Asherah looked down, sober. That was just one of many times she had tried to help Steven against her father's wishes, and it had cost her dearly.
"It really hurt you," Steven said, shocked, putting his arm around her. She had blacked out from the pain as she tried to shield Steven the best she could. Steven was shocked. "I'm so sorry."
She looked up at him sharply and her anger washed over him. "Never be sorry, Steven. I took your pain because I love you. Never be sorry for my love." Her irises flashed yellow as the blue-gray patches shrunk. He was taken aback by her anger, but saw what she was saying and had a greater comprehension of what Penipe was trying to impress on him.
"I will never be sorry for your love, Asherah. Ever." Steven ran his fingers through her hair as she looked into his eyes. Her anger shocked him, but her reason was part of him. He knew exactly why she reacted that way as he felt her passion in his heart. She gave him her strength, and he likewise gave her strength when she was suffering. Their bond kept each other alive during the worst of times.
She relaxed and smiled softly as she experienced him working it out. "Now you understand."
Steven nodded. He couldn't help but be awed by it.
"When we were between life and death, that wasn't a dream, was it?" Steven already knew the answer, however. She looked at him as he worked to digest the enormity of their relationship. "This is going to take some getting used to."
"You'll be fine, my love," Asherah thought to him. He felt her affection wash over him as she caressed his face and kissed him. Steven already knew he wouldn't have things any other way.
As it turned out, Lohet was in agreement with Steven about Jacob. They all sat outside around a large table and the Keratian actually brought it up as he was blending something in one of Sally's blenders. Sirel and Migalo had finished off their catch and Moringa was eating some greens she gathered from the forest. Steven brought another bowl of figs from the pantry to share with Asherah. She decided they were her favorite fruit now and Steven was wondering if he was going to have to raid their winter stores soon. But there was a late crop coming on at their old homestead and the trees looked like they were going to bear well.
Lohet leaned against the table as he ran the blender, thoroughly mixing up whatever drink he was concocting. "Jacob needs to be managed," he said, looking at Steven.
Steven stuck his tongue out at Asherah. She kicked him under the table as she bit into another fig, making him jump. She looked sideways at him and grinned while she chewed. Steven scowled briefly at her, then took a bite of the fig as she held it out to him. How could he stay angry with her? Lohet looked at the two of them for a moment, then continued.
"Our primary mission is the Sadari. The success of our mission is paramount to the survival of not just this planet, but the entire Cooperative." He stopped and looked at Steven. "I trust that Asherah has explained the Cooperative to you?"
"Briefly. I actually learned a lot about it in the meadow when I helped her with her homework." Steven said, thinking back and being shocked at how much he knew but didn't acknowledge. He remembered Asherah saying that he could travel to any of the planets, too. Thousands of galaxies. It was all so overwhelming to him. The core planet Steven rescued Asherah from, Endard, was in a distant galaxy, and it was as easy to travel there as it was for him to walk into the next room. Steven suddenly felt very small as he contemplated the enormity of the universe around him.
"Jacob is a distraction that needs to be addressed," Lohet stated as he poured in some more powder into the blender, then some ground herbs.
"What are the Sadari?" Steven asked while watching Lohet prepare his meal. He knew that they were aliens and they were considered the bad guys. That was about the extent of it. Asherah's understanding of them was still fairly rudimentary. Rachel was supposed to be a product of the Sadari, though Steven couldn't imagine how. She was soft and bubbly and very sweet. Hardly a ravenous conquering alien.
Lohet thought for a second. An abridged version would be faster. "They're an ancient technomorph species. Tremendous mental capacity but they have no ability to gate." He looked at Steven. "Think of them as deviants without the power." Lohet plunged a heating element into the blender to warm up the liquid. "They synthesize everything they need. They have no connection to nature and have no regard for other life. They are xenophobes and the only interaction we've had with them is through their golems, which act as their proxies." He looked off into the distance. "They are jealous of our natural ability to exploit fractures. They tried to take over core fracture worlds that acted as hubs in order to attempt to dominate gating, but we defeated them."
