Worlds Away (The Interstellar Age Book 3)

by Daniels, Valmore

  Justine shook hands with the Gliesan of Mayan descent. “I’ve been spending quite a bit of time with Yoatl.”

  Ah Tabai raised his brows and formed a guilty smile. “I’m sure he’ll have a few choice words for me when I get back.”

  Justine narrowed her eyes at Alex. She could sense the change in him. “You have to tell me how you managed to complete the Kinemetic conversion. It’s not something anyone else in the Collection has been able to do.”

  “You won’t believe it,” Alex said, smiling.

  “Try me.” Then Justine said, “Better yet, start from the beginning.”

  They all sat down at the conference table.

  Alex told his story, beginning from the moment Justine had been abducted by the Kulsat mining ship. He updated her on the political upheaval in Sol System, Chow Yin’s Emperorship, and the research into rediscovering Klaus’s process.

  Michael took over the story then, explaining about the ancient tale of Yaxche’s friend, Patli. When she heard this, Justine quickly filled them in on what she knew about it, confirming that it had happened as it was told to them.

  “It was touch and go,” Michael said after describing his research on the alien body they found, and how the Grace’s DNA was infused with molecules of altered Kinemet.

  “While they brought me into space quickly enough to stop me from dying, we got word to a double-agent in Chow Yin’s organization—he managed to inject Alex with Kinemet before a conversion trial. Of course,” he said, glancing at Ah Tabai, “apparently that wasn’t the actual reason Alex entered the state of Grace.”

  Justine put her hand on Alex. “However it happened, I’m glad you are altered. According to what I learned, those who fail the conversion process have a shorter life expectancy. You don’t have to worry about that, now. Quite the opposite, in fact.”

  Alex said, “I have many questions for you. Like how you survived the Kulsat ship.”

  Justine let out a humorless laugh, and she told them what had happened to her, about the Kulsat and how Red Spot saved her from Three Crescents. Then she described her rescue by Naila and Fairamai, the journey to Gliese, and the events leading up to her residency and political appointment as Envoy of Sol System.

  Partway through her story, General Gates entered the room. He’d been busy overseeing the transfer of prisoners from Chow Yin’s ship, and directing his crew to effect repairs. He sat at the conference table and listened in.

  “Political envoy, huh?” the general said when Justine finished. “It’s too bad you can’t use your influence to rouse the Collection.”

  “I got the process started, but it could take a while before they give Sol System ‘Emerged’ status.”

  “So what do we do, just sit here while our solar system is destroyed?” he asked, his tone more exasperated than accusatory.

  “Maybe not.” All through Alex’s story, Justine had a nagging thought in the back of her mind. To Alex, she said, “Red Spot’s advice might still stand. She said we could make the Kulsat surrender to us if we found the final component first.”

  “How?” Alex asked.

  Justine gave him a quizzical look. “Are you up for an experiment?”

  “Sure. What are you thinking?”

  “Back when we were chased out of Sol System—by Chow Yin, apparently—he launched a torpedo with weaponized Kinemet. I was able to ignite it before it reached us.”

  Alex nodded. “I did that earlier, when Chow Yin tried to destroy Qin Station.” His face grew dark. “I couldn’t stop his second attack, however.”

  “I wonder if you, having the full powers of the Grace, have something more than that, concerning the Kinemet.”

  “You want me to blow up every Kulsat ship with Kinemet on it?” Alex asked, his face pale. “Even if I could, I don’t think I would.”

  “No,” Justine said, shaking her head. “But there’s something about the way Red Spot talked about the Grace that led me to believe they had an ability that inspired even more awe.”

  “More than setting off a Kinemetic explosion a thousand-times more powerful than any atomic bomb?” Michael asked.

  Justine turned to the general. “Do you have a small quantity of Kinemet we could use?”

  He nodded and spoke into his communicator.

