by Isaac Hooke
His face was a series of hard lines, with wrinkles on the forehead and a hint of crow’s feet next to his eyes. His short hair was gray at the temples, and bound by a thick leather headband. His eyes were deep pools that passed over his mother and father, as if weighing them. Those eyes touched Tane’s and the feeling of being judged only intensified. When the man’s gaze moved on, Tane released a breath he hadn’t noticed he had been keeping in.
The man surveyed the room as if absorbing every detail, studying every possible point of ambush, deciding on where he would make a stand if he had to fight.
Not a man to be messed with.
Four combat robots entered behind him and scanned their surroundings just as vigilantly. They looked similar to the police bots except they wore desert digital camos. Military grade. They were armed with deadly-looking laser rifles, weapons that hung casually from their shoulders. Two pistols were holstered on either side of their hips, along with several throwing daggers. They wore jingling harnesses whose pockets bulged with grenades, and large glowing sashes crisscrossed their torsos underneath—probably shield generators. Like the law enforcement officers, the visors that covered their faces were devoid of features, expressionless.
The faceless robots parted, allowing a woman to step into the room. She stood beside the armored man, and though she was well shorter than him, she made up for it by the sheer aura of her presence: she might as well have been the tallest in the room.
Tane couldn’t help but stare at her face. She was one of the most beautiful women Tane had ever seen. He felt that familiar longing, that ache men felt when they were standing before a woman of incredible quality. Ringlets of dark hair framed the high cheekbones of her flawless face. He couldn’t place an age to her, and if he had to guess, he would have said anywhere from twenty-five to forty. Sharp, almond-shaped eyes of deep-sea blue peered into his above a perfect nose, and he found himself unable to break her gaze. Those astute eyes seemed to swallow him up, as if taking in everything there was to know about him in a single glance. He saw intelligence there, arrogance, and a hint of cruelty. But also goodness.
Tane finally managed to avert his gaze and his eyes dropped to the long blue dress she wore. Dark runes were etched onto the fabric in places, and they glowed with subtle power, indicating the clothing was imbued with Essence. A simple brown rope cinched her waist, and a velvet cloak at her back was fringed with small silver branches.
She wore jewelry, a whole lot of it: at least one ring on each of her fingers and thumbs. Intricately carved silver bracelets. A necklace of silver links at her neck, supporting a heavy ruby. A similar circlet of silver sat on her head, the front portion resting on her temples.
“I am Lyra,” the mysterious woman said. He looked into her ravishing face once more, and Tane realized she was addressing him. “And I have come for you.”
5
Tane merely stared at the woman, mesmerized.
“I have come for all of you,” she continued in her melodious voice, letting her gaze travel to his mom and dad.
Now that she wasn’t looking at him anymore, Tane could think clearly again. He quickly pulled up the public profiles of the two of them, but the details were oddly sparse.
Name: Lyra Glorandriel
Race: Human
Level: 10
Class: Unknown
Name: Jed Stax
Race: Human
Level: 9
Class: Unknown
“What do you mean, come for us?” Dad said.
“To protect you,” Lyra said. “You see, my team and I were in the vicinity when the police call arrived. We originally came intending to offer what little assistance we could. My team was expecting a routine call, but then we eavesdropped on your report. Dwellers.”
“So you believe us, then?” Dad said.
“I do,” Lyra said.
“Told you we shouldn’t have mentioned dwellers,” Mom told Dad. “We don’t need interest from the likes of her.”
Dad glanced at Mom. “I wasn’t going to lie.” He returned his attention to Lyra. “That’s right, dwellers have returned to our galaxy. We banished them to the Anteres Rift after the war. But they’ve returned.”
“Hundreds of battleships keep watch in Anteres to this day,” Trent, the human officer who had escorted Lyra into the room, said. “How would dweller vessels get past them?”
“Not all the dwellers were driven into the Rift,” Lyra told the officer. “Plus, who is to say that they haven’t found another, as yet undiscovered rift, to return to our galaxy from?”
Jed stepped forward. He was gazing at Tane’s shaven head. “You were chipped, recently?”
Tane nodded. “Two days ago.” He wondered if his chipping had anything to do with the alien attack. The coincidence did seem a bit too high: had Headphone Jack installed something else in his mind during the procedure? Something the aliens wanted?
“The procedure usually isn’t so invasive,” Jed said.
“That’s what the synthetic claimed as well,” Tane told the warrior.
Jed stepped back a pace. “Did any of the aliens touch you?”
“No,” Tane said. “I mean, I don’t think so.”
Jed’s eyes drifted to Tane’s right shoulder, where one of the creatures had torn away the fabric with a clawed tentacle.
“Uh, okay an alien might have touched me...” Tane said.
Jed frowned. “I’m going to scan you. Starting with your brain region.” He held out one of his powered gloves, the flat palm pointing at Tane. Beams of laser light emerged from Jed’s palm, forming two diverging red lines that bounded a flat, transparent triangle. The warrior moved the beam repeatedly up and down over Tane’s face and neck area.
