Confluence 2: Remanence

by Jennifer Foehner Wells

  He glanced away and looked uncomfortable. It seemed like he might drift away at any moment. She scrambled to think of something to say that would put them back on a more even keel. The problem of Brai’s nanites popped into her head. Yes. Work. That was the perfect thing to talk about. He loved a challenge.

  She instinctively reached out to him but stopped just shy of touching his arm as she blurted out, “There’s something I’ve been meaning to ask you to do. I just haven’t had an…opportunity.” She cringed inside. There was a reason why she hadn’t asked him yet. “I recently learned that Brai had his own specialized set of squillae that were very different from those populating the rest of the ship. His enclosure isn’t shielded, so they would have been deactivated when we set off the EMP. I have only a vague idea of what they were meant to do. Could you look into that for me? You’d have a better grasp on the implications. I think it could be important. Something tells me it might be related to the difficulty we’ve had with the jumps.”

  He looked intrigued. “Why don’t you just ask him?”

  Jane sighed. “He honestly doesn’t know. There are a lot of things the Sectilius have kept secret on these ships, especially as they pertain to the Kubodera. Even the Quasador Dux is left in the dark.”

  “That’s effed up. What else are they hiding?”

  She shook her head. “I don’t know. Right now the yoke and Ei’Brai’s squillae are the two mysteries I’m most interested in solving. If I encounter others, I’ll let you know.”

  He nodded, deep in thought now. “Yeah, the yoke is odd. It’s a very complex system. It’s hard to tell what all is involved.”

  “It demonstrates a profound lack of trust,” Jane said.

  Alan looked like he was going to reply, but Ryliuk came barreling up to Jane before Alan could say anything, and she had no choice but to turn her attention to him.

  Ryliuk towered over her, his frizzy white hair sticking out in all directions as though he’d been running his fingers through it repeatedly. He sent a thought to her, directly. “Quasador Dux Jane Holloway, I’ve a matter of critical importance to discuss.”

  Jane glanced at Alan, uncomfortably. By human standards this was a bit rude. Alan was excluded from the conversation. His face had gone blank.

  She took an unconscious step back. Ryliuk had a habit of hovering very close inside her personal space. That step didn’t help, because he only moved to loom closer.

  “Please call me Jane,” she said out loud. All the formality of the multiple names was wearing on her. She didn’t know how to get around it. It seemed to be ingrained in their culture. To disregard it completely when addressing them would be disrespectful. She hoped that with time they’d consider calling her Jane, as Brai had come to. That might break it down a bit.

  Jane kept her body turned to include Alan, though his attention was now elsewhere. She was pretty sure he was angry, given the set of his jaw, but she couldn’t be certain because he’d returned to his habit of excluding himself from the anipraxic network.

  Ryliuk pressed forward another step, to put himself between her and Alan. Jane took a deep breath and forced herself not to back away. She glanced at Alan, but he had scooped up his cup and bowl of food cubes and was wandering away. She had to work hard not to frown. Instead she turned her face up to query Ryliuk aloud. “What is your concern?”

  He ignored her attempt at returning to verbal speech and continued with the direct thoughts. “Upon arrival, I went immediately to visit Ei’Brai’s enclosure to offer greeting. I feel it is very important to assess the health and well-being of the kuboderan, but he is refusing all attempts at communication with me. He would not even show himself to me.”

  Jane wasn’t surprised, but she carefully modulated her answer. “His confidence in the Sectilius has been shaken. I think that’s understandable given the circumstances he’s found himself in, wouldn’t you agree?”

  Ryliuk’s eyes roved over her face questioningly. “No. I don’t think it’s understandable. The squillae plague did not come from Sectilius. There was an outside instigator. You must order him to treat with me.”

  Jane couldn’t help but frown. “I don’t think that’s wise, Master Ryliuk.”

  “You are his commanding officer.”

  Ryliuk had moved in even closer. She found herself pressed into the wall. She scanned the room. Alan was glaring at her and Ryliuk.

