by T. R. Harris
“We must create the offerings for Mislin and Sufor. The more we create, the happier we make them.”
“And the Gift that allows you to communicate with your gods, do your people create that, too, or is it of divine origin?”
“Again, I will forgive you, for you do not understand. All our creations are of divine origin. How do you suppose we have acquired the knowledge to build them?”
Through science and technology, Adam thought.
“Our greatest minds have been blessed with the knowledge to build our devices, including the Gift. My place in the universe is to communicate with the Gods. Others fulfill their destiny by constructing our devices. It is a wonderful union of purpose and contribution.”
That was what he needed to know! The device that gave her the power to control electronics was manmade, or in this case, Formilian-made.
Adam’s heart was pounding and he was having difficulty breathing. He needed to get to the galley soon and mix himself a stiff drink. Possibilities were exploding in his head and he needed something to calm them down.
He stood up, his legs wobbly.
“Are you well?” Arieel asked. “You have turned even more pale than normal.”
“I’ll be fine. I’m just a little dehydrated. I need a drink.”
“Then you must go. I can control the devices of this ship, yet I lack the skill at piloting.”
Adam displayed a wry grin. All she’s concerned about is having someone to land the ship.
He was relieved in a way, knowing that she at least saw some value in having him around. If that’s the case, he may actually make it back to Formil alive.
Chapter 13
Adam was in the pilothouse, alone with his thoughts, when the CW link came in from Kroekus.
The Expansion Administrator had a deep look of concern on his alien face, which Adam recognized immediately.
“What’s happened, Kroekus? You look terrible.”
“I have some very troubling news for you, Adam,” Kroekus said. “I have just received various reports that a reward has been placed on you and The Speaker, if you can be stopped from returning to Formil within the next seven days standard.”
“I’m not that concerned,” Adam said. “I’m only about twenty-five hours out. It’s a little late to come after me now. Besides, the Phoenix is faster than anything out here.”
“But, Adam, the reward is for thirty-million credits!”
Adam was stunned. This was obviously the thirty-million he’d delivered to McCarthy, and he knew that even though it wasn’t a lot of money for the Order, to everyone else in the galaxy, it was a king’s fortune.
“Yeah, well that changes things.”
“I thought it would. I have been receiving reports that nearly whole spaceports are being cleared out as hundreds of ships are heading out looking for you.”
“No shit?” Adam said, sitting up straighter in his seat, while dialing the proximity detector out to max.
“There are still nearly a dozen occupied worlds you have to pass on the way to Formil. The path before you may soon be full of hundreds, if not thousands of ships looking to collect the reward. And Adam, a word of caution: If you do make it to Formil, beware of the natives as well. There has been such an excitement about this reward that I fear there is no place where you will find sanctuary over the next seven days.”
“Is there anything you can do to help?”
Kroekus shook his head. “Even if I could, I would be afraid to. What if one of the ships I sent to assist you decided to mutiny? I would not trust anyone, Adam. Use whatever skills you and Arieel Bol can muster, but you have a very difficult path ahead of you.”
“Yes, we call it running the gauntlet back on Earth.”
“You are familiar with is concept?” Kroekus said, stunned. “So this is commonplace for Humans?”
“I didn’t say that, but the concept is understood. Thanks for telling me. I will be on the lookout.”
“Please keep me informed. You know how important the survival of the Speaker is to the affairs of the Expansion.”
“Yes, sir, I do: Cain out.”
Adam next fingered the controls for the ship’s 1-MC system. “Arieel, please come to the pilothouse immediately. We have a situation.”
Less than a minute later, Arieel entered the pilothouse. This time she was wearing one of Adam’s old sweatpants and an-oversized sweatshirt of his. Even then, the frumpy clothing could not hide the incredible curves underneath, and her lustrous black hair always seemed to have just the right wave in it, looking like she’d just stepped out of the beauty salon.
Adam shook his head to dismiss his thoughts, more inappropriate now in light of the grave situation they were in.
“What is the crisis, Adam Cain?” She asked as she sauntered up next to his chair, standing very close and smelling of strawberries – however that was possible.
“Our friend McCarthy has offered a bounty on our heads for anyone who can keep us from getting to the Rites Ceremony on time.”
Arieel’s eyes grew wide. “What is a bounty, and how does placing anything on our heads keep us from returning to Formil? Also, I was not aware McCarthy was our friend.”
Adam’s mouth simple dropped open for a moment. In spite of how sophisticated the Formilian translation bugs were, they did have their drawbacks.
“He’s not our friend, and to prove it, he is offering credits to anyone who can kill us or keep us from reaching Formil within the next seven days. Is that any clearer?” The frustration was evident in his voice.
“Yes, much clearer. But even for credits, the task would be very difficult and against the laws of the Coalition and of the Expansion. Why would anyone take up such a challenge?”
“For thirty-million credits, that’s why.”
Arieel frowned slightly and nodded her head. “I understand that such an amount of credits is a substantial to some. I take it you believe it will be sufficient to initiate a response?”
