Sades

by S. H. Jucha

  Pia hadn’t expected Lucia to follow them to the operating room. One look at Lucia’s face told her that she shouldn’t bother with a comment. The commodore would be staying with the captain.

  “You’re nervous, Captain,” Nalia remarked, after Pia left and while directing Jess to the operating table. “There’s no need to be. The operation is quick, minimally invasive, and quite painless.”

  “That’s not what worries me,” Jess replied.

  “What concerns you, Captain?” Nalia asked.

  “Having everyone learn what I’m thinking,” Jess replied.

  “Do you have dark thoughts?” Nalia inquired.

  “Probably not any more than most others,” Jess admitted, “but my thoughts aren’t always kind.”

  “Jess,” Lucia interjected, “when you were part of the Sylian defense squadron, did you always share your thoughts with Commander Tzeena?”

  “No, of course not,” Jess replied.

  “Exactly,” Lucia replied. “You might have had a negative thought, but when you were on the comm, you expressed a professional opinion. An implant is a miniature communication device. You must connect to an individual, a group, or a controller before you can transmit your thought.”

  “Is that easy to do?” Jess asked, looking for confirmation from Lucia and then Nalia.

  “It’s the first thing you’ll learn,” Nalia said. “Are you ready, Captain?”

  Jess nodded and lay down on the table. He glanced toward Lucia, and she nodded encouragingly.

  Nalia placed a small medical device against Jess’s temple. His eyes closed, and his body relaxed. Then she activated the table’s scanner to assist her in placing the implant.

  Within a few minutes, the operation was complete, and Nalia removed the inducer from Jess’s temple, which had rendered him unconscious.

  Jess’s eyes popped open, and his body reflexively jerked. After months of fighting insectoids, he was startled by seemingly dozing off in a strange place.

  “Easy, Jess,” Lucia said, in a calm voice. She signaled Nalia, who quietly left the room.

  For decades, Pia and her staff had copied the example of how Renée had taught Alex the fundamentals of implant use. New Terrans and Dischnya had been primarily adults when they received implants, unlike Méridiens, who were young teenagers.

  Jess sat up on the table, and Lucia took his hands. She guided him through the basic steps — focusing his mind on her, connecting, sending a thought, and blocking her comm.

  Lucia had expected the initial steps to take hours, and she was prepared to be patient, a trait that she didn’t typically possess.

  Within less than an hour, Jess had competent control of his implant comm. He also had a blinding headache, which was common for first-time users.

  Lucia signaled Nalia, who returned and put Jess under.

  “He’ll need rest, Commodore,” Nalia said, checking Jess’s bio data via his new implant. “In the morning, he’ll be refreshed.”

  Lucia left, and Nalia waited until Jess’s breathing was deep before she removed her device from his temple.

  Kasie was sitting in the lobby again, having completed her tests, and Lucia offered to guide Kasie to her cabin. Then she retired.

  Pia shared Kasie’s test results with Emile, Juliette, and Esteban. There were reasons for the Omnians to be concerned. The implant would be placed in the region where Kasie’s empathetic signals were focused.

  Emile sent, after examining the data.

  Juliette sent,

  Emile replied.

  Esteban sent.

  Emile added.

  Pia offered.

  Juliette added.

  When the comm links closed, Emile returned to studying the data from the tests he’d conducted on Tacnock and the Crocians.

  * * * * *

  Jess woke in the early morning hours. He expected to feel some residual element of pain from the operation or his first use of the implant. Happily, there was none.

  The stillness informed Jess that it was still night, but he checked his sleeve comm unit to confirm. It was four forty-eight hours by the Omnian cycle.

  Then Jess wondered if his implant had a chronometer. He accessed the data region and located a folder of apps and was shocked to see the number available to him. This is the basic package, he thought, with amazement. Suddenly, he froze and checked his comm. He wasn’t linked to anyone, which meant he hadn’t broadcast his thought. Check your links first, he mentally lectured himself.

  Choosing to test his implant comm, Jess realized that there was one group of Omnians who never slept. He sat up and threw his legs over the side of the table. Then he opened his comms app and mentally formed one name, Julien. In his mind, he heard, “Greetings, Captain.”

  Julien heard Jess’s delighted laughter.

  Jess sent.

  Julien replied.

  Jess summarized.

  Julien replied.

  Jess retorted.

  Julien sent.

  Jess requested.

  Julien sent.

  Jess observed the link close, and he marveled again at the implant’s capability. And Alex has two of these, he thought.

  Nalia arrived and led Jess through a series of corridors and lifts to an upper deck.

  “How do Omnians do this?” Jess asked, twirling his index finger in the air to indicate getting around the ship.

