Valence (Confluence Book 4)

by Jennifer Foehner Wells

  “It is, Pio. I’m sorry to push you, but there isn’t much time left. We’ll be leaving for Terac soon. We need to get people settled.”

  “Are you certain you can’t manage two ships?”

  Jane shifted uneasily under Pio’s unblinking stare. Pio had asked this before and Jane had been firm then. “One ship is more than enough to manage. You’ll do fine with whomever you choose. Having someone aboard will be far better, in case we get separated.”

  Pio muttered irritably, “I do wish you would choose for me.”

  Jane grimaced and shook her head slowly. “You know I won’t do that.”

  “I do know.” She was silent for a moment. Her arms whorled and twined around her in agitation, and her skin flashed her anxiety a couple of times. “Perhaps it is wrong, but I want to select a human, rather than a sectilian or Huna.”

  Jane drew her brows together and stepped closer to the barrier between them. “It’s not wrong. Tell me about your thought process.”

  “It’s really rather simple. I’m afraid to trust a sectilian and I just don’t know the pligan very well.”

  Tears pricked Jane’s eyes. Such a bald confession. So filled with history and pain, but uttered so cleanly. Pio didn’t evade the truth, even if it was like pressing hard on a painful bruise. Jane appreciated that about her. In time, she felt Pio would heal fully and be wise and formidable. Even now, Jane knew she trusted her without reservation. Pio had risked everything when she’d turned against Kai’Memna, and then done it again when she’d used her own ship to prevent the Speroancora from sinking to the bottom of Pliga’s ocean.

  “That makes sense. You realize the sectilians we know now are very different from the ones you knew before. They’ve learned from the trials of the past.”

  Pio twisted sharply, losing some of her grace. “Not different enough to give me comfort.”

  “Okay.”

  “I see how the humans interact with Brai. With me. I note the difference. I could never accept someone like Ryliuk as my Qua’dux. He does not see us as more than animals. I will not be that docile servant again.”

  Pio’s concern here was legitimate. “He has come a long way, but still has much to learn.”

  “But my choice will cause some problems. I’ve been struggling with the decision because of this. I think he will accept, but there are relationships to consider. Many things to consider, actually. I don’t want to make life harder for anyone. Or cause anyone to suffer.”

  Pio sounded calm, but Jane’s heart stuttered. Did she mean to ask Alan? That would mean separation. She hadn’t thought of that as a possibility. It had never occurred to her that Pio might choose Alan—because of his general distrust of Brai—but perhaps Pio saw that as some kind of positive?

  Pio turned away slightly. Her regenerating arm came into view. It looked functional now, but half the length of the rest. Schlewan said it would eventually reach full size, but that would take time. Lira hung suspended upside down, her eyes pinched closed in bliss as Pio rubbed an arm over her flank. And there was more—Jane could sense through her connection with Pio that Lira felt happiness. It surprised Jane, but also laid to rest any worry that they’d done the wrong thing by allowing Pio to bring a wild animal aboard.

  Jane waited while Pio debated with herself.

  Finally Pio turned back to Jane. “I would like to choose Doctor Ronald Gibbs to be the Quasador Dux of this ship.”

  Jane let out a breath. Ron. She wanted Ron. Jane smiled. He was the Qua’dux she would have chosen for her. “Excellent choice.”

  “I like how he is genial and calm under pressure. He is decisive but never belligerent.”

  Ron was a model example of the US astronaut program. Their standard candidates always demonstrated this type of self-possessed personality. In fact, Ron, Ajaya, and Tom Compton were all nearly imperturbable individuals. NASA had stepped outside that comfort zone when including her and Alan, and to some extent Mark Walsh, on the Providence mission. They’d said they had found a new dynamic that their experts had decided worked better under stressful conditions. And perhaps they’d been correct. It had been one hell of a test program.

  Jane nodded. “He is all of those things. I think the two of you will work together well. I’d be surprised if he didn’t agree.”

  “Oh, I know my shortcomings. I wasn’t always like this, you know.” A note of melancholy crept into her mental voice. “But I think he will fill in the chinks. He will help to keep me balanced.”

