"What? That's nonsense. I had some badly broken bones! I remember that much."
"Yes, you did," Leander replied evenly. "Seventeen broken bones, in fact. Six of the fractures were compound. At first I was afraid we might have to amputate your arms and legs. With anyone else, we might have. However, once the bones were set, they began to knit back together very rapidly. Do you have a medical implant of some kind that speeds healing?"
"No," Tebrey said, thinking of the implications. "Just have the standard ones."
"The implants we have here aren't quite as sophisticated as the ones I sense in you," Leander said. "What are the standard ones where you're from?"
"Sorry… I have detox and immunity implants, vascular valves to keep me from bleeding to death, and neural shunts to dampen pain. I also have a med-comp and biometric sensors throughout my body. I have other implants that have other uses, but those are the medical ones. I have nothing that speeds healing."
"Have you been injured often?"
Tebrey laughed. "You do know what it is I do, right? I'm Earth Federation Special Forces – or was, anyway. I've been critically injured more times that I can remember. I've had extensive reconstructive surgery. I couldn't tell you which parts of me are original." That wasn't exactly true. Tebrey could remember every single, painful injury he'd ever had, but he didn't want to get started on a list that might take all day to recite. "Emerald asked me some of the same questions. I get the idea that your medical science isn't so advanced."
"You'd be surprised, I'm sure. It's quite advanced; we just don't use much instrumentation."
"What do you mean?"
"You understand the science of psionics?"
"I think you could say that I've studied it a bit," Tebrey said dryly.
"Good, then you understand that the mind has more potential than just empathy and telepathy."
"Of course," said Tebrey. "The other traits are much rarer in humans, though. Fewer than one person in a million has anything useful; fewer than one percent of those have anything other than the most common two."
"Is it that common where you're from?" Leander asked reflectively. "Interesting. That could explain a few things. Anyway, you could say that I have a talent for healing. So do most of our medical personnel."
"Try not to take offense, but I don't think much of your abilities if I'm an example. I would think that I'd feel better after three weeks. I certainly would back home."
"As I said before, I didn't do anything. None us of did."
"Why not? I wouldn't have objected. I don't care how I'm healed. I just want to get better."
"Actually, you did object. In a way."
"What do you mean?"
"None of us could penetrate your personal mind shields, not without causing more harm than good. That is –" and Leander leaned close so Tebrey could see his oddly bright green eyes "– very unusual for me, to say the least."
"I've been through a lot. I guess I just have good shields."
"Hmm. Quite good. I don't think I've encountered many people with such, even considering the reinforcement from your companion."
"I don't know what to say. I was trained to shield my mind when I went through commando school. Enemy forces sometimes have psions to detect intruders."
Leander nodded but didn't say anything. Tebrey got the impression he was being studied by more minds than just Leander's, but he couldn't say exactly why. It was odd feeling, to sense so many minds looking at him through one set of eyes.
"Where is Aurora?" Tebrey asked.
"Aurora is an artificial world in orbit around Epsilon Lyrae, a part of the Mo'Ceri Grand Protectorate. Do you have that system where you come from?"
"What? Do we have it?" Tebrey thought for a moment, bringing up the star chart in his mind comp. "The Federation doesn't extend out that far, if that's what you mean. I would think you'd know that. No wonder we never met your people."
"What do you prefer to be called?" Leander asked. "Hrothgar? Tebrey? Something else?"
"Tebrey is fine. Only my wife calls me Hrothgar."
"Okay, then, Tebrey. You need to understand something about where you are."
"What is that?"
"How much hyperspace theory do you know?"
"Not much," Tebrey replied. "What kind of doctor are you?"
"Medical, but I have an understanding of far more. Please listen. Your people have faster-than-light travel?"
"Of course. Kind of hard to get around without it. As I understand it, there are several methods in use. The most common one involves hyperspace, but I don't know a lot about it. Didn't Emerald tell you that?"
