“Ow!” Kieran reached over to cover the spot, but he moved too quickly and made himself clench in pain. He sighed. “I don’t want any more of those opioids. They scramble my brain.”
Leove nodded. “Sure, Kieran, but you let me know if it hurts. There’s no shame in it. I’ve never seen a non-Augment heal this fast, or be this stubborn about it.”
Kieran snorted once. “I’ve got things to do, places to go, people to rescue.” He turned, quirking an eyebrow at Sarrin.
She found the corners of her mouth tugging up at the familiar mischief in his eyes.
“Actually, that’s the other bit of good news,” Leove said. “Cordelia says we’ve arrived.”
“So quickly?” Kieran spun his head back, wincing again.
It had been two weeks since the accident, but only a few days since they had left the spot where they had first encountered Cordelia as a planet. They had to wait for Kieran to wake up, and then he insisted on several days of testing to ensure Cordelia fully understood the mechanics of grav-jump travel before they left.
But four days? Even the messenger ships or Speakers' warships couldn’t make it that fast. And Kieran had been adamant that Cordelia take the recommended cool-down breaks between FTL jumps.
Leove nodded.
“How long have I been asleep, I’m losing track of days.”
“Sixteen to eighteen hours,” said Leove. “That’s good, most people would still be in an induced coma right now. Or dead.”
Kieran’s energy shifted. He nodded his head solemnly.
“Let’s get you out of there, so you can tell Cordelia what’s what as we coast into Etar," Leove said with a grin. "She’s getting antsy.”
At that moment, a figure appeared in the doorway. The door hadn’t opened, the woman appeared to simply materialize from it. “I don’t like this at all.” Cordelia paced across the room.
Kieran’s lips quirked into a smile.
Today, Cordelia wore a full set of battle armour, and a set of white, fuzzy slippers with stitched on faces and long, floppy ears.
“What are you wearing?” Kieran said.
“What?” Cordelia paused, indignant. “These people destroyed Cornelius. I must be prepared.”
Kieran grunted, as he stretched one leg in preparation, Leove reaching into the tank to help him. “I know, but the slippers.”
“I’m trying to stay relaxed.” She started pacing again, the heads on the slippers bobbing with each step. Her arms flung up into the air and she spun on her heel towards Kieran and the doctor. “Ugh, here.”
Kieran was suddenly standing, the goo gone from his head and body, and he was fully dressed. His eyes sought out Sarrin again, the scarred skin at the corners crinkling.
It wasn’t abnormal for Cordelia to shift things around them — after all she had made the entire ship, her ethereal body able to become whatever it was they needed — still, Sarrin felt a wave of annoyance pass through her.
“How far out are we, C?” Kieran asked.
She raised an eyebrow. “We’re here.”
“In orbit?”
“Relax, Sarrin,” the woman turned her eyes to her briefly before turning back to Kieran. “Of course.”
Sarrin tucked herself further away, quashing her growing annoyance with Cordelia and her presumptuous, overfamiliarity with Kieran. Her skin felt hot, and she fought an urge to bury her face under the bedsheets.
“But how did you bypass the security nets?” asked Kieran, oblivious.
“I modulated our frequency so the sensors couldn’t detect us.”
“You can do that?” Kieran turned to Sarrin, his eyebrows both raised in surprise.
“I asked Gal, he knew how.” Cordelia waved for them to follow as she strode out the door.
Kieran reached out, startling her. She stared at his outstretched hand for just an instant before he grabbed her and pulled her behind him — the same way she had pulled him in her dream. They chased Cordelia down the corridor, Leove trailing behind them. Kieran's excitement spilled over into her where their hands touched and she found herself quickening her step to keep up.
Cordelia led them to the Bridge. It was more a crew comfort than a necessary structure, Cordelia herself controlling everything in the ship. Still, Gal sat in the captain’s chair, Isuma at Flight Control, Thomas at Navigation, and Rayne at Tactical.
Gal scratched his arm nervously as he stared out the massive window at the planet below.
