“No. Maybe I’m doubting myself,” I whispered.
“What do you mean?”
“I was killed, Karo. I fell so deep into danger that my daughter had to pull me out of it again. You have no idea what it’s like.” I let go of my cup and rose, heading for the door.
“You are the Recaster, Dean. Don’t forget that.”
I stopped before leaving him, and turned to face my old friend. “As if I could. Be well, Karo. Thank you for watching Hugo.” With a wave, I was off.
____________
“Is everyone ready?” Magnus asked. He sat in the captain’s chair, gray with blue stitches like the others, only his was rear and center. Jules was beside him, pleased to be acting commander of Outpost for the sake of this mission.
They were fully loaded, with the entire crew of 250. Many of those people were the support staff, because running a ship this size took a lot of hands.
Jules appraised the bridge crew, and recalled most of them. Rumi, the tiny Padlog she’d grown up with at the Academy, was here, sitting in the first helm position. He wasn’t so small anymore. His insectoid head was smooth, blocking part of the view directly in front of her. Malir had asked to come, but Jules had the requisition denied. The Gretiol heir would be angry about that, but she required some space. She’d noticed the way he looked at her, and didn’t need any distractions.
Sergeant Raron had given up his field training to join them, at Magnus’ request. The huge armored Keppe man sat at the edge of the bridge, wearing an Institute uniform. Gray and blue, like the interior design of their ship. There were a couple supporting roles behind her that she’d only met in passing before today.
“Sorry I’m late.” Natalia entered, and Jules felt conflicted. She smiled at Jules and went to the rear of the bridge, taking the position Suma was slated to occupy before deciding to get married.
“You didn’t tell me Nat was coming,” Jules said through her teeth to Magnus.
“I’m the captain. Was I supposed to ask?” He grinned.
“No.”
“I thought you and she were close.” Magnus frowned while watching her, and Jules wanted to shrink into her seat.
“I am… it’s just, with Dean and me…”
“Say no more. She wanted to come.”
Jules looked at her Auntie Natalia, eager to see her wearing a uniform again. She’d been so reclusive after her husband had died, and for a while, they didn’t think she’d pull out of it. But here she was, rejuvenated once more.
“If we’re all ready, let’s take her out,” Magnus ordered.
Jules was anxious to fly to Udoon, and she watched while the intricate network of tubes flushed the liquid for the HyperMods drive attachments. When used properly, they created a wormhole that made their travel a lot easier. Since Dasso, the spy for the Sect, had managed to alter their destination, they’d added extremely effective security measures. Magnus was confident no one would be able to duplicate the diversion.
The fuel sped through the system, and they waited the full two minutes while flying from the station outside of New Spero. This was Earth’s first colony, settled years before Jules was born. It had been inhabited by Magnus and Natalia, as well as a man named General Heart. He was a legend of that era, along with Patrice Dalhousie, whom Patty, her best friend, was named after.
Things were different then. She respected Natalia so much, and often overlooked what they’d had to endure. Jules’ mom and dad, along with Nat and the real Magnus, had managed to save the planet from invasion. It was no wonder they were revered by everyone.
Rumi guided the warship farther out. The stars remained stagnant through the viewscreen, and it felt like they were standing still, rather than speeding at thousands of kilometers an hour.
“Bring us to hyperspeed,” Magnus said.
Electrical currents flared over the screen, shooting forward as Rumi hit the icon.
“Prepare the wormhole.” Magnus clutched the arms of his chair, his fingertips turning white. He was nervous. Not that Jules blamed him.
A spinning blue mass shot out from the currents, and Outpost entered the opening. They went from Proxima to Udoon in the matter of a breath.
Jules watched as the crackling energy faded, and the liquid began slowing in the hull’s piping. Udoon Station blotted out part of the planet below. This was where Loweck had come from. Not originally, but after her ship was found. They’d rebuilt her to be part robot, and she’d ended up in a distant prison, working for those odd aliens Jules’ father bartered with.
