I had no answer for him. The only experience I had on the subject was from Eighties movies and books. “How does it work?”
I needed to know. If things went south, I wanted a backup for my family. I felt Rivo’s eyes burning into the side of my face, while I avoided making eye contact with anyone. I thought about the power of such a device. Could I go back before the Event and convince the powers that be to mount a defense against such an invasion? Would I be able to save the countless people that died from that horrible experience?
Or would my efforts mean nothing on our current timeline? Did we have an infinite amount of alternate realities going on right now, changing with each decision? The thoughts were giving me a headache.
Be warned that to play with this could be very disruptive. There was a reason Fontem hid it so well.
“But he did use it. I wonder what happened to him,” I said as I looked at the device. I had the urge to close the case, but I was drawn to it. I had to understand how to use it, at least. Even if it never saw the light of day again, I needed it.
____________
I slept for a couple hours back at Regnig’s, only because I knew it was safe. I didn’t want to leave everyone waiting, but I wasn’t going to be of use to the plan if I was sleep-deprived. Rivo took the chance to sleep as well, and Regnig woke us after two hours passed. He had a worried look on his face but didn’t say anything further on the time-travel device I had stored in my EVA.
“Here, take this,” I said, handing him the second side to the portal.
You want to leave this with me?
“Who better? Sort through Fontem’s possessions and see what you can make of them. And if you can find out where the real ship’s located, do that.” I was more curious than anything to see where he’d hidden it.
Very well. I am pleased to have this opportunity.
“Dean, we better get going. Who knows how long they’ll wait for you before heading to Udoon?” Rivo said, stretching her arms and getting off the small couch.
“They’ll wait. Slate won’t leave without me.” I knelt down, setting a hand lightly on Regnig’s shoulder. “Thank you for your help. Once again, you’ve proven invaluable. Would it be okay to visit you soon? Maybe with my wife and baby?”
Regnig’s beak opened and closed a few times, his one eye narrowing. I’d be thrilled for the company.
It wasn’t long before we were once again walking back past the guards in the ornately decorated portal room, ready to leave Bazarn Five.
I found the icon for the world just outside Udoon, and Rivo and I disappeared from Bazarn, only to appear on the distant world milliseconds later.
An alien stood at the doorway to the plain room, casually leaning against the frame like it had nowhere better to be. Its arms were short, only hanging halfway down its long, thin torso. Light green skin stretched tightly over a bony body. Its deep-set eyes stared toward us on the otherwise expressionless face.
“Hi. We’re looking for Cee-eight,” I said without the translator on.
“I am Cee-eight,” it said in my language. The voice was high-pitched, though it could belong to a male or a female, if they had sex differentiation. The universal translator implants seemed to be everywhere, and not for the first time, I considered getting one. “I’ve been expecting you.”
Something about the alien was off. “Where are my friends?” I asked.
“They are awaiting your arrival. The big one with the armored body wanted to leave already, but the smooth pale one you call Slate made them wait,” it said, crossing the room to stand close to me. “Dean, I presume?”
“That’s me. Nice to meet you, Cee-eight. Thank you for helping us out at short notice,” I said, smiling at the creature before me. Rivo looked uncomfortable and cleared her throat. “I’m sorry. Cee-eight, this is Rivo Alnod.”
Cee-eight’s deep eyes widened. “Not of the Alnods?”
“The very same,” Rivo said in English.
“You are an interesting group. Three humans, a Keppe warrior, and Garo Alnod’s daughter. No wonder the Empress paid so well. I’ll be coming with you, by the way,” Cee-eight said.
I bristled at the comment. “I was under the impression we were borrowing your ship.” I didn’t like the idea of other people getting involved with our mission. Too many hands in the cookie jar was never a good thing, especially when you didn’t know or trust two of the hands.
“It’s my ship, and I’m the only one who pilots her. If you have any issues with that, I’ll send the credits back to the Empress now.” Cee-eight looked pleased.
“You really want to anger her?” I asked, calling the bluff.
