Ep.#3 - Resurrection (The Frontiers Saga - Part 2: Rogue Castes)

by Ryk Brown

  Michi disconnected the last tube, and checked that all the ports on Nathan’s chest were not leaking. Satisfied, she stepped back a moment, examining him. “His color is good, he is breathing normally.” She turned toward Tori. “He is alive!”

  Tori looked back at Michi, sharing a momentary smile. “Ninety-eight percent!”

  “I will raise his legs, while you slide the gurney in under him,” Michi instructed, as she bent down to pick up Nathan’s legs.

  Jessica pulled at the gurney, pushed it down to get the back wheels over the hatch lip, then moved it under Nathan’s naked backside.

  “Ninety-nine!” Tori reported anxiously.

  Michi moved around the gurney, making her way back to the hatch and climbing out of the tank. She quickly silenced the blaring disconnect alarms, then activated the harness winch and began lowering Nathan onto the gurney. “Guide him down!” she instructed Jessica. “Watch the transfer cables! Do not let them become tight or they might cause the transfer cap to pull free before the transfer is complete!”

  Jessica put her arms around Nathan’s slimy, wet torso, guiding him down onto the gurney, keeping an eye on the transfer apparatus cabling. She laid him gently onto the gurney, taking extra care with his head and arms.

  “One hundred!” Tori announced. “Transfer complete!” he added, as he began shutting down the transfer process. “I’m copying the transfer logs to a data chip!”

  Michi carefully removed the transfer cap apparatus from Nathan’s head, letting it dangle to the side. “Let’s get him out of this tank so we can clean him up.”

  Jessica took the foot of the gurney, pushing down on her end to help Michi lift the head up over the hatch lip, her eyes locked on Nathan’s bearded face the entire time. Just like his entire body, his head and face were still covered with the slimy, viscous cloning fluid he had been submerged in for the last eleven months. His hair was long and matted by the fluid, as was his beard, but the face…the face was Nathan’s, only younger.

  They pulled the gurney over to one side, and Michi grabbed a bunch of towels from the counter nearby.

  “Start cleaning him up,” Michi instructed, tossing several towels at Jessica.

  Both of them wiped the fluid off of Nathan’s naked body as quickly as they could. Michi carefully patted the area around the fittings on Nathan’s chest, taking care not to disturb them.

  “What about those?” Jessica asked, nodding toward the fittings in his chest. “Is he going to have them forever?”

  “We will remove them later,” Michi assured her. “It’s a minor procedure.”

  Tori came running toward them, data chip in hand. “I’ve got the transfer logs, and all the files from the last seven years,” he reported, holding up the chip.

  “This place is still wired, right?” Jessica asked.

  “Wired?” Tori did not understand her meaning.

  “To explode. To detonate. To self-destruct,” she explained. “We can’t leave any evidence behind. No one can know he’s a clone.”

  “Oh, yes, of course. Since the beginning. You did the work yourself,” Tori replied.

  “Just checking,” Jessica said.

  “He’s waking up,” Michi said, as she finished wiping his left arm.

  Jessica stopped cleaning him and looked at his face, transfixed.

  Nathan began to squint. His mouth twitched, then his throat, as if he were about to gag.

  “I’m going to extubate,” Michi announced, as she disconnected the strap that held his mouthpiece in place. She twisted a small knob on the side of the mouth piece, and then pulled it out of his mouth, sliding the endotracheal tube out of him in one seamless movement.

  Nathan gagged and then started coughing. Doctor Sato toweled his face and around his mouth as gently as possible while he continued to cough.

  Jessica watched in trepidation as Nathan hacked and coughed. “Is he all right?” she asked, becoming concerned.

  “It was just the tube. It has been in there for months now, ever since he was weaned from the umbilical,” Michi explained. “He will have some difficulty speaking, but that will pass.”

  Jessica watched as the coughing subsided, and Nathan finally opened his eyes. Slowly at first, squinting due to the bright lights. He coughed again, then tried to swallow, nearly choking.

