by Selina Brown
Mum sung and it made Ara smile. It wasn’t often they had time on their own, young family members stayed home for a couple of hundred years and then began to leave the nest. Usually at the Age of Determination, five hundred years, they were fully independent, though the Age of Determination was more for Pure-Gens.
“Mum, Dad?”
“Yes,” they both said at the same time while chopping up the vegetables.
She noticed the look they shared. Still in love after being together for a thousand years. Marc rarely contacted any of them anymore and when he did talk, via Voice, usually he was aloof. She had asked him for some advice on dealing with Caleb and his last words to her were, “You’re a big girl, Ara. You can work it out yourself.” Those words and his fed up tone stung her even now. Sacha was just plain busy with a new romance and her ever booming business, while Ersen was working long hours. Pen set down the salad bowls and poked Terance who jumped up and put the griller on.
“Mum, Dad, teleportation was raised and I’ve never—done it. I mean, even the lowest Avatara can teleport, but why didn’t I? And I barely use ArT, and telekinesis or ArK, I’ve never even tried that either.” Ara stared at her spoon. “Move now, spoon.” Nothing happened.
Laughingly, Dad said, “Well, we couldn’t teach you those things, Ara. It would have been handy for farming though.”
Ara was sure Aether Beings could “shift” things.
Pen said quickly, “No one ports without tech anyway, Ara. It was too dangerous as the plasma links weren’t as stable, which is why we have the ArP and register travel.”
“And ArK, only those who can see energy have Aryan telekinesis abilities. You have to see what you manipulate. Kavela can, maybe he can teach you.”
Mum helped her pack while Dad helped with the final preps for her spaceflight. The Toga hangar crew informed her the Seeker was ready. It had come via some special set of HaV coordinates, super quick. Caleb had shown her that he’d based the design on a cigar shaped yacht found in Lustro Station, two hundred feet long, and forty-four feet wide. They’d visited Sable Co. a few times to discuss their engine capacity while still new.
Ara sighed, unable to put it off. It was time to leave.
Iota
Cardinal Unit 9
Jamie had an agonizing decision to make.
Go with Ara or wait in normal space? The procedure to be able to attend and care for Ara on the Planet of Law was said to be extremely painful. But he reached his decision quicker than Simon anticipated. “Are you sure?”
Jamie nodded.
He was taken to the Cardinal Unit, which in the section they were in just looked like a big empty hospital, and lay in a chamber. He had no real idea of what to expect and was glad he didn’t. As the program bombarded him with matter and energy, he screamed the whole time. His atoms and molecules were reduced in size and so densely packed he thought he’d died from the pain alone. Energy seared his flesh, mind, and soul. As sudden as the procedure began it ended. The chamber lid slid open and Jamie stared at the ceiling, and then Simon’s face as his handler peered down at him. “Welcome to life as a Pure-Gen, Jamie. You’ll need to learn to walk again, I’m afraid.”
Simon helped him to sit, and Jamie found even breathing hard. “You will need to learn how to offset your matter using your energy. You’ll find your appetite will increase … after you stop feeling like shit.”
He tried to talk but couldn’t form the simplest of words.
Simon left a hand on his shoulder. “Take it easy. It will come to you.”
Sub-Log XXIX
Iota
Station: Perza
Galactic System: Sarato (Spiral Galaxy)
Planetary System: Saratoga
That Mum and Dad were nervous was evident in their hugs. Terance and Pen stood inside the small private terminal watching as she ran her checks, submitted the final spaceflight plan, and strode out to the Seeker.
“Wait up, Ara!”
She turned at the sound of Ashley’s voice. He ran up and hugged her tightly. “Are you okay?”
“No.”
His dark blue eyes showed his worry. “If you need to talk, call me.”