Everything about Udoon Station was vile to her: the gambling, drugs, and God knows what else these visitors did in their time on the shady station. There’d been a minor overhaul since the Alliance’s arrival, but it was still renowned for the abnormal.
That was where they traveled. It was moderately busy for the time of day, but something was off. There were fewer miscellaneous spaceships, patched and painted with cheap finishes. “Things have changed around here,” Jules told Magnus.
“Yes and no. To circumvent the new docking regulations the Alliance enforced, the scumbags land on Udoon and take a ferry to the station. This allows them to enter but stays within bylaws.” Magnus didn’t seem too concerned about it.
“Shouldn’t we be stopping them?” Jules asked.
“Why? People are always going to trade weapons and buy drugs. At least we can monitor who does what.” Magnus smirked.
“You’re keeping tabs on them at Udoon Station.” That made more sense.
“We’ve detained a few mid-level players because of it. If a couple civilians are beat up in a bar fight in the process, what’s it matter to us?”
Jules frowned but stayed silent. Her real uncle, the one that had died in Horizon at the Arnaps’ hands, wouldn’t have stood by those words. It was a gentle reminder that this Magnus wasn’t the same man she used to spend the holidays with.
Natalia must have sensed her concern, because she had a similar expression to Jules’ own. “Where’s the alien ship?” she asked in her slight Russian accent.
“Safely in the Alliance docking bay we’ve added. Come on. Nat and Jules, with me. The rest of you stay put for the time being. If we’re here for the night, we might let you explore Udoon securely. In groups of five. And no gambling.” Magnus left, and Jules hurried after his lengthy steps.
They were in a transport a few minutes later, flying to the station.
Once inside, they exited the vehicle, and a familiar face greeted them.
“Rivo, what are you doing here?” Jules asked the Molariun woman. Her blue skin gleamed in the bright lights.
“I heard about the newcomer and decided to see her for myself.” Rivo wore a white blouse and pleated black pants. She looked the part of the head of Alnod Industries.
“Have you seen the visitor?” Nat asked.
“No. She’s in stasis, and I was waiting for you to arrive. I came yesterday.” Rivo led them from the docking bay, and Jules scanned the room, spotting a few different Alliance members’ ships. There was a Padlog fighter, and a Motrill skimmer. She wondered what they were doing here, and assumed even members of their Alliance had secrets. It seemed impossible to trust that everyone was living up to their part of the bargain when it came to Alliance morals. Sarlun being dubious with Papa was a prime example.
Jules was glad to see Rivo. “Why didn’t you come to Suma’s wedding?” she asked.
“I couldn’t leave. We’ve been working on something. It’s big.” Rivo waited at the doors while they passed into the station.
“Can you tell us about it?” Jules knew Rivo didn’t love sharing proprietary knowledge until they were first to market, but she was curious. Rivo and Suma were friends, and it must have been important to miss that day.
They were still in the new addition to the station, and alone in the corridor leading from the bay to the main section. Rivo kept her voice low. “There’s a power source we’ve been developing. Found evidence of it on some
old starship my reclaimers discovered. The region was unchartered, and it… could be significant.”
“How serious?” Magnus asked.
“If this works—and we’re figuring that out—we might be able to power an entire planet from a single source. I was hoping Dean was coming, because it might be perfect to test on this Ebos he’s set to investigate.” Rivo’s hands rested on her hips.
“What’s the fuel?” Nat inquired.
Rivo shook her head. “Can’t tell you that. Not yet. You understand.”
“Da,” Nat said.
“Okay. Shall we?” Magnus pointed down the corridor.
Jules closed her eyes, letting the pulsing power stretch past her barrier for a moment. She felt the energy of the station, the wants and needs of the people inhabiting it. Some were desperate, others euphoric. Then she found something different. It was an alien thought, but the notion was universal. Danger. Fear. “She’s awake.”
Nat stopped in her tracks. “Who?”
“The girl.”
It was a strange thing to know, but Magnus, Natalia, and Rivo had been around Jules long enough to understand that she was extremely unique. Jules appreciated how none of them stared at her with judgment or revulsion.
