Only Human

by Chris Reher

  “Feyd is as safe as any other place.”

  “Delphi is safer. But I had to show them what I thought of their outdated governance, didn’t I? Had to show them that I didn’t need them. Had to turn my back on everything after–" He glanced at Nova and fell silent.

  “You did what you thought was right for Kiran. There is no point in looking back now. We’ll get him back.”

  “Right.”

  She regarded him fearfully before daring to give voice to those fears. "Why would he take Kiran and then tell you that he's going to do just that? You are Vanguard. You have hundreds of enemies. You don't really think Jelani's got him, do you? "

  He bit his lip. “Kira is all I have, Nova. I have to think that.”

  * * *

  They arrived on Targon in a state of exhaustion. Neither found any joy in having set a new record for crossing the distance from Feyd to the base. Nova landed the Eagle near maintenance to have the crossdrives checked for any damage their abuse may have caused. They stopped for nothing else in their hurry to Carras' suite where Jelani awaited them.

  "I most certainly hope that you have a very good reason for this!" Jelani greeted them, his stance conveying his annoyance clearly. "I should think that you would have enough respect for my position to come to Delphi should you wish to speak to me, rather than hold me here. I am expected there for a meeting. I should have left days ago."

  "My son," Tychon snapped. "Where is Kiran?"

  Carras, who had risen from his chair when they had entered, collapsed into it with an audible moan. Why were these people making his base their battleground?

  Jelani blinked. "What?"

  "Kiran was taken from Feyd four days ago," Nova said.

  Jelani stared from one to the other. "By Melyb'ry," he groaned.

  Nova studied the man, baffled. She had expected indignation, protest, perhaps even pleas of innocence. But this reaction came unexpected. The haughty exterior had disintegrated, leaving only shock and despair. He made no effort to restore the tranquil facade at which Delphians were so adept.

  "Jelani?" Tychon said, equally baffled. "What do you know of this?"

  "The boy? Gone?"

  Carras moved quickly to push a chair toward the Delpian, certain that he was about to faint.

  "Jelani..." Tychon pressed.

  It seemed a lifetime before Jelani recovered enough from Tychon's revelation to speak. "What have we done?"

  "Talk," Tychon whispered, barely audible. He had never seen the man in a state quite like this.

  "At Kiran's khamal gzali," Jelani began. He half turned to Nova and Carras. "That is a rite for infant Delphians involving what you probably call a mind link. It is performed by elders or a religious leader, believed to impress upon the child a sense of heritage, purpose and loyalty to his past. No one really knows if these embedded memories ever reach the conscious mind. It has become a ritual, even observed symbolically among the low-born."

  "Get on with it," Tychon growled. "Must you high-born carry on so?"

  Jelani's gaze returned to him. "Kiran's khamal, which was performed by none of his true relatives, was attended only by a number of Shantirs."

  Tychon's eyes narrowed. "Phera was not there?"

  "No. Kiran's grandfather was called away on some Council matter on the day that the Shantirs had chosen for the khamal."

  "What are Shantirs?" Nova asked.

  "Mystics," Tychon said. "Druids, wizards, healers, whatever you wish to call them. They develop their mental acuity to include the kind of non-medical brain or mind altering research that even your people still dream of, Colonel." He sighed. "Then they shroud it all in holy language and convoluted rites so that outsiders think it's all harmless, old-world."

  "Tychon!" Jelani gasped.

  "Broke another one of your moral codes, didn't I? It's time people knew about us."

  "Will you go on now!" Nova cried.

  "When the Union Commonwealth arrived in this sector, what you call Trans-Targon, there was great fear that our world and ways were threatened by the influx of outside evils. We are a peaceful, defenseless planet and our people were afraid of what the Union would bring. Even after Delphi had joined the Union and your base was built, the people were still waiting in fear of what would come. They were right, of course. Look at this war you have started."

  "Wait a–" Nova began to protest.

  "Go on, Jelani," Tychon cut the argument short.

  "We needed a way to defend ourselves. When Dana, my sister, chose Tychon for her mate, his genetic background, though far from noble, was deemed suitable."

