∞
In the captain’s cabin, Alex sipped a cup of hot chicken broth while Michael and the commander of the fleet, General Alan Gates, brought him up to date.
“And so,” Michael said, “Chow Yin must have initially prepared to repel us—”
“But then he sensed me,” Alex said, and shook his head.
Michael said, “With you on one side, and us on the other, he would have realized he was outgunned without the bulk of his fleet. Like any coward, he fled.”
General Gates growled. “Not until he was sure to destroy Qin Station behind him, whether to distract us, or to hide his research.”
Giving Alex a level look, Michael asked, “Where do you think he went?”
“He went to look for more allies.”
“Where?” the general asked. “The Jupiter moons?”
“No,” Alex said, and took a deep breath. “Centauri. He knows about the Kulsat. He thinks they will join forces with him, if he gives them what they’re looking for.”
General Gates frowned, and looked at Michael. “None of this was in your report. The Kulsat?”
“It’s time you heard the truth,” Michael said. “I briefed my government, but my report was discounted as a fabrication.”
Together, Michael and Alex told the general everything they knew about the Kulsat threat.
When they were finished, the general didn’t question the truth of their story. He asked, “What about these Gliesans you mentioned, the ones that saved Alex on his first trip, and the rest of you this last time?”
Michael said, “I’m not sure if they have the resources to stand against the Kulsat. I got the impression they’re severely outgunned. Their Kinemats have helped us, but I believe they have done so of their own accord. Their actions might be unofficial, and they might have been breaking their own laws to assist us.” He shook his head. “There’s no way to guess what stance their government has adopted concerning us.”
Alex said, “Up until now, the Kulsat haven’t had any idea where in the galaxy Sol System is. The star beacons have a kind of interstellar cloaking mechanism, hiding our location from anyone who doesn’t know our coordinates.”
“And hiding them from us,” Michael added. “This is why none of our long-range sensors have recorded anything outside our system.”
General Gates stood up and paced in the small room. “And you say this was set up by these ancient aliens, the Grace?”
“As far as we know,” Michael said. “We weren’t able to debrief the Gliesans in full before Chow Yin’s mines struck. And the only other information we have is the stories from Yaxche and his friend, Patli. It’s possible some parts of the story could have been altered or lost over the past thousand years.”
Drawing himself up to his full height, the general nodded to himself. “I will send a report to HQ.”
“We don’t have time to wait for them to debate this,” Alex said. “If we don’t follow Chow Yin and stop him, he’ll lead the Kulsat right to us.”
“I don’t have the authority to do that,” the general said, and then glanced at Michael. “Besides, if your government has discounted your story, my government might do the same. I can’t just run off to another solar system based on conjecture.”
“What if I could prove it?” Alex stood up.
Raising one eyebrow, the general asked, “Prove the Kulsat threat?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“You have a quantum drive on board.”
Slowly, the general nodded. “Yes, but I understand neither of you are fully capable of piloting the drive.”
“Things have changed,” Alex assured him. “Don’t worry; it will be a short trip.”
“A short trip?” The general frowned. “To where?”
Alex smiled. “Back to Pluto.”
∞
When the general went to send in his report, insisting he needed someone higher up the food chain to sign off on the proposal, he left Alex and Michael alone in the cabin.
“You’ve been irradiated by Kinemet,” Alex said.
“I have, but I don’t seem to have any of the powers of a Kinemat. I just feel the bad side effects. If they hadn’t got me off Earth, I’m sure I would’ve died. Now, I can handle it—at least for the time being. Judging from past cases, I might not have more than a few days or weeks before the radiation starts to kill me.”
“Tell me what happened?”
Michael quickly outlined everything that had happened since they’d parted ways after Kenny’s death. “I realized that the alien had Kinemet infused in his DNA. Of course, that revelation came seconds before the lab blew up.”
“It wasn’t natural Kinemet,” Alex said. “It was already altered, as if it had undergone the priming sequence.”