Rayne spent as much time staring at Gal as she spent staring at her console. The expression on her face suggested he was as much a tactical threat as anything out there.
Sarrin stared out the window at the green and purple planet: Etar 1.
Kieran squeezed her arm once. “Ever been here?” he asked, his voice low.
“Just to transfer ships.” After she’d survived the exploding Earth, it seemed the best thing to do was get as far away from the central planet as possible, as quickly as possible.
“It’s gorgeous,” he continued. “The sea is purple because of the high manganese content and the specialized bacteria that feed on it. The view from the southern mountain range is incredible. We should go there.” He squeezed her arm again.
She caught the corners of her mouth turning up as she turned to look at him. But a sensation of regret and pain crept across their touching skin. Kieran’s too shiny skin already looking tight and dry, his lips pressed into a line. She fed soothing through the place where they touched.
His face relaxed. “Thanks,” he smiled at her. Still the subtle hum of pain was there.
Gal grumbled, leaning forward in his chair. “Where are you taking us?”
Isuma lifted her hands off the flight console to show she wasn’t in control.
Cordelia had a hand on the back of Isuma’s chair. She watched the window with interest but made no move to the physical controls. “The forest preserve.”
Gal’s face blanched. “The forest?”
“Mhmm.” Her fuzzy slippers bounced as she tapped her foot.
“They want to find the Poet, not a bunch of… trees.” Gal’s face had gone white.
Cordelia looked back at him, quirking an eyebrow. “It’s a good hiding spot for someone that doesn’t want to be found. And it’s close to the Central City.”
Gal started to argue but she stopped him.
“Besides, they’ll know the second Galiant Idim drops into their city.”
His eyes opened wide. “I’m not going.”
“Yes, you are.”
He gestured around. “We have to go find the other Augments, the settlers on the outpost planets; there are plenty of people who need help. Away from Etar.”
She raised her eyebrow again. “The others can do that. Your mission is down there. Isn’t it? Truly?”
He stood, stepping towards her, his finger raised as though to make his point. “Cordelia, I—.” But he didn’t finish, a hole opened in the floor and swallowed him up.
Kieran let go of Sarrin’s arm and rushed forward. “Where did he go?”
“To the surface.” Cordelia looked around. “What? He wouldn’t have gone on his own. Who’s next?”
“Is it safe?”
“You wont go splat at the bottom, if that’s what you’re worried about. Think of it like a big slide.”
Kieran shook his head, sharing a bemused grin with Sarrin and rolling his eyes.
But satin was intrigued by the easy access to the planet hundreds of kilometres below. When they had talked about it before, not many had volunteered for the mission. It was better that way. A small group could travel unseen.
Gal and Rayne would go. Grant had volunteered immediately, so had Alex, the young boy Sarrin had saved so many years ago in Evangecore, and another named Luca. And Kieran. They would be able to find Halud and bring him back.
Alex stepped up to the edge of the port and jumped in, followed by Luca, and then Rayne.
Grant walked up behind Sarrin, nearly landing his hand on
the small of her back before she flinched away. “You’re next, Sar.”
She stared at the opening, that presumably would carry them safely through the atmosphere and to the planet below. The planet where Halud waited. She took Kieran’s hand in her own and stepped forward.
Kieran’s hand tugged back, his feet rooted on the floor. The twinge of regret turned into a throb. “Sarrin,” he said, his voice heavy, “I’m not going with you.”
All of her breath escaped her, her body suddenly numb as she stood in the middle of the bridge.
“I can’t. I can’t be out of the tank more than a few hours.” He turned his gaze to the exposed skin on his arms, red, raw, and scarred.
Her eyes darted wildly — he never talked about his burns, never even hinted they might be a problem. Until now.
“But you have to go.” He turned his bright eyes on her. “Rescue Halud.”
She gasped, air rushing in. “But you’re getting better. We’ll bring the regen-tank.”
He shook his head. “It’s part of Cordelia.”
She gulped. “Then I’ll stay with you.”
