by A. K. DuBoff
Kaiden gripped his head. “Gah! It’s right there, but I can’t remember!”
An overwhelming sense of destruction filled me as I thought about the light. It was a point of creation, and yet I somehow knew it would take everything from us.
“That place.” My brow knit. “That’s where we lose the fleet, I think.”
“That place keeps appearing to me, too,” Kaiden said. “There’s a bright point. Beautiful, but danger surrounds it.”
The jumble of images in my mind became sharper: an alien fleet birthed for the sole purpose of our destruction, and a weapon that could level the Hegemony defensive line in an instant. We needed to stop them.
I snapped to attention. “Call Colren. We’re about to be invaded.”
18
The commander listened intently across the conference table as I told him what I had remembered. I kept waiting for him to dismiss the statements and say that my imagination had gotten the better of me, but he kept nodding with understanding as I piled on the outlandish claims.
“I wish we had more to give you,” I concluded.
“Any information is good information,” Colren replied. “I only wish we knew where this place was.”
“We might be able to figure it out with a little help,” Kaiden said. “Which worlds were the first taken by the Darkness?”
Colren frowned. “Windau, Azura, Tarden. Why?”
“Maybe seeing some records of those worlds will help jog our memories,” I said. “If the creatures on the planet were mature—”
“Then the corruption has to have been from some time ago, I follow.” He stood up from the conference table and glanced out the glass door toward the bridge. “Access any records you need. Figuring out the site of these engagements is the first step toward finding a different outcome.”
Kaiden stood up and nodded. “We’ll do our best, Commander.”
Colren took a step toward the door then stopped. “Say, would there be any way to tell if we’ve had this conversation before?”
“Not that I’ve been able to figure out,” Toran replied. “I believe the hyperdimensional component of our consciousness wasn’t able to re-link with our physical selves during the reset. But, our memories and abilities still exist in that part of ourselves outside of spacetime. I think, perhaps, this might explain how we have muscle memory for things we’ve never done before. Part of our hyperdimensional consciousness—that ‘self’ imbued with our future abilities—imprinted when we were re-formed in the bioprinter. However, I can’t tell you if this may have happened before or if this is the first reset.”
“That’s the most fitting explanation I’ve heard.” Colren smiled wearily. “Are you sure you were only a crystal interface maintenance tech?”
Toran laughed. “I’ve always had an interest in the metaphysical. I guess this experience turned out to be a good fit for both skills and experience.”
The commander appraised us. “We got very lucky with the four of you.”
“You’ve allowed us to come into our own,” Kaiden said. “We have everything to lose in this fight, too.”
“Keep at it. Let me know if you identify any locations.” Colren left the conference room.
“Do you really think looking at pictures is going to help us remember?” Maris asked when the door had closed behind the commander.
“It’s about more than that,” I replied. “We need to try to immerse ourselves in those worlds. If we can picture ourselves there, then maybe the memories of actually being there might come to the forefront.”
Kaiden sat back down at the table and tapped the integrated touchscreen to active it. “I’m willing to try anything.”
“All right. Let’s look at the files on those worlds Colren mentioned.” I turned my attention to the holographic display.
Toran navigated to the onboard database of Hegemony worlds and brought up the details of his investigation into the Darkness. I’d suspected that a compiled file existed, but I’d never wanted to try to find it before. Acknowledging its very existence—and especially reading it—meant admitting the scale of the threat we were up against. I’d done my best to avoid any concrete information about how many worlds had been consumed by the alien infection. Seeing the records now, my worst fears were confirmed: more than two dozen worlds had been affected. Hundreds of millions of people’s lives hinged on us finding a way to fight back.
“Stars! I didn’t know it was so many,” Kaiden murmured.
“I honestly thought it might be more.” Toran brought up the timeline of when the known worlds had been infected. “These records might not be complete, since we wouldn’t have known about the Valor world unless we’d gone there for the artifact.”
“If we have memories, that means we went there, which means we know about the place,” Kaiden said, looking over the timeline. “That means Windau is the first we know about.”
“Logically, that does seem like a place we might investigate,” I said.
“It does.” Toran selected the planet’s file.
In its natural state, Windau was a garden world of forested mountains and deep valleys paired with sophisticated urban developments. Its capital near the equator was a thriving city situated around a central square, with a large crystal at its center.
I recoiled in my chair as the images loaded on the holographic projector. The sight in front of me was a pristine city of sculpted stone and glass, but in my mind the scene was covered in writhing, dark tendrils and a perpetual black haze. “Stars, this is it.” I wanted to be excited, but the contrast of the images had my stomach in knots.
“It’s familiar to me, too. We went here and something bad happened,” Kaiden said.
“We were attacked.” Maris’ voice was assured, and her gaze was fixed on the projection. “The Darkness didn’t want us to leave.”
“We should avoid this place,” Toran suggested.
“Yeah, I’m all about avoiding places where we almost die,” I agreed.
