was time he stepped up and did his. Somehow, one of them would gain access to a ship that could rescue Dione. Sure, she was stubborn and arrogant, but that island was no place for anyone.
When Sam finally noticed what he was doing, her response didn’t surprise him.
“I’m dying, Zane,” she said.
At these words, he felt a pang of loss. He felt like he had found a friend in the human-AI hybrid that was running things on Kepos. He’d always found machines better companions than people, at least until getting to know Bel. There hadn’t been a lot of other kids on the freighters growing up, and the ones he did meet were the children of the wealthier officers who could afford the additional cost. That is to say, they were spoiled brats.
“I think I can extend things a bit, if I slow the Ven datacore processing. It’s not like we’re in a rush.”
“No, don’t bother. I’ve known for a long time that I would die,” she said. “I knew, back when I was Dr. Samantha Myers. After a while, my consciousness would degrade, and I’d slowly go crazy.”
Zane nodded. It’s why so few tried to extend their lives by uploading their consciousness. Human minds could not maintain themselves inside man-made machines. After time, memories and personality faded into something unrecognizable. Sam had managed to delay this fate by spending much of her time dormant, but with all of the new activity brought on by their arrival, and then the Vens’, Sam’s borrowed time was running out.
“Long ago,” she said, “I put some measures into place that will stop me before I slip too far and become dangerous. It’s almost better this way. I thought I’d go to sleep one day and never wake up. I never thought there would be anyone to say goodbye to.”
“Let me finish this diagnostic first,” he said.
Twenty minutes later, Zane got the preliminary results. They were bad.
“I thought we had weeks, but it looks like we’re talking days.”
“That’s why I need your help,” Sam said. “Someone needs to look after this place when I’m gone. The old AI I took over can’t do the job. It’s not sophisticated enough.”
Jameson had installed an AI to power the Icon, the planet’s defensive weapon, but it hadn’t worked properly. Sam had sacrificed her body and uploaded her consciousness into the Mountain Base to merge with the old AI and control the Icon.
The young man shifted uncomfortably. “What exactly are you asking?”
“I’ve scanned the Calypso. She doesn’t have an AI, but her hardware is a lot newer than the old AI that ran this place before me. I can leave behind instructions for the humans and programs for the old AI, but it won’t be able to use them as is. If you use parts of the Calypso’s computer to upgrade the hardware here, the system will be able to support the old AI and necessary functions, like using the Icon.”
“That’s a tall order,” Zane replied. “Oberon’s not ready to abandon ship. He’s still trying to fix her.”
“You need to convince him.”
“How?”
“I’ll get you a Flyer once it’s done,” Sam said. “Victoria doesn’t control everything.”
“I think I can work with that. I’ll see what I can do.”
“Thank you. Fail safes I set up will ensure that once I degrade to a certain point, I’ll be completely erased from the system. I don’t want to lose myself and hurt someone.”
Zane bit his lower lip. She sounded sad, maybe worried. He couldn’t imagine what she was going through, what it was like to feel the end coming as parts of her slipped away. Maybe that was why she had been getting quieter and quieter. She was losing herself.
“Zane, I have another favor,” she said, sounding more human than ever. “When I’m gone, will you bury me? My real body, I mean.”
“Yes,” he said, without hesitation. Dione had been the one who found Sam’s body in one of the basement labs, still hooked up to the machines she had used to transfer her consciousness. Sam had asked them to seal that room off at the time, but now her desires had apparently changed. That was one last kindness he could give her, one final homage to her humanity.
Zane figured it was time to check on the professor. He found the man in the cargo bay, sitting on a crate and tapping away at the tablet in his lap.
“Still no luck convincing Victoria?” Zane asked.
“She wouldn’t even see me this time,” Oberon said. “She’s busy coordinating recovery teams at the Field Temple.” The professor looked up from his tablet. “I’m glad you’re here.” Oberon had decided he would fix the Calypso, since Victoria kept denying his requests for a Flyer. “Take a look at this,” he said, passing over the tablet. “I haven’t finished the program, but I think it might work.”
Zane skimmed the program. He recognized an exercise in futility when he saw one, but he would help anyway. It bothered him to see the professor, usually so calm and rational, acting like this. Oberon was a brilliant biologist, and he knew a lot about maintaining the Calypso, but this damage was above his pay grade. They both knew it.
“This is for the nanotech?” Zane asked.
Oberon nodded. Zane looked the program over again. The gaping hole in the cargo bay was too large for the nanotech to repair, but Oberon was proposing a graft. Not just a sheet of metal clumsily welded on to close the gap, but a metal web so that the nanotech could integrate it smoothly.
“She’ll never be space-worthy like this,” Zane said, “but this could work. It will take the nanotech some time.”
“I know.”
Zane’s stomach was in knots as he handed back the tablet. Had the professor come up with a plan for the other issues? “This fixes the hull, but you know better than I do that there was more than just hull damage. Most of the wiring has been destroyed, and we can’t fix that. It’s beyond
patching, by hand or by nanotech.”
“I think I can repair the vital systems,” Oberon said. “It won’t be pretty, and this area wouldn’t have certain… amenities.”
“Like lights?”
“And life support. Like you said, not space-worthy, but it might be enough to fly to the island and get Dione.”
“Oberon, I don’t think it’s going to work. The damage is just too much for the supplies we have and our skill sets.” It felt strange to be the voice of reason.
Oberon lowered his head and clenched his fists for several long moments before sighing. “You’re right, but I’m still going to try. I’ve exhausted every avenue of reasoning and bargaining with Victoria. She won’t even let me go up to the space station where there are other Flyers.”
Zane looked hard at Oberon. Had the wrinkles on his forehead always been that pronounced? “I’ve got a suggestion,” he said.
Oberon looked at Zane without raising his head. “I’m open to any and all ideas at this point.”
“You’re not going to like it.”
“That seems to be the pattern with things my students have told me today,” he said, putting down the tablet.
“Sam is degrading more quickly than anticipated, and without her, the old AI that Jameson installed can’t operate the Icon or support the colonists in any meaningful way.”
“Let me guess, you want to plug your brain into the system and become the new Sam,” Oberon said wryly.
Zane resisted the urge to roll his eyes. “Yep. I mean, when you convinced me to come on this trip, you told me I’d have the chance to experience new things. After running over Vens with farming equipment and landing the Calypso by myself, I figured becoming a computer doomed to eventual insanity sounded like a good time.”
Oberon sighed. “What is it, then?”
“Sam wants us to upgrade the base with parts from the Calypso. Without her consciousness overlaid with the base’s AI, things around her will work with a fraction of her efficiency. The old AI couldn’t even use the Icon. She’s written programs for when she’s gone, but without the upgrades, she doesn’t think the old AI has any hope of running them.”