Selena

by V Guy

  They toured her small home. She energetically spoke of her ideas, covering the details of her home to the groceries she would need. Helen was noticeably lighter of heart, as if leaving Pathfinder meant breaking the final link to her old existence. She laughed freely, babbled incessantly, and was unabashedly enthusiastic. The long evening, the party, and the excitement of arrival finally affected her, and she collapsed into a recliner with a gasp of relief.

  “What now?” she asked.

  “I go home.”

  Helen pondered him. “Home. What about your past? What about who you were?”

  He smiled. “One doesn’t need a past. I already know who I am.”

  This took her aback. “And the future?”

  “If one takes care of the present, the future usually manages itself.”

  He departed in the Rumbler and arrived in the ship’s darkened entry passage several hours after his original exit. The lights rose, and Evelyn and James walked from seats in the galley to shut down the craft. Malik was slow to emerge.

  “We thought you might be staying,” said the yawning Evelyn. “Is she well settled?”

  He eased from the craft. “Helen is embracing the first place she could honestly call her own.”

  “I’ve already received holo,” said Evelyn, smiling. She leaned into the craft, withdrawing a check pad to make notes on the Rumbler’s systems. “Where are we going next?”

  “We’re returning to Evaline.”

  Malik might have persisted with assisting them or insisted they rest but chose to stand aside and observe, his mind on the many hurdles remaining. His patients and crew would eventually leave, and even if some stayed, he would certainly be displaced from them. His life irrevocably changed the moment he brought the two girls on board at Dakota. Like Martin’s daughters, he would give his life for any one of them. Again, like the twins, his life would be defined by theirs. He could have had no better existence.

  He had returned to his quarters to bathe when the door chimed. Jenna entered, pausing a respectful distance beyond the threshold.

  “Tonight’s sessions are complete,” said Malik, pondering her entry. “I haven’t forgotten one, have I?”

  She clasped her hands before her. “The girls are excited. They see the end of their recovery approaching. They hear freedom calling.”

  He nodded, narrowing his eyes. “New lives and new adventures await. What brings you?”

  Jenna made a shy smile, moved close, and kissed him. “To say thank you.”

  38: Changes

  Day 794: Pathfinder

  Malik made repeated attempts to reach Salient the weeks after the jumpers’ departure, using the new modules as an assist. Every evening, after his interviews, searches for kidnappers, mob bosses, and people of law-enforcement interest, supposing time remained, the ship made a quick departure to the lost system for further investigations. His tweaks of the baseline immersion parameters meant faster transits; trips during the first week following their absence approached two hours, the second week was dropped to seventy-five minutes, while the third week involved forty-minute immersions. Nevertheless, the system remained beyond reach.

  The intervening weekends had been equally occupied but produced more desirable results, generating copious amounts of data from secondary luxury-good suppliers to assist in the search for Selena. Less than a week remained for the women’s nerve-trimming completion. Three of the kidnapped initiates found satisfaction against their abductors during the previous weekend.

  Malik returned from his interviews as Evelyn was giving empty dishes to the observing cops. She waved goodbye and approached.

  “Well?”

  He rolled his shoulders, extending the movement up the length of his neck. “I’m digging a deeper grave.”

  She ran her hands in the hair that had sprouted all over his body since the nanobots’ removal. She then scratched his neck.

  “You have an hour to stop that.”

  “We don’t have that kind of time, you know that. We have stuff to do.” She paused. “It’s thicker and softer.”

  Malik moved forward, gyrating his joints as he slowly moved forward. “It always itches.”

  “Will it cloak when you do?”

  He reached the ramp and groaned. “Surprisingly.”

  “Are you sore?”

  Malik nodded. “Growing pains.”

  Evelyn raised her eyebrows but said nothing as they entered the ship. Ileana, James, and Arturo met them for an update.

  “Well?” asked Arturo.

  “One last week of business hopping.” He shifted his stance, flexing and stretching to loosen his vertebrae. “We need another round of samplings. Some of the collected records may require additional perusals after we visit their associated banks.”

  Arturo groaned. “More banks?”

  They followed as Malik walked to the infirmary. “We have account numbers with no names. Now we need to find those numbers again, but this time with names. I am hoping these other markets will have fallen beneath the hacker’s notice.”

  “There were no gaps in the recovered data. That’s encouraging. What about Kroes’s requests?”

  “She has collectors to interview. In the meantime, there are people on her list to investigate. Some surveillance was completed last weekend, and accelerated substrate passages should allow visiting two of them without time constraints. Engage the extended bed.”

  Evelyn generated a projected table to link two of the infirmary beds. “Wasn’t safety the purpose of longer transits?”

  “Space is mostly empty, and we’ve charted most of these routes.” He lay on the expanded diagnostic table and grunted with the movement. “The worst risk is of getting stuck in the substrate, which is highly unlikely, but I’ll monitor the transits.”

  Malik motioned, and she started a scan.

  “You’re changing,” she said. “You didn’t tell us that.”

  “Well, there’s the hair….”

  “This is considerably more than hair.”

  The others moved closer to observe. “Into what?” asked Ileana.

