Denver exhales in a long whistle. “That would do it.”
“I thought we weren’t going to bring up the past,” Regis grumbles.
“I never agreed to that, nor will I ever. I said I’d try to move on, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to forget what happened.”
Regis slams his fist against the side of the crate. At least it wasn’t the side of my head.
“Why don’t you count to ten like they taught you in reform school or wherever they sent you to make you somewhat human?” I ask.
Regis slams his fist again.
“New topic,” Denver says. “How long have you been working with the Resistance, kid? Is that why you pulled us out of the rift in the first place?”
“What? No. I’m not working for the Resistance. Or, well, not formally. I didn’t even know the plan in Americana East until a few days ago, when Jayne—”
Regis elbows me in the ribs again. This time, I deserved it.
“Jayne is part of the Resistance?” Denver asks. “I never would have guessed. She seems so rah-rah Earth Force.”
“Forget I said anything.”
“You suck, Jasper,” Regis says.
“Since it’s already out there,” I say, “I have to know: Is Jayne okay? Was her cover blown?”
“Not until right now,” Regis says.
Yeah, I suck. “The point is, I have friends on both sides,” I tell Denver. “My sister is with the Resistance. I haven’t seen her in a long time.”
“So all of this is about a family reunion for you?” Denver asks.
“No, there’s a lot more to it.” There is, but I’m not sure how to explain it to Denver. I rub my head with my free hand. “I agree with the Resistance’s principles. And I think they have the best shot at negotiating peace.”
“Peace? Are you kidding?” Denver asks. “They attacked us at the rally! They kidnapped me, and now they’re shipping us halfway across the galaxy! What does that have to do with peace?”
“Everything,” Regis whispers.
Denver leans forward so he can see me and Regis. “No, seriously, both of you, I want to know about the Resistance. I’ve hardly gotten any answers from Earth Force—not that I’m surprised—and what they have told me has me questioning who the bad guys really are.”
That’s a pretty bold thing to say—some may even say treasonous. Maybe Gedney was right. Maybe Denver can be swayed toward the Resistance.
“And what’s more,” Denver continues, “there’s no way Admiral Eames is going to let that attack go unanswered. So, here’s the thing: I’m willing to listen to the Resistance and consider helping you defend against Earth Force’s inevitable counterattack, but you’d better start talking.”
I take a deep breath of the stale, cheesy air. “A lot has happened since you got stuck in the rift, Denver, a lot more than they taught you in your recent history classes. You know how they made us lie about our rescue from the rift? That’s just the beginning. . . .”
23
OBVIOUSLY, DENVER KNOWS ABOUT THE Incident at Bounding Base 51, but he only knows his part—the part with the failed bound that leaves him and his fellow aeronauts trapped in the rift for more than fifteen years. So I figure that’s a pretty good place to start.
I tell him how the Incident changed everything. In its wake, all of Earth’s space programs and militaries were formally merged under Earth Force. Space programs make sense—in fact, the space program that oversaw all quantum aeronautics was already called Earth Force—but did anyone question why Earth Force needed to control the military? It’s clear now, obviously, but what about then? Didn’t it seem suspicious?
My mind is transported back to our pod room during the first tour of duty when we sat on bean bags and listened to Waters talk about the history of the Bounders. Shortly after the Incident, the Bounder Baby Breeding Program was announced. All male-female couples, like my parents, were tested for the Bounder genes. If they carried the genes and planned to procreate, well, let’s just say the end results were Bounder babies like me and Addy.
“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” Denver interrupts as I go through the history, “because the Bounders are the only humans who can use the alien technology. I thought you were going to tell me something I didn’t know.”
“They told you all that at the space station?” I’m surprised his clearance level was that high.
“No. It’s old news, kid. We knew Earth Force was studying the Youli’s biochemistry and comparing it to the human genome back before the Incident. They wanted to expand their research and conduct experiments on an actual alien. That’s one of the reasons we engaged in the training exercise the day we got trapped in the rift. We hoped to lure the Youli in and capture one.”
