The Split Skies (The Possessor Wars, Book 4): The Possessor Wars, Book 4

by Chad Spencer

  Apprehensively, Akio asked, “From me? What do you need from me?”

  “Do you know how androids are made?” questioned Kasumi.

  Akio shook his head.

  “You start with human DNA,” Kasumi elucidated. “Ikko and Nikko have a program they can download into the molecular recombination synthesizer. It builds each cell for the android’s body. The medical bot can use a bioprinter to put the cells together into a body. The cells aren’t made from the same things as human cells, but the program that makes each cell needs human DNA to use as its pattern. Every android is built that way. When we made the android crew for the Libertad, we used DNA from the Argentineans. We just mixed DNA from different people to come up with a few patterns. Ikko and Nikko optimized them and then we used those patterns over and over. That’s why so many of the androids look alike.”

  Akio grew impatient. “What does this have to do with me?”

  “Like we said,” explained Kasumi, “Ikko and Nikko will only do this operation for Hikaru. If they think that the overmind Mark II is Hikaru’s brain, they’ll want to put that into Hikaru’s body.”

  With a searing tightness in his chest, Akio hissed, “Hikaru’s body was burned up in the atmosphere of planet Minerva.”

  “I know, Akio,” Kasumi agreed gently. “But … you have a locket.”

  Instantly Akio sat bolt upright. He clutched at the front of his shirt, his hand closing over the locket that was hidden underneath. “You can’t have it!” he yelled, leaping to his feet. “How did you know she gave it to me?”

  “Akio,” pleaded Kasumi, “we only need one hair. Ikko and Nikko told us about the locket. All we need is just one hair to get Hikaru’s DNA.”

  “No!” Akio shouted. “You’re not going to give Nuraiyana a body that looks just like Hikaru’s! I couldn’t take that! I can’t see her every day and know it’s not her.” His voice grew to a scream. “I CAN’T TAKE THAT! YOU CAN’T DO THAT TO ME!”

  Abruptly, Jeff leaped forward and hugged Akio, taking him completely by surprise.

  “Akio,” Jeff said softly. “You’re like a brother to me. I know you’ve been through a lot. But all of us are here with you. You’re not going through this alone.”

  Jeff released him and put his arm around Akio’s shoulders. “Remember when my mom died? You helped me through it. I’ll help you through things now. We all will.”

  Speechless, Akio gazed at each person in the room. ‘They’re right,’ he thought. ‘I’m not alone.’

  Kasumi resumed by saying, “Akio, she won’t look exactly like Hikaru. You remember that Hikaru told us that she was really Modified? And that it caused a lot of birth defects in her?” Akio nodded. “They got around that by inserting healthy DNA sequences from someone else into her DNA and using that as a pattern. We have to do that again.”

  “Whose DNA will they use?” questioned Akio.

  Ai spoke up with, “Mine. I’m less than 15% Modified.”

  “That means,” Kasumi told him, “that Nuraiyana won’t look exactly like Hikaru. She’ll look more like a sister of Hikaru’s. In a way, she is Hikaru’s sister. You know what I mean? She’s a lot like Hikaru because she has Hikaru’s memories. But she’s not quite Hikaru because she also has her memories of being a churei and memories that Hikaru never had. She’ll have a lot of Hikaru’s DNA but also some that’s different–just as if they were born in the same family. So it’s like she really is Hikaru’s sister. Do you think you could deal with being around Hikaru’s sister?”

  Akio let himself plop back down into his chair. Feeling like he was a hundred years old, he let out a very deep and very weary sigh. In a resigned hush, he ran his hand through his hair and answered, “Yeah. I think so.” Reaching into his shirt, he pulled the locket out. Kasumi came around behind him and removed the chain from his neck. Tenderly, he passed the locket to her. Gazing up at her, he saw that her eyes were moist.

  “Thank you, Akio,” whispered Kasumi. “You really are a hero.” She scurried out with the locket. Rick and Ai followed close behind.

  Quietly, Jeff told Akio, “You have good friends here.”

  “Yeah,” agreed Akio. “I really do.”

  Jeff added, “You really went through a lot in that war.”

  “Yeah. I really did.” Akio rose abruptly and went to his quarters.