  Jane lifted a hand and moved as though she would push him back. He retreated in advance of her touch. She breathed a little easier. “I’ll take that under advisement, Master Ryliuk.” She wasn’t about to promise Ryliuk anything until she talked to Brai. It was a delicate situation, and she wasn’t going to betray Brai’s trust now. She didn’t know what Ryliuk really wanted to do, but she’d figure those things out in time.

  Jane skirted Ryliuk and raised her voice above the general din to get the crew’s attention. “I realize most of you are still settling in, learning the rhythms of ship life.” She moved to sit at a long table. They’d been milling around for a while, sampling nutrition squares, and it was time to get to the point of the gathering.

  The humans immediately sat down, but it took a few moments for the sectilians to clue in to what was happening. They drifted to the table in ones and twos. Pledor was the last to seat himself, at the farthest spot from Jane.

  Jane laid her hands flat on the table in a sectilian gesture that indicated that she would be open, honest, and receptive. She hoped it would make the newcomers feel more comfortable. “For some of you the presence of a kuboderan is new and probably overwhelming. It will take time to get used to, but I urge you each to forge a strong bond with Ei’Brai. It’s very important to the way this type of ship functions. I want to give you a few days to adjust before we begin our mission, so don’t waste that time. In the interim I’ll also be assigning each of you duties. This is a big ship and we are a small crew. It’s been neglected for a very long time. There’s a lot of work to do.”

  She seemed to have everyone’s attention now. “I’ve given work assignments a great deal of thought. I hope to bring out each individual’s strengths, but the truth is we’re all going to have to learn new skills. Because we are a comparatively small crew, we will all be generalizing and multitasking. We’ll begin these assignments immediately.”

  She picked up the tablet she had laid on the table earlier, on which she’d left some notes. “I’ll start with Tech Deck. Dr. Alan Bergen, Machinutorus Jaross Rageth Hator, and Dr. Ronald Gibbs will handle that department. Alan will lead and will assign tasks related to environmental control, life support, propulsion, the generation, regulation, distribution and storage of power, and all structural and mechanical concerns. It’s a big job for three people.” She looked up to see Alan, Ron, and Jaross staring at her solemnly.

  “At the moment our most pressing concern is structural integrity, squillae distribution, and reintegrating the escutcheon.”

  Alan was nodding along, all cold professional now. “I agree. Those should be our primary focus.”

  Pledor got to his feet. “Squillae? Continued use of these devices seems imprudent given the circumstances.”

  Alan rolled his eyes. “Here we go.”

  Jane sent him a quelling look then turned to Pledor, glancing in turn at each sectilian as she spoke. They all looked uncomfortable. She supposed she couldn’t blame them. “Believe me, I understand your concerns—”

  “We’ve taken plenty of precautions,” Alan interjected.

  Jane nodded patiently, but spoke a little louder, to try to maintain control of the conversation. “Yes, we have. The reality of the situation is that this ship simply can’t be operated without either a large crew or the use of this technology. And the escutcheon is vital protection on the outer hull, repairing it from microfractures and other damage. There’s no replacing that functionality with something else. It’s necessary for our protection.”

  Pledor remained standing. “But the potential for disaster—”<
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  “Has been mitigated,” Alan said flatly. “I’ve personally rewritten the code so it can’t be messed with. I’m not cool with it being used against us. It’s not gonna happen.”

  Jaross said, “The terran crew was just as susceptible to the squillae plague as we were. For that reason, they would take the dangerous nature of the technology seriously. I think we can trust that. Just the same, I would like to personally look into this, and offer my own expertise in this area, if that does not offend?”

  Everyone looked at Alan, whose annoyed expression hadn’t changed much. He shrugged. “That’s fine by me.”

  Pledor retook his seat. “If Machinutorus Jaross Rageth Hator believes that the new safeguards will be sufficient, my concerns will be appeased.”

  Jane glanced at her tablet and suppressed a sigh of relief. She’d known this would come up at some point, and now it had and the discussion had been relatively tame, compared to the imagined scenario in her head. “Good. All right. Moving on to medical. Dr. Ajaya Varma and Medical Master Schlewan Umbrig of Caillea will work as a team in this department with Tinor Fotep Sten as apprentice.”

