by Tim Kaiver
"And Sprinkles is coming," Emmit shouted as she entered. "I don't care how bad he smells."
Ehli strapped herself into a seat that unfolded from the small cabin's bulkhead, unsure, now that she'd found the general's son, what she would say. "Sprinkles?" she asked her son.
Emmit shrugged. Making no sense was about as much sense as he made sometimes. "I think it's funny."
"Mouthguards in," Cullen said from a speaker on the bulkhead. Schaefer had taught her about Mericure Bubble transportation and the need to wear mouth protection to keep from biting your tongue during the electrostatic discharge of the Mericure ignition, as well as the fascinating connection between memory and instantaneous travel. Emmit handed her the spare mouthguard case left after he and Adi had opened theirs.
As she put hers in, a tickle of static rubbed on her eardrums. Her eyelids twitched a little as the vibration increased.
Emmit watched her with youthful excitement. More hope than she had. The blue mouthguard stuck out between his stretched lips, forming a smile.
Were she not strapped in, she'd kiss him on the cheek. "If this works, I'm real proud of you."
"And if it doesn't?" Emmit mumbled, unfazed in his hope as he played along.
"Then I simply love you. But I sure wish you were smarter."
That earned a nervous chuckle. The Mericure activation vibrated like a drill boring a hole between her eardrums. She made up a countdown from twenty to a point when either her eyeballs would pop or her brain would shoot out of her ears. Lights blinked. The bubble synced. She closed her eyes. The pressure eased.
Ehli opened her eyes, praying that the impossible had just happened. Her heartbeat raced. Are we free? She unbuckled her straps. Emmit wrestled out of his, and helped Adi before running to hug her. Adi joined them.
*Mission to follow the general’s son to freedom – Complete.*
+25 XP to group.
"Mom." Emmit looked up, then leaned to whisper in her ear, "Did you see that?"
Was he asking about the Cipher? The thought filled her with relief. "I did," she whispered back.
He embraced her in a strong hug. "I'm so glad."
"Me too." After a moment she asked, "Are you an ultra?"
"I am," he said, fear in his tone as though afraid of being found out.
"Me too," she said. "I'm here with you."
He tightened his hug. "Thank you."
"We need to talk to Captain Re," she whispered. "See what he knows."
6
The bright blue flash from the Mericure Bubble dimmed, and Cullen's eyes adjusted to the overcast sky set above the jungle that draped fat green leaves above his ship. Beneath the branches, his line of sight tracked to a high concrete wall that disappeared into the thickest portion of trees. Its width went beyond the scope of his windshield.
Ocia's large-handed clap punctured the silence, and he laughed. "We're here!"
Even that amount of movement was beyond Cullen, given how his stomach swam and his head swayed. Two pulls in, like, fifteen minutes would do that to you. If they had to leave again any time soon, he'd be in bad shape.
Ocia unbuckled and stood without the slightest imbalance. He assessed Cullen with a dominant, but playful, smile and raised his hand. "Stay. Get your feet."
*Mission to rescue the ultras – Complete.*
+25 XP to group.
+25 XP bonus to Captain Re for successful pullspace trip.
Group XP summary: Cullen Level 1 Bounty Hunter 70/110; Ehli Level 1 Ultra 25/130; Emmit Level 1 Ultra 70/130.
*Mission to escape Saemera with ultras and Ancients' texts – Activated.*
Cullen took his mouthguard out, put it in his case, and slid it under his armrest as though nothing had happened. The ultras were on board, but no texts. Not knowing if Ocia, Jolnes, or—worst-case scenario—Torek would hinder his mission, he kept the stats to himself. If he got a private moment with the ultras, he'd discuss with them, but that was it.
One of the camera views showed the starboard side of the ship and the wide building they had landed alongside. As Cullen watched, the main doors slid open, and four soldiers armed with rifles casually walked out to the stone path that skirted the building.
"Dr. Yrix," one of them said, his voice projecting from speakers above Cullen.
Cullen looked back at Ocia. "Tell him you're safe, and we'll be out in a minute." He pressed a button on the dash for the mic and indicated for Ocia to speak.