  21

  Hugh was worried about Harriet. In the days since they’d arrived, her emotions seemed to be all over the map. Oftentimes she was angry at Jeff, who they hardly saw.

  “I can’t believe he dumped me!” was her frequent mantra.

  Hugh repeatedly reminded her, “He didn’t dump you. He moved on when he thought he’d never see you again. You moved on too.”

  “You’re on Tiffany’s side!”

  “Nope. It’s just that this one time, Tiffany said something sensible.”

  Harriet just continued, “I thought things would be better once we got here.”

  “Things are better. We’re safe. There’s no war. And we have everything we need.”

  At this point, she would generally become depressed and wonder aloud why Jeff wouldn’t see her.

  “He’s dealing with a lot of family problems right now,” Hugh repeatedly told her. “He didn’t get along with his stepmother from the start. Now it’s worse because she knows he has korei. You have to give him time.”

  The conversation generally ended there. Nevertheless, Hugh knew she was still struggling.

  ‘The reality is,’ Hugh thought, ‘that we’re being treated better here than anywhere else except when we were with Nalani and Paki. She needs to see that.’

  However, five days after reaching the Bowman system, Hugh had a new problem. Almost immediately upon their arrival, he started feeling occasional wooziness. The condition persisted for a few days, but the medical bot on Akio’s fighter couldn’t find anything wrong. Neither could Dr. Darnelle and the Argentineans. It wasn’t until Nuraiyana saw the scans of Hugh that they discovered the answer.

  “You’re pregnant,” Nuraiyana informed him bluntly.

  “Uh,” Hugh replied, baffled. “I’m a guy. I can’t get pregnant.”

  “Your korei can,” she explained. “And one of them is. She’s very, very pregnant.”

  Akio broke in, “How do you know?”

  Nuraiyana responded, “When I was at the university on Miranda, Ryoko and some of the professors there let me see a lot of the research they were doing on korei. And you’ve got to remember, I come from the same universe as the korei. My family used to raise them when I was little. Your korei is definitely pregnant, Hugh. She’s about to give birth to a litter.”

  Akifumi said, “I thought a guy couldn’t have a female korei.”

  “That only applies to the dairei and the churei,” said Nuraiyana. “A male dairei or churei can’t take over a female human and a female dairei or churei can’t take over a male human. But the korei don’t take over humans. They live symbiotically inside human bodies. So gender doesn’t matter as long as they’re compatible.”

  Scratching his head, Hugh asked, “When will my korei give birth?”

  “Definitely before the end of the week,” was her answer.

  She was right. Two days later, Hugh stood in a biodome in the Lethbridge Drift surrounded by a large ring of teenagers. Some of them waited nervously while others appeared hopeful.

  When the announcement was made that Hugh’s korei was about to have a litter of babies, the colony’s leaders quickly held a council and consulted with the parents of all teenagers 15 years of age and older.

  “From what you’ve told us,” Governor Connors said to Hugh, “those korei have to find another human host right away.”

  “That’s right,” Hugh agreed. “I’ve got all I can live with. Nuraiyana says that as soon as they’re born, they’ll come out of me and look for hosts.”

  So it was decided that all of the teenagers who were willing would gather around Hugh when the time came for his korei to gi
ve birth. The parents of the youths who stood around him had also agreed to the experiment. ‘They’re scared of what might happen to us in a war with the dairei,’ Hugh thought as he looked at everyone congregated around him. ‘That’s why they’re willing to let their kids take this risk.’

  Hugh had a hot flash that was quickly followed by a cold flash.

  Even though the pregnant korei had no physical existence, he could feel its struggles to give birth. They were causing a lot of weird sensations. When he asked Nuraiyana about it, she told him, “Your korei are energy creatures. They live in your nervous system because that’s basically an energy network. Your korei is in labor. That sends weird electrical impulses down your nerves. Don’t worry. It’s harmless. But you may see, hear, or feel funny things.”

  ‘Well,’ thought Hugh, ‘she was right again.’ He watched wonderingly as a giant yodeling plant with large polka dotted leaves and really stinky flowers sprouted from the ground in the biodome and extended itself over their heads. No one else seemed to notice.

