Ven saw the ground rushing toward them through the viewscreen as they pushed through a layer of cloud cover. There it was: the Ugna capital city, in the center of the valley. “I might be able to…”
Ven sent tendrils of the Talent out, wrapping the invisible energy around the shuttle’s nose, tugging it up. He pressed a vacuum release of the air inside the cockpit, sending smoke out in a rush, and refilled the cabin with oxygen right behind it. Reeve gasped momentarily, but kept working at attempting to land the shuttle.
The ground was approaching fast, but they were slowing. In a last-ditch effort, Ven urged them toward the flowing river along the side of the valley, and their shuttle struck the water, sending them hard against their strapping. Ven nearly blacked out at the impact, and when he came to, Reeve was unconscious, bleeding from a cut on her forehead. Water was seeping into the shuttle, and Ven acted. He was a little woozy, but he found the belt release button and pressed it with shaky fingers. Reeve’s came undone easily, and he pulled her from the bench, moving for the exit.
He peered at the viewscreen, finding the shuttle lowering in the river. A few long, dark creatures swam by, drawing his attention. His head hurt, and he felt like sitting down, but he pressed on.
Ven held on to Reeve tightly as he tapped the shuttle’s exit open, and he was sent backwards with the pressure of the incoming water. He pushed off from the wall, shooting toward the river, and nearly let go of Reeve in the process. She wouldn’t last long under water, not while out cold, and he tried to hurry toward the surface, kicking his feet with the last of his energy.
It felt like forever, but they breached the river, Reeve coming to as the sun hit her face. She spat out a mouthful of water and moved, trying to squirm from his grip.
“Calm yourself, Reeve Daak,” he urged, and she stopped moving.
“What happened?” she asked, gaze darting around.
Instead of fighting the current, Ven used it to carry them closer to the city. “We were hit and crashed in the river.” Ahead, there was a curve in the riverbed, a hard snake to the right, and Ven kicked for that spot, knowing this was their chance to escape the flowing water. His strength was sapped and wouldn’t last more than another minute.
“Grab on!” he called, shoving Reeve toward the edge. She took hold of a rock and clutched it, Ven’s fingers clasping a sharp stone nearby. The current was strong, and while Reeve climbed from the river, Ven was tugged away. The water enveloped him and pulled him under.
____________
Lark Keen walked through the quarters, seeing everything with fresh eyes. He’d been given a real suite instead of the cell, and he thought that boded well for him. They would never have done this if they still considered him a real enemy of the Concord.
The Prime had claimed they’d let him return to Seda and Luci, to live their days out together, but he was skeptical. He’d have said anything to get what he wanted, on his side, or in their shoes. Prime Xune was probably pulling a fast one on him, but Keen wasn’t going to let anyone return him to Wavor Manor.
The quarters were nicer than the ones he’d claimed on Andron. Constantine was a beauty of a ship. Last time he’d been here hadn’t quite gone his way, but that wasn’t going to dissuade him.
The Vusuls were about to claim their planet, Driun F49, the same world Lark’s grandfather had offered them so many years prior. How was the old man to predict that the Concord would give the planet to the Ugna after all this time? It was an unforeseen scenario, since no one had seemed to understand the Ugna’s motivations.
The Concord thought they were dealing with a harmless group of albino men and women, obsessed with some kind of ancient mysticism, and what they’d found was a race with two million members. It was even hard for Lark to fathom.
Lark understood more about them than most and wondered if that was his ticket to ensuring his own freedom. If he told the Concord what he knew, they’d have to let him off. It was a great bargaining chip. Or—Lark smiled as he sat at the table—he’d have to escape.
He moved to the door, opening it, and was greeted by a stoic Callalay woman. Her hand settled on the handle of her PL-30 in a hurry, and Lark feigned ignorance. “Is there a chance I could grab a snack?” He peeked to the right, making sure another room was beside his.
“I’ll see what we can do,” she said, and motioned him inside.
