by Frank Carey
“I want to be assigned to another team.”
“Really? May I ask why?”
“Personal reasons,” I replied.
“Okay, you'll go to the Spaceport, and Hiram will double up as digger and xeno. Is there a problem I should be aware of?”
“No, no problem. Thank you,” I said as I walked out of his office. Once back inside my room I locked the door and tried to forget my life.
###
There was a knock at my door. I looked at the chrono on the wall and saw I had been asleep for eight hours. Confused I opened the door and saw Taliss standing there. She walked in uninvited.
“Please, come in,” I said as I closed the door behind her.
“What the hell is your problem?” she said as she sat down in one of the room's two overstuffed chairs.
“Excuse me?”
“What happened between you and Hiram?”
“That's really none of your…”
“Do you know why he set up that chance meeting between you and Peter?”
I didn't reply, shocked by the thought that I was the only one to miss that small fact until last night.
“Peter and Hiram go way back. Peter had a twin sister—Natalia—who Hiram adored as if she were his own sister. The three of them were inseparable. When you relapsed and took off without a word, Hiram was devastated, so he went to visit Peter and Natalia. They insisted he stay at their family home in England. That's when the shit hit the fan.
I didn't like the sound of this story. I sat down and asked, “What happened?”
“One night, Peter had a small party, maybe twenty people including Natalia and Hiram. During the party Natalia turned and tried to kill everyone there, including Peter. She went berserk. Five people were killed and Peter was seriously injured. More would have died if Hiram hadn't stopped her.”
“How did he stop her?”
“He fought her while the survivors dragged Peter out. Once everyone was out of harm’s way, Hiram tried to reason with her, but she refused to listen. He was forced to use a blaster against her. He had set it to heavy stun, but it accidentally went to full power when she tried to take it from him. It went off at point-blank range, killing her instantly and throwing him into a wall. I've seen the footage once, and I never want to see it again.”
“Oh my God. I didn't…”
“Peter never blamed Hiram for his sister's death, but Hiram sure as hell did. After your incident, Hiram found himself with the two people he loved the most in this world hurting big time, and he felt he was somehow at the root of it, so he got this crazy idea to bring you two together to help each other in ways he couldn't.”
I have been such a damn fool. I sat there not knowing what to say. Finally, I asked, “Did Peter know?”
“Peter never knew about you or your relationship to Hiram just as you never knew about Hiram's relationship with Peter or his relationship with me.”
“Oh. Were you and Hiram…?”
“He's my son.”
“What?” I blurted out. “But Hiram's human.”
“Hiram's parents were killed when he was very young. My mate and I adopted him. We raised him as our own son.”
Okay. Not sure what to do with this except maybe run screaming from the ship. “Why are you telling me this?”
“Why are you hurting my son?”
“If we get back together he will die, so I panic when we get too close. Like after the party, I just wanted to crawl into his lap and fall asleep in his arms…”
“And you're afraid you'd wake up with your fangs in his neck. I get it, but he doesn't. He never did, and he never will. You two need to sit down and make some hard decisions before you drive him away once and for all.”
“What do you mean,” I asked.
“All his mail is delivered to my place, and my mate calls me when something important comes. Well he called right before takeoff to tell me Hiram got a letter asking him to join an expedition, an expedition to a planet ten years travel-time from Earth. It's a one-way trip.”
“You think he'd go?” I asked, horrified.
“In his present state of mind? Probably.”
“Dammit, I need to talk to him,” I said as I grabbed some clothes and headed to the bathroom for a quick shower.
“That will be difficult,” Taliss said.
“Why?” I asked as I jumped into the shower.
“He and Joshua are already inside Site Six. Joshua got word that his daughter has taken a turn for the worse, so he decided to change the time table by putting Team Six on the ground first.”
I finished the shower and quickly dressed while Taliss kept an eye on the time. “Why aren't you with them?” I asked.
“I wanted to talk to you after the fiasco you staged last night, so I rearranged the duty rosters.”
I finished tying my shoes and grabbed my field bag. I was headed to the door when a long, powerful, fur-covered arm blocked my way. “Focus, Doctor. We have a young child's life in the balance, so don't get lost in the emotions you're feeling right now. Hiram is only a few minutes flight time away from here, and he isn't going anywhere.”
“How do you know?”
“He promised me he wouldn't leave without talking to you first. Hiram Jones never breaks a promise, especially one he's made to his mother.”
With that, she lowered her arm and led me down to the bay where the last team prepared for drop-off.
CHAPTER NINE
I watched as the Tailtiu lifted off and headed back into orbit where it would wait for a recall signal from any of the teams. If something were found, she would return, gather up any findings, and ship them back to Earth in one of twelve high-speed drones she carried. She would then return to space and wait for the next call while carrying out planetary and system surveys.
“This way,” our team leader, Dr. Surrey, said as she led the way to a large building next to the concrete pad we had landed on. “Shanna, can you read that signage?” she asked, referring to a large plaque on the building’s wall.
“Welcome to Latossa Spaceport, the Gateway to the Stars,” I recited. I held up the scanpad and asked Ule for confirmation.