  “Um,” Hugh asked, pointing up at the towering plant. “Does anyone else see that big plant thingy?”

  A couple of Argentinean scientists scanned him intently, as they excitedly discussed the readouts. Dr. Darnelle peered at him closely and checked her hand-held scanner. “No,” she replied with a calm that seemed a bit forced. “No one can see it but you, Hugh.”

  “So no one sees the orange dog that’s walking across the underside of that big, huge leaf and barking daisies at me?”

  “No, Hugh. No one sees that either.”

  “Ok, just checking. Too bad actually. You’d probably enjoy it.”

  Some of the parents around him were clearly growing worried. Hugh saw a father put his arm around his daughter and point at the exit. The girl nodded and they slipped away.

  Suddenly, Hugh felt like he wanted to sing the happiest song imaginable. “It’s time!” he yelled.

  A tiny point of light erupted from Hugh’s chest, passing out of him like he wasn’t even there. It extended slender tendrils as color after color flowed through it. The delicate creature seemed frightened. Abruptly, it leaped toward Linmei and passed through her skin right into her head.

  “Wooo!” Linmei exclaimed, beaming. “I have a korei! It’s so happy. I can feel its happiness!”

  Hugh’s hallucinations stopped abruptly. Everything around him returned to crystal clarity. Another korei popped out of him, this time from his shoulder. Like the first one, it pulsated with a rainbow of colors. But unlike the previous korei, its form was a serpentine spiral with small hair-like flagella waving from its body. The tiny creature jerked its way to an Argentinean boy about Hugh’s own age. It seemed to caress his face, and then it slid gently into the boy’s eyes. Like Linmei, the boy’s face shone with gladness.

  Five more korei erupted from Hugh in rapid succession, each finding a home in the nearby teenagers. Both Mark and Barbie, who were standing near Linmei, obtained korei. Like Linmei, they seemed ecstatic.

  When the last korei emerged, it flailed through the air with increasing desperation as it sought out a host. For some reason, it didn’t choose any of the waiting teenagers. Instead, it faded into a sad little shower of sparkles.

  “It couldn’t find a compatible host,” stated Nuraiyana, who was standing on the sidelines with Akio, Jeff, Harriet, and all the others who already had korei.

  Dr. Darnelle and the other scientists hurriedly scanned the kids. “They seem fine,” she pronounced. “No adverse effects at all. It’s just as Nuraiyana told us. But I’ll keep them all in my medical bay overnight for observation.”

  Señor Otero muttered in a subdued tone, “And so it begins.”

  Hugh thought, ‘Yeah, it really does. After a while, there’ll be lots of humans in this colony with korei.’

  Apparently, some of the other adults had the same thoughts. Hugh heard Kent Bowman talking with Governor Connors and Señor Otero nearby as the crowd dispersed. “Darius,” Kent asked, “how can we be sure these kids will behave responsibly with the power that these creatures give?”

  “We can’t,” the Governor stated stoically. “We just have to teach them the best we can and hope they do the right thing. They may be our only hope if there’s a species war with the dairei.” Señor Otero nodded his agreement.

  Hugh, Akio, and Harriet left the biodome together. Akio invited, “My crew and I are going into an AR sim of the DeathGorge of Rio Bravo for some fire skating. Want to come along?”

  Hugh had to decline. “I’ve got something I need to work on,” he responded.

  “I’ll go with you, Akio,” Harriet said despondently. “I’ve got nothing else to do right now.” The two of them left together.

  Hugh went to the medical bay on Akio’s fighter and interfaced his autolibrary to the medical bay’s computer. Ikko and Nikko were there making cells for Nuraiyana’s android body. He started an analysis of the cyberbrain that would be fitted to the overmind Mark II.

  About the time Hugh finished his analysis, Mervin entered the medical bay. “Hi, Hugh,” the robot greeted with Nuraiyana’s voice. Under Nuraiyana’s control, Mervin handed Hugh some fittings he needed for the cyberbrain.

  Nuraiyana indicated that she wanted to talk to him. The pair of them stepped out of the medical bay to talk freely. When the doors closed, Nuraiyana said, “I’m really grateful for the work all of you are doing on this. What I want most of all is to be human again.”

