“It’s interesting,” Zac drew her attention back to him. “We have a similar animal on Anitra. Different, but not too much. Horns and everything. We also call it a bull, thanks to the Emperor. It seems the Emperor brought most of the language when he came. It’s almost like we’re from the same place.”
“It would be cool to know more about the Emperor’s history,” Jess agreed. “Who he was here on Earth. It’s like he was Japanese or something, but he must’ve been American. He must’ve found the Icon in olden-day Boise. Obviously, since it’s the one that goes between Boise and Osaka.”
“Japanese?”
She shook her head. “Another—”
“Another nationality.”
Jess nodded. “It’s curious he chose to bring English to Anitra and insist on that as the main language. He brought Japanese names, culture.”
The waitress returned with their food. Jess watched as she placed the plates and glasses of juice—too many plates for Zac—thanking her as she did, using her best “Gracias” though the waitress already knew they were tourists. Zac got four plates of croissants and, while he was big and young and could obviously eat, the waitress eyed him with a dubious stare.
“El tiene mucho hambre,” Jess practiced, satisfied that she’d communicated the idea Zac was hungry. The waitress smiled, asked them if they wanted more coffee, to which both said “Si”, and off she went.
Zac lifted a croissant and smelled it eagerly. “These made me think of the donuts you brought me in the playhouse,” he said. “I hope they’re as good.” And he took a big bite, chewed once and …
Closed his eyes in absolute rapture.
“Mmm.” He chewed more, savoring it.
“Is it good?” she asked needlessly.
“So good,” he mumbled around a full mouth. “This is my new favorite thing.”
She watched as he finished and swallowed, two more big bites and the whole rest of the croissant was gone. He placed both hands on the table as the last of it went down, inhaling the ecstasy of its delicious passage.
“Do you even need to eat?” she asked as he reached for another.
“Not really, no.” He took a smaller bite, talking as he chewed. “But I like to when there’s good food. Or to be polite. They never fully understood us. The Kazerai were an accident, a kind of mad scientist thing where they kept trying to make enhancements to their super soldiers, the Astake. The Astake were the base, and they were already stronger than a normal man, through chemicals and other tricks.” He took a drink of juice, another bite, finished the second croissant and picked up a third. Jess took the first bite of her own.
It was, indeed, delicious. Of course, it was a fresh, warm, flaky croissant filled with exquisite chocolate. How could it not be?
“They don’t know where we get our strength. We convert energy from somewhere. Dominion—and Venatres—scientists have speculated on the source, like zero-point solutions or some other tap into spatially stored forces. Perhaps locked up in the engines of our cells.” Jess found it fascinating to hear him talk technical. “There’s energy in everything,” he said as he chewed. Talking and chewing on some people was not so attractive. When Zac did it she couldn’t stop staring. Especially as animated as he’d become. There was a certain power to his devouring of the food, backed by the very real power of his form. A mouthful of food and grinding jaws on others? Not so attractive. On him it was … well, it was sexy. “I mean,” he held up the last bite of croissant as an example of his point, “if you could convert this to pure energy it would blow up this whole block. Probably the whole town.”
She nodded. “E equals M C squared.”
He paused. “Is that an energy formula?”
“Yeah.” The elements of the formula would be universal, but Zac would never have heard it expressed that way.
“Anyway, converting a croissant to energy is just atomic forces bound up in matter. How the Kazerai work is different. The Dominion and especially the Venatres scientists have speculated on something else. The idea is that there could be still other energies locked in space itself, vacuum energy—you name it.
“So, no, we don’t convert food to energy. We’re powered and on all the time. No need for oxygen, food, nothing.
“But,” he said, “everything still works the same—again, no explanation for how that is but I’m not complaining—and my taste buds are going into overdrive on these things.”
