Triorion Omnibus

by L. J. Hachmeister

  Agracia shrugged her shoulders. “I want to know my past just like you, right? I know you’re going up there and gonna find out more about what they did to me. Respect for that. When you come back, I’ll have something for you, too.”

  “You’d better,” Jetta said, grabbing Agracia by the arm. “Don’t make me regret letting you go.”

  Agracia gave her a curious half-smile. “See you later, Doctor Death.”

  AS JETTA WATCHED THE lights of the Alliance rescue ship cut through the cloud cover, her thoughts drifted to the memories she absorbed from the wolves.

  Why can’t I get them out of my head? she thought, sinking back into the experience.

  Looking down at the windswept rock and dirt beneath her boots, she remembered the feeling of grass pressed down by furry paws. A chill ran up her spine as she recalled the sensation of four limbs stretching out across the plain, running forever, not knowing exhaustion or anything but the twinge of hunger in her belly and the thrill of the hunt.

  Tears formed in her eyes, but she fought against them. I’m not supposed to feel this way—I shouldn’t care about a dead place. But she missed the warmth of the sun terribly, and filling her lungs with clean air, free of waste exhaust and chemicals.

  (I want to run freely, my companions at my side without collars or cages, and sing to the moon before falling asleep under the stars.)

  “Gorsh-shit,” she told herself. She held her breath and tried to make the sensations stop. “Bloody wolves!”

  Jetta wiped the debris off her visor and huddled beside the relative safety of a fallen structure, trying to reason with herself. When she returned to Earth she wanted to settle things with Agracia, not waste her time with the wolves, but she felt a strange compulsion to see them again, to press further into their knowledge of what Earth once was.

  “Fine,” she muttered to herself. “I’ll find some way—if I have time.”

  After the starship had safely landed, Jetta ran to cross the ramp. There was little said to her beyond the standard greetings as she underwent routine decontamination. Anxious to see her sister, Jetta quibbled with the technicians until they finally let her out of the treatment room, still dressed in a gown.

  “Jaeia!” Jetta shouted, pushing past the guards and running to her sister. She wanted to hug her sister tightly, but fear and shame made her stop in her tracks. Face flushed, she took a step back.

  “I’m so happy to see you,” Jetta stuttered, looking at the ground.

  Jaeia’s brow furrowed. “Me too. Give me a hug already,” Jaeia said, grabbing Jetta’s hand and pulling her into her arms.

  Jetta had longed for this moment, but now that she was back, it didn’t feel right. Even though Jaeia’s touch was warm and inviting, she couldn’t bring herself to accept it, and her limbs and spine remained stiff as a board until Jaeia finally let go. Something’s changed.

  “Mind your business, Sis,” Jaeia chuckled, covering her sister’s open backside.

  “Oh, sorry,” Jetta said, rearranging her gown and stepping back again.

  Jaeia studied her a moment, gray eyes searching her sister’s face. “What is it?” she whispered. “What happened to you?”

  “It’s not like that,” Jetta said, hearing her sister’s concern. “It’s just... I don’t...”

  The words didn’t come to her, but Jaeia wouldn’t need them.

  I don’t need your help, Jetta thought. Before her sister had a chance, Jetta bit back on their silent connection so that Jaeia couldn’t probe any deeper than her surface emotions.

  Folding her arms tightly across her chest, Jaeia kept her voice soft and even so as not to be overheard by the other staff. “Yes, I am upset with you, but I still love you. I just want to know what it’s going to take to keep you from running away again. I don’t want to always be chasing after you.”

  Unable to say the words out loud, Jetta projected them across their bond. I’m so sorry, Jaeia.

  (My apology will never be enough.)

  A lump formed in her throat, and she swallowed hard to keep from crying. I can’t lose my cool in front of the other soldiers and officers, she thought to herself. But there’s just so much I can’t say or feel.

  “You still need to go through medical,” Jaeia sighed. “And what is this—a gunshot wound?”

  “It just nicked me,” Jetta scoffed.

