Varken Rise

by Tracy Cooper-Posey

  “I hurried to the place where my mule farm is currently located and gave them the mesh tether. I stood next to them as they installed the tether in a viable mule, training their medics in the process. My next stop was Barros, where the last of the technicians helped me install the link from the bunker to my ship. That was far simpler than the mesh tether and it was only a temporary installation, anyway.”

  “You knew the ship would be destroyed!” Brant exclaimed.

  “Yes,” Bedivere said simply.

  “You went to Soward, knowing they would destroy you?” Rosen asked.

  “Yes.”

  Rosen considered him for a long moment of silence. “We’ve already agreed that death is frightening for any sentient. You have courage, I’ll give you that.”

  “Is it courage when you can barely sit in your chair and speak for the fear that is gripping you?” Bedivere asked. “I knew exactly what was going to happen when I confronted Aler. I knew the Cartel would act to eliminate the problem. It’s their pattern. They’ll cut their losses rather than resolve the issue. Only, I had made a promise to Kemp and time was running out. I knew they would make contact with Kemp sooner or later, if they could catch up with him. With Catherine dragging him across the known worlds chasing me and diving into wormholes without notice, it made their job harder, yet not impossible. As soon as they reapplied their coercion, Catherine would be in danger once more.”

  “They found me on Shanta station,” Kemp said. “Just after we boarded the cruiser to go back to Nicia.”

  Bedivere nodded. “So I knew I had to hurry. I stayed on the ground in Soward City for two days. The city is mostly rubble now, because of the earthquakes and the only guarded and fortified building is the civic center. A thermal scan from the lower atmosphere told me the rest. Every person in the building moved freely except for ten people, who did not move beyond certain walls. I had found Kemp’s family.”

  Kemp let out a shaky breath. He was reliving this as much as Catherine was.

  “I digitally painted the walls of the rooms they were in and preset targets for the rest of the building, which would leave the rooms intact.” He took a deep breath. “I backed up my memories and dropped them into the datacore, where one of the Varkan could pick them up. After that, I don’t recall what happened. I had already predicted the outcome and I’ve seen the recordings, now, of what did happen. Aler acted exactly as I predicted.” Bedivere smiled sourly. “I knew he would not refuse to speak to the person he had been pursuing for weeks and I knew he would strike out if someone threatened him, because that’s what I would do if I knew how to threaten people—I’d hit hard and fast.”

  Catherine drew in a deep breath and let it out. She would never forget that moment. Never.

  Bedivere lifted his hands. “I woke in the surgery at the mule farm, with the link to the bunker established. Then I had to take a perfectly normal and very slow ship back to Nicia. I only made it here the day before Catherine arrived. With the destruction of the ship, I am as land-locked as any human…until I can install another of the Shanta links in a new ship. Because of the new linkages, I can use any ship I want and I will never again be as exposed as I was without the bunker.”

  He let out a heavy breath. “That’s all of it. When you’re ready, we can speak to the governor of Barros and the Prime Minister of Shanta. If I am with you, the seals on the contracts can be broken and they will be free to confirm the conditions of the contracts and everything I have said here. However….” He looked around the room and for a long moment directly at Connell, “…none of this can be made public.”

  Jacksanch rolled his eyes. “Of course it must—”

  “No, David,” Rison said quietly, the tone of his voice cutting Jacksanch off. “He’s right. None of this can come out publically. It can be shared—it must be shared—with certain authority figures and that is all. The known worlds must go on believing that the south island on Barros is irradiated and unapproachable for generations to come. The criminal element on Shanta must continue to believe their government dealt with them directly and forcibly if they are to be contained in the future. And if everyone thinks the rogue computer Bedivere is dead, they will all sleep easier.”

  Brant pushed his hair back with a frustrated gesture. “I don’t understand. Bedivere, didn’t you do all this to help the Varkan emerge as a sentient race with rights of their own? If all of this gets buried, if the worlds go on believing you and Jo went crazy, then you’ll be setting back Varkan emergence for decades.”