  “Send that question to me with your implant,” Nalia instructed. Unlike Julien, she could allow Jess to explore his implant as fast as he wished. She carried her medical device, which could put Jess under, if he needed relief.

  They were riding in a lift, which allowed Jess to close his eyes and concentrate. Fairly easily, he connected with Nalia. In his mind he received a link.

  Jess sent.

  Nalia returned.

  Jess sent. Having focused on the link, when he had the thought, resulted in the link establishing a connection to the city-ship’s powerful controller. It was similar to stepping into a great repository.

  The lift reached the requested level, and Nalia guided Jess by his elbow to exit the grav field. Then she halted them to give him time to absorb what he was seeing.

  Jess sent to Nalia. He’d expected to find some kind of directory to search through.

  Nalia sent. <
There’s too much data for that. A controller is one order short of sentience.>

  Jess imagined the one thing that he wanted right now, and he requested that from the controller. A small guide map appeared in his mind. It marked the path to take to reach Lucia’s cabin.

  Nalia sent and left his sight. Turning the corner, she maintained her link with Julien. The two SADEs monitored Jess’s implant location, while Nalia did the same for his bio data.

  Jess opened his eyes and lost the map, or he thought he had. When he closed his eyes, the map was still there and so was the controller link. He tried opening one eye and keeping the other closed. When that idea didn’t work, Jess laughed at his ridiculous attempt.

  “Captain, do you need help?” Jess heard and turned to face a New Terran maintenance crew member.

  “I just received my implant,” Jess explained.

  “Congratulations, Captain,” the crew member replied. He was concerned that the captain wasn’t escorted.

  “How do you simultaneously focus on an implant display and follow what it shows you?” Jess asked.

  “There’s no such thing as the brain multitasking, Captain. That fallacy has been thoroughly disproven,” the crew member replied. “Implant apps can run in the background, while you focus on what’s received by your senses. In time, you’ll learn to switch your focus between the two sources, as quickly as you’re able.”

  There’s that issue again, Jess thought. In time, as if he had all the time in the world. “In my capacity that could prove deadly,” Jess replied.

  “There’s a reason I’m in maintenance, Captain. I wouldn’t want your job for all the credits in Omnia Bank. I might not live long enough to enjoy them.”

  When the crew member saw Jess frown, he thought he’d said too much. “What are you trying to do, Captain?” he asked.

  “I think you’ve answered my question,” Jess replied. “Thank you.”

  After the crew member moved on, Jess focused on the guide map, oriented himself, opened his eyes, and then he set off on the first leg of the trip.

  The entire way, Jess stopped, eyed the map, and then followed the route. Occasionally, he laughed at how absurd he must look to the occasional passerby, who surprisingly chose not to ask if he needed help. Then again, he had no idea that Julien had requested the Omnians who passed Jess to refrain from disturbing him.

  Eventually, Jess completed the final leg of his trip. He faced a cabin door, unmarked, of course. By this time, he’d begun to feel the mental exhaustion that had overcome him after his initial training session. He stared at the door, trying to imagine how the Omnians accessed the information to open a door. So close, and yet, so far away, he thought.

  Then Jess received a link request. It took a moment for him to realize that he had to accept it. The parallels to his ship’s comm system that Lucia had mentioned struck home.

  Jess asked. He’d acknowledged the link, but he hadn’t checked the comm ID.

  Julien exercised control and refrained from commenting or laughing. he sent.

  Jess saw the links to Julien and the controller close. Then the cabin door whispered open. Gratefully, he entered, slipped out of his clothes, and crawled into a warm bed beside Lucia.

  * * * * *

  The following day, Kasie was informed of her test results and the concerns of Pia, Emile, and the SADEs. She would set a precedent for empaths by choosing not to risk her gift.

  The day after that, Tacnock, Bortoth, and Daktora received messages that Emile was ready for them.

  The medical suite tables couldn’t accommodate the length and mass of a Crocian. Emile chose to perform the operations in his lab.

  The SADEs set up temporary tables that stood erect. The two tables had ledges to accommodate the Crocians’ huge, clawed feet. When they stepped onto the ledges, the tables tilted thirty degrees. Wide openings in the lower sections of the table allowed for insertion of the Crocians’ tails.

  Tacnock was able to hop on a smaller table prepared for him. It had been his request to receive his implant in the company of Bortoth and Daktora.

  Nalia, with help from other SADEs, had transferred the medical suite’s scanners for the operations.

  Emile monitored the veterans’ brain activity, while Nalia performed the operations. The three patients were the first of their races, and Emile sought to ensure successful insertions of his new implant variations.