His lips turned up, but he shook his head, no.
“You need me.” She looked to Leove, for the doctor to agree.
“That might be true,” he told her quietly. “But I’ll be okay. Your brother needs you more. I need to stay here. I wish I could come with you, but I’ll be here when you get back.” He stepped back, pulling his hand away from her. Separating them.
Her breath caught in her throat, nearly doubling her over. Suddenly, Grant was there, his arm wrapping across her middle, tugging her. She took a confused step back, closer to the hole in the floor.
Kieran set his gaze on Grant. “Remember what we talked about.”
Grant swallowed dryly and nodded.
“Find him,” Kieran said, meeting her eyes for what felt like the last time.
But how could she?
Her gaze fell to the floor, blinking at the hole, until it swallowed her whole too.
* * *
Galiant Idim landed with both feet on the ground and promptly fell over, rolling across the soft forest floor. He huffed, biting back the urge to scream Cordelia’s name, knowing it would only bring him more trouble. As he lay flat on his back, breath heaving, he took in the tall, narrow trees stretching up into the blue-purple sky.
Two Augments appeared a few metres away landing steadily. They looked around, scanning their surroundings — the fools had been wearing clothes provided by Cordelia, but they seemed unperturbed by their sudden nakedness. Rayne appeared shortly after, landing in a defensive crouch, neat and ready as always.
But she had no idea what was waiting for them here. Gal hauled himself to his feet, his heart already racing. Of all the places, why did Cordelia have to drop them here? When his shuttle had crash landed here twenty-odd years ago, they had let him go only because he had promised never to come back, and to never tell another soul what he had seen.
They had to find the fence at the edge of the city — if Cordelia had any sense, she would have put them right next to it. He looked around for any hint of the twenty-foot construction, but didn’t pick out the glint of metal alloy in any direction.
Rayne craned her neck to look into the trees. She shivered once. “We should get out of here, the Speakers won’t be happy if they find us here.”
“They won’t be happy to find us anywhere,” said Gal.
Sarrin appeared amidst a rustle of leaves, Grant immediately behind. She scrambled to her feet and stared into he sky.
“This is all of us,” Grant said.
“Good,” snapped Gal, although he still couldn’t see the way out.
Grant spun around, taking in his surroundings. “Where are we?”
“Somewhere we shouldn’t be.”
“The forest preserve on Etar,” answered Rayne. “Eighty hectares of trees and wild lands. The Gods forbid us to enter.”
Gal’s heart dropped. “Only eighty?”
She spared him the barest of glances. “Eighty.”
“Four years ago, it was two hundred. When it was Indaer, the planet was almost entirely forest.”
“The cities are expanding, they needed more space for the folk.” Rayne fidgeted, working her hands like she was itching to hold a laz-rifle.
“Still….” Gal shut his eyes. He half-expected Aaron to show up with some snide remark, but he was gone, had been for weeks. If he were here, no doubt Aaron would have said something about the disappearance of the forest preserve, but he wasn’t, so the edge of regret was entirely Gal's. He sighed. “We need to get moving.”
“Central City lies at the eastern edge of the forest preserve,” said Rayne. She pointed to a pale fungus growing on one side of the tree. “That’s this way.”
“We should see how far it is,” said Grant, “there’s no guarantee we’re on the edge, or the right edge.” Before Gal could stop him, the Augment jumped ten feet into the air and started scaling one of the trees like he was climbing a ladder. A piece of bark broke off in his hand, tumbling to the ground.
The tree swayed under Grant’s weight, leaves rustling, and Gal gritted his teeth. A branch snapped somewhere behind him, sending his heart into his chest. The naked male Augment broke off part of a leafy bush and used some vine to tie it around himself. “Don’t,” Gal tried, but it was too late — they would know.
Grant landed beside him, the impact sending a shudder through the ground. “Not far,” he said, “maybe five kilometres. I can see the Speakers’ Tower, same as it looks on the feeds.”
