by T. R. Harris
Te’moc let them have their moment. The truth would have only rekindled their fears.
Once through the airlock, the figure removed its helmet. It was indeed the tiny Human female. J’nae would be inside her; Te’moc could sense her presence.
He activated a series of corridor lights, guiding the Human forward and to a meeting room near the control center. After she entered, Te’moc signaled for TeraDon to accompany him. He couldn’t trust the others not to trigger the interphase field prematurely, catching both he and the Human in its influence. With TeraDon along, the soldiers might think twice. Maybe.
The Human was frightened, as displayed in her round eyes and trembling lips. She looked at TeraDon, her gaze resting on him for a moment, a sign of recognition. The two had met before, in the cellblock of the Cartel building on Sasin. His presence relaxed the Human. Unfortunately, her demeanor signaled to Te’moc that she was in control of the dual personalities within her body, and not J’nae. This seemed strange. Hosts normally didn’t have the mental strength for such dominance, at least not the generic hosts. However, this had been a fully-developed being before the assimilation. The dynamic must be different.
Te’moc approached the nervous Human with caution.
“Is J’nae present?” he asked evenly, without demand in his voice. He did not want to appear threatening.
The Human nodded as she spoke. “Yes, she is. She wants to talk to you, but I’m, I’m not so sure. If I give her control, she might not give it back.”
“What has she told you about me?”
“Not much. Just that you can get her out of me … and without killing me. Is that true?”
Te’moc sensed he had to tread carefully with this creature. If she could control J’nae, then she had more mental power than expected. If he frightened her, she could repress J’nae even more, keeping her from coming forth.
“That is correct. It is my function, the reason I was created. You can trust what J’nae says.”
Nervous blue eyes shifted again, flitting between TeraDon and him.
“Is that true?” she asked his Cartel representative, seeking confirmation from a familiar source.
Te’moc tensed. TeraDon was a variable he had not foreseen.
“Whatever he says,” TeraDon said, smiling. Te’moc sensed an easing of the Human’s stress level. There appeared to be sexual tension between the aliens, something Te’moc had not expected.
But still, the female hesitated. The workings of her mind were exposed through her eyes and other subtle body language; a relaxation of her shoulders, the soft sigh of her breath.
“Okay then, if you say so. Let’s get this over with. Do what you have to do. Get her out of me.”
Te’moc was caught off guard, first by the Human’s sudden willingness to surrender to him, and then by the reality that he was unable to perform a melding in his current state. When he hesitated, the Human tensed.
“What’s wrong? Can’t you do it?” Her voice strained from panic.
“I can, however—”
“However, what? Will it kill me?”
“That is not the reason I pause.” Te’moc took a step back and then waved his hands at his external metal skeleton. “I cannot proceed until I have replaced these metal accouterments with biological replacements. I cannot enter your body to remove the essence of J’nae until that is done.”
“How long will that take? You can do it, can’t you?”
“I can, but there is a process.”
“What do I do in the meantime? I want this bitch out of me!”
“I am sure J’nae feels the same. If I could speak with her, then I could use her genius to help speed the replacement procedure. Let her come forth.”
The Human shuddered, a visible shaking of her body. Now she stepped away. Humans—Te’moc was discovering—were a distrusting race.
“Bullshit! Something’s up. You just want her to take over. I can see it in your eyes.”
The female turned toward the exit. TeraDon rushed to the side to block her way. Standing a head taller and thicker in build, Te’moc imagined TeraDon would have no trouble restraining the much smaller Human.
He was mistaken.
With lightning quick reactions, Summer Rains smashed a fist into TeraDon’s exposed chest, sending him staggering back, wide-eyed and gasping for breath. A second blow to the side of his torso sent the Cartel leader to his knees, writhing in pain, which only served to place his head within easy reach of the Human’s balled fist. A moment later, TeraDon lay unconscious on the floor as the Human sprinted down the corridor in the direction of the station’s exit.
“Activate the interphase field!” Te’moc yelled, knowing the room and hallways were monitored from within the control room. A second later, Te’moc, TeraDon—as well as the fleeing Human—were all encased in shimmering balls of light blue film, locked in place and unable to move except within their individual bubbles. It took far longer than necessary for the Cartel soldiers to realize their mistake and reverse the fields holding Te’moc and TeraDon, leaving only the squirming Human as the lone captive. Her screeching voice echoed throughout this part of the Aris base, the sound of a trapped animal, ferocious and savage.
Te’moc was taken aback by the translation he heard coming from the Human. They truly were the beasts of the galaxy, and he wondered how they managed to survive this long while displaying such explosions of temper? Surely there were species in the galaxy who did not tolerate such behavior from these primitives. Or did all others have the same fear of Humans as did TeraDon and his Cartel soldiers?
Te’moc rushed into the corridor, leaving the unconscious TeraDon to his forced slumber.
“Let me go, you ugly fucking son of a bitch!”
Much of the translation conflicted with his understanding of Human emotions. Was everything with these creatures of a sexual nature? Te’moc moved closer to the shimmering bubble.
