Quantum Tangle (The Targon Tales - Sethran Book 1)

by Chris Reher

  “You’re comparing this cesspit to Delphi?”

  “Comparing what we know with what we don’t understand is a sound basis for observation.”

  “Your little project almost cost you your life.” Terwood gestured toward Caelyn’s arm. “Was it worth it?”

  “I’ll remind you that neither I nor Sethran Kada provoked the attack that took place here yesterday. You showed your back to a Caspian. One apparently known to have an unstable disposition. Cesspit or not, this colony was at peace before you came.”

  “Crawling with Shri-Lan.”

  “I’m an explorer, Major. Your political problems impact the worlds we study, but we do not involve ourselves with them. I do appreciate your offer to return me to Delphi as your unexpected arrival caused my pilot to leave me behind.”

  “Your safety is of great concern to us,” Terwood said, with only the slightest edge of sarcasm in his tone.

  “Thank you. My people will appreciate Air Command’s attention to my well-being.”

  Deve shifted uncomfortably on the floor. “What kind of an interrogation is that?” he scoffed. “He’ll get nowhere with that Delphian. They’re treating him like some guest they’re having for tea and cake.”

  Indeed, the Delphian looked as composed as Delphians always did. Deve had caught a glimpse of him during the short but fierce battle yesterday, looking disheveled and in a great deal of pain. But now he was dressed in crisp coveralls in place of his bloodied clothes and someone had brushed the black coloring from his hair and tied it neatly his nape. His gaunt face, of course, was utterly impassive.

  “That Delphian is having himself a good time,” Lep Ako said. “You can tell by the color of his eyes. He knows the major can’t do a thing to him.”

  “Why not? If he’s hanging out with Shri-Lan he should be locked up with the rest of them.”

  “They wouldn’t lock up a Delphian.” Lep Ako had spent his time since leaving Rishabel in browsing undetected through the Kimura’s data system, absorbing every bit of information stored there. The ship’s library, not even tied to Targon’s massive mainframe, filled in the countless blank spaces that his forays on Rishabel had left in his knowledge. “The Union needs Delphi in a good mood if they want to keep the supply of spanners coming. All of the really good jumpers are Delphian. Something about their heads. I’d love to get into one of them.”

  Deve scowled and returned his attention to his screen when the major spoke again.

  “We’ll leave for Targon as soon as the medics stabilize the last of the casualties,” Terwood said, looking as though his patience wouldn’t hold out much longer. “Frankly, we’ve gotten no useful information from any of the captives and their leader isn’t in any shape to talk. Are you sure you don’t have something to add here? Did Kada say where he was going?”

  “No.”

  “Was there something… unusual about him? About his behavior?”

  “Such as...?”

  The major shrugged. “Tics, talking to himself.”

  “He did not talk to himself.”

  “Did he tell you that he murdered an Air Command officer just days ago?”

  “We did not trade personal information.”

  Terwood pushed away from the wall, perhaps to seem a little more intimidating. He looked like someone ready to raise his voice a few notches. “Maybe you should take a greater interest. People are dying and they’re not all just rebels. And I’m fairly certain you know exactly why we’re here. If you know where these aliens are gathering, now is the time to share the news.”

  In the aft section of the Kimura, Deve frowned when he heard the sound of a door opening up there and he had to strain to make out the voice of the new arrival. “Major, there is someone to see you. We’re not sure what to do with her.”

  Terwood looked up with a scowl. “This can’t wait? I’m almost done with the… with Shan Caelyn.”

  “I think you want to see her.”

  The major waved his hand in resignation. “All right then.”

  Before the officer even turned back into the corridor, a Human woman came into the lounge. Her layers of ragged clothing identified her as one of the local civilians. They were arranged rather provocatively and it was not hard to guess how she made her living here on Belene. She shrugged off the hand of another guard and marched directly to Major Terwood. “You the major in charge here?”

  He glared past her to his officers with an unspoken promise to reprimand them later. “I am Major Nevon Terwood, stationed on Targon.”

