Bender of Worlds

by Isaac Hooke

  “You’ll have to get that cleaned,” Jed said, nodding toward her vomit-stained faceplate.

  Sinive smiled sheepishly. “Yeah, it got a bit intense back there.”

  “And you weren’t even the recipient of all that Essence…” The Volur looked out across the grassy meadow. “You should leave me here, Engineer. It’s as good a place to die as any.”

  “I told you not to talk like that,” Tane said.

  “Volur humor again,” Jed said.

  “Which I’ll never understand.”

  “No,” Jed agreed.

  Gia returned. “I felt the nausea even all the way out there. Didn’t work, I take it?”

  Tane shook his head behind his faceplate.

  “So we have to find another Volur,” Gia said.

  “The only Volurs who can treat this, other than Lyra, are on Talendir,” Jed replied. “And it’s not the best idea to go there right about now, considering it’s under the jurisdiction of the TSN.”

  “We sneaked off worlds under TSN jurisdiction twice now…” Sinive said.

  “Yes,” Jed said. “But Talendir is different. It has only four ports of entry, by order of the TSN. They keep track of everyone who enters and exits. It’s one of the preconditions of Volur autonomy. Any atmosphere-capable ship that skirts a port of entry is quickly tracked down and seized.”

  “What if you went alone?” Tane said.

  “It won’t matter,” Jed said. “I’m wanted because of my association with you. The TSN will seize me when I arrive. They’ll bring me to a Volur healer, certainly. But they’ll also chip me. I won’t do it.”

  Tane stared at Jed. “At some point you have to ask yourself, what’s worth more, your life, or your freedom? The loss of your freedom will be only temporary. But the loss of your life, not so much.”

  Jed frowned. “I’d rather die, than enslave myself to the TSN.”

  “Yes, but remember, it’s temporary,” Tane said. “I can save you if they chip you. Remember that.”

  “Then I’ll become merely another person you’ll have to rescue besides Lyra and Nebb,” Jed said.

  “What’s the point of being the Bender of Worlds if I can’t rescue a few of my friends now and then?” Tane said.

  Jed studied Tane, seeming uncertain. Then: “I’ll travel to Talendir, as you say, but only as a last resort. We rescue Lyra first. And if we fail, it’s likely I won’t have to go to Talendir, because I’ll either be dead, or in the hands of the TSN anyway.”

  “You’re in no condition to participate in Lyra’s rescue,” Tane said. “Sure, you can come with me, but you’re staying aboard with the others. I’ll have to do the rescue alone.”

  “Not alone,” Sinive said.

  “I’m coming, too!” G’allanthamas said over the comm. He was racing back and forth across the meadows now, as if chasing something. Maybe a tiny kraal.

  Gia remained silent, Tane noted.

  “And you, Gia?” Tane said.

  She hesitated. Then: “I’ll help, of course.”

  “Thank you,” Tane said.

  “Don’t thank me,” Gia said. “I’m only doing it for him.” She nodded toward Jed. “He’s the reason I’m here in the first place. Whether he realizes it or not.”

  Jed didn’t have anything to say to that.

  Tane shrunk the artifact and stowed it in his pouch. Then he looped one of Jed’s arms over his shoulder and started up the ramp.

  “I’m going to stay out here and clean the latest crillia from the hull,” Gia said.

  “I’ll join you,” Sinive told her.

  “What about your chin?” Gia asked.

  “A little vomit never hurt anyone,” Sinive replied.

  Gia shrugged, and then tossed Sinive one of her rifles.

  Crab-walking through the airlock, Tane helped Jed inside the ship. The hatch closed behind him, and he stood before the breach seal in the passageway, waiting for the inner environment to cycle. Air would be drawn out and vented inside at the same time, ensuring Jed didn’t suffer injury.

  “You know, I’d be lying if I didn’t tell you I’m feeling better,” Jed said. “At least slightly. I think you’ve actually done something believe it or not. I may have to retract my ‘you’re not super-powerful’ speech.”

  “But I’m not,” Tane said. “Because I certainly didn’t cure you.”

