How dare he be so rude. She might need him during Boktai, but her cells had regenerated, and her brain had returned to normal. “Don’t be insulting.”
“Hey, that was a compliment.”
She perused his face and saw genuine bewilderment. “This is only the second conversation we’ve had where my hormones weren’t overloaded.” And the first time, after mating, she hadn’t yet fully recovered from the experience.
“Oh.” He stared at her, his bronzed face turning a shade of burned red.
She refrained from thinking about or asking which way he liked her better. Some things, she didn’t need to know. “Even if you doubt the sincerity of my desire to help others, self-preservation means that my helping your crew will help me and my people.”
Xander nodded and gestured for her to walk beside him down the hallway. “Let’s go meet our new guest.”
XANDER MET HIS security team in the shuttle bay. The alien vessel rested beside their own planetary transport vehicle, but took up only a quarter of the space. Would such a small ship have a strong enough power source that they could adapt it to their needs? Had stopping to rescue a stranger when it might cost them the mission been the right thing to do?
Xander might never know. Whoever was inside might step out and shoot him. Or eat him. Without Ranth’s sensors being able to penetrate the alien hull, he could only go by what he saw, and the shiny silver ball that reflected their own images back at them looked like no space vessel that he recognized. However, the ship he’d seen tumbling in space appeared to have had a tubular shape, while this object in his bay appeared perfectly spherical.
“Ranth, did the ship change shape after it arrived?”
“It’s possible. My sensors are unable to determine the metal’s composition. But hyperspace is infamous for distorting sensory data, especially in dust clouds. However, the power source radiating from the hull that I detected earlier disappeared when the clutch beam grabbed the ship. He probably shut down the engines.”
“Are we going in?” Alara asked, her tone impatient, her eyes bright with curiosity.
“Do you see a hatch?” Xander countered.
Alara had yet to show fear of death, but when she stepped toward the ship, her courage astounded him.
Surprise didn’t stop him from grasping her upper arm, tugging her back and noting once again how soft her golden skin was. Touching her caused sensual memories to flow, memories he couldn’t dwell on at the moment, but ones he’d never forget. “Let’s wait.”
“For what?” Her mouth drew up in one corner, showing aggravation. “Or have you forgotten we’re dying and running out of time to save the universe?”
He ignored her quip and motioned for the security team to split in half, each to circle the ship from opposite directions, before turning his attention back to her. “If I’d known you had such a sarcastic sense of humor, I would have snatched you sooner.”
“If I’d known you were so careful, I’d have brought along a herding prod to zap you into action.”
“If it is action you want, I can show you to my quarters.”
“I’m certain I’ll be quite sick of them before this voyage is over . . . unless I don’t spend all my time with you.” Her banter had turned serious.
He recalled earlier when he’d mentioned she’d seemed different, and wondered if she’d been insulted. He reminded himself to keep a wary eye on her—as an Endekian, she had yet to overcome his distrust of her people. He still had too many mental scars from Endekians.
So she might share her beautiful body with him, but he would never forget her race. Yet she was full of surprises. Alara had an interesting sense of humor—except when it came to Boktai and sex. When those topics were broached, she turned stiff as bendar.
The previously seamless metal of the alien ship hissed, and a rounded hatch opened outward. His men raised their stunners and held their ground. A light, so bright Xander had to adjust the psi filter in his suit to protect his eyes, shone from the interior and prevented him from seeing inside.
“Krek,” Alara swore. “If the alien’s trying to impress me by giving me a headache, it’s not working.”
Xander restrained his grin. Alara could go from prickly to sarcastic to courageous and back so fast he couldn’t predict what she’d do next. Sometimes humor, especially sarcasm, didn’t translate well, but he was having no difficulty following her words. He hoped he had as little trouble with the alien.
Musical horns trumpeted, as if to make them aware of the being’s importance. At least Xander hoped the noise wasn’t language because he found the clangs irritating.
