Is it another cube?
Surely there couldn’t be another cube. Whatever it was Garrett could feel it constantly supplying them with vast amounts of data. He couldn’t access the information but it was obviously well connected to the Conclave.
The group looked shocked at the level of knowledge the Terran possessed. Coupled with his recent show of telekinesis he was starting to appear quite omnipotent to the uninformed Shay.
The Terran turned to the nearest technician, standing at her post, clearly terrified. “Set a course for the Ch’ket system, immediately,” he ordered.
The female Shay looked hopelessly at the collection of well-dressed Shay standing beyond the Terran.
“Is she defective as well?” the Terran raised his hand before Kel-var spoke up.
“You mean to drop the station into sub-space and travel to Ch’ket...” Kel-var’s voice began to fail him under the glare of the Terran’s black eyes.
“Yes...”
“The station is fully operational; however, there are still a few systems that need extra time. We had a longer timetable in mind when my great-grandfather began construction. Normally the station could be activated and then instantly used for sub-space travel, but that phase of configuration has not been completed. Since all three Starrilliums have just been used it will take time before the energy can be diverted for sub-space travel...”
Do we kill another one?
I would like to, but it will make no difference to the functionality of this station. It will take their primitive forms time to correct this mistake. We will have to wait until...
Garrett lost track of the conversation as the connection between the two increased. The more they conversed, the more he could see into the mind of the Terran. Through the perpetual abyss that had become his only surroundings, Garrett could see a speck of light in the distance. He sank deeper into the cage of his own mind and found the strongest part of the connection between the two of them. The light became more intense as it took form in front of him, slowly drawing the outline of a cube made entirely of light around the edges.
“My God...” Inside the box of light was the curled up figure of a human man. He was bald and naked, clawing at his own body as if he was being ravaged by insects. Garrett caught sight of the man’s face and gasped at the revelation. It was the Terran from the sarcophagus. His consciousness was trapped inside his own head like Garrett’s, only the Terran’s prison was far more confining. At seeing another person the Terran jumped at him, his eyes pleading for help. He was clearly shouting from inside the box but Garrett couldn’t hear anything. The Terran’s hands slammed against an invisible wall between the edges of light, creating a ripple effect across the surface.
The Trantax cube must be more powerful than the Gommarian cube if it could cage a Terran’s mind so completely. Garrett instinctively hammered his fists against the invisible wall, hoping to give the Terran some control back. When his strength proved useless he realised there had never been any hope, really. This was after all inside his mind, a mind he no longer controlled. He was simply the remnants of a consciousness that couldn’t be entirely eradicated.
He was a ghost in the machine.
The Terran had stopped beating on the wall and instead sat curled up in the corner of his cell. He was afraid and Garrett knew why. They could both hear the slithering that circled them in the darkness.
You shouldn’t have done that.
The image of his mother was now standing behind him, a disappointed look on her face. He turned his head back but the box of light and the Terran within was gone. The connection was lost as the two parasites focused their attention on the Shay again.
“You will all leave this station and return to Shandar, now,” the Terran continued as if the news about the Solar Drive was no longer important. “When it is ready we will travel to the Ch’ket system and wipe out the humans and Terran alike. Once you hear news of this, activate the Crucible.”
The Shay officials filed out of the control room without another word.
Garrett was now left alone with his parasite and nothing to occupy it. His mother’s expression changed from disappointed to malevolent glee.
You shouldn’t wander, little rabbit. Now you’re going to stay in here with me. I’m going to give you a glimpse of what is coming. I’m going to show you what will become of your kind and the rest of this civilisation.
He was suddenly standing on a world he had never seen before, surrounded by aliens he didn’t recognise. Every time he blinked, the environment swirled through an endless visage of worlds and cities. Garrett screamed inside his head, sure that he would never stop screaming ever again as the horrors played out across every planet.
The fabric of the universe was folded where two points of origin were temporarily knotted together before reverting back to normal space. Kalian had felt the tear in physics like a change of pressure in his ears. It was a unique form of sub-space travel yet to be unlocked by any race or Solar Drive. In fact, to Kalian’s knowledge it was a form of travel known only to Esabelle. It allowed the ship and its contents to be instantly transported from one place to another without having to navigate sub-space.
Kalian looked over the navigation console and saw that they were now in the Karina nebula. It should have taken them several days to get there via thrusters and a whole day in sub-space. Thanks to Esabelle it had only taken a second.
Roland was clearly stunned in his chair. His hands dashed out across the console, checking every readout twice in disbelief.
Ch’len stumbled off his chair, staring out the view-port at the beautiful nebula of golden dust that formed a cloud several light-years across.
Li’ara stood next to Kalian, never taking her eyes off the visage of Esabelle, entangled in the mess of tubes.
“This is a whole new level of crazy, even for you guys!” Roland exploded from his chair and checked the star charts on Ch’len’s console. “How did she do that?” He marched around her standing body, inspecting the dark tubes that rose up from the floor of his ship. With no indication, the tubes suddenly detached from Esabelle’s skin and sank back into the floor once more. Her body crumpled to the floor, caught, only inches before hitting her head, by Kalian.
