“...In terms of exploration, we had a list of questions we were attempting to answer for each world we visited,” Nik continued. “Partly this was to determine any possible links to an earlier human settlement... earlier than those here, I mean... which might help them trace their way back to a First World. Partly, it was to create a resource map along with the locational one, so that they could later determine which of these worlds might be useful to the civilizations here. Not only because a given world had something they wanted... but for potential settlement and colonization purposes, as well. So a map of viable worlds was also created, as a separate part of that overall map of ages, locations and other pertinent details of worlds...”
Glancing at Razmun, Nik shrugged again.
"The other reason morph were deemed ideal for exploration is the simple fact that we can transform,” he added. “That includes transforming into lifeforms that do not require oxygen, or that require some other substance to survive. Even so, many morph were lost to worlds that did not have breathable air in any of the forms for which they already had patterns memorized. Between that, and the limited number of shifts most morph can accomplish before gate-sickness sets in, the humans have long been concerned about keeping enough gate-shifters on the rotations to maintain regular exploration." Nik gave me another half-shrug, his eyes expressionless. "They hoped that, in time, they would find a way to get humans through the gates... maybe even through selective hybridization. They knew that these maps would then take on a much different significance to the human race...”
Again glancing at Razmun, Nik let his voice grow matter of fact.
"The process was fairly straightforward,” he told me. “The human technicians would pinpoint a location within the stream. They would then have one of the gate-shifters visit that location, utilizing a preliminary shift before an attempt at full mapping. The gate could only be used for one jump at a time, and generally, we had a time limit to complete our reconnoissance on the ground or there was a risk of the wave destabilizing for that particular portal. Once we had returned to this dimension, our human handlers would lock down another location on the stream, and repeat the process, jumping another morph or the same morph into the next world they discovered."
"Did they have any kind of timeline on when they'd be taking humans through the streams?" I said. "How close were they?"
Nihkil shook his head. "Not close, Dakota. Despite many tests with a number of different hybridization combinations, no human has been documented as having survived a jump... even going only one way." He gave me an apologetic look. "Well... only one human has been documented as surviving a jump, and that information is considered unreliable by most."
Glancing at Razmun, Nik tightened his fingers around mine.
"Every other human who has attempted the gates has died,” Nik said frankly. “Several disappeared entirely... unable to be found even when a morph went through subsequently to try and retrieve the body."
"But how did they explore the gates before?" I said, frowning. "Before they stumbled upon the morph, I mean?"
"They didn't," Nihkil said. "They were not even aware of the functionality of the gates prior to sending through the morph. Remember, only about sixty percent of morph can survive even a single navigational shift through the gates. Fewer than twenty percent can navigate more than fifteen shifts without preliminary symptoms of gate-sickness. Before they learned of morph’s ability to traverse the gates, the humans knew only that the gates involved a spacial-temporal anomaly of some kind... or vortex. They also knew that attempts to ride that vortex killed human beings, without exception. Sending our people through was merely an experiment... one they had assumed would fail."
I folded my arms, feeling my face tighten.
"Nice," I muttered.
"Morph life was not valued much at the time," Nik said, shrugging. "The success of that initial portal jump is what first caused humans to value us more... if for the wrong reasons. Still, in the short term, it was deemed a reprieve by most of us. They stopped killing our people, at least as a matter of policy."
Pausing, Nik added,
"That inability of humans to travel the gates is also why many believe you must be from the First World, Dakota. Conversely, it is equally why many suspect that the story about how I found you is a lie. They think that either I never jumped, or that I entered into some agreement with the Malek to make it appear that you arrived with me at the gate on Trinith. They believe you never passed through the gates at all...”
"Or that you are part or full morph," Razmun added dryly. “...Which was the real reason they insisted on gathering bio-samples from you for so many months, Dakota.”
Nihkil ignored him, still looking only at me.