"If you defeated them then, what's the challenge now?" Steven persisted.
"Terra is in the same galaxy as their occupied region. Their gate has been irrevocably closed since the War. Terra… Earth… is the only other occupied planet in this galaxy that has any sort of connection to the fracture, and the fracture in the meadow is extremely strong. The Terrans here may have latent gating abilities that the Sadari lack altogether." He stopped and looked up. "The only reason we won was because they couldn't apply the full power of their technology. If they are able to access the fractures with their technology, the Cooperative is lost. One of their ships is up there now somewhere. It must have taken them over a thousand years to get here. If they synthesize gating capabilities, any part of the universe is but an instant away for them."
Steven followed his gaze upward. Anything that made Lohet nervous made him nervous. Lohet looked at Steven. "Steven, you may be key in incapacitating the Sadari." Steven found that hard to believe. "They cannot block your access to the fractures since you are a deviant and can create your own fractures. No amount of technology can block you." Lohet looked at him, wondering if telling him that was the right thing. However he was going to figure it out sooner or later anyway.
"Why would they have taken my biological parents?" Steven asked. While he now saw Sally and Jonah in a new light, he still had not forgotten about the subject of his obsession for most of his childhood.
"I can only guess. They are attempting to use them as models in their goals of synthesizing gatekeeping," Lohet sighed. "This entire ruse was a trap, Steven. They wanted us to detect them. And they clamped down on us the instant we arrived."
Steven scratched his arm as he looked at Lohet. He beheld the monster that had terrorized his nightmares for most of his childhood just sitting there mixing up a drink of something as if it was a normal, domesticated task. And this monster was telling him that he was key to stopping an overwhelmingly powerful alien force. Steven sighed. He was just a kid. He didn't feel powerful.
Steven looked at what Lohet was mixing. It was mostly white, with the herbs making it more off white, like a dirty milkshake. "What is that?" Steven picked up a pouch of the white powder and looked at it.
"Rodan blood," Lohet stated. "Dried, of course."
Steven put it down quickly and looked at Lohet. "You don't... hunt?"
Lohet regarded him for a moment while blending, then he decanted his meal into a pitcher. "We are not predators, Steven. We are protectors. Shepherds." He sniffed his drink and took a sip. "Our relationship with the Rodan is symbiotic. They feed us, and we protect them." He drank deeply then looked at the white stained pitcher. "This was from the Lydian district. Their varietal is remarkable."
"What could possibly be a challenge to you?" Steven asked.
Lohet smiled. "Where I come from, we are not at the top of the food chain. But then, neither are Terrans. We are very good at being protectors, however, which is why we remain the dominant species on our planet."
Steven shook his head, bewildered. Vampires that are shepherds and tend herds. That was a new one for him.
Lohet looked at his empty pitcher. "Fresh is better, however. Slightly fermented. It's been a long time since I've had a fresh meal."
"Maybe I'll have to sneak you in sometime," Steven said, grinning. He could do that now. He was reveling in
the newfound freedom that his ability had gifted him with, while at the same time terrified of just how open the universe was to him.
Asherah looked at him and frowned, shaking her head.
"What?" Steven asked.
"His planet is too extreme for you, for most of us," she said. "You would be over five times heavier."
"I like it perfectly fine," Sirel chirped in. She landed softly on the table and sat down next to Asherah to play with her hair. Little discharges of electricity seemed to dance on Asherah's hair and Sirel giggled as Asherah rolled her eyes.
Lohet regarded Steven for a while. It had been a long time since they had a gatekeeper handy. "Supplies are running low. I'll have Penipe send a list to Tor'eng so we can get a full set of provisions." He looked at the pitcher, thinking. "Now, on to Jacob. The sooner we take care of that problem, the better."
