by Jeff Walsh
“Yeah,” Bartl said. “And I watched you take the matrix and destabilizer out of the box before we were warped back onto the Starfaller. I thought you were going to warp them into space, but we got snagged too quick.”
“No,” Taam said. “What you saw was the best duplicate I could render in such a short amount of time. Visually everything was the same. The internals, however, contained a viscous virus I'd been working on. Anyway, I knew we'd come back here. As grumpy as you are,” Taam looked and smiled at Bart. “You loved that ship. As for the original matrix and destrablizer,” Taam said as he reached down and pulled them from the box. “They're right where I left them.”
Bartl laughed.
“You're a sneaky little blatnard,” Bartl said.
“So the Attillians don't have the matrix,” Marcus said. “Or a way to stop Volja, and everyone they'd need to get onto the planet is on this ship.”
Taam stood and smiled.
“Oh,” Anthony said. “I bet their pissed.”
҉
“Your suspicions were correct sir,” an Attillian crew member said to the Captain. “These are fakes. There was a highly sophisticated virus loaded into the duplicate destabilizer. It's been cleaned out, but had it been loaded into our system the damage may have been severe. As best as we can tell, neither of the items Commander Tira pulled from Taam Heezarian can do us much good.”
“Well done officer Krim,” the Captain said. “I would've been disappointed had the Heezarians allowed us to obtain the items so easily.”
“Your orders sir?” Tira asked.
“We wait,” the captain said. “I've grown bored of the chase; we are not some pet fetching its toy. They're coming to us; there's no escaping that. We sit, and we wait. And when they finally make their move for Volja, they'll find us instead.”
҉
Marcus hadn't slept for over two days. Every moment away from the rest of the group was spent next to Genny in the infirmary.
His body felt tired. Flashes of the escape pod exploding, or Genny chained to the wall, darted through his mind every time exhaustion got the better of him. As much as he wanted to sleep, closing his eyes caused more fear than the sight in front of him.
For now, he just stood over Genny, looking down at her face as she slept, keeping her as safe as he could.
Her eyes were sunken with dark circles encompassing them. Her skin was pale, and her body emaciated, as though she'd not eaten in months. Everything about her physical appearance caused Marcus to fear for the worst. She looked like she was dying. He pushed it out of his mind. Taam and Bartl assured him that her physical features weren't an indication of her internals. Everything on the outside looked bleak, but apparently inside, Genny was a picture of health.
“I sure do wish you'd wake up,” he said. His voice cracking as he attempted to hold back the tears. “Taam and Bartl don't know how to help you. They need to know why your body shows such odd readings when they scan you. They can't even draw blood. Taam said that it looks like you took some pretty severe injuries on the Imperium. What happened to you over there? Just wake up and tell us so they can make you better. Just wake up so I can hear your voice again.”
Marcus breathed deep, trying to compose himself. “I'm trying to keep it together, but I watched Alvin get blown up. Then the guy who rescued me, when I was on that station, I just watched him die. I'm not doing so great here without you. I'm useless. All I can do is stand here and look at you. I just need you to wake up so we can get you better.”
Marcus watched as Genny's eyes cracked open.
“Gens!” Marcus yelled. “Gens, take it easy. Oh thank goodness you're awake. Don't move too much. You're in a stasis field.”
“Guys,” Marcus yelled into his wrist unit. “She's awake. Get in here, she's awake.”
Taam was the first into the infirmary, followed quickly by Bartl. A moment later Anthony burst into the room.
“What's happening?” Anthony said. “Is she okay?”
Marcus looked at his friend then back to Genny. Tears rolled down his face. “She's...” Marcus stammered. “I don't know what's going on. She's awake but she's not saying anything.”
“Genny,” Taam said. “Can you hear me?”
Her eyes rolled around for a moment, but she nodded in the affirmative.
