“Then don’t. Allow me to console you and ease your transition to our realm.”
Nodding, she swallowed thickly. Before they could decide exactly how to proceed, the room filled with people again and they prepared to synchronize the three artifacts with their matching counterparts inside the anomaly.
It was suggested the artifacts be separated onto three different ships to facilitate their placement around the anomaly. Shar Jalon agreed to take one to his vessel and assist Keiko in ensuring proper placement. They were on a tight timeframe and he wanted to be the one assisting and protecting her. If they could manage to neutralize the temporal distortion, it would open a world of opportunity to get to know her better, and that was something he was keenly interested in. Shar Jalon had his clones nudge the floating objects through an airlock, and into the loading bay of his ship, surprised that they moved with so little resistance.
His clones had already set up a system for monitoring telemetry from the artifact while it was aboard his vessel. They got into position quickly and almost immediately received word from Maiko to simply open the bay doors to allow the artifact to self-position.
Before they could respond to her directions, the artifact drifted towards the bay doors. As they hit the release for the door, their computers went wild.
Keiko gasped. “It looks like our computers are getting hacked by the artifacts.”
Watching random bits of information from the ship’s antiquated computer system appear and disappear on his screen, Shar Jalon could well believe it. One of his clones moved to shut it down, but Shar held up his hand. “Let it pull whatever it needs to position itself correctly. Perhaps it’s trying to access navigation protocols or something of that nature.”
Suddenly, an odd computerized voice spoke from the ship’s audio system.
“Primates, you’re required to immediately move your transport carriers a full five parsecs away in order to avoid the residual dispersion blast. When the temporal distortion collapses, it will result in a level twenty-nine disruption wave.”
Without hesitation, Shar spoke, “Follow its directive. I don’t care who or what the entity is. We maintain safety first.”
The voice kept speaking. It spouted some random sector information that Shar recognized as coordinates. Then it said something about the mothers being protected.
He stopped dead in his tracks. The strange entity parroted the very same words that had been running through his head since his first time jump. He didn’t think for an instant that was a coincidence.
Stepping forward, he spoke, “Who are the mothers?”
Rather than an answer, several images jumped onto his holographic imager one after another. Genome sequencing, human, female, Japanese… Keiko’s family strain. It could be nothing else and only a clone would easily recognize the meaning of the images.
“Why?”
Another flurry of images marched across his imager. It was an alien race, their fragile genome failing, then a race of artificial intelligence beings, then a new race of clones who looked similar to the original alien race, only with human traits. Then there were flashes of Keiko’s DNA strand, broken apart and merged with the new alien strain. Well, to his mind, that was perfectly clear. The AI indicated that her line was to be protected at all cost, because they believed it would be one day critical in stabilizing their resurrected species. This would happen in the distant future and that was effectively communicated by using a star chart with the planets positioned roughly three thousand years into the future. It seemed fantastical and far-fetched, but his job was to understand, not to run probability scenarios on someone else’s problems.
“What part if any does the Shardon play in this?”
The screen went blank. For an AI, the artifact was an excellent communicator. Shar Jalon returned his attention to the task at hand. “Monitor the…”
“Stop. What do you mean, there will be an explosion? I don’t want it to be destroyed. Figure out a way to remove yourself from the blast radius.”
The AI spoke again, “The mother asks the impossible. We’re to be sacrificed so the mother may live. That outcome is fixed in the space-time continuum.”
“You’re unique and must not be sacrificed. Find another way.”
“No time, gentle mother.”
They watched as the slowly spinning artifacts lit up and bolts of lightning crackled out, reaching towards the anomaly. In the next instant, corresponding lightning bolts came out to meet them. Everything flared brighter, causing bright bolts to spread out around the edges of the entire anomaly. After a gentle tug, the artifacts moved right along with the lethargic temporal distortion.
Keiko spoke, “Is it me, or does it look like the distortion is getting smaller?”
One of his science team responded, “It has decreased by four percent.”
Shar Jalon felt a spike of adrenaline as he watched.
Over the course of several hours, it continued to thin and shrink. When everyone thought it would go out with little more than a fizzle, there was a thunderous explosion and a burst of brilliant white light.
Instead of the cheering and relief the clones displayed, Keiko burst into tears. Shar knew it was because the artifacts didn’t survive the explosion. Before he could respond, the wave of the blast hit their ship. Shar didn’t know whether the AI had miscalculated the size of the blast or if his low-tech ship was more vulnerable, but the impact sent them all crashing to the floor.
Scrambling over to Keiko, he tore off part of his uniform and used it to wipe blood from her temple. “Are you well, my Keiko?”
Taking the piece of fabric from him, she shook her head. “I’m fine.”
Their first message after the computers came back on line was from the Krylon prince. “Our sensors picked up a tiny piece of particulate matter. We think it’s biological in origin and may have passed from one of the open dimensions into our own.”
Shar responded dismissively, “Nothing biological could withstand exposure to open space.”
“That was our assessment as well. But, I’m ordering a ship to remain behind to monitor the area. We wish to ensure there isn’t further activity from the anomaly.”