He might not be in a cell, but he was still a prisoner. He plopped onto the couch, pulling a tablet from the table. He searched the news feeds and found the network was dismantled on the device. Of course they wouldn’t trust him with any technology.
He wondered how many of the Assembly remained out there. Most of their group had been gathered at the Tingor Belt, after years of planning. Lark tried not to be bothered by their failure that day, but it stayed with him in the recesses of his mind.
Lark walked to the side of the room, where another suite was on the other section of the bulkhead. He slid the hutch from the wall, seeing exactly what he’d expected: a panel. With his tongue pressed to the roof of his mouth, he pried a piece of metal from the underside of the chair beside him. He tested it, finding it durable enough, and jammed the edge into the panel’s first screw. It spun, not catching. He glanced at the door, but it remained closed.
He tried again, the screw turning this time. A minute later, he was sweating, but he’d managed to remove the top two anchors.
He stopped, listening for the guard, and heard her footsteps approaching from the hall. He stood, shoving the hutch back where it came from. It was still crooked when the entry opened, and in rolled a ServoBot, carrying a platter of food.
Lark crossed the room, picking up the delivery, and when the guard peered in, he hoped she didn’t notice the perspiration building on his forehead. She only gave him a slight nod, and the ServoBot departed swiftly, the door closing once again. He was alone.
Any thoughts of a snack gone from his mind, he set the food onto the desk and returned to his work. The next two screws proved a little more difficult, but in the end, he’d managed to remove the panel.
Here was a hard-wired alternate link to the network from the neighbor’s suite. If he tapped in to it and someone was inside those quarters, he’d be found out, but Lark doubted that Tom would have shoved him beside one of his crew members. No, Tom would send him to some vacant corner of the ship. It was a risk he was going to have to take.
Lark pulled the wires and set to work. He’d never been one to sit back and relax, and over the years with the Assembly, he’d learned a lot of tricks. Rerouting networks to a remote tablet was one of them.
An hour later, Lark had an empty plate of food and a tablet with a blinking signal on the bottom right corner. He was in. He wondered if this would still work or if the Concord had been alerted to his unauthorized access. Lark typed the code into the tablet, and the screen went dark for a moment before flashing blue. This was it. His way to connect with the Assembly.
He peered toward the door again and started to key in a message.
Twenty-One
Reeve raced along the river’s edge, noticing nothing else but Ven’s body. He hit a shallow rock, and she darted forward, trying to grab hold of his uniform. The cloth slipped from her fingers, and he continued with the current.
The forest was close, and Reeve had no desire to head into it, not after hearing Tom and Ven’s experience inside it. She peered toward the treetops, wondering if any of the creatures were watching her now.
Ven was drifting farther from her, and Reeve had to slow, her legs burning and giving out. Her lungs ached, searing with effort, and she stopped as she noticed the two incoming armed guards. They had long guns, with drones hovering above their shoulders, and the Ugna soldiers stood along the river’s edge. Ven rose from the water, dripping everywhere as they lifted him and set him down about ten yards from the tree line.
Reeve found the strength to rush to his side, and she pressed her fingers to his neck, finding a slight pulse. His lungs
were full of water, and she used her brief medical training to clear them. Ven spat water to the side as he came to, curling into a fetal position.
The guards watched silently, guns aimed toward the forest.
“Ven, are you okay?” she asked, and he sat up, nodding.
“I think I will be fine. And you?” His voice was harsh, gravelly.
“As good as new.” She stood, asking the soldiers to help Ven to his feet. They remained silent as they obeyed, and she peered at the forest. “Do we have to go through here?”
“The river is the only alternative,” one said through a facemask. She could see her own reflection in the visor and wiped her hair off her forehead. She was soaked, and her entire body convulsed with cold. She judged it was morning, and already the heat of the sun was drying her, so she wasn’t overly concerned about hypothermia.
“Let’s get this over with,” Reeve said, walking to the trees. “We don’t have time to waste.”