  “Yes, but you may have bought me some time,” Jed said. “And that’s all I could ask for.”

  “Well, let me know what the medical robots report,” Tane said.

  The breach seal opened, and Tane deposited Jed in sickbay.

  An hour passed. Gia and Sinive returned to the ship. They had finished clearing off the crillia.

  Tane asked G’allanthamas to board, and when he glanced at the overhead map, he noticed that the dweller lingered on the ramp in front of the cargo bay. Tane had Gia grant him permission to view the closest external camera feed, and he saw that G’allanthamas was dressing in his environmental suit in preparation for the jump to Anteres.

  As if sensing Tane’s eyes on him, G’allanthamas said over the comm: “I won’t be able to put on my suit inside that cramped can. At least not without help. And I hate asking for help.”

  “I can see that,” Tane said. G’allanthamas was struggling with a few of the leg assemblies, but eventually he got everything on and entered the tight cargo bay.

  Gia gave Muse the order to launch and the Mosaic lifted, cruising toward jump altitude.

  Tane left his quarters, heading for the cockpit. Along the way, he spoke to Gia over the comm. “Make sure the 3D-printed emitters are active before we make the jump.”

  “Already two steps ahead of you,” Gia returned.

  Jed called Tane a moment later. “You succeeded in delaying the microcrillia. The medical robots tell me the infection is spreading at a quarter of its former rate since your healing attempt. I still can’t access the Essence, but that’s something, at least. I might last long enough to reach Lyra, now.”

  “You’ll last,” Tane transmitted.

  “And like you said, I probably won’t be of any use to you during the rescue,” Jed told him. “Unless of course you want to carry me into battle on a stretcher.”

  “No,” Tane said. “That would be… unseemly.”

  “Ha!” the Volur said. He snickered over the line. “Unseemly! You’re finally catching on to Volur humor.”

  Tane had to laugh. “And I wasn’t even trying to be funny.”

  “Exactly,” Jed said. “You’ve discovered the key.” He chuckled a final time. “Unseemly.”

  29

  By the time the Mosaic reached jump altitude, Tane stood in the cockpit, residing in the spot customarily reserved for Jed; he leaned against the bulkhead, waiting for the coming nausea. Sinive was inside the jump chamber, preparing to take them to Anteres. Gia, meanwhile, sat on the floor.

  A few moments later, when the light faded from the jump chamber, along with the humming, Tane shook the sickness away, and glanced at Sinive. She lay with her head tilted to one side, and her eyes closed. Her face had become extremely pale, and her smile lines seemed accentuated, as if she’d aged five years in the blink of an eye.

  Tane wanted to go to her, to hold her, but he knew she wouldn’t want that.

  What happened to us?

  He dismissed the thought and then asked Gia: “So, how far are we from the rift? And how close are any dweller ships?”

  “Go ahead and tell him, Muse,” Gia said.

  “A moment,” the Mosaic’s AI said. “Okay, we’re ten hours from the rift.”

  That was just as well, because both Sinive and Gia needed to rest for the back-to-back jumps he planned to make once they returned to their own universe.

  “As for the dwellers,” Muse continued, “all the ships I’m detecting seem to be spread out in front of the rift. It appears almost as if they’re gathering. Perhaps preparing for another invasion. There are forty-nine distinct heat signatures
out there.”

  “They’re waiting for the capture of their precious Doomwielder, no doubt,” Tane said. “And hoping he’ll lead them into battle.”

  “They'll have a long time to wait,” Gia said.

  “I hope so,” Tane said. “What’s the distribution of those ships? You said they were spread out in front of the rift? Are there any blind spots in the coverage?”

  “Several,” Muse said. “This particular rift is two hundred fifty-seven million kilometers long, and varies in breadth from twenty kilometers to over a thousand kilometers at its widest. It’s big. The largest gap in enemy coverage is probably along the closest side, with the nearest dweller starship forty million kilometers from the area.”

  “And how long to reach that portion of the rift?” Tane asked.

  “Still ten hours,” Muse said. “But I should mention that once we are detected, the dwellers will attempt to intercept.”