  “What I was supposed to be,” said Malik, waiting for the detailed scan to finish. “The nanobots unlocked some genetics when they triggered the nerve tissue yet suppressed other genetic expressions. Their fresh absence freed the growth of new tissue. Drelas explained to me what they meant by saying I was a ‘great child,’ and her recitation involved me seeing young dragons. They didn’t have wings.”

  “You’re getting wings?” asked James. He grinned broadly.

  “Fundamental characteristics of Drelas’s genetics are present within me. Considering the placement of the new, organized tissue growth, I predict I’ll get four.”

  “Drelas only had two,” said Evelyn, watching as he rolled off the table. “Did the youth grow larger when the wings grew?”

  Malik activated a monitor to view the data. “A little. They needed the additional muscle mass, but wings were all that remained in their maturity. That was also when they learn to teleport. Flying is a matter of mass, wing area, and thrust, and I probably couldn’t propel two large wings with sufficient power to stay aloft, mostly because of the required muscle mass. Four wings might better distribute the burden and load. Flying could be possible.”

  Evelyn disabled the projection. “That’d be neat. Why weren’t your growth sequences triggered during your initial development?”

  He frowned and shrugged. “Flying might not actually be possible.”

  Strengthening sessions were in progress for nine of the women, adjustment sessions for nerve removal were being done for two of them, while two others had their fertility restored during the previous week. Only seventeen of the initiates were still having their nerves trimmed. These extended tasks affected Evelyn, who was directing nerve removal sessions. She approached Malik on the bridge in the early morning hours after multiple excursions to pilfer records.

  “Have Arturo or Makaha spoken to you?”

>   “They’ve been busy,” said Malik, monitoring the readings from their immersion. “We’ll be at Imperium in thirty minutes. Li and Borislav are up next.”

  “Will you be taking my help all day? You do realize that nerve removal happens on weekends, too?”

  “I do. There will always be people to help.”

  She scowled. “Not always.”

  He turned to face her, a matching scowl forming on his maw. “Will this be a game of twenty questions, deliberate evasiveness, or will you actually tell me what’s on your mind?”

  Evelyn set her jaw. “Arturo and Makaha are planning on leaving.”

  His eye ridges rose. “Hmmm, that.” He turned back to the console. “I find it amusing that even understanding my extensive awareness, people somehow believe I don’t know things.” Malik glanced back. “When did they tell you?”

  “Yesterday.”

  He nodded. “They have the funds, the property is perfect, but they can’t complete the purchase because of a few minor details; their remediation must be documented in advance and in person.”

  Evelyn’s shoulder’s fell. “You knew?”

  “The ship isn’t that big. Other people can take their place, and Nina and Violet have been observing to understand the process. They could easily sub.”

  “They aren’t the commandos.”

  “No,” said Malik. “Of course not. But Violet does have excellent technical abilities and would quickly learn, while Nina’s mind shows good potential for medicine. She’ll need some experience to survive outside, and helping you would be a good start.”

  Evelyn crossed her arms, shook her head, and dropped heavily into one of the seats. “But why? Why leave now?”

  He eased closer. “Many of these women have become fierce and independent, but others will need additional adjustment time. Arturo and Makaha have chosen to help by acquiring an abandoned estate, restoring it, and turning it into a refuge.”

  “They’re leaving.”

  “Most everyone will. I’ll also leave, be sold, and there will be no more serving me.”

  Evelyn looked at him and frowned. “Then your future hasn’t changed?”

  “If Kay doesn’t sell me, someone else will.”

  “What about mine?”

  He returned to the console. “Kroes has already guaranteed her end of the agreement. I expect you to have the brightest future. You’ll be given the schematics of both the extractors and the intricate connections for seamlessly integrating a student trainer with full, life-support equipment. Then there are the breach equations and the blueprints for creating your own medical equipment, but you might need a ship for that.”

  She abruptly rose to her feet, staring at him in disbelief.

  He grinned. “Serena has agreed to sell you Pathfinder, just like she sold the Fates to me. I have earmarked funds, you can offer a good price, and Liola has made queries into finding strong legal representation. Her brothers are grateful for having the family back.”

  Her mouth dropped open.

  Malik’s humor tempered to a warm smile. “The ship and everything within it are yours, should you want it.”

  Evelyn slowly recovered, crossing her arms anew as she made a petulant expression. “What if I don’t?”

  “Then we’ll work overtime to destroy all the good stuff.”

  “Well, that’s completely unacceptable.” She puckered her lips before grinning. “I’ve had enough overtime for a while.”

  She walked to the station next to him. “This is your ship. This will always be your ship.”

  “I’m the family dog that refuses to get off the couch.”

  “You’re the family dog that reupholstered the cushions, rewired the electrical, renovated the bathrooms, and built the kitchen cabinets. You’ve earned the couch.”

  Malik cracked a crooked smile. “And soon, you’ll be the owner. Would you like a skylight in the bedroom?”

  “Only if I can keep the dog.” Evelyn smiled as she cocked her head. “Do you think Serena would sell you in advance?”

