Iza’s stomach dropped. “No, I would never head straight for a central planet while we’re being hunted.” She turned to address the android. “Trix drop us out of subspace and input the coordinates for Phiris.”
“I cannot do that,” Trix said.
Iza looked at Braedon, who shrugged both shoulders and shook his head.
“What’s going on with you?” Iza asked, placing a hand on her friend’s shoulder. “Why did you change the destination coordinates?”
“You are in danger. You must learn the truth.”
“Braedon?”
“Sorry, I can’t lock her out or bypass her, she’s integrated directly into the ship’s systems. The destination is locked in. Wherever she’s taking us, we can’t stop it now.”
Iza reached up and ran her fingers along the android’s jaw. She always assumed Trix would outlive her, but what if this was AI degradation? There might be something irreparably wrong with her. She needed to get Trix back to Lynaeda. “We’ll get help for you, my friend.”
“I am functioning normally. I do not need any help. However, you are unhappy. Perhaps some time with Jovani would make you smile again.”
“She’s not wrong about that,” Braedon mumbled.
“Enough about me. Trix why are we going to the new coordinates?”
Trix remained silent, looking straight ahead at the holodisplay.
So it’s going to be like that. Iza crossed her arms, not sure what to do. At least Lynaeda was close to Tararia, though she didn’t like the idea of remaining anywhere near the central planets.
“I can take a look at her operating matrix,” Braedon reached out to touch her, but Trix knocked his hand away. The unexpected force of it knocked him off-balance, and he fell to the deck.
The dog turned on Trix, barking angrily. Trix ignored him even when he tried to nip at her heels.
“Knock it off, you,” Iza said with a snap of her fingers. “We’re fine.” The dog seemed to understand and took up a position behind Iza to wait.
“Speak for yourself,” Braedon said, using his console to help himself up.
As much as Iza had wanted to believe that her friend was fine, Trix’s handling of Braedon only confirmed that she was still acting erratically. When Trix had first started acting strange, the ship began malfunctioning soon after. Both Trix and the ship returned to normal at around the same time. It was looking like more than coincidence, and it didn’t bode well for the ship if Trix was having issues again.
“Braedon, don’t try to mess with Trix, but see if you can find a link between her and the problems we’ve had with the ship. Is that okay, Trix?”
The android didn’t respond.
“Sure, I’ll look into it,” Braedon agreed.
“Disconnect Trix from the ship as soon as you’re able to,” Iza said. “You may as well bring Viper in on this, too.”
“Viper?”
Iza nodded. “Yes, she’s a coder, isn’t she? We need all the help we can get.”
“You don’t understand,” Braedon objected, “if I go to her and ask for help, she’ll think I need her.”
“What?” Iza waved a hand in the air as if she could erase away his drama. “I don’t care about that, just do it.”
“Fine, but I’m in charge.”
“No, do not tell her that you’re in charge, because you’re not. The two of you are a team. If she comes to me saying otherwise, you’ll have me to deal with, because I’m in charge.”
“Yeah, I know,” Braedon conceded with a huff. Then, he tiptoed over to whisper in Iza’s ear. “Do you want me to continue monitoring ship’s systems?”
“Ship systems are operating normally,” Trix said in a normal voice.
There was no way to get around Trix’s superb hearing, even if she was acting strange. “You’ve said the same thing about yourself,” Iza told her friend. “Maybe when we arrive, you’ll have more to say about what we’re supposed to do there.”
“We are going to Tararia. You need to learn about your past if you want to have a future,” Trix said with a simplicity that made the hair on Iza’s arms stand up.
“I have no reason to speak to my mother. I’m more concerned about you.”
“She knows the truth, and the truth will protect you.”
“From what?”
Trix’s mouth clamped shut and she refused to say anymore.
This is getting creepy. Not bothering to whisper, Iza added to Braedon, “I want you to be on the lookout for any other abnormalities within the ship. Something is causing this, and I want answers by the time we arrive.”
