by A. C. Ellas
* * * *
Cai worded his message with extreme care, deleting several drafts before he was satisfied. He scanned the message one last time. He spoke of his dedication to the Guild. He spoke of Nick’s fantastic service record. He spoke of love and comradeship and of commitment. He spoke of marriage and legal rights that even he, a Guild Astrogator, should enjoy as a sentient being. He then spoke of bigotry and intolerance in the person of the local guild chief and appealed his case to the highest authority—the guildmaster of the Psionics Guild. He included all the pertinent data, prepared the package and added the necessary security.
When the message was ready, he sent it over to the scout-courier Swift Sparrow, which was on the dedicated run between Earth and Hevetich and was preparing for departure. The Guild would receive his message in a few days, which was faster than Cai had thought, but in some ways, not fast enough.
He watched the Swift Sparrow leave the station and accelerate toward the hard point, grateful that the ship was named for the sparrow and not the swallow, because Swift Swallow would be too much to bear saying with a straight face. Assured that the guildmaster would soon receive his complaint, Cai turned his attention to the conundrum of how he, trapped aboard Laughing Owl, could rescue Nick, trapped on the planet. Laughing Owl couldn’t land on a planetary surface, and he couldn’t leave the ship in any case.
Then, it came to him. Nick had allowed him to piggyback in his mind via the military implant. Surely, he could do the same with one of his own adjuncts, and he’d never heard of any restrictions on the adjuncts leaving the ship. Quick as thought, he had two of his adjuncts in the room.
Fi-em was his first choice. The M stood for military, and five was the tactics slot, though Cai had done some additional work on the adjunct, adding in strategic subroutines. On-em was the strategic slot, and again, Cai had added tactical subroutines, but he wasn’t going to risk both his Ms on this mission. Fi-em’s profile was more suited for the task. His second selection was Tri-ess. The S stood for Systems/Security and basically meant he was an electronic snoop as well as having decent police subroutines built in. Cai had improved on those, of course. At this point, Tri-ess should be able to stand up to a full squad of marines while hacking into a mainframe.
Cai hoped that wouldn’t be put to the test. He carefully checked the two adjuncts over then fitted them with body armor under their standard Space Corps-issue uniforms. Lastly, he armed them with the standard-issue pulse guns before sending them to the starboard hangar. He downed a small dose of raw Synde and entered the Chamber with On-em and Si-el as backups. He plunged into the welcoming embrace of the neural network and became Laughing Owl.
He reached out effortlessly and found his two adjuncts. He tested his ability to piggyback them and found it far, far easier than doing the same with Nick. Not only could he see out of their eyes, he could make them do things as easily as if he were directing his own limbs. This was not something they’d taught him in the Guild hall, and he wondered why. The trainers had to know, after all.
By the time his adjuncts reached the shuttle, Cai was used to riding along with them. He switched his conscious attention to the shuttle. As Astrogator, one of the things he often did was pilot drones. So, it wasn’t a problem for him to link himself into the shuttle’s AI and take control as the pilot. He sped through the departure protocol and launched the shuttle within fifteen minutes of his decision to send adjuncts. He set the shuttle on a course for the Guild house then drew on the immense power of the singularity to find Nick.
The additional power gave him all the range he needed. Locating Nick was as simple as concentrating on the telepathic bond that had sprung up between them after they’d become lovers. It was an inevitable side effect of their intimacy, because Cai was one of the most powerful telepaths to ever have been found, at least that’s what his trainer Ortat had told him when he graduated from the training program.
His first sense of Nick was one of pain. Cai grit his mental teeth and pushed past that, trying to reach the core of the man he loved. Nick, Nick, can you hear me? Nick? It’s Cai. Can you hear me?
Finally, he heard a faint response. Cai? Is it really you? How?
Yes, Nick, it’s me. I’m using my singularity to boost the range. Why are you in pain?
They beat me, because I refused to be their sex slave. They’re planning to send me to the Guild labs to be re-patterned as an adjunct.