“Yes.” Michael frowned. “I got Humberto to send the message to you letting you know that was the final key. I assumed…”
Shaking his head, Alex said, “Doctor Naysmith must have snuck Kinemet into my bloodstream just before the first trial. The sample they used on Sian was incomplete—everyone else in the lab died. I was insulated against that; I assume because I’ve been previously irradiated. I quantized myself moments before the explosion. Somehow, while being quantized, I managed to process the Kinemet in my system. The conversion must have altered it. If you were to take a genetic sample of me now, you’d most likely find that I share the same Kinemetic DNA markers as the Xtôti you examined.”
“So you…”
Alex nodded. “Technically, I’m no longer a human. I’m one of the Grace.” He laughed. “Unfortunately, I have no idea what that entails. Other than being aware in the photonic state, the only other ability I seem to have is to be able to extend my awareness throughout the solar system.”
“So that was the legacy the Kulsat were looking for? The infusion of Kinemet? It was the alien’s body that gave us the clue.”
Alex frowned. “I think the infusion may only be a part of the legacy, an important step. There’s a piece missing in this equation, and for the life of me, I don’t know what it is.”
“We need a lab, and a lot of time,” Michael said. “We have neither.” A moment later, he added, “I don’t know how much time I have, either.”
“I’m sure you’ll have all the time in the world,” Alex said.
Michael squinted at him. “What do you mean?”
“You told me Patli’s story, about how other aliens abducted the irradiated villagers a millennium ago.”
“Yes.”
“I believe the rescuers were Gliesans, and the villagers were Ah Tabai’s ancestors.”
Nodding, Michael looked at the floor, thinking it through. “That makes sense.”
“So, all we need to do is get Ah Tabai and Aliah to fix you, as the Gliesans fixed the villagers.”
Michael jerked his head up. “What?”
“What better way to prove our story than to get it straight from the horse’s mouth?”
“Ah Tabai? Aliah? They survived?”
Alex nodded. “Yes. The same way I did when I first went to the Centauri System. They’re waiting out there, in the photonic state. Why else would I want to go to Pluto?”
∞
At first, the general wanted to get authorization, but Alex pointed out that a message sent to Earth from their position would have taken nearly fifteen minutes each way, and adding in the time it would take for someone in command to make a decision, Chow Yin would most likely be an hour or two ahead of them, traveling at very near the speed of light.
“Also, if he is fully converted to a Kinemat, he can utilize the star beacons. The moment he travels to the Centauri System, he could signal the Kulsat.”
“My original mandate was the capture of Chow Yin,” General Gates said after considering Alex’s words. “Technically, nothing has changed.” With that, he gave the order to get the quantum drive online.
It only took the engineers a few minutes to prepare everything, and when t
he general was notified that all systems were ready, he nodded to Alex. “You’re sure you can do this?”
“Yes,” Alex said, finding his way to the console area built specifically for a quantum pilot. “Now more than ever.”
“Very well, I’m transferring navigation to your station. Let us know when you’re going to engage the drive.”
Taking a deep breath, and familiarizing himself with the controls, Alex was suddenly reminded of the first time he’d piloted a luminous vessel, when he’d hijacked the Quanta.
He closed his eyes, and could feel a connection to the Kinemet already loaded aboard the quantum engine. At the same time, he became acutely aware of Michael and the other three officers on the bridge, as well as the six engineers on board the ship. It was almost as if he could reach out with a thin tendril of his own essence and touch each of them.
Alex hesitated as something revolutionary occurred to him.
“What is it, Alex?” the general asked.
“Something’s not right.”
Michael got out of his seat and stepped over, looking over Alex’s shoulder at the console. “It looks fine to me.”
“No,” Alex said, “not with the drive; with the procedure.” He glanced up at Michael. “Do you remember one of the primary reasons I took the place of the first pilot of the Quanta?”
“You thought a pilot who had not undergone the Kinemetic conversion process would not be able to dampen the secondary Kinemetic reaction.”
