Inversion (Riven Worlds Book Two)

by G. S. Jennsen

  “You’re not angry at me for keeping this from you?”

  “Perrin, I…I don’t know what I’m feeling right now, or even if I’m capable of feeling anything at all. I’m drained as dry as a gully in a drought. All I can do is keep putting one foot in front of the other and trying to move forward—”

  “Hey, he’s waking up!”

  Nika and Perrin both leapt up at Ryan’s shout from across the room. As one, they rushed over to the cordoned off space in the far left corner of the Initiative.

  Parc had passed out not long after arriving at the Initiative and making his dramatic declaration. The onsite repair bench had been unable to identify any specific physical ailment that might explain his unconscious state, so they’d situated him on one of the couches in the corner and made him comfortable. The presumed source of the collapse must be his twin on Namino, which suggested nothing good regarding the health of said twin. If the twin hadn’t been able to reach one of the bunkers before collapsing, then what did this say about the situation in Namino One?

  But now he was awake.

  Ryan knelt beside Parc on the couch, one of Parc’s hands clutched in his. Despite acting demonstrably upset with Parc, Ryan had remained at Parc’s side once he passed out. Nika wasn’t sure what had happened to cause a rift between them, but it was a reasonable conclusion that it involved the Plexes. Their mere existence introduced a host of philosophical and societal concerns, never mind the very real, practical ones.

  Parc moaned as his eyelids fluttered, and Ryan hurriedly dropped his hand and backed away, motioning for Nika to take his place.

  Another few seconds and Parc’s eyes fully opened. He grimaced and squinted around, his blurry gaze lingering on Ryan for a long beat before settling on Nika and Perrin. “Hey, you two.” He struggled up to a sitting position, then inhaled deeply. “Damn, that sucked. But hey, I got rescued!”

  “Wonderful!” Nika sat beside him on the couch. “What happened? What can you tell us?”

  “Joaquim, Ava, Grant, Selene, Dominic, Josie? They’re all okay. They’re holed up with about fifty people in the bunker near DAF Command. Oh, and two Humans are with them.”

  Relief flooded her pathways until her head swam from dizziness. By gods, all was not lost. She reached out and grasped Parc’s hands in hers. “Please, tell me everything.”

  “Yeah, yeah. They have a lot they want me to tell you, believe me. But first, do you know someone named Alex?”

  “I do. Why?”

  “Because this Human here—there—named Caleb has a message for her, and he won’t get out of my face until I pass it along.”

  Getting the Advisors back around a table on half an hour’s notice had taken a herculean effort. Nika suspected it was due in part to a reluctance to be confronted with another avalanche of bad news, when instead they could be concentrating on trying to make their own little corner of bad news a little less bad. She didn’t blame them for it. But organization, planning and an overarching strategy were thus far all that was keeping the Axis Worlds from descending into anarchy. Besides, she was actually bringing good news to this meeting.

  She projected an upbeat demeanor as she passed around a replenished basket of fresh peach croissants. “Good morning. I realize we’re all busy, so we’ll work while we eat, and I’ll try not to waste your time. First, I have some excellent news to share. We’ve got people alive on Namino. Selene, Grant, several former NOIR members and many others, as well as our missing Concord representative.”

  Katherine frowned, looking suspicious. “How do you suddenly know this?”

  Nika sighed; Katherine could sour the most festive of occasions. “Because Parc Eshett is a Plex, and his twin is currently on Namino. He managed to reach Bunker #3 near DAF Command, which Selene and Grant are using as a base of operations.”

  “Has Selene arrested him? Plexes are against the law.”

  She glared at Katherine in disbelief. “Um, no. Everyone’s concentrating on staying alive. Spencer’s debriefing him—our Parc here—regarding everything he’s learned on Namino, but he’s not planning on arresting this version, either. Besides, Parc is a valuable asset. He believes he can find the origin point of the quantum block on Namino. If he does, we will stand a chance of taking it out.”

  “Then what?”

  “Then we fight. But we’re not there yet. Dashiel, however, has more good news for us on that front.”

