“Great, let’s get to the ship.” Terrance grabbed a vest and tossed it on. “Dean, thanks for bringing Leslie back in one piece.”
I was irritable and ready to be on the move. “Don’t thank me. She’s the only reason I got anything out of the mission.”
A half hour later, we stood at the portal stones. Terrance was gone. Only Magnus and I stood before the glowing crystal. I wanted to key in my secret code to access the blocked icons and confirm my thought that the upside-down image from the map matched the planet icon I was thinking of. I looked up at the surveillance and thought better of it.
Instead, I found the symbol for New Spero and gave Magnus a forced smile before tapping the icon.
Eleven
“It had me thinking,” Clare said. “Sarlun told you the Theos used some tracking devices on the Iskios so many years ago in order to hunt them all down to bring to this crystal world. What if we could make a device like that?”
The whole gang was holed up in Terran Three. The research facility was one of two located on New Spero, and Clare was adamant we needed to visit there before going on the next leg of our trip. We stood in a brightly-lit room, with shelves and cabinets lining the north wall, and a large white smooth-topped workstation.
“How would you do that?” I asked, tapping the table with a nervous energy.
Nick rolled his eyes, telling me he’d heard this a hundred times already. Nat was there, and little Dean played with a truck on the floor near his father’s leg. He hadn’t left Magnus’ side since his dad had returned home.
“That would be really cool.” This from Leonard, who, for once, had put his pencils and paper away and was talking with us instead of being a silent witness.
“First, I’d test such a device on some known DNA. Dog, for example. And then I’d see if I could get it to locate said animal,” Clare said.
“I’m assuming this isn’t hypothetical. Did you find the dog?” I asked.
She nodded. “I did, but the problem is, the device only works in close range.” She blew a strand of blonde hair out of her face and smiled. “But…I think I can get it to target almost anything, as long as we know what we’re looking for.”
“How about a long-dead, misty black Iskios?” I asked.
“That’s what I was going to say next.” Clare stood and passed something to me. It was the size of a paperback book and had a screen covering half the top.
“It’s heavy,” I said, hefting it in my hands.
“It’s got a lot of stuff in it.” Clare smiled. “Take this and see if you can find any remnants of the Iskios while you’re there. Just in case…”
Clare didn’t finish her thought, so I did it for her: “In case Mary isn’t there. Gotcha.” I frowned and felt bad for raising my voice. These were my friends, and all they wanted to do was help. “I’m sorry. It’s been a trying few weeks.”
Slate came over and set his hand on my shoulder. “We know, Dean. We all want to get her back.”
“Any chance you’ve duplicated the Relocator?” Magnus asked, his eyes hopeful.
“Not yet. That was something far beyond our understanding. It’s one thing to trick the eyes or track biological particles, but transporting molecules is something for gods, not mere mortals.” Clare smiled thinly. “I do have another cloaking device for you, and some new weapons. Want to see those?”
I agreed, but my heart was heavy. Slate and Magnus rushed over, and I stood behind them as they excitedly played with some new guns and something that looked like a grenade. I’d leave them to it.
Slate had convinced me to come, though it really didn’t take much to twist my arm. He’d been there with me when she was taken, and I was happy to have him along.
Leonard stood watching with wide eyes as Slate tested the grenade in a containment field room. Inside, a watermelon sat on the metal floor. He lobbed it through the blue field and counted down the timer he’d set on it. Six seconds later, the watermelon exploded, but instead of spraying everywhere, an energy sphere around it contained the damage and muffled the noise.
“How did you do that?” Natalia asked.
“With a built-in containment field. Grenades and this type of weapon are usually loud and destructive, so I thought, what if you could keep the victim isolated, and the noise to a minimum? Voila.” Clare stood straight-backed, and Nick wrapped an arm around her waist and kissed her on the head.
“Awesome!” Slate yelled. “Can I do that again?”
The others laughed, and I stood watching the watermelon drip inside the shield.
“Now, who wants to see…”
I cut her off. We’d been thinking about this the wrong way. “The detector you’re working on. Could you use it to track a specific person instead of the Iskios?”
It caught her off-guard, and Clare stopped in her tracks, a pensive look crossing her face. “I suppose that would work. I hadn’t really thought of it that way yet. I was trying to duplicate what the Theos had used the theory for. Oh, my God. Mary.”
“Exactly. If you go to my house, there’ll be DNA everywhere. Feel free to take her hairbrush…whatever you need.” I was getting excited. If we didn’t find her on the crystal world, maybe Clare could track her down.
“Dean, you know it’s only working in a two-mile radius so far? I’m not sure I can stretch it to what you need,” Clare said.
“I know you, and you’re resourceful. Look at all of the amazing things you’ve been able to come up with. Find a way to boost the signal, and you have it. And if you come to Bazarn Five with us, you might find your answer.” They were waiting on us to return before we made our trip to the world that Sarlun was calling “the center of their own universe.”
Clare smiled widely at this. “I’ll do everything I can, Dean.”
“Thanks,” I said. “Now who’s ready to get this show on the road?”
“I wouldn’t mind some lunch first,” Slate said, rubbing his stomach with his left hand.