“We go way back. We’re nearly sisters. Plus, you’ll never be able to pull off whatever you’re doing on Udoon without a credible known entity like me.” Cee-eight was either lying or being honest. I tried to imagine how this strange alien could be tied up with the Empress of the deadly Bhlat, and couldn’t. At least I knew Cee-eight was female now.
“Sure. Fine, have it your way. We need to,” I said and set a hand on Rivo’s shoulder.
“Have it your way, Dean. This way,” Cee-eight said, leading us out of the portal room. Like most of them, it was underground, only this one had an elevator at the end of a hall to bring us to the surface.
The space was cramped with the three of us inside, and I was suddenly grateful for having my EVA helmet on, supplying fresh oxygen. Cee-eight wore light fabric over her bony body, and she moved like a branch in the wind, flowing and effortless. Even when she was still in the elevator, she swayed from side to side.
I’d expected a quick ride, but it was minutes later, and we still hadn’t stopped. “Where are we going?”
“To my ship,” Cee-eight answered.
I didn’t question it again. While we rode in silence, I thought about W and hoped he was getting to his destination. The others didn’t know about his mission, and a lot was riding on him not encountering any issues along the way. I’d have to sneak away to check on him when we got to Udoon.
Rivo looked about to say something, when the elevator stopped, the doors chiming and sliding open. Now I knew why it had taken so long to arrive. I stepped clear of the elevator and noticed we weren’t on the surface. We were in a building thousands of yards above the ground. From here, I could see ships all around the clear-walled open space we stood in, each parked with a blue beam locking them into place. I looked down, through the clear floor, and saw clouds a thousand feet below my boots. My skin crawled as I stepped forward, feeling like there was nothing but a thin piece of glass between me and a freefall.
Rivo didn’t seem to be bothered by it at all, and she walked out freely. Cee-eight noticed and smiled at the small blue woman.
“What is this place?” I asked. I scanned the open room to see a line of desks, with aliens of all kinds in line to speak with someone. It looked like a bizarre DMV.
“This is where anyone coming in or out of our planet comes. I have a docking slot here permanently, since I’m always making runs. No one gets in or out without stopping here first.” Cee-eight walked past the lines of aliens, some familiar, others as confusing to my senses as anything I’d ever seen. She waved a badge at a purple blob wearing a sash, and it scanned her in, waving a gelatin arm at her. “Thanks, Jossu.”
I walked closer to Cee-eight and whispered in her narrow ear hole, “What was that?”
“Jossu? A Cib. They’re a good bunch. They emerge from a mother twenty at a time, and sit in a natural rock bowl for the first hundred years of their lives. One by one, they form into their own sentient beings, like Jossu.” Cee-eight made this sound like it was normal, and I couldn’t help but realize there was still so much I didn’t know.
“That doesn’t sound too bad,” Rivo said with a shrug.
“If you say so,” I commented, not sure I wanted to share a rock bowl with nineteen siblings for a hundred years.
We kept moving and arrived at a conveyor belt that rotated the ou
tskirts of the ship dock. Cee-eight scanned her badge, and we started moving. We passed a dozen ships of varying proportions before stopping at a mid-sized freighter ship. It had clasps at the tail end of it, and that told me it was used for hauling objects. For now, they dangled empty.
“This is her. My ship.” Cee-eight tapped a code on the clear wall between us and the ship, and an energy field spread out, enveloping it with a soft glow. The wall spread apart at seams I hadn’t even noticed, and the floor extended until we got to the ship’s lowering ramp. It was an interesting system. Most of the docks I’d seen were indoors, but this one had all of the ships parked outside the facility.
“What took you so long?” Slate was standing inside the ship, a hand on his hip like a scolding mother.
“We had somewhere to be,” was all I said. Rulo was inside too, sitting on a chair in the corner of the room. There was no sign of Denise. “Where is she?”
Slate knew who I meant. “Having a nap. We didn’t know when you’d be getting back, so we took turns sleeping.”