He frowned. “I don’t know that I’ll have it figured out by then, but I’ll try. Just a heads up, the Enforcers at the border are going to have some questions for us, and I’m not sure I’ll be able to get in there with codes while Trix is running the ship.”
“I’ll take care of that. Just keep an eye on my ship. If you manage to get manual control, you know what to do.”
Braedon gave her a salute. “You’ve got it, Iz.”
—
After her strange conversation with Trix, Iza wasn’t sure what to do next. For whatever reason, Trix was bringing them to Tararia. The coordinates Trix input into the navigation directed them toward the Sixth Region in the southern hemisphere, near to the market that Iza had seen on the video of her mother and in her reoccurring dreams.
The only other mystery on board was the sphere, and she’d handed that off to Raquel. The archaeologist had been analyzing the artifact for hours. She must have some answers by now.
Iza made her way to the infirmary, where Raquel had set up a makeshift lab. Cierra seemed less than happy to have visitors, as most of her candles and other items sat pushed to one side to make room for the sphere and Raquel’s equipment.
“How’s your analysis coming along?” Iza asked as she entered. The dog bounded ahead of her, sniffing every corner of the room.
“Gross, don’t bring your dog in here. It’s unsanitary and disgusting,” Cierra said with disdain.
“My ship, my rules. Besides, he’s all natural; I figured you’d love that.” Iza lifted one shoulder in a half-shrug.
Cierra was on one side of the room rearranging her things while Raquel was scanning the sphere and looking at more readouts. Iza hadn’t formally thanked Cierra for telling her what she’d discovered hiding in Karter’s mind. They’d gone on as if nothing had happened, mostly because Iza wasn’t sure how to deal with the information. Jovani was a TSS Agent, but was he a traitor to her and the crew?
“This thing is amazing. The archaeological find of a lifetime.” Raquel’s voice pulled Iza out of her thoughts and back to the moment. “The research this will open up for Tarans in the fields of astronomy, metaphysics, astrophysics, and the like will be phenomenal.”
“Glad to see someone’s happy about the thing,” Iza said. “Cierra, everyone is healthy. You don’t need to stay in the infirmary all the time.”
“I’m aware,” Cierra said. “I’m here because I needed to grab a candle and saw that this person has taken up residence here in the infirmary with her analytical devices. If someone should need help, this would be the last place I would go. I’ll go set up in my own quarters.”
“That won’t be necessary,” Raquel said. “I’m finishing up here. All I have left to do is review the analysis. I can do that in my cabin. You can have this back.” She handed the sphere to Iza.
Iza reached out and accepted the metal ball. Its heavy but the familiar warmth seemed to settle in her hand and the sound of humming returned.
“What’s that expression on your face?” Raquel asked. “Are you nervous about having it back? You shouldn’t be, it’s not going to open up a wall on your ship or anything.”
Iza shook her head. “No, that’s not what worries me. It’s humming again. I guess I keep hoping someone else can hear besides me.”
Cierra put down her candle and stepped closer resting a hand on Iza’s shoulder. Then she cl
osed her eyes and seemed to be listening. Raquel stepped forward at the same time and left her hand hovering above the sphere while Iza held it.
“I can’t hear it but I feel it.” Cierra kept her eyes closed as if searching deeper.
Iza squirmed, uncomfortable not only with her touch but with her scanning her mind, or whatever she was doing. She started to back away, but Cierra held fast. Raquel also seemed to be listening to something. Was she telepathic?
“What is it?” Iza asked, looking at Raquel.
“Nothing.” Cierra opened her eyes. “I just assumed if I could pick up on the humming, maybe I would sense something more. But I get nothing from you. Not from the first time we ever met. Strange, there are some who manifested that ability as a side effect from the neurotoxin deployed during the Priesthood’s fall, but yours seems to be different.”
“Yes,” Raquel agreed, “It’s less like a block, more fluid. As if the thoughts are too deep.”
