by Gwynn White
"He wants to be the one to reveal the surprise." Ocia stood and closed his laptop.
"Why wouldn't he tell them?" Cullen lifted his pack and hefted it around to fit on his back. "How long have they thought he was dead?"
"Six years," Ocia said with minor annoyance, then packed his stuff in a shoulder strap bag. "He's been busy preparing all of us for this trip." He headed for the door, indicating the group do the same.
"Preparing them?" Cullen asked. "His wife and son?"
"Yeah." Ocia passed him as Torek waited at the door, pack on his back, ready to go. "They're just as important to you getting home as you are."
Cullen took a second to process that.
"Yeah," Ocia said, looking off as he walked out. "We're on our way."
Walking through the doorway, Cullen told Torek, "Think you get credit for the early warning about tigers?"
"Of course. My aim to keep you prepared."
Cullen laughed. "Yeah. That's exactly how I feel."
9
Lieutenant Huls escorted Cullen, Torek, and Nassib into the humid morning outdoors. Not far outside their exit, a three-car monorail train hummed with the magnetism keeping it hovering over its tracks. Outside the rear car, the wolverine Emmit had named Sprinkles watched them from where it lay inside a steel cage. A three-step stairway descended from the open doorway of the middle car. Huls led them inside.
The train's interior was as sharp as the exterior. Polished wood and steel furnishings paired with action screens, and crisp monitors showed views ranging from bird's eye over the forest to well-lit hallways of buildings or places he had yet to see. Through the open doorways between cars, he saw that the front car had seats and equipment for drivers, while the rear car had booths, tables, and amenities for food and beverages.
Huls motioned for them to take seats beside the action screens and monitors. "Pull up the tutorial on local wildlife. There's more there than we have time for you to watch."
Cullen sat down and tapped the screen, found the tutorial easily enough, and chose the option to link the sound to his earpiece.
Torek, sitting in the chair in front of him, rolled his eyes as he rotated toward his screen. "I'm more interested in the maps. How much prep work do they think we did on any of our other jobs?"
"We're not taking the same kind of chances you're used to," Huls said.
"Actually," Torek started, "I don't take chances. If I see an animal or a strange plant, I just stay away. Everything is a threat. And this suit and the skills underneath keep me safe just fine."
"You don't study your bounties before you hunt?" Huls asked.
"Too much research can tip them off," Torek said. "All we need to know is where they are. I'd rather study maps." Torek turned back to his screen and tapped a few prompt boxes.
"Suit yourself," Huls said, "but if a Nora plant cuts you, I'll let your faithful compadre Cullen carry you."
"That's what my suit's for, but if it cuts my face, then I'm sure Cullen'll be a good compadre and hoist me over his back."
"That's what compadres are for."
A door slid open in the rear car to the sound of chatter and pounding footsteps on the stairs up to the car. Adi and Emmit entered mid-discussion about when Emmit was going to let Adi ride Sprinkles.
Their energy eased Cullen's concern about Emmit's health. Maybe just a reaction to the pullspace. He turned to watch them leaning on the bars of Sprinkles's cage. Ehli emerged into view along with the cute female doctor he'd seen talking to Emmit in the cafeteria. "How's Emmit?"
Ehli shrugged, but smiled.
The doctor said, "We'll keep an eye on him, but for now he looks fine."
Cullen was glad to hear it. "Pullspace has different effects on everybody."
Ocia appeared from the door of the facility with Jolnes and Nassib, who each carried heavy-looking silver briefcases.
Emmit walked into the middle car, followed close behind by Adi, both with wide eyes on the action screens and the high-tech setup of the middle car. Emmit assessed it as if he had been training for months and had finally got a taste of live action. He stepped up to one of the screens and tapped it on.
"Not right now, my boy," Ocia said, lumbering into the middle train car.
Emmit's eyes blinked slightly, and when they found Ocia, his shoulders eased and a small smile formed.
"That's my boy."