"Yes. Stand down. The mission was a success!"
The soldiers' faces eased, and they raised their rifles and cheered.
Cullen wished it was that easy. He unbuckled and stood. "Jolnes, can you check on our passengers? Make sure they're okay."
"Yeah." Jolnes called back.
"You all did a great job," Ocia said. "The drop-in to the cave was flush, and we made it out without a shot fired. Your father would be proud." He unbuckled and stood, as though he hadn't just mentioned Cullen's father.
"How do you know my father?" Cullen asked.
Ocia smiled. "You'll see. He had an outpost here, and left clues that led us to your ship, and to finding you," he said, tapping the headrest of his chair with a wide smile. "We'll share more when we get inside. I haven't been here for a month, so I have to check in on some things, but you get some breakfast, let our passengers breathe for a few minutes, then we'll chat next steps."
Ocia offered his hand to shake. "It's an honor to finally meet you."
Cullen had some suspicions about how easily the broken pieces of his life were now fitting together, but it wouldn't help to show those concerns—not yet, anyway. He shook the doctor's big meaty hand as though the honor was all his.
Ocia finished shaking hands. "Shall we go?"
"Yeah. I could kiss dirt." Cullen locked his stations and checked the power on his wristcom. A decent "89%" showed on the power gauge. At the bottom of the companionway, he turned to see Ehli watching him from the hatch of their quarters. Her son whispered something to her, then glanced at him.
Ocia walked past him. "Everyone feeling okay?"
Ehli nodded. He opened his arms and brought Emmit into a hug. Then he kissed Ehli's forehead. "We made it!"
Ehli smiled, forehead to forehead, closing her eyes as she embraced the father-like figure.
Their familial connection was born from history, not blood. I could use something like that.
Torek joined him at the locker next to his and clicked it open to unhinge his rifle and vesparan cans. He shut it just as quickly. "Come on."
Cullen checked behind him to Ehli and Emmit. The ultras. Ehli saw him looking. This felt like a pivotal time to advance his mission. He motioned her over. "Bring Emmit."
Torek gave him a strange look.
"I'll meet you at the ramp," Cullen told him. He motioned again as Ocia looked to see what Cullen wanted. "Torek and Jolnes can go out with you, Ocia. I'd like a moment with Ehli and Emmit."
Adi and Nassib made their way to the hatch. Ocia guided them to follow Torek toward the stern. As they left, and Ehli and Emmit walked toward him. He sensed their eagerness. When they were close enough, he asked, in a low tone, "Have you seen the Cipher?"
His elation at vocalizing it matched Emmit’s evident joy as he bounced. "Yes! Can you believe it?"
Cullen smiled and shook his head. "I can't." No longer did his soul feel like a broken jar. With the Cipher's guidance, he finally felt like he had a direction worth following. The shards of his being were starting to seal over, and in the healing, he felt his soul beginning to hold water once again.
Ehli ran a hand over Emmit’s head. They both had the short hairstyle of prisoners—the kind that made no distinction between male or female. He hated what they must have endured as prisoners of the Osuna, even at a small prison like Setuk's. She sighed and looked up at Cullen, slowly shaking her head in wonder. "What does it mean?"
Cullen didn't rightly know, but he had a hunch. On the dash of his ship, he had an acronym referencing a
n ancient Rucien text: To the light's return we cry. He shrugged. "I don't know what we did, but we wound up in the right spot at the right time."
"For what?" she asked.
"Did you see a quest to unlock the Cipher?" he asked.
"Yes."
"How about to find the texts?"
She squinted. "No?"
"Did you see experience XP gains once our pullspace finished?"
"Yes. Not that I know what that's all about." She rubbed the bridge of her nose. "Don't get me wrong, I thank Shephka for our rescue. But could this really be the Cipher?" she asked. "Why now, with us?"
Cullen smiled. "I have no idea." His past, and the shame he felt at being exiled, had long plagued him, and he'd felt far from Shephka. "It said it was a limited version, but it's still amazing."