Kaiden pursed his lips. “I wonder why we went down there, though?”
I sifted through the images floating through my mind. “I think it had something to do with that crystal.”
“Yes, you’re right.” Toran let out a long breath. “I believe we were trying to learn about the Darkness and how it transmits through the crystalline network.”
“Is there any way to get that information without a direct interface?” Kaiden asked.
“No way that’s currently workable. I’ve been toying with the idea of creating a remote connection using the waveform resonance of your magic pendants, but I haven’t been able to make it work yet,” the other man replied.
“This might be the time to try again,” Maris advised.
“Is there really time to mess around with that?” I asked.
“All of our guts are telling us to avoid this place,” Kaiden said. “Weren’t you just saying we should listen to those instincts?”
“Yeah, I guess so,” I admitted. Still, I couldn’t shake the feeling that we’d learned something important there. If we didn’t get that information, I had no idea what to expect for our future. But, by that same token, maybe it was that information that led us into the bad situation before, and now we could find another way around it.
“See what you can do, Toran,” Kaiden said. “You’re welcome to my pendant any time you need it.”
“Thank you. If you don’t mind, I’ll begin work in the morning.”
I couldn’t believe they were ready to call the matter resolved so easily. “Shouldn’t we look at the other worlds, too, to see if anything jumps out at us?”
“Yes, but it can wait a few hours,” Toran said. “We’ll work better after a night to process, regardless of what Maris’ restoration spells can do for our bodies.”
Taking a moment to assess my physical state, a wave of tiredness washed over me. Letting myself drop out of work mode, I realized that I was stil
l going on the two hours of sleep we’d snagged before Maris got us up. “You’re right. Work always goes better when rested and clear-headed.”
“I don’t expect my head to be clear any time soon, but sleep, at least, I should be able to manage.” Toran ventured a smile.
“Yes, I’m sure you two are eager to get back to whatever it is you were up to,” Maris added, eyeing Kaiden and me.
“Did I miss something?” Toran asked.
I rolled my eyes. “I told you she wouldn’t let it slide,” I muttered under my breath to Kaiden next to me.
“I found Elle in his cabin when I went to get them,” Maris revealed.
Toran nodded. “I’m glad something good has come from this situation.”
I blushed. “Yeah, it’s not all bad.”
“We’re still a team first and foremost,” Kaiden assured them. “What’s going on between us will stay between us.”
“I trust you,” Toran replied.
I detected a twinge of envy from Maris, but she nodded her understanding.
“We’ll figure this out.” Kaiden rose from his seat. “Meet in our common room in the morning?”
“Sounds good,” Toran agreed, and Maris murmured her assent.
We adjourned from the conference room and bid good night to the overnight watch on the bridge, finding that Colren had already returned to his quarters. After taking the lift down to our residential level, Kaiden and I let Toran and Maris go ahead.
“Should I go back to my cabin, or…?” I asked when we were alone.
“I liked having you over, if you’re still amenable.”
I smiled back at him. “I’d like that very much.”
19
I awoke feeling more refreshed than I had in quite some time. To my relief, Kaiden had proved to be a quiet sleeper, and I looked forward to spending more nights together.
Though the relationship was already out in the open, I sneaked back to my cabin next door to get ready for the day. Once showered and changed into a clean shipsuit, I wandered down the corridor to the lounge.
Toran was already at work on the holographic display above the tabletop, reviewing what appeared to be waveforms like those we’d analyzed during our previous investigates into the crystals. “Good morning,” he greeted when he noticed me enter.
“Hey. How was the rest of your night?”
“Took me a while to get to sleep, but I feel better now,” he replied. “And you?”
“Things are good.” I couldn’t help a bashful smile from slipping out.
“I’m happy for you two. You seem good together.”
“Yeah, we are. I think he’s the kind of complement I’ve always needed but didn’t know what to look for.”
He smiled. “It’s funny how those people find us. My wife is an extroverted master of social situations. Before her, I would have been content to remain at the edges, looking in on any event.”
“How long have you been together?” I asked.
“Almost thirteen years, though sometimes it feels like we just met. We took our time before having our daughter.”
“My parents had me young. My mom hadn’t even finished graduate school yet. I got the impression sometimes that they wish they had waited.”
“I trust you’ll find your own timeline. Don’t ever let others tell you what you should do,” he advised.
“I won’t. When we make it through this, I think I’m going to take some time to focus on myself and what I really want.”
He raised an eyebrow. “Having second thoughts about Tactical School?”
“No. Maybe. I don’t know.” I shrugged. “I kind of like having freedom and being in charge. After being able to call the shots like this, I can’t imagine going into boot camp and being a grunt.”
“That’s very true. Colren has given us amazingly free rein. I wouldn’t expect most posts as a Ranger to offer that level of autonomy.”
“Yeah. So, I dunno. Maybe there’s some way to get that adventure without going down that path. Or, maybe I’ll be all adventured out.”