  “I do. The kyoseil-adiamene fusion works. It works fabulously, in fact.”

  She already knew the answer, but she asked the question for the group’s benefit. “So we can now build starships made of adiamene that also feature impenetrable hulls?”

  “Even better. We can build them so they’re impenetrable only when they need to be. It’s all about flexibility and responding to the needs of the moment. Our new starships will be able to morph and alter themselves—no, not like the Rasu, but enough for our needs.”

  “It sounds as if you’re talking about building ‘living’ ships.”

  He opened his mouth to respond, then smiled. “Perhaps I am. As far as we know, kyoseil has neither the ability nor the inclination to fly such ships themselves, so for now we still need pilots. But the possibilities are intriguing.”

  “Incredible work, darling.”

  He almost blushed. “Thank you. There’s a lot more work ahead transforming the concept into an entire fleet of ships, but I think this is going to make a real difference, and soon.”

  “It will.” Her lips pursed. “And the Rasu virutox?” The word still tasted foul on her tongue, but a virutox wasn’t evil in and of itself; it only became so when malicious people imbued it with evil purpose.

  “The Conceptual Research ceraff members believe they’ve finalized it. Based on everything we’ve learned about Rasu programming, when injected directly into one of their systems, it should corrupt the system’s functionality within a few seconds.”

  “Excellent. Now we merely need a target in which to inject it. Perrin? What’s the status of the refugees?”

  Perrin lifted her chin and adopted an overly serious expression. Nika knew she wasn’t comfortable being included in these Advisor-level meetings, but she deserved to be there. “As of yesterday, no one is camping in the streets any longer. Much of the housing we’ve set up is designed to be temporary, but it is providing roofs, warmth and running water to the refugees. Now…” she checked with Katherine uncertainly “…we estimate there are almost two hundred thousand people who are refusing to evacuate from the Adjunct Worlds.”

  Lance groaned. “I have a bunch of soldiers sitting around twiddling their thumbs waiting to fight the Rasu. Declare martial law, and we’ll move them out posthaste.”

  “No one is going to declare martial law.” Nika glowered at Lance. “We’ve made it crystal clear to everyone living on the Adjunct Worlds the nature of the risk to their homes and lives and explained how at this time we can’t adequately protect them. If, armed with this information, they choose to stay, that is their right. Perrin and Katherine, just make sure they know that should they decide to leave at any time, we will take care of them.”

  Perrin relaxed in her chair. “Will do.”

  “Next, we need to decide where to send the next Kat Rift Bubble, which I’m told will be available for deployment in a few hours.”

  “Synra, obviously. It’s our oldest and most populous world—”

  “Kiyora, without a doubt, as vital military and manufacturing infrastructure is located there—”

  She held up a hand to silence everyone. “Every Axis World has a solid claim to be the next in line. But I want to offer a different suggestion: Chosek.”

  Adlai stared at her in shock. “What? You would put the Chizeru ahead of our own people?”

  She dropped her chin to her chest. “No. But without kyoseil, we have no people. It’s regened bodies for all those who have died on Namino and all who will sacrifice themselves in the battles to come. With Dashiel’s breakthrough
, it’s the ships that will protect our military crews and help defeat the Rasu.”

  “But we’re getting literal tons of kyoseil from Concord now.”

  “Regrettably, Concord remains in a somewhat precarious situation. I’m hopeful they will be able to regain control over the Anaden rebels and other disruptive elements in their midst, but we can’t plan our future based on hope. We need to maintain our own supply.”

  Lance snorted in disgust. “Never underestimate the ability of Anadens to get what they want. She’s right. We can’t rely on a friendly and generous Concord.”

  Adlai shook his head. “I still don’t like it.”

  “Mesme says it’ll only be a few days before another Rift Bubble is ready. Then another. Trust me, I wish we didn’t need to prioritize lives this way. I am stricken at the thought of leaving any of our people unprotected. But we have to think strategically. We have to.”