“Why did they film it live, then?” Regis asks.
“Who knows? Arrogance? It’s not like they planned to stream the alien capture part, just the dashing aeronauts boarding their bounding ships. We filmed all the bounds in those days. Nothing ever went wrong, and the public couldn’t get enough of us, which kept the funds rolling in. You think you’re a celebrity now, kid? It’s nothing compared to back then.” Denver shifts, jerking my cuffed arm to the left. “Anyhow, the lure worked too well. The aliens showed up before we expected, and they disrupted our bound. But I understand it wasn’t all in vain. Earth Force apparently snagged a little green man, and Waters and Gedney worked their magic. Add fifteen years, and here we are.”
“What do Waters and Gedney have to do with any of this?” I ask, tugging my arm back to the right.
“You really don’t know? It was their research! Jon Waters was the one who wanted the Youli taken prisoner! Even before they captured one, he and Gedney had hypothesized that alien DNA could be used as a bioweapon, but only certain people would be able to wield it. That’s why the Bounder Baby Breeding Program was ultimately started.”
Denver’s words fall into place in my mind, connecting dots that had dangled far too long. “They reintroduced the Bounder genes because they were similar enough to parts of the Youli genome that we’d be able to use their biotech,” I say, thinking out loud.
“Bingo, kid. It’s all in the genes.”
“And Waters and Gedney were the masterminds from the beginning.”
Denver claps his hands, pulling my left hand along for the ride. “You got it! Waters is just a jerk. He thinks he knows everything. But Gedney is the real deal. We used to call him Einstein.”
“I used to think Waters knew everything, too,” I say. “Now I know he’s just another adult with an agenda. For him, the end always justifies the means.”
“Think what you want about Waters,” Regis says, “just don’t lose sight of the real enemy: Earth Force.”
Regis asks some more questions about the Incident at Bounding Base 51 and the Bounder Baby Breeding Program, but I tune them out. It’s mostly stuff I already know. Plus, I need some time to process what Denver just said about Waters and Gedney. After all this time, neither of them ever confirmed that they were personally involved with the Bounder Baby Breeding Program, let alone that it was their brainchild. I guess I should have known. The signs were all there—Gedney knows more about the gloves than anyone—but I didn’t want to believe it. Was the Youli prisoner being held at the space station during our first tour of duty just another one of their science experiments?
The craft lurches forward as it shifts to Faster Than Light Speed, and we end up in a pile at one end of the craft.
“FTL,” I mutter.
“I can think of a few different acronyms I’d use to describe that,” Denver says, pushing his way off of us and back to his corner.
“It’s no treat sharing this crate with you, either,” Regis says.
“You’re the last person I ever wanted to be in close quarters with,” I say to Regis.
“The feeling’s mutual.”
“Enough,” Denver says. “Your bickering is exhausting. Let’s get back to the topic. So, you’re saying that Earth Force kept the
Youli war and the reason for the Bounder Baby Breeding Program a secret all these years?”
Regis must have added those gems while I zoned out.
“That’s right,” Regis says. “Now here’s what I want to know: How did the Youli war start?”
Denver takes a deep breath. “Some things happened before I joined Earth Force, so for the old stuff, I only know what I was told, and we all know how loose the Force is with the truth. But the way it was said to me is like this: Shortly after Earth developed Faster Than Light technology, we were exploring an up-until-then-unknown sector of the galaxy when we were hailed by the Youli. This is known in high-security circles as first contact. As the story goes, it was no accident that we encountered the Youli. The Youli had been watching Earth for a long time and waiting until we achieved space travel technology that took us outside the confines of our solar system. Once we had that, the Youli reached out and basically offered to take us under their wing in the greater goings-on of the galaxy. For a while, we all played nice.”
“We started out as friends?” I ask.