She watched him eat with gusto, so happy to be there with him. He had a stack of croissants, only croissants. She had a single croissant, but also got eggs and ham; not quite as exciting but, unlike him, she did need food, and protein and fat would take her much further than sugar. They had a long day ahead.
The waitress came with their second coffees. When she was gone Jess took a sip of the fresh, hot new one. It tasted so good! Steam came from it in the cool morning air, the day perfectly brisk. Sipping the hot coffee, out on the romantic Spanish street under a deep, clear, morning sky, sitting at the intimate little café, was absolute heaven. Zac continued to plow through the croissants, leaving her time to sit and just be. Pedestrian traffic picked up as the morning got into swing, little European cars and delivery trucks passing in increasing volume in the street.
Wonderful.
A group of teens caught her eye. Three girls and two boys, probably her age or not much older. She watched them approach on the sidewalk, coming closer; themselves tourists but not Americans. From their clothes and their style she thought them to be German, or maybe Scandinavian, and as they got close enough to overhear she determined they were in fact German.
Soon their laughing conversation, for Jess, was dominant among the other sounds. They gathered just over Zac’s shoulder, behind him on the sidewalk, looking at their phones, pointing and trying to make a decision. Being goofy among themselves. Zac was oblivious to their proximity, blending as they did into the background and conversations all around. The morning street was alive with new activity. But Jess couldn’t stop staring.
Couldn’t stop thinking how much they weren’t like her.
She should be like them. Not an interloper. A stranger in her own world. She should be just like them. A teenager, carefree, out seeing new places, laughing and having fun, her whole life ahead of her. But she was nothing like them.
She held the fate of everything in her hands. And whether or not her whole life was ahead of her, or even what that life might hold …
Sadness gripped her. Unwanted, unexpected sadness. The same sadness that was with her these days, ever ready to pounce, and she just wished the German teens would make a decision and go away. Go get on their next train or whatever. Eurail it out of there, hit the next hostel or the next fun stop.
She could never be part of that. Never, ever again. She would never again have a chance to be that carefree teenager with a pure, unspoiled view of the future.
“Wow,” Zac brought her snapping back to the present. He’d finished all the croissants. “That was good.”
She shook it off and took a bite of egg. The food was already cold in the morning air. Out of her peripheral vision the teens finally made up their minds and crossed the street, slipping through traffic with shouts in German and continued laughter.
Finally they were out of earshot and soon enough out of sight. Jess took a sip of coffee.
It, too, was cold.
“Where should we spend the day?” Zac smiled, oblivious to her heartache. He tilted his glass and finished his juice. Put down the empty. “We’ve got a whole day to kill.”
“I don’t know,” Jess fought the bitterness. “But whatever we do let’s make sure it’s fun.”
CHAPTER 26: EVENING’S DAWN
Bianca dragged the view at her console and expanded it, pretty much the same way you’d adjust the image on any touchscreen from Earth. The alien Kel controls were easy to use once you knew what you were looking at. Nani had been a great teacher.
Bianca looked to her left.
“They’re getting close,” she said. She and Nani had been watching a group of hikers pick their way through the woods, getting closer and closer to the landed Kel fighter.
Nani nodded, caught up in the information at her own console. “Seems like they’re finally looking for a place to set up camp?”
“Probably,” Bianca looked back at her own screen. She and Nani were alone on the bridge—alone on the ship; everyone else down on the ground—and for a moment Bianca found it interesting how used to all this she’d become. Surrounded by alien technology, aboard an alien starship, looking out a crystal-clear video dome with the whole Earth spread out below, her home planet, outer space all around; tapping and directing the advanced monitoring systems to watch the activity on all screens ...
She had to remind herself how completely out-there it all was. Beyond National Enquirer. Way beyond. They were in control of some truly amazing stuff. Apparently the human animal could adapt to just about anything. Once you got used to it … it just became normal. The way things were.