“I wonder if they built that noisemaker with an off button?” Alara scowled, obviously finding the sound as unpleasant as he did.
The music’s jarring beat quickened. At the buildup, Xander steeled himself, expecting someone to exit; he hoped the creature was humanoid. Although the Federation’s members were comprised of a variety of intelligent species—birds, rare reptiles, and even fish, or beings like the Zenonites and the Osarians that were difficult to classify—the vast majority of races resembled Terrans, Endekians, and Rystani, taking humanoid form.
“Maybe that’s an invitation.” Alara tried to advance toward the ship.
Again, he held her back. “Maybe not.”
Floating out of the ship in sets of three, clouds of multihued lights shimmered, the color changing from aquamarine to cinbar to deep jadeite green.
“Ranth? Are those clouds . . . or our aliens?” Xander asked.
Alara shook her head. “I see no DNA in the mist. That’s merely part of the show.”
Xander bristled. “This is a rescue operation, not a musical holovid production.”
Alara laughed, her tone warm and alive and very much amused. “Then I suggest you tell that to your guest.”
9
FASCINATED BY THE unknown, Alara yearned to approach the alien craft. Freed of Endeki’s gravity, she also seemed free of her normal caution. Without the restraints placed on her by her culture and her world, she wondered what kind of woman she could be out here in space.
The future suddenly seemed wide open. Interesting. Liberating.
With her cells regenerated, she couldn’t account for her impulsive curiosity, but she hadn’t left only her cautious nature back on Endeki; she seemed more confident, more curious and open, more free to think about herself. Besides, alien DNA interested her. Excited her.
Alara tried to shake Xander’s hand from her arm. “You risked all our lives to save Clarie, and now you don’t want to go say hello?”
Shrugging off his strong hand worked as well as trying to put off regeneration. His grasp remained firm, keeping her right by his side. “Federation first contact requires that we follow certain protocols.”
“There’s not going to be a Federation if—”
A short humanoid, with a prominent head that rotated in 360-degree circles, shuffled out of the hatch and down a ramp. With his overly large head capped by two antennae, lack of a discernible neck, coal-black eyes, and a rounded body with very short limbs and pearl-white arms sticking out of his bright blue robe, he reminded her of a snowman that she and her mother had built during a rare trip to Endeki’s south pole.
“Clarie lost. Clarie lonely. Clarie need friends.” His tone blared from his diminutive body, and Xander motioned his security team to remain in place. With dignity, he strode forward to greet the alien.
Alara advanced alongside him, relieved and pleasantly surprised when Xander didn’t insist she stay put. When Xander didn’t answer the alien, she spoke softly. “Hi, Clarie. I’m Alara. This is the captain, Xander.”
Beside her Xander bristled, and she wondered if she’d violated protocol. But surely saying hello and introducing oneself couldn’t be a bad thing.
Clarie dropped
to his angular knees and bowed his head until his forehead touched the floor, his antennae flopping forward. He modulated his volume to match hers. “Clarie grateful. Clarie happy—happy for rescue. Clarie want new friends.”
The creature seemed harmless enough. When he straightened, she noted that he carried a tiny four-legged fur-covered animal with big brown eyes and a long tail on his shoulder. The creature remained still, not even blinking, its tail lightly flicking over Clarie’s head, neck, and back, occasionally winding around his delicate antennae.
With her inner eye, she focused on Clarie’s DNA. She looked below the skin to the skeleton, deeper past a host of internal organs she couldn’t identify to focus on his cellular structure. And barely restrained a gasp. She’d never seen any creature like Clarie. His DNA made no sense. He had double and triple and quadruple helixes, chromosomes in combinations so complex her brain reeled. He possessed anatomical structures on the subatomic level, and so she could only guess at their functions. Who was he? What was he?
“Clarie happy to meet Xander and Alara.”
Xander gestured to his craft. “Can you tell us what damaged your ship?”
