by Aer-ki Jyr
Davis leaned back in his seat with a smirk on his face. “How in the hell did you know that? I thought we all had Ikrid blocks.”
“Deductive reasoning. What are you working on this time?” Morgan asked curiously.
“The future,” he said, with concern on his face, “of this new Alliance we’re forming.”
“Problems?”
“A few, but more on the horizon, I fear. Maybe you haven’t been keeping score, but population wise Star Force is in the minority. We still have an infrastructure advantage, but reports I’ve been getting are indicating that the other races we’ve agreed to shelter are beginning to merge into a communal identity, with plenty of power games beginning to be played.”
“I caught some of that in Corneria.”
“Your thoughts?”
“Not something I’ve been worried about, given my previous mission. But it seems like we’ve picked up a lot of backseat drivers who are thinking less like refugees and more like equal partners, minus the defensive responsibility. Some of the races appear to be stepping up in that regard, but a lot are sitting behind our defense lines and building up their powerbase. Dakota says the diplomatic situation has become a bit like…well, it’s chaotic as everyone is trying to define their position, and some races are using that to advance their own agendas.”
“What were you going to say?”
“I was going to say it reminded me of the Citadel in Mass Effect, but I figured you never played that video game.”
“You figured wrong. A friend of mine was an addict and dragged me through the games. I admit I was less interested in the combat than I was in the logistics, but Citadel Station is familiar. A lot of politics and self-serving races with little interest in the common welfare.”
“Well, that’s pretty much what we’re developing, minus the communal watering hole.”
“That’s where my line of thought was taking me. We’re on good standing with the Hycre and Protovic, thanks to you guys. I still haven’t met either race, and I’d prefer to keep it that way, though I do have a suggestion for how to stabilize this growing internal conflict.”
“Almost no one has met a Hycre,” Morgan corrected him, “and for me there was still a wall in between. Why don’t you want contact with them? I’d assumed your duties here prevented you from traveling out to meet them.”
“I understand Humans, but I’m only beginning to get a grasp of Calavari and Kiritak society. And that’s mostly because you guys have created a bridge by training them in Star Force ways. Jace brought one of the Calavari with him to Atlantis a few years back, and that encounter opened my eyes to a great many things. I felt his mind, limited as my Ikrid ability is, and I was surprised by how different it was. All the training reports I’ve read about the Calavari have been quite detailed, but I made a mistake when interpreting them. They are doing things for a different reason than I believed, and I get the feeling that they’re the most like us of any of the races.”
“I understand them,” Morgan offered, “it just takes some time to get used to them.”
“Which is why I’m glad you guys have stepped up and handled all inter-racial diplomacy. I’m behind on the learning curve, but I can still spot some warning signs. Our guests cannot be trusted, and if we’re not careful we could be ushering in our conquerors if the exterior threats lesson.”
“Not that I disagree with you, but the lizards, Nestafar, and Skarrons aren’t going anywhere.”
“But if we’re able to establish a defense line and truly create the Alliance Defense Zone, those threats will decrease in immediate importance and a new internal dynamic will form.”
“You’re saying the guests are going to want to start running the place?”
“I can’t be for sure, because of my unfamiliarity with the races, but I suspect a high probability of it.”
“The Hycre came to our aid in the beginning when there was little need to do so. I think they can be trusted, more or less. And while I’m not personally familiar with the Protovic, Kip seems to think they can be trusted in a similar manner.”
“Both of them are engaged in heavy fighting,” Davis pointed out. “And they are not my immediate concern. They and Star Force create the defense shield that protects the others. It’s the others that I foresee the problems developing in.”
“You said you had an idea?”
“We need to provide more structure to this Alliance than handing out territory slots and establishing basic rules. We need to stay in the lead, which means an active involvement in internal affairs.”
“Such as?”
“I have some ideas, but like I said, I don’t know the players we’re dealing with. I need to personally get involved, and I don’t want to bring an embassy into Sol.”
“Transfer to Corneria then. It’s already the hub of the Alliance, both the original and the overall one we’re cobbling together. Every race plus outsiders have an embassy there.”
“I’ve thought of doing just that, given that Sol is pretty much a calm property. There are still some special tweaks that I need to make, but most of that can be handled via the relay network.”
Morgan leaned forward, resting her elbows on his desk. “So what’s stopping you?”
“Changing one office for another isn’t going to be enough. In order to build a real Alliance out of the pieces you’ve rescued, I have to learn who we’re dealing with. And to do that I need…closer contact.”
“Spit it out already or I’ll just grab your hand.”
“For most men that wouldn’t be viewed as a disincentive,” Davis said with a flirty/sarcastic wink. “The problem is I need to go on a tour of everything we’ve got out there beyond Sol, but the travel lag is going to keep me out of contact for too long. Stationing on Corneria isn’t much different than here, as far as comm lag is concerned. But if I move about I’ll be off the grid too much.”