  “My name is Chann. I have something for you, if you’re interested,” she said. “I think you will be.” She looked around the room and then blinked in surprise when she saw the Delphian sitting nearby.

  “You can be sure I’m not looking for company right now,” Terwood said.

  “I’m not sure if you’re a bit daft or just rude, Major. I’m not here to give your no doubt magnificent equipment a workout.”

  The major’s eyes snapped to Caelyn whose face remained immobile as he busied himself with the sling holding his arm in place. “What do you want,” he said tersely.

  “I’ve got information for you. About the rebels.”

  “My people will get the results we need with their interviews,” Terwood said.

  “I doubt it. Guy who told me has a bullet in his head right now.”

  “What have you heard?”

  “It’s going to cost you,” she said.

  “Of course.” The major sighed. “If I think it’s worth something.”

  Chann crossed her arms and regarded him fearlessly. “Sub-space monsters and someone experimenting on them. Do I have your attention?”

  Terwood’s jaded expression sharpened at once. He walked to the door and closed it after a quick glance into the corridor. “Let’s have it,” he said.

  “Take me back with you. Out of this place. I don’t care where.”

  “We’re going back to Targon to deliver the prisoners.”

  “Fine. I can go anywhere from there. I want to make the trip on this ship, not with the prisoners.”

  Terwood nodded. “Agreed.”

  She turned to Caelyn. “You’re a Delphian, right?”

  “Yes.”

  “Your people don’t hold with liars. You heard what he said, right? Promised me a lift to Targon in exchange for information.”

  “Indeed, that’s what I heard.”

  Terwood’s eyes narrowed. “Talk.”

  Chann sat down on a lounger next to Caelyn and winked at him. “Is there something to drink?”

  “Don’t push your luck, woman,” the major said.

  “All right, no need to get impolite. I was with one of the men that came with the big Caspian. Before you got here. You know how men get to talking after they’ve had a good time of it.”

  “I’m sure I do not,” Terwood said through gritted teeth.

  She looked at him with concern. “Oh, I’m sorry to hear that. You just go down to Dalla’s when you have a chance. She’ll get that taken care of.”

  Caelyn lowered his head to rub his eyes as if afraid to lose what remained of his Delphian stoicism if he looked at the major again.

  “Anyway,” she continued. “He said they’re collecting things from sub-space that’ll infect people out here. Gets into their heads and takes over. Centauri, Humans, mostly, so you and me have nothing to worry about, Major.” She looked apologetically at Caelyn. “Not sure about Delphians. He didn’t mention those.”

  “I’m sure we’re quite safe, Shan Chann.” Caelyn leaned forward, carefully cradling his arm. “Do you know why they’re doing this?”

  She nodded. “Kind of scary. The guy running that project is making a whole army of spies or something for the Shri-Lan. Going to put the sub-space things into their people and train them to do things that regular people can’t. He didn’t say what they can do, though. Whatever it is, it’s important. He’s got a whole lot of rebel mercenaries and their cruisers with him now fo
r protection while they get all that ready.”

  “Did you get any names?”

  “I have a pretty sharp memory. The person in charge of things is Tague. Used to be a Union guy.”

  Caelyn raised an eyebrow.

  “You know him?” Terwood said.

  “Yes. One of yours, if I’m thinking of the right man. Reylan Tague, Human. Once worked out of Targon. Nanotech. Disappeared a year or so ago, Targon time. Assumed lost in sub-space. He worked with some of my colleagues for a while.” Caelyn tugged thoughtfully on his lower lip. “Including sub-space projects. I think you’re going to need Targon in on this.”

  “And I think you don’t sound surprised by any of it.” The major jerked his chin at the woman. “You’re done here. Out.”

  She glared at him but then got up. “We have a deal?”

  “Yes, yes. Ask the quartermaster to find you space somewhere. I’ll have more questions for you later.” He gripped her arm when she moved past him. “Did your friend mention where all of this is happening?”

  “No, but something’s happening soon. They’re going to test something on a bunch of civilians as soon as he’s gathered enough of them up. Take them through sub-space for it.”