  Schlewan asked, “Do you have any initial tasks you’d like us to complete?”

  Jane nodded. “Yes. Before the jump, I want a thorough workup of every individual aboard. I need everyone in tip-top shape. Call them in one at a time, please.”

  Ajaya lifted her chin and spoke. “Does ‘them’ include you, Commander?”

  Jane frowned. Ajaya had caught her off guard. “Yes.” She continued on. “Mind Master Ryliuk of Mebrew will oversee communications as necessary, when we have someone to communicate with. And he will also work with Pledor Makya Sten in the department of maintenance and security. I will train both of you personally for this critical duty. Today we will begin a ship-wide sweep for parasites.” When she looked up this time, she was met with stoic gazes from the sectilians she’d just named. These jobs didn’t sound glamorous, but they truly were critical. Someone had to perform these functions, and these two people had the least-specific skill sets, aside from leadership. She swallowed and looked back down at her tablet.

  “Ei’Brai of Kubodera will continue to act as Gubernaviti, the governing navigator. He oversees most of the day-to-day running of the ship and all things related to navigation as well as data collection and management.” She stood, ready to wrap this session up and return to work. “Anyone have any questions?”

  “I have a question.” It was Pledor. “In three standard days we will arrive at the last known location of another starship.”

  “Yes,” Jane replied.

  “We assume that this ship will be devoid of crew except for a kuboderan, which may have survived all this time, just as the kuboderan on this ship has.”

  “Yes,” Jane said.

  “That ship will need a Quasador Dux and a crew. Who will assume that role?” Pledor blinked slowly, lazily, but didn’t take his eyes off her. His voice was far from neutral. This was a kind of challenge.

  Jane had anticipated this question. She stood a little straighter before answering. “We will allow the kuboderan to choose from among the crew of this ship, whoever he or she feels most compatible with.”

  Pledor’s slow blinking stopped, and his expression grew hard, his ears pulling back starkly from his face. Suddenly he stood. “Preposterous! You would leave such decisions in the hands of an animal? Why? It might choose the child for all you know!”

  Jane braced herself for an outburst from Brai, ready to sever the connection if needed. She didn’t have to, though a low, feral growl rumbled inside her head. Pledor was not helping the deep-seated antipathy Brai was feeling toward the sectilians.

  Jane nodded slowly, refusing to let Pledor bait her. “He or she might.”

  Pledor sneered. “And you would allow this? Passing over a proven leader? I am a Gistraedor Dux!”

  Jane was searching for something to say in reply to that statement, but Schlewan interjected. She tilted her head toward Pledor, but did not look directly at him. “No. Here you are not a Gistraedor Dux. You gave that up when you left the Sten compound. Here you are ship maintenance and security. Without status. Without rank.”

  Jane kept her face and her mental signature carefully impassive. She focused her gaze on the table. There were class issues here that she would not be wise to tread on.

  Pledor spluttered, “This is ridiculous. No one told me there wouldn’t be proper food. Or that I would be reduced to manual labor like a common fool.”

  Jaross stared straight ahead and spoke, her voice ringing loudly. “We are all of us equal status here—whether female, male, adolescent, terran, sectilian, atellan, or kuboderan. We have left behind a great struggle for survival. Here there is great abundance. Like in all times of change, we will need to adjust. I suggest you do so and refrain from this antagonizing behavior. There is a long tradition of our species adapting to great changes—to surviving against all odds. We are fortunate to have been brought aboard this grand vessel.”

  Brai purred upon hearing this. She sensed him warming to Jaross, extending probing tendrils into her mind to verify that she was speaking her true thoughts. He found what he hoped to find there and subsided into a reverie.

  Alan slammed his empty cup down on the table so hard nearly everyone in the room jumped simultaneously, breaking Jane’s intent focus on Brai.

  “Hear, hear,” Alan said quietly. “Let’s not all forget that we’re on a spaceship or anything.” He pushed his chair back loudly and headed for the exit. He paused in the doorway and gestured. “Ron, Jaross, let’s get to work.” Then he left. Ron rose slowly and followed, with Jaross on his heels.