  “And I see you removed your chip,” Jaeia said, palming Jetta’s neck. “You can have seizures, neurological dysfunction, delusions—”

  Jetta brushed her hand away. “Thanks for the dissertation. I’m fine. And having a seizure probably saved my life.”

  Jaeia opened her mouth, but Jetta cut her off. “It’ll have to wait. Debrief me first.”

  “You’re not getting off that easy,” her gray-eyed twin said.

  To Jetta’s dismay, Jaeia made her go through a medical exam during the hours they spent jumping back to the Alliance Central Starbase.

  “I can repair your spinal cord to fix the damage caused by digging out the chip,” the ship’s surgeon said, looking over the scans of her cervical vertebrae on his datapad. “But I’m afraid the damage is severe enough that biochip reimplantation will have to wait for a few weeks.

  Don’t you even think about celebrating that fact, Jaeia conveyed to her silently, giving her arm a pinch. Jetta hid her smile and laid down on the exam table as the doctor continued his assessment.

  “Do not let her leave before you’re able to patch those soft-tissue injuries and remove the bone fragments from her arm,” Jaeia ordered.

  “Yes, Sir,” the surgeon nodded, motioning for his assistant to bring another tray of instruments.

  “It’s the least you can do,” Jaeia whispered to her. Ashamed, Jetta said nothing, silently agreeing that her own failure to comply with standard protocol could further jeopardize her already-poor standing.

  As Jetta went through the treatments, Jaeia stayed by her side and caught her up to speed on all that had transpired on the Alliance home front. Despite the circumstances or the tension between them, Jetta felt relief to be by her sister again.

  “I’m worried about Triel,” Jetta said, gnawing on the inside of her cheek. She couldn’t say what she really meant, but she knew Jaeia sensed her regret and would be smart enough not to press for it. “And I don’t want to think the Deadwalkers are back.”

  “Me either,” Jaeia said as the doctor finished the treatments and gave her discharge orders.

  “I don’t suppose you’ll carry out my instructions to rest quietly,” the doctor said to Jetta.

  “It’s doubtful,” she said, testing out the fracture repair in her arm. “But thanks.”

  After exiting medical, the sisters walked in silence to the main hatchway, sharing more memories and worries. The ship rocked gently as the arms of the port reached out and clamped down, securing the craft in the bay of the Alliance Central Starbase.

  Jaeia touched her hand. “I’m too scared to think what might be possible.”

  The sensation reminded Jetta of the strange moment when she thought she had felt Jahx again, but she didn’t share it with her sister. It’s most likely a hallucination and I don’t want to burden my sister with any more of my problems.

  “I’m not going to lie to you, Jetta—there are about twenty charges the High Council is filing against you. You’re just lucky there were no deaths at your jump site.”

  “The foundation worker—?”

  Jaeia nodded. “He’s okay. You owe Triel.”

  “Thank the Gods,” Jetta whispered, pressing her knuckles into her eyes.

  “However, given the current threat level, the Minister is assigning you to head the next team to investigate the blackouts. We’ve lost contact with the squadron that was just sent. So for now, you’re getting off only because you’re the commander of the SMT.”

  Still in shock, Jetta tried to wrap her head around an enemy with the ability to instantaneously deaden the communications system of an entire squadro
n and probably to wipe them out just as quickly. It was unparalleled, unprecedented, and in her heart she knew that if anything or anybody was capable of such an atrocity, it would be the Motti Overlord, M’ah Pae.

  “Jetta, there is much to discuss,” Jaeia whispered as they stepped through the umbilicus connecting the starship to the base. Soldiers, awaiting their arrival to escort her on base, saluted.

  I know, Jetta said through their connection.

  “No, you don’t,” Jaeia whispered. “I have information that I’ll need you to review. It will change everything.”

  What is that? Jetta felt something she never thought possible radiate from her sister’s mind. My sister...she’s doubting the system she has so heavily invested in after the war with the Motti.

  Without breaking her gait, Jaeia slipped something into the side pocket of Jetta’s pants. Jetta schooled her face not to show any recognition.

  Why don’t you just tell me now? she asked.

