“Remarkable.”
“A small effort to stay ahead of the enemy,” the elder replied.
“Don’t others wonder how you can tell when it’s in death lake phase or antiseptic phase?”
“I told them I’ve broken a rhythm code to the lake’s cyclical patterns.”
“That sounds logical. What’s the EMOG look like?”
“Two inches top to bottom. U-shaped. Semi-flexible, transparent, brilliant blue in color.”
“U-shaped?”
“Yes. For a reason I don’t understand, it works only in that configuration. And there’s a major drawback, a nasty side effect.”
“What’s that?”
“It scrambles electronic equipment across the entire spectrum.” He flinched. “Ruined a roomful of lab equipment the night I invented it. No sleep that night while I came up with an energy blocking material to neutralize the force. I lined my hovercart with the material, and I hide the EMOG there. I’m trying to perfect a second EMOG for Star, but can’t seem to get it right.”
“If the EMOG scrambles electronic equipment, how do you get the device to the lake?”
“I ride the cart through the spaceport to the hangar and into a ground transporter, then fly off on business as usual. Tried more than once to find a way to condense the insulating material down to something easily transportable, like a pocket-sized box, but so far no luck, and no time.”
“Yeah, a small box sounds like a great idea. Just don’t invite me to come along when you test-fly with the prototype in your pocket.”
“Discovery requires a leap of faith,” Altemus replied matter-of-factly. He returned to his notes, mumbling, rapping his fingers on the logbook’s open pages and loudly expelling breath from his lips. “Much to do: install new radar unit, life-support management systems, bonded alloys, convert to solid fuel.”
Bach stepped to his partner’s side. “Add a remote controlled ramp in the Wizard. When we travel to the other planets, disembark and lock up, we’ll need to get back in from outside.”
Altemus grumbled, “Remote controlled ramp.”
*****
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
The workday had long ended in Dura’s massive research center, but Bach worked late, frustrated and exhausted. The restoration project had fallen behind schedule and he had ideas to move things along, but needed to record the details in private. For security, he used a pressure-sensitive electronic data pad, and a retention pen that left no print on the pad and encrypted up to five hundred lines of text in memory. He would upload it later to a decryption computer. The pen beeped verification at the end of each written line.
Bach wrote: Program robots to work at higher efficiency. (Beep). Acquire a sixth robot. (Beep). Activate refrigeration systems in portions of environmental module and animals’ module. (Beep). Turn on simulated sunlight in hydroponics chamber. (Beep).
Several sentences later he realized the pen hadn’t beeped for a few lines. He shook it and wrote again on the data pad. No beep. “Oh, no, I can’t lose my data.” The power indicator showed active, but to be sure, he stuck the pen into a charging unit and inspected the pad. Then he noticed something odd; a brownish spot, like a watermark, on the pad’s surface. A watermark? That wasn’t there before. And nothing would imprint on that pad.
Little by little, the spot gained definition. The Specter’s hypnotic eyes stared from the pad and taunting words rolled from his flickering silver tongue. “Don’t be misled by Dura’s sorcerers, Bach. The Ultimate World is not evil. Dura is evil. Unite with me. I can bring harmony to all of creation.” He seemed to wait for a reply, then became resolute. “If you don’t, I’ll have Kaz forget you … perhaps fall in love with Lynch.” The pupils in his eyes funneled toward another dimension. “If you want Kaz and your crewmates back, just share the fuel formula. You’ve won Altemus’s favor with your devotion and virtue. You’ll be his confidant before he dies.”
The Specter’s message sliced through Bach’s mind like a razor blade. He slammed the data pad against the workstation then heaved it across the floor all in one motion, watching as it skidded to a stop where Lavender Rose had sat. It took him a while to calm down.
After retrieving the damaged device, he hurriedly uploaded the information he had stored in the pen to the decryption computer before anything else could go wrong. In a post-adrenaline state of exhaustion, he didn’t hear approaching footsteps.