“She's probably still suffering from whatever was pumped into her system to keep her sedated,” Taam said to the group. He looked at Genny and said, “You were subjected to something called a neural bath. It shuts down nearly all your brain activity. You're safe now. You're with us, see, Marcus and Anthony are right here. But listen to me, I need you to try your best to push through the fogginess in your mind.”
Taam stepped away and Marcus watched as he worked a unit at the foot of Genny's bed.
“I'm vaporizing a very mild stimulant,” Taam said. “And giving her a low dosage. It should help clear up her thoughts a little. I can't do much more without knowing what they did.”
“Gens,” Marcus said. “It's me, can you hear me.”
Genny locked eyes with Marcus. Tears filled her eyes and began to pour down her face.
She reached up with her hand to touch his face but the stasis field kept her from doing so.
“It's okay,” Marcus said. “I'm right here. You're behind a stasis field. It's been keeping you alive since we rescued you.”
Genny looked to Taam then back to Marcus. She closed her eyes and more tears poured forth. Her eyes opened again and she looked to Taam. “You got him back,” she whispered out. “Bartl said you would. I was too scared. I made a deal.” Genny started to sob.
“It's okay,” Marcus said to her. His arms and hands rested on the stasis field. “It doesn't matter. What matters is that we're all here now. Look,” Marcus pointed to Anthony.
He watched as Genny registered who he was pointing at; she winced and more tears came.
“I'm so sorry,” she wheezed out. “They took you. I didn't know what to do.”
“Genny,” Anthony said. He stepped up next to Marcus. “It's fine. We're all fine. We're together. You're awake. Thank goodness you're awake. Now Marcus can stop blubbering all over the ship.”
Marcus blurted out a laugh behind his tears. Genny smiled. She reached up and touched where Marcus' hand was resting.
“Can we lower this thing?” Marcus turned and asked.
“We need to know what happened to her first,” Bartl said. “For now, its for her own safety.”
“Gens,” Marcus said. “They need to know what's going on. The system scans gets all crazy when it reads you. What'd they do to you?”
Genny closed her eyes. Marcus could tell his wife was forcing herself to relive what happened.
“Halen,” she said. Her voice was strained and quiet. “He did something to me. Something to my genetic code.”
Taam cursed at himself. “Of course,” he yelled. “We've been scanning your wife as a human this whole time.” Taam cursed again. He began working the infirmary computer station. “The readings weren't coming out straight because he gen-swapped her.”
“He what?” Marcus turned to Taam and asked. He looked back to Genny who was nodding in the affirmative. Tears poured down her face.
“You all need to get back,” Genny wheezed out. “Get away from me. I'm not safe.”
“What?” Marcus asked. “What is she talking about? What's a gen-swap?”
“If her system produced an anomaly,” Bartl said.
“If it anomolied?” Taam blurted back. “You saw the lock down they had her in. It also explains why we couldn't puncture her skin.” Tamm slid his finger across the touchpad and snapped down on a button.
Marcus watched as a light pink mist began to fill the stasis tube.
“What are you doing?” Marcus said.
Taam stood and looked to Genny. “Halen, he gen-swapped you with himself didn't he?”
Genny nodded again.
“He tried to make himself human,” Bartl said. �
��He attempted a full conversion. No wonder she anomolied.”
Taam spun around and tapped the touchpad a few more times. “There we are, Vlarian.” He pressed a green button on the touchpad and Marcus watched as a brighter pink mist filled Genny's stasis pod.
“Tell her to breathe in deep,” Taam said to Marcus.
“Genny, deep breaths. Take deep breaths.”
They watched as Genny inhaled and exhaled. Over and over again. One deep breath followed by a long exhale.
After a few moments Marcus noticed the dark circles under her eyes vanishing. Her skin began to return to normal colors. Genny continued to breathe in deeply and exhale slowly.
“I can feel it,” she aired out.
Taam turned and dropped the stasis field.
Genny pushed herself upright and Marcus collapsed down onto her. The two just held each other for a minute. Everyone stood quietly. Anthony wiped away a tear as it rolled down his cheek.