"The two gates, they were determined to be a disharmonious pair,” Nik said, his eyes on mine. “...Meaning, they did not open out into the same set of worlds, Dakota. Whether, between them, those gates covered a large or small percentage of the existing dimensional worlds, was never determined. It was never even determined if all of the worlds we found through the two gates existed on different dimensional planes. The constellations have not all been verified as belonging to galaxies other than this one. The humans do not have adequate technology to determine every configuration that could be seen from different parts of this physical universe... much less whether some of these gate-shifts constituted temporal jumps alone, meaning forward or backwards in time within this same physical reality...”
Pausing again, Nik touched my arm with the hand not holding mine.
"All that is known for certain is this,” he said. “The maps that the Malek and the Pharei were building... they did not match. None of the worlds were the same. None of the images recorded or experiences or civilizations or resources recorded matched across more than a thousand worlds explored between them. Most of them did not even share constellations, not well enough to pinpoint their exact location in relation to one another."
I noticed that Razmun was listening attentively to Nihkil now, too, a sharper glint in his eyes. Something about that look made me uneasy.
"And this third gate?" I said to Nik. "You went through that one, too, didn’t you? Was it also 'disharmonious' with the other two gates?"
Razmun answered that time, before Nik could.
"We do not know its exact relation with those two gates," Razmun said. "We have only been mapping for a few decades now, unlike the hundreds of years of mapping conducted by the Pharei and the Malek... and...”
Razmun hesitated, glancing at Nik, his eyes sharp.
“...We do not have direct access to the maps of either the Pharei or the Malek,” he added. “Nor have we had direct access to anyone who’s traversed either gate, since both human militaries guard their gate-shifters closely, even after they are retired from active duty. Anyway,” Razmun shrugged. “Most of those who are retired, have done so due to gate-sickness, and often die within a year of retirement. As Jamri here knows."
Pausing on that, Razmun added, his voice lighter,
"We do have one piece of information that might interest both of you. According to intel I was able to gather as General Advisor Ledi, at least three worlds that were charted by the human powers also can be reached by the third gate. One of those was a world discovered by the Malek, entitled YZ-248. The other two are worlds you explored, Jamri... one they named ‘Ikraine’ and the other, ‘Nuremqi-6.’ All three worlds are accessible by the gate on Vilandt."
Nihkil turned, staring at Razmun. “You are certain of this?"
Razmun gave an elaborate shrug. "It is a larger gate, Jamri. From what we’ve been able to determine, it also has a more complex meta-structure. The wave contains at least three times the strands of either the Malek or the Pharei gates...”
"It goes to both?"
"It appears it does, yes." Razmun's eyes lit up, holding more of an inner fire. "Of course, we can never know that for certain, not now. Not without a gate-shifter familiar with at least one of the m
aps used by the Malek or the Pharei."
Again the loaded pause.
In it, Razmum appeared to be studying Nik's face.
"I have been attempting to obtain copies of the maps for over a decade now," Razmun added. "The humans have been very astute about protecting them, even from their own people. The Pharei, in particular... they have their gate maps broken out into segments, protected with several encryption sequences that my morph have yet to crack. As a result, I have glimpsed portions of these maps, through various machinations as General Advisor Ledi, but not enough to do a true comparison with our findings on the third gate."
Razmun’s eyes sharpened once more on Nik's. "So you might understand why we would find your assistance in this matter valuable, Jamri... ?"
"I don't have the maps." Nik glanced at me, his expression taut, before looking back at Razmun. "I never have. You'd be a fool to think they would grant me access to such a thing, given what I am."
"Yet, I am not such a fool, Jamri," Razmun broke in, his eyes holding a warning. "You have jumped for them hundreds of times. Even if you are telling me the entire truth about your access to the maps, which I happen to know you are not... you would at least have a basic understanding of the meta-wave for the Pharei gate. You would also know those pieces that you, yourself, had collected and verified."
Razmun paused again meaningfully.