“So…,” Wilde grabbed a nearby chair, spun it around alongside Bach and straddled it. “keeping yourself company a lot lately, huh? You’ve virtually dropped out of sight, and Altemus is riding you like a one-man rescue craft. Tell him to back off and let you have a social life.”
Bach searched for words and, at the same time, noted Wilde’s odd attire—not the standard jumpsuit, but a white shirt and satiny black pants, both trimmed in shiny silver. “Uh, just enjoying, you know, learning. This technology’s incredible. If we were to get this far on Earth we could change conditions there, turn things around.”
The oddball genius swiveled his chair side to side, eyes fixed on the computer panel.
Bach jerked the retention pen from the download slot. A morphing display of shapes and colors flickered on the panel.
Wilde tapped his fingernail on the glass panel and raised his eyebrows. “What did I catch a glimpse of, temperature controlled environments? Looked interesting. Maybe I can add insight.”
“It’s a hypothetical design for eventual intergalactic travel. Pure speculation on space environments. Just having fun.”
“Fun? We don’t see you all day then you spend long nights here. That’s not fun.”
“I’m learning as much as I can from Altemus. He knows his time is short, that’s why we’re together so much. He tells me his visions for Jenesis. This new technology challenges me to bring them to life.”
“A noble goal. But now, old buddy, it’s time to log off, exit, and shut down. You’re coming to a party.”
“No, thanks, I’m out of place in group situations. And when I do pack up for the night, I plan to decompress and get some sleep. I’m tired.”
Wilde stood firm. “I insist!” He rose from his chair. “It’s a big event. We’re rewarding our internal investigation team for exposing a Rook among us. Poor guy.”
“What happened to him?”
“A dip in the death lake.” He jostled Bach’s shoulder. “Log off, buddy, you’re a free man tonight, and—”
Bach talked over him. “I don’t have time.”
Strengthening his grip on Bach’s shoulder, Wilde said, “Bad excuse … won’t work. Log off.”
Bach spoke into a microphone attached to the computer. “Save. Close. Exit.” The panel went dark, and the system shut down.
#
Wilde and Bach entered the Skyprism’s party facility, an oversized room resembling a cave, complete with rocky walls, ledges, and crevasses. Silver foil streamers swirled from air jets high in the domed ceiling, and tiny rotating lights flashed off hundreds of mirrored chips embedded in the concave walls. On a stage off to one side, a band played a pulsing tune, and dozens of Durans on the dance floor in their black and white clothing with silvery trim hopped up and down to the beat. Ghostly blue lighting stripped the color from their faces, making them seem more like robots than living beings.
Bach watched for a minute then turned to speak to Wilde, only to find he’d slipped away. Staring into the sea of blue-tinged faces, he talked to himself, “Sneak out and go to bed. No one will miss you.” As he turned to leave, cheers, applause, and laughter broke from a group playing electronic games on the far side of the room. The energy and excitement enticed him. Maybe Wilde’s right … I should loosen up. He made his way to the gaming area and stood to one side, uncomfortable as the only one wearing the standard silver jumpsuit. The group separated into four teams of six, and a moderator reset two electronic games that projected images onto midair particles visible within an area the size of a movie screen. Troubles faded f
rom Bach’s mind and he enjoyed a strategic game of good versus evil played in real time. When the electronic bad guys destroyed the good guys with one strike, he moaned and groaned with the spectators, then moved on. Turning his attention back to Durans on the dance floor, he noticed their moves now resembled dancing on Earth. I’m still out of place.
As Bach looked for Wilde in the crowd, a pretty, blond woman smiled at him from about thirty feet away. He inadvertently smiled back and noticed she was headed his way. He looked down at his feet. “Oh, no.”
Before he could look again, someone clamped both hands over his eyes from behind. He winced, then sighed. “Lavender!”
“How’d you know? I just got here. You didn’t see me come in.”
“Your fragrance gives you away.”
