Waverly got the impression of a primal force. Not wild—on the contrary, everything about him was orderly—but it was the order of a place that was emphatically Not Here.
He looked down at Caroline, who was minding the desk again, with an expression that said she was an unpleasant but otherwise insignificant obstacle. Caroline, who didn't intimidate easily with some of the most powerful people in the world, seemed at a loss when confronted with him.
"I'm sorry, I don't…" she said, responding to what must have been a demand.
"He will wish to speak to me." There was no doubt in the man's tone.
Caroline hesitated. "If this ends up being some kind of LARP thing, or a dare, he won't be happy."
Waverly turned to look at Okka—and only then realized xe was behind xir desk, almost but not quite managing to huddle out of sight.
"You don't want that guy to know you're here, do you?" Waverly asked.
Okka looked at the screen and then away. "… Not especially," xe said. "Though I don't know that it will make a difference."
"I can send him away," Waverly said. "Stall him, if you need time." To get away, he didn't say.
Xe shook xir head. "I don't know. I don't know why he's here. I don't know what he wants."
"Is he who you're running from?" Waverly asked.
"I'll put it this way," Okka said. "He's not the one my nightmares are about."
Waverly nodded tightly. "You're explaining that when I get back." He gestured to Toto, and the phone on Caroline's desk rang. The relief on her face was visible when she saw that it was his office on the ID.
"What is it, Mr. Kemp?" she asked.
"It's all right, Caroline, send him up. Floor twenty-one."
"Yes, sir." The footage blinked out as she put down the phone.
"What do you need me to do?" Waverly asked, looking closely at Okka for clues about how this needed handling.
Okka mostly looked pale. "He won't leave until he speaks to you. You can give him whatever he wants, unless it's me. Then… send him away, if you can."
Waverly nodded seriously, and left, hating every step he had to take away from Okka, who was terrified, and who had dangerous secrets that needed to be told.
He met this self-identified alien in the lobby of the Legal department's floor. Anyone who came through there was someone Waverly paid for their discretion. But it gave Okka some space, some distance from whoever this guy was to xem.
It had been hard to tell over the surveillance feed whether the color of his hair had been distorted somewhere along the line or if the reddish mane really did have streaks of purple, but there they were, live and in color. On most humans the effect probably would have looked ridiculous, but on this guy? It just made him seem like more of whatever he was.
The man's energy seemed to shift subtly as he realized he was in the presence of the person he'd come to see. Waverly recognized it as the same energy he knew from sitting across a boardroom table from a possible enemy. The man was treating him as an equal, or at least not someone to be quickly dismissed from his mind as Caroline clearly had been.
There were very few people who had the ability to make Waverly think twice about being flippant. This man was one of them. That didn't mean Waverly wasn't going to be flippant. It just meant he considered the alternatives first.
Waverly offered his hand. "Waverly Kemp. Welcome to my castle."
The huge man shook Waverly's hand, the grip strong but careful. "I am Chairman Atur Pandrach of the Avlan Protectorates. Thank you for meeting with me."
"Hey, no problem, Your Highness," Waverly said, putting some false levity into it like he might have if, weeks ago, someone had shown up to Kemptech with wild claims of being an extraterrestrial. "Never heard of the Avlan Protectorates. You have to travel far?"
"Yes," Chairman Pandrach said. And nothing else. Silence seemed to be the weapon he'd chosen in this duel.
Waverly wasn't great with silence, himself. What he did pride himself on, however, was saying not much of import when the occasion called for it.
"Huh," said Waverly. "So what brings you here now? Just sight-seeing?"
"Your world is in danger," he said. "We have reason to believe that certain unsavory elements of this galaxy's inhabitants have developed an interest in Earth. We think they've been testing your defenses. Have you noticed anything unusual?"
Waverly screwed up his face, pretending to mull that over. Faking ignorance of Okka's identity meant faking skepticism, even if he knew Chairman Pandrach wasn't delusional. "Well, not anything that screamed 'extraterrestrial activity'—until you, obviously—but we've had an interesting few days with our computer systems."
