by Aer-ki Jyr
It was that constant flow of activity, from one action to another without hesitancy or analysis that he found so natural now, but back in the day when this had all began he’d had trouble focusing a single 10 second block of time without a word popping into his thoughts. The mind required as much training as the body did, and as all Archons had learned, the two were never completely separate.
The small balancing movements Jason was having to make were little drain on his focus, but maintaining them kept him awake, literally, as his mind wanted to cloud over and fall into sleep. For him, at least, action was what cleared his mind, not rest, and the tiny bit of Matrix mode he was in at the moment, constantly micro-adjusting his body’s position to stay perched on his bare feet pushing into the firm pads covering the floor allowed the rest of his mind to open up, whereas rest would cause it to close down.
Jason let his mind flow around the balancing action, darting from senses to memories to waking dreams until he found a thread of interest, then like pushing into a hard wind he’d pursue it, usually not getting far before the wind drove him off or the thread fogged up beyond use. It had been annoying to realize how much of his own mind wasn’t under his conscious command, but once coming to that realization he’d taken it as a challenge to probe the biological computer that operated his body, only to find more questions amongst the scattering of answers.
Today was no different than other days. He’d already completed his morning workouts, checked in on the status of the jumpship and crew as they hurled across the hopefully empty vastness between stars enroute to another system to search and map out, and completed a sparring session with swords against some of the junior Archons onboard. With a slight level of fatigue floating over him, for he had refrained from taking additional ambrosia until after the meditative session, he sought to use the tired sensation as a pathway into perception, for he’d learned a long time ago that most of his breakthroughs, physical or mental, came from chaos rather than practice…and the best way to search out new cracks to explore was to blow something up, metaphorically speaking.
He’d tried hammering himself on particular workouts and then delving into the back corners of his mind, with some success, but it was never predictable, and he’d learned to try not to anticipate…just live in the moment and take opportunities as they presented themselves.
As reality had shown him multiple times before, it was when he was trying to do something else that he often succeeded in what he had been trying to do earlier with purpose…so when a warm sensation opened in a tiny piece of his mind he didn’t overreact, but he did reach for it, probing inwards and expanding upon the mental crack. The feeling was like opening his eyes after a long sleep, along with the coolness of a waterfall and all mixed together in a torrent that was impossible to unravel, but it was also very familiar, as if he should have known what this was all along…
Then came the backlash. A fierce jerk in his mind that transitioned out into his body. His back arched and he half jumped up off his feet, stretching out backwards to fall flat on his back as his mind clenched down around the sudden and persistent pain.
It was bad, Jason knew, like a muscle cramp…only this one was completely new and he had no idea how to deal with it so he consigned himself to suffer through it, twitching and kicking and pounding the mat in frustration before it eventually eased up, leaving a knot in his mind and a hell of a headache behind.
Jason pulled his arms up underneath his chest and got his face off the ground, blinking away tears as he looked around and let his visual, auditory, and tactile senses flush out some of the fragmentation within his mind.
“What the hell?” he mumbled, happy to have sparked a reaction, which typically meant a new breakthrough, but a bit freaked out by how intense that had just been. The point in his mind where the crack had formed was now tight and occluded, but as the seconds passed the knot, feeling for all the world like a pulled mental muscle, slackened a bit and the tiniest portion of the previous sensation shown through, like a pinprick of light against a black canvas.
When it did his vision changed. Not that he was seeing anything differently, but he could feel what he was seeing…at least, for a couple of meters out. The walls were dull, as was the ceiling, but the mat in front of him was vivid, as were his hands.
He rolled over onto his hip as he lay on the ground and brought his left hand up in front of his face, inspecting it closely. Everything seemed to be in crystal clear 3d, as if the walls beyond and his previous senses had only been 2d.
Jason didn’t know what this was, but he knew it was significant so he just let the moment sink in, hoping that the tiny pinprick wouldn’t disappear. He didn’t reach for it again, fearing that would cause it to go away, so he just laid on the floor basking in its tiny light and trying to soak up as much sensory data as he could, knowing that the more his mind had to process the better the chance of retaining this new…perception.
His mind suddenly flashed back to what the dragon had told Kara about Zen’zat having mental abilities, and that their descendants should still retain those even after all the subsequent generations. He had the distinct feeling that this might be an inroad into those, which spiked his excitement through the roof.
That emotion, however, sealed off the crack in his mind and his senses returned to dull normal as a wave of disappointment and stupidity washed over Jason. He should have known better than to let himself get excited.
“Doh,” he said, flopping down on his back and rubbing his forehead, for the headache and knot within still remained.
Later that evening, after getting in a short run with the headache still lingering, Jason headed back to his personal quarters on the jumpship, stripped out of his clothes, and slid down inside his shower tank that was already full of warm, soapy water that covered him up to the neck. He turned on the massaging jets and turned the whole man-sized test tube into a frothing whirlwind of water, scrubbing off the grime and bleeding off some of the pressure in his head.