Lavender swung around in front of him and leaned close to his face. “Glad you like my DNA.” Her voice seemed more coarse than usual. “You know I miss being near you in the comm center. It’s no fun in spec oversight. I hate it. But tonight,” her voice lowered, “I have you all to myself, away from all that tiresome stuff.” While Lavender rambled on, Bach scanned the crowd for the blond. He didn’t see her, but couldn’t miss Wilde standing near the dance floor on the other side of the room, staring right at him. Wilde’s staunch, motionless presence made the dancers seem a blur.
Lavender noticed Wilde at the same time and quieted down. He signaled for her to join him. She flipped her head and turned around, only to find that Bach had slunk away. She chased after him and tried to lead him onto the dance floor, but he stepped back to resist and bumped into someone. He turned to apologize and found Wilde.
“You need to relax,” Wilde said, grasping Bach’s forearm and shoving a glass with smoke rising from it into his hand. “Join the party. This stuff makes me true to my name, it’s wild!”
The opaque white drink had a weird glow, like milk under a blacklight. Bach grimaced.
“It’s Axxis, spelled with two x’s,” Wilde said, “so named because it’ll rotate you right off yours.” He laughed and walked away.
Lavender pushed the glass to Bach’s mouth. “Try it.”
With the steaming Axxis under his nose, Bach inadvertently inhaled the strong licorice aroma. His gut twisted, remembering one day as a kid when too much licorice sent his stomach contents airborne. “Really, Lavender, I don’t want to drink anything. I want to go to bed. I’m tired.”
“Just try it. It’s not intoxicating. It’s a power juice … jolts you with energy.”
He shook his head.
She plucked the glass from his hand, slugged down the Axxis, and licked her lips. “Whooo. Now I’ll be awake until tomorrow.”
“Terrific,” he mumbled, stepping back to scan the crowd. “Is Star here?”
“Oh Star, Star, busy little researcher, trying to find a way to save our planet. Oh, excuse me, I digress. No, she’s not here.”
Bach changed the subject, “Wilde wasn’t kidding when he said this party was a good one.”
“Yeah, they always celebrate when infiltrating Rooks are discovered and relieved of their positions.”
“They celebrate?”
“They, we, us … you know.” Lavender’s eyes blinked rapidly. She threw her head back and mimicked the drumbeat. “Boom, boom, boom.”
Bach tried to get away, but the Axxis-overdosed fanatic followed in his footsteps. He saw Reno approaching and yelled and waved. “Hey, Reno!”
Reno walked up with a big smile and shook Bach’s hand. “Bach! Glad you joined us. We haven’t had a party in a while.”
Bach looked like he was smiling, but he was whispering through his teeth. “Help. Get me away from her.” Pleading eyes flashed toward Lavender Rose.
Reno put his arm over Bach’s shoulder and spoke loudly. “Let’s head over to the refreshment table. I’ll point out a few good snacks.”
Walking away, Bach took a quick peek over his shoulder. Lavender waved. The hazy blue light gave her pale skin and gray eyes a creepy, luminescent look.
At the snack tables, Reno poked a plate into Bach’s hand. “Elan and I got this fruit on a co-op hop. Planet Maon had a growth season. Have you learned yet about the unusual properties of certain foods? Firefruits, quees, and camlings, to name a few.” He pointed to a fuzzy red berry. “Firefruits terminate intoxication.”
Bach smiled. “I already know about that one.”
Reno held up a brittle-looking yellow object the size of his little finger. “This,” he said, “is a quee, a cross between fruit and vegetable … result of experimentation. Looks dry, but has a liquid core. Put a flame to a quee and it launches sky high. Great source of amusement at times.”
Bach held a quee in his palm and poked at it with his finger. “They’re edible?”
“Yeah. Burns a little going down, sour, but good for cleansing the palate.”
“I’d rather launch it than eat it,” he said.
Reno picked through a bowl of astral foods and pulled out something that looked like a dark brown fortune cookie. “Camling,” he stated.
“Camling,” Bach repeated. “Where have I heard that word before?”
“Fruit’s delicious,” Reno said, “but swallow one of the small seeds and you’ll drop in your tracks and sleep for hours. Not poisonous; just tranquilizing to the point of immobilization. Used medically. Here, taste one.”