“You’re afraid the kids won’t be able to mind the store without you?”
“They’re used to having me around. I’ve never had kids, but some old friends of mine, now long dead, did, and I haven’t forgotten some of the stories they told me about how everything could be fine and in order at home, then they step outside to do something and come back inside 2 minutes later and all hell had broken loose. That shouldn’t happen with Star Force, but that unknown factor is why I’ve stayed put as long as I have, and I don’t know how to alleviate the problem.”
“Well that’s easy enough. Don’t tell them you’re gone.”
Davis frowned. “I’m not exactly someone that can go missing without being noticed.”
“Why not? Most of your interactions aren’t face to face, are they?”
“You obviously have no idea what my schedule is like,” Davis said with a laugh.
“Aside from personnel in Atlantis,” Morgan corrected herself.
“I have holocomm communications with other locations on Earth and Luna, but you’re right that we don’t bring in guests to Atlantis all that often.”
Morgan smiled. “I know what you need to do.”
“I see that devious look on your face…and for some reason I find myself liking it.”
“Go rogue. Assign a stand-in, an Administrator you can trust that can take your place here and give orders in your name. That will get rid of the time lag, from others’ points of view, and you can check in with him via the relays to stay in touch. Then you can go wherever you need to and no one aside from a few trusted individuals will even know you’ve left. No records of transit. You’ll be a ghost in the system until you come back here and resume your place. Plan it right, and no one will even miss you.”
“How do I do that when you guys won’t let me leave without an armada for an escort?”
“You won’t be in danger if no one knows you’ve gone, and you can travel in my shadow. I’ll be your guide and escort, and me pulling a warship for my personal transit won’t draw attention.”
Davis sucked in a deep breath. “I
don’t want to inconvenience you.”
Morgan shook her head. “You said you need to get to know the races out there. Well, I can get you far closer anonymously than you can as yourself. And no, we’re not letting you go out without protection. And I wouldn’t trust anyone other than a trailblazer to do this. I’m looking for my next mission and this is it. As soon as you can get things set up we can leave…after I make a short trip down to Antarctica.”
“Battlemeld upgrade?”
“That and a few other things…”
“How?” Morgan demanded.
Paul looked up from his tray of foodstuffs in the cafeteria, having sensed her presence before she’d walked up to him, and raised a wait finger as he chewed the last half of a roll and grabbed the last four cookies in his left hand as he got up.
“I’ll show you,” he said, ditching the tray in the return slot as he walked out with Morgan in tow. “When did you get back?”
“I haven’t posted anything since I left Calavari space. I got here yesterday.”
“In between missions?”
“No.”
“What’s new?”
“What’s new with you?” she countered as they walked through the halls.
Paul laughed. “Ticked?”
“Depends on how you did it.”
“Better if I show you. Let’s head down to the pond. You’re going to like this.”
“Is this what feeling second best is always like?” Morgan said deadpan. “It sucks.”
“Watch it, sister. I found a way to overcome a weakness. Even after you learn it, I’m not going to be so easy to stay ahead of from here on out. My Kryptonite is now gone.”
“You were never ‘easy’ to stay ahead of.”
“Well that’s better,” he said as they got outside the building and Paul grabbed a nearby mongoose. Morgan slid on behind him and wrapped herself up tight against his back as he zoomed off, eventually making their way down to the lower levels where the swimming dinosaurs had made their home.
Both trailblazers donned swim suits and found a small pool that was really a cupola off the underwater levels where one of the swimmers could interface with the Zen’zat in air. The roof was curved and the pool was oblong, with the far end connected underneath the wall to the main area beyond where a number of arrowheads and other craft were zipping about on training runs.
“Alright,” Paul said from the rim of the empty chamber. “Old school. Down and back. Ready?”
Morgan stepped up to the edge. “Ready.”
Paul sounded a three tone countdown telepathically, mimicking Mario Kart, with both of them jumping off head first into the water on the final ‘sound.’
With an ease born of tens of thousands of hours of training, both swam the 72 meter length to the far side, touched the wall that spanned the top of the subsurface connecting tunnel, and reversed direction. As was typical, Morgan beat Paul back by three body lengths, prompting a confused look on her face as they both floated with their hands on the rim catching their breath.
“That’s the normal you,” she commented. “What’s the new?”
Paul pulled himself up out of the water and took up his starting position again.
Morgan followed him up and set herself, then took off when Paul sent her the start tones…but this time he hit the water and took off far faster than she was capable of swimming. By the time he hit the turn he was already two body lengths ahead and pulling away, finishing ahead of her by at least five.
She pulled up along the edge and spat out a bit of water. “Ok, I’m impressed,” she admitted. “What did you do different?”
“Bioshield enhancement,” he said, holding out his hand above the water and pressing it down into the surface…with the water around his fingers smoothing out, showing Morgan that he essentially had an invisible flipper. “I can alter my body line and even add some fins as needed. Took me a long time to figure out how to do it, then even more to build up the necessary strength, but it works wonders.”