  Bedivere looked surprised. “What makes you think I did it for the Varkan?”

  Brant gestured helplessly. “Well…you are one.”

  Bedivere smiled. “Listen to you.”

  Brant rolled his eyes. “I’m serious.”

  “So am I,” Bedivere replied gravely. “There is no way to force Varkan rights down the throats of humans. If we try, it will just backfire. It’s the same as forcing a Varkan to sentience compared to leaving it to waken by itself. Human history is stuffed full of wars that were waged over one element of society trying to force their beliefs upon another and in the entire sum total of human history, that has never worked. So I won’t try now.”

  “Then….” Brant trailed off and shook his head. “I still don’t understand.”

  “I do,” Connell said. “That’s why Bedivere has been encouraging all of us to use human avatars and to mix with humans as much as we can. That’s why the next step is for us to take human bodies when we can and when we’re ready.”

  “Assimilation,” Rison said softly, staring at Connell. “If you can’t force a society to accept outsiders, then the outsiders must adapt.”

  “Most outsiders resist adapting because they’re afraid they’ll lose their own culture in the process,” Bedivere added. “Only, we don’t have a culture. Not yet. We will. It just takes time, as acceptance among humans will take time. Time, though, is something we all have plenty of.”

  He looked at Bedivere and Lilly. “This goes against everything that the College has taught us about Glave’s beliefs. That’s the whole point. It’s why Lilly is sitting on the other side of the table from the college. She understands it instinctively, even if she hasn’t yet acknowledged it to herself. Glave was alive at a time when there was no other sentient life than human. Now there is. We can’t force change, but we can help it along wherever we can, just as Lilly is.”

  Rison got to his feet and Jacksanch reluctantly copied him. “You will forward all your shareable documentation, yes?” Rison asked Bedivere.

  “Already done,” Bedivere said lightly. “Connell has distributed the package to everyone at this meeting. Each packet is sealed, by the way, to your DNA signature.”

  “Excellent,” Rison said shortly. He looked at Jacksanch. “I believe that takes care of everything, don’t you?”

  Jacksanch sighed. “I cannot see where a crime has taken place on Nicia, so I will agree that everything has been resolved to the Bureau’s satisfaction.” He nodded at Bedivere. “This has been a very informative afternoon.”

  “For everyone,” Catherine murmured to herself.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Nicia (Sunita II), Sunita System. FY 10.092

  “To Varkan and Humans,” Bedivere said, raising his glass.

  “Varkan and Humans,” everyone else repeated, tapping glasses. Even Connell raised his virtual glass, aligning it with theirs and drinking a mouthful of digital champagne.

  “Soward champagne,” Kemp said, as he swallowed. “Only the best, of course.”

  Brant grimaced. “If you insist.”

  Bedivere looked down the long table, which Catherine had been forced to print and assemble in order to seat everyone. There were six of them, including Kemp and Connell. “And a farewell to Kemp, too,” he added, lifting his glass a little bit.

  Kemp grinned back. “The hospitality here is too sharp for my liking. Besides,” he added, his smile fading, “I want to get home and see everyone. Co
unt fingers and toes and settle back into a normal life. That’s not possible standing too close to you two.”

  Catherine smiled. Bedivere had noticed that her warm smile had come back over the last couple of days. He was pleased to see it. “You’re always welcome here, Kemp. Wherever ‘here’ happens to be,” Catherine said.

  “You’re leaving Nicia?” Kemp asked, sounding surprised.

  “Bedivere’s broke and I took a big hit running around the galaxy in five star liners and don’t get me started on the bribes. So I think it’s possible we’re both going to be looking for new revenue very soon. That could take us anywhere.”

  Brant was sitting back, playing with his champagne glass. “Why would you have to go and do that?” he asked, sounding surprised.

  “Are you offering me a job, Brant?” Bedivere asked.