“Confirmed, doctor. Doctor, I understand Mr. Jones is now available to date. If this is the case…”
I looked to the heavens for guidance and strength while the others just giggled. “Ule, your information is in error. Hiram and I are still dating.”
“I see. You will let me know if that status changes, won’t you?”
Don’t piss-off the AI. Don’t piss-off the AI. “Of course, Ule. You’ll be the first to know.”
When we reached the building, we found our way blocked by a locked door. While Taliss scanned the area for danger, and the others just watched, I reached into my bag and pulled out a set of Elven Industries robotic lock picks Hiram gave me when we were dating. Forcing myself to stay on task, I grabbed one of the smaller picks and put it near what looked like a keyhole. The pick sat there for a moment before sprouting legs and crawling into the keyhole. There was a click and the door swung open a few inches as the pick walked out of the hole and dropped into my hand. There were murmurs of appreciation from the rest of the team.
Once inside, the others pulled out scanners while I walked over to the wall and read the directory out loud: “Let's see… Cafeteria… Arrivals… Departures… Baggage Claim… Computer Center… Something about a Transport Hub. Ule, I can’t make out some of this. Can you take a crack at it?” I asked as I held the scanpad up to the directory. Unfortunately, I was limited to vocabulary listed in the references, which may have changed over the centuries.
“Yes. It says ground transport is straight ahead while subsurface transportation is downward.”
“Transport?” Dr. Surrey asked as she looked at the directory. “I didn't see anything even remotely resembling transportation when we flew in.”
“Got something,” Dr. Smithfield said as he panned his scanner around. It looks like an underground transport
system,” he said, while pointing straight ahead
“Any power readings?” Surrey asked.
“Yes, there is an active power source down there.”
Surrey pulled out her commlink and called the Tailtiu.
“Go for Santor,” the captain replied.
The scientist reported what she had found. “We're going down to check it out,” she said into the device.
“Copy that. Report back when you get there. Tailtiu out.”
Surrey closed the commlink and placed it back in her pocket. “Shanna, take the lead.”
“Aye, ma'am,” I said as I checked the scan I had made of the directory. “This way.”
We headed into the building and soon found ourselves at the top of an escalator leading underground. Lights came on and the escalator started moving the moment I stepped on the metal apron in front of it. It was as if we had been transported from a deserted planet to an airport back on Earth. We stepped on the moving stairway and were quickly carried downward.
“My God are those travel posters?” Smithfield asked while pointing at the walls on either side of the escalator.
I read the posters. “I think so. That one coming up on the right says, 'Visit Raulto Val, Gateway to Pleasure'.”
“What happens in Raulto Val stays in Raulto Val,” Taliss said with a smirk. I noticed she was still using her “real” voice. Probably had something to do with being on the job. Her remark got a chuckle out of everyone.
More lights came on when we reached the bottom of the moving stairway. We disembarked and found ourselves in an underground subway station. Odd troughs were inset into the ground on either side of the walkway we were standing on, but no vehicles were in sight. The troughs entered tunnels cut into the wall at the end of the walkway.
“Hummm,” Surrey said as she took in the almost familiar tableau. “We seem to have missed the train.”
“Incredible,” Dr. Fenstra said while scanning one of the troughs. It's a maglev system, and it just became active.” He knelt and placed his hand on the walkway surface. “We've got company.”
A large cylindrical vehicle pulled into the station on the right trough and came to a gentle stop before doors on its side opened. I was shocked at how normal this looked. I fought the urge to step inside.
“I found another directory,” Dr. Salton said from the center area of the walkway. I tore my gaze from the train and saw the tall Sokuhl pointing at a hologram of a directory.
Quickly walking over, I started reading. I stopped when I got to “University.” I placed my finger on the word, causing the directory to switch views to a map of the school with the train station a blinking red dot.
“What is that, Shanna?” Surrey asked.
“It seems to be a nearby University,” I said. I touched other spots on the map: “Biology, Applied Sciences, Library…”
“Jackpot?” Taliss said with a raised eyebrow.
“Damn skippy,” Surrey replied as she grabbed her commlink. She stepped away to make a call while the rest of us scanned the directory and the area around us.
We were interrupted by the arrival of our medic, Dr. Vloss. She slid down the escalator and ran up to join us at the directory. “Doc, I thought you were supposed to stay at the shelter?” I said.
“So did I, but I got a call from the Tailtiu ordering me to button up and come down here with my stuff,” she replied while pointing a tentacle at the pack on her back. “Well, this is so cool.”
“Yeah, very cool,” I said.
“This is really three thousand years old?” Doc asked.
“Probably older, yet it looks like it opened this morning,” I said as I marveled at the newness of it all. “I'm really not used to this,” I said truthfully. Ancient civilizations are usually more primitive than mine.”
“I wish I could read ancient Venlanten. That poster over there looks like an advertisement for a pharmaceutical,” Doc said pointing a tentacle at a poster of a man and woman holding hands and looking into each other's eyes.
I looked closely and saw, below the body copy, a densely packed paragraph written in impossibly small type. I read a few lines before blushing.
“May I, Doctor?” Ule asked, so I pointed the scanpad toward the poster.