  “Civilians?” Caelyn asked. “Not rebels?”

  “Civilians for now. Guess a lot of people are dying from this. Or ending up messed up. So they’re using some volunteers first, pretending to do some study. Expendable ones.”

  “Locals?” Caelyn said. “Did he mention at town, maybe?”

  “No, nothing.” She pulled her arm from Terwood’s grip. “Sounds to me like you’re going to have a brand new sort of rebel on your hands, Major.” She waved her fingers at Caelyn and left the lounge.

  Far below them, Deve felt Lep Ako’s fury and disappointment that Seth had eluded the major. The alien had become increasingly obsessed with this sire, whatever it was, to the point of spewing hours-long rants about his plans to colonize real-space interrupted only by threats to the elusive Sethran Kada. Deve was beginning to feel a little sorry for the man; apparently Lep Ako was going to either make him his commander of troops or rip his throat out for harboring the sire. Deve wasn’t sure which would be the worse of these lots. But the trail was cold now and Air Command’s only hope was to beg, beat or drug the information out of the rebels.

  He didn’t care anymore. This wasn’t his chase and nothing here had anything to do with him. He was crawling around a cold, cramped conduit at the behest of this alien creature who treated him like an old pair of boots to get around. Except you didn’t cause pain to your boots when they started to wear out. Through boredom or some weird alien perversity, Lep Ako had devised small tortures for Deve on the way out here. Just this morning, he did something to Deve’s brain to blind him, letting him stumble around the generator shaft until Deve tumbled over a railing to the lower level. He closed his eyes, wishing to leave, to run away and hide from the thing in his head, or maybe just to sleep.

  “What utter incompetence,” Lep Ako hissed, shifting his focus to the Kimura’s main com system to see what message the major was about to send back to Targon. “Stay awake.”

  Deve cringed, expecting yet another mental slap. “Can’t you at least show yourself?” he said. “You don’t know how awful it is to hear you talking only in my head, hours at a time, and never see anyone. I’m tired of hiding. Tired of crawling around this damn machine. My back aches.”

  Lep Ako faded into view to glare at Deve with cold yellow eyes in his weirdly Human face. “Feeling lonely? You can sleep after we take off. If you hold together without crying I’ll let you play with that whore. How’s that?”

  Deve sighed. He didn’t want a woman. Not really. Although, he thought, by now a little company of someone who didn’t take pleasure in torturing him sounded damn good. She sounded like she might be fun. Had it been that long since anyone had had a kind word for him?

  Another thought shaping vaguely in his mind was that the Delphian up there seemed like a kind fellow. If anyone could find a way to get Lep Ako out of his head, it would be him and his big-brained people. He tucked the thought away as soon as it occurred to him with an almost superstitious fear that the alien was somehow reading his mind.

  * * *

  Caelyn stood by the narrow slit of an observation window, looking out over the bleak landscape. Distantly, a few people scrounged around the fringes of the tundra where they scattered seeds in some agricultural effort. Closer to the colony itself soldiers paced among the ships, both Air Command and confiscated rebel hardware, but the locals had faded from view. Those who hadn’t been arrested and were presumably being questioned wisely remained in their subterranean nests.

  His com band chirped and he looked down, still unused to wearing it around his left arm. The sudden reminder of his injury sent a stab of pain to his wrist. He briefly closed his eyes to call upon the mental disciplines practiced by his people to compartmentalize the loss of his hand where it would remain tucked away until there was space to deal with it.

  He used his lips to activate a message that someone at the Kimura’s com station relayed to him here. An image of Shan Quine appeared and the recording began.

  “Shan Caelyn,” Quine said. Caelyn saw fatigue darken the Shantir’s eyes although nothing in his posture or expression gave that away. “I hope you receive this in good time. I’m currently on Targon, but Shan Saias kindly forwarded your message. The information about Reylan Tague is troubling. I’ve joined Shan Chion and some other colleagues to examine the unfortunates being housed here. It seems that very few Dyads result in compatible pairings like the one Sethran and Khoe enjoy. We suspect that, by the time they reach us out here, they have lost too much energy in some sort of quantum tunneling process. These individuals are truly remarkable and I wish we had a few years to study them. We do not.”

