“Yes, I saw some of that with my … special vision.”
“What’s left of your EcoStation is orbiting the planet of Yaree. The orbiter is severely damaged. Some of the modules may still be sealed or partially sealed, but I’m not sure. It’s taken quite a beating in its travels.”
Noah narrowed his gaze. “The pilot of the lab-pod that we confiscated told us a little about Yaree. It’s an unaligned world in a remote galactic sector, a melting pot of various races. Humans, Mutatis, and other races working side by side.”
“Sort of a utopia that way, though it’s not the most scenic spot I’ve ever visited. The planet is mineral rich, and its rulers are clever traders, dealing in all sorts of goods. With the cessation of regular podship travel, their business activities have been severely curtailed, but they are an industrious people, and militarily quite strong. So far, the HibAdus have not attacked them. The Yareens say they wouldn’t dare.”
“Will they join us militarily?”
“I didn’t ask, but they might.”
“I’m going to look into it—we need all the help we can get,” Noah said. He paused, envisioning EcoStation as it used to be, when he conducted Guardian classed onboard, teaching eager young students about his concept of galactic ecology. Maybe it could be that again, and more.
“If we can repair EcoStation,” he added, “it could be used for military purposes, as an observation platform for relaying information to Doge Anton.”
“It would be easier to build a new space station,” she said.
“But it wouldn’t be the same,” Noah said.
Chapter Forty
We are each alone in this universe.
The multitudes around us only conceal this fact.
—Anonymous, from Lost Earth
In a different context, another universe, it seemed to Lorenzo del Velli, the Hibbil had been respectful, and—though feisty and combative at times—always deferential when confronted by his superior. In those heady days, Pimyt had been his Royal Attaché, both during and after Lorenzo’s reign as Doge of the Merchant Prince Alliance.
Now, it was all quite different.
The space station was gone, inexplicably! Standing on the ground by the landed shuttle, Lorenzo still had trouble believing it, or comprehending where his Pleasure Palace gambling casino was. Weeks had passed, and he’d been forced to sleep on the deck of the shuttle with the others. As a result, he had sore muscles and bones (including a painful hip from lying on his side), and his stomach kept rumbling. He despised the emergency rations and strange local plants they’d been eating. They were totally unsuited to a nobleman of his station and lineage.
Each day Lorenzo and his companions—Pimyt and the eleven surviving Red Beret soldiers—had been searching orbital space around the unnamed, unknown planet. The ion engines kept running roughly, and were giving all of them considerable concern. There’d been no sign of the Pleasure Palace at all, not even a real clue as to its whereabouts.
Around an hour ago, as the shuttle landed yet again, Pimyt had offered a theory. Lorenzo had been inspecting himself in the bathroom mirror, he knew his own aged face was worry-worn. The door had been ajar, and Pimyt had pushed it open. The temerity of the creature!
Lorenzo, unhappy at this affront and still displeased with him for running up the slope ahead of him and hardly looking back, had glowered at the furry little alien. But, for the sake of harmony, the merchant prince had held back a stream of invectives that he had in mind.
As Lorenzo pushed his way out of the small room, with the Hibbil behind him, Pimyt said, “We have experienced but one of many unusual occurrences all across space. You and I have seen the reports, Lorenzo, and we’ve heard the rumors. Something is seriously amiss in all galactic sectors.”
“I get the feeling we’re not even in the known galaxy anymore,” the former doge then said. He rubbed a spot on his forehead nervously, a place he had already made red and rough.
“Let’s see you get out of this one, Lorenzo. What political strings can you pull now?”
Lorenzo swore and made a menacing step toward the smaller being, but had second thoughts when he saw the Hibbil’s glowing red eyes, so the Human just glared at him instead.…
* * * * *
Later that afternoon they moved the shuttle to the other side of the planet, to a clearing at the center of the most peculiar jungle any of them had ever seen. The trees and other plant forms, while living and supple, were entirely gray-brown. One of the Red Berets thought it might be an unusual form of photosynthesis, peculiar to this solar system. Though warm at times and providing reasonable illumination, the yellowish sun had a constant grayish tone around the edges—as if from a lens, or a peculiar solar cloud.
Yes, everything was quite different now.
Disheveled and dirty, Lorenzo had not washed properly since arriving on this unnamed planet. He stood at the main hatch of the shuttle, watching several of the Red Berets venture into the jungle. A few minutes earlier, Pimyt had gone in that direction as well.
Behind Lorenzo, the slender Red Beret who had piloted the mini-sub stood attentively, awaiting instructions from his superior. The man removed his red cap for a moment, smoothed it and put it back on.
“What is your name?” Lorenzo asked, noting no insignia of rank on his uniform. Just a common guard, apparently, although he had been through intensive security screening, like the others.
“Kenjie Ashop, Sire,” he said.
“Well, Ashop, I appreciate your loyalty and attention to my needs. I’m going to take a walk, and while I’m gone I want you to watch over this shuttle. Don’t follow instructions from anyone else until you hear from me.”
“Yes, Sire. Would you like me to go with you? There could be unknown dangers out there.”
