Echo Rift

by G. S. Jennsen

  With a groan, she stretched her arms over her head and started considering a shower. Or a late dinner first? Possibly some tea in-between?

  The doorbell chimed, cutting the debate short. It was probably Eosha, who she’d hardly spent five minutes with since returning from Namino. She was a little tired for guests, but she hauled herself back off the futon, ran a hand through her hair and went to answer the summons.

  She opened the door and—

  “Morgan?”

  The woman glanced at her feet, then down the hall in both directions, then finally at Marlee. She was wearing faded denim pants over dark work boots and an oversized cream sweater. Her hair was clean and brushed, falling in a neat line at her chin, and her eyes shone brilliant lavender.

  “Hi. I wanted to stop by and apologize for the other night at Purgatory. I’m sorry you had to see me like that. I don’t…well, I don’t actually remember much of what happened, but I’ve no doubt it was an utter shit-show on my part. I wasn’t at my best.”

  Marlee dislodged the lump from her throat, shocked by far more than being on the receiving end of an apology for once. “No, it’s totally fine. I shouldn’t have dropped in on you unannounced.”

  “I just did.”

  “Right.” Marlee burst out laughing; after a few seconds, Morgan chuckled as well, and the tension eased. “Do you want to come in for a minute? I just got home from work and was about to make some tea. Would you like some—or a glass of wine?”

  “Tea sounds good. I don’t need to aim for a repeat of the other night.” Morgan followed her inside, then wandered to the far window to stare out at the street below.

  Marlee scrambled into the kitchen and frantically activated the fancy tea brewer—a housewarming gift from her aunt—then counted down the seconds until it finished its cycle. She fetched two ceramic mugs from the cabinet and sloshed the steaming liquid into them, sucked in a deep breath and oh-so-casually strolled through the living room to hand one to Morgan.

  “Thanks.” The woman continued to gaze pensively out the window. “I used to live a couple of blocks away from here, you know. It was a crappy apartment in a run-down complex at Apennine and Monte Rosa. I didn’t spend much time there, though. This was before The Displacement. Before the IDCC, even. When I stole Stanley from the military and made a break for freedom, I had to move to Romane.”

  “I don’t know this story. Maybe you can tell me about it sometime.”

  “Okay. I assume the statute of limitations for theft has expired by now.” Morgan gave her a whimsical little smile, and a flutter in Marlee’s chest answered.

  “You said Apennine and Monte Rosa? I think the building’s a warehouse now.”

  “Ha. I think it was a warehouse before it was an apartment complex, too.” Morgan turned and rested against the window, mug clutched in both hands. “I’ve been noodling over the Rasu. Ever since we got back from Namino, they’ve taken to haunting my nightmares. Nasty buggers, and so rude.”

  “Invading planets all willy-nilly like they do. No manners.”

  “Exactly. What are they up to? Why are they scavenging materials one minute and doing data analysis the next? These questions have been intruding on my peacefully drunken existence to the point where I think I’m going to have to do something about it.”

  “Oh?”

  “Yeah. The trouble is, there’s only one thing I’ve ever been any good at—other than playing skalef—and that’s flying a ship and using it to shoot things. But I can’t rejoin the fleet, not after….” Morgan’s expression darkened, and her eyes dropped to study her tea.

  “It’s okay, I—”

  “No, it’s been six years. I should be able to say it out loud. Not after AEGIS and Concord ordered Brook and her squad into an unwinnable trap with no means to survive.” She exhaled deliberately, her breath mingling with the steam rising from the tea. “I never was much of a team player, anyway. I tried, for Brook, but it was mostly an act. But I am good at flying. And shooting things when shooting is called for.”

  “I saw.”

  “You did. And I promised you more of that.”

  Marlee gulped.

  “The point is, I need a change of scenery. I want to get up in the Rasu’s craw, but I’m still working out how best to do it. Until I figure it out, Devon says he needs a suicidal pilot to test out his most hare-brained prototype weapons. I’ve volunteered to be his guinea pig.”

