Mia bit back a snide response in favor of the polite one, for the woman had just admitted she was right. “I couldn’t agree more, Governor.”
“Before we move forward, though, we need to decide from the start what any such initiative will and will not entail.”
“Understandable. Any action you take risks antagonizing both the Alliance and the Federation, when they’re both already on edge from antagonizing one another. If you play the political angle too strongly, they’ll see the development as a threat that needs to be stamped out before it grows any stronger.”
Herndon perked up. “You make an excellent point. I think I’ve changed my mind. This is a bad idea.”
So he hadn’t grown a backbone in the intervening months; Mia shot him a scornful glare. “The alternative, however, is far worse. Olivia Montegreu doesn’t respect Romane’s wealth, but she does want it for herself. I believe our commerce, industry and, yes, our money can in turn ensure she fails—but only if we direct them as part of a strategic, focused plan.”
“Much as we did when preparing for the Metigen invasion.”
“Exactly.” The governor may have her at a permanent arms-length, but from their first meeting they had shared a common outlook and perspective on the world.
Ledesme nodded thoughtfully. “So a defense force, then. From the beginning we’ll invite the other independent colonies to join us in this effort, while making it clear that it’s not a political alliance—which it will in fact not be. None of us want to share power with the others. Rather, it is a coalition to provide for the common defense against the threat the Zelones cartel poses, as well as OTS and other agents of chaos.”
“Yes, ma’am. I suggest it encompass all aspects of defending a colony: orbital, electronic and groundside planetary defense.”
Herndon’s eyes widened. “You’re talking about training troops? Forming a military?”
“Forming a defense force. We’ll need to mind our language in public, Chief Herndon. The public perception matters quite a lot.”
She caught Ledesme regarding her with an inscrutable expression, but she continued. “And yes, such things do require soldiers. On that point, aerial defense should be the first priority. It can accomplish a great deal on its own, particularly when paired with our robust orbital defense arrays. Romane counts a number of former military among its residents, and we’ll want to see about quietly recruiting the best of them.
“But first, I’d like to propose someone to lead the aerial unit—to train the recruits and shape a modern force capable of meeting and besting a modern enemy. I’ve asked her to come by and present some ideas on what she can do for us.”
To Morgan’s credit, she walked in looking the part from head to toe—hair slicked back into a low knot, khaki workpants and a utility jacket over a snug shirt. She made no attempt to hide her vivid amethyst irises.
Herndon let out a pained groan. “Another Prevo? We might as well cede the whole government and submit to our new overlords.”
Morgan tossed an unimpressed sneer at him. “We’re the sole reason you’re sitting here today, desk-jockey. A little appreciation wouldn’t be too much to ask for.”
Mia cringed, but Ledesme stood and offered Morgan a hand. “And we do appreciate it. Commander Lekkas, it’s a pleasure.”
Morgan accepted the hand, if with customary reserve. “Thank you, Governor. But it’s not ‘Commander’ any longer—just ‘Ms.’ ”
Ledesme arched an eyebrow. “I don’t know. ‘Commander’ serves as a fine title for the head of the Independent Defense Consortium of Colonies’ Rapid Response Forces.”
The woman had decided upon a name for the new initiative, as well as its armed wing, and christened them so in a matter of minutes and without consultation.
Morgan: Ooh, I like her.
Mia chuckled under her breath. Indeed.
“So what do you say, Commander Lekkas? Are you ready to be a soldier again?”
Morgan smiled, and even succeeded in making it seem more innocent than wolfish. “Damn straight I am.”
The meeting finally drew to a close—after morphing into a multi-hour planning and strategy session—and the governor motioned for Mia to follow her to her office.
When the door had closed behind Mia, Ledesme rested on the front of her desk with uncharacteristic casualness. “You keep appearing out of nowhere at critical junctures to save us from doom, almost as if you’re some kind of guardian angel.”
“No, ma’am, I’m merely—”
“Don’t misunderstand. I’m most grateful. Intelligence is a common enough trait, but initiative? The willingness to act on one’s convictions and the courage to see them through to the end? Far more rare. You’re a person who creates your own destiny, Ms. Requelme, and around such persons does history turn.”
Caleb’s words echoed in her mind. I think your destiny still lies ahead of you. “I…I don’t know what to say. Thank you.”
Ledesme pursed her lips in brief, concise contemplation. “Before I lend my full support to this initiative and take irrevocable steps toward its formation, I only have one question. Am I handing over the government to the Prevos? Are you—en masse or individually—intending to become our new overlords?”
Mia blinked; this was so damn surreal, all of it. “No, ma’am. I respect your concern, I genuinely do. But no. I don’t want to govern anyone except myself. OTS is a threat to my ability to do that, and Montegreu is a threat to everything and everyone. So I need to stand up and do what I can to meet those threats.
“Morgan simply wants to fly again, and if she happens to get to protect civilians in the process, all the better. It’s what she wanted to do before she was a Prevo. We’re the same people we were—smarter, stronger, yes, but inherently unchanged.