“To say the least; I just spoke with Administrator Kroekus and he says entire spaceports are clearing out as ships head out to find us.”
“I now see your concern.”
“Is there anything you can do, with all your powers, to protect us?”
“I’m afraid not,” she answered with only a slight concern in her voice. “I can only communicate with devices that are within a half a mile or so from my being. With the distances involved in space, there is nothing I can do.”
“How about with the ship’s systems, can you enhance any of them, make our shields stronger or increase the range of our detectors?”
“I cannot influence the operation of devices beyond the capacity for which they were constructed. To apply more influence would cause bodily harm to these devices.”
“You said back on Uniss-3 that your own bodily functions were being enhanced. What did that mean?”
“For sentient beings I can supplement the electrical impulses within their muscles and brain activity by drawing in the free spirits from the air. This can have the effect of added strength, durability and endurance … on a temporary basis. To influence such enhancements over time would cause even biological units to heat up to the point of failure. It is the same with non-biological devices. Too much influence and the increased heat within the device will cause catastrophic failure.”
Adam was silent for a moment as he worked through his options. “How about the monitoring devices on the Phoenix, can you help me keep track of them? I only have two eyes and it would be helpful to have another set helping to keep track of things.”
Arieel smiled. “I can do that. I can communicate with all of them if you wish and let you know when they are speaking to me.”
“That’s great; take a seat. We have around twelve systems to pass through on the way to Formil. But since we had such a head-start, we may get lucky….”
Just then the proximity sensor began to flash and chime. Only moments before he had set it to respond audibly, a
s well as visually, just in case he was distracted by something else. Now he checked the screen and his stomach tightened with what he saw.
It was nine ships coming out of his two-o’clock. Even though they had no organized formation, it was obvious they were all heading in his general direction. Damn, McCarthy must have calculated his departure speed from Uniss-3 and projected a current location.
Adam shifted course slightly away from the approaching ships. Their vector would allow for an intercept if he remained on course, even though the Phoenix was nearly twice as fast as the fastest ship that was closing on them. On this course he would be able to clear the range of their weapons with ease.
And then the alarm sounded again. This time there were three more ships, only these were coming in from his ten-o’clock, nearly the opposite direction as the other nine ships.
He angled the nose of the Phoenix down some. He was already at maximum-well, so increasing speed was not an option. Only his direction could be used to avoid his pursuers.
And then all hell broke loose. Across nearly his entire forward screen, ranging from nine-o’clock all the way around to three-o’clock, a literal haze of contacts appeared. There had to be hundreds of them!
He chanced a quick glance at Arieel, who now wore a lot of concern on her pretty face. “I have nothing to report,” she said. “The instruments have communicated with you as they have with me.”
Adam continued his dive, forming a large loop in order to double back in the direction they had just come. Even as he did so, he was met with seven new contacts, stragglers who had been following him, yet with no chance of catching him – until now. The seven ships opened fire, the velocity of their flash bolts increased by Adam own closing vector.
He spun the Phoenix to the right, spiraling in a wild corkscrew and heading for the star at the center of the system they were traversing.
His radical ninety-degree maneuver had the effect of drawing all his pursuers into a single, wide swatch of contacts, twisting the space in this part of the star system into a roiling cauldron of overlapping gravity-wells. With many of his followers already well beyond maximum safe well-intensity for travel within a system, their wells managed to draw in nearby ships, causing massive explosions, whose concussions only served to force other ships into the paths of others. More explosions resulted and soon the space behind the Phoenix was one massive burst of radiation, like that of a mini-supernova.
Adam and Arieel both sat stunned looking at the brilliance of the explosion behind them. Adam had no idea how many ships were destroyed, but even then, it wasn’t enough to stop them all. Along the outer limits of the great ball of nuclear fire, dozens of ships emerged. Many were temporarily blinded by the explosion, but soon their sensors came back online and they lined up once again on Adam’s position.
Adam changed course again, this time heading straight for the system’s central star, a great ball of yellow fire that grew larger as the seconds passed.
“What are you doing?” Arieel asked the worry now thick in her voice.
“I’ve got an idea. Strap in.”
He didn’t need to give the instruction, she had already done so, and when the blinding mass of swirling yellow fire filled the entire forward screen, Adam suddenly banked right and spun around to the backside of the star.
As he rounded the stellar disk, he momentarily lost sight of his pursuers. It was the moment he was waiting for. Adam cranked the control stick all the way to the right, causing the Phoenix to change course by an impossible ninety-degrees. The internal compensators were the fastest in the galaxy, but even then, at the velocity they were traveling, the inertia pressed both he and Arieel into their seats and twisted their faces into grotesque versions of reality. And then Adam cut all the power on the ship.
Emergency battery lights flickered on and the strange warping of the space outside the ship returned to normal. Having just dumped out of a gravity-well, the ship still carried an incredible amount of momentum, but even then it barely registered as one-third light speed.