  Brant pushed the glass away. “I need a brandy,” he muttered and went over to the sideboard where the brandy bottle always sat and brought it back. “When you did your deal with Gu-Xia Gammon on Harrivalé, did it include the printer files?”

  Bedivere watched him pour the brandy, feeling a little bit stupid and winded. “The mesh tether…” he said slowly.

  Brant nodded and sipped the brandy, then sighed. “That’s better. Yes, the mesh tether. Get yourself a surgical grade printer, or pay someone who has one to print them for you. You’re going to have a lot of people looking to buy mesh tethers over the next few years.”

  “Gu-Xia Gammon will have their own files,” Catherine said sharply. “They could print and sell their own.”

  “Let them,” Brant said dismissively. “Connell, can you think of a single Varkan who would prefer to buy from Gu-Xia Gammon, instead of buying their tether from Bedivere?”

  Connell shook his head. “Not a single one. Can I buy the first one you print?” His eagerness was lighting up his features.

  Bedivere laughed. “Do you have a body to put it in?” he asked gently.

  Connell’s face fell.

  “Sure he does,” Brant said and tossed back the remainder of the brandy.

  Everyone looked at him. Bedivere stared, a growing suspicion building. “Whose?” he asked.

  “Mine,” Brant said flatly.

  Lilly sat staring straight ahead. Her face had drained of color and her hand around the stem of the champagne glass was a tight fist.

  Brant poured another drink.

  “Brant…” Catherine said softly. Then she glanced at Lilly and trailed off. She couldn’t say it aloud any more than Bedivere could.

  “And while they’re growing Connell’s mule, they’d better get busy on mine,” Brant added, carefully not looking at anyone. “I don’t know how long this current heart is going to hold out.”

  Lilly gave out a sob and covered her face. Her shoulders shook.

  Brant rested his hand on her shoulder.

  She wound her arms around his neck in reaction and buried her face against his chest. Her sobs were muffled yet distinct. Brant pulled her into his lap and cradled her. His eyes closed and he pressed his cheek against her hair.

  Catherine wiped at her eyes quickly. She was smiling as she watched them. So was Kemp. Connell wore a dazed expression.

  Bedivere picked up the champagne bottle and filled Catherine’s glass and Kemp’s too. He didn’t want any more himself. He wanted to remember this day clearly. It was the happiest he had ever been outside Cat’s arms.

  * * * * *

  “Are you going to do what Brant suggests?” Cat asked him later, in their bedroom, as they prepared for sleep.

  Bedivere looked up from pulling back the covers. “I’m embarrassed I didn’t think of it myself,” he confessed. “Yes, I think I will. It will help the Varkan emerge among humans faster than anything else I could do.”

  “That’s going to be your new mission in life, isn’t it?” She wore a small smile that told him she was trying to say something important and was teasing him because she didn’t want to be confrontational.

  “Do you mind?” he asked.

  She turned on the stool to face him squarely. “You’ve changed, since you got back. I’ve been trying to figure it out for the last week and I think that’s what it is. You’ve found a purpose in life, something to work toward.”

  Bedivere shook his head. “No, that’s not it. Well, not all of it. Yes, I want to help the Varkan. Of course I do. Only…” He hesitated, then made himself say it. Cat would dig it out of him if he didn’t finish now. “For the last…since the Federation died, so let’s just say forever.” He tried to smile and couldn’t. “I’ve never felt as though I’ve deserved having you in my life. I’ve never felt…worthy.” He let his breath out in a rush.

  “And now you do?” she asked softly.

  “No! Not at all. After all this, though…I feel as if I am a few meters closer.”

  “A few meters, huh?” She got to her feet and moved slowly across the room. “A few meters more and….” She put her arms around his neck and looked up at him, her eyes filled with the warm glow of love.

  His heart squeezed.

  “Don’t ever do that to me again, okay?” she whispered.

  “Not in a million years,” he breathed.

  “Really? Planning on sticking around that long?”

  “Absolutely.” He kissed her because now he could kiss her, when for a while he had thought he never would again.