Chairman Pandrach nodded gravely. "The digital attacks. They are one of the Cewri's most preferred weapons."
This was a game, now. They stood across from each other, playing… not chess. Something with a wall. Battleship, maybe.
"Okay, so let's say aliens really are behind these attacks—let's say aliens are real and you're not just a really committed cosplayer—and it's not a hacker with new tech. Why come here?" Waverly asked. "Why insist on talking to me?"
"Someone here turned the tide," Chairman Pandrach said.
"Is this a recruitment speech?" Waverly asked, raising his eyebrows. "Because I've got a job. Not that I'm not interested in seeing your whole space navy operation, but…"
Chairman Pandrach shook his head. "It wasn't you."
"How do you know?" Waverly asked.
"I recognized the style." His whole bearing was changing, from assessing to leaning in, intimidating.
"What do you mean, recognized?" Waverly said, refusing to be cowed.
"I mean that it's strangely similar to the programming done by someone I'm looking for." He held up a small, flat screen. On it, next to text that looked more like Klingonese than Waverly trusted himself to judge, was a picture of a middle-aged humanoid man, long, bony face, gray streaks at his temples. "I need to find him, if he is here."
Well, that wasn't Okka. Not the one he knew, but then, he knew what Okka was capable of now. He looked at the picture again.
There was something about the tilt of his head.
But it was the programming that clinched it. If this guy's scientists had recognized the coding that Okka had done to deflect that attack on the satellite network, then Okka was almost certainly who he was looking for.
He wasn't about to tell Pandrach that, with Okka cowering behind xir desk upstairs.
He tilted his head, still looking at the screen. "Doesn't seem familiar."
"Are you sure?" Pandrach asked.
Waverly liked irreverence. He knew how to make it work for him. He used it to push and prod, find where people's lines were drawn.
"Why do you want to find this guy so badly?" he asked. "What did he do? Is he dangerous? Should we be shooting first and asking questions later?"
Chairman Pandrach sighed, looking precisely as if Waverly had just sunk his battleship. "He's my broodmate, and I trust him to be peaceable when he can be, but if you see someone who looks like this, they may be dangerous. They may not truly be Myrdu."
"How's that?" Waverly asked, interest piqued, imagining all sorts of sci-fi scenarios.
"I believe the Mimca are involved."
"Mimica?" Waverly asked, eyebrows going up.
"Mimics, spies, impossibly good at replicating the appearance of any other species."
"Like shapeshifters?"
He nodded. "Yes. I had thought they'd taken him, probably killed him. But the scientists of my world tracked these transmissions. Real-time defense against Cewri infiltration, the same thing that Myrdu specialized in when he did his turn in the ranks of Avla's military."
"So, if I see this guy, I should do what exactly?"
"Be cautious. Don't approach him. Contact me with this device." Chairman Pandrach handed over a small rectangle with a single triangular grey button. "If you think of anything else, press this button, and I will come."
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"Can I take it apart?" Waverly asked.
"No."
"Right. And what'll happen if I do? Will it self-destruct?" he joked.
Chairman Pandrach didn't seem to think that was funny. "How badly do you want to find out?" he asked.
"All righty," Waverly said, raising his eyebrows. "I s'pose I can find better things to do with my time. In fact, there are a lot of things I should get back to. You didn't exactly call ahead to schedule an appointment."
Chairman Pandrach narrowed his eyes. "I still need to know whatever you know about whoever fought off the Cewri's digital attacks."
Waverly couldn't deny knowing who'd done it. For one thing, that would mean admitting that he'd been unaware of what was going on with his own servers, his own networks and satellites. That, besides hurting his professional pride, wouldn't be especially plausible. But more than that, it wouldn't deter this Chairman Pandrach from poking around the place, looking for Okka. He crossed his arms, swaggered a bit. "Well, despite what your experts say, I did that programming. Came up with those strategies on the fly, which might strain your credulity, but I'm kind of a genius. Ask anyone here."