“I hope you were comfortable enough,” Cee-eight said to them, and Slate shrugged.
“It was fine. Can we get going, boss? It’s going to be close. We need to beat the Kraski ship there. Kinca doesn’t seem like the type to be late for a meeting with Lom of Pleva,” he said.
“Yes. Cee-eight, how quick can we be at Udoon?” I asked our pilot.
She smiled at me, and with her odd physique, it made me think of a grinning skeleton. “Don’t blink.”
TWENTY-EIGHT
It turned out I blinked about two thousand times before we arrived, but it was only a few hours. Cee-eight’s ship was clunky, with loose wires dangling about. She called them modifications, and I didn’t ask any further questions. When she fired up the engines and gunned the thrusters, the lights dimmed, and I could tell she was putting everything into speed, not trip ambiance. I appreciated it.
I sat in the cramped cockpit with her, staring out the viewscreen. The station came into sight, and it looked just like the screenshots the Empress had shown us, only seeing it in person was surreal. The tablet I’d seen on Earth gave it the illusion of a cheap outer-space Las Vegas. Seeing the glowing signs, and arrows directing you to your specific desires, only reiterated the Vegas vibe to me.
There had to be hundreds of ships nearby, each locked into place, much like on Cee-eight’s world. I scanned them visually on the computer by zooming in, and looked for a Kraski-style vessel. I didn’t see any. We didn’t know what type of ship Lom would be arriving in, so it was no use looking for signs of him. I didn’t even know what he looked like at this point.
“I’ll bring us in. I know where we can get in discreetly, away from any surveillance. There are a lot of… unsavory visitors traveling to Udoon, and many of them would prefer not to be seen or heard. I’m one of those characters.” Cee-eight slowed her ship, dancing it lithely around some backed-up space traffic. Rivo stood behind me now, her small frame allowing her to fit in the space behind the chair.
“I wonder if my father’s ever been here,” Rivo said casually.
“I doubt it, Rivo. You father sticks to classier joints than Udoon.” Cee-eight spun the ship around, using her thrusters while descending, lining up perfectly between two larger ships. From most vantage points, her ship wouldn’t even be visible beneath the others’ bulky exteriors. She knew what she was doing, and I was lucky to have her guiding us.
I hoped we weren’t too late. I needed at least an hour to get to the room, and to visit W without anyone noticing. The time-travel device was tiny and light, but it weighed heavily on my mind. I almost wished I hadn’t brought it. If it got in the hands of someone like Lom of Pleva, who knew what kind of damage he could do with it?
Cee-eight got up and moved quickly to the back of the ship, Rivo and I following closely behind. The others were waiting for us in the cargo bay of the freighter, their obvious weapons tucked away in large black duffel bags. I grabbed one, and we made our way to the inside of the Udoon station. The room we were in was quiet; a few aliens passed by with obvious destinations, and then we were left alone. The walls weren’t clear here, but a plain dark gray, with no viewports or screens to see the blackness of space beyond.
There was a planet called Udoon below, but from all accounts, it was a simple place, full of the Udoon people happy to reap the tax benefits of having a guilty pleasure station above their world. As we walked, I saw a few of the Udoon race, recognizing them from the data packet the Empress had provided me. They walked on four legs, with a head like a small hippopotamus at the front, wearing colorful flowing clothing that stopped just short of dragging on the ground as they walked. Mist blew from collars around their thick necks into their faces, as they were used to a humid environment. I didn’t want to go to the planet’s surface and experience the instant dampness that must soak your body if you weren’t used to it.
Cee-eight stopped one of them, chatting to them in a series of low groans. She came back with a smile. “Let’s go. Maintenance will be at your destination shortly. You’ll have access while the doors are blocked off from interruption.”
The Empress really had thought of everything. I was impressed. “Thanks, Cee.” I made sure the portal stick was in my suit pocket, and turned back to the others. “I’ll go there with Cee. It’ll only take a few minutes. Why don’t you guys go somewhere and keep a low profile?”