“And this is why I always hated road trips,” I said, not admitting that my own belly was grumbling.
____________
Terran Three was turning into the Mecca of New Spero. I hadn’t spent more than a day there before, and that was a long time ago. Since the influx of people from Earth, the size of the city had tripled. It was on desert-like terrain; each of the Terran cities was unique in what it could produce and grow. Here they did most of our manufacturing, and it was near the warmest spot year-round on the planet.
There were textile plants, food processing facilities, and everything from coffee roasters to plumbing manufacturers. Life went on. Capitalism still existed, even after the world ended. Initially, there had been a barter system, but it was quickly evident that with this many people, a currency was needed. Everyone needed to work and get paid.
Already I’d heard about unions trying to form, but the government that Patty had begun to build had come to full fruition, and though each Terran location could set some internal municipality rules, they all had to abide by the New Spero guidelines. That meant taxes and social programs. Earth may have been gone, but a lot of its problems had followed us.
I’d been so distracted by my own life and the things I was dealing with away from New Spero that I’d hardly noticed what was happening on our own planet. When I was in my own home, out on the acreage near Terran One, it felt like paradise. Now, walking the streets of Terran Three, it felt like another industrialized city. Mary always reminded me that it was necessary, that without all of this, society would crumble. She was probably right.
I still wished better for our new world. We were in downtown Terran Three, and Clare was leading us to her new favorite restaurant. She could tell from my glare that I didn’t want to waste my time with this, but she swore it would be quick.
“Spare some credits?” I hadn’t even noticed the woman curled in a ball at the base of a building.
She was haggard. Young too. The others kept going, but I stopped and crouched down
in front of her.
“What’s your name?” I asked.
She looked surprised someone was talking to her. “I’m…uhm…Annabelle.”
“Where are you from?”
“Here, I guess. I lived in one of the compounds on the outskirts of town when I first came.”
She couldn’t have been over twenty. Her brown hair was greasy, matted together. Her clothes weren’t much more than rags covering a skeletal frame. “Annabelle. That’s a nice name. I mean, where were you before? Before it all?”
She visibly relaxed and told me, “I grew up in a suburb outside Chicago. Nice place.”
“What vessel were you on?” I asked.
“Twenty-five.” Her eyes broke contact with me, and I instantly knew her experience during the Event was a traumatizing one. It had been for everyone.
“Did you come to New Spero on the first influx or last year?”
She shifted in her sitting position, still not looking me in the eyes. “Last year. I’d been living in Chicago. Things weren’t good for me there.”
“What do you want to do?” I looked and saw track marks on her arms.
“I don’t know.” Tears fell down her face. “I can cook.”
“My friend Nick here’s going to give you some information.” Nick was a doctor, and he would know of any rehab programs on New Spero.
Nick came over and softly spoke to her. While he did that, I searched for local tablet IDs and found an image of the girl, a much healthier version of herself, and tapped a hundred credits over to it.
She mouthed a “thank you” to me, and I heard Nick say my name to her. Maybe if she knew the Hero of Earth had a vested interest in her well-being, she would turn things around. I hoped so.
We walked to lunch after Nick said he’d meet us there. I looked around with a new perspective of our world.
Twelve
The lander set down near the caverns of Terran Five. The portal room was just inside, and it was becoming a spot I seemed to visit frequently. Leonard was the first to exit, with Magnus and Slate right behind him. It appeared I was bringing a full crew this time. Clare and Natalia had wanted to come as well, but they had other things they needed to do.
Clare promised she would get the tracking device perfected. Watching Magnus separate from his wife and children had been hard, so I’d turned from it, leaving them to their private moment.
We’d wasted too much time on New Spero, a full day already. A day I could have been getting to Mary. But I did have a bag full of new tools, and an ambitious assortment of characters with me.
“Lead the way, boss.” Slate grabbed two packs, one full of weapons from Clare and the other full of food and water. We were in our EVAs, and excitement thrummed through me as we entered the caves in the mountainside that led to the portal room. I blinked and recalled the first time I’d set foot in here. The stones had called me, and I’d freaked Slate out.
“With any luck, we can bounce to the next world and be on a ship in less than an hour.” I was walking quickly, my EVA boots kicking up dust in the corridor with each step.
“Boss, in front of you!” The concern in his voice was evident, and I instantly went for the pulse pistol holstered at my side.
A panicked series of tweets and chirps carried to me from down the hall, and I put a hand up, letting the others behind me know to stop. “Suma?” I called, seeing a small form in a white EVA of her own. Her proboscis twitched behind her facemask. I flipped on my translator, using my arm console.
“What are you doing here?” I asked her, knowing she had her own built-in device that would allow her to understand me.
She stood proudly with a pack on her back and a rifle in her hand. “I’m here to help.”
“Does your father know you’re here?” I asked.
“Yes. He only hesitantly approved, but if there’s one thing you’ve taught me, it’s to go with your gut.” Our translators worked much better now, and with their entire language in our catalog system, the clipped translations were a thing of the past with the Shimmali people.
“You have to go home, Suma.” I walked up to her and started to lead her back to the portal room.