“Sort of,” Denver says. “It was more like a mentor relationship. The Youli civilization is far older and more advanced than ours, and they never let us forget it. In the greater order of the galaxy, there are rules and ethical standards that have to be followed. Of course, one of the signature features of Earth and its people is our collective arrogance. We don’t like other folks’ rules and standards, even when those folks are much older and wiser. I guess Earth is like a meta version of your pod leader, Jon Waters. We think we know everything, and that arrogance is always our downfall.”
“The Youli war,” I say.
“I’m getting there,” Denver says. “I was pretty junior when a lot of this was happening, but I’d put it this way: Earth had a take what we like approach to Youli mentorship and our introduction on the galactic scene. We took the trade deals and technology transfers, and we ignored some of the other stuff.”
“Like what?” Regis asks.
“The Intragalactic Council does not allow interaction with developing planets who haven’t reached FTL capacity.”
Now we’re getting somewhere. “The Tunnelers.”
“Exactly,” Denver says.
“You were on Gulaga when Earth Force negotiated the terms of the Tunneler alliance, right?” I ask.
“Negotiated? Alliance?” Denver laughs. “Is that what the Force told you?”
I always wondered what really happened on Gulaga. “That’s not how it went down? There’s so little information.”
“No, and I was there,” Denver says. “Cora and I were the two youngest pilots deployed.”
“Cora?” Regis asks. “You mean Admiral Eames?”
“Um . . . yeah.” Denver laughs again, but there’s no amusement in it. It’s the kind of laugh that masks pain. “Cora has done quite well for herself.”
If the rumors circulating at the space station are true, Denver and Admiral Eames had been in love when he disappeared into the rift. Only a few months after the Incident, she stepped up as the admiral of the consolidated Earth Force. How did she have the focus and drive to do that after losing Denver? How was she able to put it all aside and lead her planet in the defense of a secret alien war?
From what I can tell, Denver’s homecoming has been strange and strained for both of them.
“You could say that,” Regis says. “What actually happened on Gulaga?”
“We wanted to expand our bounding program,” Denver continues, seemingly relieved to get back to the facts, “but we needed more occludium. We tried to trade for it, but the Intragalactic Council blocked us—something about keeping our development at a sustainable pace. Earth Force wasn’t having it. So when our sensors located occludium ore on Gulaga, we set out to claim it.
“Frankly, when we arrived, we didn’t take much notice of the Tunnelers. They barked and bowed when we landed on their planet, but we thought they were just a primitive species. Pests, really. Only later, when we learned that they’d built an expansive civilization underground and had been mining occludium for hundreds of years, did we realize their utility. We wouldn’t even need to set up a mining operation on Gulaga. One already existed, along with a people who could run it.”
“Free labor,” Regis says.
“That’s right,” Denver says. “We commandeered them.”
“So there was bloodshed?” I’d always guessed there was more to the story.
“To put it lightly. When the Tunnelers tried to resist us taking over, we showed them they had no choice. The fighting didn’t last long. Our military might and technology far surpassed anything the Tunnelers had ever seen. But they fought admirably. Some of those Tunnelers are the bravest beings I’ve ever encountered.”
The Wackies. I picture grizzly old Barrick with the scar running across his face. There’s no doubt he was leading the charge against Earth. In fact, he’s still fighting us.
“The truth is,” Denver says quietly, “I’ve never felt right about it. When I heard you were taking me to Gulaga, I stopped resisting so hard. I’m intrigued to go back. I feel I owe something to its people.”
“You’re going willingly?” I ask.
“I wouldn’t say that,” Denver says, “but if I’d really been trying to ditch you guys, I’d be long gone by now.”
“What is this? Some tactic to get us to uncuff you?” Regis asks. “Because it’s not going to work.”
“Why? You don’t trust me?”
Regis laughs.
“What about you, kid?” Denver asks.
“I’m not sure.”
