Resilience

by Fletcher DeLancey

  “I’m getting the call for help,” Rahel said when the flopping fish appeared in her mind. “But I’m not sure—wait.”

  Rez moved over to the hole, then back to the railing. Then to the hole.

  “Oh, no. I can’t—Rez wants me to follow it again. Into the hole. How do I explain I can’t do that?”

  “Well, we have the not for me sound, which might actually mean I can’t, but I’d hate to make that mistake.”

  “Too bad you can’t tell Rez to carry a com,” Captain Serrado said. “Then we could track it.”

  “Huh.” Lhyn drew out the single syllable.

  “I recognize that sound. That’s your big brain whirring. What are you thinking?”

  “I’m thinking we might be able to do that. Rahel, I’m coming down.”

  Lhyn’s descent was even faster this time. She joined Rahel at the railing, pulling a speaker from one jacket pocket and her pad from another. “Right, here’s what I think. We can play a greeting and a sound pattern for loss. Which could also mean lost. And Rez is extremely intelligent. So let’s show it what we mean. For the record, this is Dr. Lhyn Rivers signing off.”

  “What?” Serrado burst out. “Lhyn, what are you doing?”

  “Giving Rahel my com so she can give it to Rez. I can get another one from you.”

  “Wait,” Rahel said. “You’re not coming with us?”

  Lhyn shook her head.

  “But—you’ll be alone here.”

  She looked up and down the brace shaft. “I’m the best person besides you to stay with the Resilere. They know me. They won’t know anyone else. And I’m okay here. You were right, it’s really a big, airy corridor standing on end.” Tilting her head toward the two Resilere, she added, “But Rez is probably going to drag you through a bunch of chases, and those . . . I’m dreading having to go back through one to get out of here. I can’t go through more than one.”

  “I agree,” Serrado said. “Lhyn is the only other person I’d feel comfortable having around the Resilere.”

  Rahel grasped her wrist, an instinctive reach for the truth of skin contact though she didn’t need it. “You’re certain you’ll be all right?”

  “Positive.”

  She touched Lhyn’s hand to her own heart. “I honor your courage.”

  “It’s not—” Lhyn stopped at her sharp look. “Right,” she said with a smile. “Let’s play pass-the-com.”

  She pulled out her com and held it out while giving her pad a tap. “We’re playing the greeting now. Take the com slowly. Make sure Rez can see it. Try to project happy, friendly emotions.”

  Rez moved back toward the landing, and though Rahel couldn’t be sure where its eyes were now, she felt certain it was watching. She picked up the com with exaggerated motions, curling her hand around it as she held it up, and imagined giving Lhyn a warmron.

  “Okay. Put it on the railing and back away.” When Rahel complied, Lhyn gave her pad another tap. “Now we’re playing the sound pattern for loss or lost.” She let it run for a short time, then touched the pad. “Pick it up again.”

  For six repetitions, they played the sound patterns to associate holding the com with greetings and dropping it with loss. After the sixth, Rahel moved as near as she could to Rez and held out the com on her palm.

  Rez edged closer, still not quite over the landing, and extended a long arm.

  “Shippers, I hope Rez doesn’t drop it,” Lhyn muttered. “Someone will have to climb fourteen decks to get it.”

  The arm tip brushed Rahel’s palm.

  When she had offered that first mineral block, Rez had been too abrupt, too strong, with a texture of sand under a sheet as it grabbed and pulled. Now its skin was soft as a new leaf, sliding over hers so gently that it tickled. The arm tip slipped over the com and wrapped around it, holding it securely in a loop.

  Lhyn tapped her pad. “Playing the greeting sound now.”

  Rez retracted the arm and sat on the wall for a few moments, then retreated toward the hole.

  “Captain, Rez has the com and is heading—has just left the brace shaft,” Rahel reported as both Resilere vanished through the hole.

  “We’re tracking. It’s between decks . . . passing deck seventeen . . . it’s come out on deck eighteen, chase nine-B, junction eleven.”

