“I’m famished.” Patty got up first, and they went in search of dinner among the leftovers.
An hour later, they said their goodbyes, and Jules rushed to the offices again. She’d ditched her formal Ambassador’s uniform, changing into joggers and a sweatshirt. Jules felt out of place when she entered the boardroom. Dean and Magnus were in their uniforms, and empty plates were stacked near the door.
“Jules, glad you could join us,” Magnus said, not so subtly implying she was late for an unscheduled meeting.
“I was with Patty. What’s going on?” She crossed the room, checking the projection rising from the table.
“We’ve had some security issues,” Dean said.
“Like what?”
Magnus typed on the keypad. “Someone’s been trying to hack our network.”
“What would they be after?” Jules asked him.
“Anything. The vault holds all our information. Ship schematics, recruit details, finances, simulator programs. You name it, we’re storing it.” Magnus scrolled through endless files, accessing the blueprints for Outpost. “If this is leaked, our enemies could sabotage us. They’ll know any weaknesses, or at least what they’d be up against. And right now, we’re ripe for the picking. We have under three thousand half-trained recruits, with no real experience in the field.”
“We’d be killed,” Jules whispered.
“That’s correct. We need to determine who’s trying to hack us, and how we can keep them out,” Dean told her.
“What do we have to work with so far?” Jules took over the keypad, checking for access logs, and found the failed attempts.
“They’re coming from Terran Thirty, so we think it’s one of the recruits, but they have serious encryption abilities. It’ll take our people a while to decipher this, so in the meantime, we have to be diligent. Dean will talk to the staff leads, to keep their eyes and ears open, and we’ll need to do some old-fashioned detective work,” Magnus said.
“Okay. We can do this.” Jules wasn’t surprised there were attempted assaults on their network, but the fact that it was originating from inside Terran Thirty was a huge concern. It meant they had a traitor, or maybe an entire group of them.
The door slid open, and Suma walked in, carrying a satchel. “Sorry I’m late.”
“Don’t worry about it. We have another issue that you might be able to assist us with,” Magnus told her.
Suma walked to the table and slumped into a chair. “You’ll want to hear this first.”
“It can’t be that bad, can it?” Dean asked.
Suma’s snout twitched. “Only if you don’t mind downloading your brain.”
Eight
All I saw was orange light. My vision swam, but it slowly recovered enough for me to realize I was tied to a tree. The ropes were green and rough, with minuscule barbs clinging to my armored suit. “Sergo?”
“I’m over here.” The voice was behind me.
“You okay?” I scanned the area, trying to locate the monsters that had incapacitated us. The dark grove was empty.
“I guess so. What the hell are these things?” he asked.
“I don’t know. They may be ugly, but they’re smart. They tricked us into thinking the village was Kraski because of our ship’s readouts, and they want off the surface.” Then it kicked in. My head was aching, and my body sore, so it took a few moments to shake the fog. When I did, I tried freeing myself, to no avail. “Sergo, they’re going for the ship!”
“No way,” Sergo grunted, and I could tell he was struggling as well. “These bindings are too tight. I don’t think we can…”
One of the monsters returned, walking out from behind the cover of a tree.
“Sergo, cool it for a minute. We have company.” I stared at it, the orange fungal glow casting drooping shadows on the thing’s gray flesh.
It stopped ten feet ahead, and I feared it would send a second round of spores at me. “Why didn’t we wear the helmets?” I muttered. I was too experienced to make these short-sighted decisions.
“Do you hear that?” Sergo asked.
And I did. It was the sound of our ship’s thrusters cutting across the silent night.
“They have it!” I fought to unravel the bonds, pulling as hard as I could, but the ropes held.
For a second, I thought the being would attack me, but it just crept closer, cautiously testing the waters. I could smell it now, a ripe mushroom scent. The fungus on the tree above me glowed brighter at its arrival.
I expected our vessel to fly away. Instead, it was coming in our direction, lowering close by. The search light cast out, and a moment later, the red blasters carved through a section in the forest.