Nassib pushed a button to lift and compact the stairs, then another to shut the door.
Huls walked past Ocia into the front car, and sat down at the controls, facing away from the group.
"We have a relatively short ride," Ocia said, "but the walk will take some time to get us where we need to be, so take this time to examine your packs. If you're hungry or thirsty, the rear car has refreshments. Save your pack supplies for the hike."
"Tell me more about this hike," Ehli said, not sounding the least bit pleased.
Ocia didn't look surprised at her response. "Of course. This wasn't what we'd hoped for, but part of the reason we chose Captain Re to rescue you from Setuk was because he's from Vijil."
"V..." Ehli started, glancing in shock at Cullen. "The Rucien capital? Really?"
"Really." Cullen liked being around people he could admit that to.
"His father sent an expedition to this planet," Ocia continued. "And in a kind of riddle, his father hid clues that led us to Captain Re—"
"Please, Cullen."
"Very well. Cullen's ship, the Talis, was identified as a way to find Cullen and use his memories to take him back home."
"Wow." Ehli took a seat along the wall adjacent to Cullen. "How long has it been since you've been home?"
"Ten years. When I was seventeen, I was framed in the death of a schoolmate, and given the choice of life in prison or exile. My parents chose exile."
In the front car, Huls pushed on a lever and the train eased into acceleration.
"So what are they going to think if you come back?" Ehli asked.
"Ocia tells me that part of the riddle my dad's team left indicates that he wants me back. Before my exile, he told me that my memories would be left intact—for anyone to leave Vijil, their memories must be wiped. But he made it so that mine were left untouched. He's a general, so it pays to have connections, I guess. I don't know all of what my dad has planned. I didn't know about this planet. But he said that one day I would find out why he protected my memories. I guess today's the day."
"But he's not the only one here for a reason." Ocia had taken a seat on the other side of the car, facing them. "And I apologize for the confusion that you've all been met with since arriving. This hike is not going to be without risk, but the reward that waits on the other end is well worth it, I assure you."
"My son just passed out, and despite Dr. Sara saying it's just a mix of exhaustion with pullspace travel sickness, I'm not so sure, and—"
"First off," Ocia said, "there is nothing wrong with any of you. In fact, you're all exceptional additions to our war against the Osuna."
Nothing wrong with any of you. Emmit reflected on that with relief. In this cabin, with soldiers all around and talk of going to the Rucien homeworld... he thought of himself in a new way, as one contributing to war, and it added a sense of heightened importance his age and experience had never seen. If his changes were going to make him valuable in the fight against those who took his father and stripped his life of freedom, placing him in a prison for half his days, then...even if it terrified him to think of how, he wanted to be of use.
Ocia glanced at him with a smile.
"That sounds like fun, Mom."
Exceptional additions... war.... This was not what Ehli had wanted, or asked for. War brought death and the stark reality that loved ones could be stolen in ways worse than nightmares could imagine, leaving in their wake hollowness and mental scars that refused to fade.
Her son said something about fun.
"War?" was all Ehli could get out.
Ocia sighed. "Yes. War.
You've been a prisoner of this war for six years. I didn't wish for the Osuna to force me into medical slavery, for them to take Merus and Kai, or for the difficult decision to flee captivity and risk their lives in my escape. I didn't wish for you and your son's home to be invaded, or all the nightmares and unjust treatment you suffered on Setuk." He glanced at Cullen. "Or for your father to exile you without telling you the real reason, letting you think he'd abandoned you when really, he was preparing you to be a vital player in the victory of his people's war."
Cullen looked ready to do just that.
Ocia returned his focus on Ehli. "Your arrival here is the climax of our treatments. "Salin ineofon." Mother of All, in her tongue, and the name of the Esune religious title for women chosen to lead their people.
The use of the title caused her head to wilt, as though a hole had been poked into the back of it and all the air was being sucked out. Schaefer was more apt to believe in that prophecy, but this feeling wasn't reverie… it felt more like a chemical reaction bubbling in her brain.