Waverly didn't ask who the Cewri were. He thought that probably came with a high chance of ruining his bluff that he had produced the code that fought them off. But it was a little late for that.
Chairman Pandrach continued to eye him suspiciously. "And you had no help?"
"Nobody here but us humans. Now, anything else I can help you with?" When the chairman elected to remain silent again, Waverly continued. "As much as this alien thing is fascinating and I'd love to find out more, I'm not sure if it's worth the effort. You're a tough nut to crack."
Chairman Pandrach almost smiled at that, Waverly was pretty sure. "You are formidable in your own way," he replied. He was not entirely happy to be bundled out the door, but he handled it with enough grace for Waverly to believe he was the powerful space diplomat he claimed to be.
*~*~*
When Waverly returned to the office, he had a thoughtful look on his face. This worried Okka a little, but it was probably just Waverly, absorbing information as thoroughly as he always did.
Waverly came up to Okka's desk, sitting himself on the edge. "You okay?" he asked.
Okka didn't answer. "What did he want?" xe asked instead.
Waverly sighed sharply. "To find his broodmate, he said. Seemed worried. Thought he might have been taken by Mimica."
"Obviously, I wasn't taken by anyone."
"So he does mean you." Waverly leaned in. The only thing Okka could see in his face was concern. But xe could never know for certain. Xe could never know what was truly underneath his skin. "So, this Myrdu guy. Someone you pretended to be?""We can't talk about this here," Okka said, although the office was nearly empty. Xe got up and walked towards the elevators, trying to convince xemself that xe wasn't fleeing.Waverly followed, of course. Once the elevator doors closed on them, he tried again. "So you said something about Mimica being spies?""It's more than that," Okka said, torn between the desire to have Waverly know everything and the drive to protect xir secrets. Waverly was winning.Still, Okka fled further, through the too-open living area of Waverly's home and into the bedroom.
"Broodmate, is that like a sibling?" Waverly asked, sitting on the bed, next to where Okka was now curled into a ball, but not touching xem."That would be the closest translation,, but it doesn't imply blood relations."
"Is he really yours?"
"In some ways," Okka admitted.
"And he thinks you were killed by Mimica." Waverly sighed, and his eyes, looking into Okka's, were pleading. "What kind of mess are the Mimica in?"
Okka just shook xir head.
"I need to know," Waverly insisted, his tone apologetic. "I need to know this stuff, so I can help protect you. You get that's why, right?"
"I can't tell you."
"Why not?"
Okka could only shake xir head again. Under Waverly's unrelenting gaze, xe at least tried to explain.
"I want to. I wish you could just know, without my having to find the words. I told my daughter, when the shock was new, when I couldn't yet feel the weight of it. It was hard then, and we share the basics of a dozen languages from across the galaxy. Now it seems bigger, heavier, and I have to find a way to say it in just English? I can't."
Waverly took a breath. Then he held out a hand in Okka's direction. "Then share it with me some other way."
"You know I can't," Okka responded, but xe was unable to look away from Waverly's hand.
"I know you're afraid to," Waverly countered. "I also know it's something you need."
He didn't know what he was asking. But Okka was tired. Okka wanted to relax, to rest, to submerge xemself in the sharing of the burden that was every moment of the Collective. Okka needed this as xe never remembered needing anything before.
Waverly cupped xir forearm with one hand, thumb rubbing comfortingly along xir wrist. "Come on, take the safety off. You can handle it."
Okka knew that xe could not hold xemself together by sheer will for the rest of xir life. Okka knew that someday, in some desperate or melancholy mood, xe would reach for the Collective, and the fight would be over.
The chance of that happening before xe could save the Collective… well, with no notion of how to save the Collective, the chances were high.
But if xe could manage to merge with another sapient being, if xe could connect with Waverly without losing xir grasp over xir desire to return to the Collective?
It had the potential to keep xem sane, give xem a much greater chance to stay xemself long enough to find a way to fight the Cewri.