  Jaeia shook her head. “Because I don’t want to believe it.”

  “Hey,” Jetta said, stopping her sister as she began veering away toward the Defense/Research Department. “I just got to see you, and now you have to go?”

  Jaeia nodded as she typed in a reply to a message she received on her sleeve. “I just got orders from the Minister; I have to meet DeAnders for some kind of emergency consultation. That’s all I know. I’m missing that meeting you’re going to, so it has to be big.”

  “Okay,” Jetta said, eyeing the soldiers watching her every move. “I’ll meet up with you afterwards?”

  “If you aren’t reassigned—or booked,” Jaeia said, hugging her tightly as she signaled for a lift. “Whatever happens, be careful. Come back to me. I still have to kick your assino.”

  Jetta tapped her sister’s chin with her fist. “You wish, softie.”

  As Jetta parted ways with her sister, she realized just how much she’d missed her. Lingering in the hallway, Jetta watched Jaeia board a fast-transit lift until she disappeared around a bend.

  (I don’t want to be ever be apart like that again.)

  “Sir,” the lead soldier said. “I must remind you of your destination.”

  “Yes, thank you,” Jetta said, not masking her frustration.

  After calling another lift, Jetta rode with her escorts to the conference room in silence, her mind divided amongst her mission, her sister, the dog-soldiers, and Triel. Even her former captors on Earth weighed in, pulling her mind back to their complicated parting.

  Guilt pressed heavily against her sternum, but she fought back, determined not to let emotion overrule her actions. I will make things right. I have to.

  As the lift turned a corner, her right arm grazed the datafile that Jaeia had slipped into her pocket.

  I have to know what that is, she thought, unable to resist the urge.

  “Stop by my quarters,” she ordered the lift operator. “I need to change into uniform.”

  “But sir,” the lead soldier said. “The Minister gave strict orders to—”

  “I’m not going to a council meeting in scrubs,” she said firmly.

  Though a weak excuse, the soldier relented, buying her some time to look at whatever Jaeia had wanted her to see.

  As the doors to her quarters closed behind her, the lead soldier reminded her of her limited time before the start of the meeting.

  “I just need a minute,” she mumbled to herself, pulling out the datafile.

  She reimaged the seal in the background, tilting the datafile so she could see the official hologram. Seeing the crested Lionbird, Jetta concluded the source. Pancar of Nagoorian.

  Jetta didn’t know what to expect, but as soon as she decoded the massive file, the blood left her face.

  “Oh my Gods,” she whispered, reading the introductory paragraph entitled Command Development Program.

  Slumping against the wall, Jetta felt the last remnants of trust she still vested in the Alliance disintegrate. I didn’t want to be right.

  THOUGH HE WASN’T TELEPATHICALLY gifted in any sense, Damon felt the exact moment Jetta Kyron entered the conference room, even with his back turned to the entrance.

  “Commander Kyron, so good of you to finally join us,” the Military Minister said.

  Damon caught a glimpse of her face as she entered, and his stomach dropped. The way the Minister spoke to her, he still assumed he had the upper hand. But Jetta, with her gaze that could cut down a Talian, was holding a deadly card.

  “Did you enjoy your vacation on Earth?” Razar asked.

  The entire military council shifted uncomfortably in their seats as Jetta and the Minister exchanged icy glares.

  “Sorry I didn’t write,” Jetta said, taking her seat to the right of Wren.

  Look at me, the admiral willed, trying to catch her eye. Why is she ignoring me?

  The Minister glowered at her before continuing. “Chief Mo, please, let’s get this underway.”

  Msiasto Mo stood up and read from his datafile. “We have discovered that the communications and visual blackouts point to a very specific trajectory, with Trigos as the primary destination. The alleged Motti ship is taking a path along highly trafficked zones, including routes through the booster highway. Since we don’t yet know the method of transit for the alien ship, I propose that we shut down mass transportation hubs and deactivate all booster highway waypoints.”

  “Make it happen, Chief,” the Minister said. Mo bowed and took his seat again.

  “Chief Wren,” the Minister said.