"It helped me fix your p-drive," Emmit said, "and find the chest with the tools."
"Do you know what an ultra is?" Ehli asked Cullen.
He shook his head. "Sorry. But whatever it is, whatever that means for you and your boy, I'll do everything I can to get you and the texts to Vijil so we can see the Cipher unlocked."
"You done yet?" Torek called out from the stern "They're inviting us in for breakfast and I'm hungry."
He appeared around the corner, rubbing his belly with a big smile. Adi walked close behind him, reflecting his excitement for a meal.
+10 XP – relationship gains within party to friendly.
*Task to obtain nutrition to boost powers – Activated.*
"It says we can eat!" Emmit hollered, fist in the air.
Humid air wafted in with an aroma of sweet flora recently dosed in rain. Ocia's soldiers waited, rifles aimed at the ground as they watched Cullen and the two ultras emerge from his ship.
Ocia smiled. "The cafeteria is just inside. Lieutenant Huls and I will attend to business."
The most decorated officer waited at attention as Ocia and the group walked onto the dew damp grass and passed him. He was only a little shorter than Ocia, his posture, firm from muscle and training, capped by a stare that could outlast the erosion of a mountain. As Cullen approached, his lips cracked into a formal grin and he extended a hand in greeting.
"Thank you for returning our doctor and some very special new guests. Your meals will forever be free on my watch." Huls's grip eased from Cullen's palm, and he extended the same courtesy to Torek. "Good to meet you in person."
"Likewise."
Huls took two earpieces out of his shirt pocket. "Your chips will install a program to link these with our airsync so we can communicate almost anywhere on this island."
Cullen took the rubber earpiece that wrapped around the top of his ear and fit snugly inside. The top of its arc had a small button which, he knew from other earpieces, would activate the link-in program and the airsync. "Thank you."
Huls extended a hand toward the doors of the building. Cullen led the way.
Two guards stepped aside as the doors opened. Ehli and their other passengers followed closely, as though concerned one of the soldiers would throw them back in prison. Cullen caught Ehli's attention. "You're free now."
She smiled, but her expression faltered. "Thank you, but I don't know we're quite there yet."
Her attention shifted to focus behind him. The hall inside expanded into an intersection, with an open office on their left and an auditorium not far beyond. Torek started for the dining hall, where people in military greens and hospital scrubs carried trays of food and drinks to the auditorium's seating area. The style of orange tint on green collage for the soldiers identified them with the Esune group, the Logi, whom he'd seen helping protect the Rucien colonists and explorers from Osuna threats.
Huls checked his wristcom. "They're still serving breakfast, but it's good. I like the egg and beef tortillas if you don't want to wait for the chicken."
"Thank you," Cullen said.
The boys speed-walked between pay stations and into the kitchen.
"Slow down," Ehli called out, following them.
"You can call Isidro when you're all done eating, and he'll show you to your accommodations." Ocia said. He turned away, and Lieutenant Huls followed him down the hall.
Cullen watched as people either waved to Ocia or shook his hand as he made his way past them. The environment reminded Cullen of Fort Prophet on Vijil. There was a sense of purpose here, and Ocia formed a part of its link to the community's wellbeing.
"Let's go," Torek said. "I wasn't kidding about being hungry."
Cullen joined him, and they headed toward the smell of warm eggs and cooked beef and chicken. Cullen mused that Fort Prophet had many secrets that weren't immediately seen in the closely-knit community. He wondered what secrets might surface here with Ocia’s return. The Cipher had been written, by Shephka, into the underlying power of the universe, but those who followed His light were not the only ones to use it. He scanned the faces of those around him, ready for a new enemy to make their move.
7
The spread of breakfast options made Emmit's mouth water. His focus locked on a thick pizza with a golden-brown crust, fluffy yellow and white egg spread, dusted with chunks of crispy bacon he could almost taste from the smell where he stood, and a healthy melting of yellow cheese. A man standing in line to one side of the pizza pressed his glass against a lever that poured milk in abundance.
Adi cut in line in front of some amused adults in clean, civilian clothes, and Emmit followed.
"Easy kids," one man said.