"I didn't ask," Leander said with a dismissive wave of his hand. "Okay, have you ever heard of alternate universes?"
"Sure. I've even read a few books on the subject. No one has ever been able to prove they exist outside of mathematics. Beyond congruous layers like subspace and the layers of hyperspace, I mean."
Leander looked at him expectantly.
"Wait, you're saying that this is an alternate universe?"
"Well, an alternative to yours, certainly. The Mo'Ceri – and a few other species we've met – have the ability to move through the different universes. It's like sifting through grains of sand, or leaves in a book, if you will. We call them Realms, but there are many different names for them."
"That's… a lot to take in," Tebrey said slowly. He thought he was taking it quite well, considering the esoteric nature of the news. "So Emerald rescued us by taking us into another universe? That seems a little far-fetched. Wouldn't it have been easier just to take us to another point in ours?"
"It might have been easier, if he'd known where to go. I'm sorry you don't believe me."
"I didn't say I didn't believe you." Tebrey looked around the room again. "I knew something didn't feel right as soon as I woke up. I guess that was it."
"Interesting."
"Listen, I appreciate the help, but I'd like to get home. My wife is going to be very worried."
Leander smiled. "We'll try to get you back soon."
For some reason, Tebrey thought Leander was lying about that. He didn't know why, but the man seemed uncomfortable as he said it.
"Why did Emerald come looking for me, anyway?"
"We've been tracking a lot of activity in and out of that universe for some time. The Mo'Ceri sense such things the way you might see the ripples in a pond from a drop of rain. We of the Circle were worried that some of it might be because of certain types of entities."
"You mean Andhakaara? Thetas? Dark things like I fought to save Emerald?"
"Yes, things like that and worse."
"Worse?"
"Yes. Usually such things can't travel the universes. Very few species can. We try to keep a watch on those with that ability. They can be very dangerous."
"You didn't answer my question," said Tebrey. "Why did Emerald come looking for me?"
"He was there because the Circle sent him there. He was there because the Mo'Ceri sensed the potential in you for traveling between Realms."
Chapter Fifty-Six
Tebrey got out of bed and carefully stretched and exercised, despite a protest from Leander. He wasn’t going to get any better just lying in bed. He needed to get up and walk around. Leander didn’t like it, but he wasn’t opposed enough to the idea to try to stop him. The fresh scars on Tebrey's arms and legs were mute testimony to the agony he remembered. They didn't really bother him that much; he could have the scars removed when he got home if they didn't fade. What he didn't understand was how he could have healed so quickly without medical aid.
He'd thought of the problem with the Thetas as being a small, local affair. He hadn't even thought it would include many systems back home. Now he knew that it was a much bigger problem. It wasn't going to be enough to just wipe out the enemy back home; they could come in from other places. The Concord had to warned. They had to know about what might be coming.
Gloomy thoughts. Hunter was keeping
pace with him, discreetly guarding him.
It was good to walk in the sunlight, even if the light did come from four alien suns. The clothes Leander had given him felt odd, like no other kind of cloth he’d ever worn. It had been a long time since he had worn anything except a uniform or his armor. He hadn’t worn any civilian clothes since Cedeforthy.
He missed Ana. He felt sure she would have loved the world he now walked. She liked meadows. She’d wanted to buy a place out in the countryside on Dawn, but he’d felt they needed to be nearer to a large city. Now he wasn’t so sure. A place in a small town might be nice, after all.
His residence on Aurora was a small building – a cottage, really – at the edge of a rustic village. The roads were made of set cobblestone, rough under his bare feet. A forest surrounded the village, and he could see vine-covered stone ruins through the trees. The ruins looked massive and alien. The planet had many species of trees and plants that he didn't recognize, but quite a few he did. The people he met were polite enough, although no one spoke to him at any length. They politely but resolutely greeted him and walked away.
He was being ostracized, and he wasn't sure why.