The soldiers seemed to understand her urgency, and they moved quickly. Reeve had one arm around Ven’s shoulders, and by the time they exited the dense forest, she wasn’t sure which of them needed the support more.
The city was far different than she’d imagined. The Ugna had only been here for a few weeks, but it already looked like they’d lived on the colony for a year or more. Three tall spires rose from different sections of the city, and dozens of blocky smaller buildings had been erected in neat rows. Everything here was clean, and with purpose.
It only took another ten minutes to approach the city limits, where Reeve saw their flagship, Vastness, parked and quiet. “Ven, their ships are powered off.”
“I see that.”
“If they haven’t rerouted the comm stations, that’s why they haven’t heard our warnings yet,” Reeve told him, but it was evident Ven had been thinking the same thing.
“Ven Ittix, what are you doing here?” Elder Fayle’s voice carried from around the ship, and Reeve followed Ven as he jogged to his former leader.
“Elder Fayle, you shot us down,” he remarked.
Her eyes were wide, shocked. “We have automatic defenses in place. No one should be arriving without word.”
“But we were unable to reach you,” Reeve said, drawing the older woman’s attention.
“The communications have failed for a few weeks. We’re conserving our power for the drones. As you can see, we’re expending a lot of energy on our cities. All our people need places to live, don’t you agree?”
“Elder Fayle, we come with ill tidings.” Ven wobbled on his feet, and Elder Fayle waved them toward Vastness.
“Bring First Officer Hanli. Have her meet us on board,” Fayle told one of the guards, and he rushed off. The other opened a ramp on Vastness’ underside. They climbed up the twenty or so steps, and Reeve needed to use the handrail to prevent herself from falling to the ground. She was spent.
“With all due respect, we don’t have a lot of time. Days, if we’re lucky,” she said.
“Days… for what?” Elder Fayle asked.
“Until the Vusuls are here. Someone is coming to Concord space to claim this planet,” Ven advised her.
Fayle frowned at the news. “The Vusuls, you say. How big is their fleet?”
Reeve shook her head quickly. “It’s not that. They’re determined and have already done a lot of damage to another of our partners, the Minon. We have to evacuate.”
“Evacuate? Driun F49?”
“Yes, Elder Fayle. The Concord is sending help, but it’s days away. Constantine and Shu will be two weeks, maybe longer,” Ven told her.
“There will be no evacuation. We will fend them off.” Elder Fayle turned, leading them deeper into the ship, and Reeve hung her head, sighing deeply.
____________
Doctor Nee was glad to have returned to his own medical bay, and it was clear Kelli had done a fantastic job in his absence. The room was quiet, with the exception of the body scanner in the third patient room. He walked over, finding Kelli deactivating it after performing the daily tests.
“You’ve done wonderful work,” he told her, and she beamed at him from the middle of the bright room.
“I learned from the best.”
The others arrived, five minutes late, and Nee returned to the main bay, waving them inside. Yunrio entered first, his squat body waddling slightly as he moved. It was difficult to believe that Caalizan, the elderly Minon scientist, was a cousin of the Seeli, but the Vusuls were apparently seeded from the same Pilia stock. Nee understood enough of genetics and anthropology to believe it, but the proof was still staggering.
The girl, Charlan, followed them inside, and the daunting older Guardian was directly behind her, eyeing Nee with suspicion.
“I’m pleased you all agreed to this,” Nee told them.
“Our people are in need, and this young woman has permitted us to run the tests,” Caalizan said, tapping his fingers on his thigh.
“Her name’s Eve, and she’s only a kid. Remember that when you’re poking and prodding her,” the Guardian said.
“I’m sorry, I don’t think I caught your name,” Nee said, and the man stared at his gloves, then at his eyes.
“Gotran.”
“Well met. Thank you for protecting her, but we can take it from here,” Nee assured the man.
“Nope. Wherever she goes, I’m there.” Gotran stood near the door, casually leaning with his arms crossed.