Lorenzo’s eyes flashed at him. “As if our situation could get any worse, you mean? No thanks, I’ll go on my own.” The nobleman grabbed a copy of the Scienscroll off a shelf, and slipped it into a clearplax carrying bag. The ground was wet and spongy from a recent rain.
The guard unclipped a small black device from a bulkhead, and handed it to Lorenzo. “This is a locator beacon for your safety, Sire. If you get lost in the strange terrain, it will enable us to find you, and it will also enable you to find your way back to the shuttle. It has a range of more than a hundred kilometers.”
“A bit more than I planned to walk today,” Lorenzo said with a smile. He examined the device and its touchpad controls.
The guard nodded, and showed him how to work the directional features. Then he said, “See that orange circle? If you flip open the cap over it, you have an energy-burst weapon, capable of bringing down any animal that might try to come after you. Just touch the red button and fire.”
“Thank you.”
“I’ll take care of everything here, Sire.”
“I know you will. I’m counting on you.”
Lorenzo took a different route into the jungle from those he’d seen the others take. He had in mind sitting somewhere alone with the quasi-religious book and searching it for appropriate passages, as he occasionally liked to do. Perhaps he could find a dry rock, in a warm patch of sunlight.
There were no trails in this area that he could make out, suggesting a paucity of animals, or a complete lack of them. But he did find a relatively clear area that sloped slightly downward, as from water runoff. Leafy trees leaned in on each side, making a canopy overhead, through which filtered sunlight passed.
As he proceeded, Lorenzo kept one hand on the Scienscroll bag and the other in his jacket pocket, over the weapon. Only rarely did he have to move thick leaves or branches out of the way. Just ahead, he saw the sunny rock he’d hoped for.
As he neared the rock, he found a dry, warm place to sit that also had a back rest. He also noticed a small, quiet pool of water nearby, beneath a rock overhang that must have kept them from noticing it when they were in the air. Sitting on the hard, dry surface, it pleased Lorenzo that the contours we
re relatively comfortable, almost as if a simple chair had been constructed just for him.
Removing the book from the bag, he read for awhile, but only superficially. Nothing really caught his interest.
But he did have something else with him. Unzipping a pocket of his coat, he removed a small padded medical kit that he had obtained from the CorpOne medical laboratory, back on Canopa. He opened it and examined the contents: a plax vial of red-wine-colored fluid and a dermex injector.
It was a vial of the Elixir of Life, which the crazed Francella Watanabe had developed, using the blood of her brother, Noah. She had sought eternal life, but had only obtained the opposite, an eternity of darkness. Earlier, using the public as guinea pigs to see how effective the product was, she had sold more than two hundred thousand doses. In the vast majority of cases, the elixir had shown no effect at all. But there had been a handful of successes—Princess Meghina, the Salducian diplomat Kobi Akar, four others, and perhaps Noah, too—but by a slightly different route.
After Francella’s death, Lorenzo had come into possession of this vial, but he’d never used it. She had died horribly after consuming the substance, albeit in massive quantities. In addition, there had been recent reports of other elixir consumers coming down with painful, rare diseases and dying. Lorenzo had heard of several hundred cases, and Dr. Bichette had told him that there could be more, as what he called “delayed medical reactions” set in.
Touching the cool surface of the vial, Lorenzo considered his options. Unquestionably, consuming it could make his life more interesting in this boring place. But conceivably, a large percentage—or even all—of the people who had taken the elixir would eventually suffer unpleasant deaths.
Not quite ready to take the chance, he closed the kit and replaced it in his pocket.
Feeling quite sleepy, Lorenzo leaned back and closed his eyes, intending to do so for just a few moments. Since falling from power he had been through a terrible ordeal, and been feeling increasingly tired. It was comparatively warm here, and almost comfortable. Perhaps he could forget his troubles for a few minutes.…
Pimyt had been trailing him at a distance, keeping out of sight, making hardly any sounds. The furry, disheveled Hibbil crept closer and watched the former MPA leader as his head lolled to one side and he drifted off to sleep. Long minutes passed, and as he drew even closer, Pimyt heard the foolish Human snoring.
The Hibbil was far from his people, but he could still sense their collective pulse, and their awakened appetites. He sniffed the air, moved closer.
Chapter Forty-One
There are uncounted secrets in this universe.
The vast majority of them will never be revealed.
—Parvii Inspiration
Webdancer floated in the midst of other sentient vessels, all with their space anchors activated. Inside the warmth of the podship’s sectoid chamber, Tesh lay supine on the deck, staring up at the iridescent green ceiling.
The Parvii woman knew that in the officers’ conference room on the deck below her, Doge Anton, his officers, and a number of Tulyans were discussing web conditions in the Canopa region. After the big upheaval in the Valley of the Princes, the timehole near the planet seemed to have settled down, but everyone knew it could flare up at any moment, without warning. Now a Tulyan repair team was high above the planet, working to keep that from happening.
Anton had just begun a meeting, after concluding an even more important session with Hari’Adab, who had just returned with his fleet after the loss of Dij. From listening in on part of the earlier meeting, Tesh knew that the news from the Emir had not been all bad, because he had also brought back a sizable additional force of Mutati warships, soldiers, and military supplies, which he had retrieved from hiding places around the huge sector that had formerly been the dominion of the Mutatis.