Hunter walked with him as he moved around the small lake near the village. The grass was trimmed; it seemed almost park-like. If the Aurorans had access to advanced technology, Tebrey had yet to see it. Which wasn’t a bad way to live, now that he thought about it.
He was sitting on the bank looking at the water when he sensed the presence of someone else nearby. Looking around, he saw a tall woman dressed in a flowing green gown walking down the path toward him. She smiled when she saw him, and waved. He waved back, although he wasn’t sure why.
"Hello," she said as she walked up.
At first he had thought her old, for her hair was pure white. When she got closer, he saw that she had a certain ageless quality, and guessed she was no more than thirty. She reminded him a bit of Admiral Shadovsky, and not just because they both had white hair. There was strength and sadness in the lines of her face, even though she was smiling.
"Hi," he said in greeting.
"Do you mind if I sit with the two of you?"
I don't mind, Hunter replied.
Tebrey shrugged. "Go ahead. It is nice to have someone willing to talk to me – besides Leander, that is."
"Yes, please forgive the villagers. We don't have a lot of strangers here, and many of them are frightened of your companion."
"I'm Tebrey," he said. "And my friend here is Hunter, but I suspect that you already know that."
She laughed, and Tebrey noticed that she had that weird brightness in her green eyes, too, like Leander. It was more than just that her eyes were green; they almost seemed to glow in the bright sunlight. He was going to have to ask about that at some point.
"You may call me Lyra, and yes, I did know who you were, both of you."
"Friend of Leander, are you?"
"Yes, and also a member of the Circle."
"There's that Circle again. Neither Emerald nor Leander would tell me what it is, exactly. Could you explain it to me?"
"Aurora is a free world with a democratic society. It is one of the many worlds of the Mo'Ceri Grand Protectorate. Humans and Mo'Ceri – and other species you will not have heard of – are all equals, and each world rules itself."
Tebrey could almost perceive glimpses of those strange species and worlds as she spoke of them. "And what of the Circle?" he asked.
"We of the Circle are a separate institution; we concern ourselves with keeping the dark things at bay."
"Ah," Tebrey replied. "I suppose that makes sense."
"Still having trouble believing all of this?" asked Lyra.
"I'm having trouble believing I'm awake and not dreaming," Tebrey said. "Or having a really long nightmare. I worry sometimes that I'm going to wake up on the Kirov and discover that all of this has just been a pleasant diversion from the pain."
Hunter whimpered softly and moved so that he was pressed against Tebrey. He didn't like it when Tebrey got in these dark moods.
"What is the Kirov? A ship?"
Tebrey sighed. "The Kirov was a cruiser, over two thousand crew aboard. It was the first time I encountered a Theta entity, one of the dark things. I lost my first companion there." He absently caressed Hunter as he spoke. "I'm still not sure how I survived. I got the ship out of hyperspace and called for help. Another ship was close. I got lucky, I guess. Not many of use survived – less than a handful. You'd think the Theta would have attacked the other ship when it showed up, but it didn’t. It ran away."
"They gain more from fear than death," said Lyra. "You were lucky, but wounded badly, I think."
"They spent six weeks putting me back together," Tebrey replied.
"I didn't mean your body."
"Some wounds can never heal."
"You seem to have moved on. Your friend seems healthy and happy."
Tebrey smiled. "Hunter is good for me. He's got a lot of spunk."
"I hope that he feels safe enough to speak with us eventually. We'd like to get to know him, as well."
"He never speaks to anyone except my wife and me. It is rare for a neo-panther to even do that much. He's very special."
Hunter purred and stretched in the warm sunlight.
Lyra smiled. "Now he's showing off."
"He's incorrigible," said Tebrey. "But I don't think you came to talk to me about him." Tebrey met her glowing eyes steadily.
She nodded slowly. "Emerald has placed us in a difficult situation. He was supposed to make contact with you, not bring you to Aurora. Some feel that he has rashly endangered all of us by doing so."