“...And, as I said, I happen to know that you are lying, Jamri. You did gain access to the Pharei map. I know this, because Yaffa told me as much. I was also one of those who helped to convince him not to have you killed for breaking into their data banks in the first place...”
I glanced at Nik in surprise.
Nik didn’t meet my gaze.
He stared at Razmun instead, his now-light blue eyes the color of ice.
"How do you know these things?" Nihkil said. "Yaffa would never have told you that... not willingly. How did you get this information, Razmun?"
"Let’s just say I took pains to ensure I always had some measure of leverage over your old lock-holder, Jamri,” Razmun said grimly, his eyes darkening in the pause. “Let us also say, also, that I had my own reasons for ensuring that Yaffa did not have unchecked control over your person... and that I always ensured I had a number of supernaturals on the payroll, as well."
Razmun’s voice sharpened, holding a denser thread of anger.
“I would never have willingly allowed a piece of excrement like that to own you completely, Jamri,” Razmun said. “Not without some check over his powers.”
When Nik looked away, his mouth taut, Razmun merely shrugged.
"So, now you know,” he said. “And you can no doubt guess the deal I might wish to offer you, Jamri. We need that map... as much of it as you can give to us. In return, we offer sanctuary for you and your lock-mate. We also offer our assistance in relocating both of you out of danger of your human masters. We will send your precious Dakota all the way back to her home world, Jamri, if both of you so desire. Or, if you would prefer it, she may stay with our people. I will personally guarantee that your mate would be inducted into our families formally, if the two of you so desire it... through marriage, through motherhood, or through whatever else you would like to do to tie her to us."
Nihkil's frown deepened, right before he looked at me.
I could tell he wanted to talk to me, but not in front of Razmun.
Anyway, I didn’t know enough about the gates to have much of an opinion about whether Razmun might be lying... or even why. When Nihkil continued to look at me, I could only shrug, my eyes blank.
But Razmun had clearly been watching us look at one another, too.
“How does that sound to you, Dakota?” Razmun said, his voice polite. “You had said before that you wished to go home, did you not?”
I gave him a flat look. "How does it sound to me? It sounds like you get a lot more out of that deal than Nik does," I said, squeezing Nik’s fingers in my own. “It also sounds like an easy deal to pretend you’re honoring, when you’re really not.”
Nik made a humorless sound.
When I glanced at him, I saw a faint smile on his lips.
"Does it?" Razmun said, giving me a flint-like look. "Clearly, you must not understand the reality of you and Nik's current predicament, Dakota."
"Maybe,” I said. “But I think I get it pretty well, Raz... or Zarwy, or whatever you go by. All of this still seems pretty convenient for you. Convenient enough to sound pretty far-fetched. The gates being closed... the destruction of that Malek ship over Trinith. The terrorist attacks on Palarine. You showing up, right in the nick of time, to 'rescue' us from the evil humans...”
Razmun's eyes sharpened.
I saw a vague appreciation there, too, along with a more measured look that seemed to be meant as a half-assed compliment.
Both irritated me.
"You don't intend to let Nik go at all, do you?" I said. "This is all part of your glorious revolution... your attempt to rewrite history in favor of your stupid prophecy?"
Razmun's smile widened. "There is a fine line between coincidence and prophecy... wouldn't you say, Jamri?"
Nihkil didn't answer, not even when I looked at him.
Even so, I saw irritation rise to his eyes.
When neither of them broke the silence, I did.
"Prophecy? Seriously?" I said, still looking between them. "Meaning what? Is this about having leverage over the humans... the fertility issue? Are you thinking you can get them to play ball on your political demands, if you control the only remaining gate?"
Giving a humorless laugh, I snorted.
“...Or are you thinking you can wait out the demise of the human race altogether?” I said. “Wait for the mixing of blood to become so pervasive that the human-morph problems just magically disappear? Because in the history of my world, intermarriage and whatnot didn't really do jack-all, in terms of fixing the fundamental problem. People just found different ways to slice up the pie...”