Steven set his laptop up and pulled up their servers. Retrieving it had been trivial, thanks to his new abilities. He turned it for Sirel who started scanning their systems for any useful data. She was better at finding that kind of stuff than he was, which was a little humbling. Asherah informed him that she was many times older than Lohet. Sirel cocked her head as she worked then bounced to a song only she could hear. The laptop was crude from her perspective, and she deftly worked through Steven's system easily, slapping away Steven's finger as he tried to help. "Their base is still wrecked. I guess they didn't like your remodeling job," she giggled, elbowing Steven as she worked.
"He mentioned other bases," Steven said, looking at Sirel and realizing that he was sitting right next to an alien of immense age and power. Yet even from close up she appeared to be little more than an adolescent girl. She glanced sideways at him briefly and he looked down, embarrassed.
"Yes, I have them pulled up too, sweetie," Sirel said as she concentrated.
"They are geared up to combat aliens. Though they are totally ineffective. They have no idea what they are fighting and are reaching in the dark," Lohet observed. "But they won't respond to threats from us. Blind arrogance directs their hand." He looked at Steven. "But a threat from a deviant can be most convincing and take that arrogance down a notch." He smiled, his canines glinting in the sun.
A Mustang pulled up their drive. Brandon made it finally. He missed most of breakfast, however. He got out and reached back in and pulled out a bunch of books and walked over to the table. Moringa looked up and lit up with a big smile when she saw him. He sat down next to her and put the books down on the table.
"What are those for?" Steven asked.
"I'm going to teach her English," Brandon stated. "Work has given me a two week leave of absence while they investigate the shooting and we repair the property, so I figured I'd be useful here." He opened a book and started showing Moringa pictures and identifying them. She scooted closer, leaning against Brandon, fascinated by the books. Brandon blushed a little and Steven grinned. Moringa was especially gleeful when he showed her some oceanic pictures. Steven raised an eyebrow but didn't say anything. He looked back at Asherah who was grinning at him while nibbling a mushroom. Steven rolled his eyes.
"I've found him," Sirel said. "He's returning to an office in New York."
"Great. Now, let's make this good," Steven said, smiling.
"You will need some practice, Steven," Lohet said, appraising the young deviant. "A quick training course should be enough for now."
Steven raised his eyebrows and Lohet grinned. Steven gulped.
After making it through security, Jacob hobbled to his East Coast office, eager to get back to work. He had a fresh cast on a broken leg and his head was wrapped up but other than that he survived the collapse. Whatever hit them on the West Coast was more than they could have possibly imagined. Their hangers were wrecked, tunnels collapsed, and the deep chambers under partial collapse. The base was very close to being written off altogether. Jacob preferred to look at it as a learning experience. The lesson learned was that they were far from being an effective global defense force.
The board of directors was less than understanding, however. They preferred to maintain their arrogance and assume that it was mistakes that allowed the attack to succeed rather than insufficient capabilities. Jacob shook his head, bemused. They didn't see what he saw. They had been assuming human-like creatures with superior technology. But the aliens were stronger and faster by far without their technology. He remembered the drone catastrophe. They emptied their weapon on the alien but didn't scratch him, and the drone was handily destroyed with no chance of evasion or survival. But the board members ignored that.
He got through unscathed, however. Jacob was tasked to continue advancing their technical capabilities. Steven's phone was a big part of that. It was the first thing they had acquired that allowed them to access a network they knew was there but had until now been completely excluded from. Accessing their neural network was key to accessing their technology, of course. And accessing their technology was crucial to leveling the playing field. Once they do that they'll be in a position to assert their control over global resources and implement a functioning global defense system.
Jacob put his hand on the scanner lock at his office. It verified the chip in his palm and opened the door. He limped in, putting the phone on his desk.
"Thanks. I've been looking for that," Steven said out of the darkness.
Jacob jumped and almost fell over as his cast slipped. Steven turned on a desk light and sat back in Jacob's chair, holding his phone. Jacob smiled amicably. "Well, I see you survived. I can't tell you how relieved I am."