“Parker, what are they doing?” Sergo was panicked, and I didn’t blame him.
“They’re making a clearing to land in. They must be coming to pick up the rest of their people.”
The huge milky eyes met my gaze, and the thing turned its head so fast, I heard its spine crack. It dashed away, and now I saw more of them. Dozens. They hurried toward our Kraski ship as it landed in the recently cleared region a hundred yards from our position.
They’d leave us here to die, and I assumed they’d already killed our guests. I had to think of a way to free myself. I tried to gain command of my console. My arms were behind me, wrapped to the back of the tree, and I slid my hands closer together.
Finally, I felt the smooth screen beneath my gloved fingers, and I attempted to use the controls from memory. I thought I had the proper setting and tapped the device. Cold air blasted from inside the suit. Wrong one. I tried again, but it turned on my interior heater. I instantly began to sweat, and shut it off. “Third time’s a charm,” I whispered, and hit it. The ropes started to steam, hiss, then pop. I stumbled to the ground face-first, powering off the function.
It was a failsafe in the suit, to clear any debris by overheating momentarily, then singing everything on the armor. It had worked.
I rushed to Sergo, activating the same option on his console. He burned free a moment later, and I caught him.
“Where are the weapons?” Sergo buzzed.
“We’ll have to deal without them.” I ran for the ship, anxious to find a way on board. If we let them take our mode of transportation, we’d have one long hike ahead of us to the portal, as well as no provisions or weapons. I was concerned for our rescues, assuming they were still on board. I couldn’t abandon them. They were so helpless, weak from mistreatment.
There she was, the Kraski vessel, landed with the ramp closed. The newly arrived monsters were at the hull, beating it with skinny arms.
Sergo and I watched as the ramp opened. I didn’t in a million years expect what happened next.
Othus, the short, hairy being, was the first out, firing a pulse rifle at the crowd of aliens. He screamed a primal roar as he pulled the trigger, taking down the closest layer of monsters.
Darem, the giant Keppe warrior, was behind him, shooting two pulse pistols at once, like a cowboy in the Wild West. Their beams caught the unsuspecting creatures, sending them to the ground in a pile. More came from every direction, pouring through the trees as fungus lit up at their passing.
One of them managed to scramble up the ramp, past the two sentries, and I spotted Neemi, the blue Molariun woman, kick it in the shin before shoving it off the ramp to be trampled by more of its own kind, trying to beat their way onto the ship.
“There’s too many,” Sergo whispered.
I glanced to my right and saw two creatures slowly approaching. They had our guns. I nudged Sergo and pointed at them. He smiled, the orange glow reflecting brightly off his smooth black eyes. His antennae wiggled as we dashed behind them, hiding on the far side of a tree.
I lifted my hand, counting down from three on my fingers. We circled them, attacking with acute efficiency. Sergo dropped his victim, clutching his pulse pistol. He used it to blast at the one attempting to fend me off, and my pulse rifle fell to the ground.
&n
bsp; We had our weapons back. I went first, hitting the targets from behind. Darem and Othus noticed us, and they tried to keep from hitting us across the horde of aliens.
We made quick work of the ones around us, ending them as we cut a path to our destination. I jogged, my breath coming quickly. When I glanced over my shoulder, Sergo was gone.
“Sergo!” I shouted, but he didn’t answer. I kept firing and spied Othus pointing to my left. I saw the creatures lowering near a body, and took aim, making a lane to Sergo. He was unconscious, and I smelled the heavy spores in the area. I held my breath and heard Darem cry out as he rushed like a linebacker through the incoming monsters. They were knocked down like bowling pins, and he cradled Sergo in his arms, barging back to the ramp. I followed in his trail, coughing as I swallowed some of the black spores in the air.
We made it to the ramp, and I stumbled, my vision swimming again. I turned back, firing at the monsters, who were clawing at me, folds of flesh slapping loudly. I felt Darem’s strong grip as he dragged me up the ramp while it recessed into the ship.