Nee supposed there was no harm having the Guardian present. He looked at the girl that had sparked a war. She was short, maybe five feet tall, with a slender build. The Concord JOT uniform fit her well enough, and her dark hair was tied on both sides. “Eve, how are you feeling?” he asked her.
“I am well, thanks to Gotran,” she said quietly.
“You realize why we need you, right?” Nee glanced at the other two men, who were crowding around. Nee couldn’t blame them. They’d searched for this girl for so many years, and just when they thought they’d found the solution for their species’ eventual deaths, she was plucked from their grasp.
She nodded. “I might be able to help them.” Her gaze darted between the two different species.
“That’s right. We’re going to conduct a few scans and run some tests. Is that okay with you?” Doctor Nee moved toward the scanner, where Kelli had remained.
“Will anything hurt?” she asked.
“No, nothing will hurt. I promise,” Nee told her, and she visibly calmed.
Gotran stepped in front of them, scoping out the scanner room before they escorted the girl inside. “I assure you, no harm will come to Eve,” Nee told the Guardian.
“I hope you’re correct.” Gotran was imposing, even if he was a good thirty years older than Nee. His white beard was coarse, his eyes piercing and angry. No, maybe not upset, but protective.
Nee and the other scientists spent the next three hours taking every conceivable test they could manage, and eventually, they dismissed her, Gotran following behind her at a yard’s pace, not even saying goodbye as they exited.
“Friendly sort,” Nee muttered.
Caalizan almost seemed offended. “He’s the best Guardian we have. Gotran’s legendary.”
Nee only nodded, peering at Yunrio, who was entranced by the spinning genetic code on his screen.
Nee was about to leave an hour later when the Seeli scientist raised an arm in celebration. He also let out a subtle yipping noise, and Nee walked behind him, setting his gloves on the back of the man’s chair. “What is it?”
“I think I found it!”
Nee couldn’t believe it had been so simple. He saw what Yunrio was referring to and smiled widely, ear to ear. “So soon?”
“This is what we’ve been waiting for. It might take a year or so to verify, but we may have the patch we’ve needed all this time,” Yunrio said, and Caalizan began to cry beside Nee.
____________
“You won’t evacuate?” Reeve paced the bridge, her arms moving an
imatedly.
Ven didn’t like someone speaking to Elder Fayle with such casual disregard, but he held his tongue while the chief of engineering said her piece. Captain Delno was present, an older Ugna with a darker skin tone and pale pink eyes. First Officer Hanli was there beside him, and Ven noticed how she kept glancing in his direction. His uniform had mostly dried, but he was shaken by the attack from his own people.
“We’ve been waiting for this for a lot longer than you’ve been alive, Executive Lieutenant,” Fayle said. “We will not be bullied from Driun so easily.”
“And if they’re unmatched? If they have more firepower than you?” Reeve asked, standing two feet from Fayle. They were approximately the same height, but even with Reeve’s aggressive posture, the Elder was the one in control of the conversation.
“Then we will visit the Vastness, don’t you agree, Ven Ittix?” Fayle peered at him, eyes watering.
Ven had little desire to return there, at least not yet. He had too much to accomplish. Endless things he’d yet to explore. This made him think about Hanli again, and he blinked quickly before answering. “I have to agree with Reeve Daak.”
Hanli and the captain gasped, but Ven didn’t let that bother him. “If we evacuate, we can move the elderly and children somewhere safe. We can offer the planet, but reclaim it when our reinforcements arrive. It is the most sensible and sound plan.”
Elder Fayle touched his face, her palm cool under the circumstances, and it lingered there as she tsked with her lips. “Ven, you disappoint me. You know this is our ultimate destiny.”
“I do now, but we were raised in a sheltered environment. You shared nothing with us. I hardly understood anything when you sent me to the Academy,” he told her, trying to keep his nerves settled.
“The training needs little distraction. It is the way of the Ugna,” she said.
“Even in these circumstances? When the Vusuls attack, killing many of the same people you claim to love?” Reeve asked, butting into the conversation.
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