by J. N. Chaney
“Can I play with my pad until then?”
Octavia put a hand on the girl’s shoulder. “That will be just fine.”
While the kid busied herself with some sort of game, Dressler turned her attention to the computer. It didn’t take long for her to start making lots of noises to herself, but not the usual grunting. She was murmuring and, if I wasn’t mistaken, the sounds were positive. Oohs and ahs instead of annoyed cursing.
Abigail and I just watched, not wanting to disrupt anything. My gaze wandered to her workspace and I noted it had been cleaned up some. Unlike her labs on Tartarus and in the domes on Earth, the space on Novo seemed tailored to the task. I supposed it probably was. Glacio, as she called it, probably had the same thing. We just hadn’t seen it since all the usual labs were destroyed in the collapse. The portion of the facilities we’d seen had been in a state of decay and disrepair for thousands of years. Novo was the polar opposite.
It was a shame that Hygeia had gone the same route as Hephaestus. But maybe I wasn’t being fair. She’d healed Lex. Her violence toward us had been to prevent the interruption of her given duty. Hell, if we’d succeeded, maybe Lex wouldn’t be fixed at all. The fall could have killed her.
“Oh my,” Dressler said, interrupting my thoughts.
I froze, worried she might have found something, but both she and Octavia were bobbing their heads excitedly and motioning at the holo screens.
“What’d you find, MaryAnn?” Abigail asked.
Dressler waved us over for a better look, but Octavia spoke first. “Do you remember the first time we ran an analysis on Lex’s cells?”
I nodded. “Sure. After she hurt her hands. You said her cells were better.”
It was hard to forget that day. Lex had screamed when an old Earth artifact—that later turned out to be a turn-key—had left her hands with second degree burns. The damage had healed pretty quick, but nothing like this.
“That’s right.”
“What are they now, perfect?” interjected Abigail.
To my surprise, Dressler shook her head. “That’s not quite the word for it.” She hesitated, hunting for the right thing to say. “This goes beyond perfect. Lex’s cells are recovering at an unprecedented rate. It’s going to take some time to unravel, but I believe healing might just be the beginning. There’s no telling what other properties have been unlocked with this new enhancement.”
I stared at the doctor, trying to wrap my head around it. “Are you saying she’s not human anymore?”
Abigail elbowed me in the ribs and jerked her head toward Lex. The kid was still happily tapping away at her game, not paying us any mind. “Shh. She could hear you. And of course, she’s still human, right MaryAnn?”
Dressler inclined her head. “Yes, of course. Her genetic makeup hasn’t fundamentally changed. It’s just been enhanced.”
“How so?” I asked. My mind went straight to the Boneclaws again and how Janus had described them as the perfect hunting machines.
“I’m not sure yet. We don’t know enough to say what other changes Lex will experience. However, as she matures, I predict we’ll find out.”
I crossed my arms. “So, what now?”
“It would be a good time to have her work with the phasing cuff. I have a feeling the results will be different this time around.”
“You okay with that, Abby?”
She glanced back at Lex again before nodding. “Just don’t let her overdo it. We don’t want another Jace situation on our hands. You know, where he passed out on us.”
I groaned. “You’re never going to let me live that down, are you?”
“Never.”
Over the next hour, Dressler put Lex through her paces with the cuff. As it turned out, the kid took to it pretty fast. I supposed that was pretty normal. If someone had handed me that kind of tech at her age, no doubt I’d have used it for something less than legal. Reminded of my youth on Epsy, I couldn’t help but smile. Oh, the things I could have done with the ability to phase.
“Lex, hunny, still doing okay?” asked Abigail.
It had been almost five solid minutes since Lex had initiated her 13th phase and she still showed no signs of fatigue. The kid was a machine.
“Yep!” she replied from somewhere in the middle of the room. “I feel great.”
“10 more seconds, then I want you to shut the cuff off,” Dressler instructed.
“Aww, do I have to? This is so much fun.”