Clarie’s head swiveled. The creature on his shoulder continued to stare at them, but loosened its tail hold of Clarie’s antennae, or the fragile-appearing organs might have broken.
“Clarie not captain. Clarie only passenger. Clarie asleep.”
Obviously Xander couldn’t be pleased with Clarie’s vague answer, but by his demeanor, she wouldn’t have known of his displeasure. He remained motionless, his voice calm, his expression pleasant and neutral. “Can your ship’s systems tell us what happened?”
“Systems? I do not understand.”
“Can we go inside your ship?”
“Yes. Yes. Follow Clarie.” The being zipped back up the ramp on his short legs that churned with amazing speed, and he disappeared into the spherical ship.
They followed him into the alien craft at a more sedate pace. Alara had no idea what they’d find inside—more creatures like Clarie, or other beings that might attack, or a welcoming band. As she ducked to cross over the threshold, she worried that the hatch might snap shut behind them and trap them inside. It didn’t, and she tried to settle her nerves and braced for the sight of strange objects. But the alien machines, monitors, and controls she’d expected were not there.
The entire ship was empty—like a hollow eggshell with shiny metal walls.
She stared at the shimmering hull, ignoring their distorted reflections and focusing deep below the surface to the elemental structure. She’d expected metal, circuitry, engineering systems. Not living cells. Cells that resembled Clarie. “Captain, this ship has the same DNA as Clarie.”
“What?” Xander stopped and stared at her as if she’d lost her mind.
“It’s almost as if the ship’s part of him. Or he is part of the ship. We’re inside a living creature.”
Clarie ignored her comments. The animal on his shoulder scampered down his arm and dropped to the floor. It stood on its hind legs and chirped, almost as if begging.
“Yes. Clarie feed Delo.” Clarie reached for his pet, and the creature jumped into his palm. He stroked Delo, and the little guy’s fur turned from brown to orange. Alara had heard of such animals. On Terra certain lizards changed color in different kinds of light. On Bomar, marsupials altered their fur color with their feeding cycles. She’d heard of a Federation race whose skin changed color as their emotions altered. But she’d never seen such an animal up close on Endeki.
Curious about the biochemical change on the DNA level of his pet, she focused her inner eye on Delo, but she couldn’t read him at all. She saw nothing. No cells. No chromosomes. No mitochondria. It was if Delo were wisps of smoke, or a holosim, created from light and complex computer software.
Men on Federation planets and luxury starships often used holosims to satisfy their sexual urges. So bringing a holopet into space to avoid loneliness wasn’t inconceivable. But why would a holosim require food?
More importantly, why was Clarie’s cell structure exactly the same genetic material as the hull of his ship?
An outrageous theory began to build in her mind, but she kept silent, wanting to mull over the ramifications. If Clarie and the ship were one being, and if the ship were damaged, could Clarie’s mind be damaged? Was that why his simple speech pattern resembled a child’s? Or maybe he was a child. She wanted to ask Ranth and made a mental note to consult him later.
“Where are your engines?” Xander asked.
“No engines.” Clarie continued stroking Delo, and his orange-furred pet emitted a hum, the sound low and pleasant.
Xander frowned. “Where’s the power?”
“Power?” Clarie shook his head. “Delo is hungry. Clarie must feed Delo.” Clarie shuffled over to the wall, pushed his finger into the shimmering metal. His pet immediately glowed a luminescent blue-green.
If Clarie was feeding Delo, the food seemed to come out of the ship, through Clarie’s body and flow into Delo. Perhaps there was power here after all.
She had to give Xander credit. Although Clarie wasn’t answering his questions, Xander kept his demeanor steady—even in the face of the glowing pet. “Our ship uses power to travel through hyperspace. When we rescued you, we used our spare power, but our scanners noted you had plenty. I was hoping we could modify your energy source to replace what we lost.”