  Rahel turned toward the ladder. “I’m on my way.”

  32

  Follow the com

  Lhyn had been right not to come, Rahel thought as she jogged through the chase. She had been led on an odd, zig-zag path that made no sense to her but was probably the result of foraging—or so Commander Jalta hypothesized. She and Cox were on their way back, carrying teracite packed with eighty-three Resilere eggs.

  “Rez is climbing again.” Captain Serrado sounded almost apologetic.

  “Come on,” Rahel grumbled under her breath. She spun in place and backtracked to the main chase. “Could we just pick a deck and stay with it?”

  “Apparently not. On the bright side, Zeppy is delighted that you’re locating all of the Resilere damage for him.”

  “I’m sure he is.”

  “Chase two-D now.”

  She exited into the corridor and found the nearest lift, breathlessly calling out the location as the doors closed.

  “I think this might be it. Rez stopped moving at junction nine.”

  The doors reopened. Rahel ran down the corridor to the chase entrance, then jogged through several turns before slowing to a walk at junction eight.

  At junction nine, she stopped and slowly turned in a circle. “There’s no sign of—oh, wait. Here’s a hole.”

  “I’m adding it to Zeppy’s list.”

  She got down on her hands and knees and peered into the hole, which was next to a bundle of cables that exited through the chase wall. “He’s lucky these cables weren’t affected. I can’t see anything. Is Rez still stationary?”

  “Yes.”

  She pulled the light from her trouser pocket. Fleet uniform regulations required all crew to carry one of these tiny, powerful lights, and she was starting to think she needed to have a pocket sewed onto her Bondlancer’s Guard uniform to accommodate it. Regular Fleet uniforms had a special one on the upper trouser leg for easy access.

  Shining the light into the hole revealed the two Resilere working on something, though she couldn’t see what. “I see them. They look busy. They’re worried and determined. No,” she added, pulling apart the threads of the emotions. “One is worried. The other is frantic. I think the last Resilere must be solidified and they’re trying to pull it out.”

  “Can you help?”

  “It’s out of my reach. I can’t even see it; it’s behind some cables. They might be—”

  The lights went out.

  “Melting the cables,” she finished as the red emergency lights came up. “The power just went out in this section.”

  “That’ll make Zeppy happy. At least this should be the last little crisis they cause.”

  A scraping sound issued from the hole. Rahel redirected her light beam and saw one of the Resilere coming toward her in slow, jerky movements. Beyond it was the second, and in between them . . .

  “Great Mother,” she said. “They really are cooperative. They’ve gotten the solidified one out, but the space here is too narrow. One of them is pulling their friend toward the hole, and the other is pushing from behind.”

  “That is utterly fascinating.” Lhyn had her new com. “If I weren’t already busy studying Alsea, I’d study the Resilere. An incredible linguistic challenge on top of a truly intriguing culture.” She sighed. “I need two of me.”

  “Stars and Shippers, that would probably kill me.”

  “Very funny, Ekatya. You should be so lucky.”

  “First Guard.” Serrado’s voice was all business again. “I’ve cleared your path. There are no personnel in the corridors between the chase door and the lift, on either end.”

  “Thank you, Captain.” She hadn’t even thoug
ht of that.

  “The closest lift is affected by the power outage. You’ll have to use the next one.”

  “Understood.”

  The nearest Resilere—Rez, she was certain—had almost reached the hole. She scooted backward, giving it room.

  Arms emerged through the opening, immediately spreading out to either side. They flexed, spread further, flexed again, and spread even more. Soon Rez’s body was visible. It jerked twice and popped out, several arms still extended in front.

  After a few more yanks, Rahel could see the solidified Resilere.

  “They’re working hard,” she said. “They’ve got it to the opening and are trying to get it through. Do you suppose they can sense whether it’s still alive?”

  “Rez knew Rez-Two was still alive,” Lhyn said. “You said one of them was frantic? I doubt it would be if its partner was dead. They’re racing the clock.”