The passive monitors were left on, and in the dim red glow of the emergency lights, the screens stood out like beacons. Adam and Arieel leaned in close to watch as the contact signatures indicating the positions of the pursuers suddenly reappeared around the edge of the star. They all continued along their original trajectories, until many began to slow, realizing the Phoenix had dropped off their scopes.
There were easily fifty or more ships now crowding the space off to Adam’s six. In dark mode, the Phoenix continued to put space between them and the bounty hunters, some of which had now spread out in a wide fan-like formation, yet still headed away from Adam’s position.
Even as this was happening, newer contacts were appearing, some heading roughly in Adam’s direction, yet none apparently aware of this. Adam held his breath as five huge cargo ships passed within extreme visual range of the Phoenix, heading in the opposite direction. As they passed, Adam wondered what cargo ships expected to accomplish against the Phoenix, if they had been the ones to detect him. They carried no real armament to speak of, nor shields against flash bolts. This just showed how effective was McCarthy’s bounty. Even ships that had no chance of stopping him had taken flight, and it was only going to get worse.
“We cannot keep the power off for long, Adam Cain,” Arieel said softly, not wanting to interrupt his thoughts too abruptly. “It will soon grow very cold and the atmosphere scrubbers will cause even more damage.”
“I know. We just need to get to some open space so we can bring some of our systems back online. It looks like the bulk of the other ships are heading away from us now, so just a few more minutes.”
“I’ve been thinking,” Arieel began, “why don’t we just hide somewhere until the deadline for this reward has passed? Once the seven days have passed, then the bounty – as you call it – will no longer be valid and we can resume our journey.”
Adam pulled his attention away from the proximity screen and stared dumbfounded at the pretty Formilian. “What about the Rite Ceremony? You have to be there.”
“Even though I have never missed one in my tenure, I’m sure the Order will understand my delay, based on our current circumstances.”
“But what about … what about the device, the thing inside you?”
“You mean the Gift? What of it? I still live.”
“No, the other one, the bomb.”
“What are you speaking of, Adam Cain? What bomb?”
Adam couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Either the story of the bomb was a lie – which in a way was the whole basis of the Formilian religion – or Arieel didn’t know. Was that even possible, given her background, training and awareness of all electronic devices around her? Adam had to be careful – and then he corrected himself. Why did he need to be careful with Arieel? It was a very good chance that neither one of them would live beyond the day….
“Arieel, don’t get upset, but is there not a self-destruct explosive in your body, a device to keep the secret of the Gift from falling into the wrong hands?”
Arieel stared at him for what seemed like a full minute, before she suddenly burst out into laughter. “Of course not, Adam Cain, where did you read that information?”
“I didn’t read it, Convor told me.”
The remark caused Arieel’s smile to suddenly vanish and her dark eyes cloud over. “Explain!” she cried out.
Adam took a deep breath. He didn’t know the truth. All he could go by was what he had been told. “Convor said there is a device in your body that needs to be reset every twenty-eight days at the Rites Ceremony. If it is not reset, then it will explode. Is this not true?”
Arieel was quite once again, staring unblinking into Adam’s eyes, seeking any deception. “Why are you saying this? If I had such a device within my body I would be aware. Yes, the Ceremony is a ritual all Speakers endure; we have for thousands of years. I have never missed one, nor have any of the Speakers I’m aware of. But it is simp
ly a ritual for our people. It has no hidden purpose.”
Adam could tell from her voice that Arieel was growing scared and uncertain. He could see her eyes trying to work through the significance of Adam’s revelation. Finally she squared her jaw and narrowed her. “I do not know the reason why you wish to scare me like this; our current predicament is scary enough as it is. But I can assure you I do not have within my being a device set to explode in seven days….” Her voice trailed off when she spoke the words seven days. The timing of the bounty and of Adams words was too much of coincidence to be pure chance.
“Is this the reason the reward expires in seven days?” she asked. “If I return within that time, I will live. Yet if I do not return for the Ceremony, then I will … die?”
“That’s what I’ve been told, Arieel. I’m not making this up. I’m sorry you didn’t know – I thought you did.”
“I must speak with Convor immediately!” Arieel suddenly proclaimed. CW communications were beyond tracing, so a link with the High Celebrant certainly was possible. But with the revelation that Convor was her father, the conversation could get very emotional.
“Are you sure? You may not like what you hear.”
“I must verify this information independently. The High Celebrant will not deceive me.” Adam watched her mouth tighten up and he could almost read her thoughts. Like he apparently already has!
“If you insist,” Adam said, turning back to his console. He tapped in the information that the CW computer would need to establish the continuous wormhole link and then waited the thirty seconds or so for the holes to form. A separate screen on his console lit up and a young, extremely handsome – as they all were – Formilian appeared.
His expression exploded when he saw Arieel on his screen. “My Speaker, I was not expecting your link! I am ill-prepared for the dialog.”
“Just get the High Celebrant. I must speak with him now.”
“My Speaker, I believe he is in council.”
“Then get him out! I must speak with him – now!”