In our suits, the top of her head came to the middle of my chest, and even though she seemed the size of a ten-year-old human, she was technically an adult of her race. This was something she loved to remind me and her father of, any chance she got.
“I’m old enough to make my own decisions,” Suma said, proving the point I’d made to myself.
“It’s too dangerous. Let’s get you back.”
She stopped, feet planted firmly in the hall. “No. I’m coming with you. Mary is my friend too. I’ve brought some things to help as well. You know I’m resourceful. Slate, am I right?”
“Whoa, Suma, leave me out of this,” Slate said before adding, “but she is right, boss. We could use her. That alien mind works in ways ours don’t, and it might prove useful.”
I shook my head in disbelief. Sarlun was going to kill me. “Okay, Suma. You’re in but be careful. If anything happens to you, I won’t be able to live with myself.” I turned to my three counterparts. “Everyone watch and protect her. Got it?”
Magnus grunted. “As if we’d do anything but. Stop worrying so much, Dean. We got this. Let’s go.” He pushed past me and led us to the portal room.
I found myself perched before the table with the icons. The stone glowed brightly beneath it, and the symbols on the walls danced in light as we’d entered the room. My hands shook slightly as I scrolled down before entering the pattern I needed to unlock the hidden symbols. The screen changed, showing me the concealed worlds in muted gray.
I knew the icon was here, but where? I flipped through the pages until I found it, the symbol I’d initially been looking at the wrong way. This was the way to the portal on the water world, where we’d resurrected a space station in the likeness of what we thought was a Theos symbol. Now we knew it for what it was: a test by the Iskios to find a worthy flesh-and-blood vessel.
The symbol stared back at me, and I glanced at my crew. Magnus gave me a wink, and I pressed the icon. Everything went white.
We appeared inside the metallic-floored portal room, tucked away on the island in the water world. The symbol, Mary had instinctively known, would lead us to the small world where we’d loaded up on fruit and nuts and found the ship that led us to the crystal world.
I scrolled through the floating icons, knowing the symbol wasn’t on any other table I’d seen. The Iskios had somehow ensured that. I stopped at the right one, ready to press it. Before I did, I turned and looked across the room. Stone walls were wide apart, opening into the place with three chairs, the very same ones where Mary and I had traveled to the day of the Event in our minds together.
No one bothered me as I crossed the space, resting a hand on the chair Mary had been lying on only a couple of weeks prior.
“Dean, let’s go.” Slate was beside me, hand on my shoulder.
I nodded and went back to the portal table. Everyone stood quietly, and I pressed the icon.
The room we appeared in wasn’t the same one we’d entered only a few weeks ago. “Wait, this isn’t it!” I couldn’t believe it. It had to be right.
“Boss, it is. Look at the doorway, the design of the walls. It just looks more…aged,” Slate said. He’d been there with us, and he was correct.
I ran a gloved hand along the wooden support beam along the wall, and a few rotten pieces of it fell to the floor. “How is this possible?”
“I have no idea. Let’s get out of here.” Slate led the way, with me bringing up the rear.
We ran through the semi-familiar corridors, but something was off about them now. The shiny metal was dulled, as if it needed a polish.
“Hangar’s ahead.” Slate’s voice entered my earpiece. He stopped so abruptly, I saw Suma run into his back.
“What is it, Slate?” I asked, pushing past Magnus and Leonard.
“The sh
ips…”
I finally saw what he was talking about. The previously colorful hangar was now covered in shrubbery; a large tree grew in the center of the space, thick brown branches stretching the width of the building.
“We were just here,” I said quietly as I walked toward the tree trunk. I looked for signs of the ships we’d left behind.
“Are you telling me this place wasn’t full of foliage a couple weeks ago?” Magnus asked.
Leonard walked around the room, eyes wide. Only Suma seemed to be on a mission. I spotted the top of her helmet over some weeds twenty yards away. “Dean, over here,” her tweets translated.
I caught up to the small Shimmali girl and spotted the ship. It was larger than the tiny one the three of us had cramped onto, and I recognized it from before. Suma was already at the rear underside, trying to access it.
“Even if you can get in, this hunk of junk looks like it’ll never see the light of day again.” Magnus kicked the landing gear with a thud. Something fell off the side of the ship.
A huge branch hung overhead, threatening to crush the idle vessel at any moment. “Let’s see if we can find one of the others. We left a couple behind.”
We each started in a corner of the hangar, looking for the other vessels in the thick brush. Nature had taken over the whole area, making it seem like decades had passed since we’d last been there. It didn’t make sense.
“Here.” Leonard’s arm could be seen waving from near the room’s left corner. “I doubt this thing is getting off the ground, though.”
“Anyone have a hedge trimmer?” Slate asked. “There’s another one of the ships like the one we were on, Dean, but same thing. It’s pretty beat up.”
Here we were, finally on the right track to get to the crystal world, and we were sidelined again. My heart rate sped up; the monitor on my suit began softly beeping an alert. The room felt like it was caving in on me. The looming tree surrounded by the dense plants was enough to throw me into a panic attack if I wasn’t careful, so I did the only thing I could think of. I left the hangar.
The Survivors: Books 1-6 Page 93