Unknown

by Microsoft Office User

As Mifuro turned to his workstation, Peter acknowledged them.

  “We’ve got to go after him. What the hell was that all about?”

  Fran relayed the latest data from her monitor. “Array shows he’s entering his quarters.”

  Mifuro wasted no time. “Captain Navarro, this is the command deck. We need your immediate attention, sir.”

  They waited in silence for 15 seconds before Mifuro repeated his message. No response.

  Something very cynical and very paranoid told Lara that this should not have been at all surprising. Her mind could not help but race through the sequence of events, starting with his sudden emergence from the mental cloud that had engulfed him the entire return voyage.

  Ohmigod, I'm the one who returned him to command!

  “Captain, please acknowledge this message,” Mifuro insisted, his voice raised an octave. “If this reading is correct, I believe the captain has just disabled the comm-link unit in his quarters.”

  “I'll be a sumbitch,” Peter turned, hands to his hips. “I'll go down there, find out what he's up to.”

  Lara turned on her heels and followed the redheaded systems specialist. “I'm going with you,” she said. “He might have had a relapse, returned to the way he was before.”

  “Yeah, maybe,” Peter seemed skeptical and turned to Mifuro as the SlipTube opened. “Keep trying him.”

  They did not speak during the 25-second Tube transport. All of this was happening so suddenly. She felt mental overload, and knew Peter was equally confused and frightened. When they stepped off the Tube and raced toward the captain's quarters, it occurred to Lara that perhaps a lazgun would not be such a bad idea.

  A weapon to protect ourselves from our captain?

  As they reached the door to Miguel's quarters, Peter stopped just shy and reached out one hand, held back Lara. He hesitated to speak, looked up and down the corridor.

  “Awkward feeling,” he said. “Something’s not right.”

  That was an understatement, she concluded, as Peter pressed his hand to the printlock. The door remained closed. He spoke into the panel's comm-link.

  “Captain, let us in. We've got to talk.”

  He pounded on the door.

  After another 10-second wait, he said, “OK, look, Lara. This is what we've gotta do. I've got a laser drill in my quarters. I might be able to get a manual override on the printlock. It's the quickest way in I can think of. Might take five minutes or so. Go to your quarters, check back with Mifuro, see if they've heard anything. I don't like this; don't like this one fucking bit. What the hell is the captain doing in there?”

  Lara thought for a second of throwing out a couple of theories, but she knew this wasn't a time for idle speculation, especially since all she had was the most circumstantial of evidence.

  Maybe I'm wrong. Please, let me be wrong.

  She followed Peter's plan and returned to her quarters. When she entered, she realized she had not been here since ...

  Her personal workstation was in operational mode, the viop image of Daniel Loche still active on the forward monitor. She sat down and tried to catch her breath before contacting Mifuro. Instead, she found herself captivated once again by the handsome details of Daniel's face.

  “Computer, terminate ...”

  Her command was cut off, but not by someone else's words. Rather, a dull pain overwhelmed her, then seemed to focus. It was very much like an intense sinus headache, and while the twang of pain raced through her face and forehead, the rest of her body became light, uncoordinated.

  She tried to stand up.

  Her legs almost gave out, but a steadying hand caught hold of the swivel.

  “I don't ...”

  Suddenly, she felt an urgent need to swing around to her left, and she knew something was staring at her.

  “Who are you?” She fumbled over the words through hazy vision and disorientation, but Lara saw something reach out to her.

  Somethings. Two of them.

  Long, thin, black.

  There was a jerk against the back of her neck. With a jolt, she was pulled across the room, and her eyes closed, although not voluntarily. Then there was a full-body flip, and Lara sensed herself looking up at her feet. And vice versa.

  There was wind. Slowly, it began to push her along, and her body flipped over again. And again.

  The tight grip around the back of her neck disappeared.

  The tumbling became continuous, and this lightness of being was both frightening and relaxing. Where are you? After her words, there was an echo – a familiar one. Do you believe in the union? This tumbling continued for only seconds afterward and ended when she felt herself fall and land on ...