“There’s a lounge close by. Best tenipro out there.” Cee-eight gave Denise instructions, and Slate walked over to me.
“Boss? You sure going alone is a good idea? What’s with you? You don’t think one of us is the mole, do you?” Slate looked hurt as he asked.
“No.” I hoped that was the truth. Slate had been with me through so much, I couldn’t imagine him being the one to stab me in the back, but I had to be careful. “Don’t worry about it. A ragtag group like us will draw a lot more attention than a familiar face like Cee-eight talking business with a human.”
He nodded like it made sense and leaned in. “We’re going to get Karo back. Then we go home. I’m thinking of retiring,” he said quietly.
“From what?” It was a serious question.
“From all of this. Denise and I can settle down. Get a house, start a family. Our kids can grow up together, boss.” Slate glanced over at Denise, and she looked lovingly back at him.
“That sounds perfect, buddy. I’m with you.” I thought about what retirement even meant. Would I be able to step away from the Gatekeepers and all the trouble I constantly found myself in? Did I have a choice as this Recaster, or whatever I was? I was like a magnet for conflict. Would I be happy being mayor of Terran Thirteen, maybe eventually being in charge of all New Spero, like Mayor Patel had suggested? I didn’t know the answer.
I shoved the future projecting aside and worried about our current situation. In a few hours, Kinca, the Kraski leader, would be meeting Lom of Pleva with our friend Karo, the last remaining living Theos. That was what I needed to concentrate on.
Cee-eight grabbed my arm and led me away. I grimaced as I looked back to see my gang staring after me before turning to head to some dive bar to wait for me.
We passed dozens of storefronts, lounges, and eating establishments. Some places were blatant in their attempts to get visitors, showing images of various naked creatures, all of which made me want to run away faster. Smells of food lingered in the air, some appealing, while others made me nauseous as we ambled on down the halls.
“Here we are,” Cee-eight said, and right on cue, two robots rolled up, wearing yellow vests and holding random tools. They didn’t say anything. Instead, they scanned Cee-eight’s badge, opened the door, and put a red energy barrier up so no one could get by. Cee-eight stayed outside with them, and I closed the door. With a deep breath, I tried to calm myself. Everything was going to be okay. In a few hours, we could start our trek home.
I pulled out the other side of the portal device and activated it before looking around
the now-familiar room. It was exactly the same as the one the Empress’ robots and drones had built back in Egypt. The portal glowed until it filled the space from wall to wall, floor to ceiling; then it disappeared. It was invisible to the eye. I stepped through it, closing my eyes and listening for a difference.
The variance of sound was there but hardly noticeable. Once through, I looked around the room, and couldn’t see any difference from the one back on Udoon. Everyone thought the portal was going to lead us onto the ice world, where we’d left an identical room, but they were wrong. Instead, it led to the duplicate I’d had the Empress make without anyone else knowing.
I went to the far corner and found the secret latch I’d had the robots add in. With a tug, the panel snapped off, and I found myself in the cargo bay of a Bhlat ship.
“W?” I called, and walked down a corridor toward the compact bridge.
“Hello, Captain. It is nice to see you here.” W’s voice carried down the hall as I approached. “We are at our destination.” He motioned to the viewscreen. We were far from any known sentient beings. The remote corner of the universe, as the Empress had called it. Without her wormhole drives, it would have taken more than my lifetime to travel this far, even with the advanced FTL drive.
“Very good. Thank you, W.”
He didn’t respond to the polite comment. “Is there anything else you need of me?” he asked.
“No. We’re going to sneak you out to the space station with me. We have to be quick. Remember, the others don’t know about the ship. They think the portal’s going to lead to the ice world.”
W stood up, and his electronic eyes stared at me. “I understand, Captain, and will not speak a word of it.”
I grabbed my communication device that went directly to the Empress and tapped it on. “Empress, it’s Dean Parker.”
Her voice carried over the line, and I was amazed at the technology, seamlessly allowing us to speak while so far apart. “Dean, good to hear from you. Did W tell you about the backup surprise?” she asked.
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