They stayed in the recent addition, and Jules looked around, noticing how similar it was to their structures at Terran Thirty. The walls were the same gray panels, the lighting bright and warm. Rivo guided them to the end of the corridor, and a Shimmali woman opened the door for them, her snout wagging in recognition.
“Welcome to Udoon,” she said. “My name’s Everen, and we recently managed to wake the young woman.”
Jules smiled at her and gazed past Everen to the alien vessel. It was smooth and as pale blue as a winter’s sky, shaped like an almond. It stretched the full distance of the room, and she wondered how it got here, until she noticed the sliding bulkheads along the outer edges of the space. They would part, giving way to an energy barrier.
The ceilings were high, and half a dozen computer stations were powered on, with ten people in Alliance uniforms walking around with tablets, speaking in hushed tones.
“Tell us what happened,” Magnus said.
“She appeared four days ago. We’ve never seen anything like it, and once we accessed the interior, we knew why.”
“What’s the reason?” Nat asked.
Everen passed him a tablet. “Because they’re not from this galaxy. Or the next. They’re from a place referred to as VB1898 or Violet Bloom.”
“Why do you call it that?” Jules peered at the tablet and saw the colorful shape of the galaxy from distant viewpoint. It did resemble a flower. “Never mind. I understand.”
“The craft… what kind of propulsion does it have?” Rivo asked her.
Everen shrugged. “We’re working on that. It looks to be linked to the stasis program, which means the ship will only travel when the pilot is frozen. At this time, we’re unsure how long she’s been in this state, or which planet they originated from. As I said, we have little information on Violet Bloom, besides images from afar.”
“Have you tried checking for portal stones?” Jules hoped that was a possibility. She reached for the tablet in Magnus’ hands, and a minute later, the overlap of the star map illuminated. “There’s nothing even remotely close.” There were countless galaxies they’d never be able to reach with the stone network, but to actually see a visitor from one of them seemed valuable. Not to mention the fact that the drawing they’d discovered was strikingly similar to the one Regnig had of the Zan’ra.
“If you’ll follow me? Maybe just two of you. It’s cramped.” Everen waited near the ship’s entrance. They’d added a small metal step under the vessel.
“Go ahead,” Magnus told Jules and Rivo.
The inside was compact, and the visitor was seated near the nose.
Jules went first. The girl’s short yellow hair stood on end, disheveled. Her cheeks were gaunt, her eyes big. She seemed to notice Jules, but her body didn’t react. “What’s wrong with her?” Jules stared back at Everen.
“We unplugged the stasis, but there must have been another step. She’s breathing and awake, but unresponsive,” Everen said.
“When?”
“About three hours ago.”
Three hours locked into your body without being able to communicate. She must be terrified. Jules reached out and took her hand. It was warm and clammy. “I’m Jules,” she said softly. “Don’t be afraid.”
She kept her voice calm, her expression comforting. The girl wouldn’t understand her words, but she could pick up the universal meaning. Jules used the same inflections with her horse when she got spooked.
Her skin was perfectly olive-colored, her eyes blue. They darted side to side.
“It’s okay.” Jules pressed her lids shut, and concentrated. She let go, and flushed with energy. Instead of bursting out, it sought information about the being whose hand she clutched. She saw images in flashes. Triangular ships descending from the skies. Huge metallic warriors gunning down others like the girl. “You were attacked. Invaded.” Jules kept assessing, finding the problem in moments.
“Where’s the central computer?” she asked Everen.
“There.” She pointed to the screen on the right. “But we can’t read it.”
Jules powered it up and searched the system. It made sense to her. She found the error, a minor glitch in the program. With the press of a button, something beneath the pilot unclasped, a vent hissing air in the process. The yellow-haired young woman gasped, sitting upright. She began to speak, her words spewing in a flurry.
“What’s she saying?” Rivo asked.
But Jules could understand every word. Being a Deity had its benefits.