Sergo lay at my side. We were alive.
____________
I came to, my lungs burning and my lips chapped. I lay in the bunk room, with Sergo on the opposite bed, sleeping soundly. My armor was now here in sight, replaced with a fresh jumpsuit, and I flopped my legs off the bed, landing my feet on the cool floor. I was alive and on my ship. Who was flying it?
People were talking from somewhere on the bridge, and I used the wall to brace my steps, finding my way to the source of the noise. Eretan Six was in the pilot’s seat, and I noticed we were no longer on Exerli Two.
“What are you doing?” I asked. “You’re supposed to be going through the portal!”
Dean, we made a decision while you were sleeping, Kallig said.
“To hijack my spacecraft?” I breathed as deeply as I was able, letting the negative energy out. “I’m sorry. You saved us. How did you…”
“We banded together,” Darem said. “You would have done the same. We had a debt, and we’re repaying it.”
“So why did you leave the planet?” I asked him.
The big man moved his arm, muscles bulging under the thick armor. “We agreed to stay with you. Help you get your friend.”
“You want to help me? You’ve barely had a chance at freedom. I think it would be best…”
Eretan lifted a hand. “Dean, we will determine what is best for us.”
I didn’t know what to say. “If that’s what you want, it’s your call.” I looked each of them in the eye, seeing how strong they were: still recovering from captivity, yet they were willing to return to danger on my behalf. I was at a loss for words.
We’re a team, okay, Dean? The small bird man reminded me so much of my friend. All I wanted was to bring Regnig home safe.
“How did you do this? Fend them off? Fly the ship?” I asked.
“I had some experience with piloting. I was trained for the research mission, in case the pilot was indisposed. This wasn’t a far stretch,” Eretan said with a smile.
They’d gone from victims to heroes in a short span. I was stunned. I checked the radar, finding a path to Mount Carve. It was a day away. My head was clearing up, but my mouth was still raw, and my stomach growled despite the roughness of my throat. “If you have this under control, I’m going to check on Sergo and eat. Kallig, would you join me?”
Kallig opened his beak, like he was about to reply, but just waddled out of the bridge, trailing after me toward Sergo.
“You sure this is a good plan?” I asked him when we were out of earshot from the others.
No. But the choice has been made. They are sincere people, and they want to support your mission as best as they can. If that means risking their lives to help you rescue your colleague, they’ll do it. The impression of those words pressed against my mind.
“All right, but they’ll have to listen to my orders. I trust that won’t be an issue.”
Kallig shook his head. You will find them most amenable to your leadership. They are quite impressed with you, even if you did manage to get captured.
I sensed this was a joke. “I try not to make a habit out of it. Come on, let’s check on Sergo and discuss the revised plan.”
Sergo woke when I roused him, and I filled the Padlog in on the new developments.
“I think it might work to our benefit. We’ll look like their kind of people,” Sergo said.
“We’re not selling any of them.” I couldn’t believe he’d even suggested it.
“Parker, screw your head on straight. I was only saying they’ll view you as someone they’d consort with. We can use it to our advantage,” he said.
I wasn’t looking forward to playing one of these gangsters, but if it would help us find Regnig, then I was willing to do almost anything. “I was hoping to speak with Mary,” I said.
“We’ll be able to go home soon,” Sergo said.
“Maybe you’re right. I promised results, and I don’t have them yet.” Instead of calling, I sent a message letting her know we were safe and on Regnig’s trail. It would take a while to reach Mary, but at least she’d know we were okay.
I wondered what was happening at the Institute, and how the Gretiols’ arrival had gone.
Nine
“What did you find out?” Magnus didn’t give Suma much time to settle in before the inquisition began.
“I wish I had a copy of it, but apparently, it was one of a kind,” Suma told them. “I gathered a lot of information from his notes on it. Clearly, whoever abducted him hadn’t been thinking that far ahead.”