“And I was right.” Alex looked back down at the quantum drive controls. “Since that time, I’ve always thought there was something fundamentally wrong with our theory, that the secondary reaction should never have been an issue.”
General Gates approached, a harried look on his face. “What’s the delay? Weren’t you the one who convinced me time was of the essence?”
“All this time we’ve been using the theory a quantum pilot is for navigation and to control the ship’s return to physical space.” He smiled. “But there’s much more to it.”
“What do you mean?” Michael asked.
Alex waved the two men back to their seats. “Not to worry. I think I know what I have to do.”
“You think?” the general asked, his eyes wide and disbelieving.
“Instinctually,” Alex said and gave him a firm nod. “Trust me.”
Slowly, the two men returned to their seats, and Alex faced forward.
Closing his eyes, Alex reached out with his photonic essence and connected with the crew. Then he formed a bridge between them and the quantum drive.
Michael said, “We’re ready—”
As Alex had been able to quantize himself in the past, he knew, deep down, he could convert the crew to photons by willing it to happen. He did so, and a moment later, he quantized himself. He was fully aware in that state, and with his electropathic senses, he engaged the quantum drive…
…A little over four hours later, he disengaged the drive, then returned himself to physical form moments before rematerializing the crew.
It had been the smoothest flight Alex could ever have hoped for.
“—when you are,” Michael finished, then paused with his mouth open when he saw the main casement on the bridge showing him that the ship was in orbit around Pluto.
“We’re here?” General Gates said in a breathless rush. With a slight shake of his head, he added, “It felt instantaneous.”
“It’s just a matter of perception,” Alex said. “To me, the flight took four hours, eight minutes, and twenty-seven seconds.”
“Pluto.” General Gates stared at the image on the casement screen. “I never truly thought I would see it.”
“If you think that’s remarkable,” Alex said, “prepare to be amazed.”
“What—?” the general began to ask.
Two photonic essences came out of the bulkhead and floated down in front of the officers on the bridge. Slowly, both of them coalesced into bipedal forms.
“I’d like you to meet Ah Tabai,” Alex said, standing up and approaching the two. He shook hands with the shorter of the two beings, who looked Mayan in appearance. “And Aliah, of the Gliese System.” He bowed to the tall, bird-like alien who gave him an excited chirp of greeting.
“Alex,” Ah Tabai said. “I didn’t know if you would realize we were here, waiting. Thank you for rescuing us.”
Smiling, Alex clapped a hand on his shoulder. “It was my turn to save you.”
Aliah spoke in her whistle-like language, and the words came out from the translator at her collar. “You are more than an Aetherbeing, Alex. I can sense it.” She and Ah Tabai glanced at each other.
Ah Tabai nodded. “Yes, I can feel it, too. You are—” Then his eyes widened. “—you are in a state of Grace! How—?”
Aware that all eyes were on him, and not certain if he should be telling anyone the secret, Alex realized that it was only a matter of time before the truth came out.
“Michael discovered the body of one of the Grace on Earth, and saw that he’d infused Kinemet with his DNA. I was injected and exposed to a conversion.” He shook his head. “I’m surprised no one else has ever stumbled on that.”
“No,” Ah Tabai said. “That has been attempted before. It never resulted in ascension to the Grace.” With a concerned look at Aliah, he added, “The results of that experiment have always been fatal.”
Michael asked, “Then how did Alex survive it, and become—how did you say it—ascended?”
“That is the question,” Ah Tabai said.
Aliah spoke. “We sensed another activation of the star beacon a little while ago. It was on course for the Centauri System.”
“Yes,” Michael said. “That was Chow Yin.” For Ah Tabai’s and Aliah’s benefit, he added, “He’s a criminal who is trying to contact the Kulsat.”
His expression turning alarmed, Ah Tabai said, “You must not allow that. The Kulsat will not make allies with him. They will destroy him, and then come here. We must stop him.”