Ara nodded, so grateful for his offer. Ashley was smart enough to avoid sensitive issues of law and would help her manage her feelings. He released her and headed back to the office. She closed the main hatch after her checks of the external craft, all sleek two hundred feet of it, and headed for the bridge. Sleek, like Caleb. For goodness’ sake, concentrate! The bridge was roomy, rectangular, with two main pilot form chairs that would grow out from the vault and floor. Most of the walls were covered in GELtech and when the genetically, or just “Gel”, engineered Lygon was discovered it had been quickly picked up by engineers and Space Corp. She blew out her cheeks as she moved around the stations touching the GELpads that made the dim room alive with colored lights glowing through the material. “Pressurization, sables are online, oxygen optimal, fuel etc. etc.” A grin spread over her features and her body felt a tingle.
“Now, run through checks.”
At the end of her checks she paused by the plaque Caleb had put there for her. It was some special material he had made. But now there was another mineral that gave it a deep, purple sheen. It said, “For my PuG Baby. Love, Caleb x.” A small smile formed on her lips.
Finally, she was ready. “Saratoga Control, this is Seeker Baby, ready for take-off.” Caleb’s was registered “Seeker Monkey”.
“Confirm, Seeker Baby, you are ready for take-off. Lift when ready, you are cleared.”
“Affirmative.” She activated her chair, it buckled her in, and she rested her hand on the throttle GELpad. Millions of computations began to exchange between her mind and the filaments and beads that made up the bulk and core of the Seeker. She watched her instruments as the engines peaked; there was slight shudder as it lifted off. She watched her monitors carefully. The coordinates were already set.
“All in the blue. Heading for allocated grid point then to HaV entry point. Coordinates are set.”
“Have a good flight, Ara.”
“Thanks!”
She had to keep an eye on Sable One as it was little used and Caleb suggested she use it so the GEL would integrate properly. She hadn’t really ranged on her own a lot. Once on Wilds she had stayed, only going home on some holidays with Tara and Kee via public transport rangers where she could wind down before getting to Saratoga.
The Seeker rose high and, with a final thrust, ranged to the first entry point. Coming to a stop, she prepared for HaV. Startled, she received a log.
CARDINAL Unit 9 (CU), sub-Maya 9, Ara’s Logs
0016
ARA
PING danger: Valan Taka, Kavakar, Ji’hathlo
PING help: Kavela Istonia, Planet Engineer, Kios
PING help: Korbet West, Randall West, Imperia, Lavenia
OVERRIDE
End check
Ara’s fingers hovered over the control pads.
Danger was out there, hidden.
But her connection to Maya—no, it wasn’t Maya. Ara was using the Cardinal Unit as it was supposed to be used. As Pure-Gens did! Relief filled her. All through her life she’d had access to both, now just one. And some fog was lifting from her mind. That had to be Maya doing that. A flare of anger surged through her but she reviewed the log.
“Damn it, Ara. What was the danger?” She had sensed it few times over the hundreds of years and had found that by making herself more of a public figure danger receded. Now wasn’t the time to draw it out even though every fiber in her body wanted to, but she knew she was a tempting target for the ranger that was cloaked. As she lay suspended in space, her senses reaching out for the danger, she knew the danger was as highly strung as she was. It was more that Maya was telling her that. She received a data burst.
The antagonist suspected some trap.
But as the time ticked by she sensed danger growing as it became apparent she was on her own. Panic threa
tened to seize her, were her guards using her like bait? Those arses! The sensation built inside her, and she readied to lift into HaV when a shimmer told her the ranger was dropping its cloak. As a rush of heat swept through her body, having left it too late, a massive ranger dropped out of HaV close by. Another monitor with the OV, or outview, and holo showed her that they were moving fast. The ranger re-cloaked and Cardinal Unit sent a data burst to say she was in the clear. That was interesting, Maya could locate cloaked rangers but the Cardinal Unit couldn’t. There must have been limits on the programs it could run.
“This is Eagle KE4KI, Captain Walon. Are you in need?”
“This is Seeker KE2AK, Captain Katron. I am just about to enter HaV, all is in the blue.”
“Confirm all in the blue?”
“Affirm, all is blue. Thank you, Captain.”
“You’re welcome, Ara. See you soon.”