Gal picked his way quickly across the forest floor, keeping a careful eye on the path in front of him. Five kilometres to the fence. The village would be farther away than that. Maybe they could make it before anyone had time to notice they were here. That would be best.
Never mind the danger that waited on the other side of the fence. Another place he had said he would never return. One thing at a time.
Bessie him, Grant suddenly stopped, beat his chest, and let out a loud whoop.
“What are you doing?” Gal hissed.
Grant shrugged, strutting backwards and flinging his arms out. “We’ve been cooped up for a long time.”
“Don’t.” Gal tried to grab his arm but missed.
“How long have you been on that ship. It must feel good to stretch your legs. There’s no UECs here. Live a little, while you can.”
Gal groaned. He might not be living that much longer. This stupid forest preserve. What would his life have been like if his shuttle had never crashed here all those years ago. If he hadn’t been trying to sneak away early and meet Aaron in the city before they were returned to the Academy on Earth. If he hadn’t chosen to fly the restricted airspace above the forest.
He heard a peel of laughter behind him.
Grant and the other Augments ran through the trees. It was the girl who squealed.
Gal stared, frozen.
Grant and Alex turned, swatting at each other, running faster than Gal could ever hope to. They yelled, and came to jump at Luca. She leaped away, rolling fluidly, before getting up and giving chase.
“Hey,” he shouted.
Grant spared him a glance.
“Stop it!” Gal waved his arms frantically.
Grant switched directions and leapt past the other two, who now seemed to be chasing him. “Come on, Gal. We’re just blowing off a little steam.”
Gal looked at the young men and woman. Kids really, they weren’t any older than twenty. They deserved to run around and be young for once in their lives.
He shook his head, “It’s not safe here.”
Grant frowned, and then sighed. He muttered, “You’re lucky Kieran likes you, for whatever reason.” But he waved to the others, and they fell in line.
Gal resumed his path, watching carefully where he placed each foot.
The others stayed behind him at least.
“You’ve been here before,” a familiar voice in his h
ead said. Gal whipped around, looking for Aaron.
A loud snap sounded in the trees, and suddenly the ground jerked away and he found himself hanging in the air, upside down.
* * *
Sarrin clutched the net reflexively, tough vines pressing into her legs and shoulder as she tried impossibly to pull away from the others.
Gal beside her muttered, “Oh no. Not again.”
Her heart was beating too fast, too erratic.
“What is this?” said Rayne, her voice higher pitched than normal.
Gal only groaned, pressing his forehead into the netting.
Sarrin’s skin crawled. They were all wrapped up in it, squished and tumbled against each other. The others started to panic, she felt it welling up around her like a cloud. She tucked he hands protectively into her chest, trying to make herself as small as possible. But Gal was right beside her. She couldn’t keep her skin from touching his, no matter how she shifted. The last time she had touched him she had taken his energy, all his pain and hurt, and nearly died of it herself.
All that radiated from him now was a kind of defeat, an eerie calm taking over. It was enough to keep the black clouds from taking over completely. Enough that she could still see, knew they were in a net, and knew that whoever had set the net hadn’t yet arrived.
“Damn UECs,” Grant grunted. His elbow jarred her in the side as he tugged on the vines. “Help me with this, Luca.” The girl beside him shifted, and they both grabbed onto opposite sides of spacing in the net, pulling and ripping, but the material — whatever it was — was too strong.
Sarrin turned away, her eyes searching -- there was always a way out. Escape routes… there! Her eyes focussed at the top where the sides of the net came together, tied with more of the vine-material. She could undo the knot. They would fall, there might be injuries, but it wouldn't be fatal.
Pulling herself up, she wedged her shoulder into the narrow opening, and started to work the knot. Her fingernails started to bleed as she picked at the cord, but she couldn’t feel them, her hands numb from the wrist down since experiments in Evangecore had stripped the nerves away. She pressed down images of Halud and Kieran, even of Grant and Luca and Alex, and picked at the strand that had already started to come loose. If the UECs found them here, there would be no way to help anyone.
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