  …

  …

  Rocks.

  Rocks?

  She opened her eyes immediately, and the terror that formed a solid layer of goose bumps across every inch of her skin confirmed what she felt. She was indeed lying on rocks.

  They were huge, black boulders, many of them around her dripping in a green sludge. Algae, perhaps.

  Just a dream. Just a dream.

  She closed, then opened her eyes quickly, and the sight was the same, the terror heightened.

  Lara was lying on her stomach, and the awkward, sharp edges of the boulders pierced her. Strangely, she realized, there was no pain. She sensed them against her body, yet no texture, no pressure.

  Ahead of her, the boulders continued up a slope, where the land became softer, albeit equally as black.

  There was wind against her back, and she pushed herself up, twisting her body slowly so as to face this breeze which was neither warm nor cold. A vicious gust fell upon her, and she slipped while trying to regain her footing against the slimy rocks. She fell, and her back slammed hard against the boulders, and she could sense a distinctive twinge along her spinal column. But again, no pain.

  Lara stared out against the wind and saw only turbulent water for well beyond the horizon. This sea was a sickly hue of chartreuse, and the waves battered hard against the boulders, the spray of water coming nearly to her feet.

  This is a dream. This is a dream.

  I know this place.

  The sky was dark, filled completely with gray-green clouds that rolled through each other like moist oatmeal.

  I know this place.

  Lara tried to break out of this nightmare. She had things to do. It was almost time to go home. To Earth. To another nightmare.

  To save her captain if he was not beyond saving.

  She steadied her hands against a couple of boulders that seemed less algae-infested and picked herself up.

  This will end now.

  And when the dream did not end, Lara fought off the urge both to cry and to scream. She looked down at her bodysuit. There were no stains. No signs of injury. She turned over her hands and studied the palms. Not only were they not soiled, they were immaculate.

  This was proof, she concluded. Proof that this is just a dream.

  And yet there was a contradiction: She could feel this heavy breeze rustling through her hair and ripping against her back.

  Movement!

  No, she wasn't certain. But Lara knew she had just seen something out of the corner of one eye, and she started slowly toward the slope that was the source of the movement.

  I know this place.

  I know this place.

  She started the journey across these randomly stacked boulders at a careful gait, but something quickly changed, and Lara realized she knew exactly how they were laid out. She sped up, hopping and skipping between boulders with considerable ease. After the first 30 meters or so, she stopped looking down.

  She was practically running as she reached the peak and looked out across an island that could not have been more than a few hundred meters long. There were other small hills, like this one somewhat soft at the peak yet littered with huge boulders along the base and up the slope. She saw far beyond the is
land, and the seas on the opposite side were far more turbulent, and the clouds practically dipping down to touch the water. She felt a shutter, and then caught hold of more movement.

  It was a Fyal.

  I know this place. Wait!

  The Fyal glided over the rocky slopes, its cone up, concealing the alien's mushroom head. It moved along as if guided by the breeze, and before Lara could call out to it, the Fyal vanished across a distant slope.

  She tried to follow the creature, but immediately thought better of it. This is a dream. It will be over soon.

  “I know this place,” she said aloud.

  Immediately, her left leg kicked out and she almost lost her balance, yet somehow steadied herself. The rocks were moving. At least, the rocks on the downside of the slope before her. There was a low rumble, and she thought the rocks were beginning to slip toward the sea. But a closer look revealed more: They were simply falling into the island itself, as if the slope began to swallow them.

  Lara turned. The slope she ran up was now beginning to collapse, and she felt herself about to hyperventilate.

  “Run!”

  The masculine warning came as an echo across the breeze.

  The rocks below her feet were trembling, and she was certain they would vanish within seconds.

  “Where ...” she stumbled over the words.

  “Run to me!”

  The voice sounded oddly reassuring, even soothing, but she couldn't decipher its origin. One deep breath was sufficient, and Lara moved one leg, then the other, and she never looked down.