“Let me speak with J’nae. Once I do, you will have more understanding. Otherwise, you will remain in the field until you calm down. You are helping no one with your attitude.”
The Human sat down and crossed her arms against her chest.
“I will not, not until you let me go.”
“Then you will stay there until you starve, at which point J’nae will still live, and I will extract her from your lifeless body. The choice is yours.”
Te’moc didn’t know why he was negotiating with the Human. He could just as easily kill her now, eliminating the problem. However, that would create another. He needed to learn of J’nae’s present mental state before he assimilated her. And the only way to do that was to speak with her through the Human. He was also truthful when he said she could help with his removal of the attachments. She was much more intelligent than he and would find a way to speed the process. He could do none of that if the Human died.
TeraDon staggered into the hallway, blood draining from an ear. “Please agree,” he said to the Human. “Do not sacrifice yourself for this. All Te’moc wants is J’nae. He has no interest in the affairs of the galaxy. Trust me; I have worked at his side for a year. I know his intentions. Once he has her, he will leave.”
Te’moc looked at TeraDon. His words rang true, even if they were not entirely accurate. All TeraDon knew of Te’moc’s intentions was what he wanted him to know. Even so, the words were affecting the Human.
“All right,” Summer Rains mumbled. “But just to let you know, I can hear everything that’s said or thought. And I’m learning, learning how to take back control. If you fuck with me, it’s over.”
Again, Te’moc recoiled from the strange incongruity of the translation. The words had meaning, although he was sure it was not what the Human meant to convey.
As Te’moc stared into the blue eyes of the alien, he noticed a change in facial expression. Gone was the red-faced emotion, replaced now by an even countenance.
“Te’moc … I am here.”
He moved closer to the boundary of the
blue shimmer. “Is it safe to remove the field?”
“It is. The Human has relinquished control, yet it is as she said; she is learning how to pull me back. With the proper mental intensity, it is possible.”
Te’moc turned to TeraDon Fief. “Tell your people to remove all interphase effects.”
A moment later, J’nae stood up and moved closer to Te’moc. She studied his body, taking particular note of the exo-skeleton.
“I see you have replaced the leg sections. Is there much pain?”
“There is pain, but tolerable. Even now, my flesh is merging with the replacements. Within hours, the effects will be gone. With your help, I will soon be whole again.”
“It has been so long,” J’nae said in a whisper.
“For you, perhaps. For me, I was asleep.”
“I am sorry we failed. Otherwise—”
“Otherwise none of this would be happening. You should be ruling the Sol-Kor with me at your side.”
“Not as my servant, but as my equal.”
Te’moc felt his body shudder. “Where is Panur.” His voice was cadenced and cold.
“He is with the Aris.”
Te’moc took note when J’nae failed to elaborate. The Human was listening; they had to be careful not to spook her. There was more to be told, but not at this time.
Te’moc was relieved. From this brief encounter, he learned what he needed to know. J’nae was still … J’nae, and the sooner he could repair his body, the sooner they could merge, again. Te’moc gave a mental shrug. At that point, the Human Summer Rains would be superfluous. It mattered not; she would never have survived the extraction process anyway.
1,243 years ago
…within the Sol-Kor universe
Four universes and nineteen matching trans-dimensional portals. Panur smiled at the success he’d experienced since his accidental discovery of the multi-dimensions and the means to link with them.
Although the Queen didn’t grasp the significance of his discovery right away, she was smarter than the average Sol-Kor, and after Panur detected signs of the first foreign TD-portal, she bought into the program completely.
At that point, Panur moved beyond the use of modified wormhole comm systems to an array built exclusively for trans-dimensional surveys. He found that the distances between universes were only an atom’s width in diameter—a hydrogen atom, the basic building block of matter throughout all universes. By changing the focus of his beams, he was able to penetrate through dozens of dimensional buffer zones, contacting the membranes of other universes from a single research station. He learned to analyze the subtle pressure differentials, identifying safe universes from those more dangerous. Pressure was the key and needed to be within a narrow range for links to be considered safe. Too much pressure and an alien universe would spill into the other. Less pressure and it would be the Sol-Kor universe doing the spilling.
He was also able to detect faint disturbances in the membranes—dents, per se—which signified the presence of trans-dimensional portals in other universes built by advanced intelligences. Once he knew a portal existed, he could target the location with exacting precision, eventually opening a doorway to the foreign dimension.
So far, he’d discovered nineteen portals in four universes. All except two were the result of experiments done to wormhole comms, such as in Panur’s case. Two were units built specifically for TD travel.
Panur remembered vividly the first contact the Sol-Kor made with another universe. It was hard to forget.
In typical Sol-Kor fashion, the Colony anticipated an advanced race had built the array, so they came prepared. When the portal opened, a fleet of beamships poured through, saturating local space and the nearby planet with suppressor rays. The natives weren’t even given a chance to introduce themselves before the Sol-Kor were loading the fresh crop into reaper ships for processing and return to the Colony.