  Jane decided not to make an issue of the fact that she hadn’t dismissed them.

  Tinor stood, looking distressed, her eyes wide, her lips pulled back into a deep grimace. She exclaimed, “I didn’t get to make my declaration!”

  Schlewan looked nonplussed, staring at the adolescent.

  Tinor turned to Pledor. “You didn’t have to be so disagreeable! You ruined everything!” With that, Tinor stomped off.

  Schlewan rose and followed, saying nothing. The remaining sectilians looked mildly surprised at the outburst.

  Ajaya said, “Would it be impolite to ask if you know what declaration Tinor is referring to?”

  Ryliuk replied, “Not at all. Tinor has reached the developmental stage of gender selection and was likely about to declare a choice. This is normally done after a meal in front of one’s entire compound or clan, though it is customary to give adults some time to prepare in advance. It is a difficult transition, a turbulent time in one’s life. The child is experiencing internal and external pressure. At times stress can delay the onset, or it can significantly accelerate the process. I believe iad is experiencing the latter.”

  Jane sat down again, at a loss. If Tinor had just come to her ahead of time and made mention of this desire, Jane would have accommodated it.

  40

  Jane clomped up to the door to the Greenspace Deck with Pledor and Ryliuk. This was the most dangerous area left on the ship. It was within the realm of possibility, that there could still be a few nepatrox remaining—and if there were, this was where they’d likely be hiding.

  They were all outfitted in sectilian powered battle armor with helmets retracted. The gleaming obsidian suits were compact and made to expand to conform to the wide range of body types among the sectilian people, even accommodating Ryliuk’s massive form. Jane had grown accustomed to wearing the snug suit on occasions like this. It was like a form-fitting protective shell that made her many times stronger, and the controls had come to feel like an extension of herself.

  Jane had spent long hours over the previous two days with the two sectilians exploring as much of the ship as possible. They’d found and removed quite a few slugs, most of them small. Regular sweeps like this would continue to be necessary because the microscopic spawn of the slugs could lie dormant for extremely long periods
of time. There was little danger of new nepatrox being converted from the larval stage without an influx of fresh xenon gas—which would not happen on Jane’s watch—but the transformations that had been triggered shortly after the Providence crew boarded could potentially have given rise to a few stragglers that hadn’t been located yet. Since the nepatrox lacked sentience, Brai couldn’t sense them, and they could be difficult to detect with the ship’s sensors in the Greenspace due to the dense flora on that deck.

  She’d saved this deck for the final day before the jump so that the others would feel more comfortable inside their armor, not to mention familiar with the controls. But it needed to be done, for the safety of the crew, before they embarked on their journey.

  Jane triggered the door mechanism and stood there for a moment with her mouth agape. This was her first time seeing this deck with her own eyes, though she knew what it had looked like during Rageth’s tenure aboard ship. It had been parklike, well groomed. A vast place for hobby gardening and peaceful off-duty hours strolling through manicured gardens that represented all the principal climates of Sectilia and Atielle.

  The deck was flooded with dazzling bright light. The ceilings and walls glowed, and there were strategically placed fixtures throughout, providing enough light for the plant life to thrive. It took Jane’s eyes a moment to adjust, though the hallway had been well lit. The ceiling was three times higher than that on most decks, to accommodate tree growth.

  She took one step inside the door and paused. A wave of humidity washed over her, bringing with it odors of warm damp soil, decay, and the peppery scents of growing things. There was a steaming, dazzling jungle in front of her. In one sweep of her eyes she could see every shade of green from the palest chartreuse and celadon to tones so deep and blue they appeared to be navy or black. In places the vegetation converged into thick, dark tangles and looked impenetrable.

  Jane sighed. She’d underestimated what the years could do in this place. The lighting, automatic watering systems, and CO2 supplementation had never failed. Everything had grown for decades, unchecked. This was going to take many man-hours to explore. It wouldn’t be done in one day. They might have to cut some of it back.