Emmit didn't bother looking him in the eye or even slowing as he snatched a warm plaster plate and a fork—a fork!—and stretched a hand out for the nearest slice of pizza, as though any second's delay could steal this dream and his chance at a meal.
But no one stopped either of them. They giggled as they stacked three slices each on their plates. I'm gonna get so sick, he thought, but didn't care.
Adi lowered his cup of milk as he stepped aside for Emmit to fill his. "This is amazing, Em."
Emmit sniffed the top of his glass. The smell of cold, fresh cow's milk took him back to life before Setuk. This was no goat's milk, where you could taste the filth the animal rolled around in. The milk passed down his throat, cool and full of flavor, even better than he remembered.
He turned to spot Adi heading for the seating area, and noticed the people in the line were staring as though he were some cute puppy with a chew toy.
"They're jealous." The sweet voice came from a young woman in her early twenties, who was filling her cup with milk.
Emmit crept closer, unsure if, or why, she'd spoken to him. Walking closer was like disturbing an invisible force that separated him and his grimy clothes and skin from her. Every detail about her fascinated him, from the flowing blue blouse to her recently washed hair. The black and blonde-tinted hair was woven in a knot at the back of her head as though sewn with an artist's touch. Even her uplifting scent slowed time.
Two dabs of her dark eyelashes locked him in. "Good morning." She capped off her smile and returned to filling her cup.
Behind her, a guy stood waiting with his tray of plated food. "He has the same eyes."
Startled, Emmit glanced at the man, but was sure he hadn't spoken out loud. What was going on? Emmit turned toward the seating area, where Adi and the crew shared a table, annoyed at the creepy feeling nestling into his bones at hearing the man's thought. He has the same eyes? As who?
He took another drink of his milk.
The woman stepped away from the dispenser, watching Emmit with a kind of silent invitation to join her.
He lowered his cup, feeling the need to explain his silence. "This is the best milk I've had since I was six."
She chuckled as he joined her. Humor and joy seemed a natural part of her day, and his entrance into it felt welcome. "I'm glad. Are you Emmit?"
Emmit's fingers lost their strength, and he almost dropped his glass.
"How'd you know my name?"
"I'm Dr. Vitra." She flashed her gri
n, and swayed a little in an informal curtsy he hadn't seen before. "Dr. Sara. Sara. Whatever's more comfortable. I worked with Dr. Yrix—Ocia—on the treatments you and your mother received while you were in Setuk. I'm so glad that you're finally here."
She glanced toward the seating area, eyes narrowing as she scanned for something. She returned her gaze and flower-petal softness to Emmit, lifting a smile. "Is your Mom—"
"Those cultures are ready, Dr. Vitra," the weird guy said as he approached the pair. "I didn't get a helmet trough, so these trays will have to do for now." He stepped between her and Emmit, and nodded to his right.
"This kid is more important than a million cultures," Dr. Sara thought.
Emmit's heart almost stopped. Had he heard that? More than a million cultures?
Skill learned: Pathing.
+5 XP.
Emmit smacked his lips as he tried to talk. "Cultures?" he managed, almost as confused about the topic as he was about the voice he'd heard, and whatever Pathing was.
The man glanced down at Emmit as though he'd defecated on the man's shoe, then gripped Dr. Vitra's elbow. The grip wasn't like a vise, but its message that she move along was clear.
She shook him off. "What do…?" she started, shaking her head as he retracted his hand. "It was nice to meet you, Emmit," Dr. Vitra said with a forced smile in his direction. "We'll talk again soon."
"What's gotten...?" Her hushed voice trailed off as they walked away.
Emmit strained thought muscles he wasn't sure were there and failed to retrieve anything from their conversation. Then he tried one mind to the next, searching strange faces for thoughts that felt like bubbles in a dark well where the echo threw everything off. His stomach cramping forced him to stop. The world shifted and twisted in opposite directions. His tray fell in slow motion, the glass tipping at a distance and time he couldn't reach. His body weighed too much to stop the fall as he joined the glass as it tipped over and spilled its remaining milk.