“Oh my!” she blurted out. “I will never understand you corporeal beings.”
That got a chuckle from everyone, especially Doc.
“I knew it!” Doc said as she pulled out a celebratory nutribar, the addiction of choice for her people.
Surrey walked up to us and said, “I just got off the horn with the Tailtiu. We've been ordered to proceed to the university by train and contact the ship when we arrive. Using our beacons and the information I gave them, they scanned the area where this university is supposed to be. All they found were ruins and no sign of a maglev track. There is a faint energy signature coming from below the ruins, though.”
“The University is underground?” Fenstra asked.
“It looks that way. Take ten more minutes to catalog everything, and then we'll all board together, just in case the train reacts to the presence of passengers. Taliss, Shanna, I need to talk to you both in private,” the biologist said as she took them out of earshot of the others.
“What's wrong, Doctor?” Taliss asked.
“Tailtiu reports the other teams are having a field day of discovery,” Surrey explained. “Some of the team members are swearing they will never leave the planet. All the teams have reported-in on schedule, all, that is, except Team Six. They missed their last check-in.”
Hiram! Shit. Taliss and I would be with them if it weren’t for my tantrum.
“Protocol is to give them one more missed check-in before we panic. That deadline will be in a few more hours. Taliss, I know Hiram's your son, and Doctor, I know you and Hiram have a relationship, so what do you both want to do?”
“All team members are equipped with EPIRBs. Has any Team Six member activated theirs?” Taliss asked.
“That was the first thing I asked when they told me about the missed check-in. No Emergency Position-Indicating Radio Beacon signal has been detected by the Tailtiu, by the two probes they had overfly the site, or by the medic standing-by at the camp,” Surrey reported.
“Malfunction?” I asked.
“No, I personally checked every EPIRB we sent out. All were in perfect working order.” Taliss stopped and thought for a moment. “I say we wait until the next scheduled check-in. If they miss it, we can activate the ratbots stored in the rambler.”
“We have ratbots?” I asked. Some of the greatest advances in archaeological technology were in the form of autonomous search robots from the labs at the Cube research center, the Office of Security's premier research laboratory. Ratbots were rat-size quadruped robots that can enter buildings and scurry about like their mammalian namesakes.
“Yes. We also have snakebots and hawkbots aboard the Tailtiu. I even requisitioned a Minotaur, just in case of trouble. A girl can't be too careful,” Taliss said with a smile.
They both turned and looked at me. “First, I agree with Taliss' plan. Hiram is good at what he does, and he knows when the hell to turn tail and run. Hell, he survived a run-in with a wombat, and I doubt this planet has anything running around anywhere near that dangerous, so I think we should continue with the plan.”
“And second?” Surrey asked as she crossed her arms. I got the impression she liked Hiram a lot more than she liked me.
“Second, I do not have a weird relationship with Hiram! Complicated, yes, but not weird!” I replied.
Surrey unfolded her arms and smiled. “Sorry. We should get going. Everyone, get your stuff. We're moving out.”
I grabbed my rucksack and was about to join the rest of the team when Taliss stopped me. “I'm worried about him too,” she said before letting me continue. It was going to be a long day for both of us.
###
Surrey was the last to board the train. We waited for a moment, but nothing happened, so
we looked around for a control. “Over here,” Doc said from the middle of the car. Set into the wall was a large viewer with a map of the system on it. I found the university on it and pressed the red dot corresponding to its location on the map. Immediately, the doors closed followed by the train accelerating. Soon we were cruising through the tunnel at a phenomenal speed.
“How fast are we going?” Doc asked as she stared out the window.
Smithfield activated his scanpad. “A little over three hundred fifty miles per hour. Not bad.”
“I miss the clickity-clack of steel wheels on steel rails,” Fenstra said.
“At this speed, and assuming eighty feet between joints, your clickity-clack would be an annoying buzz,” Smithfield said.
“Killjoy,” Fenstra said as he walked over to where I was standing. He watched the map change as we approached the University. “Doctor, I was sorry to hear about Peter. He was a good man.”
“Thank you,” I replied, wondering how many people knew Peter. Then I remembered the party Peter threw for Hiram. There must have been a thousand partygoers milling around that venue. The more I thought about that party, the more thoughts about Hiram flooded my mind. It would serve me right if Hiram did take off, never to return, especially the way I treated him. Taliss walked over, and put her hand on my shoulder, interrupting my musings.
“You okay?” she asked.
“Yeah, doing fine. Tell me, how did all of you find each other? You, Hiram, Peter, Natalia, I mean.”
“Hiram's parents and Peter's parents were all archaeologists who went on numerous digs together. I worked for both families as their head of security. When the Joneses were killed, I had the choice of adopting Hiram or sending him to an orphanage. Hasn't Hiram told you any of this?”
“Come to think of it, Hiram has never mentioned any family. Why didn't the Mathewson's adopt him?” For the first time since I met her, I watched Taliss get uncomfortable talking about something. “What's wrong?”
“They didn't adopt Hiram because he's human. To them he was no more than a plaything for their kids.”
Now I was angry. Really angry. “And Peter?” I asked.