“They're still pretty far away.” Nani had been in contact with Willet and Satori aboard the fighter, keeping them informed of the possible intruders as the hikers picked their way closer through the woods. The hikers were far from civilization and heading more or less directly for the landed Kel fighter. No one knew exactly how to handle a discovery, if the small group continued and actually found the Kel craft, but so far everyone was just hoping they would stop moving deeper into the woods and that would be that. The biggest fear until then had been that the fighter would be seen from orbit, maybe a satellite or something, or from a plane or helicopter flying overhead. So far that hadn’t happened. Now, ironically, the least of their concerns—that actual people would stumble on them in the remote location—was starting to become a reality.
Bianca zoomed in as far as she could, switching to a thermal to see the hikers as they moved beneath thicker tree cover. There were four, what she was guessing to be two boys and two girls, and if the small group saw the Kel fighter it was over. Satori and Willet would either have to catch them or knock them out or something.
Nani shook her head. Then: “Wait. They're stopping.”
Bianca checked. “It looks like they’re starting to unpack.” She watched as they walked around, what she guessed were the two boys going to find a place to pee. The images were small—even the Kel technology was limited in what it could resolve in real-time—but clear enough to tell what the kids were doing. She watched as the girls started unrolling one of the tent packs and decided they were, in fact, setting up camp.
“Whew,” she whistled. Nani called to inform Satori. The hikers were still a good mile or so from the fighter, but it seemed so close on the screens it was still nerve-wracking. Everything at that altitude was crammed into such a small area.
Earth was huge.
Bianca zoomed out and panned around. No other activity to be seen. They’d only spotted the hikers as they got close. Up so high, looking down from orbit, scanning around like a live Google Earth or something, she was startled to realize just how massive the world truly was. She and Nani were scrolling over an area of only a few dozen square miles—small if you pulled back even just a little; so tiny you couldn't see it if you looked at the whole of Spain, just a dot on the map—and yet, zoomed in all the way she had to slide and slide and slide the screen, fingers swiping and pinching to change the focus, looking at hundreds if not thousands of acres.
At times in the past she’d wondered how there was enough room on Earth for all seven billion people. Now she was starting to get a real sense of just what was available. There was lots of room on Earth. All seven billion people could probably stand in that one little field down there.
“These guys are like ghosts,” Nani commented, and it took Bianca a second to realize she was no longer talking about the hikers. In Nani’s mind that threat was handled and she’d moved on to other things. The hikers were camping. No one else in sight. Time to keep digging.
Nani was always digging. The whole time they’d been here at Earth, digging and digging. Even back on Anitra, where Nani had already discovered all there was to know about the Kel starship, she was digging for more. Bianca recalled hanging with her in the lab. Back then that was all she was doing, hanging, but now she was trying to help. To participate in this little mission with epic implications, yet Nani was leaving her in the dust. It was like she couldn’t keep up.
“Who are?” she asked.
“The Esehta Bok.” Nani looked over screens of info. “There’s nothing on them. Literally, nothing on the networks I have access to. And I can access everything by now. I see why the Project are so desperate to get their hands on them. The Bok have managed to do so much yet remain hidden the whole time.
“It’s incredible.”
Nani would’ve been awesome to have in school. Bianca studied her as she in turn stared at her screens, completely caught up in what she was reading. Nani wasn’t much older than her, probably mid or late twenties or something. That was ten years, sure, but not really that much. She could easily pass for a teen with the right makeup, the right clothes. It was cute how awkward she was. Kind of the same way Jess was awkward, now that she thought of it, only more so. Neither of them realized what assets they were wasting. A girl only had so many years, and neither Nani nor Jess were putting their looks to good use.
Actually Jess wasn’t wasting hers so much any more. Now that she was zeroed in on Zac, her true love, it seemed, she was finally shaking off any misguided hesitations and going for it. Bianca was proud.