  “Yes, but that’s what we have our own dweller for,” Tane said. He pinged G’allanthamas.

  “Hello,” the alien said. “Have we arrived? Are we through? Can I leave this infernal cargo bay now?”

  “We just reached Anteres,” Tane said. “We have ten hours until we reach the rift.”

  “I see,” G’allanthamas said. Despite that each word was sourced from multiple speakers, the alien somehow managed to convey disappointment in the short phrase.

  Tane updated him on the dweller situation, and finished with: “We need you to send a message to your alien friends.”

  “I’ll do so presently,” G’allanthamas said. “What do you want me to say?”

  “Tell them we’re scientists,” Tane said. “Studying the rift. That we have no intention of passing through.”

  “Mmm, I’m not sure they’ll buy it,” G’allanthamas said. “Scientists usually travel aboard military vessels. You have nothing else?”

  “Well, our emitters are designed to mimic a dweller transport ship, right?” Tane asked.

  “That’s right,” the alien replied.

  “So that means we can’t pretend we’re reinforcements,” Tane said.

  “No,” G’allanthamas said. “But we can tell them we’re bringing supplies.”

  “Oh, okay,” Tane said. “Go with that, then, if you think it’s more believable.”

  “I do,” G’allanthamas said.

  “We’ll still have to make a run for the rift at some point,” Tane said.

  “Yes,” the dweller said. “But hopefully by the time they realize what we’re doing, it will be too late for them.”

  “Yeah,” Tane said. “We’ll see.”

  “But as usual, to send the message I’ll need the full cooperation of the starship’s AI,” G’allanthamas said.

  Tane glanced at Gia. “The captain will authorize it.”

  “Muse, do what the dweller asks,” Gia said. “But keep me updated. I want to know if he requests anything… inappropriate.”

  A moment later Muse reported: “I’m varying the power output of our reactors to generate gravimetric pulses. It will be some time before we receive a response.”

  “In the meantime, you may as well set a course for the closest side of the rift,” Tane told Gia. “Aim for an area where there are no dweller ships.”

  “Do it, Muse,” she said.

  Tane returned to his quarters. He had the place all to himself now that Jed was in sickbay. Though he valued his privacy, he didn’t like the way that privacy had come about. He would have rather had Jed in good health and lying on the bunk above him than confined to sickbay.

  Tane hadn’t activated his familiar moonscape. He felt he didn’t deserve it. What had happened to Jed was essentially his fault. He decided that he wasn’t going to immerse himself in his favorite environment until he’d rescued Lyra, and she healed Jed. He would retrieve Nebb, too, of course. He owed the smuggler for saving his life, and for introducing him to Sinive. It was just too bad that Sinive didn’t seem to care about Tane anymore.

  He kept wishing that she would come knocking on his compartment door, but of course she wouldn’t. She was too exhausted after making the jump.

  Muse spoke over the intercom a while later. “We just received a gravimetric signal from the distant dwellers. I expect your alien friend will inform you as to what was said shortly. I will listen in and relay the news to Gia and Sinive, if you don’t mind?”

  “You’re actually asking permission to eavesdrop on me?” Tane said. “Instead of doing it automatically? That’s a change. A polite AI.”

  “Yes,” Muse said. “Not all AIs are created equal.”

  “No, they certainly aren’t,” Tane said. “You have permission.”

  He got a call from G’allanthamas shortly.

  “So, it worked, sort of,” the alien said.

  “Sort of?” Tane asked.

  “Yes,” G’allanthamas said. “I told them I operated a supply ship. They believed me. So much so, that they told me to proceed directly to Task Group B, whose members are currently in need of supplies. That particular group is apparently located near the center of the rift. I have the exact coordinates. It’s where the greatest concentration of their forces resides.”

  “Um…” Tane said. “The greatest concentration of their forces? Tell me again why saying we were a supply ship was a good idea?”