  Maris, who had been subdued throughout the meeting—and ever since the invasion began—clasped her hands formally atop the table. “I have a question.”

  “Of course.”

  “We can assume that by now the Rasu have captured and analyzed zettabytes of government data from Namino. There’s zero chance they don’t possess the locations of every Dominion world. Why haven’t they attacked us somewhere else yet?”

  An uneasy silence answered Maris. Nika was reluctant to break it, but hiding from the truth did them no good. “Because the Rasu don’t fear us.”

  Dashiel frowned at her. “But we destroyed their entire presence in this galaxy.”

  “We did. And by now, they realize that we accomplished it using smoke and mirrors and are unlikely to be able to replicate the feat anytime soon. They don’t fear us, which means they can afford to take their time, methodically dismantling our civilization block by block, then planet by planet.”

  Lance arched an eyebrow. “Then we need to make them fear us again.”

  “We do, and I believe we will. Everyone, keep plugging away. We are starting to get our feet back underneath us. From a position of strength, we can move forward and defend our people.”

  She remained seated as the others filed away, absently drumming her fingers on the table. Parc’s collapse then reawakening kept running through her mind. It was disturbing, watching him as he physically experienced events happening to him on another planet in real-time. But the mere fact of this experience held deeply profound implications.

  Kyoseil’s interconnectivity ran deeper than any of them had previously understood. It wasn’t limited by distance, dimensions or quantum fields. No wonder the Rasu were so desperate to unlock its secrets and use it as a weapon of control and domination.

  But maybe she could use it as a weapon, too.

  40

  * * *

  CHOSEK

  Gennisi Galaxy

  Dashiel watched Nika draw open the plush curtains of the embassy meeting room to let in the light, then gaze pensively out at the craggy Chosek landscape. Her mind was parsecs away, as it had been every minute since Namino fell. He couldn’t blame her, for his often was as well. Still, he felt the yawning chasm between them growing with each passing hour. They should seek solace and comfort in one another, but she refused to just stop, even for a moment, and allow herself to receive any solace. Instead she bore the weight of this crisis on her shoulders like a badge of honor, as if they weren’t all carrying the same weight.

  He rested a hand on her shoulder. “Nika—”

  “What if this is the wrong decision? What if Synra gets attacked tomorrow and millions die?”

  “Then we’ll need kyoseil to regen them in new bodies. There’s no perfect decision here, but this isn’t the wrong one.”

  She shifted to half-face him and placed her hand atop his. “Okay. Thank you for the reassurance.”

  “You don’t have to—”

  The doors opened to admit Shoset and his delegation. Instantly she plastered on a breezy countenance and knelt to greet the Chizeru leader with open arms.

  The leathery-skinned, diminutive alien hurriedly waddled over to her. “Our extra work did good for Nika-friend?”

  “Yes. You helped save a lot of my people. You have my deepest thanks.” She nodded to Dashiel; he took the cue and retrieved the gift they’d brought from where it rested against the wall. “We brought you a present to show our appreciation.”

  He unrolled the long rug across the floor beside them. Crafted of thick, soft yarn in royal purple and crimson, the pile stood a good three centimeters thick.

  Shoset’s eyes widened in delight. He leapt onto the rug, jumped up and down a few times, then crouched down to run his rough fingers through the material. “Ah! Softest I’ve ever felt!”

  “It’s for your home. Or wherever you want to display it.”

  “My bed!” Shoset laid down on his back and wiggled around, eliciting the first genuine smile from Nika that Dashiel had seen in many days.

  “As I said, wherever you want.”

  “Most pleased!” Shoset climbed to his feet and went over to hug Nika’s legs, then Dashiel’s as well. Dashiel rolled his eyes dramatically at Nika over Shoset’s head, but the Chizeru’s open, honest affection left him genuinely touched.

  Nika waited until Shoset disentangled himself before clearing her throat. “Shoset, there’s something else. The bad thing we told you about is still out there, in the stars, and we want to protect you from it. We’ve brought another present—a different kind of present—that will ensure the bad thing never comes here to hurt your people.”