  “You’re going to be working for Special Projects? What about Purgatory?”

  “I sold it to Solstan this morning for half of what it’s worth. He’ll take good care of it—better care than I did. And I’ll be more of an outside consultant to Special Projects than an employee. I don’t do well with bosses and rules and decorum.” Morgan huffed a wry laugh. “You probably figured that out already.”

  “I did, and I like that about you.” Too much? Almost certainly too much. Exhaustion-fueled delirium was making her dizzy in the woman’s presence.

  “You do? Oh.” Morgan looked genuinely puzzled for a moment. “I’ve got to configure a fighter and rig up a few other tools, but once I get up and running, I thought you might want to come by and check out some of the tests as they happen. Maybe watch me get blown up a few times.”

  “I’m not—”

  “It’s fine if you’re not interested. I just thought…you fought the Rasu on Namino. You’re clearly invested in defeating them, and you seemed to enjoy the fireworks we created at the Rasu compound.”

  The fireworks. Yes, those she had enjoyed. “I’m definitely interested. I was only going to say that Special Projects is locked down pretty tight. I can hardly ever sneak my way in there, and I have a lot of inside access. But I bet you could get me a pass if you call me your assistant or something. If you’re serious, I mean.”

  “Stanley says I’m always serious. I think it’s part of my charm, but he disagrees for some reason. Regardless, it shouldn’t be a problem. Devon will let me do whatever I want to with his toys, because I know all his secrets.”

  Abruptly Morgan placed her mug on the windowsill and turned toward the door. “I’ll let you know once the boring stuff is finished and I start blowing shit up. You can come by. Um…thanks for the tea.”

  “Of course.” As Morgan walked perhaps a little slowly toward the door, Marlee’s heart seized up in a panic. Don’t leave so soon…. “Hey, have you had anything to eat tonight yet? I haven’t, and I’m famished. We could take a stroll down to Fuori Barbeque. I can point out all the new improvements the city management’s made in the last few years, and you can tell me how it was better the way things used to be.”

  Morgan stopped in the middle of the living room; her brow furrowed, and she seemed to be trying to parcel out how much of what Marlee had said was a joke. “I am a bit hungry. But are you sure you want me to tag along? I’ve been told I’m not great company.”

  “Whoever said that was mistaken. I’m sure.”

  64

  * * *

  TOKI’TAKU

  Asterion Dominion Embassy

  The distant horizon remained a smoky, russet color, a hallmark of the many fires still raging across the great forests of Toki’taku. Closer, in the city that spread below Nika, flames still licked at the sky, but they were repeatedly repelled by the efforts of emergency technicians circling in the air above. Of necessity, the Taiyoks were quite skilled at fighting fires, and she suspected they’d have most of the blazes extinguished by evening.

  The Rasu’s attempted invasion had caused severe damage in several of the largest cities as well as across the forests, but objectively, the damage didn’t begin to compare to the wreckage the enemy had wrought in its weeks of occupation of Namino. The Taiyoks would recover, if the Rasu let them.

  The attacking forces had been losing, no question, when they’d elected to retreat rather than bring yet another armada to bear on the fight. It nonetheless seemed an odd choice for the Rasu to make. Perhaps they’d simply had somewhere better to be,
or perhaps they’d grown tired of what had hopefully felt to them like a fruitless battle. Whatever the reason for their abrupt departure, the specter of the Rasu returning in greater numbers at any time cast a slight pall over an otherwise joyous victory.

  But for today, they would all happily take the victory. Also, if or when the Rasu returned in the future, the Taiyoks would welcome them with a minimum of 10,000 Rima Grenades.

  A feather-light footfall in the room behind Nika signified the arrival of her guest through the d-gate, and she went to greet him.

  Xyche’ghael halted two steps into the entry room of the Dominion Embassy. He looked frozen and…well, it was always difficult to discern emotions from a Taiyok’s facial expressions or comportment, but he looked afraid.