Tane held his breath, hoping the warrior didn’t find some alien baby curled up in the fetal position inside his head.
“Seems clear,” Jed finally said.
Tane exhaled in relief.
Jed continued scanning the rest of Tane’s body. The warrior paused at the shoulder region for several seconds, and then moved the beam down his chest, arms and legs.
Next Jed scanned his parents in turn and then glanced at Lyra. “They’re all clean.”
“Dwellers.” Tane shook his head. “They’re supposed to be a myth. Creatures whose names parents mention only to scare kids into doing their chores.” He looked at Dad. “What was that about banishing them to the Anteres Rift? After the ‘war,’ as you called it? And hundreds of battleships keeping watch? According to my chip, Anteres is quarantined because of some sort of system-wide radiation contamination.”
Lyra didn’t say anything. Nor did Dad or anyone else. Tane had a feeling this was some secret only people over a certain age knew about.
“Well if it’s true,” Tane continued. “That’s great. Just great. Exactly what the galaxy needs. Aliens hellbent on our blood. Well, mine in particular, it seems. Seeing as they wanted to ‘talk’ to me.”
“Yes, that the one dweller addressed you is indeed alarming,” Lyra said. “They have never spoken to any humans before, not even during the war. Not our diplomats. Not our leaders. This is new behavior on their part. I think it’s obvious they want you for some reason. I’m not sure why. I believe this excursion of theirs was a trial run of sorts, perhaps to confirm you were indeed the one they sought. They will return, and this time in far greater numbers. It would be best if you came with us to Talendir. You will be safe there. Plus with the vast resources available to us on Talendir, we’ll be able to determine why the dwellers want you.”
Mom sighed. She turned to Dad. “See why I didn’t want her involved?”
“You heard her, it’s not safe here,” Dad said.
Mom shook her head, chewing her lower lip for a moment. Finally she addressed Lyra: “We’ll go with him, obviously.”
Lyra inclined her head. “Of course. I plan to leave dopplegangers behind in place of all of you, to serve as a diversion in case the dwellers return.”
&
nbsp; “Dopplegangers?” Mom said.
“Yes,” Lyra said. “Synthetics designed in your image, and your son’s. They will handle the day-to-day operation of your farm in your absence.”
“Sounds expensive,” Mom said.
“You better believe it,” Lyra told her.
“Do we want to involve the TSN?” Trent said. “Once the star navy learns about the dweller attack, they’ll definitely be eager to help. I’m sure they’d even be willing to send a few battleships to escort you to Talendir.”
“No,” Lyra said. “It could be too late by then. We must leave immediately.” She glanced at the tall man in power armor. “Jed, make the arrangements for three dopplegangers to be delivered to the farmstead immediately. Have them cast in the images of father, mother, and son.”
“I’ll get on it,” Jed said. He raised his hand once more, and from the glove emerged another beam, this one blue rather than red. He passed it over Tane and his parents.
“What are you doing?” Dad said.
“Taking your measurements for the synthetics,” Jed said. The blue light clicked off and the big man lowered his hand. He pressed a gloved finger to one ear and talked quietly as he walked off to a corner of the room.
“Wait,” Tane said. “It just dawned on me. Isn’t Talendir the homeworld of the Volur?”
“That’s right,” Lyra said.
“That’s what you are, isn’t it?” Tane said. “A Volur witch?”
“Correct,” Lyra said. “Though I prefer you drop the latter term. There’s something I’ve always found distasteful about the word ‘witch.’”
Tane stared at the jewelry she wore in a new light. Those were all probably fashioned from Chrysalium, the special element that enhanced the drawing of the Essence. And the runes on the dress she wore? And on Jed’s battle armor? He wondered if she had imbued the items with Essence herself.
He’d always wanted to meet someone who could tap into the Essence, and he yearned more than ever to be able to do that Siphoning himself.
But I can’t. I don’t have the Ability.
“Trent, I must ask that you leave a troop of police robots behind to watch over the farmstead,” Lyra told the human officer. “Their priority should be to dig out the buried portions of the farm, and prevent the dwellers from launching another surprise attack. If the dwellers want to come again, force them to strike in the open.”
“I’ll see what I can do,” the human officer said.
“When the dopplegangers arrive,” Lyra continued. “I expect you to keep the troops in place indefinitely. Protect the synthetics as if they were human, so if the dwellers do come, they’ll believe that Tane and his parents really are inside.”
“I’ll have to call in some favors,” Trent said. “Keeping resources in place indefinitely like that doesn’t come cheap.”
“I have briefed you on how important this is,” Lyra told him.
“You have,” Trent agreed.
“I’ll send you some extra credits when I return to Talendir,” Lyra said. “To help smooth things over.”
“That’ll certainly help,” Trent said.
“Wait a second, did you say indefinitely?” Dad asked. “Just how long are we going to be away?”
“It’s hard to say,” Lyra told him. “It could be anywhere from six months to six years.”
“You have to be joking,” Dad said.
