by Kord Stone
Justin nodded and he made his way to his console and read,
TDS 3
Initiate secondary binding disk (Yes) or (No).
Justin looked to the group. “This is strange… I just activated the monitor and it was already queued.”
The rest of the group crowded around to watch as Justin selected (Yes). The lights dimmed a second and a moment later Jerren spoke up. “There it is.”
They all looked to the left and sure enough, the secondary binding disk was ready. Calia looked back at the monitor and now it read,
TDS 3
Initiate secondary binding disk (Yes) or (No)
Initiating secondary binding disk
Apply binding disk to host.
Justin picked up the disk and handed it to her then whispered, “You do not have to do this now…if you want to wait.”
Calia shook her head and took the disk from him. “No, we need to make sure this is going to work. I want to do it now,” She pressed the disk to the point behind her right ear and an electrical pulse immediately coursed through her body. It felt as if she were about to explode. The feeling was building, then all of a sudden it was gone and she could feel a presence. Justin was reconnected to her and she could hear his voice again.
Calia are you all right? Justin asked with the bite of worry to his voice.
She felt a rush of energy and love course through her and let out a giggle then replied, Yes, but I do not think we are awake… This is an odd feeling. I can sense the data stream you were talking about. Maybe we should wake up…
* * * * *
It felt like a good ten minutes had passed before Justin and Calia finally opened their eyes. And they said in unison, “What a rush.”
This got Alise chuckling and she asked, “How are you feeling?”
It was Calia who answered first. “Odd…not bad, just odd. The connection we had before did not feel nearly as strong as it does now. And I can speak to Justin in mind again.” She cracked a smile from ear to ear.
Justin asked Jason, “How long were we out?”
Jason replied, “About ten minutes, could you hear us trying to wake you?”
Justin shook his head. “No, but it felt like ten minutes. So the timing was not off. Calia recognized right away it was a dream state and said we should wake, but we seemed to be stuck there until the initial bonding was completed.” He stood and helped Calia to her feet and looked at Jason. “Are you ready?”
Jason looked at Alise, who nodded back to him and he replied, “Yes, but you need to complete the process.” Jason pointed to the monitor.
Justin looked down. “Oh yes.” He told Calia, “You need to interface with the computer.”
She closed her eyes and reopened them a second later then looked at the monitor, and read,
TDS 3
Initiate secondary binding disk (Yes) or (No)
Initiating secondary binding disk.
Apply binding disk to host.
Binding process successful.
Command interface required.
Command interface completed.
Command functions TDS 3 transferred.
Data stream optimal.
Calia smiled. “Well, it looks like we are official.”
Jerren smirked and said, “’Til death do you part.”
Calia frowned. “That was not very nice of you, Jerren.”
Jerren paled and Justin laughed. “It wasn’t an insult; It was a marriage reference from Earth. I guess this was a marriage of sorts… Damn, now I wish I had dressed better and brought you flowers and a ring.” Justin took her in his arms. “At least I can kiss the bride properly though.”
This statement got the rest of the room laughing.
It was Alise’s turn next. Jason handed her the disk and she was about to apply it when Jerren held her up. “You both might want to sit or lie down for that. Remember?”
They both laughed and Jason said, “Thanks, I think we were in too much of a hurry and temporarily forgot.” They decided to lie down and he said, “Ready when you are.”
Jason was lying beside Alise who had already applied the secondary binding disk and was unconscious. Jason asked, “What? Why am I not out like you guys were?”
Justin shook his head. “I don’t know. I passed out almost immediately after she did.”
Jason got up and looking at his monitor he read out,
TDS 1
Initiate secondary binding disk (Yes) or (No)
Initiating secondary binding disk
Apply binding disk to host.
Binding process incomplete.
Jason looked back at Alise. “What the hell is the matter?”
Justin’s mind was all over the place, then it hit him after a few moments. Calia and him at dinner and their strong bond, then this morning when he calmed her down and with a jolt it hit him. “You have to make physical contact… I didn’t go out until I caught her to prevent her from falling.”
Jason sighed, knelt down and grasped Alise’s hand, then Justin, Calia and Jerren were left staring in bemusement.
They watched as Jason lost consciousness and proceeded to pound his face into the floor. They all just stood there befuddled for a moment. Then Jerren spoke up. “I really thought he was going to lay down first.”
Calia and Justin burst into laughter and Jerren joined in as they approached Jason’s motionless body and proceeded to roll him onto his back. He had reached down with his right hand and taken hers when he passed out.
Justin saw the knot forming on Jason’s forehead, and placing his hand on Jason’s head he attempted to heal him. It took a few attempts but by the third time it had worked.
Justin asked Jerren, “Were we connected like that?”
Jerren smiled. “You could have been. We didn’t try to separate you. When we assisted you two to the floor, you both looked comfy, so we left you like that. After Jason assessed your condition and they consulted the monitor we just let you sleep it off.”
Justin sighed and asked Jerren, “So how are you feeling?”
“Fine, why do you ask?” Jerren said with concern etched to his voice.