  Gaeshin stood up and addressed the entire room. “The last scout ship was able to report back after we had him monitor the edge of the blackout area for 138 hours. Here are the results.”

  The room darkened as the projector came to life.

  “This is Lieutenant Daley, reporting. I’ve been on the trail of the blackouts for four days now, and there appears to be no activity in the areas affected by the alien ship. All personnel from outpost 313 are missing, and the ship Hoveron was found adrift in planet XV-175’s orbit. The ship was gutted, and the crew was missing; there was no way to recall any of the ship’s readings prior to the blackouts.”

  “It goes on,” Wren says, pausing the projector, “but it’s more of the same. Whatever this thing is, it’s literally cleaning out everything in its path and leaving no evidence of any struggle.”

  “What’s the closest anyone can get to it?” Jetta asked.

  “Long-range retroimagers are the only sensors that can detect the anomaly, putting you at about solar range,” Mo answered.

  “Right now we have them in the borderworlds, closing in on the perimeter, so our actions must be swift,” the Minister added. “They will reach the first cityworld in less than twenty hours.”

  The admiral studied Jetta as she processed the information, her green eyes narrowing and lips pursing. Her intensity reminded him of one of his former students, and it made the hair on the back of his neck stand on end.

  “Have you tried a bioscan or a residual marker boost of the affected area?” Jetta asked.

  The room fell silent. Mo finally spoke up, “No, we have not, Commander. What would be the purpose?”

  “Because if it is the Motti, then they’re most likely using some kind of biodegenerative device—maybe a bioweapon streamed into a remote transporter. That could also account for the fact that conventional scanners can’t detect any kind of activity in the area—some sort of bioelectric distortion could create that kind of readings blackout.”

  “Chief Mo?” the Minister said.

  Mo nodded and inputted commands on the sleeve of his uniform. “We’d have to link the bioscanners with the long-range sensors. That would take at least two hours.”

  “Do it. Any other suggestions?” the Minister asked, looking around the room. Unipoesa held his hand above the table, signaling that he passed, as did the rest of the council.

  “We will reconvene at 1700 hours to go over those results. Prepare your teams for laun
ch. Commander,” the Minister said as the others left the conference room, “going so soon?”

  Jetta finally glanced at Damon, anger and disappointment darkening her face.

  Unipoesa looked away. She’s found out about the Hixon.

  “I need to submit my report on Earth,” Jetta said. “Then I’ll make my way to the brig. Sorry; I guess that means I’ll miss the next meeting.”

  Razar glanced at Unipoesa before speaking. “The brig?”

  “That’s where you’re going to send me after you read my report.”

  “Commander, I don’t quite follow,” Razar said.

  Jetta frowned. “Of course you don’t. You weren’t expecting me to run into one of your Sleepers on Earth. What a terrible coincidence. And you probably weren’t expecting me to glean some of her memories, either.”

  “Jetta,” the admiral said, looking back to make sure the doors were closed and that they were the only three left in the conference room, “you don’t know the whole story.”

  Jetta nodded. “I know enough. I know that the woman I met on Earth was some kind of pawn, and that you wiped and replaced her memories so that she could run your errands when she didn’t measure up. And I’m guessing since she was brainwashed on the Hixon, that you’re probably turning Reht and dog-soldiers into Sleepers as well.”

  “Commander,” the Minister hissed, nostrils flaring, “you’re out of line.”

  “It’s all about control, isn’t it? You have to control all of your little worker bees. So what about me and Jaeia? You can’t turn a telepath into a Sleeper, so what’s next for us, huh? As long as I keep fighting your battles you’re going to keep me around, right?”

  “Jetta!” the Minister boomed, slamming his fist on the table. “Sit down!”

  Jetta stood defiantly, unmoving. The Minister got in her face, his eyes ablaze. “Your anger is misguided. You discover half-truths and then you come to me, your superior officer, spouting off like an imbecile. I would do you a favor by sending you to the brig.”

  The admiral came to Jetta’s side. “If she met an Agent on Earth, Minister, she might be able to help us.”