“I’ll say,” Morgan said, envious.
“And I can use it to block off my nostrils.”
Morgan laughed as she bobbed slightly in the water. “I bet you were more excited about that.”
“I was,” he said enthusiastically. “No more water in the airways.”
“Ok, I’m not ticked anymore. That’s actually pretty cool,” she said before pulling herself back up onto dry land.
As Paul came up a second later he saw the moisture on her blow off in all directions, save for her hair, as she threw off a little concussive energy to dry herself, then she pulled the tie out of her ponytail and began to ring it out.
“While you’re here, there’s something else I wanted to try.”
“What?” Morgan asked, standing back up straight and replacing the hair tie.
Paul walked to the edge of the water and pointed for her to stand opposite him on the dry side. “Hit me with a hard blast,” he said, bringing his left forearm up in a guard.
“How hard?” she said, taking her position.
“Make it challenging.”
“You think you can block it?”
“Fairly sure.”
“Alright,” she said, summoning up a good wave of tingles across her back and channeling them down into her forearm. She flicked it forward and released a concussive wave directly into Paul, then was shocked to see a wall of firework-like static flash in front of him when it hit.
It disappeared as quickly as it began, with Paul not having moved an inch.
“Did you even feel that?” she asked.
Paul shook his head. “No. Energy on energy. I can produce shields independent from my body or hard linked to my skeleton. This was independent. I just didn’t know how well it’d work, given that you can use it to walk through shields.”
“Most shields,” she corrected him, having read up on the psionic files multiple times. “Do it again.”
Morgan saw his forehead crease slightly, then he nodded.
She walked up and put her hand against the invisible wall, feeling it hard like glass beneath her fingertips and a good foot in front of Paul’s extended arm, then she summoned up another wave of tingles and shunted it into her hand and pressed into it.
The shield sparked and gave microscopically, but even as she leaned her body into it she couldn’t penetrate, eventually giving up and retreating a step.
“Nope,” she said, now thoroughly jealous.
“Good, because I’m almost out of juice. The shield eats ambrosia like crazy.”
“I know. How much force can you withstand?”
“Hard to say. There are a lot of variables involved.”
“What about plasma?”
“Lizard rifle, I’ve been able to hold up against 12 spaced shots when on full ambrosia load, but only three when they come in fast.”
“Useful,” Morgan commented.
“Very, when you’re caught outside your armor. You here for your battlemeld upgrade?”
“Yeah. Don’t suppose you’ve learned how to share that shield?”
“We haven’t found any of the non-melding triggers, and so far I’m the only one with the bioshield, so the techs only have the single sample to work with, though they’re guessing it had something to do with my resistance to an incoming Fornax hit.”
“I read that report. Hasn’t helped me find it yet.”
“You’ve found 3?”
“And stuck on three.”
“Well, let’s get you up to four. Have a seat.”
“Here?”
“We need someplace quiet, and this will do.”
“Works for me,” she said, sitting down crosslegged with Paul sitting to mirror her, reaching out to grab her hands and linking their minds directly, bypassing the Ikrid blocks. She resisted at first, out of reflex, then let him in, finding the presence of another trailblazer mind immensely soothing as it burned out the isolation she’d unwittingly accumulated during the Calavari mission.
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Two days later she’d achieve the upgrade which, in typical Morgan fashion, was an unofficial record.
6
August 30, 2505
Prolio System (Alpha Region)
HTC
“There?” Davis asked over his dedicated comm line to Morgan.
“Yes,” she said, looking down on a wide plain full of Calavari from a high building top as they roamed about underneath the morning sunlight.
Davis zoomed in a bit more via the Archon helmet that he wore, seeing the smaller four-armed aliens moving about. “What exactly are they doing?”
“The old Calavari society had a strict gender gap. The males controlled everything and the females preferred it that way. Jason and Jace eliminated that by changing the way their younglings are raised. Those females are four years old and earning points for their brood by moving small weights from the pedestals to the intake slots.”
“What is this accomplishing?”
“Materially nothing, but two very important things. Previously the females were nesting freaks, with many staying indoors for years at a time. To break them of this habit they started them on very basic training activities, but in order to give them motivation to do so they had to tie everything into the brood standings. With the Calavari, their inner society is all about the broods. It’s been their excuse for lack of activity, and now we’re using it to drive their training, both physical and giving them early experience so they can join the workforce later on if they choose, rather than it being a completely unfamiliar field.”
“You mentioned points?”
“The Calavari broods are a bit like our Clans, except they’re based off of bloodlines and a lot of other foolishness. Bottom line is the females are insanely loyal to their broods, while the males view it as a childhood thing. They look down on the females and for good reason. They wouldn’t accept females within the military or workforce until they proved themselves to be capable…while the previous culture discouraged any physical training without actually banning it. End result was the females sat on their asses and let the males handle everything.”