Marcus broke free, spun and grabbed Taam. He wrapped his arms around Taam and clutched tightly.
“Thank you,” Marcus said. “Thank you for getting her back.”
He released Taam and spun to Bartl.
“Oh no you--” Bartl started to say.
Marcus reached down and hugged him, nearly hoisting Bartl off his feet.
Marcus was sobbing, while repeating over and over, “Thank you.”
Bartl struggled for a moment, then relaxed. He patted Marcus on the back. “It's okay my boy, we got her back.”
Marcus released Bartl and turned and sat next to Genny.
“I know this is a tender moment,” Taam said. “But I feel like I need to be honest here.”
The three looked to Taam.
“What I just did,” Tamm continued. “It's not permanent. Gen-swapping is dangerous stuff, and truth be told, it'd be more dangerous to attempt a reversion. I synthesized a substance, its a a generalized inhalation that helps the body counteracts the anomalies created in your system,” he said to Genny. “It's an older but effective treatment, designed shortly after gen-swapping was blacklisted across the universe. There's no reliable treatment to permanently reverse what's been done; it's all highly experimental. You'll need injections daily, or at the very least, you'll need to take meds regularly. That should nearly suppress all of the side-effect.”
Genny dropped her head. Marcus wrapped his arms around her.
“I'm sorry,” Taam said.
“No,” Genny said. Her voice healthier. “Don't be. You didn't do this to me. You helped me. You got us all here, together. Halen did this to me. It's Halen that needs to be sorry.”
“Well,” Bartl said. “I'm sure he is, or was. The Imperium was destroyed, and according to freenet Halen was acting against the will of the Core. The story being told is that Halen went rogue and destroyed his ship.”
“Wait,” Anthony said. “What? He didn't go rogue. You were there; the Grand Negus or whatever he was called came on the screen. You pissed him off, remember.”
“I do,” Bartl said. “I also know that a deluxar class Prime Command ship doesn't just blow up in the middle of space with no one around. The Central Core has to sever ties with Halen or they'll be connected to whatever he failed to do. Mainly, acquiring Volja for the Attillian trade agreement.”
“What are you saying?” Genny asked.
“I'm trying to say that if vengeance or justice is what you're looking for,” Bartl said. “Halen is dead, and his ship, along with his crew, has been destroyed,” Bartl answered.
Silence hung in the air for a moment.
“This might not be the time to ask,” Bartl said. “But I've never been good with finding the right moment.”
Everyone looked to Bartl who in turn looked to everyone.
Silence lingered awkwardly.
Bartl shrugged then brought his hands up and together. A moment later he pulled them apart and made an explosion noise, and shrugged again.
Marcus and Anthony were staring at him like he was crazy.
“Ah,” Bartl said. “C'mon. Seriously?”
“What are you--” Marcus started to ask.
“He really wants to know how Genny blew up the Imperium,” Taam said.
“Yes,” Bartl exclaimed. “I'm going crazy over here not knowing how you did it. You destroyed the Imperium. You, a single person, took down a delxuar class ship from the inside, by yourself.”
Genny nodded.
“How?” Bartl blurted out.
“It's...” Genny paused. “all still a little hazy.”
҉
The entire group now sat around a long wooden table in the Enyalius' kitchen. Bartl had poured everyone drinks and the group was doing their best to empty the bottle.
Genny breathed deep. Marcus was saddled up right next to her. Anthony and Taam were across the table. Bartl sat at the head of the table, with feet propped up and chair leaning back.
“I finally feel like myself again,” Genny said. “On the Imperium it felt like Halen was crawling under my skin.”
“Well,” Anthony said. He took a long drink from his glass. He winced as it burned going down. “As long as you don't feel like raging out and accidentally punching me in the face. Where would that leave me? I mean besides the charming personality and genius level IQ.”
Marcus laughed.
“Don't forget your humility,” he said.
“That's fourth on my greatest attributes list,” Anthony replied.
Marcus took a swig, and he too felt the burn as it went down.
“What is this stuff?” He asked.
