Out of This World

by Chris Wooding

  “Now, look at these pictures,” Ilara told Jack. “Keep looking. Try to feel them.”

  “They’re just sketches,” Jack said. “I mean, I see the scenes in my head … When I was on Gallia, it was like I’d been there before … But I couldn’t have been, right?”

  “Yet somehow you have seen them. Somehow you knew about all these places in the Nexus, these peoples and creatures. Look at the pictures, and I will try to find their source.”

  Jack was uneasy about letting someone into his head, but he wasn’t sure he had a choice about it.

  You don’t, she told him. But it’s easier if you cooperate.

  Jack sighed and started to flip through the pages. As he did, he felt himself drifting, remembering the scenes that lay before him. He saw stark deserts, plunging canyons, colorful storms on the horizon. Then he turned a page and saw the Mechanic he had drawn there, and he smelled the stink of oil and grime and sour sweat.

  “Good,” said Ilara. “Let yourself go.” She had closed her eyes and was deep in concentration. He felt a sensation like spiderwebs brushing across his scalp. Ilara, searching his thoughts.

  He turned the page and stared at the enormous burning bird. That one was not so clear as the others in his mind, but it nagged at him. What was it?

  “These are not your memories,” Ilara told him. “They are someone else’s memories. Someone whose mind is linked to yours in some way.”

  “Gradius Clench!” Thomas cried. When the others looked at him, he shrugged. “Well, they look identical, don’t they? Seems a reasonable guess.”

  “Indeed it does,” said Ilara. “And, perhaps, if I can find the link and follow it, we might get some idea of where this person is … Yes … Yes, there!”

  Jack’s eyes widened. He felt as if he was falling backward. Everything seemed to flip and then—

  He stood in a bleak white land of jagged peaks and impossibly sharp mountains, sweating in the heat of a blinding sun. Before him, towering out of the dead land like a cathedral of bones, was a temple of some kind. He saw it for only an instant before he was back in his own head again and Ilara was gazing at him, her cat eyes intense.

  “Did you see anything?” Boston demanded.

  “For a moment,” said Ilara. “A blasted white world where nothing lived, and a temple there that looked like it was carved from some vast skeleton.”

  “Arcturus Prime,” said Boston, grimacing.

  “I was … I was looking for something,” said Jack dazedly.

  “If it is indeed Gradius Clench who is sharing these pictures with Jack, whatever he wants is in that temple,” said Ilara.

  “Then that’s where we’re going,” said Boston. “Tool up, everybody. We’re heading for the rift gate. Epsilon, get us airborne.”

  “Retracting ramp now.”

  “Without the commentary this time.”

  “Discontinuing commentary.”

  Boston waited a moment to see if his aircraft would give him any more lip, then relaxed as he heard the engines powering up. He headed through the doorway toward the cockpit.

  Mazzy slapped Jack on the shoulder. “Looks like you’re part of the crew now. Welcome aboard!”

  Jack felt unexpectedly warm and fuzzy at those words. “Thanks,” he said. “Now, how about getting these collars off? I feel like a Labrador.”

  Gallia’s rift gate looked a lot different from Earth’s. It lay inside an enormous armored sphere that floated in the sky like a black pearl. Dozens of massive military cruisers, painted with emblems of Gallian blue and green, floated menacingly nearby like basking sharks. As the Epsilon approached, they could see traffic passing into the sphere through entrances in the side that flowed open and closed to let aircraft through, leaving a seamless reflective wall behind them.

  “Why doesn’t Earth have one like that?” Jack asked.

  “Are you kidding?” Thomas said. He was rubbing his newly bare neck. It turned out the collar had indeed been giving him a rash. “Can you imagine the panic if one of those appeared over America?”

  “The rift to Earth is unstable,” said Mazzy, not looking up from her console in the Epsilon’s cockpit. “Every other rift exists at a fixed point and is always open. Earth’s opens and closes randomly. It moves all over the world. You can’t see it because it always causes a storm when it appears. Have you heard of the Bermuda Triangle?”

  “That’s the place just off Florida where all those planes kept mysteriously disappearing, right?” Jack said.

