2492:184: We’ve been assigned to Xinji! Can you believe it? The place hasn’t changed and I keep expecting to run into you. Weird. And just FYI—the kissing zone is still in use. I caught a couple teens there the other day. The boy turned scarlet! Fun.
Fun? I huff. She would have been mortified if she’d been caught.
2503:111: Oh my, I just received a message from Jarren! Remember him? My old love. The poor boy was finally released from two years in detention after arriving at Planet Suzhou and is still in love with me. He’s almost twenty and I’m thirty-nine A-years old and have two children! I hated to break his heart again, but it had to be done. Poor boy. Oh, and don’t worry, Li-Li, I won’t be taking my children away from their friends. We plan to stay on Xinji until the youngest is eighteen A-years old. Too bad I can’t convince some of my friends to stay. How can they put their desires over their children? I’m sick of hearing, “we survived and so will they.” Have we survived? I’m sure Jarren doesn’t think so right now.
Poor Jarren, indeed. If he stayed on Suzhou, he’d be thirty-seven A-years right now. If not, I’ve no idea of his age. It’s enough to give anyone a headache. No wonder DES leaves keeping track of all that up to the Q-net.
2520:161: Exciting news, Li-Li! I figured out what that octagon of yours means! No one believes me. I’m to send my research notes to the other “experts.” I’m sure your parents will get the official report with all the details so I won’t bore you, but it’s been so long since we had any progress on that question mark. I hope when you arrive at Yulin in two E-years, the full mystery will be solved. My life’s work has been on figuring out those symbols and I’m sending you my research notes—you might find them amusing since they’re like a code within a code—remember when we made up silly codes so Jarren and Cyril didn’t know what we were saying? Anyway, I believe I deciphered this hidden code and I will be able to “read” the symbols and find out why the Warriors were transported to so many other planets! I just need the “experts” to agree with me so I can get more funding.
I’m so glad Vint and I decided to stay on Xinji after our kids left for university. I’d love if you could send me a message when you get to Yulin. That is if you even read mine and want to communicate with me. I’ll be fifty-eight A-years old by then.
I stare at the screen. Thoughts and emotions roll through me. Lan was on Xinji when it went silent. A new type of grief burns in my chest. It’s one thing to pretend your friends don’t exist, quite another to learn it’s true. I slam my palm on my leg. This is why we cut all ties. Pressure builds behind my eyes, threatening to send tears racing down my cheeks. I place my crossed arms on the desk and rest my forehead on them. Letting the sadness wash through me, I consider Lan’s life. At least she married and had children. I’m surprised that knowledge actually helps to lessen the grief. Huh? And who knows, maybe there was a communication glitch and she’s fine. Ahhh…there’s that denial I know and love.
Wiping my eyes, I push to my feet and go back to the living area. My parents are bent close and talking in low voices. I move closer and they jerk back as if caught smooching in the kissing zone. Odd.
“Did you learn anything about Xinji?” Mom asks.
“Lan mentions that she deciphered a code for the alien symbols and might be able to read them, but she didn’t explain. She said you were sent a report with all the details. Did you find it?”
Mom’s face lights up with excitement. “Not yet.”
“Do you know when this was?” my dad asks as he scans through the files.
“The message was dated 2520:161.”
“Okay, I’ll start at 2518.”
“Why so early?” I ask, thinking about the artifact and how quickly the news spread.
He shoots me a sly smile. “Sometimes discoveries are kept secret until more information can be collected. We couldn’t do that with your octagon. Your friend Lan told everyone before we could validate the find. And then told them again after we certified it as genuine.”
Oops. Dad searches through the files as Mom hovers nervously over his shoulder. If he finds the report, I wonder if he’ll share the details with me. I could worm into his messages, that would be easy. But the thought makes me queasy. That would be personal versus worming into DES or the ship’s net, which is impersonal. Plus it’s DES’s fault for leaving those holes in their security for me to worm through.
“Anything?” Mom asks after a couple minutes.
Dad blows out a breath. “Nope. Are you sure of the date, Li-Li?”
“Yes.”
“Well maybe it was encrypted. Those take longer to come through.”
“What did Lan say exactly?” Mom asks.
“Come see for yourself.”
She trails me into my room and I open Lan’s last missive. I study her as she reads the screen. Her long black hair is pulled back into a sloppy bun and there’s dark smudges under her eyes. Except for the color, my eyes are the same as hers. My mother can trace her family tree back to China on Earth. Phoenix takes after Dad, whose family originated in England.
They met in Xi’an, China, Earth. All the archaeologists who wish to be assigned to a Warrior planet have to complete a two-year apprenticeship at Emperor Qin Shi Huang’s necropolis, working with the original Terracotta Army. My mother likes to tease my father that she is more of an expert on the Warriors because her ancestors built them—a source of pride.
“She discovered a code,” Mom says, more to herself than me. “A code as in those symbols are a language, or a code as a way to decipher the symbols?”
I realize she’s asking me. “I don’t know.”
“Do you still have those codes you created with Lan?”
“Probably. Why?”