“No clue,” Bartl said. “Probably something homemade, but it's getting the job done.” He gulped down half a glass and poured another.
Genny took a drink and looked around the room.
“I need to apologize,” she said.
“Don't,” Taam said. “You don't owe any of us anything.”
“No,” Genny replied. “I need to. Back on the Imperium, I stopped trusting everyone. I freaked out and Halen was saying all the right things to get me to turn against you guys.”
“That's what he did best,” Taam said. “He was conniving.”
“Worst of all he got me to turn against you,” she said and looked to Anthony. “You warned me. You knew I was freaking out and you tried to stop me. You tried to save me from myself, but I wouldn't listen. I was scared. Not just for Marcus, I was scared for everyone. But Bartl was right.”
Genny paused and looked to Taam. “He said you would come for us. He said it without a hint of doubt, like it was fact. He said you wouldn't have sent Marcus off if there was another way. He said you did what had to be done. And because I freaked out, I messed things up pretty bad.”
“I'll say you did,” Bartl chimed in.
Everyone turned and looked at him, shocked at what he said.
“What?” he replied. “She did. She messed up the Imperium so bad it exploded.” Bartl slapped the table and burst out in laughter.
The group chuckled.
“Listen,” Taam said. “Lots of bad stuff has happened ever since we left your planet. We've been off balance from the get go. We've faced down scavs, escaped the Prime Command and the Attillians, Marcus bounced around space for awhile, and we just commandeered a scav vessel. All of us have been through the rough of it, but we've managed to get back together. We have what we need; we know where we're going, so how about we end this thing and jam the plans of everyone who's trying to stop us down their own throats.”
“That's what I'm talking about,” Anthony cheered.
“Agreed,” Marcus said. “Let's end this.”
“Let's go get this ancient planet,” Genny said.
The group hoisted their glasses into the air, everyone, but Bartl.
The group looked at him and he just shook his head.
“I'm glad we're all hugs and kisses again,” he said. “But, if we're ending this, they need to know.” Bartl looked to Taam.
“You seriously have the wo
rst timing,” Taam said to him.
“What?” Marcus said.
“I was trying to give us a moment of cheer,” Taam said. “You know, something good before we head off to do the impossible. You seriously need to stop drinking. You always get cranky when you drink.”
“Oh,” Bartl said. “Sorry.” He hoisted his glass into the air.
Everyone just looked at him for a minute.
“The moments kind of over,” Anthony said.
Bartl shrugged, lowered his glass, and took another drink.
“What's he talking about?' Genny asked.
“They have to be told sooner or later,” Bartl said pouring himself another drink. “Now works.” He gulped it down.
“I was planning on telling you when we covered our plan,” Taam said. “But someone has a big mouth, so I guess now is as good of time as any.”
“What?” Marcus asked.
“The three of you won't be going to the planet,” Taam said. “Only Marcus will be going.”
“Why?” Anthony asked.
“Because,” Bartl said. “Marcus is the only one of you who's still human.”
Chapter 21
“What are you talking about?” Marcus blurted out.
“I'm sorry,” Taam said as he looked to Genny. “When Halen changed your genetic code we lost all guarantees that you'll be able to access Volja. Our theory is that anyone who enters Volja's atmosphere gets scanned for the correct genetic base code. Because of the gen-swap you'll now get scanned as hybrid, and there's no way of knowing if Volja will accept it. For all we know Volja will whisk you off never to be found again.”
Genny slumped forward and propped her elbows on the table. Her hands overlapped as she dropped her head and stared absently at the table for a moment.
“I'm really sorry,” Taam said. “It's not your fault, but too much has already happened to risk losing you when we're so close to finishing this.”
“It's not that,” she said. “It's just...after everything that's happened, I was looking forward to being on that planet when we snatch it from the Attillians.”
“Okay,” Anthony said. “Not to sound cold here, but that makes sense. We don't want Genny getting beamed someplace we can never find her. But why can't I go? Halen didn't touch me.”