by Ramy Vance
Roy backed off, and Vardis relaxed. “Besides,” the alien went on. “’Unstoppable’ is just semantics. The kin can’t be defeated, but they have a limited life span. That’s their failsafe. They have to be implemented wisely in a decisive battle, one where the Dark One is exposed. They only live for so long.”
There was silence in the room while everyone weighed what had been said. The more Vardis had explained, the more of a gamble this sounded like. The decision was not straightforward.
Myrddin sat down and crossed his legs. “If it is amenable to the rest of you, I’d like to discuss and come to a final decision with Roy. That is unless any of you have a strong opinion about our next course of action?”
The members of Boundless looked at each other. Jim finally spoke. “We all trust Alex enough for this. Just let us know what’s coming next.”
“Thank you. You are all dismissed.”
As Boundless and Vardis left, Abby walked past Alex and said, “Catch up with you later.”
The two hugged quickly, and Alex whispered, “Yeah, see you in a bit.”
Alex and Roy took seats across from Myrddin, who was deep in thought. Roy, on the other hand, looked as if he hadn’t been paying attention to the whole conversation. “Thoughts?” Alex asked.
Roy hardly seemed able to hold himself back when he spoke. “I think it’s a real friggin’ stupid idea. Give an unknown quantity control of an entire army. He didn’t mention anything about how he was going to control them. How we were going to. All he mentioned was a time failsafe, and he neglected to say how long that time limit was. I think it’s a crap idea. We should ditch it and destroy the shard.”
Myrddin nodded as he listened to Roy. “What do you think, Alex?”
Alex had mentioned she had spoken with the Dark One in her initial debriefing. It wouldn’t come as a surprise to Myrddin or Roy. “The Dark One seems pretty intent on stopping this weapon from being used. He said it was because it would destroy all life. I don’t know if that’s true, but he was willing to let Boundless live as long we kept the weapon from being used. We know he’s afraid of it, at least.”
Myrddin sighed as he hung his head, looking more tired every moment. “I do not like unknown quantities. We now know the Dark One fears this weapon, at least.”
Alex felt a coldness in her heart over what she was about to say. “We should use the weapon. If Vardis tries anything, we kill him. It’s that simple. Even if he raises his own army, what good is it without a leader?”
Roy seemed to be thinking the same thing. “A little ruthless. Definitely not something he’d be expecting from a bunch of kids. I’m in.”
Myrddin slowly stood, taking his time since his body was creaking. “Then it’s decided. We’ll prep the collider for your return trip to Middang3ard. Then we will start looking for a viable place to use the weapon. Until then, you have a little more time off.”
Chapter Nine
The members of Boundless all had different ideas of what “time off” meant. Almost immediately after the meeting, Gill and Jollies separated from the rest of the squad, practically locking themselves in the barracks to binge-watch any form of human entertainment they could get their hands on. After watching an elvish movie, Alex could see why.
Brath couldn’t stay still, and he didn’t want anyone’s company. Alex had tried multiple times to talk to Brath or spend some time with him. As usual, he was bristly and untalkative. Unless it had to do with taking down the Dark One, he didn’t seem interested in discussing it. The exception was his mistrust of Vardis.
Alex could see similarities between Vardis and Brath, but she was honestly surprised by how different they were. It was no secret that Brath was obsessed with the Dark One’s destruction. He didn’t mention it often, but when he did, it was obvious that it was on his mind all the time.
Vardis held the same desire, but the motivation was different. Alex had only heard Vardis speak about how much he wanted to kill the Dark One. Brath had many reasons, the one brought up the most being his love for his homeworld. Alex could easily tell Brath was concerned about his people being free and having a home again. His hatred for the Dark One was incidental.
Vardis had mentioned a few times that the Dark One had taken everything from him. Alex was curious about what he had taken from the alien.
Jim could hardly be found. He spent most of his time wandering through the hallways of the military base. Even though Alex tried to talk to him a few times, he seemed distant. Something was on his mind, and it wasn’t anything he was willing to talk about.
So, Alex spent most of her time waiting with Abby. Neither of them had any problem with that. Abby had woken Alex up at the crack of dawn to rush her to the medbay to take a look at her cybernetics.
Alex was initially annoyed since she was not a morning person. When she saw how happy Abby was to have a chance to look at her arm, she couldn’t stay angry. They spent most of the morning with Abby running tests on the arm, trying to find different augments she could add to beef it up.
By the time Abby was done, Alex’s arm was not only running smoother but also had the addition of a small plasma cannon that operated using the draconic fluid running through Alex’s veins.
When Abby was done working on Alex’s arm, she leaned back and started checking through her notes. “So, what’s the deal with this draconic fluid?” she asked. “You know exactly what it’s doing?”
Alex tried to find the words to explain it to Abby. “It’s their blood or their life force. The augments tear into their bodies, and the fluid comes out like pus. If it’s left on their skin or they have too much inside, it sears through. So, the anchors absorb the fluid and convert it to energy.”
Abby was listening intently, yet her eyes never left the computer screen. “Okay, I got that. Your anchor should be processing the fluid. Why is it in your blood and no one else’s?”