"You don't trust me?" Tebrey laughed. "What am I going to do to hurt you? I can barely even walk."
"Even the fact that you can do that much scares some people," Lyra replied. "You've healed far faster than you should have. Emerald said that you're stronger and faster than any human he’s ever seen. You were able to kill a dark one that was getting the best of a Mo'Ceri. That is no easy feat."
"That was being lucky and being in the right place at the right time. Also, I had superior weapons."
"And the other times you've faced them and lived?"
Tebrey shrugged. "I don't know what to tell you. I guess I was just well trained."
"Maybe," Lyra said, "and maybe you have much more potential than you think. Maybe you are more than human."
The words of the dead internal security officer ran through his head. The man's calm assurance that Tebrey wasn't human haunted him. "If I'm not human, then what am I?"
"I never said that you're not human." Lyra sighed. "Would you consent to a genetic scan? It might make you – and the rest of the Circle – feel better."
"Or it might confirm my worst fears. I'm getting a bit irritated with the genetic anomaly bullshit. It seems like everybody wants to perform medical experiments on me these days." Tebrey shook his head. "So what do I have to do?"
Lyra stood. "Come with me." She held out her hand.
"Okay." He stood and grasped her hand. He felt a moment of vertigo, and then he found himself standing in the room where he had awakened. Hunter was looking around in confusion. "That was very interesting."
"The fastest way to travel is being there," Lyra quipped.
I'm not sure that I liked that, Hunter told him.
I don't know, Tebrey replied, quickly sitting down on the bed. I think I could get used to it. The trip had made him dizzy; his head was buzzing.
"Leander will be here in a moment."
"So how many of you are there in this Circle?" Tebrey asked.
"Six of us, each bonded to a Mo'Ceri much the way you seem to be with Hunter."
"I would have expected more, for something like this."
"There used to be more of us," Lyra said, sorrow tinging her voice. "What we do isn't easy. There have been losses."
"Are all of the Circle human? Other than the Mo’Ceri?"
"Oh, no," Lyra replied.
"Not at all."
"What about you? Are you human?"
"Yes, I am," Lyra replied with a smile.
Leander came in then and placed a small portable laboratory on the desk. He quietly took a sample of blood from Tebrey and set the machine to analyzing it.
"What will this tell us?" asked Tebrey.
"It will answer the humanity question," Leander said. "If you're not human, it will tell us what you actually are. Although I'd think that you would know if you weren't."
"That's what I had always assumed, but apparently not. How long will it take?"
"About half an hour."
"That long? Great." Tebrey settled back into the bed and crossed his legs. It was a good way to hide his fatigue.
They sat in silence for a few minutes.
"You know," Tebrey said reflectively, "when I was at Camp Forrester, the base where Emerald saved us, I was arrested and taken in for questioning after I helped Emerald escape into the woods. The Internal Security officer kept insisting that I'm not human. It scared the shit out of me."
"Did he say why?"
"He said that I have anomalies in my DNA. Something about me not being who I used to be. I confess that I wasn't paying attention to his explanation – I was thinking of how I could escape. My commanding officer agreed with me that the so-called anomalies were impossible. We use DNA tests for just about all of our security protocols. None of them have ever said I wasn't me."
"All it would mean was that your DNA hasn't changed from the original sample. That still doesn't mean it was a normal sample."
"They used my DNA to make Hunter," Tebrey said. "Surely they would have seen something then." Admiral Shadovsky's words came back to haunt him. He hadn't meant to forget about the others. It was just... things had gotten in the way.
It's okay. We'll do what we can, when we can, came Hunter's soothing thoughts.
"Made Hunter?"
"He’s a clone of me."
"So he really is your brother!" Lyra said, glancing at Leander with a laugh. "Sorry, go ahead."
"Care to share the joke?" Tebrey asked. "I could really use something to laugh at, just about now."
The Fallen Page 30