The Celaran Refuge (Parker Interstellar Travels Book 8)

by Michael McCloskey

  “TM Telisa! Yes, sir.”

  “You can call me Magnus, I’m not in the Space Force. What’s TM?”

  “Hahaha!” The laugh was so nervous as to be pathetic. “Team Member! Oh, it’s true then, the PIT team doesn’t even care about their exalted ranks? That’s really great. You’re not after the power, just the adventure, right? Have you found any living Talosians?”

  Magnus struggled to parse her staccato speech.

  “No Talosians,” Magnus said.

  Why would she think that?

  “What’s the most dangerous situation you’ve ever been in?”

  Magnus considered the answer given his current constraints.

  “I don’t like to brag about past missions. Sorry, I know, I’m boring.”

  “Boring! Ha! Boring...”

  “Maybe I can talk later, Lieutenant. I don’t mean to be rude, but I have a meeting with Admiral Sager coming up.”

  It was a tiny inaccuracy, but not bad given that he really could not say anything until they knew why the Admiral had requested their discretion.

  “Of course, TM. Thank you for your service!” Brannigan saluted again, and when Magnus returned it, she dashed away.

  Magnus walked off, trying to look like he had something important to do.

  ***

  Magnus held Telisa in his arms. The Veer suits had been discarded for a brief time before their dinner appointment. Their quarters were luxurious by Space Force standards. The soft sleep web they lay in was twice the length of any Magnus had seen on a Terran vessel.

  “We’re done here. We can go back to Earth,” Magnus said. Telisa looked disturbed.

  “I know I said a lot about that before,” Telisa started. “I’m afraid to go back to Earth. I got you back and now I want to stay out here on the frontier.”

  She doesn’t want to give Shiny the chance to mess with us again.

  Magnus smiled. “Okay. What are you contemplating?”

  “Let’s go to the Celaran homeworld and see if we can find the other groups of Celarans that fled the Destroyers. There might be clues there, or, many Celarans may have returned.”

  “Or a huge Destroyer fleet might await us.”

  “We’ll come in with one fast, stealthed ship. Given our exalted ranks, I think we’ll be able to score some transport or other.”

  “So if we find more Celarans, would we try to talk them into coming here?” Magnus asked.

  “Surely they would be safer together here, in increased numbers and with the protection of the Space Force fleet? This planet is covered in the vines; it’s ready to be colonized.”

  “Maybe. Or maybe the race as a whole is better off scattered across many worlds,” Magnus said. Telisa could tell he was just challenging her thinking rather than truly disagreeing. It was how they examined multiple angles on their problems.

  “Clearly we won’t force them to do anything. Just inform them.”

  “Okay then. Inform the Admiral. There’s nothing he can do about it; what you say, goes.”

  Telisa laughed. “Crazy, isn’t it, how things have worked out?”

  “Yes. Yes, it is.”

  ***

  Telisa and Magnus arrived at a small stateroom just on time. Inside, Admiral Sager and two other Space Force men waited at a dinner table, served by several small robotoids.

  The Admiral and his companions rose. “This is Admiral Akiyama, and this is General Trenton,” said Sager.

  The group went through a tight series of salutes. In the Space Force, admirals commanded starships and in-system space forces, orbitals, and the like. A general oversaw land, sea, and air forces planetside. Apparently the Space Force men ranked lower than an exalted Team Member. Magnus felt embarrassment at the rank and the customs, yet he valued the usefulness of it. With Shiny backing them up, they would have what they needed.

  Magnus took a half second to look over the two commanders. Akiyama was shorter than Trenton, stocky, with short black hair. Trenton had lighter hair a scar on his face. Magnus wondered if it came from a combat operation. What other reason to leave it there if it was not a badge of courage? Despite the scar, Magnus’s intuition told him the men had not seen much action. He sent away for their records in his link and resolved to scan them at his first idle moment.

  “Welcome to the Midway, ma’am, sir,” Akiyama said rapidly.