“Yes, you do,” Octavia broke in firmly. “You know the rules. If you want to handle the cuff, you have to be mature and listen to what we tell you. It’s for your own safety.”
“Alright. I understand,” Lex replied.
“Okay, time’s up. Go ahead and come back,” said Dressler.
In the space where her voice had come from, a disturbance of the air began to shimmer. Lex’s hand appeared first, followed by her arm, then the rest of her body. She looked around and smiled brightly. “Did I do it right?”
“Very good,” said Dressler, beaming at the girl. “And, very impressive, Lex. Now, I think that’s enough for today.”
I could see the girl was going to protest, so I put a hand on her shoulder. “Why don’t you go with Octavia to meet with Mr. Shaw. Abigail and I have some things to do, then we’ll meet you in the hangar.”
That cheered her up. “Really? I get to see the boneyard?”
I nodded. “That’s right. But you have to behave and listen, okay?”
She bounded over toward Octavia in excitement. “I’m ready to go!”
Just before she got there, Lex stumbled over one of Dressler’s tech experiments. Before anyone had time to react, the kid fell, but not in her usual clumsy way. She tucked herself forward and rolled, then bounced into a standing position.
Everyone in the room just stood and stared, processing what we had just witnessed.
“What’s wrong?” asked Lex, no doubt noticing our expressions.
“How did you do that?” I asked.
The girl wrinkled up her nose in confusion. “Do what, Mr. Hughes?”
“What you just did, kid. The roll and acrobatic deal. It was like something out of a holo flick,” I said.
She just shrugged. “I dunno. I guess I just didn’t want to get hurt. Rolling seemed like the right thing to do. Was it wrong?”
“No, Lex. It was amazing,” Abigail assured her.
Laughing, Octavia took Lex by the hand. “Alright, let’s go find Mr. Shaw then.”
When the two were gone, Abigail and I turned to Dressler. “So, what are your results? Because that definitely wasn’t normal.”
Abigail snorted. “Well, the tripping was normal. Lex manages to do that a lot. But she’s never caught herself like that before.”
The doctor blew out a breath and ran a hand through her short cap of black hair, mussing it. “As I said, unprecedented, Captain. From everything I can see, Lex’s cells are regenerating so fast that the repeated molecular breakdown doesn’t seem to be affecting her. As for the inner gymnast she seems to have found, I’d call that instinct.”
“Instinct?” I echoed.
“Yes. It’s a bit like pulling your hand away from something hot. Lex’s body didn’t want to fall and get injured, so to speak, which caused it to react without her even needing to think about it.”
“And the cell regeneration?” I asked. “Is her body going to change into…” I paused, uncertain of how to phrase what I was thinking.
“Someone else,” finished Abigail, apparently contemplating the same concerns.
“You have nothing to worry about. Lex is still herself.” She said it gently, as though the good doctor knew of my apprehension. “Nonetheless, she could use the cuff not just for extended periods of time, but for an unlimited amount of it.”
“You sure about that, Doc?” I had a hard time imagining that. My limited understanding of phasing told me that it shouldn’t be possible. The body simply wasn’t made to break down at the mo
lecular level and rebuild itself over and over. Or at all, really.
“Oh, I’m sure. You saw for yourself. She’s been using it for an hour and doesn’t even appear the least bit tired. The readings are completely different from the first time she wore the cuff. I’ll need to work with her more, but I don’t see any of this changing.”
I exchanged a look with Abigail. “Speaking of continuing the work, we wanted to talk with you about an evacuation plan, Doc.”
Her forehead wrinkled up in confusion. “What do you mean, evacuation plan? I’m not leaving Tartarus. I have far too much research still yet to do on this ship. I’m still working on Athena, and I haven’t even gone through all of the various subsystems on—”
“We’ll get to that in a second,” I interjected. “If we arrive at White Cross and the Celestials somehow beat us, we’ll need someone to keep the fight going. You’re the brains behind the war. If we lose you, then we might as well pack up and call it quits. We’re sending Lex with Admiral Shaw and you’re going with them.”