  She stepped forward to offer him a hand. “I’m glad you decided to accept my invitation. Come with me out onto the balcony.”

  Xyche peered behind him, toward the front doors that led to the city. “Are the constables en route?”

  “No. Though Toki’taku soil lies beneath the foundation of this building, the embassy itself is Asterion Dominion property. They can’t banish you from here.”

  He considered her words silently, then ignored her hand to stride deliberately through the open glass doors and onto the balcony. She followed quietly.

  The thick feathers covering his shoulders ruffled beyond the ash-tainted breeze, and she briefly worried he was going to take flight—an act that risked sealing his fate in the harshest terms. But after a few seconds, the feathers settled down as he took in the view from one horizon to the other. “The forests burn, thanks to the imperious stubbornness of the Elder.”

  “But they will not burn to the ground, thanks to him seeing reason in the end.”

  “You must be a most persuasive diplomat.”

  “It’s not a difficult case to make when the lives of billions are at stake.”

  “One would think.” Xyche glanced over at her, his compound eyes wide and bright, reflecting the vermilion flames from a nearby structure. “Does he know I am here?”

  “I didn’t mention it. Though if you want to speak to him, I can invite him to come to the embassy—”

  “No. That will not be necessary. All the words that existed to be said between us were uttered long ago.” He breathed in deeply, his gaze drifting to the sea of forests beyond the city. “This is…I do not know how to properly thank you, Nika, other than to call you my friend. Whatever boon you ask of me, I will give everything of myself in an attempt to provide it to you.”

  Had he ever referred to her as ‘friend’ before? His words warmed her heart, but she knew better than to make an emotional scene about it.

  “This isn’t a quid pro quo, Xyche. I don’t need anything in return. Besides, you’ve helped me so many times already. If you hadn’t shown me how to acquire a Taiyok stealth module for the Wayfarer, I might never have learned of the Rasu. Everything about the last year might have been different.” She sighed. “I just wanted to give you a chance to see your homeworld one more time.”

  “And it is…all I imagined it could be.” His wings stretched out, the more delicate feathers rippling as they caught the breeze. But again he did not take flight, instead seeming to revel in the feel of the air buffeting his skin. “Thank you. I did not sufficiently appreciate my home before I was exiled from it. But I vow now, here in the presence of the puiga’atua, that I will never forget this moment. For all of my days.”

  Abruptly his wings drew in tight; he spun around and left behind the balcony for the entry room. “I should depart now.”

  The speed with which a Taiyok, even one she called friend, could turn brusque always kept her on her toes. “We can stay longer if you like. The time is yours to spend as you wish.”

  “No. This interlude has lasted long enough for me to commit the experience to treasured memory, and it is best not to tempt fate too brazenly. Now I move onward.”

  65

  * * *

  ROMANE

  Mia ran a hand along the surface of her old desk on the ground floor of Exia Spaceport. This morning, she’d repurchased the property from the conglomerate she’d sold it to twelve years ago, at a thirty-two percent markup over the original sale price. She’d earned twice the markup on investments alone in the last decade, so the cost didn’t bother her. The question of whether she ever should have sold it in the first place nagged at her a little more. A lot of her choices were doing that lately.

  A quick review of the historical financials told her the conglomerate had kept the spaceport well-maintained and running at a profit, but considering the entire world had changed while they owned it, they hadn’t done much to grow the business.

  A slight smile tugged at her lips nonetheless. This, she could work with. If she was determined to circle around to her roots, Romane was a far superior option than Pandora had been. She no longer needed to hide, and she had plans.

  But in order to move those plans forward, she first had to fork over a great deal more money. She took a final survey of the office to mentally note several desired improvements, then left the spaceport behind and headed downtown to Dynamis Tower.

  The four square blocks to the west of Exia Spaceport had never been used to their full potential. Hotels, a couple of restaurants and some office space filled the buildings, but most people departing the spaceport were already headed somewhere else, and the neighborhood had never really thrived beyond the transportation it offered.