“It will give us an insight into how Lan thought. It might help us figure out how Lan approached the puzzle. What may have triggered her epiphany. Might is the key word. We’re assuming Lan didn’t change much as she matured. We’ve no idea who Lan the adult was.”
Was. I grab her arm. “Did you find out…are they all…dead?”
“I don’t know what happened. I didn’t mean to imply that.”
“But you think it?”
She rubs a hand over her face. “I do. I’m sorry.”
“Why are you sorry? It’s the truth.” My throat tightens as I clamp down on my emotions.
Crouching next to me, she says, “It’s a mom thing. I don’t want to cause you pain and there’s a chance I’m wrong. In fact, I’d love to be wrong.” She lowers her voice. “Don’t tell your father that.”
“I won’t.” We share a sad smile.
Mom glances at the time. “You better hurry, Lyra. You don’t want to be late for soch-time.”
No way I’m leaving now.
When I open my mouth to protest, Mom raises a slender eyebrow. “Unless you enjoyed cleaning out the galley’s food trap?”
I bite down on a growl. That happened seven days ago and I still can’t wash the stink of rotten food from my sweater. “It was only three minutes. Don’t you think that’s an excessive punishment for being three minutes late?”
“Late is late, Lyra.” She shoos me out.
Arriving at the rec room two minutes early—and where’s my reward for being there early? If you’re going to punish lateness, then you should reward earlyness. My mother’s practical voice sounds in my head. Not being punished is your reward, Lyra. And then she adds, Earlyness is not a word. Pah.
The mood is downright grim among the older kids from Xinji. The quartet of girls sit in a circle and lean so close together their foreheads are almost touching. Niall is in his spot reading from a portable.
Playing a game holds no appeal for me and the babysitter is busy tending to the younger kids who don’t know what’s going on, but can sense the change in atmosphere and are cranky. I take advantage of her distraction and w
orm into DES’s database through the game system, looking for information on Xinji. Shrinking the image down to the right bottom corner, I pull up a random game to cover the rest.
I’m extra careful this time, covering my tracks. My first discovery—there’s thousands of files, messages, and data that was sent to DES from Xinji before it went silent. Ugh. My second—they named the octagon after me—well, sort of. It has an official designation, but in parenthesis is “LTD’s octagonal artifact.” I’m rather proud, until my imagination kicks in. What if Lan translated the alien script on the artifact and it led them to some forgotten chamber that was booby trapped with a fatal virus and it killed everyone on the planet? It would be my fault. Now, I’m horrified.
“You just can’t stop, can you?” Niall asks.
No longer reading, Niall is looming over me. He’s wearing black jeans and a tight T-shirt—a good look for him except for the I’m-pissed-off-crease dug into his brow. “You’ve no idea just how dangerous it is to worm into DES. You could endanger everyone’s life.”
“That’s bull. My activities are far from the ship’s systems.”
“It’s all connected, you—”
I jump to my feet, cutting him off. “Watch it or you might say something you’ll regret.” He’s about thirteen centimeters taller than me, but I get close enough to smell his shampoo—sage grass.
A spark of…anger?...surprise?...exasperation?... maybe all three flashes in his blue-green eyes. The muscles along his shoulders and arms tighten. “Fine. You’ll be in the brig soon anyway.”
“Because you’re going to report me?”
He huffs in derision. “No need, security will figure out what you’re doing, and then I won’t have to see you ever again.” He sits in his chair, pulls out his sketchbook and proceeds to ignore me.
I consider his comments. I’ve no desire to spend the rest of the voyage in the brig, so I retreat, careful not to leave a trail. Then I pull up my own personal files which include Lan’s research file. Now if I’m caught, I’m only breaking soch-time rules.
Reading through the research notes—maybe there’s a clue here why Xinji went silent, you never know—I scan page after page and learn that cryptology is…well, cryptic, and I would need a four-year university degree to translate her…er…translations. Why did she think I’d find them amusing? And she flagged what appears to be hundreds of symbols—not just the original sixty-four on the artifact.
I’m scrolling through when a symbol catches my attention. It’s…different. It’s hard to explain, but after helping my parents with the Warriors for three years, I’m well acquainted with the style of the markings on their uniforms and armor. And this one just clanks. Another page has a series of those strange symbols. I wonder…I pull up the image of my octagon with the eight rows of symbols.
One row on the artifact matches a couple of Lan’s symbols. The others appear as if the same…person (for lack of a better word) drew them.
“What’s an octagonal artifact?” Niall asks.
I turn my head and meet his questioning gaze. It’s better than hostile, and it’s the first time he’s shown any interest in anything other than his sketches. A snarky retort perches on the tip of my tongue, but maybe he won’t report me if I’m nice. Worth a try. “It was found on Xinji and is believed to be extraterrestrial.” Best to downplay my involvement.
He huffs. “Yeah, right. And I have a piece of crystalized universe to sell you.”
Niall’s sarcasm isn’t sharp, but I give him extra points for the speed and creativity of his reply.
“Fine. Believe what you want. I really don’t care.” I return to my search.
After a few moments, he says, “It has to be a hoax. No one has found anything out here except those Warriors.”