“You’re our best hope, MaryAnn,” said Abigail. “If the Alliance falls, the survivors will need you to help pick up the pieces.”
Dressler didn’t respond right away. She looked pensive, as though deciding whether or not to argue with us, but I could see the gears turning in her head the same way they always did. She was working through it all, trying to logic it out, and then she nodded. “Fine. I don’t like it, but you have a point.”
“Good,” I said, rubbing my hands together. “Now that we have that figured out, what were you saying about Athena?”
“The work is slow. When Sigmond used Janus’ empty shell to make himself a Cognitive, he didn’t have Redundancy. His personality matrix was completely intact. It was fairly simple for him to perform the upgrade process. With Athena, we have to be much more careful.”
“That makes sense,” said Abigail. “If any of the corrupt code gets into the new shell, it—along with Athena—will have to be wiped clean.”
“Exactly so, Ms. Pryar. Then she will be lost to us forever.”
I grimaced. “Don’t let that happen, Dressler.”
She smiled wanly. “I have no intention of doing so, Captain.”
Sigmond’s form materialized without warning. “Sir, I’ve come to inform you that we are four hours from our destination. Now would be an excellent time to go over the escape plan with Lex and Admiral Shaw.”
“You made it!” Lex turned one of her megawatt smiles in our direction when she saw us, and she let go of the Admiral’s hand to greet us.
He watched her, that indulgent grandfatherly smile on his face again. I knew he would protect her with his life, if it came to that.
“Of course we did,” said Abigail, smiling at Lex.
I gave her the customary hair tousle and nodded at Shaw.
“Am I in trouble?” Lex looked from me to Abigail, clearly sensing something was off.
“Should you be?” I wiggled my eyebrows in mock suspicion to make her laugh, and succeeded.
“You’re silly, Mr. Hughes.”
“You’re not in any trouble, Lex,” promised Abigail. “We just need to go over something with you.”
Content that we weren’t going to yell at her, the girl waited with patient curiosity.
I hadn’t prepared talking points and did my usual—just winged it. “There’s going to be a fight soon.”
Eyes wide, she leaned in as if hanging on my every word. “A big one?”
“That’s right,” Abigail said. “It’s going to be dangerous. Maybe the most dangerous one we’ve been in.”
Something flickered in her eyes, the fear that came from experience. “But you guys will come back. You always do.”
I crouched down to be at eye level with her. “We’re going to give it everything we’ve got, kid. But I won’t lie to you. There’s always a chance that things could go sideways. If they do, we need to know that you’re safe.”
Lex’s eyes didn’t fill with tears as another child’s might have. She jutted out her chin and nodded. “Okay, Mr. Hughes. Do I have to go somewhere?”
“Not necessarily,” I said.
Abigail put an arm around her and squeezed. “Mr. Shaw is going to keep watching you like he has the last few days. When we’re done talking, you’ll get on a ship. This one, in fact.” She pointed at a small vessel. It wasn’t built for combat like so many of the other ships in the boneyard, but Chelanah had seen to it that it had protection. “If Mr. Shaw thinks it’s too dangerous to stay, he’ll take you back to Earth.
“It’ll be pretty easy. All you have to do is whatever Mr. Shaw says.” I pointed at him and she nodded. “I mean it, Lex. Don’t get any ideas just because you can heal. No sneaking off, no hiding. I need you to promise.”
Lex stuck out one skinny hand. “Dr. Hitchens says that shaking hands is a promise you can’t break.”
“He’s right about that.” I took it and we shook.
She repeated the process with Abigail and Shaw. He didn’t treat her like a kid, which I figured was part of the reason she liked him so much. We got them situated on the ship with plenty of supplies in case they had to make the trek home.
“Does it have a name?” Lex asked, gesturing to the vessel.
I grinned. “Nope. That’s up to you. I figure if this is going to be your getaway ship, you should have the honor of naming it.”
Her eyes lit up and she chewed on her bottom lip as she thought. “I got it! Apollo. Mr. Hitchens says he watched over travelers, even fugitives.”