  “It was the only way for them to allow a transport to approach,” the dweller said. “They warned me they’ll be tracking our route very closely, and the moment they detect any deviance in our course, they’ll plot an intercept. Apparently, dwellers throughout the galaxy have been told to be on the lookout for rogue human ships passing themselves off as dweller vessels… they have specific instructions to perform visual IDs on questionable vessels. Such as our own.“

  “They can’t ID us unless we’re within thirty million kilometers…” Tane asked.

  “That’s right,” the dweller said.

  “We’ll have to set a course toward them then, and once we pass the thirty million kilometer mark, or even sooner, we’ll have to make a run for one of the less-populated areas of the rift,” Tane said. “Give me the coordinates and I’ll relay them to Gia.”

  G’allanthamas did so, and Tane forwarded the coordinates along to Gia.

  “That’ll take us right into the densest concentration of their ships,” Gia said over the comm.

  “I know,” Tane said. “But it’s the only way we’ll get close. At some point I want you to return to our original trajectory, or some other course targeting a region of the rift that’s clear of their ships. Keeping in mind that as soon as you alter trajectory, all of the dwellers will attempt to intercept us. So that could be at forty million kilometers out. Or fifty. You decide, with the help of your AI.”

  She didn’t answer.

  “So, how does it look?” Tane said. “Will we be able to make it through a clear section of the rift before they reach us?”

  “If we turn away at the sixty million kilometer mark, then yes, I think we can,” Gia said. “It won’t be our original course, but there’s a region of the rift that’s free of dweller ships nearby. Between two of their task groups.”

  “So we’re going to have to race between two groups of dweller ships to reach the rift, you’re saying?” Tane asked.

  “That’s exactly what I’m saying,” Gia replied. “Muse tells me that her best guess, based on the maximum speeds our alien passenger has shared for the different ship types detected on the thermal band, is that we’ll pass within weapons range of a few of their ships before we enter. This is the upper range limit of said weapons, mind you—I’m talking about their gorewar lasers, of course. Damage will be negligible, if they can even penetrate our energy shields at that range. It’s possible they might fire their Essence lances, too, but the Dark weapons will lose a lot of energy before impacting. We’ll see them coming well before arrival, and if we somehow can’t avoid them, I’m hoping any damage to the hull will be minor.”

  Tane re
membered when he had launched his own Essence Missiles Siphoned from the hull of a TSN battle cruiser against an enemy fleet. Those versions had been huge, and basically impossible to avoid or Deflect. From what he had seen so far, no lances created by any other vessels, dweller or human, had even come close. He hoped that continued to be the case.

  “I trust your judgment, and the judgment of your AI,” Tane said. “We’re all counting on you.”

  “I know,” Gia said. “I’m counting on myself to get through this, too.”

  Tane shut down the connection and lay back on his bunk.

  To pass the time, he tried reading a few holographic books he’d been meaning to check out. He was too distracted to pay much attention to the words on the page, nor the three-dimensional animations.

  He went down to sickbay to visit Jed, but the Volur was fast asleep. Tane returned to his quarters and practiced a few dark timelines without releasing them, hoping he might level up, but after two hours he’d succeeded only in exhausting himself. But that was good, because it meant he could finally sleep. He closed his eyes, and woke up two and a half hours later.

  He checked in with Muse, who gave him a status report, and then he challenged the AI to an augmented reality game of checkgammon. The turned-based game was meant to simulate space combat, with the different pieces representing various ships in 3D space. The game involved eight platforms set one atop the other, and the pieces could jump from one platform to the next in a given turn, or advance into an adjacent hexagonal area. Each piece had different energy shields, armor ratings, and weapons. When one ship moved onto the same hexagon used by an opposing ship, the game zoomed in on the pair and became more arcade-oriented, with each side having to use the different weapons and capabilities of their ship to defeat the other in real-time. The overall goal was to corner the enemy flagship and defeat any opposing ships that got in the way. The Mosaic’s AI won, of course. Several times.

  Finally, at the nine-hour mark since entering the Anteres system, Gia called him over the Musenet.

  When he connected, she said: “I just turned away from our previous course, and I’m making a run for the rift section between the two groups of dwellers.”