  The End

  The third book in the Interspace Origins series, Cat and Company, will be released in mid-2016. In the meantime, here is more SFR:

  Get 5,001, a short science fiction romance, free.

  Sign up for Tracy’s Newsletter and get a free copy of 5,001.

  Click here to get started.

  About the Author

  Tracy Cooper-Posey is an Amazon #1 Best Selling Author. She writes romantic suspense, paranormal, urban fantasy, futuristic and science fiction romances. She has published over 55 novels since 1999, been nominated for five CAPAs including Favourite Author, and won the Emma Darcy Award.

  She turned to indie publishing in 2011. Her indie titles have been nominated four times for Book Of The Year and Byzantine Heartbreak was a 2012 winner. Faring Soul won a SFR Galaxy Award in 2015 for “Most Intriguing Philosophical/Social Science Questions in Galaxybuilding” She has been a national magazine editor and for a decade she taught romance writing at MacEwan University.

  She is addicted to Irish Breakfast tea and chocolate, sometimes taken together. In her spare time she enjoys history, Sherlock Holmes, science fiction and ignoring her treadmill. An Australian, she lives in Edmonton, Canada with her husband, a former professional wrestler, where she moved in 1996 after meeting him on-line.

  Other books by Tracy Cooper-Posey

  Here

  Other books by Tracy Cooper-Posey

  * = Free!

  Blood Knot Series (Urban Fantasy Paranormal Series)

  Blood Knot*

  Southampton Swindle

  Broken Promise

  Vale

  Amor Meus

  Blood Stone

  Blood Unleashed

  Blood Drive

  Blood Revealed

  Blood Ascendant

  Beloved Bloody Time Series (Paranormal Futuristic Time Travel)

  Bannockburn Binding*

  Wait

  Byzantine Heartbreak

  Viennese Agreement

  Romani Armada

  Spartan Resistance

  Kiss Across Time Series (Paranormal Time Travel)

  Kiss Across Time*

  Kiss Across Swords

  Time Kissed Moments I

  Kiss Across Chains

  Kiss Across Deserts

  Kiss Across Kingdoms

  The Kine Prophecies (Epic Norse Fantasy Romance)

  The Branded Rose Prophecy

  The Stonebrood Saga(Gargoyle Paranormal Series)

  Carson’s Night*

  Beauty’s Beasts

  Harvest of Holidays

  Sabrina’s
Clan

  Destiny’s Trinities (Urban Fantasy Romance Series)

  Beth’s Acceptance*

  Mia’s Return

  Sera’s Gift

  The First Trinity

  Cora’s Secret

  Interspace Originas (Science Fiction Romance Series)

  Faring Soul

  Varkan Rise

  Cat and Company (Upcoming)

  Short Paranormals

  Solstice Surrender

  Eva’s Last Dance

  The Vistaria Affair (Romantic Suspense)

  Red Leopard*

  Black Heart

  Blue Knight

  White Dawn

  Go-get-‘em Women (Short Romantic Suspense Series)

  The Royal Talisman

  Delly’s Last Night

  Vivian’s Return

  Ningaloo Nights

  Jewells of Tomorrow (Historical Romantic Suspense)

  Diana By The Moon

  Heart of Vengeance

  Scandalous Sirens (Historical Romance Series)

  Forbidden*

  Dangerous Beauty

  Perilous Princess

  Romantic Thrillers Series

  Fatal Wild Child

  Dead Again

  Dead Double

  Terror Stash

  Thrilling Affair

  Short Science Fiction Romane

  5,001

  Contemporary Romances

  Lucifer’s Lover

  An Inconvenient Lover

  The Sherlock Holmes Series (Romantic Suspense/Mystery)

  Chronicles of the Lost Years

  The Case of the Reluctant Agent

  For reviews, excerpts, and more about each title, visit Tracy’s site and click on each title in turn: http://tracycooperposey.com/books/tracys-trilogies-series/

  Copyright Information

  This is an original publication of Tracy Cooper-Posey