“Do you trust him?” Denver asks, obviously referring to Regis.
“No,” I answer without a second thought.
“Well, then it looks like we all have trust issues.”
• • •
I don’t realize I’ve fallen asleep until the crate is hefted off the floor of the craft, knocking me into Regis, who kicks me in the shin.
I raise my eyebrows. Where are we?
Nos Redna Space Port, Regis mouths.
I nod. We need to be quiet or risk being discovered.
Voices from outside the box reach us. They’re not speaking English. In fact, it doesn’t even sound like language. The closest I can relate is the Tunneler bark, but this sounds more like chirping. Seconds later, a translator kicks in. It’s hard to hear the specifics, but I think they’re asking our pilot for cargo papers.
“Is there a problem?” I whisper.
“Routine,” Regis answers and lifts a finger to his lips.
Several seconds pass with nothing happening. Then the chirping starts back up. This time, there’s no translation and no sound of our pilot. The crate is hefted up and placed on a transporter that whisks us across the landing bay.
“Still routine?” Denver asks.
Regis nods.
“Where are they taking us?” I ask.
“We usually unload in a private storage bay. I’m guessing that’s where we’re headed now.”
Doors clang shut, and chirping comes from all sides. There must have been a whole bunch of those aliens waiting for us in the private storage bay.
“That’s . . . odd,” Regis whispers.
“What?” Denver and I say at the same time.
“I don’t know why those chirping dudes are still around. Usually we’re unloaded by Tunnelers, occasionally by Earthlings, but never by . . . whoever these guys are.”
A hush falls in the bay, and then the doors open and close once more. The chirping starts again, but this time it’s loud and formal (or at least as formal as chirping can sound). Then the translator kicks in, except that it doesn’t translate into English.
The translation is robotic and strange but also familiar.
I look at Regis. He shrugs.
Once I hear the reply, there’s no mistaking the language they’re speaking.
It’s the signature hiss of Alkalinians.
24
&n
bsp; I MUST HAVE GASPED, BECAUSE both Denver and Regis elbow me hard in the ribs. I bend over and try not to yelp in pain.
“We’re in trouble,” I whisper. “Those are Alks.”
“That means nothing to me, kid,” Denver says.
My heart races, and my breath comes fast. This crate never felt so suffocating. “The Alks are the aliens who sold us out to the Youli. I bounded to the rift in the middle of the battle on their planet.”
“Are you sure those are Alkalinians?” Regis asks.
I hush them so I can listen. Outside the box, the chirpers chirp away. I hold my breath and wait for the translation and reply, hoping I was wrong.
Again, the sinister hiss of Alkalinian fills the bay.
A shiver seizes my body as the terrible reality sets in. The Alks are here, and there can be only one reason why. They’re here for us, and they’ve already got us locked up.
We need to move. I lean forward and grab my blast pack. “Do our gloves work here?” I ask Regis.
He yanks his own blast pack into his lap. “Yes. There’s no scrambler.”
“Good,” I say, already pulling my gloves from my pack, “because they’re probably our only chance to get out of this.”
Denver yanks my left hand by our shared cuff. Regis hands me the key, and I detach us.
“I don’t have any gloves.” Denver waves his now free hands in the air. “But I’m an excellent shot.” He points at the gun strapped to Regis’s waist.
“Don’t even think about it,” Regis says.
“You’d rather get killed than let me help?”
“He’s right, Regis. Give him the gun.” I fit my gloves on my fingers. When Regis doesn’t move, I add, “Now!”
Regis unholsters the gun and hands it to Denver. Then he pulls on his gloves.
“Plan?” Denver says, disengaging the gun’s safety. “What can you guys actually do with those things?”
“You’ll find out soon enough,” I say. “We need to act fast while we still have the element of surprise. I’ll pop off the lid, and you get ready to fire. Regis, you and I will try to immobilize anyone who’s armed.”
The Heroes Return Page 19