  Suddenly it was far more difficult to sit still and watch the Resilere struggle. She wasn’t sure how much of the sudden sense of urgency was hers and how much was from the Resilere.

  Four solidified arms emerged and were gradually dragged out. Then all movement stopped.

  Rez went into a frenzy of yanking, exuding a powerful mix of dismay and fear.

  The frozen arms came no further.

  Rez let go and fastened itself to the wall just above the hole, which Rahel could now see was entirely blocked by the solidified body.

  “It’s stuck,” she reported. “I should have realized. They flatten themselves to get through those holes, but this one can’t. Rez is trying to enlarge the hole.”

  “What is the other one doing?” Lhyn wanted to know.

  “I don’t know. I can’t see anything past the body. But given how cooperatively they work, I’d bet it’s enlarging the hole from the other side.”

  “Too bad you can’t soften it up with a few liters of Enkara seawater,” Serrado said.

  Rahel thought of her little spray bottle and shook her head.

  “Even if she had that much water, they don’t have the time,” Lhyn noted. “It was ten minutes before Rez-Two showed any sign of softening.”

  Drops of melted material began to spatter on the deck, a few landing on the frozen arms and sliding off. Rahel tried not to worry but couldn’t help thinking they were down to the last moments of this Resilere’s life.

  Belatedly remembering her pack, she shrugged it off and opened it up, readying it for instant action. Then she moved forward and took hold of the stiff, gritty arms, two in each hand, well away from the drip zone of that dangerous acid. Gentle pressure resulted in no movement. She stopped, gave it a few breaths, and tried again.

  On the fourth try, Rez fell off the wall, pieces of molten material coming with it, and the solidified body slid forward.

  “It’s free!” Rahel wasted no time pulling it all the way out and laying it in the pack. She arranged the arms, closed the pack most of the way, and shouldered it as she stood. “Come with me,” she said, projecting confidence, and set off at a run.

  A quick glance back showed both Resilere rippling along the chase, Rez keeping up easily while the other fell gradually behind. She slowed her pace, not wanting to lose the last one. It hadn’t had a chance to rehydrate and eat, she realized. This was probably its last reserves of energy.

  She rounded a corner and broke into a sprint upon seeing the door. In her haste, she nearly slammed into it, then flipped open the cover hiding the manual hand crank. By the time the Resilere caught up, she had the door halfway open and was standing in the darkened, empty corridor.

  If climbing down a brace shaft ladder led by a Resilere had been surreal, jogging down a red-lit corridor with two of them swarming behind set a new standard. It was with great relief that she saw normal lighting up ahead, a visual confirmation that this lift would work. She sped up and was waiting in the lift entrance when the Resilere arrived.

  They hesitated, obviously confused by this box of a space with no other outlet. Rahel stepped back as far as she could while still keeping her arm in the opening. “Come on,” she said urgently. Safe. Protect.

  Rez came inside and tucked into a low corner. After a stressful pause, the other followed.

  “Deck nine, chase eleven.” She projected safe with all her might as the doors closed, praying to Fahla that they wouldn’t feel trapped.

  One did. It climbed the wall and huddled against the ceiling, out of her reach. In a heartbeat, it was camouflaged to match the lift wall.

  “Well, that’s better than spraying me. Captain, we’re in the lift.”

  “I can see that, well done. Actually, I can see both of you. Rez still has the com.”

  The blue-tinted lights shifted back to normal and the doors opened. Rahel stepped out, nearly tripping over Rez as it darted in front of her. The frightened Resilere flowed down the side of the lift and shot out as if propelled. It stopped on the corridor wall, twisting its body this way and that. Confusion beat against her senses from both Resilere.

  They didn’t know where they were, she realized. Their brains could have no way to conceptualize a lift.

  “This way.” She stepped past the immobile Resilere and once again projected confidence, adding the thought of a warmron for good measure.

  She would probably never know if they followed because they trusted her or because she had their dying friend on her back. Fortunately, they were only a few steps from the chase entrance.