“Shar Jalon and I will stay to perform the monitoring sweeps. You should take the Reverend Mother to the Krylon home world. She’s weary and you have both done your share. Let another carry your burden.” Shar Jalon was more than pleased that she slipped her hand into his as she spoke. The Krylon prince glanced down at their joined hands before nodding his agreement with that plan.
Chapter 7
~ Keiko ~
Keiko’s Music Mix Seven
Existing in an alternate dimension felt inexplicably different, like there was some type of low-grade discordant melody playing in the background. The Reverend Mother believed that each dimension resonated at a slightly different frequency, but insisted humans were incapable of sensing the minute fluctuations.
Keiko’s mind rolled through the other options. Being sucked through the anomaly might affect people differently; if so, there was a possibility it would wear off. Perhaps, it was something to do with three exact versions of the same person inhabiting the one timeline. Did that violate some law of physics? The only difference between the three of them seemed to be age and their personal life experiences.
On top of feeling like someone was constantly scratching their nails down the proverbial chalkboard just a decibel outside her auditory range, Keiko also had a sick feeling twisting in her gut. All the years of fighting insectoids in her own timeline had taught her that just when she thought she’d won the battle, they surprise her with another counterstrike out of nowhere. Like an old-fashioned horror movie, there was always just one scare. Therefore, she’d never quite let herself rest easy when the battle was done.
Getting pulled into the present timeline had been a relief; it allowed her to escape the swarm. Digging down deep inside to access whatever small bits of courage her battered soul still held in reserve, she’d forced
herself to do her share in shutting down the anomaly. It should be, but the feeling twisting in her gut was trying to tell her something. Whatever her less than conscious mind attempted to communicate remained a mystery.
Sitting in the loading bay, she watched Shar Jalon and his medical team load biological samples into a cryo-stasis hub. No amount of self-talk enabled her to refrain from staring at the men as they worked. All the clones were tall, muscular, and well mannered. With skin tones spanning the gamut from light blue to an almost pearl grey, she couldn’t decide which she admired more.
Al things considered, Shar Jalon stood out in her mind as the most handsome of the lot. Clones had a genetic predisposition towards being similar with their dark eyes, black hair, and several tiny, slightly raised, cranial ridges which ran horizontally between their forehead and hair. Most of the clones wore little decorative bands which appeared to hug the individual ridges at irregular intervals, creating a distinctive decorative pattern. Shar Jalon sported clips of some antiquated bronze-like metal.
Her breath caught in her throat as she remembered sleeping cuddled in his arms on a gigantic settee. It was the most peaceful sleep she’d had in her life.
Rushing to get the samples transferred and perform a final scan before leaving the vicinity had left little time for personalizing his appearance today. He wore the sleek, black uniform of the Sylon Alliance and had his hair pulled up in a warrior’s top knot.
The Shardon people were a race of clones, just learning the benefits associated with individualizing their appearance through clothing choice and hair style.
The taciturn man had befriended her from the moment she arrived, taking her under his wing, while making no bones about the fact that he wanted a friendship come romance with her. In return, Keiko thought he had a nice way about him, and found herself warming up to the idea embarrassingly fast.
A series of clicking noises drew her attention to the fact that the men snapped each container closed in rapid succession, causing the eerie white fog sliding around the bottom of the hub to spill out into the air around the edges as they loaded the last of them onto hover boards and his men loaded them onto the shuttle.
“Your team handled the biological samples with exacting care.”
“These samples are especially rare. I have decided to add them to our bio-vault on the Shardon home world. They’ll be preserved for posterity in case all other forms of reproduction fail for our people.”
“Are my samples in there?”
Nodding, he looked away.
She realized her mouth gaped open and quickly snapped it shut before speaking. “These pods contain all the samples from me, Maiko, and the Reverend Mother, don’t they?” The AI had spoken pure gibberish. She secretly prayed that real live people weren’t acting based on such cryptic and unreliable information.
Standing as the shuttle rose to the upper docking hatch, they watched the huge one close. The shuttle would maneuver through two such safety portals before exiting the ship. Shar Jalon turned to her and spoke with a note of sincerity.
“It’s just a precaution. Since the artifact communicated that your line possessed a rare genetic trait, we wish to maintain the viability of the samples until we have a better understanding of what they meant. I’m responsible for making long-term decisions to extend the longevity of our race, therefore, I’d be foolish not to hoard whatever samples I can obtain for my people and ensure their safety for all posterity.”
Keiko grew to love the lilting quality of his baritone, so hearing him speak fell in the category of a guilty little pleasure. In terms of defining characteristics, the hallmark of being a clone was that they were logical. Shar Jalon, being their leader in this sector of space, was undoubtedly more logical than most, therefore what he said was no doubt factual.
Holding up both hands in front of her, she shook her head. Taking care to not seem offended, she assured him that his precautions were quite reasonable. “I can see your point, and I honestly don’t mind.”
Polite to a fault as usual, they talked for a bit before the overly serious clone worked around to inquiring about her wellbeing.