He stayed in the tank for a long time, trying to undo the stubborn knot in his mind and allow himself to relax. The Archon had been tight and tense ever since the incident, as if reeling from a traumatic injury that his body was afraid might happen again. His defenses were definitely in lockdown mode, and even the subsequent run hadn’t loosened him up as much as he’d hoped, but the warm water seemed to be making some headway.
After losing track of time, eyes closed and trying to channel the physical massage into his brain, he turned on the overhead water nozzle and drenched his short, sandy blonde hair in clean, warm raindrops, each one of which seemed to sooth his raw mind. With the sensation bleeding away the stress and strain he let his mind rescind almost to the point of sleep and leaned his head forward against the clear glass that looked out into his bedroom. It was slightly colder, due to the outside air, and the chill unknotted the clenched area of his mind, allowing him a tiny channel of relief amidst the headache that was still swirling about.
He held his head in place, not wanting to lose the bit of relief, and stayed there for more than two hours, allowing his mind to gradually exit out of panic mode and begin to heal the damage done to it, glad to be free of the persistent pain.
Eventually he risked pulling his head up, finding a bit of stress returning when he did so but the knot was gone, tenuously he guessed, so he remained in the shower for another hour, soaking in the warmth from the water and losing himself in the moment.
Somewhere along the way the tiny pinprick in his mind returned. Jason was so lost in the roiling water and suds that he didn’t even notice it happen, but as he blinked his eyes open randomly he could feel the raindrops passing in front of his face and, surprisingly, a few inches over his head. His range was very narrow, less than the length of his fingers, but when he put his head back towards the glass the smooth curve of the structure formed in his mind in the oddly 3d sensation that he’d experienced before.
Reminding himself not to react in any way he
just stood there, soaking in the sensation and not reaching for the pinprick. He felt like it could expire at any time and he wanted to experience it as much as possible, so he steadied himself…then realized that he was tensing, so he closed his eyes and let go his muscle control save for a tiny tidbit required to remain standing in the almost neutral buoyancy of the shower tank.
When his eyes closed the sense diminished, but it didn’t abate. He could actually ‘see’ the water drops passing in front of his face, vague and colorless as they were. It was as if his mind was sketching out their shape, in 3d, absent the visual images. Jason could also briefly make out the ones dropping on his head for the split second they were within range, but he couldn’t ‘see’ any behind or to the sides. He resisted the urge to try and stretch his new sense and just ‘watched’ the drops fall for a long time with his eyes closed.
After soaking up a good amount of sensory experience he accepted letting the sense disappear again and took a deep breath, blowing it out slowly then dunking his head underneath the turbulent water. The raindrops disappeared from his mind and he mentally marked this long shower meditation as a victory, as well as realizing how tired he was. After getting something to eat he intended to head to bed early…if there was still early to be had, for he didn’t know what time it was. Then again, on a jumpship in mid-flight the time was irrelevant. The ship was active 24 hours a day and he could adjust his personal schedule however he liked.
When he came back up out of the water for air he felt the liquid cascade off his face and run out of his hair…then the raindrops reappeared in his mind’s eye, piggybacking on top of his vision.
Jason blinked twice, then twice more…seeing if he could make the sensation go away despite his keen interest in it remaining. It truly felt like he was awake when it was active and he didn’t want to lose it, but part of him had to find out how tenuous it really was. He knew not to reach for it, but he wiggled his arms and leg out, stretching what he could in the tight confines, including his neck, which he tilted to either side, and still the sense remained.
Next he shut off the massaging jets and the water around him calmed down, though the raindrops continued to come down on top of him…then with the turbulent waters ending his sense seemed to grow stronger, tagging every impact the raindrops made with the surface in detail, as if the swirling water had only been dulling or overwhelming his sense.
Jason shut the shower head off and stood still, barely breathing at all and letting the water completely settle out. He closed his eyes as he did so, ‘seeing’ the ripples in the water flatten out and the perfectly smooth surface form. It felt clingy and slightly taught, then the glass surrounding the water manifested itself in his mind.
The trailblazer held position and slowly his sense expanded around him until he could ‘see’ the entire 360 degrees around his body. Directly against his skin seemed to be a fuzzy zone, and the shower head above him seemed to be out of reach, but the surface of the glass that was above the water’s surface he could ‘see’ as clear as if his eyes were open.
A lingering drop from overhead fell down and impacted the tranquil water, with the tremor and ripples forming in his mind as well. The walls diminished when it happened, then slowly reformed as the tranquility returned, telling Jason that whatever this sense was, it was tenuous and easily disrupted…not to mention unbelievably cool!
He took a long moment to ‘look’ around, especially behind him, which was altogether new, then he dunked his head again, with the sense vanishing, and climbed out of the shower tube. He grabbed a towel and dried off, rubbing his head thoroughly then standing still above the hatch and calming his body’s movements.