  “Thank you,” Telisa said. “It’s an impressive ship.”

  “It’s Akiyama’s command, now,” Sager explained. “As the task force leader, I’m just squatting here.”

  Of course, what Sager says still goes.

  “Would you like a report?” Sager offered.

  “I think I’m up to date,” Telisa said. “Let’s talk about what’s next.”

  Magnus suppressed a smile. Telisa had adapted to her new powers smoothly.

  “Of course.”

  “The Destroyers will be back,” Telisa said. “Your first priority is to continue protecting the Celarans. It looks like you have what you need here to accomplish that, especially with the Celarans themselves resuming ship production.”

  Sager nodded.

  “With your permission, I would like to land my forces and deploy for ground defense,” General Trenton said.

  “You have it,” Telisa said. “Inform the Celarans first, and proceed at their convenience. Contact me in the unlikely event they refuse.”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  “Secondly, assist the Celarans in re-establishing a safe economy.”

  Telisa paused for comments. Akiyama took the cue.

  “I think we can feed them more raw materials from other sources in the system,” Akiyama suggested.

  “Exactly. Inquire as to their material priorities. Thirdly, I want you to learn from the Celarans. Exchange technologies. We’ll hand off what we’ve learned to your experts. When the Celaran ambassador arrives, they should have what they need to get started.”

  The Space Force leaders nodded again.

  “Shall we eat?” Telisa asked.

  “Yes, let’s eat,” Sager echoed. The group told the servant machines what they wanted. It did not take long for the food to arrive at the table. Magnus watched a Space Force robot place the food containers on the table, then move it to the plates like a Space Force General deploying his troops to planetside fortresses in ground assault ships. During the lull, his queries supplied him the verification he sought: the records of the two leaders at the table did not include much real action. The scar on Trenton’s face, though, did come from a military training accident. Perhaps that was why the man had decided to leave it in place.

  Everyone started to eat.

  “May I inquire as to the PIT team’s plans?” Admiral Sager asked.

  Telisa stopped eating for a second and did not answer. Magnus was familiar with the behavior. Telisa was not afraid to pause while gathering her thoughts.

  “We need to go find the other splinters of the Celaran civilization,” she finally said. “I’m going to take the PIT team to their home planet. I want to know if there are any Celarans left there, or if there are clues as to where these other sects went.”

  “Will we be deploying forces to these systems as well?” asked Akiyama.

  “I sincerely hope not,” Telisa said. “I hope to reunite the Celarans to strengthen them. I’d like to see them be able to take care of themselves, both to free up the Space Force and also to increase their strength as our allies. Either way, though, Terra will be stronger as a result. The Celarans possess technology beyond ours in many areas. What comes to mind first is, their stealth technology. Has Ambassador Shiny offered any improvements to our ships in that area?”

  “He has not,” Sager said. “We’ve already begun studying the Celaran modifications to the Midway. So far, our experts are baffled.”

  “It’s a steep learning curve,” Telisa said.

  They ate in silence for another two minutes.

  “I believe there was something you wanted to speak
to me about,” Telisa reminded Sager. Magnus could tell by the Admiral’s look that he had not forgotten about it.

  “Yes. Did you take my advice about your team?” he asked.

  “I did. I trust you had a good reason for me to tell them to be discrete about past... operations.”

  “The PIT team has built up more than a cult following on Earth. Ambassador Shiny has encouraged this, I think. At first I thought most of the various stories were merely growing legends, made up tales and exaggerations. However, I’ve learned something disturbing—disturbing to me, at least—that shines a lot of light on why the PIT team is so well known and so widely idolized.”

  “Mind control?” Magnus asked.

  “Ah, no, not that,” Sager said. “There’s no easy way to say this. Two weeks ago I talked to you, Telisa. You had just come back from the ruins of a major Vovokan colony.”

  Telisa and Magnus traded looks.

  “Shiny has more than one of me active?” Telisa asked grimly.