  “Right. Except it wasn’t a mystery. Most of them ended up on Moltria Rex. That seems to be where the Earth rift spits you out if you haven’t given it any better instructions.”

  Jack gave her a sidelong glance. “Uh, instructions?”

  “Yeah. There are twelve rift gates, right? All of them have a series of coordinates, like a code that gets you there. A sequence of Elder symbols. You program them into your onboard computer and whoosh.”

  “And there are, what, twelve of these codes?”

  “Twelve that we know of. They say there are other codes, other gates out there. But without the code, you can’t find the gate.”

  Ilara made a disdainful noise. “Rumors, that’s all. There have been twelve planets in the Nexus for ten thousand years or more. If there were others, they would have been found by now.”

  “Ilara’s just worried they’ll find the thirteenth planet and it’ll be full of people even more stuck up than she is,” said Mazzy with a grin. Then she flinched and scowled at the elegant Host. “Hey! My childhood!” she cried. “Where’d it go?”

  “You can have it back once you’ve said you’re sorry,” Ilara told her.

  “I can’t even remember how I got on board this aircraft!” Mazzy said, looking panicked.

  “Apologize now and I might forgive you,” said Ilara, studying her nails. “If you don’t, I might be tempted to leave out some treasured memories.”

  “All right! I’m sorry!”

  Ilara waved a hand. An expression of relief passed over Mazzy’s face; then it fell away, and Jack saw terrible sadness in her eyes.

  “Not sure I wanted it back, after all,” she muttered, and she returned to her console and didn’t say another word.

  Jack watched her for a moment, wondering at the source of that sadness. It felt like a cruel trick, what Ilara had done. He liked Mazzy, liked her lively, restless energy, but the Host intimidated him. He couldn’t help wondering if she was reading his mind right now.

  They joined a line heading into the sphere. Thomas eyed the military aircraft as they passed, bristling with turrets and cannons.

  “Heavy security,” he murmured. “Seems like they’re very careful who they let into their gate.”

  “Or who they let out,” Jack replied.

  When they reached the front of the line, they found themselves facing the smooth reflective sides of the sphere, the Epsilon tiny in comparison.

  “Customs checks,” Boston explained. He motioned at Mazzy, whose eyes were crawling with data. “Mazzy handles all that. Even with a bounty on us, she’ll run rings round their systems.” A moment later, a hole opened up in the side of the sphere, the wall flowing outward as if it were made of liquid. Boston grinned. “In we go.”

  Jack and Thomas gawked as they saw the interior of the sphere, which they had missed on the way in, on account of being imprisoned like criminals in the hold. It was a colossal space, with lines of aircraft entering from all angles, watched over by armed drones and police vehicles. All of them were heading for the rift gate: a tightly packed, swirling ball of light in the very center of the sphere.

  “That,” said Thomas, “is cool.”

  “Arcturus Prime, here we come,” said Boston, without enthusiasm.

  We’re on your trail, Gradius, Jack thought. And when we find you, I want some answers about my parents.

  They flew into the rift gate. Everything stretched like a rubber band, and when it snapped back into place, they were elsewhere.<
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  The Epsilon sped through an empty sky over a jagged landscape of knifelike ridges and deserts of white ash. A sharp sun burned fiercely overhead. There was no water, and no birds or animals to be seen, only an endless scorching expanse with no comfort to be found.

  Arcturus Prime. A tomb world, bleached clean of life by its terrible sun.

  At first Jack could not stop staring at it, this alien world, but soon the unceasing whiteness became depressing. It would be many hours till they reached their destination, so Boston told them to get some sleep. Only Ilara could lead them to the temple she had seen in Jack’s mind. He would wake them when they got there.

  There was a bunk bed for passengers in a tiny room in the crew quarters. Jack and Thomas were shown there by Dunk, who complained the whole way that he was now a bellboy on top of everything else, and needed a pay rise.

  “I call top bunk!” Thomas cried the moment the door was shut behind them. Jack shrugged and sat down slump-shouldered on the bottom bunk. He looked so gloomy that even Thomas noticed. “What’s up?” he asked.