  Jane didn’t disagree. “Do you have a second choice?”

  “Doctor Ajaya Varma, for similar reasons. Though…” Pio turned her attention again to Lira, who was rolling under Pio’s caresses. “And herein my concerns lie. I’d really like Tinor to stay because of her devotion to Lira—she has made it possible to keep Lira with me. If Varma wishes to stay with Gibbs, and Tinor also remains aboard, that would leave you without a medical doctor on the Speroancora. If we should need to part ways at any point, that could be a problem for you.”

  Jane sighed. “I see why you’re worried about it. Well, let’s find out what Ron says first, then the rest will work itself out. One step at a time, don’t you think?”

  Pio’s agitated limbs settled back into a more normal, graceful, fluid motion.

  “Call him down for a visit,” Jane said. “They’ve just finished outside, so he should be free. I’m going to see how Huna is doing with the Tree on the Greenspace Deck. I’ll come back in a bit to find out what Ron said.”

  “Oh—now?”

  “Let’s not put it off any longer.”

  Pio immediately seemed distressed again.

  “I assure you, you’ll feel better once it’s done and you know his answer.”

  “I’m sure you’re right. You must be right.”

  “Remember, Pio—the yoke is gone. The relationship you have with a new Quasador Dux will be very different from any you’ve had before. It will be cooperative in nature. You will have a meaningful say in your future.”

  Pio agreed silently, and while she was still apprehensive, her anxiety seemed greatly reduced from where it had been at the beginning of their conversation.

  Jane smiled and waved at Lira. “I’ll be back soon.”

  Jane opened the door of the Greenspace Deck to find it looking very much like a construction zone. Plants and trees lay on their sides in piles around the perimeter of the deck with coarse fabric wrapped around their root balls. The soil was churned up with bits of leaves and branches sticking out. About a dozen pligan workers were digging up vegetation and moving it around. Huna might have been all but shunned for his behavior, but they still cared about his welfare. They’d sent work crews to help ensure that he would survive aboard the Oblignatus.

  “Qua’dux!”

  Jane turned to see Pledor emerging from around masses of greenery. He was looking cheerful despite being covered in dirt.

  “How are things progressing here?” she asked.

  “Briskly, with all this help.” He gestured to the pile of plants behind him and cocked his head to one side, watching her reaction in his very birdlike way. “These will be hauled back to the Tree for cultivation and study. The pligans are excited to study the genetics of these plants—as well they should be! Sectilius has quite a bounty of flora that they would do well to scrutinize! I’ve also set aside a selection of useful food-bearing specimens to transplant to the Speroancora. It will greatly increase our daily yield.” Pledor’s willowy frame swelled with pride. “And I have a surprise for Master Ryliuk.” He indicated a wilted pile of foliage that Jane had assumed was destined for composting. A closer look revealed it to be the fuzzy plants that Ryliuk was so fond of.

  Jane raised her eyebrows. The plants didn’t look like they were doing too well. She would have guessed they were dead, but she didn’t know anything about them.

  “I’ve adjusted the lighting, soil composition, and watering schedule to mimic conditions on Pliga. They’ll be bringing in a rooted spec
imen of the Tree any moment now.”

  Jane wondered how Huna felt about Pledor taking over this project. He’d surely be able to fine-tune things after Pledor left. “I’m certain your extensive experience gardening in the Sten compound has been very helpful.”

  “Oh, it most certainly has,” Pledor agreed, and he dashed away to direct some pligans carrying plants from elsewhere on the deck.

  Jane strolled around, careful to keep out of the way of the workers as a massive cart with a twenty-foot-tall tree was wheeled in. It was obvious immediately that this was Huna’s Tree. Its trunk was disproportionately wide, probably at least three feet in diameter, with several small sap nodes coming off of it. The leaves were the same thick, leathery ones she’d seen on the Tree, though quite a bit smaller. Perhaps this Tree had been genetically altered to survive under these conditions.