“Uh, maybe later.”
Reno tossed down a handful of pellets that looked like red-skinned peanuts while Bach inventoried the unusual fare. Soon, curiosity got the better of him and he pulled a camling from its thorny stem. Avoiding the dozen small black seeds in the middle, he nibbled the outer edges then rolled the pulp around in his mouth. His face lit up with a smile. “Mmmm. Tastes like chocolate, like a chewy brownie. It’d be easy to get carried away and swallow a pit without knowing it. Mmmm.” He ate two more.
“We’re here to dance,” said the dreaded voice of Lavender Rose as she slithered in front of Bach with a come-hither look. The pretty blond he’d seen across the room was with her. Lavender touched Bach’s chest. “I get him.” She waved her hand toward Elan. “Oh, by the way, Bach, this is Elan, Reno’s crewmate.”
Bach stepped away from Lavender and moved closer to the mystery woman. “Nice to meet you, Elan.”
Elan’s green eyes drank him in, but there was no chance at conversation with Lavender Rose’s nonstop babbling.
While locked in a stare with Elan, Bach mentally sorted through bits of information. So, the mystery woman is Elan … her name came up at worship. Maybe late twenties. Reno’s crewmate. Hmmm. Small world.
Swaying to the music, Reno pulled Elan onto the dance floor. Lavender tugged on Bach’s hand. He yelled louder than intended, “I don’t want to dance.” The playful look on her face turned to a pout, but he didn’t notice. Watching the co-op partners enjoying a close dance triggered memories of life on Earth and holding Kaz in his arms.
Lavender broke his train of thought. “Sooo, why don’t you like me?” She moved to within inches of his face and rocked her chest forward. “You know I’m wildly attracted to you.” Her breath smelled of Axxis.
He pulled away. “I have a fiancée.”
“A fiancée? How interesting … no, how disgusting. You couldn’t have found someone that quickly. You haven’t been here long enough. Who is she?”
“She’s not a Duran, she’s my crewmate from Earth … captive in Ulwor with three others. I have to rescue them before the new year. I want her with me.”
Lavender narrowed her eyes. “Want her with you? What’s happening in the new year?”
“You, you didn’t let me finish. I have to get my crewmates here, to Dura. I know they won’t cooperate with the Ultimate World’s principals. They may be harmed. The new year is my personal goal to rescue them.”
“That doesn’t sound right. What’s the real reason?”
“They’re great people whose skills will benefit Dura. You’ll like them all.”
Lavende
r persisted like a blood-seeking mosquito. “Still not the real reason … and I won’t like her. But I love challenges, and I want you to owe me. By the new year, huh? Ten days to get them. What’s it worth to you?”
“Lavender…,” Bach rested his hands on her shoulders, “you’re going through a tough time since your spouse defected to Ulwor. I have the same hopeless feeling. When we worked together, I respected and valued your knowledge and skills. How can we elude Ulwor’s security? Please, I’ll do whatever I can to repay you.”
“Well, you’ll never circumvent the Ultimate World’s security and rescue four people, but since … what’s your fiancée’s name?”
“Kaz.”
“Since Kaz and the others don’t want to be there, the Specter might negotiate. He wants loyal followers.”
Lavender led Bach to a service bar away from the music and crowd and selected two cups filled with an icy purple sludge. She handed a cup to him and said, “Bells,” in her raspy voice, then clinked her cup to his. He tried not to watch as she wrapped her lips around the straw and sucked the thick drink with pleasure. “Much better,” she purred, “need to settle down and think.” She motioned for Bach to drink. He flinched. She shook her head. “It’s Eezee. Taste it.”
He complained inside his head. Don’t want to be here, much less try another astral concoction with unknown consequences. He sniffed the grapey-smelling slush and blasted air from his nose in disgust. “I’m not thirsty right now, Lavender, and I don’t need to settle down. I didn’t drink any Axxis to get wound up in the first place. I need your help.”
Alpha Rising Page 11