Anger flashed through Cai, and he immediately clamped down on it. He was already doing everything he could short of undocking the ship and flying to Nick’s position. And oh, that was so tempting. I’m sending help, Nick. It won’t be long. I won’t leave you there. He cataloged and documented Nick’s injuries even as he reassured the man, then, just to be on the safe side, he used his telekinetic power, boosted by the immense power of the singularity, to remove that incriminating cuff and whisk it back to him.
Hey! Why’d you do that? Nick protested.
I don’t want them using it against you. I love you even without that. Cai impatiently checked on the shuttle. It was flying steadily on the course he’d set and was close to its destination. In an utter lack of subtlety, Cai landed the shuttle on the roof of the Guild house and sent his adjuncts to the roof access door. A tickle of telekinesis convinced the door to open, and Tri-ess took the lead as they slipped down the staircase into the building.
Chapter Four
Nick stretched sore muscles as he climbed off the cot to pace the tiny room they’d put him in. Perad had been furious at his refusal of his offer and had taken it out on him physically. Nick had resisted. In full step-up, he had laid into his captors with a will to destroy. The Corps had done their best to make him a weapon in human form under the theory that there could never be a successful challenge of a ship’s captain. But the Guild had other means of attack. Telekinesis had tripped him up, and that strange gun which froze all the wiring inside him had finished him off.
He felt truly naked with the cuff gone and spent a few moments feeling his balls. They felt weird with it gone. He didn’t like it. A low klaxon sounded from somewhere outside his cell, and a few minutes later, he heard men running past.
The door is unlocked, Cai told him. Head for the roof.
He immediately went to the door and tried it. It opened easily under his hand. He glanced both ways up and down the corridor. Seeing no one, he ventured forth in search of a staircase. He triggered his hyper-reflexes, even if the people he encountered were armed with those nerve tanglers, he’d still buy himself more time and inflict more damage in the stepped-up state. What were those guns, Cai? He figured the Gator would know.
Pulse guns, specifically tuned to neurologics, Cai replied. Here’s how to beat them. Cai triggered his implant and downloaded the data.
Nick could sense the changes he needed to make, and somehow, with Cai’s help and a little luck, he accomplished it by the time he reached the stairs. He paused, however, for the door to his left was open and appeared to be a closet full of...uniforms?
It would appear so, Cai confirmed. Standard Guild singlesuits. You have enough time to dress if you hurry.
Nick was grateful for Cai’s patience and understanding. And his love. And, well, everything about Cai, now that he thought about it. The garments were stacked by standard sizes, making it ridiculously easy for Nick to grab the size he needed. It was a single-pieced garment, just as Cai had surmised, in dark gray, which would help him blend into the shadows. He stuffed himself into it, sealed the seam and continued on his way with slightly increased confidence and a great deal more dignity.
He went quickly up the stairs, but the higher he got, the louder the sounds from above became. He heard much shouting and the blaring of alarms and the firing of weapons. Cai? What’s going on up there?
The guild chief has taken exception to my parking a shuttle on his roof and is trying to force its departure. We were forced to retreat from the building but are holding our ground on
the roof, and we are trying not to kill anyone, though that is becoming increasingly difficult. I suggest you hurry.
Galvanized by Cai’s words, Nick sped up, sprinting up the staircase as best he could, which wasn’t very fast even in step-up mode, because two full Gs were pressing down on him, and moving was so hard it hurt. If we get out of this, I’m going to start working out in high G!
I can arrange that easily. I can locally increase the grav field of the gym to whatever degree you wish. You’re almost at the roof. Head hard to port once you’re out the door.
Nick burst out of the door onto the roof half a minute later, and without even taking a moment to get his bearings, he twisted ninety degrees and sprinted, sort of, to his left.
“It’s Steele! Get him!” shouted a voice—Perad. Nick knew that voice; he would never forget that voice or the feel of that man’s hands on his balls. He risked a glance back. A full squad of armed guards was running after him...faster than him. His stepped-up state helped but couldn’t overcome the heavy drag of gravity, and these men were used to it, lived in it, trained in it...he didn’t have a chance, but he tried to run faster anyhow.