  Jessica stroked his wet hair, pushing it back from the sides of his face, as Nathan looked at her. “Nathan?” she asked in a whisper. “Is it you?”

  Nathan tried to speak, but only coughed again.

  “How do we know if it worked?” Jessica asked Michi.

  “Captain Scott,” Michi said to Nathan.

  Nathan turned his head slowly to look at Doctor Sato.

  “It’s me, Doctor Sato. Don’t try to speak yet. Just blink once if you understand me.”

  Nathan closed his eyes slowly, as if testing them, then opened them again.

  Jessica smiled, bursting with joy.

  “Blink twice if you understand me,” Michi instructed him.

  Nathan closed his eyes again, then opened them, repeating the process a bit faster than before.

  “Blink three times,” Doctor Sato instructed.

  “What?” Jessica asked.

  “Just making sure.”

  Nathan blinked three times at a normal rate.

  “Excellent,” Michi said, smiling at him. “One blink for yes, two blinks for no. Do you understand?”

  Nathan blinked once.

  “Are you Nathan Scott?”

  Nathan blinked once.

  “Are you Connor Tuplo?”

  Nathan blinked once again.

  “What? What does that mean?” Jessica asked, confused.

  “No, that’s good,” Michi assured Jessica, in an excited voice.

  Nathan tried to speak, but was barely audible.

  Jessica leaned down, putting her ear near his mouth. “What?”

  “Cold,” he said in a scratchy whisper.

  Jessica looked up at Michi, smiling. “He’s cold.”

  “Get a blanket!” Michi instructed Tori.

  Nathan reached up with his right hand, pulling on Jessica’s body armor to bring her closer.

  Jessica leaned back down to listen.

  “Miss me?” he asked, in a raspy whisper.

  Jessica laughed, stroking his face, as tears of joy ran down her cheeks. “A little. I’ve been kinda busy, though.”

  Nathan smiled.

  Combat One jumped in low between the buildings, then slid forward into the square and set down a few meters from General Telles and his team.

  “Team One has the package!” Jessica announced over comms. “I repeat! Team One has the package!”

  General Telles watched as his men climbed aboard the combat jump shuttle. He paused to scan the square. No one was left. Everywhere he looked, all he saw was destruction, and death… But only for the Dusahn.

  Four Dusahn fighters jumped in over the justice building and streaked overhead. The general looked up as the flight broke into two, two-ship elements, each element breaking in opposite directions to come around and attack his position.

  “We gotta go!” Lieutenant Latfee called over the General’s helmet comms.

  General Telles stepped backward, a satisfied look on his face, then turned and climbed into the combat jump shuttle. A moment later, the jump shuttle began to climb, its side door sliding closed. As the Dusahn fighters began to fire, Combat One disappeared in a flash of blue-white light.

  “Team One has the package!” Jessica announced over the Seiiki’s comms. “I repeat! Team One has the package!”

  “Hot damn!” Josh declared, a huge grin on his face. He looked at Loki, who had a smile just as wide. “The captain
’s back!”

  “Get ready everyone, we’re headed back to pick them up,” Loki informed the Seiiki’s crew. “Team One, Seiiki. Inbound. ETA three mikes.”

  “Copy that!” Jessica replied. “Stand off until I call for you!”

  “Understood.” Loki looked at Josh. “This is it. Do or die.”

  “I choose do,” Josh declared confidently.

  “Team One has the package!” Jessica announced over comms. “I repeat! Team One has the package!”

  “What the hell is ‘the package’?” Lieutenant Commander Vidmar wondered.

  “I don’t know,” Cameron replied, “but that’s Jessica Nash’s voice, and she sounds awfully happy.”

  “Team One, Seiiki. Inbound. ETA three mikes.”

  “The Seiiki?” Lieutenant Commander Vidmar wondered.