Iza didn’t like the sound of that either. “I could ask my mother about it.”
“Your mother? I’m sorry, isn’t she supposed to be dead?” Cierra asked.
“Yeah, she Left, but may actually be alive.”
“She abandoned you to die and then chose to live on without you?” Raquel gasped at Iza’s nod.
Cierra reached her arms around Iza to hug her. Iza was already uncomfortable with Cierra in her space. What more did she want?
She pulled out of her embrace. “Yes, she was last seen on Tararia. It turns out that Trix is insistent that I find her. That she holds some answer to a question I didn’t ask.”
“You have to meet her,” Cierra said.
“Absolutely,” Raquel agreed.
“Why? She was never there for me. I practically raised myself. If she wanted to be a part of my life, she had her chance. What reason could she possibly give for abandoning me?”
“Mothers can be very mysterious,” Raquel said. It was almost as if she was speaking from experience. “That doesn’t mean she doesn’t have a reason. You say Trix has been with you for a long time?”
“Yes, but I met her after my mother Left. She doesn’t even know her,” Iza said, trying to make sense of all the non-sense Trix had poured on her.
“That is strange, but you trust her?”
“Normally, yes, with my life.”
“Then you have to seek out your mother. Perhaps your friend is serving as a guide for you,” Cierra said.
“I don’t know, she’s part of my past. I’m looking to my future.”
This time Raquel put a hand on her arm, and suddenly Iza felt the tension in her shoulders release.
“You cannot conquer the future without learning from the past,” Raquel said.
“Where did you get that, an advertisement?”
“No, I’m an archaeologist; it’s printed on all the T-shirts.” She laughed, making Iza smile.
“You’re both so immature.” Cierra shook her head and left the infirmary.
They both watched her leave before Raquel turned to Iza and spoke in a low voice.
“What’s with the bare feet?”
“I know, right?” Iza agreed, nodding. “She’s like all of eighteen and she thinks she knows everything.”
“She seems to know a lot about healing the body.”
Iza nodded. “Yes, she does. She saved Jovani’s life, and for that I’ll always be grateful, so I’m stuck with her bare feet and green sludge.”
They both laughed. As Iza left the infirmary with the sphere in her hand, she came to a realization about Raquel. She wouldn’t have minded growing up with a sister like her.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Iza had another night of strange dreams.
This time, she saw her mother again, but not in the market as she had before. She was at home, in a small cottage with a warm fireplace carrying something in her arms. With a baby. The baby looked a lot like her, but—she didn’t know how she knew—it wasn’t her. Her mother was speaking, though Iza couldn’t make out the words. Her mother looked down at the small smiling bundle in her arms and seemed to be rocking the baby to sleep.
Suddenly, the dream shifted, as though the image flipped in a mirror. The woman holding the baby was no longer her mother, but herself. And the child in her arms was her own. Iza felt a swell of joy at the sight of her child. In her mind, it didn’t matter if he was a boy or girl, they were perfect.
Then, almost as if she’d heard something, she jolted. She felt it inside—something that made her afraid. She looked down at her child and knew she would do whatever it took to protect them. She didn’t know who the father was, or what was the danger that she feared the most. The only certainty was that she would protect her child with everything she had.
Before whoever was on the other side of the door came through, Iza morphed and became something else. Something she’d never seen before. It was like she had no physical substance, but she could be a barrier between whatever was at the door and her child.
Iza woke with a start in a cold sweat.
The sphere was back in her drawer where she kept it. The dreams were as they had been, disjointed pieces of something that felt real but had no basis in reality. She’d never had the desire to have a child before and didn’t particularly in the cold light of day think she would want one now. Still, the dream had felt so real, she was left feeling a sense of emptiness at its absence.
Iza dressed for the day and to the flight deck, where she found Braedon and Viper working on the ship’s navigation problem. Trix was standing in the middle of the room and didn’t seem at all bothered by what they were attempting to do.