  While they waited, Justine described the techniques she had learned from Red Spot: how to hide her photonic essence while in a state of light, and how to resist being quantized. To test it out, Alex quantized himself, and a moment later, Justine was unable to sense his presence. A few moments later, he reappeared in physical form. She tried to quantize him, and couldn’t.

  “Very interesting,” Alex said. “I can see how these techniques came in handy, letting you get close to Chow Yin.”

  “I think there might be an extension of these techniques that only someone who is fused with Kinemet can perform.”

  “How do you mean?” Alex asked, and looked up as a lieutenant entered the room with a container holding a milligram of Kinemet.

  “If someone threatens you with force, a natural reaction is to either defend yourself or go on the offensive. However, if you know someone has the power to take your power away, render you useless, you can neither defend yourself, nor fight. Perhaps this is what the Kulsat fear the most, being at the complete mercy of every other race in the galaxy.”

  “What do you want me to do?”

  “Alex,” Justine said, “I’m not sure how you would go about it, but can you try to nullify the radiation from that sample?”

  “Nullify?”

  The general cleared his throat. “That gram of Kinemet represents a considerable amount of money.”

  “It’ll be worth it,” Justine said, then turned to Alex. “If you can make Kinemet inert, you might be able to disable any Kulsat ship.”

  “I’ll try,” Alex said, and focused his concentration on the Kinemet. Justine kept her attention on it as well, and cried out in delight when she sensed the radiation in the sample dissipate completely.

  Ah Tabai, who had remained quiet through the reunion, gasped. “You did it. You are, indeed, one of the Grace. The first in a millennium.”

  “So we can disable their ships?” the general asked, giving Ah Tabai an uncertain glance out of the corner of his eye.

  “Yes.” When she noticed the general frowning, Justine asked, “What’s wrong? This is good news.”

  “We have one ship going up against how many, a hundred thousand?” the general said. “Even with this ability, Alex can only do so much. The Kulsat will swarm him. We don’t have the time to convert enough Kinemats to give the Kulsat pause, at least not before they obliterate us.”

  “I might have an idea,” Alex said. He turned to Justine. “You mentioned earlier that the Collection had tried to take the fight to the Kulsat home world once before.”

  Ah Tabai answered. “Yes. We all know the story. Their entire armada returned within a short time and destroyed the invading force.”

  Justine squinted at Alex. “If we were able to lure them all back to their home system, you really think you’ll be able to nullify their ships as they enter Kulsat space?”

  “Like the Battle of Thermopylae?” Michael asked, and turned to Alex. “As the general said, there’s only one of you, and a hundred-thousand of them. No matter how fast you can nullify the Kinemet on their ships, all it takes is one conventional missile, and they’ve won.”

  “And the general is right,” Alex said. “A hundred-thousand ships is a lot. There’s no way I can nullify all of them.”

  “I don’t think you have to,” Justine said. “Once word reaches their leaders that one of the Grace is disabling their armada, they will surrender in order to preserve what they have. Why do you think they were subservient to the Grace for so long?”

  “Now, wait a minute.” The general gave them all a hard stare. “I can’t authorize this kind of action. We need to return and transmit an update to my superiors—we only had a mandate to follo
w Chow Yin and apprehend him. And we’ve done that.

  “Any further action needs to be sanctioned. We don’t have the right to make unilateral decisions concerning the fate of Sol System, let alone the galaxy. I can’t just let you ‘invade’ another solar system. Not to mention that we have to bring Chow Yin back to Earth for trial—everyone there needs to know he is in custody.”

  “General,” Justine said, “there is every possibility that Sol System could be under siege at this very moment. I hate to sound cliché, but these are desperate times. Correct me if I’m wrong, but the ranking officer in any theater of operations has the authority to determine their individual force’s plan of action should he not have the opportunity to receive orders from their superiors. The Kulsat invasion is impending, if not already underway. We need to take those desperate measures to give Sol System a fighting chance.”