  Jack didn’t quite know how to explain. Everything had been moving so fast that he hadn’t really had time to process it all, but as soon as they were shut in their room, it all came crashing in on him.

  His parents, gone. Earth, gone. Everything he had ever known had been turned upside down, and suddenly he had been pitched into a whole new world, surrounded by strangers and beset by danger. The only piece of his past life left was Thomas, a boy he’d known barely two weeks and who’d gotten on his nerves for nearly all of it.

  Thomas wiped his nose thoughtfully and adjusted his glasses, which had left a red mark. Then he plonked himself down next to Jack on the bed. “You want to talk about it?” he said.

  Not really. Not with you. But he had nobody else to talk to. “I’ve moved so many times, you think I’d be used to it,” he said. “I spent my whole time dreaming of getting away. Didn’t even like my parents much. Never thought I’d miss them, even if they were androids—”

  “Wait, they were androids?” Thomas cried.

  “Oh yeah, I didn’t tell you that part yet.”

  “I could have sworn they were government agents,” Thomas said.

  “Well, they weren’t.”

  The conversation petered out. Whatever Jack said, Thomas wouldn’t get it. He didn’t get anything.

  “I’m all alone” was all Jack could say, and his voice cracked, and for one awful moment he thought he was going to cry.

  “Hey, now! No, you’re not!” Thomas said. He slung an arm around Jack’s shoulders, and Jack was too dejected to resist. “You’ve got me, don’t you? We’re in this together!”

  Jack sighed. Thomas was right. The last piece of Earth he had left was a chubby boy who smelled like Milk Duds and unwashed T-shirts. He might have been the most uncool boy in school, but out here it seemed like none of that mattered. Everyone from Earth was uncool as far as the rest of the Nexus was concerned. And this kid had a good heart, even if he was an infuriating goof. That meant something. Actually, it meant a lot.

  “I’m glad you’re here, Thomas,” Jack said, and was surprised to find that he meant it.

  Thomas beamed. “No problem. Us Earthers gotta stick together!”

  “Yeah,” said Jack. “I guess we do.”

  When Thomas shook Jack awake, the Epsilon’s engines were quiet, and they were not moving anymore.

  “We’ve landed,” he said, his eyes massive behind the lenses of his glasses.

  Jack made a noise like a bear with a blocked nose and swiped at him blearily.

  Thomas dodged the blow and resumed shaking him. “You can’t spend the whole day lying around! It’s adventure time!”

  Jack reluctantly slumped out of bed, muttering about where he could shove his adventure time. Thomas was bouncing around like a rabbit who’d drunk too much coffee. “Come on! Come on!”

  They made their way out into the gangway of the crew quarters. Nobody was around. “Epsilon?” Jack said experimentally.

  “Yes, Jack?” said the computer.

  “Do you know where the others are?”

  “Ilara is meditating. The rest are in engineering. Shall I show you the way?” A smooth yellow line lit up on the wall, extending rapidly away from them until it turned a corner.

  “Thanks!” said Jack.

  “Excuse me?”

  Jack hesitated, wondering if he’d done something wrong. “Er … I said ‘thank you.’ ”

  The Epsilon was silent for a moment. Then it gave a trembly sigh, like it was trying not to cry.

  “Nobody ever says thank you to a computer,” it said.

  “Well, I’m from Earth,” said Jack. “We have good manners.”

  Jack and Thomas followed the line to engineering, where they found Dunk, Boston, and Mazzy gathered together in front of a gleaming mass of coiled pipes and bizarre machinery that Jack guessed was part of the engines.

  “It’s the suns,” said Dunk. “The Epsilon don’t like all the radiation. Told you we should’ve got proper shielding.”

  “I would have, but I spent the money doing up the lounge so you could have your magnificent tea breaks,” said Boston through gritted teeth.

  “Union regulations say—” Dunk began to protest.

  “Union regulations say you do your job and fix this engine. How long will it take?”

  “Won’t take long, if you give me a hand. Just need one of you to help me replace a few parts.”

  Boston rolled up his sleeves. “Right. Let’s get on with it, then.”