Iza greeted her friend first. “Good morning.”
“Good morning, Captain.”
Iza tilted her head to one side. Well, at least Trix was talking, that was something.
Braedon and Viper were bickering about something unrelated to the ship’s navigation while they worked.
“You can’t be serious,” Braedon was saying. “There’s no way, that a mech made of metal could be defeated by what is essentially a giant cat.”
“The claws on this thing, you should have seen it. If they were in a ring together, my credits would be on the giant cat,” Viper insisted.
How they managed to argue and work on the coding simultaneously amazed Iza.
“Where are we on all this?” Iza asked.
“I think we’re making progress. We’ve identified multiple threads of a virus in our systems, and we’re attempting a purge now,” he said. “There, focus in on that.” Braedon watched over Viper’s shoulder while her hands flew over the console.
“Do we have any idea where it came from?” Iza asked.
“No, it’s like nothing I’ve ever seen before,” Viper said, still tapping.
“It’s strange. The way it’s infiltrated the computer system doesn’t follow the patterns we’d expect to see. It’s learning and adapting, which any good virus should, but it’s behaving almost like it hasn’t seen a ship operating platform like ours before—which is ridiculous, since everything here is pretty standard.”
Iza crossed her arms. “So, it’s a dumb virus?”
“No, it’s really good. We’re having a tough time eradicating it because our standard hacking techniques aren’t working. So, either the person who programmed it is a crazy genius who found a way to disregard all normal logic, or…” His voice trailed off.
“It could be alien.” Viper turned her head to face Iza then stood up and switched places with Braedon.
Iza’s heart skipped a beat. “Could this have something to do with the sphere?”
Braedon shrugged. “There’s nothing else that we’ve come into contact with lately that can explain how it got into the ship’s systems and Trix. Not to mention that both the ship and Trix started behaving normally as soon as you left with the artifact.”
That was all Iza needed to hear to confirm her suspicions. Even so, she had no idea what to do. Trix’s AI matrix was among t
he most sophisticated Taran tech in existence, and the virus had influenced her behavior without her even knowing. Still, Braedon and Viper could see the virus and monitor its behavior, so there was hope that there was a solution to stop it.
“Maybe the Lynaedans can help us,” Iza suggested. “Once we get to Tararia, Trix might let us set a new course to go there.”
“It won’t matter if she or the virus seize control again and take us out into the middle of nowhere, like apparently happened before,” Viper said. “At this point, all we can do is create temporary blocks around certain systems, but the virus will eventually worm its way through.”
Iza didn’t like the implications of that statement. “Is this problem permanent?”
“Honestly, I think because the sphere is on board,” Braedon said. “My guess is that it’s going to continue to affect Trix and the ship regardless of what we do. The most straightforward solution is to get the sphere off of the ship.”
Where could I keep the sphere so Mr. Arvonen can’t reach it? Iza couldn’t think of a place safe from the man.
“Come to think of it, we had some problems back on the Iron Dog, too,” Viper revealed. “At the time, I didn’t understand the code and what I was seeing. But, this foreign code, or alien virus, or whatever it is, was too similar to this to be coincidence.”
“Iza, are you here?” Trix asked suddenly. Her eyes were unfocused.
“Yes, I’m right here.” Iza ran over and took her friend’s hand. Trix responded with a light squeeze.
“My people cannot fix this,” Trix said. “What is happening to me now has happened to me before.”
“Wait, have you been around a sphere like this before?” Braedon asked.
“No, not a sphere. Iza, your father.”
Iza’s breath caught in her throat. “My father? What do you mean, Trix?”
“I’m not supposed to tell you. I was never supposed to tell you. I made a promise, a solemn promise. It is dangerous for me to be tell you too much. You will have to leave us, but you won’t be alone.” The desperation in her voice was real. Iza had never heard Trix speak this way before, so overcome with emotion.
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