  "Suitable? What does that mean?" Nova asked.

  Jelani shrugged. "I do not know, but the Shantirs did not object to the match. Not even when Tychon joined the Union's Air Command and became a pilot. Not even when Dana followed him. Dana was believed to know her place, to observe tradition, even if her consort turned out to be lacking in loyalties."

  "Do not question my affinity to Phera," Tychon warned.

  "I question your choice to remove the boy from Delphi, nothing more," Jelani replied. He turned to Carras. "Kiran was born a year after the match. There was no reason to think that he would ever leave the influence of the Shantirs." Jelani closed his eyes, shaking his head in denial of what he now had to say. "Because of this, more than any other reason, because it was thought that he would never leave Delphi, Kiran was chosen to be the Tughan Wai."

  Nova turned at the sound of Tychon slowly sliding down along the wall. He sat on the floor, resting his head on his knees, his arms wrapped around them.

  "Ty?" she was astounded to see him in this attitude of despair. She whirled to Jelani, a cat ready to spring. "Translation," she hissed.

  "Tughan Wai?" Jelani shook his head, trying a hopeless smile. "The end of all you see here." His gesture included the room, the base, the planet.

  "What?" she whispered.

  "A mentality capable of such destruction that a single thought can blow this installation to bits."

  Nova heard a strangled sound from somewhere within Carras’ barrel chest. "How?" she asked. "Why?"

  Jelani pointed at Nova. “Just like that abomination,” he said, pausing when he noted her dumbfounded expression. “I mean your interface, Captain Whiteside. Just like that abomination can let you use your mind to change sub-space, so the Tughan’s mind will let him change matter itself. By willing it. He only has to be shown a thing to change a thing. If he understands the composition of stone and steel, he can take it apart down to the last atom.”

  "They’ve been developing this for centuries," Tychon lifted his head from his arms. For the first time Nova was aware that there really was a blue tint in his skin. "Secretly. It was just an experiment to see how we can develop our minds. Some Shantirs dabbling with theories and extrapolation. Resonance, thermal transfer, things like that. But when the Union took hold over the last two hundred years, the experiments were stepped up. Eventually, when it became clear that the Union was a useful alliance, the need for this weapon became less important. The Council at the time ordered the project stopped. It was assumed that the whole idea was abandoned."

  "And it wasn't," Carras said.

  "Correct," Jelani said.

  "This Tughan thing," Carras spoke. "It isn't a new concept by any means, is it? I am thinking of the Glanep nomads of Fjan Orr. It was nearly limitless what they could do. Then there was the incident on Phi Nine, if I remember correctly."

  Jelani nodded. "The Glaneps are emotionally incapable of harming anything with it even if they wanted to and Phi Nine burned."

  “What is the extent of the Tughan’s ability? What range? Under what conditions? You said he could destroy this base if he wished.”

  “We do not know,” Jelani said. “I do not know. Perhaps someone on Delphi does.”

  "If Tharron has Kira..." Tychon said.

  "To be used as this Tughan…" Nova added.

  He nodded. "A person like that could walk into any city, base,
plant and take it out. No need to carry explosives, no weapons, no planes or bombs. He could be sitting in this room and you'd not know it."

  "He is a little boy!"

  Jelani raised a hand. "That fact may buy us time."

  "Time for what?" Nova asked.

  "As I understand it, the Tughan cannot be put to use at this age," Tychon looked to Jelani for confirmation.

  Jelani nodded. "It could be very dangerous if any attempt was made to use him now. He is too young. Months, years of training are necessary. How else can anyone deal with such power? There are mental exercises of controlling it that must be undertaken before the Shantirs even dare tell him who he is."

  "And that means that we have some time," Tychon said. He came to his feet. "I take it that a Shantir is required to release the Tughan. We must restrict all of them to Delphi. Tharron cannot be allowed to recruit one. Kiran will be harmless."

  "Enough!" Nova glared at him. "How can you talk like that? It's as though he's a dart gun with a loose trigger. He's your son!" She turned to Jelani. “And you knew this, all these years? And you said nothing to Tychon?”