  His smile faded. “There’s the hold on my certificate to consider. Marina Kay’s claim has priority, which defaults to law enforcement if it’s relinquished. Considering the things I’ve told investigators, they could do whatever they chose. St. Gale has expressed serious disapproval concerning some of my solutions, I have no rights, and could be dispatched on a whim. While your futures improve, my fate remains.”

  “I suppose you can’t change that.”

  “I could,” said Malik. “Unofficially. But it would come at everyone else’s expense. Consider yourselves a guarantee for my cooperation.”

  Evelyn glanced around the bridge, frowning as she pondered his words. “Why would law enforcement sell you, rather than terminate you?”

  He tweaked the ship’s course through the immersion controls. “I believe Kroes wants me through any means possible, even if that means granting a conditional pardon.”

  “Conditional?”

  “I do whatever she decides, either directly or through my new owner.”

  She scowled in disgust. “Surely there are other futures.”

  “It’s an alternative to death.”

  “You have terrible options.”

  He made a soft grunt. “No kidding.”

  Pathfinder’s arrival at Imperium came with the blackness of space then descended back into fire as the ship skated to the world. Evelyn watched the transition, her mind turning to the transitions they had made all week. “Have you given up on Salient?”

  Malik shook his head. “Finding the bumps and dimples of possibly one hundred mass adjusters buried in the curls and layers of stacked channels and spread across the immense area of the gravity restriction would be almost futile. We’ve enough to do.”

  “What about the sensor modules we’re installing?”

  He raised an eye ridge. “They’re expanded LDLU sensor array, designed to look deeper in the substrate. Call them LDLDF, for ‘look down, look down farther,’ if you wish.”

  “Then you’re still hopeful.”

  Malik cocked his head. “It remains an option. I’m building a mathematical model to represent Salient’s split channel. More information is needed, but we’re too busy to acquire it.”

  “Too busy?” asked Evelyn, raising her eyebrows in surprise. “You’ve noticed?”

  He snarled. “Don’t make me change my mind.”

  Arturo arrived on the bridge to assist with the next mission and caught Evelyn’s gaze. She saw him, hurt showing on her countenance, and she lowered her eyes before leaving. An expression of distress touched his visage.

  “She’ll recover,” said Malik. “She’s just weary of being busy.”

  “You know?”

  “I do.”

  Arturo shuffled self-consciously toward his station. “I didn’t know how to tell you.”

  “When were you planning to try?”

  He looked away. “I don’t know. We don’t like leaving you with unfinished projects.”

  “You’re one of them. I can say that there are at least four women who may need further adjustment time.”

  Arturo glanced outside. “Ileana said as much. We don’t really want to go, but we can’t stay either.”

  “I like having you here. You’d eventually have to leave.”

  The ship transitioned to real space above the planet Imperium, and Arturo accessed the controls. “Li and Borislav indicate readiness. The first business is slipping into night.”

  “There’s a lot of traffic,” said Malik, observing the scanners. “I’m taking the ship lower. We’ll launch near ground level.”

  “How many targets?”

  “Five.”

  Arturo paused to watch outside as Pathfinder descended, moving to a side of the world where lights flickered like an advancing brush fire. “These operations will be a lot harder without us.”

  “True, but there should be only another week; it’s a short list of banks. Conventional
travel to reach Tania, finalizing purchase and transfer arrangements, and getting the residence ready for occupation could take several months. You’ll need that time.”

  The ship entered Imperium’s night side, offering them a lofty appreciation of the sunset.

  “The passage is cleared, darkened, and evacuated,” said Arturo, his eyes dropping. “I will miss this.”

  A series of communications were exchanged after Pathfinder reached the waypoint. Soon after, the Rumbler was launched. They observed the outside lights as Malik altered the ship’s hold position.

  He gently touched the man’s shoulder. “And I will miss you. Both of you.”

  39: Missions

  Day 796: Pathfinder; Xist; The Belle’s Curve

  Arturo and Makaha set the last of their tools into place and secured the equipment locks. A clear Evaline morning greeted them as they towed a large trailer down the ramp and onto the tarmac. Arturo marveled at the contents of the reinforced carrier as he verified the inventory. It had been parked in cargo bay two to contain the items they acquired through special orders and onboard fabrications. The vehicle acquired to tow it was a modified, six-wheel, all-terrain vehicle with limited hover capacity, and attached to the craft’s tail were two of the stealth hoverbikes. They had been stripped and modified to make them street legal, but every gram of their power had been retained.

  “Do you think the Crawler is too much?” asked Arturo, gazing appreciatively at the vehicle.

  “You might want to do some off-roading,” said Malik. “You won’t be forever restoring that house.”

  Evelyn and James descended the ramp to join them.

  James handed a package to Makaha and smirked. “Don’t leave this behind. You’ll want it.”

  Makaha lightly clasped the other’s shoulder. “You won that.”

  “Yeah. And I want you to remember you lost.”

  The commando raised a challenging eyebrow. “It was once. Only once.”

  “You’re actually leaving,” said Evelyn, placing hands on her hips.

  Arturo’s eyed dropped. “We’re helping you do your job. Besides, you’re nearly finished.”