  The workers removed bindings and coverings from the roots and gently lowered it into a wide hole. Then they began to painstakingly stretch out the roots and pat soil into place around them. This went on for a long time—arranging, scooping, and smoothing by hand with a great deal of attention to detail and a distinct sense of reverence. Some flexible piping was laid among the roots at the same time, presumably for irrigation. Jane didn’t intrude to ask. Somehow it felt wrong to interrupt.

  She heard a sharp intake of breath and glanced back at the main door to see Ryliuk standing there with his ears pulled back and his eyes bulging. He strode directly to the plants Pledor had been saving for him and knelt. She walked over to him. He was tenderly lifting up the limp plants.

  He met her eyes. “They’re in terrible pain,” he said to her, mind to mind, his words laden with anguish. “Who did this?”

  “I’m certain it wasn’t intentional. Pledor was so excited to show them to you—”

  Ryliuk stood and marched out of the room, brushing coldly by Pledor, whose animated expression fell instantly.

  Jane sent him a sympathetic look. She hoped this incident wouldn’t cause friction between the two men. Sectilians took their disputes to the local Dux. That was her.

  She sighed and headed back to the core of the ship to see how Ron and Pio had fared.

  Jane rode the deck transport to the level Ron was on and walked across the catwalk to find him sprawled out on the grating with his feet against Pio’s tank, back against the railing, elbows on knees. Jane didn’t know the content of their conversation, but Ron’s expression was serious, despite his relaxed pose. He motioned at her to join them, so she sank down next to him, facing Pio.

  “Pio was just asking me to team up,” he said simply in his deep baritone.

  “And have you got an answer for her?”

  He smiled. “I’d be honored to serve with her.”

  Jane connected with Pio, and a wave of relief and exuberance washed over her.

  Ron nodded, acknowledging the emotion coming from Pio. “I think one of the first things the four of us should talk about is the chain of command. It’s a sticky subject, given the history here, but it would be foolish to ignore it. Currently we have a fleet of two ships. In time that may grow if we find more trapped kuboderans, so we should establish protocols early on that feel comfortable for everyone but keep everything working as it should.”

  Pio hung in place, barely moving. Her thoughts stilled as she focused on every nuance of Ron’s mental speech.

  He continued. “Jane and Brai have set up something new. A more egalitarian community than the sectilians had. I don’t think we need some elaborate ranking system like a military. But I think that we should make every effort to communicate well. Each of us should manage our portion of the day-to-day running of each ship as diplomatically as possible, but if bad stuff goes down, I’m going to be looking to Jane to see what she wants from us. I guess I’d call her QD Prime or something. Does that make sense to the both of you?”

  Pio agreed immediately, and they both turned their eyes to Jane.

  Jane was less certain. “If bad stuff goes down, Ron, you have far more military experience. I’ve counted on you to advise me on several occasions—”

  “And I’ll continue to advise you in that capacity. Given where we are and what we’re about to do, we need someone with diplomatic experience as our default leader. I’ve been impressed time and again with your ability to handle these situations. Let’s keep things as they are.”

  Jane acquiesced, reluctantly.

  Ron clapped once. “All right. Pio and I need to get to know each other better, so I’ll move my stuff over here. I’m going to do a quick walk-through of the ship and check in on Huna. And… I need to talk to Ajaya. See what she wants to do. We should meet tomorrow and iron out more details, talk about crew assignments. But this is a good start, I think.”

  Jane stood and held out her hand to Ron. “Congratulations, Quasador Dux Ronald Gibbs.”

  20

  October 21, 2018

  ALAN WOKE from an indeterminate amount of sleep and rolled over, feeling for Jane. She wasn’t there. He rubbed his hands over his face, trying to decide whether he wanted to sleep more or just get up. If Jane wasn’t there, it meant it was human and sectilian daytime, but he had no idea at what point in the day it was now. Jane had turned the lights off when she left.

  He wouldn’t know for a while whether he’d caught up on sleep or not. It would depend on whether the grogginess lasted. He was tired of feeling like a zombie. Hopefully today was the day that would end. As soon as he woke up.

  God, he missed coffee.