  “He has several PIT teams out gathering technology for him,” Sager said carefully. “Duplicate PIT teams. He’s taken snapshots of the crew from a certain time frame—I think from when you had been copied into those Trilisk columns. There are different crews deployed all over in various ships, mostly Vovokan ships, but not all of them. The crew of this ship was different than yours. Maxsym Kirilenko was on it.”

  “Earth knows about this?” Telisa asked.

  “No. You see, to the Core Worlds, there’s only one PIT team. But all the leaked rumors of all their exploits are rolled into one. Some team member appears at one place, mentions some alien race or encounter, shows off some artifact or other, then takes off. Later another PIT member is spotted somewhere else and new stories circulate. Some of it has to be false, but I’ve managed to verify enough sightings, besides my recent meeting with you, to get the big picture. My conclusions have been verified by Core World Security.”

  Magnus felt Telisa’s turmoil rise even before she messaged him.

  “Of course I’m upset... and yet... I’m not the original, either. I’m just another copy,” she said to Magnus on a private channel.

  Magnus would have reached out and put his hand on her shoulder, but he did not want to do that in front of the Space Force men.

  “Thank you for informing us. We’ll need a while to assimilate this,” Magnus said.

  “Yes. Thank you, Admiral,” Telisa said weakly.

  “All those copies are Trilisk host bodies,” Magnus said. “That’s reckless.”

  Sager shrugged. “I don’t think they all are. The information available here is shaky, but I feel in my gut that the Ambassador has figured out how to make regular, accurate copies as well.”

  “He’s ascending to godhood with all that power at his... legtips,” Telisa said.

  “That’s the gist of it, and I’m sorry to continue...” Sager began.

  “Yes?”

  “It’s not just you. Ambassador Shiny has almost certainly been duplicating himself, as well.”

  “I see.”

  Chapter 24

  Telisa was lost in thought in her quarters on the Midway when her door told her someone had come to see her. It was Lee, flitting about in the hallway outside.

  An incarnate visit from Lee? Unusual.

  Telisa told her door to open. Lee glided inside. There was no place to hang, so Lee floated in place in the center of the large room.

  “Hello, Lee.”

  “I have some things I’d like to bring to a close with you,” Lee said through the translators. She sent Telisa a pointer. Telisa accessed the data and found a list of tasks that Lee had helped with since they met. They were all related to the PIT team.

  “What’s up? I’m supposed to verify you did these things?”

  “Yes. And evaluate me. This is my last day,” Lee said.

  “What?”

  “I’m done with my post and ready to move on,” Lee said.

  “Oh! I’ll miss you. What’s your new job?”

  “I could be a PIT team member now!” Lee said excitedly.

  Telisa just stared at Lee for a moment in shock. Lee probably did not grok the reaction, since Celarans did not rely upon motions and expressions.

  “Well... yes, you could be. Terrans—”

  “Yes, I know, I need your permission to take this new position,” Lee said. “Will you let me?” The voice’s enthusiasm remained unabated.

  “I’ll clear it with the rest of the senior members of the team,” Telisa said carefully. She realized that meant only her and Magnus now that Cilreth was gone.

  “Good! Please let me know when you decide.”

  “Sure. How long do I have? Will you be in trouble if it takes longer than a certain amount of time?”

  “I won’t get in trouble. If you take too long, we can just blame it on a cultural difference!” Lee explained exultantly.

  Telisa smiled.

  “Do you know our expressions? Do you see my smile?”

  “Yes, but it’s hard to notice. If your lips glowed, it would be clearer.”

  Telisa nodded.

  “Some Terrans do use lip paint that can emit light patterns controlled by a link program. But it’s mostly just for parties.”

  Lee flitted around the room. “We have parties, too. When we’re ready to break into a nice fat juicy vine we haven’t tried before.”

  Telisa bit her lip. She could not accept Lee’s offer yet, but she could clarify a few things.

  “Lee, there are some downsides to being on the team. While I consider your offer, let me bring them to your attention. My purpose is not to discourage but to inform.”

  “Okay!”