Magnus accepted the book Suma slid across the table to him. “Good work, Suma.”
“Don’t praise me quite yet. I still don’t have much to go by. All I know is that the Sovan were on the cusp of a very powerful technology. One that would give them the ability to transfer a person’s memory into a storage device.” Suma turned her attention to Jules. “Does this sound familiar? I know the Theos sealed their people into the stones, so there could be a correlation.”
Jules considered this. “I don’t think it fits. I mean, it’s possible someone who understood their technology might have decided to take it a step farther. But unless the book you found reference to discussed the memories being stored into a crystal, I bet we’re talking about two totally different things.”
“No. Regnig doesn’t mention anything like that in his notes,” Suma advised them.
“That doesn’t mean the original book didn’t discuss it,” Dean said.
“I’d assume Regnig would have commented on that fact.” Jules accepted the book from Magnus, who’d scanned through it quickly.
Dean huffed. “Suma, you always taught us that the absence of evidence wasn’t evidence of absence.” He looked too pleased with himself.
“My teaching’s coming back to bite me in the butt. You’re correct, Dean. But I do believe the Sovan found a different method to store these memories.” Suma checked her tablet. “Check out page forty-three, Jules.”
Jules flipped to that page, scrutinizing Regnig’s notes. His handwriting was atrocious at the best of times, but she’d read so much of it that she knew how to decipher the words. She’d once called it chicken scratch, on the basis that he was a bird, and he’d claimed the joke went over his head.
“He mentions a reference to a planet with a being linked to memory absorption.” Jules’ finger stopped on a mid-page annotation. “Wait. Is this real?”
Suma nodded. “Now you understand why I wanted to talk in person.”
Dean tried to read the book page from his seat. “What does it say?”
“It says there’s a creature that absorbs people’s minds, leaving them alive yet unable to function. Or maybe it devours their bodies too. It feeds on them. The Sovan are involved. He also mentions the Wibox connection with the very same being,” Suma said with disgust.
“Isn’t that who your dad thinks took Regnig in the first place?” Mag
nus asked.
“It is. They’re also an enemy of the Gretiol. Emperor Bastion the Seventh was just telling us a story about one of them being abducted a couple hundred years ago by the Wibox.” Dean was walking around the table like it would help him think more clearly.
“Remember, everyone. Sometimes coincidences are only that.” Suma narrowed her eyes at Jules.
“It’s too close to home. The Gretiol joining our Alliance. Their biggest enemy is the Wibox, and they’re also the ones that took Regnig from us. I wish Papa was here to talk this through.”
Magnus nodded, fiddling with a tablet stylus. “So do I. He has great instincts.”
“Since he’s off sticking his neck out, it’s up to us to solve this. Jules, would you mind reading the journal notes and see if anything stands out? You were closer to Regnig than anyone,” Suma said.
Jules resented the word choice. “I am closer than anyone. You said were.”
“Sorry, Jules. I didn’t mean it like that. I’m sure your father’s close to retrieving him. I just want to know how everything ties together. Did they want Regnig at all, or the book from the ancient Sovan people? Maybe Regnig was a casualty of being in the wrong place at the wrong time,” Suma said.
“Can you stop calling him a casualty or referring to him in past tense? He’s alive. I know it. He’s spoken to me,” Jules said, and everyone stopped what they were doing.
Magnus frowned at her. “He did?”
“He said, Help me, Jules. Help me, Recaster. I know he’s alive.” Jules would stop at nothing to save her friend, but the moment she told them the news, Dean’s face went slack.
“You should have said something,” he muttered.
“We’ve been a little busy. It was last night.” Jules ignored his hurt expression. Now wasn’t the time.
She flipped to the next pages, trying to understand what the Sovan had planned. “These people, the Sovan, are they around?”
“I could only find a few passing notes about them. I think Regnig’s library would have more information, but it’s still a mess. We’ve treated it like a crime scene,” Suma said.
The Survivors | Book 16 | New Lies Page 8