“That is the real question. I haven’t been given a straight answer. Makes me think it’s not a common thing. I haven’t been able to find any information about it in our books, either. Part of me thinks no one has told me anything about it because they haven’t seen it before.”
Abby turned to face Alex and held out her hand. Her nano-bots poured out of her pores and started to build a small tracking device. “Could I install this in your arm? Just as a way to keep track of the fluids in your blood so we can get a better idea about what’s going on. I can tell you from experience, you shouldn’t have things messing with your body that you don’t know about.”
“What do you mean?”
Abby’s skin shifted from its usual dark brown to a metallic black. “I injected myself with nano-bots when I first started with the DGA. Now I have an AI living in my brain, and I’m not sure if the nano-bots are trying to replace all of my organic material or not. They don’t talk.”
Alex had never thought there might be a negative effect of the draconic fluid. She believed Chine would have told her if that was the case. Maybe he didn’t know. “You think something bad might happen?”
Abby’s skin returned to normal as she shook her head. “Nah, not really. But I thought the same thing when I pumped myself full of robots. Might be better to be safe than sorry.”
“Won’t those try to infect me?”
“Nah. These bots are tuned to my body. Once they’re out, they’re just standard constructions. No will or anything. But I thought I should ask before adding stuff to your body.”
Alex gave Abby her hand. “Thanks for that.”
Abby installed the tracker in Alex’s arm. After she was finished, the rider stood and stretched. “Ugh, we’ve been in here all day. Let’s go for a walk or something. Maybe grab some food.”
Alex’s stomach gurgled loudly, and Abby laughed at the sound. “I always forget to eat.” She chuckled. “Don’t get hungry much anymore. Nanobots are always trying to make my body more efficient.”
“You still like food, though, right?”
Abby smiled d
evilishly. “Oh, wait until you see me eat.”
The scientist hadn’t been lying. Alex watched Abby put away two lunches and three rounds of dessert. Abby didn’t talk when she ate, she merely inhaled her food. Alex didn’t know whether to be grossed out or amused.
When Abby finally finished eating, she let out a small belch and leaned back in her chair. “Sorry. I haven’t had human food made by humans in a long time. Makes a huge difference. Ain’t as good as the fam’s, but it’s close.”
Alex snatched a leftover biscuit from Abby’s plate. “You could still eat more, couldn’t you?”
Abby patted her stomach as she smiled. “Best part of having nanobots regulate your body. They compensate for everything.”
Suddenly Abby’s face went serious. “Got something on my mind, though. That guy, Vardis. What’re your thoughts on him?”
Alex wasn’t sure if she should disclose her mistrust of Vardis to Abby. Boundless and Myrddin knew, but that was because they had been on the mission. Anything else might have just been putting people on edge unnecessarily. “He says he has a weapon that’ll take care of the Dark One. What more do we need to know?”
Abby was silent for a moment, looking as if she were trying to find the right words to express her worries. “Took a quick look last night. There are only a couple of volcanoes in Middang3ard. The biggest ones, which would yield the largest number of kin, have channels that lead to the core of the planet. And I know Myrddin—he’ll want to go big or go home. That’s what he’ll give Vardis.”
Alex poked the leftover food on her plate. “You think he’ll do it even if he has cause not to trust Vardis?”
Abby nodded solemnly. “He’s a gambler. Might put on an air of being in control and whatnot, but he doesn’t know what’s going on any more than the rest of us most of the time. He just does a better job of hiding it. He’s as likely to risk it all as any of us are.”
Alex weighed her options. There didn’t seem to be many. “Okay. I’ll have Gill and Jim take a look at prospective places. Tomorrow. I don’t want to deal with it until tomorrow. I want a normal night, or as normal as it can get.”
“What’s the most normal thing you can think of?”
Alex ran a couple of scenarios in her head. “You want to come to dinner with Jim and me?”
Chapter Ten
Dinner was served at 6:30, which was earlier than Alex was used to. For the last few weeks, she’d been able to eat anytime she wanted to. Being restricted to her parents’ idea of when food should be served was interesting, to say the least.
Jim and Abby showed up at her door a little before the food was to be served. Her parents were caught off-guard by two additional people arriving for dinner but didn’t say anything.
Alex brought Abby and Jim into the kitchen, fielding questions from her parents that she didn’t want to deal with. Most of them had to do with Alex’s mission. Her father was very curious to know how it had all panned out. Alex wasn’t ready to give them any details.
Jim and Abby did most of the talking during the meal prep. Alex’s parents were more than happy to be regaled with Abby’s stories of the bizarreness of working with so many non-humans. They were equally interested in Jim’s tales of being the only mech rider in Boundless.
Alex stayed quiet and helped with the preparations as much as she could. It was a pleasant change to be told what to do rather than having to make the calls herself, even if the decisions were as benign as choosing the proper way to cut an onion.
Chicken curry was what Alex’s father had planned for the evening. After all the ingredients had been sliced and diced appropriately, Claire had said she’d watch the pot while everyone else waited in the living room.