  Why?

  That thought was her last as she realized there was nothing beneath her feet.

  She fell.

  Other than the sensation of her digestive tract being sucked up into her chest, Lara felt strangely pleasant, even protected. She closed her eyes and allowed the darkness to overwhelm her fear.

  I know this place.

  Lara never felt the ground come up to grab her. Instead, she opened her eyes and realized she was standing still in the middle of a ...

  Tunnel?

  Cave?

  Two things were undeniable: She was underground, and this rugged structure was well lit, with sharp crevices through deep black rock triggering sprays of soft yellow light.

  Naturally, the hard breeze was gone, and that was the first fact to settle her nerves. The second fact was that the ground was hard, compacted and smooth.

  Lara found herself studying the jagged strands of yellow light, and upon close inspection, she could see that in fact the color was altering its hue. Soft yellow like that which she became accustomed to on Andorran was gradually shifting into something more incandescent, more brilliant. Like the fiery blast of the sun.

  Stop, she told herself as she sensed another presence. The Fyal.

  “Lara,” came a soft, masculine voice from behind. “I've been trying so hard to reach you.”

  She gasped, braced one hand against her chest and breathed deeply. This is a dream.

  Lara kept her eyes to the ground as she turned. Let me wake up.

  And when her condition did not change, Lara raised her head and felt faint as she looked upon the man in the standard-issue bodysuit.

  He stepped toward her with a tiny smile, and his oval, ginger eyes were wide. She allowed Daniel Loche to hug her.

  68

  T

  he sensation of his skin against hers was as dulled as the feel of the black rocks against her body or of the wind whipping at her. The skin was neither soft, rugged, cold nor warm. It was simply against her. But Lara could feel his hands, and that was enough for her to finally realize this was not a dream.

  “I knew that if I kept trying, we'd reach this moment,” Daniel said, and she felt a dry lump in her throat. “There's so much I'll have to tell you, Lara.”

  “You're not dead, are you?”

  Daniel's large eyes remained in a lock upon hers, and Lara saw a twinge of sadness in response to her question.

  “Yes, Lara,” he answered. “In the way you knew me, I died. But there are other ways to survive. I've come to understand that since my body was killed. I've learned so much ...”

  He hesitated, then lifted one hand and cupped it against her face. She felt sudden, gentle warmth travel through her body, even though his hand was itself nondescript. In every detail, he looked exactly like the man she came to love, from the breadth of his shoulders to the crimp in his dimple to the tiny mole at the base of his left earlobe. Can you be real?

  “I realize this is very difficult for you, Lara. But I have seen a future without this moment, and so much will be lost if I can't tell you what I know. Even as we stand here now, there is no guarantee of success, only hope. But it's all I can offer.”

  “And where ... where is that, Daniel? Where are we? I keep thinking I know this place. Are you a ghost?”

  His smile broadened, and Lara felt oddly comforted.

  “No, Lara, I'm not a ghost. I am Daniel Loche, and all my memories of my life and death and my new life are vividly inside me. I have become part of a Nya-phur'um.”

  Daniel stepped forward then laid a gentle kiss upon her lips. He said softly: “The Fyal spiritual traveler. Nya-phur’um.”

  “Ohmigod. Then you are the Fyal I saw ...”

  His smile vanished as he replied: “No. I am not him. I am joined within his Nya-phur’um, and I have gained his knowledge, but I am not Sh'hun. We know of each other's presence, but we are capable of shielding our movements from each other for periods of time. This is one of the methods I have learned that has enabled me to survive this long and to contact you. I've been trying so hard to bring you here.”

  “Bring me here?”

  “Yes, Lara. I have tried before to contact you. First, it was through your subconscious. I came to you in a dream. Do you remember?”

  Of course, I do. Without it, she might not have developed the motivation that brought her this far. She remembered: They were together in bed, but his form changed, and she laid next to a Fyal. And then the question, over and over: Do you believe in the union? And suddenly, Daniel was floating amid the stars, but he told her he was Sh'hun. And then she was screaming.