Dr. Sara took a seat next to her and held her up. "It's okay," she whispered. "It's all right," she said louder, stopping Emmit in his rush to help his mother.
Ocia stood and walked over to her. "Her neurochip just released a new program. It'll take just a moment to load." He knelt to her eye level. His thumb gently stroked her cheek, eliciting a tickle. "Your treatments were for much more than to cure your nightmares. What's in here," he said, tapping her temple, "and in here," he said, tapping her chest above her heart, "will soon be critical in swaying the hearts and minds of the lost and wicked, so that this war may turn from genocide into a community of those loved by their mother."
Ocia's words seemed to resound from a place outside their train, from the space outside or the spirit within, as something strange changed inside her. She felt his words as though drawn from the language their souls were born speaking before their tongues knew anything of words or syllables. In that timeless identification, his soul called hers into service, and it only felt natural to respond in acceptance.
Something wasn't right about what Ocia was doing to Ehli. She seemed overwhelmed by whatever he'd done, and Cullen couldn't help but want to stop it. "Mother?" Who is this guy?
Ocia glanced back and offered a hand in placating silence.
"What have you done to her?" Cullen looked at Emmit, but didn't see the kind of resistance he'd hoped to find. Instead, he saw curiosity and patience. The only one in the cabin who seemed to be radiating anything close to his hesitance was Dr. Sara. He didn't know how she could help now, but he noted her reaction.
"As I said." Ocia slowly stood, ensuring Ehli could sit upright in her newly-relaxed disposition. "I've activated a program in her neuro system that has been designed to help end our war." His tone began losing its patience as he stepped toward Cullen. "I understand that you know the least of anyone in this train... save for our other young boy, Adi."
Adi stopped nibbling on his biscuit at the mention of his name.
"I have had many plans in the works," Ocia continued, sweeping his attention to the whole group. "I'm glad to finally shed some light on them. Some of these plans will continue to take time to develop, and in time they will truly make sense, but I will strive to make them as clear as possible as we go."
"What did you do to my friend and his mom?" Adi asked.
Ocia smiled. "Come here, Adi." The boy obeyed with reluctant steps, then stopped as Ocia knelt to eye level. "They will be just fine."
"You changed him. He shouldn't be able to ride a wolverine, or work a computer like an Osuna. Something's different...." The boy's strength drained, but he finished with, "and I want you to make him back like he was."
Ocia chuckled and set his big hand on the boy's shoulder. "Emmit is just as much your friend today as he was yesterday. If you'd like me to teach you how to work a computer or even ride a wolverine, I can."
Adi glanced toward the rear car, as though to make sure the wolverine wasn't coming to test the theory.
"I'm fine, Adi," Emmit said, giving his friend a side hug. "If anything, I'm feeling better than ever."
That wasn't entirely true, but his friend didn't need to hear his doubts and fears. He needed to be encouraged so that wherever Emmit went, Adi could walk with him side by side instead of being left behind.
Adi looked at him as if they suddenly didn't know each other and this stranger was giving him bad news about a friend he recently lost. "No, you're not. You're different." He looked at Ocia. "And you changed him. Somehow. How can he... he fixed a spaceship. He and I worked in the mines and carried minerals across spans of desert each day. We both passed out at night, only to wake up and do it again. When could he have learned these things?"
Ocia retained his gentle patience and mild, humorous face. "I'm afraid the best way to explain that might be to share that same blessing with you." Ocia tapped the boy's temple. "Up here. The mind can work while the body's active in other endeavors. If you like, I can begin enhancing your mind as soon as we arrive at our destination."
"Why don't we give the kid some time to see his friend adjusting?" Cullen said. "You don't have to agree to anything, Adi."
Ocia chuckled. "Of course! No one is forcing anything. I was merely offering the same gift to Adi as I did to Emmit. The same can go to you, young captain, beyond the enhancements your neuro system has already received."