With so many important events occurring that required Tesh’s attention, she really saw no good time to do anything as personal as she was about to do now, and she felt some guilt about even thinking about such a matter. But she needed to do this anyway, had to move forward so that her mind could be clear for other things. Helping her a bit, Doge Anton was occupied and didn’t need her for awhile, so barring any new catastrophe Tesh might have enough time to do what she had in mind. She only needed a few moments of intense concentration.
In her natural minuscule form, the sectoid chamber seemed quite large, the relative size of a typical passenger compartment to a normal Human, perhaps. When she first took control of the vessel, this core chamber had been substantially smaller. But gradually, as the war progressed and as Webdancer became more important to the Liberator fleet, the ship had grown bigger, of its own volition. Now it was at least twice the size of any other podship in the fleet.
Though Tesh never conversed with Webdancer in words, because they utilized different forms of language, she still thought she understood some of the motivations of the great ship. The two of them had a wordless connection, on a higher level than the superficiality of any spoken tongue.
Tesh was more than seven hundred years old—a mere youngster by galactic standards, and she realized that she still had a great deal to learn. Even so, beyond her knowledge of the Aopoddae, she knew other significant things that were perhaps even more arcane.
In her comparative youth six centuries ago, Tesh had befriended a retired breeding specialist at the Parvii Fold, a slender old woman who took her into her confidence. Old Astar had wanted the younger Parvii to become a breeding specialist like herself, a rare opportunity presented to a “commonblood” such as Tesh. At the time, the profession was dying out, she said, not considered necessary anymore. Astar was the only remaining one, and she had not practiced her craft for almost two millennia.
She explained that in the Parvii race, there used to be more than one way to pursue some of the most important professions. In the case of breeding specialists, most came from particular genetic lines, but historically there had been exceptions, notable commonbloods who displayed special talents that enabled them to join the elite group. Tesh had been one of those extraordinary people who had been noticed.
For Astar, it had been unusual for her to open up to anyone, for she had always been known as an insular person, filled with secret knowledge. From the beginning of their relationship, Tesh had told her that she didn’t want to become a breeding specialist, because that was not the direction in which her heart pointed her. Besides, there would be extreme political difficulties if she were to make the attempt. Instead, the young woman had always wanted to pilot podships across vast expanses of space. It had felt like her calling, a glamorous career that consumed much of her imagination. Astar had been disappointed, but had said she accepted the decision. Even so, it took a long time before she gave up trying to get Tesh to change her mind.
One day, when it was clear that Tesh would not accept the calling, and that the old woman did not have long to live, a highly unusual event occurred. In the years since then, Tesh had thought of it often.
The two of them had been flying side by side, at a slow speed because of Astar’s declining health. They reached a foldcave that the old woman said would give them complete security from the telepathic probes of the Eye of the Swarm. There, standing in the small natural chamber, illuminated in low gray light, Astar said, “I have thought long and hard on this, and there is something I want to bequeath to you, a special gift that will help you in times of great need. I would be criticized for doing so, but I went through secret channels and consulted a Tulyan timeseer about you.”
For several moments, the airless cave seemed to contain another presence, a thing that the old woman had not yet said. Finally, Astar continued, her voice quavering. “The timeseer told me that a unique future lies in store for you, Tesh, unlike anything that has ever happened to a member of the Parvii race.”
“I only want to be a podship pilot.”
The slender woman placed a wrinkled hand on Tesh’s shoulder. “I know, dear, but so
mething more is available to you, something far greater. Throughout history, there have been occasions when our women and men have fallen in love with members of other races.”
“I have heard this.”
“Then you have also heard that it is impossible for a Parvii to breed with another galactic race. Even though we can engage in sexual acts with them, no children can result.”
“Yes.”
“Well, that is not strictly true. There are certain methods. Offspring have in fact been conceived from such unions. Not many, but it has happened. A few thousand perhaps, over millions of years. Some of the children were hunted down and killed as monstrosities by the Eye of the Swarm, but others escaped and lived out their lives as fugitives. In your case, you are destined to face such a breeding conundrum. And it will be unlike any of the other examples. The alien male you meet will be exceptional, perhaps even godlike.”
“I’m not sure if I like the sound of this.”
“When you encounter this person, you will know. At first, you will have doubts about whether he can possibly be the one who has been foretold, and you may even discount what I am telling you now as nonsense. You will think he is an ordinary alien male, and will discover that sexual acts with him are pleasurable, though perhaps not fantastic. But after you are intimate with him, a certainty will seep into your awareness, and you will know that you must bear his child. Increasingly, this will consume your thoughts.”
“And what will my child be like?” Tesh’s heart had raced as she asked the question.
“Ordinary in appearance, but anything but ordinary inside. The gender has not been revealed to me, nor have specifics about the life your child will lead. Throughout the history of all races there have been special children who have accomplished great things, such as Sanji the Tulyan and Jesus Christ the Human. Your child could very well be on that scale.”
“You have omitted mention of any great or legendary Parvii.”
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