“This goes for Montegreu, too, and in her case the ‘smarter, stronger’ part means she’s a far greater danger to everyone than she was before she became a Prevo. I suspect she, too, wants what she always did: to hold the galaxy under her thumb. Unfortunately, now she stands a chance of actually achieving her goal.”
The governor’s gaze never wavered from Mia. “All right. The truth is you’ve never given me a single reason to doubt you—not by your actions—and countless reasons to trust you. What you are terrifies people like Chief Herndon, but I want to believe I’m capable of getting past primal fears and accepting you and your kind. After all, the only constant in life is change.”
The woman pushed off the edge of the desk and went around behind it, then called up a screen. “To that end, I’d like your help reaching out to the other independents. You’re persuasive yet approachable—and if nothing else, the fact we’re publicly touting having a Prevo on our team will show the other colonies we are very serious indeed.”
“It will send much the same message to the Alliance and the Federation.”
Ledesme gave her a calculating, shrewd smile. “So it will.”
PART II:
EMPTY PLACES
“And the rest is rust and stardust.”
— Vladimir Nabokov
Portal: B-5
System Designation:
Gemina
9
SIYANE
Gemina Portal Space
* * *
Time is held captive by the stars.
Alex regarded her dad with a measure of suspicion, but also hesitancy. Was he testing her, teaching her…or just waxing philosophical? More likely all three. He tended to do that. “Because of the speed of light?”
“Right, milaya. Our fancy superluminal engines cheat to get past it, but the speed of light is still a fundamental constant, a core rule of the universe. Today we zip around our little corner of the Milky Way and call ourselves explorers, but one day we’ll spread our wings and soar far deeper into the universe. Only when we get there, we’ll discover a future we haven’t seen and don’t recognize. This starlight outside the viewport here? It represents a past long gone.”
They wer
e taking a daytrip to the Exploration History Exhibit on Mars; she’d never been to the Sojourner Dome and couldn’t wait to visit it. The brisk swinging of her legs betrayed her impatience, but she tried to refocus her gaze on where he pointed. Out the viewport and far to the left, the faintest haze of an apricot-hued nebula backlit a cluster of tiny pinpricks of light. Stars, so very far from here.
She’d call up the map overlay and figure out the name of the nebula in a second, but first she paused to soak in the sight. She understood what her dad was saying—that the starlight was old by the time it got here, and those stars were different now. Some of them might not even exist any longer.
The idea threatened to make her grumpy, and she didn’t want to be grumpy at the Exhibit. She crossed her arms over her chest to show outward resolve. “Well, they’re still pretty. And I bet they’ll be this pretty in their future—or prettier.”
He tousled her hair with a smile. “I bet they will be, too. You know what else? I believe you’ll get to find out.”
Alex peered at the stars outside the Siyane’s viewport with even greater interest than usual—for these were allegedly the same stars.
The golden-blue Metis Nebula had been instantly recognizable on their exit from the portal. It hadn’t taken Valkyrie long to realize the data coming in from the long-range scans also bore a striking familiarity.
They took broader measurements, and the results displayed a strong correlation between the mapping of the Milky Way and this galaxy; the similarities also extended to characteristics of distant galaxies. Complicating the scenario was a twist in the behavior of the TLF wave. Though this was a fully realized pocket universe, the wave did not point to a specific location. Rather, it diffracted to spread across the entirety of the space.
They’d also found yet one additional wrinkle. They were looking out on the Milky Way’s Scutum-Crux Arm, only not quite. Stars were near to but not precisely where they should be. On comparing several key markers relative to where they should be if this were the Milky Way, a single factor emerged to explain the shifts: the passage of time.
“Valkyrie, get ready to burn some computation cycles. How far into the future is this?”
Caleb had kicked his chair into a reclining position, and he stared at the ceiling more than the stars. “Do you really think it’s possible this is home? We certainly didn’t go through our portal. And while we’ve seen a number of bizarre things out here, one thing we haven’t seen a whiff of is time travel.” The chair snapped upright and his feet landed on the floor. “But the Metigens can and do set different time ‘speeds’ for different pocket universes, so…fine, I’ll buy it.”
Alex kept her attention on the vista, as if by doing so she could mentally will space to reshape itself into proper alignment. “This has got to be a copy—another iteration of our universe. Damn, I wonder if there are humans here. Humans which aren’t us. If this is the future, they’ll be more advanced…unless the Metigens succeeded here where they failed back home and wiped them out.”
“Because these humans didn’t have us to save them?”
“You got it.”
Valkyrie reported the results of her calculations. ‘Four hundred million years, give or take twenty-two million.’
Caleb whistled. “Long time.”
“Imagine what we can accomplish in another four hundred millions years. If they’re not all dead, maybe the humans here have. Hell, maybe by this point they’ve evolved past their physical bodies and become beings of light, one with the universe.”
Caleb scowled. “That would be…boring.”
Would it? Her thoughts leapt to how extraordinary it was to be one with the Siyane, perceiving the component atoms of the cosmos all around her. Could the experience compare to the delight of a succulent dessert melting in her mouth—to the sensory bliss of hot fudge dripping down frozen ice cream? Could it compare to the exhilaration of a runner’s high? To the carnal ecstasy and peaceful contentment evoked by all the nuances of physical intimacy enjoyed with someone you loved?