He could see the shuttle now; it was parked neatly on the pad on the left side of the building, near the edge. It was perhaps thirty meters away, but it felt more like thirty kilometers to Nick’s screaming muscles. The shuttle’s ramp was down, and two men stood forward of it and to either side—Nick must pass between them to make it into the shuttle. He recognized them for Cai’s adjuncts and felt a sudden chill that Cai would risk himself this way just to rescue him. If the adjuncts were harmed—they were directly connected to Cai’s brain, an extension of his mind and self–it would be like harming Cai directly.
The adjuncts had pulse guns and weren’t afraid to use them. Nor was Cai at all reticent in using the plasma rifle that was usually kept hidden in a bay in the shuttle’s belly. Laughing Owl was a war ship and didn’t carry any unarmed support craft. The shuttle’s rifle continued to keep the guildsmen back with carefully placed shots at the permacrete blocks at their feet, but the adjuncts turned to Nick and started picking off those in pursuit of him.
“Leave off, Cai! You’re in enough trouble already,” Perad shouted, dancing aside when the block he stood on glowed red for a moment. “Don’t make this worse for you than it already is.”
Cai’s voice replied from the shuttle’s external speaker. “You are illegally detaining the captain of the Laughing Owl. It is within my rights and, is even my bound duty, to rescue him.”
“He’s no longer captain of anything,” Perad replied, and he pulled a gun off his belt, aimed at the closer adjunct and pulled the trigger. “Fire at will, men,” he ordered. “Cai can’t maintain this operation without his adjuncts on the ground.”
Perad’s people didn’t argue; they opened fire. The adjunct had absorbed Perad’s shot—it took a lot to overwhelm an adjunct, they shunted most of the energy that struck them into the ground, but it could be done with enough firepower, and the Guild had weapons that even the adjuncts couldn’t beat.
Nick strained to close the distance—fifteen meters now—as the first adjunct went down in a combination of pulse guns and plasma bolts. He drew in great gulps of air, but it didn’t help much. His muscles were past the point of complaint, and he felt as weak as water, but still, he gave it all he had.
Five meters, so close to safety he could almost taste it, the second adjunct, Tri-ess, fell with half his head shot off and now the guns were firing at him.
“Stop, Steele, or we’ll kill you,” Perad commanded.
With both of Cai’s adjuncts dead, Nick knew his odds weren’t good, but there was only four meters remaining. Four strides—surely he could run four strides fast enough to avoid the guns.
A plasma bolt struck him in the side, searing agony followed by a paralytic shock that froze his entire body and filled it with pain, pain, and more pain. He knew he screamed as he fell, one arm outstretched to just barely touch the shuttle’s ramp.
* * * *
His mind reeling from the loss of self, Cai fell out of the linkage with Laughing Owl, retreating into himself like a turtle pulling in its limbs. His breathing was a series of sobs, of pain, of loss, of worry for his husband. The shuttle’s sensors had captured Nick’s fall, but they’d also shown that Nick was still alive when the guildsmen had picked him up and borne him back inside. Alive but injured and in a great deal of pain.
Cai staggered out of the Chamber, struggling to compose himself. His mind touched each adjunct in turn. On-em, To-en, Fo-vi, Si-el. He prodded at the places where Tri-ess and Fi-em should be but weren’t, like a man probing at a toothache to see if it still hurt. His remaining adjuncts gathered in close, engaging in an unusual amount of physical contact. Somehow, it felt unifying to their group mind, and Cai focused on the harmonics of their connections to him and realized that there were cross connections to each other as well. He’d never noticed this before, but it made sense—they were part of him and he of them, and why wouldn’t they also be parts of each other?
Cai wasn’t sure how long the mental and physical group hug lasted, but he had a sense of hours passing before he felt at all able to deal with the situation. Then, he felt guilt—he’d left Nick in pain and in enemy hands while he had a meltdown. It wasn’t acceptable. He sat down at his console, prepared his report and placed another call to Admiral Nbuntu.