  Her tongue curled back in her mouth, and she found herself not sure whether to trust Daniel.

  Sh’hun. Daniel.

  “After the explosion, everything changed so rapidly,” he said. “I thought I was dead, and in a way, I was. But I realized something else happened, that I joined with another lifeform. I gained all the knowledge of that other lifeform, the Nya-phur’um. I knew it would be possible to communicate with you.

  “But it took time. At first, there was so much fog. I was confused. So much information to process. The easiest way to speak to you was through your subconscious. I'm not sure what it was you saw or heard, but I'm certain it made little sense. I tried again later, believing I could reach your conscious mind, but you saw only Sh'hun in the SlipTube, didn't you? It was not until I was fully aware of everything that I was able to bring you here.”

  Lara wanted so much to trust every word of this, but what Daniel was saying stretched the limits of credibility. And then she remembered that feeling she had the moment the Fyal appeared in the SlipTube. Kiss me, she thought.

  Did I know it was you?

  “Where have you brought me, Daniel?”

  He hesitated. “To the only place you really wanted to be.”

  She struggled to restrain herself. She did not want to give in to the seduction of this moment, to allow all her defenses to fall before the reality that Daniel claimed to be the truth. All else being equal, this was, indeed, where she could allow herself to spend forever: This very tiny part of the universe that was wrapped within the breadth of Daniel's hug.

  “Listen carefully to me, Lara, and you'll begin to understand what happened to me. When I was working on the stasis unit, I noticed an abnormality. The panels beneath the unit were room temperature. The
y should have been cool, had the refrigerant been flowing through the permastat valves properly. I decided to take a look. I was going to open up the panel containing the permastat valves. It was in the next few seconds that the explosion occurred.”

  Lara thought she saw a glint of a tear.

  “At that instant, so much more happened than my body being destroyed. I pray you'll understand, because I did not grasp it fully when I first united with Sh'hun in the Nya-phur’um.

  “Sh'hun caused the unit to explode because he did not want me to uncover the truth that Fran Conner later did. It knew if I discovered the permastat valves were dry and the unit unused for months, there would have been an immediate investigation. It knew that its secret might be uncovered.”

  “Its secret? What is it trying to do?”

  “Patience, Lara. There are things you must first understand. Knowledge that will be vital when you return.”

  Daniel looked around suspiciously, closed his eyes for a moment, then nodded. “Good. He's still distant and unaware. We have time. But I don't want to remain still. Walk with me, Lara.”

  He took her gently by one arm.

  “Lara, when a Fyal's physical traveler dies, its spiritual entity, the Nya-phur’um, may live on as an entirely unique lifeforce. But its fate is dictated by the final conscious desires of the physical traveler. If the Fyal does not want its Nya-phur’um to live on, then the Nya-phur’um will drift through space and time, unable to use newfound knowledge or pass it on.

  “Shortly before Sh'hun's death on the Andorran, he chose a future for his spiritual entity. That future was supposed to become reality when Andorran reached Earth. But, Lara, I disrupted it, and that disruption may be the only thing that stands between all of us and all of them.”

  Daniel stopped for a moment. “You're confused. I understand. But it will become clear very soon.

  “For Sh'hun's Nya-phur’um to carry out the destiny given to it by its original physical traveler, it needed a second physical traveler. It needed one of us.”

  Lara yanked her arm away and stood aghast.

  “What?? Someone on the crew?”

  “Yes. A Fyal cannot transfer its spiritual entity into another Fyal, where such an entity already exists. This is at the heart of why the Fyal will do anything to stop their further evolution. They realize once they evolve beyond the stage of a physical traveler, they will become nothing more than entities of energy and knowledge drifting without direction through space and time. While we were on Centauri III, the Fyal realized humans do not live with a Nya-phur’um. Sh'hun made the decision to give his Nya-phur’um a new traveler, one who would accept the spiritual entity."