  Caelyn’s eyebrow rose.

  “What is of utmost concern to us now is the stolen entity we discussed briefly on Magra as being some sort of trigger. That individual that Khoe wanted to find. We believe that this trigger is actually a new compound particle appearing among her kind, maybe as random as any unexplained evolutionary catalyst. This could be the beginning of an entirely new species. To them, ‘new’ may mean a day or a million days. But this change is at a delicate stage, requiring this trigger to create more of their kind. If there is just one, as Khoe seems to think, its captivity out here in real space may end this new species before it even begins.”

  Shan Quine’s attention was momentarily drawn to someone nearby and he nodded to them before continuing. “We may well be looking at some hints about the very beginning of our own consciousness, mirrored in sub-space. Shan Sethran’s intent to return the entity to sub-space is, indeed, of extreme importance. We must not interrupt the natural evolution of this new species with our never-ending quest for power. However, I’m afraid that once it has returned, any of the Dyads currently here with us will not be able to survive. Something connects them out here as much as it does in sub-space. It might be as elementary a force as gravity is out here for us. Without that resonance, felt by all of them, they will decay and, from what we’re seeing here, kill their host when they die.”

  Caelyn winced.

  “We’ve been observing this in the victims brought to Targon. The weaker Dyad pairings don’t survive very long. Once their visitor decays, the host succumbs within hours. We cannot know how many other Dyads exist, surviving more comfortably than these patients here on Targon. But if the trigger particle is returned to sub-space they, too, will die. As will your friend Sethran.” The Shantir paused to give Caelyn some time to absorb this news. “In your message you mention some experiments taking place. If someone has discovered a way to manipulate these entities, perhaps we can find a way to separate the Dyads again. We must find a way although we may well be running out of time. But if we can mitigate the damage they cause us, future interactions with them will not be tainted by this tragedy.”

  Quine a
gain shifted his attention to someone nearby. “Are you certain? The Centauri woman?” He nodded and then addressed the camera again. “A rebel pilot was recently brought in. She said that all of the entities are delivered to Csonne. That’s a likely location. Someone like Reylan Tague would blend well into that facility without raising any suspicion.”

  The recording ended after a few more polite words of greeting and concern from the elder. Caelyn’s eyes remained fixed on the blank display for a while longer. Finally, he left the lounge to find Major Terwood. It was a while before he met up with him and some of his people near the main entrance to the Kimura.

  “Major Terwood,” Caelyn said. “I just received word from Targon. The project is taking place on Csonne. I believe that is also where Sethran Kada is going at this moment.”

  Terwood frowned at him. “Csonne? How do you know?”

  “The same way you knew to track us here.” Caelyn glanced meaningfully at the officers nearby. “More… people are being found. They are able to talk.”

  The major nodded. “This is good news. We’ll leave at once.” He smirked. “Looks like you and your new lady friend will have to stay here a while.”

  “I need to come with you.”

  “I’m not taking you into another hostile encounter.” Terwood tried to read Caelyn’s expression. “If you’re worried about those civilians, I’ll assure you that we’ll try to avoid harm to them. That has always been our mandate.” The major turned to his aide. “Kett, prepare for lift-off. All three ships. Let the rebels go but disable their planes. They can wait here for a ride back. Detain only the six we’ve got down in the brig.”

  “I’m sure you’ll take every precaution,” Caelyn said, watching the officer hurry away with the new orders. He was quite aware of Air Command’s willingness to turn “avoiding harm” into collateral damage when necessary. “But I need to be there. Let me take one of the confiscated rebel ships as part of your fleet. I will stay out of any combat activity.”

  “You’re out of your mind. This isn’t some science mission. You may be an accomplished navigator but you’re not a pilot. Those are not liftclass cruisers.”