“I’m not,” Lyra said. “The dwellers will eventually catch on that your son isn’t on the planet anymore, and they will abandon their raids on the hydroponics farm. They’ll divert their attention to Talendir, and begin watching, waiting for the opportunity to strike. If you ever leave our protection, they’ll most certainly attack. So until we’ve found out how many of them have escaped the Rift, or avoided the fate of their brethren, and until we’ve dealt with them, you must stay on Talendir.”
“When do we leave?” Tane asked.
“As soon as you’re able,” Lyra replied. “We’ll take a speeder to Kalindor, and once there I’ll set you up in a hotel until I book passage on a ship out of here.”
“You don’t have your own ship?” Tane said.
Lyra smiled. “I’m a Volur, not a billionaire. Pack your things.”
TANE DIDN’T HAVE VERY many belongings, at least not of the real world type. Nearly all of his most prized possessions and experiences were virtual. In the past, whenever he had updated his AR goggles to the latest and greatest pair, he always transfered over the internal database, and after getting chipped, the synthetic had migrated all of Tane’s precious data into his head. All the virtual decorations to his room, the IDs of his friends, his favorite games, music and vids, they were all there. Those were essentially his belongings.
Yes, he had have some clothes, a yingo ball, and several different drones, but that was about it. He packed the clothes into a small sack, but didn’t see a need for the ball or the drones. He hadn’t used either in years. He paused beside the small crushed, crumbling jasmine Jenna had given him years ago. Ah, Jenna.
Tane had once thought he was going to marry her. As the years passed, somehow they had become only friends. Mostly because of his own nonchalant behavior.
Now I’ll probably never see her again.
Maybe that was a good thing. Change, that is. He had been on this farm for too long. He wanted to see the stars.
He remembered composing a digital letter to her a long time ago. In it, he had recounted all the times he had turned down her advances over the years. He told her he didn’t know why he’d done that, and he begged for forgiveness, and admitted his crush.
He never sent the letter, and eventually sent it to the wipe bin, the digital equivalent of lighting the letter on fire and burning it to ashes.
Tane sat on the bed. “Guess I should say good-bye.”
He decided to call Jenna and Greg at the same time: he didn’t want to have to repeat the good-bye. He told them he was going to be away from the farm for a while because of the attack, blaming it on Kayote scavengers. They seemed to believe him, though they did find it odd that the scavengers seemed to be targeting his farm alone and not the neighbors.
They asked where he was going, and he said the city. He didn’t have the heart to tell them he was leaving the system entirely. He couldn’t: not when his friends had the same dreams of space travel.
“I’ll see you in the city when I visit in a few weeks,” Jenna told him before he left the call.
“Sure thing,” Tane said.
He disconnected wistfully, and gazed one last time at the moonscape beside his bed. It replaced the right wall entirely, a virtual decoration he had added years ago to remind him of his dream. The moon looked completely real as it overlaid his vision, and mingled perfectly with the real world so that it was as if his room opened out onto the pock-marked gray surface. In the sky hung a colorful gas giant surrounded by several thin rings, and behind the planet a brown dwarf with red clouds banding its surface peeked out.
“I’ll be out there soon,” he whispered.
Before returning to the first level of the farm, where Lyra was waiting, Tane made his way to the twentieth floor to retrieve the alien energy launcher from where he had left it stowed inside the ventilation shaft. He was relieved that the police X Ray scanners had missed the item. He wrapped it in a thick towel and secured it in place beside his backpack.
He took the lift to the first floor. Lyra and Jed eyed the wrapped weapon suspiciously, but didn’t say anything.
Mom and Dad weren’t there yet, which didn’t surprise Tane: they had a lot of real world baggage. While he waited, Tane took a moment to ID the four military-grade robots that served in Lyra’s coterie. Their names were Brass, Goggles, Fodder, and Sliver. All of their other information was the same:
RACE: Robot.
Model: Scepter combat droid VII-11 Rev c.
Level: 9
Class: Personal Protection
“WELL, I guess Mom and Dad are going to take their sw
eet time,” Tane told Lyra. He felt self-conscious around her beauty, his stomach all butterflies. “But this is actually kind of good. I have so many questions for the two of you.”
“Actually, if you don’t mind,” Lyra said, “we’d prefer to keep to ourselves for the time being. It’s been a long day.”
“Yeah, you’re right,” Tane said quickly, feeling himself redden for no reason. “I’m actually pretty tired, too. Surviving an alien attack does that to you. I think I’ll just sit over here.”
Lyra nodded stiffly. “Thank you.”
He sat down in one of the available guest chairs and quickly turned to the side, hiding his face.
The minutes ticked past. Tane lay back and shut his eyes. Though he had been trying to turn the tables on Lyra back there, he was actually pretty tired, and he wondered if he would fall asleep.
But just when he finally started to drift off, the lift opened with a loud DING and Dad came out.
“Where’s Mom?” Tane asked.
Dad shrugged, slamming his luggage against a nearby chair angrily. “Ask her! Still packing.”
Ten minutes went by.
Dad shouted at Mom over the comm a few times, repeatedly telling her “let’s go!”
At the thirty minute mark she came down the lift with Julius in tow: the robot was helping carry her belongings.