  “You wouldn’t want to go back to your universe and be just energy, like you were before?”

  She shook her head. “I don’t know. I miss my family–my churei family. But having a physical existence is better. I really can’t explain it Hugh. You have to go through it to understand. The best I can say is that living in a body like humans have is a fuller existence. When I was in Hikaru’s body, I felt much more alive. I could experience more joy, more excitement, more love, more …”

  “More sadness?”

  Because Nuraiyana was using Mervin as her body, the robot’s blank silver and chrome face was expressionless. But Hugh could readily hear the pain in her voice as she agreed, “Yes, Hugh, more sadness too.”

  “You really like Akio, don’t you?”

  “I love him, Hugh. But he hates me. And I understand why. It’s only natural.”

  “I don’t think he hates you. I kinda think he doesn’t know what to feel about you.”

  Nuraiyana made no reply. Hugh let the subject drop. Instead he asked, “When do you think this’ll all be done?”

  “Three days.”

  “Really? That fast?”

  “Yes, Hugh. I don’t sleep. Neither do Ikko or Nikko. Or the medical bot. Now that the overmind Mark II is ready, the cyberbrain can be installed early tomorrow when the brain case is finished. We’ve made almost all of the cells we need for the body, so we can start printing it before the end of today. When it’s done, the new overmind will go in.”

  “Well, I’ll be done later tonight with all I can do,” commented Hugh. “I think Rick’s already finished his part. Then, I guess it’s all up to Ikko and Nikko.”

  “What will you do after you’re finished with the project?”

  Hugh considered her question a moment and then replied, “I think I’ll finally move off our ship. I’ve asked for some quarters in the colony and Governor Connors assigned me some cabins not far from Jeff’s. The Argentineans gave me some androids, so I had the androids remodel the cabins into one flat. It’s really big–a lot bigger than anything I had at home.”

  Mentioning home made Hugh remember his family. ‘They should be reaching the planet Sixth Valley by now,’ he recalled. Wistfully, he wished, ‘I hope they have good lives there.’ Falling into silence, Hugh sadly turned to the medical bay and finished his work on configuring the cyberbrain.

  Back in his ship, Hugh had a late dinner and went to bed. Over the next few days, he moved into his new quarters and spent a lot of time with Harriet. Tiffany was nowhere to
be found.

  “Oh her,” Harriet groaned when he asked about Tiffany. “She got quarters in the colony and had her androids move her in.”

  “I thought she sold them all.”

  With a humorless laugh, Harriet answered, “Nope. There’s only a few shops in this colony. She had more money to buy stuff than there was stuff to buy. So she kept half of the androids and used her money to buy material to make clothes out of. Now that they have a working Living Miner ship, the colony has what it needs to make almost anything. Tiffany’s already got her leftover androids making clothes and working in her store. She’s coming out with an entire clothing line with shoes and accessories and everything.”

  “Her store?”

  “Yes, she got twelve cabins in a passenger module and knocked out all the walls between them. Her androids are building a store there.” Harriet glared at Hugh. “It’s not fair, Hugh!” she complained. “How can she be doing so well and I’m such a mess?”

  “You’re not a mess, Harriet. You just haven’t found a direction for yourself yet. You finished your Virtual Space Corps Academy training. Why don’t you start on a cyberuniversity degree?”

  “In what?”

  “In anything you want. You can do anything here. We have more opportunity here than we ever had in the Alliance. Harriet, look. You could be Governor of this whole star system. And there’s still a chance you and Jeff can get together. You never know what’s going to happen. But you can’t center your life on Jeff. You have to find a direction for yourself to go. Get a university degree. Start a career. And if things don’t work out with Jeff … well … oh well. Jeff is my friend, and I’d like to see the two of you together again. But if that doesn’t work out, it’s not the end of the universe. This colony has lots more guys than girls. I saw a girl get a guy yesterday. She walked up to him, pulled out her lipstick, told him to stand still, and wrote the letter I, then a heart, and then a U on his forehead and told him to go look in a mirror. Now they’re engaged. That’s all it takes here to get exactly the guy you want. Any guy here would feel lucky to get you.”