“My sentiments, exactly,” the general said. Up until that point, he had not spoken. Instead, he’d been staring at the alien on his ship. “Perhaps we can all formally debrief later. Right now, can we get to Centauri and stop Chow Yin in time?”
Alex took a deep breath. “We had better.” He turned to Ah Tabai. “I’ve never used a star beacon correctly before. I don’t think we have time for a lesson. Would you do the honors?” he asked, glancing at the general for approval.
Once General Gates nodded, Ah Tabai said, “Of course.”
…And then Alex became aware that he, the crew, and the entire ship, now existed in deep orbit around the Centauri star beacon.
To his perception, the trip had been instantaneous.
The next moment, they were under heavy fire.
42
Aerie Skanse :
Gliese System :
Deep down, Justine had hoped the day would never come, but when she received the message from Naila, she held her breath as she listened.
“We have picked up a signal from the Centauri star beacon. It is activating, indicating a new arrival. It could be a Kulsat ship coming to relieve the other one, but from what our sensors could detect, the warship in the system has raised Aethershields and primed its weapons systems. We presume the new arrival is not expected. If you are coming, you had better hurry. We’re flying into Centauri in fifteen minutes to investigate.”
Justine, who had been at dinner in Yoatl’s apartment, looked to the Ambassador. “It’s time. Are you still willing to help me? I know you’ve had your doubts.”
Yoatl wiped the corner of his mouth with a napkin as his wife started to clear the table. “It is a terrible risk. If the Parliament finds out, you’ll have sacrificed your position here for nothing. It’s not too late to back out.”
Standing, Justine forced a smile. “This might be my only opportunity. I’m willing to take the chance.”
“Just remember,” Yoatl said as he went to the co
mputer console on the other side of the room. “If it is one of your ships, and they have arrived using the Grace, you still may not share any Aether technology with them until the Collection verifies their method of travel. Warn them to return to Sol, and then come back here immediately.” He began typing a series of commands into the computer, granting her permission to accompany the Fainne on their reconnaissance mission. “If the Parliament finds out I did this, they’ll revoke my ambassadorship.”
“Don’t worry, Yoatl. I won’t break Galactic Law. It’s the same loophole Naila and Fairamai used to save me.”
Yoatl faced her, taking a deep breath. “Be careful. The Kulsat will be quick to attack.” He gave her a long look. “I would hate myself if anything happened.”
“You’ve been a wonderful friend, Yoatl. I will do everything I can to return to Gliese safely.”
∞
By the time Justine got to the area in the space port where the Fainne was docked, Naila and Fairamai had the ship prepped and were ready to fly. The spaceport controller noticed her striding purposefully toward the ship. He was a tall Gliesan with red plumes on the top of his head.
With his long legs, he quickly caught up to her. “Envoy Turner, you aren’t supposed to be here,” he said. “You don’t have clearance.”
“Actually,” she said to him, “I do. There is a possibility the new arrival is from Sol System. As envoy, it’s my responsibility to be there to warn them of the Kulsat danger.”
The controller cocked his head in doubt.
Justine shrugged. “Call Ambassador Yoatl, if you like. He’ll verify the orders. But you’re delaying the Fainne. We only have a small window of opportunity.”
As if imagining the effort of going through official channels to get verification of Justine’s statement, the controller nodded. “All right. Go ahead.”
“Thank you,” Justine said, and hurried to the ship. The portal closed behind her, and the vessel launched a moment later.
Fairamai was in the bay, and motioned for Justine to follow her to the passenger compartment where she helped secure her in the molded seat.
“You remember what we talked about?” the bird-like alien asked, and continued to spell it out before waiting for a reply. “Once the Fainne arrives in Centauri, Naila will scan the area for ship signatures. If it is Kulsat, he will return us to Gliese immediately. Should the new arrival come from Sol System, you will have less than twenty seconds to send them a warning; that is the amount of time a Kulsat ship needs to lock on to our ship, charge weapons, and fire.”
Worlds Away (The Interstellar Age Book 3) Page 29