  "Shan Jelani," Carras said, his authoritative voice demanding, and receiving, their attention. "What if Tharron tries to access Kiran's potential now?"

  “Yes, please tell,” Tychon said and Nova thought she had never heard three words sound so much like a threat of violence.

  Jelani made a helpless gesture. "Overtaxing the young talent could set up a chain reaction that will be impossible to stop. The only way the… the previous candidates had been stopped was by… by termination of the subject."

  “They were killed?” Tychon exclaimed. “They murdered them?”

  Nova stepped in front of Tychon as if to physically stop him from harming the frail elder. He grasped her arms, perhaps meaning to push her aside, but then just stopped and held her there like a shield against his own fury. His eyes remained fixed on Jelani.

  "We must assume that Kiran is in rebel hands,” Carras said. “If Tharron has somehow discovered the existence and whereabouts of the Tughan, he must also know of its dangers. As a safeguard, I will make sure that he is told. We have ways of reaching his ear."

  Tychon nodded. “Probably a good idea.” He had recaptured his outward calm but Nova could feel the tension in his hands and almost hear the pounding of his heart. None of this now showed on his face. He looked down at her and released her arms. Only she noted his hand brushing across her midriff, a silent apology, when she stepped away from him. "He’ll have to wait until Kiran is older. That would give us time. Years perhaps. We will find him."

  Carras ran a not-quite steady hand over his scalp, irrationally thinking that it might be time for a shave. "I know what Tharron will do to gain control. He will find a way to secure the services of a Shantir that will set his morals aside. Tharron is a very wealthy and powerful man."

  "Colonel," Jelani protested. "Are you implying that he will be able to buy a member of our most revered sect of–"

  "He is not above bribery or blackmail," Tychon said.

  "Perhaps when it involves purchasing the services of your Union officers, never a Delphian!"

  "I don't think I want to hear any more about Delphian nobility, Elder Brother.” There was nothing respectful in the way Tychon used the honorific. He turned toward the Colonel. "Tal, I want unrestricted access to weapons, planes, personnel and credit. Also Vanguard Nine and One. There are people who owe me a favor or two. Some of them are smugglers and thieves that have been to places where we cannot go. We'll start on Magra. V6 is already there. We will find the boy. We will return him to Delphi and the Shantirs." He scowled at Jelani. "You have made a monster out of my son! You should have told me about this years ago. I would never have taken Kiran from Delphi."

  “I have a responsibility to Delphi’s internal matters!”

  “You have a responsibility to your clan,” Tychon replied. His voice was steady. “Hear me, Jelani. If harm comes to my son, it will also come to you and every damn Shantir on Delphi.”

  * * *

  The Centauri Colonel, alone in his office, stared mournfully at his hand which most persistently refused to have anything to do with the communications console on his desk.

  Once Jelani had recovered from Tychon's uncharacteristically hateful threat and the Vanguard officers had left, Carras had questioned the older Delphian. Jelani assured him that a weapon like the Tughan Wai in Tharron's hands would end this war once and for all.

  Carras shuddered visibly and moved his finger to activate the intercom. "Soto, prepare a transmission to the Commonwealth Factors. Code One."

  He heard a small intake of breath, not quite a gasp. "Code...right away, sir. Which Factor?"

  Carras considered. Five Factors were Centauri, as he was. There were two Humans, a Sahani, a Feydan and one, Baroch, was Delphian. Of the Ten, Jacobs, Velu, Chighan and Nor were on Alpha Centauri and four years of travel away.

  "I wish to compose a message to Baroch."

  The screen on his desktop unit came to life. There would be no open visual or aural communication during a Code One transmission. The recording system was shut down; unless an enemy intercepted the transmission, there would be no permanent record of this. Slowly, he typed his message, a bland letter of greeting and news from one official to another.

