Q-Gates
Page 16
Nalia sent.
Petra gazed at Ude’s face. He was frowning and attempting to look anywhere but at the companions who surrounded him.
Ude inquired, aghast at the thought.
Petra glanced toward Nata, who ducked her head to stare at the deck.
Ude chose to send Nata a private message.
The Trident arrived at the outpost sooner than Ude wished. He took Nalia at her word. SADEs are truthful, even bluntly so, he thought. It was the future that he wanted time to consider. Then he chose to embrace the present. One step at a time, he told himself.
Nata, with her companions, piloted her traveler toward the coordinates that Nalia had supplied. The Jatouche medical station was just inward of Triton, and Nata overflew the moon and halted her ship.
Hermione commented.
Hermione’s statement encouraged Nata to sail onward to the Jatouche station.
Nearing the station, Nata requested a berth for her ship.
Nata sent an image of Ude standing beside her. Neffess had captured the image on Toral, the Talusian home world.
Nata’s controller requested ship authority, and she relinquished command. Then the controller flew the traveler around the station and entered a bay.
After the ramp of the cargo traveler dropped, Ude, who stood at the ship’s rear, exited first. A Jatouche, who waited nearby, swiftly scuttled backward at the thudding tread of heavy metal boots.
When Ude saw the wide eyes of a Jatouche medical tech, he apologized. “Sorry,” he said. “This avatar was made for construction.”
Matnok, the Jatouche tech, couldn’t understand the human, and she slipped a hand into her bag and extracted an ear comm. Then she offered it to Ude. He bent low to take it from the diminutive alien, and she indicated that it was for his ear.
Ude inserted the ear comm. Soon afterward, he heard several beeps.
“I’m Matnok,” the Jatouche said. “I’ll be your guide for the extent of your stay. How may I call you?”
“I’m Ude.” He introduced his companions, as Matnok handed out ear comms.
Matnok explained.
Ude prepared to lower his avatar to provide the Jatouche with an arm to ride.
Instead, Matnok scrambled up the avatar, using her sharp nails for purchase on various joints in the structure. Soon, she was perched comfortably on Ude’s shoulder.
“An enticing view,” Matnok commented, and Ude’s companions laughed, as they exited the bay.
Nalia waited in the corridor. Deliberately, she’d allowed Matnok to greet the station’s visitors. It was a minor event that would prepare them for the nature of the alliance’s amalgam of races.
“Greetings,” Nalia said. “I see you’re enjoying the opportunity to ride, Matnok.”
“Ude’s offer was most generous,” Matnok replied.
Nalia led the group around the curved corridor until they reached a lift.
Eyeing the size of the car, Ude remarked, “Looks like I get the freight lift.”
Matnok chittered. Then she sent an image to the group. “The human is the outpost commander, Jess Cinders. The other individual is a Crocian, Gorsatha of the Hagar. Crocians are well known for their engineering skills.”
“Wow,” Ude commented under his breath. “That’s one big individual.”
“A Crocian, Mangoth, was a member of the team who first investigated the extent of the Colony’s encroachment,” Nalia explained. “Pyreans, Jatouche, and Crocians are known for their dangerous exploits, which demonstrated to the alliance the extent of the Colony’s intrusions.”
“I haven’t seen an image of a Colony member,” Petra said, as they rode the lift upward.
Nalia shared one of the outpost’s favorite images. Lucia had captured it in the early days, during the fight to free the Sylian dome. Two reds reared high over Jess Cinders and Tacnock, as their Loopah weapons spit explosive darts at the enemy.
“Black space,” Petra remarked. “Those are only images, but they’re enough to make me wish to never encounter one of these.”
“Unfortunately, we believe there are billions of Colony members,” Matnok said. “When they occupy a world, they produce multitudes of offspring and consume every manner of fauna that can be found.”
“They travel via the domes, don’t they?” Nata asked.
“Affirmative,” Matnok replied. “It’s the only mode of intersystem transport that the alliance possessed before the arrival of the Omnians.”
Exiting the lift, Nalia walked the curve of the corridor.
The station’s first-time visitors watched Jatouche moving tanks of liquids. Some were occupied, and some were not. Members of many races, who were ambulatory, were accompanied by Jatouche medical techs. They exhibited signs of trauma, and while Petra, Nata, and Ude tried not to stare, the aliens appeared unconcerned by the presence of humans.
At a pair of wide and opaque glass doors, Nalia stopped. “Only Ude, Hermione, and Matnok need
proceed beyond these doors,” she said. “The Mistrallian, Zimgell, will begin the research and interview process with you, Ude. Soon afterward, you’ll not be conscious until you’ve been restored.”
“How long will that take?” Ude asked.
“Unknown by me,” Nalia replied. “That’s a question that you can ask Zimgell.”
Matnok signaled the doors open. They were tall enough to easily accommodate Ude and his avatar.
Before Ude could take a step, Petra walked through.
Nalia regarded Nata, who wore a confused expression. As Ude and Matnok followed Petra, Nata stayed where she stood. The thought of seeing Ude without his avatar distressed her, but she struggled to comprehend the reason. She considered that perhaps it was because she’d always thought of him as the courageous individual who led their band. They were the escaped clones who hid in the bowels of the derelict colony ship, New Terra, and scavenged for food. It frightened her to think of him otherwise.
Petra and Ude received a request from the station’s controller to download a translation app, and they accepted.
Hermione requested Nalia’s assistance.
Ude was instructed to sit on the pedestal, and the SADEs worked to free the upper sections of the avatar. Support equipment, which remained connected, was carefully placed to the side, as they moved from top to bottom.
Gaining the first view of his body in more than an annual, Ude’s eyes swung briefly toward Petra. Painful embarrassment shone in his eyes. His body was pale and withered. It was his mind that had powered the huge avatar, while the instrumentation worked to keep him alive.