“I know you’ll accomplish great things no matter what you decide to do, Elle,” he told me.
The statement warmed me in the way praise from my parents always did. “Thanks, Toran. I expect to see you on the cover of a major scientific journal after all of this. I don’t think you’ll remain an anonymous maintenance tech after the ingenuity you’ve shown to gain understanding of the crystals.”
He chuckled. “Perhaps. I guess it’s good my wife will be able to help me mingle at all of the fancy awards dinners.”
I laughed. “All of the recognition will be well deserved.”
“Who’s getting recognized for what?” Maris asked, stepping onto the room.
“Just thinking about the good times ahead,” I told her.
“Aren’t we having good times now?” Kaiden asked from a meter behind. “Or is having things try to kill us not fun?”
“Not ideal, no.” I smirked.
“Being showered in fame and fortune for saving known civilization is cool,” Maris said. “But, really, I just want my home to be safe.”
My heart ached. “Me too.”
Kaiden slipped his pendant off his neck. “Here, Toran, you probably need this for the cradle, right?”
“Yes, thank you.” The other man took the pendant and placed it on the specialized device he’d connected to the ship’s sensor suite. “I don’t know why I couldn’t get it to work last time, but let’s try hitting it with the full spectrum and see if I missed any resonance points before.”
While Toran worked, I plopped down in one of the lounge chairs and brought up records about the other worlds consumed by the Darkness. As powerful as the images were, none aside from Windau stood out to me with any clarity.
After half an hour, Toran finally pushed back from the table and groaned. “I don’t know what I’m missing.”
“You were working on this for days before the reset. I wouldn’t expect you to solve it in less than an hour,” Kaiden said, who’d settled into a seat next to me with a tablet of his own.
“I know, but I was hoping for an easy solution all the same.” Toran sighed. “I wish I understood more about how the network transmits data. I’m not surprised we decided to go down to a planet—a direct link would bypass the need for a remote workaround like this.”
“Would it have to be an infected world?” I asked.
“To read the alien signal on the network, yes.” He paused. “But, you know, maybe a direct line to a crystal would still yield more insights than analyzing the pendants. We could tap into the network that way and identify the different components of the signals. I could then parse out what’s different with the pendant to isolate the elements associated with the remote connection.”
I blinked at him. “I’m going to assume you know what you’re talking about and I don’t have to.”
“Yes.”
“Okay, so, what do we do?” Maris asked.
“Back to Crystallis?” Kaiden ventured.
“We’re already here, and there are more crystals than any other world I know about,” Toran replied. “Seems like the best place to be.”
Kaiden set down his tablet. “All right. Let’s tell Colren and head down.”
After relaying our intended plan, we gathered our gear and headed down to the hangar. For once, Tami was nowhere to be seen—finally taking some leave after the grind of the past several days—but her crew got us situated on our shuttle and sent us on our way.
Being our third trip down to Crystallis’ surface, Kaiden had figured out the best way to minimize turbulence from the planet’s tumultuous atmosphere and adjust for the inertial compensators malfunctioning due to the planet’s unique properties. We followed our prior path to the valley containing the Archive, since it held the largest number of crystals we were likely to find anywhere in existence.
Despite seeing the valley be
fore, it still took my breath away as we entered. The towering crystals gleamed in the purple light of the planet, majestic and timeless.
“I’ll set us down on the other side of the valley away from the Archive entrance,” Kaiden said as he looped the shuttle around. “That should hopefully minimize interactions from the Master Crystals, if that’s even an issue.”
“Good thinking,” Toran agreed.
Kaiden located an open area with minimal slope near the canyon’s northeastern edge and landed the shuttle.
I unstrapped from my usual co-pilot’s seat. “What’s the plan?”
“I brought a standard crystal interface kit from the Evangiel, but it’ll take some time to hook up before I can start gathering readings,” Toran replied.
“Need any help?” Maris asked.
“Not right now.” Toran gathered his equipment. “This shouldn’t take too long.”
“You know where to find me.” Maris wandered back toward the sleeping cabins at the aft of the shuttle.
Kaiden and I followed Toran outside into the alien landscape.
“Want to get in some combat practice while we wait?” Kaiden asked me.
“Sure. Is that okay, Toran?”
“Sounds good. I’ll call you when I’m ready,” he acknowledged.
I followed Kaiden toward the canyon wall. “Are you really planning to lob fireballs in a delicate crystal valley?” I asked when we were beyond Toran’s earshot.
“Maybe a couple for good measure, but I figured a romantic nature walk might be a nicer way to spend the morning than listening to Maris whine on the shuttle.”
We strolled through the crystals until we found a collection of rock boulders that shielded us from the surrounding crystals. It seemed as safe as place as any to unleash a few attack spells without fear of harming the surroundings.
“Actually, I had an ulterior motive for bringing you out here,” he revealed.
“We just spent the night together.”
He smiled. “Not related to that. I indicated I was going to be practicing magic so that you could give it a shot.”