Waverly must have seen that Okka was on the fence. "Discovery is inseparable from risk," he reminded Okka. "I know you're scared. But I also know you don't let that stop you from doing things that are worth doing. This sounds to me like it's worth doing."
Okka looked at Waverly, earnest and hopeful, and gave in.
"Yes," xe said. "It might be worth the risk. It might be worth doing."
"Yeah?" Waverly asked. "What do we need to do?"
"You? Just… lie there. Be yourself. Be open to me."
"And you?"
"Just this." Okka laid a hand on Waverly's bare chest and took a steadying breath.
Xe changed xir capacity. Threw the switch xe'd been so carefully not touching. And xe focused, hard, on Waverly.
Xir hand sank into him, blending their bodies. Sharing nerves.
They could feel each other's skin, each other's bodies from the inside out. They were each aware of both bodies, of their relative positions.
Okka pushed xir hand further, towards Waverly's heart. Emotion bloomed across their awareness. Curiosity. Anxiety. Warmth. Love. Gallons of affection.
Xir other hand went up to touch Waverly's temple. There was so much more of him to know. Xe reached for Waverly's thoughts, and they unfolded before xem.
Oh, wow. There's so much here. This is incredible. I want. I want to dive into all of this. How much is there? A whole other mind. Oh my God. A whole other species.
The exhilaration, the growing curiosity met Okka's need for connection and love for Waverly, and they fed each other, flooding both minds with want. It all swelled in a feedback loop of reaching for each other, and Okka wanted—no, needed—to open xemself all the way and connect with everything, show Waverly everything—
And xe reached—
Okka was caught up in the collective.
As soon as xe touched them, Waverly was gone. Everything was gone. There was only the Cewri.
*~*~*
Waverly was undone, unraveled. There was so much. It was a rush, a high. Okka was open to him, and Okka contained infinities. Everything he wanted, and some things he could never have imagined. But even more than that, Okka saw inside of him. Xe was right there, in among the grit and frustration.
Xe spread it all out for xem to view, more intimate than being opened with sure fingers, requiring more
trust than handing someone a scalpel and telling them to cut into you.
And then, suddenly, there was silence. Emptiness. Like a bubble popping, all of it was gone and Waverly was alone inside his skin. He blinked, remembering how to focus his eyes.
Okka was pulling away, leaving Waverly exposed and wanting.
"Wait—hey—where you going?" Waverly asked, not caring if he sounded desperate. He was desperate, and the Okka he knew certainly knew him well enough to winnow it out, even if he'd wanted to hide it.
Okka showed no sign of hearing him, or even of being aware that there was anyone else in the room with xem. Xe got up and straightened xir clothes.
"Okka? Okka!"
Waverly felt like one of those wooden puzzles, most of the pieces in place and only one or two left to slide in to lock it all together, but instead something had slipped and the whole thing had collapsed, pieces tumbling everywhere.
Okka got up without a word, without a look at Waverly, and left.
As moments ticked by and the events asserted themselves as reality, he struggled to make sense of them. Okka had gone. Why? What were the possible reasons?
Right now, shocked and wounded as he was by the abrupt exit, it was hard to think of any possibilities but the worst.
Xe touched me—the real me—my mind—and xe decided xe didn't like what xe found. Something changed xir mind.
Or was that the worst? Would it be worse if Okka, who he cared about so much, was being blackmailed? Coerced, controlled, or whatever other fate xe had been so afraid of? What other dooms existed in the wide and suddenly terrifying universe?
But whatever way he looked at it, this was his fault. Perhaps he wasn't good enough, yet again, for the person he'd fallen for. Or perhaps he'd pushed too hard and led Okka to put xemself at risk.
Waverly Kemp curled in on himself in his enormous bed and, silently, bitterly, he cried.
An unknown amount of time later (it felt like each moment was its own little eternity right now, so probably not long) Toto poked his head into the room. Waverly knew he was there but didn't turn.
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