  Mazzy noticed Jack and Thomas in the doorway. “I’m gonna take a look around, since we’re here. You two want to come?”

  “Yeah!” said Jack, eager to start looking for Gradius. Thomas nodded his head so fast his glasses nearly fell off his nose.

  “Sunscreen and antiradiation pills before you go outside,” Boston reminded her. “And don’t go into the temple till I get there.”

  “Yes, Dad,” she said sarcastically.

  “Is he really your dad?” Thomas asked in amazement as they were walking away down the corridor.

  Mazzy looked at Jack. “Does he take everything literally?” she asked.

  “More or less,” Jack replied.

  “Well?” Thomas asked. “Is he?”

  They stepped off the Epsilon’s ramp into a white wilderness of rock and dust. Broken columns thrust up toward a scalding yellow sky. Standing on a ridge nearby, overlooking a massive canyon, was the temple that Jack had seen in his vision. It was as white as the land that surrounded it, with sharp towers and raking spires, and just like Ilara had said, it looked as if it had been built from bones.

  “Sunday church must have been a barrel of laughs,” Thomas commented.

  “What was Gradius Clench doing in there?” Mazzy wondered.

  “More importantly, why does he look just like me, and why am I seeing in my head the places he’s been?” Jack added.

  “Well, yeah, that, too.”

  “Maybe it’s you who looks like him, not the other way around?” Thomas suggested.

  “Hey! If anyone’s copying anyone, it’s him! I’m an original.”

  Mazzy rolled her eyes. “Why don’t we see if we can find him first, huh?” she said. “Then you can decide who’s copying who.”

  The temple was not far, but it was hard going in that broken landscape. They had to clamber through narrow gaps and scrabble up slippery slopes. Before long they were sweating and gasping, their hands scratched by sharp rocks.

  “Hey, Mazzy,” Jack asked as they climbed. “There’s something I’ve been wondering. I mean, you’re human, right? I saw a lot of humans on Gallia, too. But humans are from Earth, aren’t they? So aren’t you an Earther?”

  Mazzy snorted. “Not likely. It’s the other way around. Humans came to Earth from elsewhere, through the rift. That’s what they say, anyway. Nobody really knows. The rift gates were built while humans were still just apes or something. I
guess they spread through the Nexus somehow. Some people say the Elders might have kept us as pets, like you guys do with cats.” She chuckled. “Anyway, best thing about humans: We’re adaptable. Slime people can’t live on hot planets, and reptiles can’t handle the cold, but we can live anywhere. Even a swarming disease pit like Earth!”

  “How is Earth worse than this place?” Jack cried.

  “Are you kidding? At least it’s quiet here. When you’re not watching ads, you’re screaming at one another on the internet.”

  “So where are you from?” Thomas asked, pausing to gasp on his inhaler. His greasy hair was plastered to his scalp, and he looked like he was beginning to melt.

  “Rakkan. The third planet.”

  “What’s it like?” Jack asked.

  “It was beautiful once,” said Mazzy. “The most wonderful place in the Nexus.” Her face fell. “Not anymore.”

  Jack took a guess. “The Mechanics?”

  She nodded, her eyes glistening. She wiped away the tears before they could fall. “We were the first. They caught us by surprise. Everyone worried about the Mechanics once they appeared on Braxis Prime and took over the planet, but nobody knew what they wanted at first.” Her expression became dark. “They want everything. The whole of the Nexus. They want to turn us all into machines like them. That’s how they … reproduce, I suppose.” She stared away into the middle distance. “That’s what happened to my parents.”

  “Is that why there were all those military aircraft around the rift gate in Gallia?” Jack said.

  Mazzy nodded. “We’re wise to them now. There are only so many things that can come through a rift gate at once. If the Mechanics try to send a fleet to any of the other planets, they’ll be blasted to pieces as soon as they arrive.” She grimaced. “But it’s just a matter of time before they find some other way.”

  They reached the temple soon after. Up close, it was even more forbidding. Mazzy did a quick scout around the outside, but they didn’t see any signs of anyone having been here.