The pretty aide Nick had admired on his first visit to the admiral’s office answered the call. “Admiral Nbuntu’s office, how may we assist you?” The man looked up at the screen then and froze. “Oh, Astrogator Cai. Would you like to speak to the admiral?”
“Yes, please, thank you.” Cai wondered at the fear he saw in the aide’s eyes. Was he that scary looking? Or was it just the usual fear of Astrogators that so many people had because of the multitude of holo shows and legends portraying Astrogators along a spectrum starting with petty dictator and ending with psychopathic monster.
The aide transferred him before Cai could find the words to ask about it. Admiral Nbuntu immediately said, “There was some action down at the Guild house, I hear.”
“Yes, sir.” Cai sent the report. “I attempted, and failed, to rescue Captain Steele using my own resources. Nick tells me that Perad plans to mind-wipe him and send him to the Guild labs for re-patterning as an adjunct. He was also badly injured in the fighting—Perad had his weapons set to kill, not disable, and it is merely luck that Nick’s wiring was sufficient to partially protect him from the full brunt of the blow. A lesser man would have died.” Cai paused to take a steadying breath as Nbuntu absorbed this and glanced over the data.
“Your adjuncts?”
“Both dead,” Cai replied flatly. “With all due respect, I have reason to fear immediate danger to Captain Steele’s continued well being and am requesting permission to send in the ship’s marines to affect his immediate rescue.”
“Permission is denied,” Nbuntu replied after a moment.
Cai glared at him, rage building up in his system like a physical force. He opened his mouth to tell the admiral off when Nbuntu explained, “This is now an official Space Corps problem, and you’re not a line officer. We will certainly be sending marines—and a whole lot more—and if the guild chief doesn’t turn over our officer, there won’t be a Guild house remaining on this planet before we’re through.”
“Oh,” said Cai, reeling in surprise.
Nbuntu’s expression softened. “You’re in no shape to do this, Cai, with two of your adjuncts dead and your spouse injured. Let us do our part.”
Cai bowed his head. “Yes, sir. Thank you, Admiral.” He allowed the connection to close then reached out for Nick. Only silence answered, Nick was too far for Cai to hear without augmentation. But he could tell that Nick lived. The bond was enough for that.
He ate without tasting his food then entered the shipnet. He jumped from the ship to the station and listened in on the station chatt
er long enough to pick up the informational feeds from the full company of marines heading to the planet on a dedicated drop ship. Each marine had their own mechanical exoskeleton fighting platform that turned them into, essentially, self-guided tanks. Mechanized marines were a ground-lubber’s worst nightmare, not that Cai would be very thrilled at having to face them himself. Fortunately, the marines were on his side.
The drop ship took up position above the Guild house, and two hundred mechanized marines jumped out of the belly of the ship, ten at a time, their built-in propulsion systems bringing them to the ground in good order. Within ten minutes, the building was surrounded by a ring of marines and all weapons were hot and aimed on key targets of the building.
“Attention,” blared a loud voice. “Attention. Attention. You have five minutes to release Captain Steele to our custody or we will open fire. We are operating under the authority of the Space Corps with full backing from admiralty. Hand over Captain Steele and nobody will be hurt.”
Cai had to remind himself to breathe from time to time as the timer ticked inexorably downward. At three minutes, there hadn’t been so much as a peep from the Guild house, but the marines waited stoically. If it came to battle, they would still try to rescue Nick, but that would be a secondary priority after achieving the objective of ridding the building of hostiles.
At four minutes and thirty seconds, the front door of the building opened. A naked man was shoved out the opening. He fell and rolled partway down the stairs, and Cai winced with each impact. Nick’s right side was bright red and blistered—no attempt had been made to repair the damage the plasma bolt had caused, and Cai’s rage mounted with every passing moment. Two medics came forward from their usual post at the rear, and while the mechs hovered over them, all in a clear guard stance, they gently placed Nick on a stretcher, covered him with a blanket and took him out of the danger zone.