Of course their current circumstances weren’t exactly lending themselves to a proper romance. She’d much rather be advising Jess on the details of how to proceed with Zac, not watching a bunch of monitor screens and formulating a high-stakes kidnapping. Earlier that day had been fun. Helping pick their clothes, accessories, etcetera. Deciding on their look. For that short time she’d escaped into fonder memories; being back on Earth, in school, working hard to craft her dorky friend into something more.
She looked over at Nani. “Zac sure looked hot in his suit, didn't he?”
“Hmm?” Nani didn’t track at first with the transition, then she did. “Oh, yeah,” she agreed, not taking her eyes from what she was doing. “He’s a handsome guy.”
Oh, yeah. He’s a handsome guy. The way she said it was automatic. Like the way you’d tell someone; Oh, yeah. Pretty flowers, when you really didn’t know much about flowers or, probably, didn’t even really care. Not surprising. Nani probably didn’t know much about guys. Nor did she really seem to care. Her time, her brain power, was devoted to one thing and one thing only:
Knowledge.
Bianca smiled at her. She still wasn’t looking up from her screen. As if pushing Bianca aside with a wave of her hand; Go away, kid. Ya bother me.
With a wistful smile she turned and looked out to the Earth.
Zac had been easy to dress. Bianca was worried, though, that they hadn’t gotten Jess everything she needed to kill. She was afraid that, once the two of them got to the club, Jess wouldn’t be let in. Not because she wasn’t gorgeous. Rather, because Jess wouldn’t pull it off well enough without instruction. It just didn’t come natural for her, and she could easily blow it at the door by being shy or acting dumb or something.
“Jess looked good too,” Nani said randomly. Bianca turned back to her. The glow of the soft purple light only enhanced her youthful features. Nani was pretty. “With that dress you picked she’s going to fit in just fine.”
Bianca looked at her. Maybe she was paying attention.
Nani tapped more things on the screen. “I’m sending Satori an update. There’s not much new at this point.” Then: “They must be bored. Sitting down there, quiet, no instruments. Wonder how they’re passing the time?”
Bianca sniggered, then realized—much to her amusement—Nani was serious. The snigger broke the screen trance, though, and Nani’s eyes were now on her.
<
br /> “Um, I’m sure they’ve thought of a few things.” Bianca even went so far as to wink. A knowing little nod for Nani.
But there was no sign of understanding. “Yeah, probably,” the scientist girl agreed. Then she leaned back, taking a rare moment to look out into the black depths of space.
Bianca cocked her head. This bore further discussion. “You realize they’re in love, right?”
A pause. Then: “Satori and Willet?”
“Yeah.”
Nani studied her, and for an instant Bianca wondered if she did. Then Nani said: “Yeah, I mean, I know it. Satori mentioned him a few times when she was at the complex. You could tell. He came there once. Willet was in the field a lot.”
Bianca stared at her. Nani added, as if starting to realize she might be missing something: “There’s a lot of tension between them. Like they’re mad at each other. Don’t you think?”
Yeah. “Sometimes that’s the best thing for a relationship. Two lovers, angry, tension high, alone in a confined space. Sounds like a recipe for a makeup, if you know what I mean.”
Nani clearly didn’t. At least not fully. Bianca decided to let it go.
“Show me more,” she changed the subject. “Show me some more of how this stuff works.”
“The ship?”
“Yeah. I want to know how to fly it.” She smiled. “I might be a starship captain one day.”
* *
“I’m still angry,” Satori tried to look it and failed.
Willet frowned. “But not at me, right?”
“Yes at you! You’re the cause of this!”
“Me?!”
The console beeped. Again. Willet turned and checked it. Nani sending more updates. He acknowledged without reading and turned back to Satori.
“Yes you,” she said. “If you didn’t constantly agree with her we wouldn’t end up in these messes.” She pushed him in mock frustration. “You’re the one that ran off with her to the Crucible. I was against that. It’s been downhill from there.”
Star Angel: Dawn of War (Star Angel Book 3) Page 27