An awkward silence fell over Alex and the rest as they tried to think of a conversation point. Finally, Alex remembered the videos she’d recorded of her flight out to space. She pulled up her HUD and transferred the files to the smart TV in the living room.
To say Alex’s father was impressed by the videos would have been an understatement. He was speechless for most of the time he was watching. When the footage of the moon came up, he lost his mind and giggled like a child, almost jumping out of his seat.
Alex was glad she’d remembered to bring this part of her life home to her dad. When dinner was finally served, it took everything in Claire’s power to bring her husband to the table. Once they were all seated, space was the topic of utmost importance.
Anything to keep from talking about what was actually going on. Alex was glad her parents were getting along with Abby and Jim. Both of them avoided intrusive questions, more than happy to try to have a normal night at home.
And for the most part, it was normal. So normal that Alex wondered why she had ever gotten involved with Myrddin and this fight against the Dark One. This would have been more than enough to keep her happy for the rest of her life.
That was what she’d like to tell herself, but deep down, she knew that wasn’t true. Her mind hadn’t left the issue of the shard since she’d set foot in her home.
It was nice to pretend there were things outside of the Dark One and his war, but Alex knew the truth. Even these simple interactions with her family and friends were shaped by her knowledge that there was a force trying to enslave everyone in existence, and there was another that was possibly trying to end them.
All in all, Alex appreciated the break. She didn’t talk much during dinner, choosing instead to listen to the surrounding conversation. Everyone seemed to be having a good time.
Once dinner was over, her parents cleared the table, leaving Alex, Abby, and Jim alone. Even though the meal and family time had gone surprisingly well, none of the three seemed particularly settled or comfortable. Jim was the one to broach the awkwardness. “Are we going to talk about Vardis?” he asked.
Alex was preparing to say something when Abby interrupted her. “I’m not part of your team, I know, but I don’t trust him. Don’t know if it’s my place to say, but I’m not about this.”
Jim and Alex exchanged glances. Nothing more needed to be said. They were all on the same page. “Hey,” Alex said, “how about we go help out with dishes?”
With that, the three slipped into a visage of normalcy that continued until the dining room and kitchen were clean and Jim and Abby were picked up by members of Earth’s HQ to take them back to the base. The goodbyes were swift, lacking in affection, and sterile.
Alex wished they had headed out on a better note, but she realized they all had something on their minds. After Jim and Abby left, Alex returned to the living room. Her parents were sitting and talking quietly, only stopping for a second when Alex came in. She could read the room. She figured it was best for her to go to bed.
Nostalgia hit Alex like a train when she walked into her bedroom. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d been in her own room. It seemed like an entirely different dimension, far removed from the Wasps Nest. She felt more alien in here than in her dorm room at the Nest.
Regardless, the room still made her sleep. She slipped into her bed without a second thought and found herself dozing off almost instantly. Her eyes were heavy, and she couldn’t keep them open. Slowly closing…drifting away.
When Alex opened her eyes, she was in a white plane, one that she knew. In the distance, she saw someone working, their back turned to her.
It was Vardis. She recognized the feeling of the place. It was the same plane he had drawn her into before. The only difference this time was that Vardis wasn’t aware she was there. Alex decided to take advantage of the moment. She snuck up behind Vardis, hiding her thoughts and making sure he didn’t notice her.
When Alex reached Vardis’ shoulder and was able to peek over and see what he was working on, she was gripped with a fear she’d never known her entire life. A fear that far surpassed anything the Dark One had ever incurred within her.
She beheld what lay in Vardis’ palms and trembled.
Then Alex was flung into the
darkness of her dreams, to try to make sense of what she’d seen upon waking.
Death is coming … but can Alex stop it? And at what cost?
Author Notes Ramy Vance
May 2, 2020
So my latest launch was held up in Amazon’s processing center. For days! Eight to be exact. It seems the Dark Gate Angels (a new Middang3ard series) was just too much for Amazon to handle.
That or they were short staffed due to Covid-19 … I like to think it was the book being too epic.
Regardless of the reason (too hot to handle), those eight days were filled with me refreshing my Amazon page a million times, yelling at my computer while I anxiously waited for my latest release to go live.
In my frustration, I made these:
Hey, if you can’t have passive aggressive fun with your frustrations, what else is there to do?
I made a couple others, but Michael – for legal reasons – forbade me from sharing them!
Author Notes Michael Anderle
May 17, 2020
THANK YOU for reading our story!
We have a few of these planned, but we don’t know if we should continue writing and publishing without your input.
Options include leaving a review, reaching out on Facebook to let us know, and smoke signals.
Frankly, smoke signals might get misconstrued as low hanging clouds, so you might want to nix that idea…
A Radio Interview… How novel!
So, this Sunday, I am going to be interviewed by a local radio station in Savannah, GA for a couple of hours. Frankly, I’m trying to figure out what we are going to talk about.
The host of the show, Adam Messler, promises me we can fill two hours, and I’m going to go with that since I’m not sure. He’s the expert, not me.