  “Never heard of it,” Cameron admitted. “But that sounds like Loki Sheehan.”

  “Jump flashes!” Lieutenant Commander Kono reported urgently. “Three of them! One hundred kilometers and closing! Dusahn warships! By the size, at least one of them is a battleship! They’re firing!”

  “Snap jump!” Cameron ordered. “One light minute!”

  “Snap jump, one light minute, aye!” Ensign Bickle replied, as he activated the jump drive.

  The Aurora’s bridge momentarily filled with subdued blue-white light.

  “Comms! Warn everyone about the new arrivals! Tell Flight Ops to send all our fighters to recovery point Echo Two! We’ll pick them up there!”

  “We’re not going to attack?” Lieutenant Commander Vidmar asked.

  “We’re here to support whatever it is Nathan and the Ghatazhak are up to,” Cameron replied. “And I have a feeling it has something to do with that ‘package’.”

  “Team One has the package!” Jessica announced over Commander Jarso’s helmet comms. “I repeat! Team One has the package!”

  “Alpha Leader to all leaders. Move to cover position one, and the Seiiki,” the commander instructed.

  “Beta Leader, moving to position one, with three,” Lieutenant Commander Giortone replied.

  “Who?” the commander inquired.

  “Red,” Lieutenant Commander Giortone replied.

  “Gamma Leader, moving to one,” Lieutenant Commander Riordan replied. “We’re down to two. DumDum is gone, Razz was too damaged to continue, and jumped back to the recovery point.”

  “Alpha is three,” the commander reported. “We lost Sanko.”

  “Alpha Leader, Delta Four! Panzrell and Kleri bought it! Sissy took a hit as well! I think he punched out, but I’m not sure!”

  “Hux, Rubber,” Commander Jarso replied. “Jump back to the recovery point and rendezvous with the Morsiko.”

  “I can still fight, sir!” Ensign Huxham insisted.

  “It’s not a debate, Hux,” the commander instructed, noticing how shaken the young pilot sounded. “Get your ass to the recovery point.”

  “Yes, sir,” Ensign Huxham replied. “Good luck, guys.”

  Commander Jarso sighed. “Daks joins me. Rio and Ziggy join up with Gio and Hedge. Let’s get this done.”

  “Can you walk?” Jessica asked.

  His hearing felt odd. It had a tinny quality to it, and everything sounded distant. He looked at Jessica and tried to reply, but it still hurt to talk. He nodded instead.

  He was now sitting on a chair. They had pulled the Ghatazhak assistive undergarment he had worn under his body armor when he came in as Connor.

  As Connor. It was still a difficult concept to wrap his head around. It felt more like a dream. In fact, Nathan still wasn’t sure that it was not a dream. Do clones dream while they’re being grown?

  He felt Jessica and Tori lifting him up. The Ghatazhak body armor he was wearing was lighter than it looked. But his legs were weak, as were his arms, and he felt very uncoordinated. It was his body. It was exactly as he remembered it, only it wasn’t. So many contradictions that he could not reconcile. Confusion and comprehension. Confidence and doubt. Courage and fear.

  He tried to walk, stumbling at first.

  “Let the garment help you,” Jessica told him. “Don’t fight it.”

  Nathan’s vision kept blurring. One moment, everything would be normal, the next it would be blurry…out of focus.

  Everything about his body felt uncomfortable. He took another step, following Jessica’s advice. He could feel the assistive undergarment tensing and flexing, helping to strengthen his legs, and even out his stride, but it was still a struggle, and every step required concentration, as if it was talking his legs through the process of walking.

  “Seiiki is standing off, ready for pick up,” Loki announced over comms.

  “We’re on our way out,” Jessica replied. “ETA two!” Jessica looked at Michi, as she came running back over to help them. “Did you arm it?”

  “Yes,” Michi replied, picking up the helmet and energy rifle Connor had worn on the way in, and that Nathan would now wear on the way out.