"That's not what he means, Dakota," Nik said.
When I glanced over, I saw Nik’s eyes trained densely on Razmun.
"It's not what you mean," Nik repeated, still looking at the other morph. "Is it Razmun?"
"No, Nik," Razmun said. "You know it is not."
"Then what?" A faint alarm reached my voice. "What does he mean?" I said, aiming the question back at Nik.
"He wants to leave," Nik said, his voice still flat. "He thinks, once I hand him the gate map, he can find a dimension that contains no humans at all. Whether we go with him or not is immaterial, as long as the third gate does not survive his departure.”
"What?" I turned, staring at Razmun. “Is that true?”
"Jamri is half-right,” Razmun said, his light gray eyes focused on Nik. "I will let you go wherever you like, Dakota, just as I agreed.”
"But me," Nihkil said, his voice heavier. "You want me to go with you."
"With all of us, Nik," Razmun said. "Yes, I'm afraid I must insist on that point. I will not lose you again, Jamri."
"All of us... ?" I said. "All of us, who? You mean your followers?"
Both morph looked at me, as if confused by my words.
Nihkil frowned, his eyes like flint chips. "No, Dakota," he said, training that harder look on Razmun. "Not only his followers. All of my people. He wants all of the pure-blood morph to leave this plane of existence, and never come back. Isn't that right, Razmun?"
"Yes, Nik," Razmun said, smiling. "Yes... that's exactly right."
27
THE PLANET OF RAIN AND MOUNTAINS
THE TRIP TO Vilandt seemed to take forever, yet somehow, no time at all.
Meaning, most days, I had absolutely nothing to do. Nihkil slept on the bench next to me, and usually, I just lay there beside him, unable to scrape up enough interest or enthusiasm to even glance at the portable monitor Razmun gave me.
Well, not for the first week, anyway.
At the end of that week, something in my mind o
r motivation changed.
Without really thinking too much about why, I buried myself in research. I read and watched everything I could get my hands on... on the gates, on Vilandt, on the morph, the locks, supernaturals, the histories of the Malek and the Pharei and their never-ending wars, and any news or military reports I could find on the terrorist Zarwin.
Given the sheer volume of data, a lot of it probably blurred in terms of specifics, but over time, a clearer picture began to emerge of our current situation.
I learned that Zarwin had, indeed, killed women and children... a lot of them, like Nihkil had said. He'd claimed responsibility for hits on perimeter colonies of both the Malek and the Pharei, and most of those casualties had been civilians.
He'd also claimed responsibility for the recent bombing of the Council chambers on Pharei. Razmun admitted that one point blank when I asked, although he also claimed he never would have allowed me or Nihkil to be in real danger.
Having seen the effects up close and personal, I didn’t find his words all that reassuring.
I talked to Zarwin about Ledi, too, and heard the story about how he'd been working both sides of the fence, just as Nik had been accused of doing.
Ledi had killed that Malek who tried to buy Nik, mainly to keep him from spilling the beans on Ledi’s own relationship with the Malek hierarchy. He also informed me of deals he had going as Zarwin with the morph authority on Vilandt, and a few he’d arranged as Ledi with human rebels on Outer Rim worlds. All his explanations did was blur the lines even more, in terms of bad guys versus good.
As far as I could tell, Nik and I were pretty much on our own.
I found myself thinking about the third gate a lot, and what Razmun claimed he wanted from Nik. I couldn't quite make myself believe that Razmun’s intention to keep Nik with him stemmed purely from either racial solidarity or nostalgia, although the morph leader seemed to have both in abundance. Of course, whatever his slogan-y-sounding pitch, I had no way of assessing his true feelings for Nik, even if I strongly suspected this was just another game he was running, trying to manipulate Nik into doing what he wanted.
The Morph (Gate Shifter Book One) Page 37