The alien’s expression remained unfazed. He pulled his finger from the wall, and Delo’s glow slowly faded. “Clarie only passenger. Not engineer.”
“Where were you going?” Alara asked.
“Everywhere. Nowhere. Clarie on a learning voyage.”
“Where are you from?” Xander asked.
“Clarie from ship.” His answer made Alara wonder if her theory could be correct—that Clarie and his ship were one being and that if the ship was damaged, so were Clarie’s thought processes.
“Ranth, is the translator working properly?” Xander asked.
“All my components are fully functional. However, I have shut down unnecessary functions to save power. In addition, your suits and Clarie’s are in working order.”
“Clarie has a suit?” Alara didn’t think the being had come from Federation space. Ranth had neither recognized his technology nor known what planet he was from, or the computer would have informed them. But she’d never heard of anyone from outside the Federation who wore a suit. Yet it was not inconceivable that the Perceptive Ones had left suit-manufacturing equipment on other worlds far from Federation space.
“Clarie now needs rest.” The alien backed against a wall in his ship. He sagged. The antennae on his head went from upright to slumped. He turned his head toward his pet and shut his black eyes.
Xander knelt beside Clarie, his face full of concern. Even on his knees, he towered over the alien. “Are you injured?”
When Clarie didn’t answer, she did. “I think he’s asleep.”
Delo sat quietly on Clarie’s shoulder. His color had lost its luminescent sparkle and had turned back to brown. Grooming himself with a long pink tongue, Delo ignored them.
Xander lowered his voice as if he didn’t wish to disturb the sleeping Clarie. “Want to take a guess how long he’ll sleep?”
“I have no idea. But I’d like to do some research.” She stepped out of the alien craft, excited about the biological puzzle. Sure, she missed her laboratory and her work, but she couldn’t restrain her excitement and finally admitted to herself that if not for her fear of forming a permanent bond with Xander through Boktai, she would have been glad to be here.
“I know just the place.” Xander followed her out of the ship. The head of security approached, and the captain gave orders quietly. “Stand guard. Don’t approach Clarie, and notify me the moment he awakens.”
“Understood.”
Xander slipped his arm through hers. “I have a surprise for you.”
Alara stiffened. Whenever her father had had a surprise for her mother, it was usually followed by tears and angry words. Her mother had loved her job as a teacher. But her father had wanted her to stay home, tend the house, cook, clean, and take care of him when he was there. One time her father’s “surprise” had been to arrange for her mother’s employer to fire her. Her father had been so satisfied with his surprise, wearing a look very similar to Xander’s right now. Alara recalled her mother had been furious, but resigned to giving up the career she’d loved. At the memory, Alara steeled herself for an unpleasant experience or a confrontation.
As Xander led her through the ship, she saw new areas, but her nerves tensed with anxiety. The Verazen was larger than she’d originally thought. She saw game rooms, exercise bots, and crew quarters that included common areas where people socialized. With the power shut down to the bare minimum, providing only life support, people entertained themselves by playing board games, throwing tiny balls at a spinning bull’s-eye and even training for combat. Despite their dire circumstances, the crew’s attitude remained positive and upbeat.
As they passed by, people said hello, nodded and waved, but continued with whatever they’d been doing. On an Endekian ship, the captain’s presence would have required salutes and bows. However, the less strict Federation regulations didn’t seem to hurt morale or keep the crew from their duties. Each station was manned, the crew alert.
She suspected Xander was taking her to his quarters, where she needed to explain in private that her body would not be available to him at all times—only during Boktai. She thought she’d explained adequately, but apparently he either hadn’t believed her or had misunderstood.
However, when Xander flung open a hatch, all previous thoughts fled. Stars. What had he done?
Inside the hatch was a laboratory that rivaled her own. No, it was her Endeki lab—moved in total to this ship. Every scientific instrument from her lab—her test equipment, her computers, all her precious experiments—were on the Verazen.
The Ultimatum Page 13