  Over the course of their stay on Pliga, he’d completely lost all hope of a normal sleep schedule, sleeping in fits and starts or not at all. Even when he had time to sleep, he couldn’t seem to relax. He was either wired from overstimulation or dragging his ass through endless days.

  He had a lot of big projects going on that dominated his thoughts. That level of obsession tended to make it harder to sleep. Immediately after they’d gotten the ship secured and the biggest repairs out of the way, he’d begun outfitting both ships with anti-anipraxis broadcasting devices to create a sort of external anti-anipraxis shield, but allow internal anipraxis communication to continue as normal. They wouldn’t be caught with their pants down again. Kai’Memna might be dead, but he still had followers out there, and who knew how motivated they would be to get revenge for that genocidal maniac’s death? He couldn’t let them batter Jane’s brain like that ever again.

  In that same vein, he’d taken the opportunity to design other offensive and defensive measures. Implementing them had been a much larger challenge. Luckily the Speroancora had a robust workshop on the Tech Deck, containing theoretical modeling tools as well as massive bays of 3-D printers.

  Wormhole travel was amazing, and clearly the fastest mode of traversing vast distances in space, but it took time to spool up that drive, which meant it wasn’t a great method of escaping from a foe at short notice should the odds ever be against them. Creating wormholes required the use of exotic particles. That had gotten Alan thinking. What if those were the same particles a certain Mexican physicist was thinking about when he imagined the Alcubierre drive?

  This kind of gravimetric or warp drive was consistent with Einstein’s field equations, and wasn’t contradicted by any sectilian theories of physics that he could find. He even took the time to talk to Jaross about it. She was heavily trained in theoretical physics, despite the state of their civilization. She couldn’t see any reason that it wouldn’t work either. They put their heads together, and with the help of the sectilian modeling tools, they began to work out the math and then make models.

  Now he was building one. He had two reasons. While a drive of this nature wasn’t needed for the Speroancora to move from point A to point B for travel, it could potentially allow them to dodge any kind of laser or artillery. Moving short distances faster than light would be a very effective defense. Even if they couldn’t predict when a weapon would be fired, they could easily set up a macro that would move the ship around r
andomly while they were in combat, only staying in one location long enough to get off a shot of their own. It was theoretically possible that the warp bubble alone could deflect laser fire and ballistic weapons because of the tidal forces present at the edges of the space curvature. They’d still have their heavy-duty pligan-grown hull, and eventually the regrown nanite escutcheon, but this would give them a lot more flexibility under combat conditions.

  Secondly, he was adapting the drive to hurl ordnance. This idea was much trickier to work out. If he could control the shift of space around the ship even for a moment, and he could drop something into that vortex, his models showed it would create a slingshot effect, allowing the drive to hurl things so fast the bad guys wouldn’t know what hit them.

  What would he throw? He had two prototypes. One was a fission bomb, which, when detonated remotely, would create a massive EMP which would obliterate all electronics, including squillae. That would remove a kuboderan’s power over their sectilian servants, if any were present, as well as disable the ship in question. The other was a mass filled with his seek-and-destroy nanites. One way or another, he was determined to take away the edge these rogue kuboderans had. He had a lot of other ideas too, but those were on the back burner for now. These projects were more likely to produce dramatic results.

  If this thing worked like he thought it would—and all his modeling showed that it would—he would get to name the resulting apparatus. This was going to give him major, major cred back home among his old colleagues. He could name it the Alcubierre drive or simply the gravimetric drive. He could even name it the Bergen drive. But he liked the idea of calling it the blink drive, for the level 102 World of Warcraft mage he’d had to leave behind on Earth and because of the way the ship would appear to blink in and out of existence across space-time. So that’s what he decided to call it.

  This project forced him to swallow his reluctance about communicating with Brai for the greater good. He looped Jaross in, because it was just good practice to have another knowledgeable set of eyes on something this complex. The three of them spent countless hours going over the specs of the blink drive. Brai pointed out a couple of issues Alan hadn’t seen. Jaross raised a lot of good questions that ultimately led to a better design. He wouldn’t have been able to get up and running so fast without them and their extensive knowledge of physics.