  The message arrived at its destination after its trip through the reach to Feyd to finally appear on the screen of Baroch's bedside reader where it had awakened him. The Delphian squinted at the screen, reading with growing alarm about a new, possibly profitable import item from Pelion and the ongoing drought on Targon. When the letter had scrolled from the screen, Baroch was sitting straight up in his bed, face bathed in sweat and feeling his heart pound in his ears. The missive that he had gleaned from the letter was coursing through his mind and would not allow him to return to sleep, nor would he do so until he could summon his peers for an emergency council. Carras' message was as clear as his comment about the weather: THARRON OWNS THE TUGHAN!

  * * *

  A council assembled within days. The Factors stationed in Trans-Targon resided on separate planets and were rarely found in the same room together. Now that one of them deemed it necessary to meet in person rather than take a risk with slow-moving and one-sided communications, an immense security force was put together. It was decided to meet on Coup d'Oeil, a sparsely populated planet beyond Myra and the reach of active rebel movements. A remote airfield was cleared of vehicles and its ground crew replaced by Union personnel. The entire area was swept clean of unidentified machinery, shipping containers and mobile mechanicals. Cordons were erected and local law enforcement instructed to reroute local traffic. A new ship to surface communications system was brought in and installed.

  One at a time, planes from as far away as Pelion arrived on Coup d'Oeil, each delivering one of the Commonwealth leaders. Once dismissed, the planes departed the airfield to hover in orbit among scores of fighter planes, cruisers, one battleship and several Vanguard Eagles.

  One of the Eagles was Number Seven, bringing with them Colonel Carras.

  "Why can't we be present at this council?" Nova demanded when, after they had idled above the planet for a few days, the Factors were finally assembled and ready to interview the Colonel. "This is about Major Tychon's son, after all."

  Carras shrugged tiredly and Tychon, at the helm, remained silent, his attention on landing the Eagle. He had no patience for any of this. He had assigned Nova to convey the Colonel back to Targon after the meeting while he would go on to Magra Alaric with Vanguard Three. All of them were glad that the waiting had ended when a message arrived, ordering them to bring Carras to the surface.

  Once on the ground, the Colonel was kept waiting a while longer in one of the appropriated hangars and then searched politely but thoroughly. Only when the security team was satisfied that he would not endanger the lives of the Factors was he allowed to proceed into the council room.

  He entered the
small chamber, a little uneasy until he had adjusted himself to the deadened atmosphere. The room was sealed; no known device could record or transmit the words that would be spoken here today. The Factors were seated in a scattering of comfortable chairs. No need for tables, no need for notes.

  "Colonel Carras," Baroch said, his voice flat and without echo.

  "Sire," Carras replied. The odd condition of the room seemed to snatch the word from his lips as he pronounced it.

  "Let's not waste time," Bender, the Feydan Prime said. "I must say I was prepared to hear something extraordinary when summoned here, but this is beyond what I had imagined. Lord Baroch told us of that Tughan Wai creature and what it could mean in Tharron’s hands. We will request further information from Delphi’s Shantir enclave. Now you will tell us how you have come to know of its existence."

  Carras complied, addressing all of them, his voice steady. He had dreaded this meeting; the thought of being confined with the absolute leaders of the Union had threatened to unnerve him. No matter what his rank and experience, he was a soldier and government dealings had never interested him. It was something ambassadors dealt with, in his opinion.

  The Union itself stretched far beyond this small, crowded sector of their galaxy, encompassing not only Terra Centauri and Trans-Targon but also the lifeless mining planets of Chitta Moor and the newly charted Nenele solar system. Although several had risen from among Air Command ranks, only two of these men, both Centauri, were actually charged with military matters. The other eight decided over concerns such as commerce, resource and technology, migration and culture. Since Trans-Targon was the sector most populated with habitable, valuable planets and the only one threatened by the rebel enemy, six of the Ten Factors resided here, their presence required to govern the rapid spread of the Union's influence. Now that Carras stood before them, he did not feel daunted. He did not feel anything at all.

  None of them spoke for what seemed eons after Carras had told them what he knew. His eyes traveled from one to the next until he could wait no more. "It seems to me, Lords, that our main concern must be to liberate the young Delphian and return him to a safe environment. It means that we must step up our efforts against the rebels. I need resources, ships, more staff."