Petra eased around the SADEs to grasp Ude’s hand, and she squeezed it gently. Unknowingly, she wiped away the tears of a young man, who was revisiting the awful memories of a scared and emaciated boy hiding from the colony ship’s minders.
Observing the humans’ intimacy, Hermione sought to use it.
Petra scooted behind Ude. On her knees, she used her legs to brace Ude, while her hands cradled his head.
Ude sent privately.
Hermione detected the reduction in Ude’s biorhythms, which had begun to spike. She’d noted the soft motions of Petra’s fingers and the closing of Ude’s eyes to enjoy the touch.
When the SADEs completed removing the avatar’s shell, the various support systems were laid to the side. Then, with the help of Petra and Matnok, they shifted Ude to the middle of the pedestal.
Hermione signaled Petra to step back, and, reluctantly, she lowered Ude’s head. She squeezed his hand once more before stepping off the pedestal.
Zimgell ran the scan, which examined Ude in many ways. Data was collected on his overall stature, on internal organs, on bone, and on tissue. Critically, Ude’s genomic information was used to construct a hypothetical human, who had enjoyed good health and nutrition.
Hermione explained Ude’s origin and the circumstances of his early years.
From the room’s side doors, medical techs brought a tank of the Jatouche support liquid. Matnok explained to the techs the challenge of the transfer.
Then Zimgell had the SADEs disconnect the lesser critical equipment from Ude. When ready, the remaining items were quickly disconnected, and Ude’s mouth formed gasping motions.
Quickly, the SADEs, Petra, and Matnok carefully lifted Ude and transferred him to the tank. Swiftly and expertly, the techs connected Ude to his new support equipment.
Petra stared anxiously at Ude floating in the liquid. His gasping stopped, and he opened his eyes. Then Petra breathed a sigh of relief. She kissed her fingertips and touched them to the transparent wall of the tank. Soon afterward, Ude closed his eyes. He wouldn’t open them again until he was repaired.
Zimgell signaled the med techs, who moved Ude to the next room, where the initial phase of his rebuild would take place.
In the corridor, Petra said suddenly, “We forgot to ask how long the procedure would take.”
“Zimgell was unable to give a definitive answer,” Matnok said. “Ude’s genome indicates a much more robust stature than he currently occupies. He should be taller and broader. The lack of growth is due to a paucity of nutrition during his formative years.”
“What does that mean for Ude?” Nata asked.
“Zimgell must formulate new procedures,” Matnok explained. “Among alliance races, we don’t encounter individuals who’ve lived under such primitive conditions.”
“Don’t the fights with the Colony result in individuals with extensive damage?” Petra asked, visualizing the reds towering high overhead of Jess and Tacnock.
“No, they don’t,” Nalia replied. “In addition to the powerful pincers that reds and grays carry, the insectoid species are venomous. Bites from even the young can kill.”
“So Ude will be here a while,” Petra surmised.
“In time, we’ll receive an update,” Matnok promised, laying a comforting hand on Petra’s forearm. “Then Zimgell will give us a detailed timeline.”
“Until then, you’re free to return to your ship,” Nalia said. “However, I understand that Captain de Long has given downtime to the entire crew to visit the outpost or Pyre. Several SADEs are reconditioning his Trident.”
Nata connected to Alain and confirmed that Petra, Hermione, and she were free to do as they pleased for the immediate future.
“Anyone for Pyre?” Nata asked, and Petra eagerly agreed.
Hermione saw Nata’s eyes fall on her. They were bright with anticipation, and the SADE’s emotional algorithms rose in hierarchy. She was enjoying the company of these humans. What had started as an experiment to learn about humans had turned into a better mode of existence.
“It would be my pleasure,” Hermione replied.
“Let’s go,” Nata said enthusiastically. She threw her arms around Petra and Hermione and headed down the corridor, r
eversing the route stored in her implant.
Matnok looked up at Nalia and grinned. “It pleases me to see more than the physical repaired.”
17: Gates to Where?
Bortoth and his clutch mate, Daktora, exited the cargo shuttle that had transferred them from the Triton dome to the outpost.
A Sylian led them to their appointment via the lifts reserved for heavier individuals, for which the two Crocians definitely qualified.
Each Crocian towered nearly three meters. Entirely covered in scales, their mouths exhibited rows of blunt, conical teeth that interlaced when their powerful jaws closed. Their hands were tipped with heavy blunt claws. In insectoid encounters, more than one red or gray had been felled by the swipe of a powerful Crocian arm.
Mickey chose to meet the Crocians in a conference room rather than his suite.
“Mickey, Miriam,” the Crocians simultaneously roared, when they spotted the eminent engineers.
Mickey bellowed his own welcome. As a large New Terran, he was one of the few who came close to matching the timbre and volume of the Crocians’ voices.
Not to be outdone, Miriam blasted the room with one of Gorsatha’s roars.
That was the extent of the greetings. The Crocians’ size and strength precluded intimacies with humans.
Mickey motioned at two chairs, and the jaws of Bortoth and Daktora hung open. Seating arrangements were rare offers for the Crocians.
“These were created for Gorsatha,” Mickey said, his voice relaying a touch of sadness.
“May he find a place in the wild,” Bortoth intoned. It was an ancient Crocian blessing for those entering the dorgatha stage. When new to the wild, dorgatha lacked the size to compete, and they often succumbed to vicious predators until they reached maturity. Then, as monstrous reptiles, the dorgatha dominated life throughout their territories.
The Crocians sat, rumbling in pleasure, as the nanites accommodated their bulks. Their tails poked through the seats’ backs and rested on the deck. Their relaxation was momentary, as Jess and Lucia hurried into the room.