Sighing, she huffed out an exasperated breath. “I’ve felt strange since I got here. It almost feels like this dimension is somehow vibrating at the wrong frequency or something. Although I can’t put my finger on it, something is terribly wrong. Are you sure our scans haven’t picked up anything?”
“I’m sorry, Keiko, but extensive scans of the surrounding space have revealed nothing unusual. We’ve been meticulous about our search, covering every single parsec thoroughly.”
“Maybe it’s just me being crazy after everything I’ve been through.”
Wrapping his arm tentatively around her, in a gesture clearly meant to be supportive, Shar Jalon’s earnest expression made her rethink her initial gut feeling. The longer she sat wrapped in his arms, the more his touch affected her. Soon, a hot needy feeling replaced the nagging worry.
“Do you want to talk about what happened? I wish to be the male you turn to for companionship and comfort.”
Unable to resist the need to get closer to him, Keiko leaned over and rested her face on the large clone’s chest. Rubbing her face against his uniform, she enjoyed the feeling of warmth and safety being in his arms provided. Twisting her finger around a tendril of his hair that had escaped the topknot during his physical labors, she spoke.
“When the insectoids attacked, our people were forced to fight them alone. I can’t help but wish we’d had allies like the Shardon at our side. It would have given us the edge we needed to eradicate them.”
“Your people hadn’t made first contact with other worlds at that point?”
Shaking her head, she continued, “That didn’t happen for almost eight years after the first attack; therefore, we went it alone in the beginning. It didn’t help that everyone underestimated the problem until their breeding had gotten out of control. They could procreate faster than anyone believed possible at first. By the time we figured it all out, our world was easy prey for the swarm. Each time we thought we’d eliminated them, we’d find yet another nest.”
“Being trapped in a vicious cycle of war must have been terrifying.”
Wrapping her arms around his torso, she burrowed deeper into his masculine warmth. “It was horrible to hear people screaming as they were hurt… eaten rather. I know that I should want to go back and help my people, but I don’t think that my being there will matter in the slightest. Nevertheless, being here and safe while my world is ravaged makes me feel such guilt.”
Pulling her closer, he tucked her head protectively under his chin. “Don’t berate yourself about not wanting to return to a battle you can never win. In the short time you have been with us, you have acted with bravery. You did all within your power to assist us in shutting down the anomaly, consequently, saving billions of lives.”
“This was easy. Ordinarily, when I fight, someone is trying to kill me.”
“Only warriors crave battle, Keiko. Without fighting skills, it’s better to remove yourself. Otherwise, you’re merely a distraction.”
Looking up at him, she saw the truth of his words. “What if they need me?”
“Warriors need little besides a bold enemy and the opportunity to concentrate on the fight. Moreover, loving a good fight is fundamentally what defines us warriors.”
“You’re a warrior?”
Before he could explain, the ship went into lockdown. Simultaneously, they both scrambled to their feet. The bay doors slammed shut, locking them inside. His voice prompting the ship’s computer, Shar Jalon tried to raise the captain on the holographic interface. All he got for his effort was a long string of discordant tones. A disembodied voice came through the interface, “Protect the mothers.”
Taking a step closer to the screen, he frowned. “An AI from one of the artifacts must have somehow uploaded itself to our ship’s mainframe prior to the explosion.” Speaking up, he stated, “Please state the n
ature of the threat.”
Rather than speech, a holographic vid jumped to one of the cloning bays with men webbed into every nook and cranny. Each had a nest of eggs imbedded into their torso, pulsating and gross.
Seeing the familiar sight, Keiko felt her knees buckle. “Not again. This can’t be happening again.”
Dropping to his knees beside her, Shar Jalon touched her gently on the back. “Are they similar to the insectoids from your timeline?”
Nodding, she tried to get her head straight. It seemed fantastically impossible that the creatures were here, yet here they were. Keiko had spent her entire life fighting them, watching every single member of her family fall one by one. Now, they had thousands of worlds and billions of people in this dimension to feed on.
Pulling herself together, Keiko realized that she had one advantage over all the others in this dimension. She was intimately acquainted with the ways of the enemy. She’d learned all their tricks and she just couldn’t stand by and let them feed on the endless bounty of human souls this dimension had to offer.
Pushing herself to her feet, she accessed the well of inner strength that had gotten her through so many times before, as she felt determination solidify in the pit of her stomach. Faced with the option to run or fight, she found herself choosing the latter. Rather than weapons, she’d fight this battle with her courage, cunning, and a unique understanding of the enemy.
Shar Jalon jerked his shoulder towards the screen, as clones were prone to do instead of pointing like a human or jerking his chin like a Krylon warrior. “That might be the biological that briefly appeared on your scan as the anomaly closed. Infiltrating the cloning unit was a smart move. We’ve been searching for external threats, while all that time they have been right here.”
Keiko knew with absolute certainty that their one and only hope of controlling the infestation was to kill them before they fully matured. The only way to ensure the infestation was destroyed would be to initiate the self-destruct sequence, but since the AI from the artifact had uploaded itself, their system was now corrupted.
Celestial Mates Complete Series Box Set (Books 1-5) (Alien SciFi Romance) Page 46