“Esabelle...” She didn’t respond to his voice. Kalian was alarmed to see a trickle of blood flowing from her nose and both of her ears. “Esabelle!” He gripped her face harder and held her tight but she refused to respond. He could feel the brain waves emanating on her unique frequency and took comfort in the knowledge that she was still alive. He matched his frequency with her own in an effort to make contact telepathically. Like a hand to the face, he was repelled from entering her mind by a violent shove. His head physically shot back and he fought not to drop her.
“What’s wrong with her?” Li’ara asked.
“I don’t know, I can’t get into her head.” He looked at Li’ara and saw some conflict there. Kalian could feel her discomfort at the thought of them sharing their minds so intimately.
“You need to leave her.” ALF was standing next to them. His sudden appearance made Ch’len jump and fall backwards into Roland’s console. “She will recover in her own time. Her healing abilities are better than yours, Kalian.” He felt the A.I.’s poke in the ribs with his explanation.
“I’m supposed to just leave her? She didn’t leave me when I needed healing.”
“Esabelle has about two hundred thousand years on you. Trust me, she’ll be fine. Might I suggest we focus our attention on charging the Intrinium, instead?”
“Rackham, plot a course for the nearest star and begin Intrinium charge.” Roland’s order was met with a pleasant chirp from the overhead speakers.
“Rackham?” ALF directed the question to Roland.
“Yeah you know, Jack Rackham, the famous pirate!”
“You named your ship after a famous Earth pirate?” Roland shrugged in reply. “Fitting...”
Kalian was just impressed that the bou
nty hunter knew anything about Earth’s history. Pirates hadn’t been around for over a thousand years, but if Roland was going to know anything about history, it would be pirates.
“What did she do?” Li’ara checked Esabelle’s pulse.
Kalian met her questioning look but he wasn’t entirely sure he could answer her.
“She pushed herself.” ALF focused on Kalian. “Something you should try doing, eh? Esabelle folded space in a way no Solar Drive can. The closest machine capable of instantaneous travel is a Starforge, but since that technology doesn’t exist on this side of the galaxy, Esabelle did what only a Terran can do.” There was a look of pride on ALF’s face. “She was forced to use this ability when the Gommarian was a part of her, feeding her all the nutrients and energy required to pull it off. Without that extra help she has suffered some internal trauma. In all the millennia I watched over Terran development, I never saw such an incredible feat. It is proof of the connection all Terran shares with the universe. Marvellous...”
“You’re saying she teleported us here with no technology?” Ch’len couldn’t take his eyes off Esabelle.
“Indeed. Put her somewhere quiet where she can heal. It may take some time.”
“It’s gonna be another day before we can use the Drive. For now we’re stuck in the nebula until we reach the nearest usable star.” Roland was leaning against his console, clearly stressed with their latest situation.
“But we’re in a nebula; there must be thousands of suns we can use.” Li’ara moved to check over Ch’len’s charts.
“We need to find a sun old enough to have developed starspots, or the electromagnetic charge won’t be strong enough to ignite the Intrinium.” Ch’len explained their astronomical problem with some condescension. “Even a child knows that...”
The subconscious clock in Kalian’s head kept him perfectly informed of how long they had been sat in the starspot. Since arriving in the nebula, twelve hours had gone by with agonising speed. It had taken them eleven hours to reach the appropriate star on thrusters alone, and Kalian could feel the Intrinium particles becoming excited in their Drive cells. It wouldn’t be much longer before they had enough charge to travel to any planet in the Conclave.
Pushing his awareness out into the Rackham, he despaired at Esabelle’s inaction. She hadn’t so much as twitched since he put her in the hold below. She lay prone over some blankets, her mind gated off from his attempted incursions. How long would it take to heal from such a humongous use of power? He could only dream of understanding how the universe could be folded in such a way.
The unique frequencies of Roland and Ch’len rippled out from their brains on the bridge. From the way they were synced it was obvious they were playing some kind of card game together. Kalian was pleased with himself for being able to discern his findings from brain waves alone. His knowledge and experience of Terran abilities paled in comparison to Esabelle’s though. His thoughts went back to the mercenaries he killed on Trantax IV and he dwelled on his use of power. Was it wrong that he couldn’t fold the universe or fly without the peril of death hanging over him, but he could take life with ease? He would have talked to Esabelle about it, but he already knew her point of view on the matter. To her it was a simple case of nature when it came to the use of their powers. If nature had seen to grant them their abilities, then they were entitled to use them in any way required.
Kalian wasn’t always so sure.
The pressure in the room changed moments before Li’ara walked into the kitchen. Kalian detected the effect her body had on the molecules in the atmosphere that filled every inch around them. His thoughts of inadequacies and death were washed away as the beautiful redhead stepped into the light. His Terran eyes looked over her face with a clarity no human could hope to achieve. It was agonising how much he ached to be with her, to bind their minds and bodies in a way that made them one. They were yet again in the middle of a conspiracy that could spell the end of the Conclave. A part of him wished they could hand the responsibility over to someone else and simply get lost in the galaxy.
“What are you looking at?” Li’ara sat down opposite him, and Kalian blinked his reverie away.