  “Well…” the general said finally, “it will draw them away from attacking Sol, temporarily at least. That might give someone time to get back to Sol with this information to create more advanced Kinemats like Alex.” He cocked his head. “You realize that it’s a suicide mission.”

  “If you can get Chow Yin’s ship patched up,” Alex said, obviously making an effort to keep his voice steady, “I’ll do it.”

  Justine said, “I’ll go with him.”

  The general shook his head. “No. First of all, Chow Yin’s ship would require nine months in dry dock. Secondly, we can’t afford to sacrifice both of you. Besides, you’re already established in the Collection of Worlds’ political sphere. If we get through this, we’re going to need you in that capacity.”

  “With all due respect, General,” Justine said, “I don’t think the entire Kulsat armada will return to their home world because of one broken-down Earth ship with a single Kinemat on board.”

  “And you think they will feel more threatened with two?”

  “No, they won’t,” Ah Tabai said. Everyone in the room turned to stare at him when he added, “But they might take notice if their home world is being invaded by twenty-thousand ships.”

  “Twenty-thousand?” Michael asked.

  “Yes. That is approximately how many Sentinels there are in the galaxy.” He glanced at Aliah, who nodded her agreement. “Our ships are small, but we have experience out-flying the Kulsat battle-cruisers. I will send word out to everyone.”

  Justine gave him a long look. “What about the ancient law? The Collection would never condone this action.”

  Ah Tabai smiled. “We are not going to interfere in the evolution of Sol System. Our purpose is to protect the galaxy from the Kulsat.” He looked at Alex. “And to follow the rule of the Grace.”

  Taking a deep breath, Justine looked at the general. “Do you have a better plan?”

  Slowly shaking his head, the general said, “No.”

  “All right, then.” Justine stood up. “What are we waiting for? Let’s get this war party started.”

  43

  USSF Warship Liberty :

  Centauri System :

  Assuring them the repairs required before they could be underway to Gliese would be quick, General Gates left Alex, Michael, Justine, Ah Tabai and Aliah in the conference room with a final admonition.

  “You realize that I’m giving you a lot of leeway here. I fully expect a thorough briefing at some point.”

  Michael nodded to him. “You have my word. Once this crisis is behind us, we’ll ensure you have all the information you need, General.”

  Once the officer was gone, Alex turned to Ah Tabai, and gestured to Michael. “I’m not sure what’s happening to him. He was exposed to a Kinemetic blast.”

  Michael quickly explained what had happened with the alien body on Earth. When prompted, he outlined the story Patli had told him.

  “We are all under great stress when we are within the gravity well of a planet,” Ah Tabai explained. “The Xtôti—the species of being whom, until now, were the only race to ascend to the Grace—were much more sensitive. They had technology far beyond anything we’ve been able to achieve. They could manipulate the Aetherock a hundred ways, making it a thousand times more powerful than anything we have. One of the side effects of this was the altered Aetherock’s extreme sensitivity to sunlight and fire. The radiation from the altered Aetherock is what affected those villagers so many hundreds of years ago, and what is affecting you now, Michael.”

  “So how do we heal him?” Alex asked.

  “We don’t.” When everyone gave him a puzzled look, he said, “We merely complete the process. He must undertake the conversion. If it is successful, then he will become an Aetherbeing, like the rest of us.”

  Alex asked, “Could that have been a solution for me all along?”

  Ah Tabai shrugged. “Yesterday, I would have said yes. Now, however, I am not certain. You are Grace, after all. There is an unknown factor remaining in your case. Perhaps your initial exposure on the asteroid when you were a child was unique, in some way. Once we are past this crisis, we can explore your condition in greater depth.”

  Michael cleared his throat. “The Grace thought it better not to share the technology.” He gave Alex a stern look. “Maybe you should think long and hard before going down that path.”

  Ah Tabai immediately bowed. “Of course, the decision will be entirely up to the Grace. As Galactic Law prohibits us from sharing technology until a system has Emerged, I expect the Grace will follow the same philosophy, and withhold knowledge until we have met a greater standard.”