Justin wondered if Jerren was messing with him, but he didn’t remember seeing any mirrors in the ships, so maybe Jerren didn’t know what he looked like. “You know how I said I would be worried if it took a while and our family noticed us aging?”
Jerren looked blankly at him. “Yes, and?”
Justin smiled. “I don’t think that’s going to be a problem even if it takes a thousand years. That ambrose apparently did a number on you as well. You look almost as young as Jason there now.”
Calia said, “I do not think the rumored effects of ambrose are just rumors anymore, and if it could make an AI with a fabricated body alive and immortal, then I am almost positive you are now immortal as well.”
Jerren looked lightheaded and took a seat. “It didn’t even dawn on me. I was too consumed with helping all of you. I didn’t even remember that I ate the ambrose too.”
* * * * *
Calia was wandering around the master control room and stopped in front of the TDS 5 wall. She wondered where TDS 5 was headed. A moment later a view of a galaxy appeared on the wall, then proceeded to zoom in closer and closer until the course heading and destination appeared. She looked at Justin and Jerren. “Huh, now we know who is feeding the Toralins their information.”
Jerren and Justin were chatting animatedly, then turned and replied at the same time, “What… Who?”
“TDS 5 is heading to Toralis. That is the Toralin home world… Is there any way to open an archway to that ship?” she asked hopefully.
They both shook their heads and Justin replied, “Nope, we tried on several occasions. You can try if you like, but we had no luck.”
Calia tried for over five minutes with no success. She opened an archway to her ship and TDS 1 but was unable to open one to TDS 5. She looked to the display on the console and it just read,
&nbs
p; TDS 5
Access denied. Command authorization required.
Access denied. Command authorization required.
Access denied. Command authorization required.
She let out an exaggerated sigh. “You were right; it will not allow access to me either.”
“Allow access to what?” This was Jason’s voice coming from the floor.
They looked over to see Jason getting to his feet and assisting Alise to hers.
“It is not allowing me to call an archway to TDS 5 either. I was hoping we could get onboard and give Baelentus an express trip off the ship. I was wondering where he was headed and it brought up his bearing and destination…and like I said when you two were out, he is headed to Toralis.” She gave a shrug and looked at Alise. “How are you doing?”
Alise looked happy and said, “Much better now, you were right. This connection is a lot stronger than before…and that pretty much confirms what we suspected. We thought TDS 5 was responsible for giving the Toralins our location and the technology they are using against us. They were on our ‘look into’ list. I was telling Jason that the TPEs were far above the Toralin technological level.”
Calia considered what Alise had said and remembered dealings with the Toralins. “You are right. The Lantins had been looking into time-phase technology for over four hundred thousand years and were just getting close when they were destroyed. The Toralins were barely able to sustain interplanetary travel at that time and fifteen thousand years is too fast to get the technology to warp time. At least on their own.” Calia shook her head. “What are we going to do about them?”
Justin, Calia, Jason, Alise and Jerren stood there for a moment, thinking over what had just been said, and then a voice rang out in their heads and it only said two words, RESET THEM!
Grasping her head in pain, Calia saw the brothers looking at one another with resigned expressions, then looked at her and Alise with shock in their expressions.
Justin broke the silence. “You heard Inola as well?”
Calia nodded through the pain.
Justin asked, “What would be the least destructive way to accomplish it?” He paused a second, then asked, “do we have access to an NNEMP?”
Calia furrowed her brow. “I do not know what the acronym stands for, but I can guess—”
Jason explained, “It stands for non-nuclear electromagnetic pulse. The country we came from has some in their arsenal.”
She said to Justin, “Yes, that is what I was thinking you were referring to, and no we do not have any weapons like that. However, we could achieve the same effects if we were to phase shift in and out within a planet’s geomagnetic field. Atlas had to do it before to stabilize a planetary orbit and the result caused a massive geomagnetic pulse.”
Justin looked interested. “All right, how would we do that exactly?”
Calia walked over to the TDS 3 wall and called for a display of Toralis. A moment later the planet appeared.
Justin let out a groan. “People actually live there? The entire planet looks as bad as Beijing on its worst day. That world looks messed up.”
Calia turned and asked Alise, “They did this all within fifteen thousand years?”
Alise nodded and said, “I would say a little less than that, but it is not localized to Toralis. The consortium as a whole has done this to many planets for their resources—”
“I thought you said we intervene if alien races affect other planets?” Jason interrupted her.
Alise sighed. “We do, but all of the planets they have done this to have joined their consortium beforehand. It is not as if they are invading or attacking without consent. Elgon wanted to help more civilizations to prevent this, but over the last fifteen thousand linear years, we have been inundated with disaster after disaster to rectify. Not to mention avoiding the hazards and traps we now know were set for us.”
Calia asked, “How many disasters have occurred in the last fifteen thousand years?”
Alise did not even hesitate as she ran out the number. “One hundred thirty-two thousand, six hundred and twenty-one planetary, solar and galactic disasters. And one hundred sixty-five attacks by the consortium or their allies in the past thirty-five thousand nonlinear years. We had no time to deal with the responsible parties, but now it looks like we know who is behind at least some of them.”