“We need to talk...”
Li’ara shuffled in her seat, uncomfortable with the chosen topic. They had avoided this conversation for months, and when it was brought up Li’ara ended the talk before it began.
“You want to talk about that now?”
“Why not? We’ve got time. And after our latest insult to the Highclave, it won’t be long until I’m hauled off to join the Gomar on some classified planet.”
Li’ara hesitated. “Have you ever stopped to think that your interest in me isn’t natural? A result of our minds crossing over, or whatever happened to us on Naveen?”
“My interest? You might not talk about it but I know there’s a part of me inside that brain of yours. It was a two-way process, and I’m sorry it happened that way; I didn’t have the same level of control I do now. I was doing the only thing I could to save you...” He was becoming defensive.
“I’m not saying I’m not grateful for you saving my life. I’m suggesting that our feelings are being manipulated by our personalities crossing over.”
The conversation was starting to feel more like an argument. “Look at me and say you feel manipulated by what you see in me.”
Li’ara only looked at him for a moment before concentrating on the floor between her feet. They both sat in awkward silence, avoiding each other’s glances.
“Li’ara, I know I lo-”
“Don’t say that.” Li’ara cut him off. “Since we met, we’ve both nearly been killed a dozen times. Our way of life has been completely wiped out with most of our species. We’re clinging to the edges of an alien civilisation that fears us. There’s something out there hunting us down and the one safe place in the galaxy is apparently on its list as well. What’s left of our race is relying on us to make sure they have a future. You’re important, Kalian. You might not be the one making all the decisions but they will rally behind you, behind your strength. You’re the living embodiment of our future, of what we all hope to achieve. You can’t be distracted by me...”
“I understand, I really do.” With her personality inside his head Kalian really did see her point of view, but he also had her stubbornness. “But if what you say is true, there are going to be a lot of hard choices. There’s going to be conflict and pain and loss. I don’t want to go through that without you. You’re right, we have nearly been killed a dozen times, but every time I was on the edge it was the thought of you that gave me strength. Do you think I could have defeated Savrick or contained that Starrillium without you? We’re stronger together, Li’ara.”
“You’re stronger because Esabelle’s teaching you.”
There was more to that statement than just the words, Kalian - could feel it. As the realisation spread across his face, Li’ara couldn’t keep eye contact.
“Don’t make that a thing,” Kalian pleaded.
“I’m just saying-”
“What is it with you and her?” Kalian couldn’t imagine Li’ara being intimidated by Esabelle’s looks. As a Terran she was naturally pleasing to the eye, often gaining the interest of every male and some females onboard the Gommarian, but Li’ara was unquestionably beautiful and intelligent.
“Don’t you see it,” she continued. “You and she are the perfect match. You’re both Terran, at least in physiology; you both understand what it’s like to be so connected to the universe. I will never be able to relate to that, Kalian. You can learn so much more from each other, not to mention the things you can do together, the places you can go that humans can only dream of. And you’re both immortal...”
There it was, spoken out loud. In truth Kalian hadn’t really stopped to think about his new found lifespan. The idea of living forever was a concept entirely foreign to human beings. Kalian didn’t really know what to make of it, but the idea of living forever without
Li’ara was very clear in his mind.
“Immortality is a choice for a Terran. If I don’t replenish my cells regularly, I age the same as you. I would rather die with you than live forever without you.” He couldn’t make it any simpler than that.
“Don’t be ridiculous, Kalian.” Li’ara sounded almost angry. “You’ve been granted a gift by nature, the greatest gift. You could see the universe; you have time for that now. Don’t give something up like that just to die with me.”
“I would give it up to live with you!” he matched her anger with his own aggressive tone.
This was a stupid thing to be fighting over and they both knew it. Kalian knew how she felt for him and yet they argued over what should be a natural union.
“How do you think I will feel when you’re getting older and dying because of me? I’ll spend centuries looking at you knowing that you could be so much more if it wasn’t for me. Your lifespan could be invaluable to the human race. Who knows what’s coming for us in the future. You could teach our people for eternity, be a guiding hand in the unknown. Eventually more people are going to develop Terran abilities and they’re going to need someone to be there with the answers. That’s you, Kalian.”
“There’s Esabelle for that, and she’s more powerful than I’ll ever be.”
“She doesn’t relate to humans the way you do. You’ve grown up a human, not a Terran or a Gomar.”
Kalian could see it now; there would be no changing her mind. His head agreed with her but his heart wanted to ignore her. There was another moment of awkward silence between them.
“So you don’t love me?” He wanted to take control of his tear ducts but for a second he forgot how. He knew his eyes were glistening and he just managed to stop any tears from breaking free.
“No...” Li’ara met his eyes as she said it.
Before Kalian could reply, Roland appeared in the doorway, his Callic-diamond vest shining under the light, its golden surface smeared with soot and ash. Kalian had never noticed the tattoos on both the bounty hunter’s arms before. The one on his right deltoid was neon-green and glowed in the dark, thanks to the neolight ink that had been common on Earth. It was no doubt a throwback to his days in the UDC, before he became an agent for Parliament.
Tempest: Book Two of the Terran Cycle Page 28