That made me chuckle. “You’re no fugitive, kid. But I guess you might be a traveler, if it goes that way. I think it’s a great name. What about you, Abby?”
“Apollo it is,” she said, nodding easily. “Great job, Lex.”
We said a few more parting words then retreated to the hangar doors.
Lex stood inside the small cargo bay, holding Shaw’s hand and waving at us until the ramp closed.
Just to be on the safe side, I’d decided it would be best for them to stay on the newly minted Apollo until either the fight was over or they had to leave. There was always a chance things could go wrong before we got to White Cross. The thought was unsettling, and I made a note to make sure Carl and any other capable vessel were scanning for traps the Celestials might leave in the slip tunnel. It was also a possibility they could lay mines outside our rift too.
“Gods, I hope we’re doing the right thing,” said Abigail, breaking through my thoughts.
“We are. Don’t ask me how, but Shaw is one of us now.” I laughed as a thought came to mind. “Lex has herself a Constable guardian angel. How about that?”
Abigail’s lips spread into a thin smile. “I’d prefer she didn’t need one at all. But, as long as she does, I’m glad for Shaw and Alphonse. Everyone, really. Lex has a lot of people who care about her.”
I took her hand and met her worried eyes. “Think about it, Abby. Everything happening is because of her. People have freedom. We found Earth. And now a whole lot of soldiers are willing to fight for it.”
“You’re right. I just hope we’re enough.”
15
The last S.G. Point dropped us square in Sarkonian controlled space. It was odd to be in a place I tried so hard to avoid during my time as a Renegade. Getting caught here would’ve earned me time in a labor camp, or worse. That was why I’d always been careful to skirt the bubble of the Empire’s territories. Especially White Cross, even though that had been in the Union’s hands for some time until recently. There was just no telling when the two factions might go to war over it and no one wanted to be caught in the middle.
With ten planets and two asteroid belts to its name, the White Cross system was bigger than Sol and most of the others I’d been to. A number of resources were harvested there, but one stood above the rest to the Sarkonians: N02-99. It couldn’t compare to Neutronium, but it was the closest thing they had, primarily used in the construction of their ships.
In any case, it was clear that the Celestials had come here because of it. None of us believed they attributed any importance to the compound except as a tool to hit the Sarkonians where it would hurt most. Vick had already come up with a list of Union assets that could be among the next targets, but he hadn’t shared it yet.
Alphonse had come up with a similar list for us. We couldn’t assume that the Celestials were only interested in those that used to be Earth’s enemies. The Sol system might not have current mining operations, but there were other things. Sigmond’s drone facility came in at the top of the list. It was the most heavily guarded and taking it out would be a huge blow for us.
I didn’t think the Celestials would hit Earth, at least not yet. Alphonse agreed, but it was still speculation. The truth was, we didn’t really know how the enemy might respond. Even Carl wasn’t much help, citing that this situation was unlike anything he’d ever heard of.
According to the Archives, no one had stood against the Celestials. At least none that lived to tell the tale. Leif’s people were a prime example. Always running, looking behind them for the looming threat. I’d be damned if we would do the same. No, the time for running and hiding had passed. It was time for action.
Though at first nothing looked remiss. The latest transmission from Sarkon reported that the Celestials had struck Prosperitas—the region’s biggest producer of the N02 compound. As our Alliance fleet closed the distance, telltale signs of battle became obvious. Part of a Sarkonian fighter spun past close enough to register on the display. A few minutes later, an entire carrier, the hull so riddled with holes that it left no hope of any survivors.
On the holo, a battle raged around Prosperitas’ upper orbit. And it sure as hell wasn’t going well for the Sarkonians. A few Empire vessels remained, most limping along. The rest were engaging in evasive maneuvers instead of attacking. The Celestial ships were in full view, which meant the pulse cannons had at least done their jobs. Regrettably, it hadn’t seemed to help in the end. A single inoperable Celestial vessel floated amidst the Sarkonian’s ruined defenses.