  “Alpha Leader, Telles. Ground forces to the west of position one. Two clicks. Fast movers to the south, eighteen clicks. Fast movers to the west, eleven clicks.”

  “Understood,” Commander Jarso replied as he prepared to jump back into the atmosphere of Corinair.

  “All units, Aurora. New heavies in orbit. We are moving off to maintain safe distance as ops support. Heavies are launching fighters and troop shuttles.”

  “Alpha Leader, Combat One will take the surface forces approaching from the west,” Lieutenant Latfee informed them.

  “Copy that,” Commander Jarso replied.

  “Team One is coming out!” Jessica announced.

  “Gio, you guys take the fast movers to the south. We’ll take the ones to the east.”

  “Seiiki is jumping in!” Loki reported, in response to Jessica’s call.

  “What about the ones coming down from the new heavies in orbit?” Lieutenant Commander Giortone asked.

  “We’ll deal with them when they get there,” the commander replied. “In about thirty seconds,” he added to himself, as he pressed his jump button.

  Jessica and Tori helped Nathan to the front door of Ranni Enterprises. The sun had already broken through the horizon, and the landing pad outside was much better lit than when they had jumped in nearly thirty minutes ago.

  Jessica paused a moment, letting Tori take most of Nathan’s support, as she looked out the windows. “Put that helmet on him,” she told Michi. “And sling that weapon over his shoulder.”

  “He’s not in any shape to use it,” Michi argued, as she placed the helmet onto Nathan’s head and secured the chin strap.

  “Are you going to carry both?” Jessica asked. Although the doctor was as healthy as the next person, she was diminutive in stature to the point of barely being able to carry her own rifle.

  “I’ll take it,” Tori, said, holding the weapon and slinging it over his free shoulder.

  The lobby filled with a blue-white flash of light, followed immediately by the clap of thunder and a blast of displaced air that shattered the massive lobby windows.

  “Our ride’s here!” Jessica declared as the flying glass settled, taking Nathan’s other arm to help Tori guide him out. She swung the door open and headed out, helping Nathan from his right, while Doctor Megel assisted on his left.

  Nathan tried to keep his legs moving, but it was difficult, even with the assistive undergarment’s help. His vision still slid in and out of focus, as if his brain couldn’t quite decide on which objects to focus on, the near or the far.

  They cleared the door and headed toward the Seiiki, as it settled onto the landing pad fifty meters away, facing away from them. Jessica could see the cargo ramp coming down, and Marcus and Dalen come running o
ut, both carrying energy rifles given to them by the Ghatazhak.

  Two flashes of light came from either side of them, revealing the familiar cube-shaped troop landers used by the Dusahn during their attack on Burgess. Four soldiers leapt from each of the two hovering pods, dropping two meters to the ground with ease, as the pods rose slightly and then disappeared behind jump flashes.

  Marcus dropped to one knee, opening fire at the incoming enemy troops to his right, while Dalen did the same, firing to his left. With her free hand, Jessica grabbed her rifle and swung it around to her right, opening fire as well.

  Tori followed suit, raising his rifle and firing to his left, although he didn’t hit anything.

  Two more landers appeared on the far side of the Seiiki, but a pair of Takaran fighters jumped in from behind and took them out before jumping away again.

  Doctor Megel took two hits in his left side. The first one deflected off his torso armor, but the second found the gap between his front and back plates, ten centimeters below his armpit. The energy beam burnt through his ribs, then through his left lung, heart, and then his right lung, killing him instantly. He fell to the ground, pulling Nathan down with him, the grip of his right hand frozen on the back of Nathan’s left shoulder armor.

  Jessica and Nathan fell to the ground in a heap. Doctor Sato, who was following close behind, nearly tumbled over them.

  Marcus and Dalen ran toward them, weapons firing, but the Dusahn soldiers on either side had found good cover, and had Jessica and the others pinned down at the edge of the landing pad, only ten meters from the Seiiki’s cargo ramp.