Calia felt her jaw drop. “That is just over five times the number of events we have dealt with since we took over almost four hundred thousand years ago on TDS 3! I was hesitant about doing this but after seeing and hearing what they have done, it just does not seem right to allow them to destroy their planet and others, as well as attack us.” She looked back to the image of the planet. “To accomplish the GMP, one of our ships needs to be positioned over their northern pole at a perigee of two thousand kilometers and perform a rapid phase shift from a positive .5 TD to negative .5 and back to positive .5. The ensuing pulse will temporarily disrupt the magnetic balance in the planet’s core and will destroy all technology on the planet.”
Jason said, “I know our government had structures that were protected against EMP. Will we encounter anything like that?”
Calia said, “I doubt it. The GMP flux will be so strong that if the ship is out of place when we phase back, it could shift the planet’s axis… I think the Imortum may have done that to Terra…I mean Earth.”
“What do you mean by that?” Jerren asked.
She explained, “Earth has a slight wobble to its rotation. The true north and magnetic north are no longer in the same location. The South Pole is fixed, but it looks as if one of the TDS ships might have phased in anywhere from six to twelve degrees off of the northern polar axis and shifted Earth’s rotation from its magnetic rotation. It must have shifted the magnetic core and may be the reason the magnetic north keeps moving. It has been that way since long before the Lantins left Lanna.”
Jerren looked lost as he asked. “Where is Lanna?”
Jason said, “Lanna is what they called Mars. It was the Lantins home world a very long time ago. This sounds like a good plan. We’ll just have to be careful. Do we all agree on this course of action?” He looked around the room.
Calia was surprised. “You are giving us a say? Atlas would listen to suggestions, but he would decide what would be done in the end.”
Jason looked to Justin who nodded back at him, and Jason said, “Yes, I feel and I believe my brothers would as well, that you should have an equal say in our decision making.” He pulled Alise close to him in a hug.
Calia looked at Justin, who took her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. “He is right, so all in favor of this course of action?” Justin asked.
Alise, Jason, Calia and Justin agreed, then they all looked to Jerren. “You want me to vote too? But I’m not a commander of a ship.”
“This affects you as well, and I don’t care if you have a ship or not. I value your opinion and you do have a vote,” Jason said firmly.
Jerren nodded. “I agree with the plan as well then.”
“I think our ship should be the one to perform the GMP,” Justin said. “Your ship should stay out of the phases we’ll be passing through in case we mess up and you need to rectify it. Jerren are you still planning on kipping in here?”
Jerren smiled. He looked like he knew he was going to get a job and nodded.
“I’d like you to keep monitoring TDS 5 and report any new headings or anything you think will be useful… I know it’s not much, but it will help.”
Jerren smiled, then said, “At least I’ll have something to do here. On your ships, all I can do is stand around. Feeding you guys intel will make me feel useful.”
Jason put his arm over Jerren’s shoulder. “You are useful no matter where you are… Never forget that.” He turned to Alise. “Can you access the probes from here?”
“Actually, I have not tried yet. One second…” She sifted through the data. “Yes, it looks as if all of the ships are headed back to whoever
is commanding them. Three of them are returning to Toralis, four to Abnearu and the final five are headed back to Serqalin.”
“I am not familiar with Abnearu or Serqalin. Where are they?” Calia asked.
Alise smirked. “You would recognize them by their old names I would bet. Abnearu was once called Saleria and Serqalin was known as Traelos. Sometime after joining the consortium they changed the planets’ names. I have no idea why.”
Calia nodded in understanding. “Okay, we will begin with Toralis. Then make a decision on the other two afterward?” She stated questioningly as she looked around.
They all agreed to set course immediately and said their farewells, then they made it back to their respective ships.
Once Justin and Calia entered TDS 3, Calia let out a sigh. She could feel the ship again, and to make herself feel even better she focused on directing the ship to Toralis. Then she turned to Justin. “That was a lot of disasters Alise had to deal with in a lone ship. Somehow I do not think TDS 5 was helping to resolve any of them… We really need to figure a way onto that ship and remove Baelentus.”
Justin nodded at Calia, not really hearing what she had said. All he could focus on was her soft, full lips as they moved, and he was overwhelmed by the thought of how much he wanted to kiss them and feel her body entwined with his in the throes of fiery passion again. Without warning, he scooped her up and a moment later he had transported them to the bedroom, and he proceeded to peel her out of her clothing. When she spoke next, he forced himself to hear what she said.
“So, it was not just the ambrose that made you want me.”
She said it with a smile that made him want to taste every inch of her.
He could feel his heart thrash in his chest, and he said, “Oh you have no idea.” He then pulled her in for a sensual kiss.
Calia seemed to be dazed as she pulled away and looked toward the bed with a glint to her eyes.
Justin’s hands had not been idle during the kiss. He had removed her top, and the tight pants she had been wearing were now down around her ankles. She started to climb onto the bed, but her feet got tangled and she tripped and fell face first on the mattress. She let out a throaty chuckle that drove him past the brink.