It seemed impossible to judge them. How could she weigh them on the scales of life and deem one or the other wanting, when each was so deeply treasured?
“So I imagine you’re dying to go check out Earth.” The remark jolted her out of her reverie before she found any answers. Caleb’s expression was admirably neutral, giving no hint of judgment on the matter.
He’d need to do a lot better than a noncommittal look if he wanted to hide his preferences from her. She tried to match his dispassionate demeanor. “Absolutely, assuming Earth exists—but Seneca is a good bit closer. We should swing by there first.”
His former dispassion gave way to a broad, open smile. It had been the answer he wanted. Of course it had been, which was why she’d given it. “I’d love to go there. Thank you.”
10
SENECA-PAR
Gemina Portal Space
* * *
“This is very…strange,” Caleb muttered, shaking his head. He turned in a slow circle, eyes scanning the horizon as his brain tried to reconcile what he saw with a lifetime of memories.
Untamed forest encroached all the way to the shore of Lake Fuori. Across the water, the forest picked up where it had left off, shrouding the opposite shore in deepening shades of pine. Not only was there no sign of civilization, there was no sign civilization had ever existed here. No broken slabs of stone or jutting beams of metal, no crumbled stairs or felled statues.
And maybe it hadn’t. “Maybe humans never came to Seneca in this universe. With over twenty billion potentially habitable planets in the Milky Way, it’s entirely possible they never discovered it.”
Alex kicked idly at the dirt, chuckling ruefully when a wave lapped at the shore and soaked her boot. “I’m beginning to think there’s simply no one here. We haven’t picked up any indication of a space-faring civilization on the longest-range scans, or of any life at all for that matter.”
“Four hundred million years is a long time—in truth long enough to erode away visible vestiges of civilization. Left neglected, eventually even the most durable creations fade away.”
“Four hundred million years from now we damn well better be a Kardashev Type III civilization, and such a high level of technology is easily detectable. So if there are or were humans here, their development went badly awry.”
“Or they’ve already transformed into your beings of light.” He walked a few meters and located a fallen limb, then returned to the water’s edge and drew it through the water. “No bioluminescence. Could there genuinely be no life here at all? I suppose the passage of time can explain it—perhaps there was an extinction-level event at some point—but Seneca was teeming with native life when we colonized it. It’s peculiar.”
Alex snorted. “ ‘Peculiar’ is the Metigens’ stock in trade. Right after wholesale slaughter.”
“True.” He inhaled deeply. Though wilderness pervaded where a vibrant city should stand, in some small way it still felt like home. The air tasted of remembrances, of ghosts flitting just out of reach on the breeze.
The Siyane hovered above the water a little way down the shore. There was no clearing near the lake wide enough to land, so they’d leapt off the end of the ramp and would have to climb back up to re-board.
He grasped Alex’s hand in his. “Come on. There’s one more place I want to visit.”
“Sure. Where is it?”
“Up in the mountains to the north. It’s hard to describe…I’ll need to fly us there by sight.”
Once he oriented himself properly, the outcropping wasn’t difficult to spot. Even on the Seneca he grew up on, this area was undeveloped and only lightly monitored by the Senecan Wilderness Service.
In contrast to the lakeshore, here a wide clearing a few hundred meters away provided plenty of room to touch down.
Alex donned a pullover while he grabbed his jacket, and they left the ship in Valkyrie’s capable hands.
His gaze darted around in g
rowing bewilderment as they trekked through the woods toward the ledge. “No, this is strange. It looks exactly the same. If I don’t overthink it, I could be convinced I was home.”
“Did you spend a lot of time up here—the other ‘here’—growing up?”
“As a teenager I did. The region I worked in during the summers included much of this mountain.”
Her voice was soft. “With the elafali.”
“Something tells me all the wildlife is missing, including elafali. A shame…I’d like for you to get to see one.”
“When we go home, it’s a date. Still, this is beautiful.”
“But not as beautiful as…” the trees thinned out as the ground beneath their feet turned to stone “…this.”
She let out a gasp. “Wow.”
A rich pelt of hunter green forest spread out across rolling mountains and lush valleys, pristine and untouched to the horizon, where it met a cloudless cornflower blue sky. Tendrils of sparkling azure water carved circuitous paths through the gorges.
He sat down on the stone outcropping a meter or so from the edge and draped his arms over his knees. He breathed in the air, clean and cool, and found it more comforting than at the lake. Soothing. Familiar.
Alex joined him, scooting closer until their shoulders touched. “So is it solely the admittedly magnificent view, or is this place special to you for another reason?”
“I came here a few times to mull over momentous decisions—or they seemed momentous when I was a teenager. In retrospect, some of them weren’t so grandiose. I never managed to find the opportunity to get up this way once I went to work, though. In fact…the last time I ventured up here was when I needed to decide whether to accept Samuel’s offer to come to work for Division.”
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