Again the sense returned, very faintly for there was little within range to ‘see’ but Jason had an aura around him that now stretched all the way down to his feet where he could feel the water on the floor tiles that he hadn’t caught with the towel…and the towel in his left hand also stood out in mind’s eye, with every little filament standing out in 3d, especially when he looked down at it.
“Huh,” he said, partially as an experiment. His sense disappeared along with the vocal vibrations, then slowly returned as before, confirming to the trailblazer that the pinprick crack in his mind was definitely open, he just had to make sure it stayed that way.
Which he knew meant not pressing it.
He chucked his towel off to the side and walked over to his dresser, pulling out a set of casual clothes. He slipped them on and instead of heading off to get something to eat he grabbed a water bottle in his room and downed half of it, ironically thirsty after having been submerged in water for hours.
Wanting to make the most of the moment he slipped into bed, intent on taking a brief nap and letting his mind process this new sense, as well as heal up any lingering damage from the knot that had been there. A bit of his headache remained, faint as it was, and he knew he needed to deal with that before it had a chance to snuff out his pinprick so he lay down and pulled the covers up to his chin, then crossed his hands over his chest, interlaced his fingers, and let his mind drift off as he closed his eyes and let the fatigue slowly swallow him up as his body entered what he and Paul had decided to call a ‘healing trace.’
Thinking of Paul he allowed himself a smile, but kept his words off his vocal chords and inside his head.
The force is strong with this one…
8
September 29, 2403
Lejat System
Inner Zone
“Contacts?” Greg asked as he arrived on the bridge of the Warhammer.
“Not lizard,” the officer reported. “Scans of the 5th planet are detecting habitation though.”
“Habitation?”
“No electronic signatures of any kind, but there are structures down there…and they’re inhabited.”
Greg frowned. The Hycre maps had indicated that this system was supposed to be uninhabited. “What and how many?”
“Not sure and a lot,” the officer answered pithily.
“Show me.”
The officer snapped his fingers and another bridge crewer shunted the intelligence feeds over to the central hologram, which was then cut up into segments, each showing different sets of data from locations on the planet’s surface.
Greg crossed his arms over his chest and glared at the pictures. He knew mapping star systems was a pain in the ass to do, but the Hycre data should have been at least fairly up to date. The numbers of individuals in the primitive cities he was seeing suggested otherwise, making him wonder if they hadn’t migrated to the planet in the interim…but they could hardly do that with the technological prowess of building mud huts.
“This doesn’t feel right,” he suggested, eyes darting from one location to the other. “Do we have anything close to a species match?”
“We’re still running a search, but my best guess would be Ewoks.”
Greg glanced over at the man and raised an eyebrow, but didn’t say anything. The creatures were both short and hairy enough that his mind had already made that connection.
“Wait,” Greg said, noticing a pattern in one of the primitive cities. “Bring this one up full size.”
A moment later the other images vanished and the overhead shot enlarged to a span of five meters, showing in detail hundreds of huts set up in a chaotic pattern amongst a sparse collection of what looked like evergreen trees.
Greg walked up and sunk his fingers into a specific place on the hologram, mimicking a familiar arrangement that matched up with depressions in the mud.
“What is it?” the bridge officer asked, as both he and others were staring at the trailblazer.
“What database are you running the check through?”
The standing officer glanced over at one of the Star Force crewers manning a nearby console.
“We’re working through the V’kit’no’sat database,” the woman answered.
“Search the lizard database instead,” Greg suggested.
Sh
e nodded and spun around, pulling up the much smaller information cache they’d stolen from the lizard tech they’d captured in Epsilon Eridani.
“What are you seeing?” the officer asked, stepping up beside Greg.
The Archon reorganized his fingers again and pressed them up against the holographic impressions set on a small open area between the huts. “Look familiar?”
The man frowned. “Landing skids?”
“Kirby landing skids,” Greg specified. “They’re eroded, but there’s no mistaking that pattern.”
“I don’t get the connection. What would the lizards be doing here if not taking over the planet?”
“Something more nefarious, I believe,” Greg growled, but he didn’t elaborate for several minutes until the female crewer found a match.
“Ninkari,” she said, bringing up a secondary holo for Greg to see. “They’re an arboreal species that…”
“…the lizards use for food?” Greg guessed.
“Yes,” the woman confirmed, slightly sick to her stomach.
“Which means that this is a lizard system people,” the trailblazer said, raising his voice. “Alert all ships and continue with the survey. If the enemy has infrastructure here I want it found.”
“A farm?” the man whispered as the comm officer got busy raising the alarm.
“And a recent one,” Greg suggested. “That’s why the Hycre map didn’t tag this system as inhabited.”
The officer considered that. “Then they are pushing into this area. More than we expected.”
Greg nodded as the distant doors to the bridge opened up and the Captain walked in, apparently having been the first the comm officer alerted. “I’d bet they deposited the Ninkari here a while ago to let their numbers grow, now they’re coming back to harvest them at least occasionally to feed…what? If there isn’t anything else in this system then they have to have bases in the surrounding ones. They’re here for a local food supply.”