  Alex, looking uncomfortable with the notion of all that responsibility, gestured to Michael. “So, all we have to do is prime some Kinemet and expose him to it after it activates?”

  Michael cocked his head. “I hope you have a conversion chamber nearby … Chow Yin blew up our only one.”

  “We have a facility at our aerie in Gliese,” Ah Tabai said, “but that won’t be necessary this time.”

  “It won’t?” Michael asked, glancing back and forth between Ah Tabai and Aliah, who made an odd ruffling motion with her neck feathers.

  Pointing to Alex, Ah Tabai said, “In addition to all the techniques shared by Aetherbeings, the Grace has always had the ability to initiate the Aether process themselves.”

  “What?” Alex asked. “How?”

  “Do you know how to quantize people?” Ah Tabai asked.

  Nodding, Alex said, “It was something that just kind of occurred to me. I did that to get everyone to Pluto.”

  “Unlike other Aetherbeings, you have altered Aetherock in your molecules. You do not require a conversion chamber. Perhaps, if you think about it, the Aether process will come naturally to you.”

  Michael stood up and faced Alex. “If you think you can help me…”

  Getting to his feet, Alex squared off in front of Michael and seemed to be considering him for a very long time. Then, just when Michael thought the answer would elude his young friend, Alex’s face lit up.

  “Of course!” he said, and quantized Michael.

  Unlike the previous times Michael had been rendered into a photonic state, this time he retained complete awareness of his surroundings. He was a floating cloud of light. The sensation was beyond anything he’d ever experienced or imagined before in his life.

  Like a child who just discovered how fun it was to splash in a puddle of mud, Michael pushed his essence around the conference room. He reached out with his senses and saw the three stars in the Centauri System. Though there were no planetary bodies, there were millions of large asteroids scattered throughout the system. He, somehow, was able to sense their exact location in relation to where he was.

  Like a powerful lighthouse, the star beacon glowed bright beside him; and, to a lesser degree, he could detect thousands of other beacons scattered throughout the galaxy.

  The ship itself was a living thing to him, thrumming with electricity, and Michael could feel the electrons pulsing like veins and arteries. Instinctively, he knew he could reach out with his sens
es and manipulate that electricity, if he chose.

  So, he thought, this is what it feels like? I never want to stop!

  But, there was much more to do.

  With a thought, he returned himself to physical form.

  Justine glanced at Ah Tabai. “Do you think this will be enough proof that we are Emerged? We need to practice some of our techniques.”

  The Sentinel nodded. “As far as I am concerned, Sol is an Emerged system. Certainly, it will be ratified. It is a minor breach of protocol, but the techniques may be necessary to prevent you from harming yourselves or others.”

  Over the next few minutes, Ah Tabai gave Alex and Michael a crash course in being a Kinemat—or, Aetherbeing, as they called it. The Kulsat called them Risen. Michael wondered if every species in the galaxy had different names for the same thing.

  Michael learned how to quantize inanimate objects without Kinemet; how to hide his photonic signature; how to resist being quantized, and the theory behind using the star beacons.

  Just as they were finishing the lessons, General Gates entered.

  “All systems are operational—it’s not pretty, but it will do.” He looked at each of them in turn, his gaze lingering a little longer on Aliah. “Have we all caught each other up to speed so far?”

  “We’re ready,” Justine said, and then addressed all of them in the room. “There are quite a few people I can’t wait for you to meet.”

  44

  Skanse Aerie :

  Gliese System :

  Any alien ship that appeared unexpectedly in Gliesan space had a matter of seconds before the patrol ships guarding the star beacon would attack them.

  Naila and Fairamai would have already reported the details of the battle between the Kulsat and Chow Yin’s forces, and that Alex and the other Solans were on their way, but Ah Tabai said it was better to follow protocol. The moment the Liberty entered Gliese space, Ah Tabai transmitted his identity through the communications system, as well as who he’d brought with him.