  Once she had that door open, their confusion vanished. With a flash of bioluminescence, Rez streaked ahead. Rahel ran, keeping pace with it and checking now and again to be sure the last one was still in sight. It lagged behind, struggling now, but the fear and determination clogging her senses told her that it would fight to the last moment.

  They rounded a corner, then another one, and finally entered the branch that dead-ended at the brace shaft door.

  “Lhyn! Open the door!”

  It slid open instantly.

  Rahel sprinted the final distance and burst into the relatively open space of the landing. She barely had time to notice the empty tank as she was shrugging off the pack.

  “We brought in a third tank,” Lhyn said rapidly, pointing at the open door on the other side. The entrance of that chase now housed one of the occupied tanks, making room for the new one on the landing. “Dr. Wells and everyone else evacuated to the corridor.”

  Rahel yanked open the pack, lifted the dried Resilere, and plunged it into the water.

  “Step back,” she said, urging Lhyn with her. “This one has had a hard time.”

  “The solidified—oh.” Lhyn watched with wide eyes as the final Resliere limped through the door. “Oh, poor thing.”

  “All this time worrying about its partner and then I terrified it in the lift. But I don’t think it would have made it all the way back taking the long route.”

  Rez flowed up the side of the tank, alight with bioluminescence. The last Resilere gained confidence, still moving in a stuttering motion but trusting in the final destination. It joined Rez on the tank’s edge and then fell forward with a splash. Lights danced across its skin as it sank to the bottom and reached for its partner.

  Rahel dropped her head back and took a deep, relieved breath. The Resilere’s frantic fear was gone, replaced by the same hope she had felt from Rez at the beginning.

  Rez slipped into the water, taking up a position on the other side of the solid form and gently stroking it.

  “Were we in time?” Lhyn asked.

  “I think so. I think they know. They’re not afraid any longer.”

  They watched in silence until Lhyn shifted away to pick up the food sack. “You should probably be the one to drop these in. Rez might need another after all that.”

  Rahel pulled out two mineral blocks and dropped them in, one at each end of the tank. Both were immediately accepted.

  She sank into a cross-legged position and glanced across the landing. “It looks like a train of tanks pulling o
ut of the station.”

  “It does,” Lhyn agreed. “For our next trick, we get to convince twelve Resilere that we mean them no harm when we seal these for transport.” She sat down beside Rahel and leaned back on her hands. “But first, let’s watch a rebirth.”

  A rebirth, Rahel thought. She knew about those. How many times in her life had she been reborn?

  “They’re the phoenixes of the sea,” she said. “Instead of burning to ashes, they dry into blocks. And then they rise.”

  “And then they rise,” Lhyn repeated quietly.

  33

  Opportunity

  Erik Helkenn—for that was the name he went by now, and he didn’t think of himself by any other—had learned two things while in the medbay.

  One, Dr. Wells was an excellent surgeon.

  Two, Commander Cox was an excellent security chief.

  The first of these played to his advantage. The second did not.

  Erik had carefully maintained the guise of a wounded man, hiding his strength as it returned. In fact, it returned much faster than he expected, thanks to Wells’s surgical skill. That alien freak had really done a number on him. Anywhere but here, he’d never have breathed normally again.

  There was a strategic window of time between the moment he was well enough to escape, and the moment the chief surgeon released him to security. He had successfully convinced the medical staff of his weakness, but they had made an escape more difficult by putting him in a treatment room right off the main lobby and keeping his plexan wall transparent. He couldn’t so much as sneeze without one of the nurses seeing. Cox had added to the problem by assigning two guards to his door.

  Still, he could have managed had he made it to that window of time. At worst, he could have taken a hostage.

  He knew he’d lost the chance when he heard Cox arguing with Wells right outside his door. Though the words were unintelligible, the outcome was obvious when Cox opened the door and stalked in.

  “Time for a change of scenery,” he said. “You’ll like it. Much quieter than the medbay. No emergencies in the middle of the night.” He tossed a stack of clothing on the bed. “Get changed.”