  Mia was shown into a meeting room on the 23rd floor of Dynamis Tower. She recalled the significant damage the building had suffered during the OTS riots, but it gleamed brighter than ever now. Out the windows and across the street stood the Connova Interstellar headquarters; she considered dropping in to see Noah and Kennedy after the closing, but odds were high they were chained to Concord HQ these days.

  The COO of Carina-Solar Properties and the SVP of Development for Anatoli Construction, along with attorneys for each, waited for her inside the meeting room. Together, the two companies owned or controlled the leases to every building comprising those four blocks near the spaceport—leases they’d wasted. She’d do better.

  She’d frequented too many attorney-filled rooms of late, but it was more important than ever to do everything by the book. She was a convicted felon now, and she had to keep her nose clean. Besides, it felt damn good—cathartic even—to again be wearing a tailored suit, heels and pearls. To be meeting with high-class people who weren’t trying to subjugate or kill her. Oh, they were sharks all the same, but at least the games they played involved money rather than lives.

  One of the attorneys, a blonde woman in an emerald suit and blue diamond earrings, greeted her with a smooth but frigid handshake. “Thank you for coming, Ms. Requelme. The bank confirmed a few minutes ago that your financing has been secured, so let’s sign some documents.”

  She gave the woman her best diplomat’s smile. “Yes, let’s.”

  The idea had likely originated when she’d started noticing the utter lack of aliens on Pandora, but it had blossomed fully formed in her mind during her first community service stint with the Godjan refugees. Despite a few rough patches here and there, humanity had on the whole done an admirable job of accepting their new alien neighbors after The Displacement. Integrating them into their lives and worlds, though? This was another matter.

  Most colonies of any size had an outreach program, and some were more successful than others. But even on Romane, ostensibly the most progressive and urbane human world, one rarely passed an alien on the streets. It hadn’t made sense on Pandora, and it made far less sense on Romane. After spending so much of her time on Concord HQ these last years, the absence of any diversity here seemed odd to her, but also disappointing. And it had occurred to her…while she’d never hold government office again, this didn’t mean she couldn’t change the world for the better.

  With the repurchase of the spaceport and now the leasing of the adjacent properties, she had the
physical pieces in place. Just a few additional hoops to jump through.

  A dozen blocks from Dynamis Tower, she climbed the Romane Government Center’s wide marble stairs and let the memories the setting triggered wash over her. Breaking the news of the Kats—then Metigens—to Governor Ledesme and scrambling to prepare for the coming invasion. Founding the IDCC and taking the first steps toward growing it into the powerful inter-governmental agency it was today. Sitting at the table with the leaders of the Earth Alliance and the Senecan Federation as equal partners in the formation of the GCDA and AEGIS.

  Though her heart still ached from the thousand trials of the last few months, she couldn’t deny that it was good to be home.

  This time she was ushered into the office of the Romane governor, a position currently held by a distinguished man named Rolph Tremblay. Tall and wiry, with charcoal skin and sharp eyes beneath a smoothly bald head, he had come to politics by way of business and, before that, medicine. They’d met several times on AEGIS affairs, and he greeted her warmly now.

  “Ms. Requelme, welcome. I was sad to hear of your recent troubles, but glad to learn they’ve brought you back to Romane. I hope this isn’t too selfish of me.”

  She was going to have to endure this manner of small talk for a while yet, and she’d prepared a stock response. “Thank you for your concern. I’m simply eager to put the past behind me and focus on the future.”

  “I’m happy to hear it, and I look forward to helping you in any way I can. To that end, I understand that as of this morning, in addition to repurchasing your old spaceport, you now own most of the property surrounding it.”

  “Yes, which is why I’m here. I have some exciting ideas on how to repurpose the area to the west of Exia Spaceport. I realize I’ll need to acquire zoning approval for what I have in mind, so I want to involve you and any relevant government departments from the start.”