  “As you know, Terran ships are not hollow. So you’d live in a cargo bay,” Telisa said.

  “Okay!”

  “You saw how dangerous it is. Aren’t you afraid?”

  “Yes. But it’s dangerous everywhere now, isn’t it?”

  Maybe not on the Core Worlds. But that’s no place for Celarans.

  “We’re thinking about going to your home planet and trying to contact these other Celarans. We think that it might help if the fragments of your civilization are connected again.”

  “The home planet is said to be poisoned and unlivable,” Lee said. “All space habitats there were destroyed.”

  “Well, we can go there to check it out. If the various Celaran factions don’t want to communicate using the tachyon receiver bases anymore, maybe the Terrans could carry messages for you?”

  “We’re afraid,” Lee said. “If Terrans go to all our planets, and they bring the communications bases with them, then maybe the Destroyers will hear them and find us everywhere!”

  “We won’t do that,” Telisa said. “I’m sorry, I should have thought of that. I’ll make sure and tell our new ambassador to the Celarans that this is an issue. As for the PIT team, we won’t bring any TRB with us to your homeworld.”

  “Well, they already know about that place,” Lee pointed out.

  “Right.”

  Telisa got a reminder from her link.

  “Excuse me, please,” she told Lee. “I have to break some bad news to my team. I would invite you, but it’s nothing to do with you, even if you join the team. Also, I’ll mention your application to them and get their feedback.”

  “Sure!” Lee said. She told Telisa’s door to open and drifted out. Telisa followed her out, then headed for the meeting room she had reserved. When she arrived, she found everyone waiting. She looked over the faces of her tiny team. They looked relaxed—happy, even.

  “So how did you find your time on the Midway?” Telisa asked.

  Everyone just blinked for a moment. They must have expected her to start belting out orders again.

  I have gotten rather imperious lately.

  “I’d forgotten what it was like to live around real people,” Siobhan said. “Well, normal people... oh, you know what I mean.”

  “There were all these crazy sto
ries about us,” Caden said. “I think it must have something to do with—”

  “Why the Admiral asked us to keep our mouths shut,” Siobhan finished for him. She looked expectantly at Telisa.

  Okay, they won’t let me delay any longer. Dive in.

  “Shiny has copied the PIT team many times from the Trilisk columns and sent them all to The Five knows where, all over the frontier and beyond,” Telisa said in a single breath.

  “What?” Caden spat.

  “Frackedpackets!” Siobhan cursed.

  Marcant said nothing. Telisa turned to face him. “As far as I know, there’s only one of you, Marcant, since you probably were never copied into a column. It should be limited to those of us present when we met the UED unit, maybe up to the time we explored the space habitat with the Blackvines in it.”

  Caden’s face changed as she mentioned that.

  Of course. Arakaki.

  “There are copies of us out there, doing work all over the place. Mostly tech recon and retrieval. The crews probably include Magnus and I, you two, plus Cilreth, Imanol, Maxsym, and Jamie.”

  “Jason?” asked Siobhan.

  “I don’t know,” Telisa said. She tried to recall if Jason had ever been around a Trilisk column. Then she accepted they had no definite knowledge of what distance the Trilisk technology worked at; for all she knew Shiny did have copies of Jason, Marcant, and anyone else he wished.

  “Is Shiny going to... refill our team?” Siobhan asked in dismay.

  Telisa shook her head. “I don’t know. We’re just going to have to roll with whatever happens. Years from now, duplication may be common in our society. If Shiny releases the technology to the Core Worlders, who knows how things will change? It might be a revolution.”

  “I suspect Shiny may want to keep those special powers to himself,” Magnus said.

  “Are we going to work with the Space Force more now? It’s interesting to be on the Midway,” Siobhan said.

  “It’s tempting, I know,” Telisa said. “I felt it, too. But we aren’t a military unit. Stealth suits our purposes much better. I don’t want to go looking for a fight with anyone.”

  “What can we do? The Iridar was destroyed,” Magnus pointed out.