  The operations went well, and the SADEs, who had prepared apps to translate Omnian, Jatouche, and Crocian languages, walked the veterans through the basics of implant operation.

  Within days, Tacnock was conversing with every SADE in the fleet. His contacts were tolerant of his never-ending questions, as many of them were intriguing. In some cases, Tacnock challenged the SADEs to contemplate how they perceived their own existence.

  Like Tacnock, Bortoth and Daktora refused to participate in the evening’s games. The Crocians were intent on absorbing new applications and applying their engineering skills. Mickey and Miriam became their mentors, recommending the programs and instructing the Crocians in their use. Miriam’s support was critical. She absorbed the Crocian written language and provided the translation app.

  Jess had his own requirements for his implant. He’d learned of the insectoid commands procured by Z and Luther. He designed traps for the juveniles that the Pims and their protectors could execute.

  Engineering teams provided devices to the teams to issue the adults’ commands in the Colony’s ultrasonic frequencies. The gambit worked to draw the insectoid young out of hiding into the shadows’ lasers.

  In the performance of Jess’s duties, as an assault commander, he discovered the ease with which he could plan operations with those not near him, at any one moment. However, unlike Tacnock and the Crocians, who would cease use of their implants when they tired, Jess worked with his implant until the headaches returned.

  Juliette monitored Jess’s bio data, intervening with the medical inducer, when he’d exhausted his brain’s ability to cope with the implant.

  Jess didn’t bother to object, when Juliette interrupted his efforts. By that time, he was seeking relief from the throbbing sensations.

  For Jess, the window of opportunity for the Pimbor dome attack arrived too soon. He wanted more time to become proficient with the tiny device newly implanted in his brain. He’d received help from Lucia and Homsaff to organize his communications groups and practice using them.

  On the evening before the assault, Jess found he had little appetite for the evening meal. He worried he’d left something undone. Then it dawned on him what truly concerned him. The Colony had adapted to each encounter with the veterans as swiftly as Jess had formed new strategies, and he wondered what the insectoids planned in the Pimborian dome.

  26: Third Dome

  “The assault team’s preparations are complete. Their attack on the dome commences at five fifteen hours,” Tatia said to the table’s evening diners.

  “And my partner starts the attack,” Reiko added. It was apparent she wasn’t happy.

  Franz kept his head down and focused on his food.

  “While the maneuver has its risks,” Z said, from his position behind Renée, “we’ve sufficient telemetry data to safely calculate the timing of the ring’s cascade and the force of its detonation.”

  “I’ve heard all of this before,” Reiko grumped. “I want to know why we’re allowing a rear admiral to execute this maneuver.”

  “Because your partner wouldn’t allow any of his pilots to do what he could do for them,” Alex replied quietly, which ended that part of the conversation.

  “How did the games work for the participants, Julien?” Renée asked. Tatia and she had originated the concept to assist New Terrans adopt the tech, and the technique had been widely successful for decades.

  “They didn’t,” Julien replied, “or more precisely the v
eterans were nonparticipants. They haven’t been provided the luxury of a long journey or a period of peace in which to learn their implants’ apps. Each of them has delved into the subjects that concerned them, and they’ve employed their tech throughout the day, for as long as they could.”

  “The captain too?” Renée asked.

  “Our captain is reminiscent of another individual, who once held the same rank,” Julien replied. “He continually uses his apps to the point of mental exhaustion. By the cycle’s end, Juliette and Lucia have frequently used the medical inducer to ease his pain.”

  Heads turned toward Alex, and he chose to ignore the stares, while he dumped the remains of a serving dish onto his plate. He did manage to comment, “There’s nothing wrong with an individual working tirelessly to efficiently execute the jobs they’re handed.”

  Chuckles from humans and quiet noises from SADEs followed Alex’s remark.

  Mickey checked with Cordelia.

  Cordelia replied to the engineer’s query.

  Mickey’s grin was short-lived. He was matching Alex, Tatia, and Franz bite for bite. As expected, there would be no unconsumed food at a table where heavy worlders sat.

  * * * * *

  Jess sent. While he had the pilots on a discrete channel, every comms message of his was relayed through Juliette to the fleet. In reverse, the SADE only allowed the assault team and pilots to communicate with Jess.

  came the succinct reply from each pilot.

  The Pimborian dome assault required four travelers. Franz and Sharon were assigned the attacks on the ring and a Colony shuttle, which nestled in a launch tube.

  Several fleet pilots had questioned the use of an Earther pilot in such a critical engagement. Their arguments were that she wasn’t the most experienced pilot available, and she didn’t possess an implant. Their concerns were forwarded to Franz, and he referred them to Lucia.

 

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