“She’s from the planet Adrol. The Brack assaulted them, and she escaped to bring help. She intended to visit their neighboring system, but the computer had loaded Udoon, because she was curious why the name was on the picture from her book.” Jules patted the girl’s arm. “It’s okay. Calm down.”
But she was fearful, her expression dire.
“What’s the matter?” Jules asked in the girl’s native tongue.
“It’s you. From the book.”
Jules caught her reflection in the computer screen, to find her eyes glowing bright green.
“How long have you been gone?” Jules checked.
“The trip said twenty years,” she replied.
“What’s your name?”
“Jaessa,” she whispered.
“Jaessa. Welcome to Alliance territory. My name is Jules Parker, and I’m here to help.”
Four
“Are you sure we’re not overdoing it?” Mary asked.
I trudged the last of the crates onto our ship, and laughed. “It’s a few weeks in either direction, plus the duration of our investigation on Ebos. I’d rather have everything on hand.”
“Maybe you don’t think I can rough it anymore,” Mary told me.
The thought had crossed my mind, but I couldn’t admit it. “You know my mantra.”
“Always cause trouble?” She laughed.
“Always be prepared… to cause trouble.” I smirked at her, thinking how fun this would actually be. She must have sensed my intentions, and she walked over, setting a hand on my chest.
“I love you, Dean Parker.”
“And I love you, Mary Parker.” I kissed her, letting it linger a moment longer than usual. “Is it bad that I’m looking forward to this?”
“A couple of months away with your favorite person in the universe? I should hope you’re excited.” Mary dropped her duffel into the cargo hold.
“I felt so bad for Hugo. He’s not happy we’re leaving.”
“Someone has to take care of Maggie at Karo’s, and he has classes at the Academy. Just because he’s our son doesn’t give him an excuse to drop his responsibilities,” Mary said.
“True, but I understand where he’s coming from. He feels left out.” I unzipped m
y bag and double-checked I had everything. It hadn’t been that long since Sergo and I were flying around searching for Regnig, but this was different. It was, dare I say, relaxing—if Ovalax wasn’t embedded into my mind, I would have been much calmer. That was weighing on me constantly. “Mary, I need to tell you something.”
Mary’s tablet beeped, and she checked it. “Jules made it to Udoon. She was able to establish contact. From the sounds of it, Fontem had visited these Fera people at some point. He must have traded that picture, or left it behind.”
“Things have a way of returning, don’t they?” I hadn’t thought of Fontem in a while. “I wonder how he is.”
Fontem had finally reached his eternal goal of time-travelling to his wife. He’d done so much to accomplish it.
“It can’t be a coincidence,” Mary told me. “More like a synchronicity.”
“Maybe. Jules doing okay?”
“She’s fine. Seems quite excited about this mission.”
“What mission?” I asked.
“Her people were attacked. They have to investigate.” Mary was oddly calm about the entire situation.
I realized this wasn’t the proper moment to bring up my issues. “Are they going to travel to her planet?”
“She hasn’t mentioned that.” Mary typed in a message back to their daughter, sending my regards, and she sealed the ramp. “You had something to say?”
“Yes.” I braced myself. “I want the first pilot shift.”
She chuckled. “Not on your life.”
We were so used to accessing portals to get everywhere, but that always left us vulnerable. With a spaceship, we could move quietly, leave a smaller footprint, and carry more supplies. I was anxious to see what was in store for us at Ebos. If the Tiprea had lived on Earth before humans, they could probably have a lot to teach us. Did we have similarities? Why had they left? Were they still alive on Ebos? It was suggested by Ovalax that they were gone, a distant memory of an empty planet, but I wasn’t so sure.
Ovalax was a liar. Everything he touched was tainted. He’d told me the doppelganger was my twin, but that was false. What else was? Maybe all of it. The easiest way to ensure your predictions came true was to alter the variables. If you controlled enough of them, your chances greatly increased. He tampered with them constantly.
The Colony (The Survivors Book Seventeen) Page 4