There’s a touch of disappointment in his tone, but I ignore him and decide to access the public cluster about the Warriors, seeking a report or file about the symbols. Nothing. I’m not too surprised. The Warrior Project’s been collecting vast amounts of data but they don’t have enough people to analyze it.
Silence alerts me that soch-time is over. Exiting the Q-net, I stand and stretch my back. Then I freeze. Niall is still in his chair. He’s always the first person to bolt. Yet he’s staring at me.
“That was interesting,” he says.
I shrug. “Like you said, it’s a hoax.”
“Then why did you risk going to the brig to investigate it?”
Another shrug despite the spike in my heart rate over brig. “Boredom.”
“Being in my company isn’t entertaining enough?”
His outrageous comment surprises a laugh from me. “No, your company is far from entertaining.”
“Ouch,” he deadpans.
“You’ll live.” I leave before he can counter. What was that all about? Did he truly think that highly of himself or does Niall have a sense of humor? Must be his ego—I can’t envision him ever laughing.
Over the next four days, the mood in the ship returns to almost normal. The little kids are no longer so upset and while there are still morose expressions, there is laughter as well. I help my parents and attend soch-time. Niall has reverted back to ignoring me and that’s fine. It’s more than fine. It’s perfect. I play games and he sketches or reads.
The afternoon of the fifth day my mother tasks me with organizing the supply list. After a Warrior planet is discovered, DES sends a ship with all the needed equipment to establish a research base. They build the structures, unpack the furniture, and install the power so when the scientists show up, everything is ready to go. They also deploy the robotic diggers to excavate the pits. If the pit has collapsed, then they clear out the dirt and/or sand that has buried the Warriors. The pits are really underground caverns to prevent them from being exposed to moisture and sunlight. But they’re called pits at Xi’an on Earth so they’re labeled the same. However, once the construction crew leaves, they shut down the diggers as they need to be frequently maintained—sand gets into the mechanism and ruins the equipment.
In the meantime, my parents want to know exactly what is at the base. The list the construction team sent included every single thing, including how many nails they had. The problem—there are no categories. It’s a mess, with the number of nails listed with the number of spoons. Ugh.
I glance at my bed. Perhaps a nap first? A chime sounds, signaling a visitor. Not an unusual occurrence. Muffled voices travel through my door and I return to my contemplation. Maybe I should take my pile of dirty clothes down to the washers first.
A knock on my door startles me.
My father pokes his head in. “Li-Li, there’s someone here to see you.”
There is? Odd. I follow him out and stop dead. Officer Radcliff is waiting with my mother. She doesn’t look angry, but she doesn’t look happy either. Does it matter? He’s here to see me, which means I’m in trouble. Has security traced my worm into DES or has Niall ratted me out? Yeah, it was very stupid of me to do that in front of Niall, but still. My fear mixes with anger.
Dad stands next to Mom—a united front. That confirms it. I’m in big trouble.
Five
2522:021
“Go on,” my mother says to Radcliff. “Ask her.”
I brace for his accusation about illegal worming into DES’s data banks—next time I see Niall, I’m going to break his pencil. Plus I won’t be able to lie to Radcliff— not in front of my parents!
He tugs his shirt as if he needs something to do with his hands. Fear creeps back in. At least in the brig, I won’t have to organize a supply list.
“We need your help,” he says.
Thrown, I stare at him. “For what?”
“There are files missing from Xinji’s reports during that last year. We think they might help explain why the planet went silent.”
“And you want me to find them? Don’t you have…” I gesture at his uniform. “People for that?”
“Of course we have people,” he snaps.
>
Mom frowns at him and he draws in a deep breath. “Our people were unsuccessful. We are hoping that your…unconventional methods will have better luck.”
In other words, legal worming! I suppress a grin as I act like I’m thinking about it. Let him sweat a bit. “I’m going to need access to a better terminal.”
“I’m under the impression that you don’t need one,” he says with a gleam in his eyes.
He knows about my activities during soch-time. Damn Niall—I’m gonna kill him. I wave a hand toward my room. “The terminals here are not up to the task.”
Amusement relaxes his stern features. “You’ll have access to my terminal on the bridge.”
All moisture leaves my mouth. The bridge! Oh. My. Stars.
“Of course, I’ll be monitoring you.”
Oh. Not as much fun.
“Will you help us?” he asks.
“Yes.”
Proud beaming emanates from both my parents. Guess there is a first time for everything. Officer Radcliff looks at me expectantly.
“Now?” I ask.
“Unless you have other pressing matters to attend to?”
His humor is so dry, I almost sneeze. I meet my mother’s gaze.
“The supply list can wait,” she says.
Oh joy.
Then she adds, “Lan’s full report on the alien artifact is part of those missing files, Lyra.”
In other words, this is important. Got it. I don’t want all of Lan’s hard work to be for nothing. I nod importantly and the adults appear satisfied.
I follow Officer Radcliff through the ship’s corridors. He stays to the public areas and doesn’t say a single word. I pay close attention when we enter through a door marked Restricted. Now the hallways are not as nice. Black scuffs mark the walls and the pipes and wires in the ceiling are exposed. The air smells of burnt rubber and oil.
Navigating the Stars Page 5