  “Good. Most good. Shoset has thanks.”

  “I’m glad. Now, here’s the thing about this present: it’s a little scary. It’s kind of similar to the ships we visit here in. It runs on powerful technology, but don’t be afraid. It’s here to protect you.”

  Shoset peered at her suspiciously. “Scary thing will protect us?”

  “That’s right. Now, shall we go outside and see it?”

  They’d identified a crater carved into the mountainous, rugged landscape as the best location to situate the Rift Bubble. The area offered a wide, flat expanse protected by the surrounding mountains far from any settlement—far enough away to discourage curious Chizeru from making the trek to see the strange alien device.

  Nika knelt behind Shoset on the hard-packed dirt and placed both hands on the Chizeru’s shoulders. “Don’t be afraid. We’re here with you.”

  All eyes went to the sky as, much like the one on Mirai had, a circular object was released from an unseen superdreadnought in orbit and descended through the clouds to land gently on the surface. The casing fell away, revealing the obsidian lattice and dancing golden center of the Rift Bubble engine.

  Shoset gasped and stumbled backward, but Nika held him steady. “It won’t hurt you. See? It’s just sitting there glowing.”

  “Like the sun.” He pulled his attention away from the lattice to regard her curiously. “What else it do?”

  “Well, the glow is generating a shield of sorts. A shield extending all the way up into the sky to protect all Chizeru from the bad thing.”

  “How long it last?”

  “As long as it’s needed. Now, no one should get close to it. It’ll zap you, like a shock stun. Understand?”

  Shoset’s gaze drifted back to the lattice and the spinning orb within it.

  “I tell you what. If it’s okay with you, we’re going to send some friends here to put a fence around the device. To make sure and keep your people safe.”

  “Okay. Children be reckless and too curious.”

  “That’s a good point. We don’t want any children getting hurt trying to touch it.”

  “Need to care for present? Clean it?”

  “You don’t need to do anything. Maybe check on it occasionally, and let us know if it’s stopped glowing or looks as if it’s gotten damaged. That’s all.”

  Shoset’s attention darted between the device and Nika. “Will appoint an Official Shiny Orb Check
er.” He shifted his stance from one leg to the other. “The bad thing in the sky…it is most evil?”

  She glanced up at Dashiel, the weight of her burden shining brightly in her stunning teal eyes. “It’s the evilest thing I’ve ever encountered. But I won’t let it get you.”

  MIRAI

  Dashiel’s Flat

  Dashiel stirred awake. His hand instinctively reached for Nika beside him—and found her side of the bed empty. Their lovemaking earlier had gone beyond passionate to frenetic, tinged with desperation, as if they were outracing an accelerating clock. And maybe they were.

  He opened his eyes to see her standing naked at the window. A bolt of lightning streaked across the night sky to silhouette the curves of her body and cast them upon a canvas of light.

  The wave of déjà vu was so powerful it choked off the air in his throat.

  I didn’t enjoy seeing her troubled, particularly since in this instance I was the cause of it, in a way. I had shared my concerns with her and, lacking any obvious path forward for myself to follow to resolve them, had allowed her to involve herself in them. Had I told her in the secret hope that she would in fact involve herself? Shame flared at the thought, but perhaps.

  I wound my hands behind my head and relaxed against the pillow in false casualness. “This brooding is unlike you. What are you stewing over so intently?”

  “The outpost on SR27-Shi? It isn’t the only outpost to disappear recently. In the last two years, four other exploratory world outposts have become ghost towns, each one seemingly overnight.”

  I hadn’t expected this answer, and I abandoned the relaxed pose to sit up straighter. “Five outposts gone? How is it that no one has noticed? Have the Guides not noticed?”

  The next day she’d vanished, and he’d lost her for five desolate years. He climbed out of bed, determined they would not suffer the same fate a second time. He sidled up behind her to press against her bare skin, draping his hands on her hips and letting his lips caress her neck. “You should get some sleep. You can’t keep going like this without rest.”