"Hmm, so relieved that you left instructions to terminate my parents and friends after we left?" Steven looked at his phone. "Something about... loose ends?"
Jacob was silent. Steven smiled and looked up at him. "I'm seeing a loose end, Jacob."
In a flash, Jacob pulled his pistol and fired three rounds into the chair. But it was empty. A voice whispered in his ear so close he could feel the hot breath, "Did you miss me?" Jacob spun around but saw no one. Rubbing his eyes, he leaned against the desk. Was he seeing things?
"I think you might be going crazy, Jacob," Steven said from behind him. Jacob whirled around and aimed at Steven. Steven smiled and stepped forward and put his forehead against the barrel of the pistol. "Is this close enough?
Jacob pulled the trigger and a vase on a shelf behind Steven shattered.
"Jacob, I think I would ask for a refund for that gun," Steven said. He touched the gun and it disappeared in a puff of vapor.
Jacob's eyes went wide and Steven grinned. "I think it's time for me to set some boundaries for our relationship. You see, thanks largely to you, I've learned a few things about myself. I really have to thank you, Jacob. It turns out that I really am quite special."
The ground below Jacob's feet started rumbling and the collection of quartz crystals on their glass shelf started rattling. "You see, I did that. And I did your base. And it would seem I've done several earthquakes before that. I'm not entirely sure how but it has to do with releasing pockets of fast time that conflict with slow time that causes stresses on the fabric of space. Some sort of scientific mumbo jumbo that I really don't care about. What I do care about are my friends and family. So let me show you what could happen to not just your Washington base, but all of the other hundred and thirty five bases you have scattered around the world." Steven stopped for a second, "I've been to every one too, by the way." He pulled a map out of his pocket and dropped it on Jacob's desk.
Steven stepped up to Jacob and touched him. Suddenly the roof vaporized and the walls and floor fell away and Jacob found himself standing with Steven on a small stony ledge overlooking a seething fountain of lava erupting from a large fissure. They were nearly half way down the wall of the fissure and pieces of molten lava were splattering on the walls all around them. The smell of hydrogen sulfide was overpowering and the heat was intense. The rocks shuddered and shook and the sound was deafening as the lava roiled and shot up violently.
"Can you feel that?" Steven yelled over the din of the eruption. "I did this!" Steven held Jacob and found a steaming rock and put it in his hand. "My friends, my family, aliens or not. Off limits. Or your bases all look like this!" Jacob's eyes were wide as he looked around. Steven shoved him hard over the edge of the ledge and Jacob screamed as he fell face forward onto the floor of his office.
Steven was sitting in his chair again. Jacob looked around then up at Steven. Steven smiled. "Jacob. you can play cowboys and aliens all you want. But not with us. We're not interested in your games. You don't hold a candle to the real bad guys and are nothing more than a distraction to us. So stay out of our way." Steven slammed the rock down on his desk so hard that Jacob flinched. When he looked again, Steven was gone but the smoking rock remained.
"This is pretty cool," Sarah said as she brought another handful of canvases from her living room into the room she was using at the homestead. "I don't understand it, but this is way cool."
Steven grinned, looking up from his laptop. He was busy organizing his data to distribute to Penipe's systems. Sirel looked over his shoulder helping him sort through the junk and useful stuff.
"I'm still getting used to it too," Steven said. The ability to gate was liberating, but at the same time very disconcerting to Steven. "When does your sublet move in?"
Sarah grabbed the last painting and leaned it against the wall. "Next week."
Charley came out of their old bedroom with a small box. "That's it. I think we're moved out."
Sarah sighed and looked at the room Steven used. "I'll miss him." Charley put his arm around her waist and kissed her cheek. "Your brother is with you. Not in a room." He guided her out of the apartment and Steven let the gate fade so the homestead's wall dominated again.
"Thanks, dear." Sarah kissed Steven on the cheek as she walked by. He nodded and finished up the data transfer.
Crow - The Awakening Page 66