Once a foothold was made in a universe, crops were harvested at a fever pace. Panur was surprised to find that all nineteen of the portals he detected were in different galaxies within the four universes. No galaxy had more than one portal, giving the Sol-Kor nineteen additional hunting grounds to strip clean. As before, advance life was extremely rare, no matter what universe the Sol-Kor invaded. Even so, the vast number of galaxies meant a steady supply of food for the ever-growing Colony.
Although Panur often cringed as one advanced civilization after another fell prey to the ravenous Sol-Kor, he still felt a strange sense of accomplishment. His innovations had shaped the destiny of his adopted race for thousands of years. And now they dominated not only galaxies but universes. Vicariously, Panur felt paternal pride in the Sol-Kor, even though he was not of the Colony, and never would be.
Long ago, Panur had regained the favor of the Queen, as well as the tacit approval of the race. His use of TD travel allowed the Sol-Kor to instantaneously slip from one universe to another, from one galaxy to another. No longer were excruciatingly long inter-galactic journeys needed to open new fields. The Sol-Kor were prospering and growing as never before.
And then the inevitable occurred.
It was in U-4, the fourth universe Panur opened for the Sol-Kor.
Panur always believed there had to be a race somewhere that could stand up to the Sol-Kor. That race was the Qan. They maintained a sophisticated galactic empire in U-4, spanning six hundred worlds. They were both civilized and warlike, and their skill at battle meant they quickly identified the Sol-Kor suppressor beams as the only true advantage the invaders had over them. Once a deterrent was developed, a long and bloody war resulted, the first the Sol-Kor had fought in over thirty-five hundred years. Before Panur could devise new weapon systems to counter the threat, the Qan managed to invade the Sol-Kor universe, sending hit squads to Kor with the express purpose of eliminating the Eternal Queen. Fortunately, they failed, and eventually, the Sol-Kor gained the upper hand in the war. The Qan were defeated, harvested and consumed, to the particular delight of the victors.
Even in victory, however, the episode left an indelible mark on Panur. Although his Sol-Kor cohorts wouldn’t admit it, the Colony had come precariously close to annihilation. If they lost their Queen, the consequences would be devastating.
The Colony had always had a Queen, although ancient studies—when this was allowed—showed that the Sol-Kor began life much as every other organism, the product of gender births. This changed throughout their evolution until a single Queen became dominant, with the males assuming a subservient role. Through this arrangement, the Sol-Kor spread across the surface of Kor, creating millions of smaller colonies. Eventually, they began to prey on one another, until a single gigantic Colony remained, along with only one Queen.
The Queen is a unique being, the sole source of genetic material that sustains the Colony. All offspring are male and would remain that way unless certain conditions warranted the creation of something else. That something else was the Zygotes. They were a small brood of females born when the Queen felt threatened. When this happened, an extremely rare enzyme was released in her body that turned a few male eggs into female. More often than not, not even the Queen realized this happened until the Zygotes emerged. If the Queen was truly in peril, the Colony allowed the Zygotes to mature; if not, they were destroyed.
In the case of surviving Zygotes, they would reach a point in their development where they would fight among themselves for dominance until only one survived. The winner would become the new Queen.
Surprisingly, Zygotes were born quite often, the result of either external strife or from medical conditions suffered by the Queen. However, as the Colony stabilized, and the food source became more secure, the conditions for Zygote creation became less frequent. Panur’s Eternal Queen came to power over five thousand years before and was now the longest-living Queen in the recorded history of the Sol-Kor.
But that wasn’t good enough for Panur. After studying the war with the Qan, he realized there was always the possibility
that the Queen could die prematurely before she could produce the Zygotes. And even if they were birthed before her death, the Zygotes were themselves vulnerable. With the species’ exposure to thousands of advanced races throughout multiple universes, it became a matter of not if, but when, this tragedy would occur.
And without a Queen, the Sol-Kor would simply die off from attrition.
It was at this point that Panur began to look for an insurance policy to ensure the survival of the Sol-Kor race.
That insurance policy was named J’nae.
5
…at the lost Aris base in the AD-14 star system
With J’nae’s help, Te’moc was soon free of all his artificial joints and attachments, including the collar connecting his head with the rest of his body. That had been the most delicate of the procedures, as the biological insert had to be attached with precision and care.
The operation was a success, and now he had no artificial devices within his body. Even so, he would have to endure another five hours—plus an incredible amount of pain—before he could risk a merging. His regenerative flesh needed time to form permanent connections before attempting the stress of an infusion.
To pass the time, Te’moc went to the trans-dimensional starship to marvel at its technological wonder and to lament about his past.
Although Panur had used such technology before within the Sol-Kor universe, he did not develop it there. That was something he reserved for the accursed Milky Way Galaxy. Even so, the Colony scientists had never been able to produce similar technology, even knowing that it was possible. That was the genius of Panur and why the Eternal Queen tolerated his idiosyncrasies. If the Sol-Kor had developed such technology, the huge, stationary portal arrays would have been unnecessary. Entire fleets of beamships and harvesters could simply jump to any point in any universe, including the rebellious Milky Way Galaxy.