The enhancements Torek had convinced him to get had helped him as a pilot and bounty hunter, even as they seemed to distance him from his people. But that was the war they were a part of, and sometimes the only way to survive it was to accept the means of war that the other side planned to bring against you. His attention spread to Ehli sitting in thought, and Emmit watching him attentively, neither of whom had any idea what awaited them at Fel Or'an. He grew excited for their surprise.
"It sounds like the main thing is to get to our destination," Cullen said. "Is she going to be okay to do that?" he asked, indicating Ehli and her far-off gaze.
She snapped out of her reverie. "Yeah. Dr. Sara mentioned treatment for my leg?" she asked Ocia.
"Of course."
Dr. Sara unstrapped a small pack, then took out a breathable rubber strap thick enough to fit around Ehli's thigh.
"I prepared something just for you," Ocia said. "You shouldn't have anything to worry about."
She smiled and nodded, stretching her leg out so Dr. Sara could fit the strap on.
Cullen wondered how many other preparations Ocia had made for this trip.
He didn't think he'd get many more answers until they arrived at Fel Or'an, so he spent the rest of their train ride studying the videos of the plant and wild life, and when he needed breaks, let Torek distract him with videos and information about the coastal industry and nightlife. Jehu Jungle did not seem unlike many other planets they'd visited in search of a bounty, except for the buried secret having a personal connection to him and his past.
His screen switched to a winding black snake with a single red dot at the tip of its mouth as it skimmed tiny waves atop a muddy stream. The audio tour guide with his smooth-toned voice began. "The isle dancer is a mildly venomous snake that prefers flies, and is more skittish than willing to fight for food in a crowd. If it bites, it'll be part of a quick exit, but its venom will leave a burn that'll last a week without applying the juice of the nearby asilth leaf." The shot zoomed in on a tiny plant with hooked leaves. Cullen only knew of a dozen other plants he could name from memory, a dozen that would offer a similar type of antivenom, a dozen that would offer nothing, and a dozen that would add a rash to the burn. It felt good to maintain a deft handle on such an inventory of outcomes and ingredients—it made him feel like this type of work was suited for his gifts.
"Do you think you're ready?" a low female voice said.
He turned in his seat, but there was no one there. Ehli was sitting, head resting against the cushion of her neuronet station, eyes closed.
Dr. Sara
sat next to her, reading her tablet. She looked up at Cullen's sudden turn. "You okay?"
Ocia was in the front cabin chatting in low tones with Huls, and Torek's eyes were affixed to his screen.
There was no one else here who could have said it. "Yeah." He went back to his screen map. "Thought I heard something."
"You did."
Again, the same strange voice.
Who is this?
"You can call me Willo."
This was too weird. He glanced around again. Dr. Sara flicked another upward glance, but Cullen just finished his short circuit of the cabin.
How are you doing this? Cullen didn't know if this was how insanity started. Sudden, and completely convincing.
"I'm the girl with answers, if you want them."
Answers sound good. How about, how're you speaking in my mind?
"I am the failed experiment the man you're going to wishes he could bury."
Cullen had to play back her words in his mind.
What does that mean? What experiment?
"Telepathy."
Cullen laughed. More like a squawk.
"Something funny?" Torek asked.
Cullen shook him off.
"Be careful... there's a price for our ability. We're kind of unpredictable."
Why is she telling me this? Then he realized she'd probably heard that, and it terrified him—the invasion of his natural mental barriers, removing even protection of his thoughts. What else could someone with that ability do? His nerves electrified with the need to get up. He stood, but had nowhere to go.
"I'm telling you because I'm curious about how being the only person in your life to tell you the truth might change the outcome of your visit."
"Something wrong?" Torek asked.
Dr. Sara was watching too.
...only person in your life to tell you the truth, she'd said. Cullen studied his friend. Why would she say that? Did Torek lie to me? Is he lying still?
"He is."
About what?
"They need you, but he knows far more about Ocia and Schaefer's plans than he's told you."