She flushed hearing Kavela’s voice at the end. She signed off and lifted into HaV, nicknamed Lift and Go or LAG, not Drop and Go or DAG. Ara grinned. As she traversed up through the dimension, she considered the danger but quickly dashed to the toilet. Had she, because of Maya’s connection, been able to utilize the Cardinal Unit in two ways, as a Pure-Gen and through Maya herself? Was that a weakness and now that they were called to the Planet of Law, Maya couldn’t afford to have that weakness known, afraid of what Ara might do with it?
“For goodness’ sake, Ara. Get a grip.” She splashed water over her face in the tiny bathroom. She stared at herself, the blue eyes wide and clear, the hair tied back neatly, the clear, pale skin a little translucent. “You’re getting paranoid.”
And then she remembered Kavela’s delivery. Hangar crew had placed a container in her lab for her. He said he had scanned it, worried over the contents. No doubt, her guards checked it too.
She checked her course. “All good. Let’s see what Kav has delivered. It’s all very mysterious, and I’m talking to myself again. Great.”
The rather large container was sitting on the floor and she sat on a crate in front of it. Running a hand over the surface, she felt it tingle. She sensed the Strike. There was a design on the top, circular with a triangle and lines from left to right. She stared at it. “Like sheet music! What does that mean?” Unlatching the solid container, she opened the lid, and stared. Why were they here? There was a note from Kav. “Be careful Ara, it’s Chaos. More precisely, seeds. They are called Quadrazaads.”
“Ara?”
She jumped and almost fell. “Trickster! How are you coming on board while I’m ranging and in HaV?”
“I’m sorry. You weren’t supposed to get those yet.” He walked over, deactivating his portal and knelt in front of the chest. “I can do many things others can’t.”
“Right.” She looked back at the seeds. “I never asked what Quadrazaads were exactly.” She said wryly, “It’s a good thing I don’t plan on becoming a detective.”
“Chaos Seeds, always come in four.”
She sighed. It was going to be one of those one-sided Trickster conversations as he pointed out obvious things. There were four seeds sitting on four silver like trays, not on brown feathers like Trickster’s Quadrazaads were. They were no bigger than her thumb, encapsulated in some kind of embryotic sac, thicker than Trickster’s were. But other than that they looked similar. One was bluish, one was red and orange and felt warm, the other was sparking energy, and the last one was red hot and blue cold. She accessed her brain—and sniggered over her language use—to remember from school that Chaos was supposed to be inside the Cardinal Unit. It was creation material.
How could this be that? She didn’t bother asking Trickster, he liked her to “work” things out. But if matter was too high, the CU might eject the—she tried to remember that boring class where she was the only pupil because it was some old Pure-Gen lesson—eject the Chaos Unit, which meant nothing could be created anymore. Probably a good thing considering that meeting she, Caleb, Bel, Jes, and Terzon had stumbled upon. Many called the CU Maya or “the Maya”, but Ara knew that was wrong. Tekko had told her Maya was inside the Cardinal Unit, like a heart or something. And then she tried to remember the conversation when at Delario’s and Aud had said something about Jungar and logs they had received. Chaos Unit needed people to use it, and that was Jungar.
Jungar—what a stupid name.
Feeling pleased that she remembered that conversation, she studied the seeds again and spotted a blue flower.
“Oooh.” Reaching down, she touched it and it melted into her skin, like a tattoo. “Um—” She looked around at Trickster who sighed and stood.
“I must go and see about this development.”
“Wait—” she looked up at him and he squatted down, this time in long pants and top “—I have someone spying for me.”
“Balin.”
“Yes.” She was annoyed that he knew. “Balin told me that Pen lost her baby naturally, but that someone tampered with records to make it look like someone had.” Her voice broke. “Why would someone be that cruel?”
“I don’t know, Ara.”
“I think you do, well, maybe not.” She considered his life, and his almost innocent ways at times. She sensed he was very young.
He touched her arm. “Ara, I don’t know why they could be that cruel.”
She wiped her eyes. “I know. I don’t either.”
“Their motivations are blurred. The endgame unknown.”
She believed him; she had to believe him because she was so very afraid if her instincts were wrong. She wanted to beg him to tell her who they were but she was sure he wouldn’t.
He stood again. “I must leave.”
“Alright, you’re not angry with me?” Now why did she ask him that?
“No. I will see you soon.”
“Trickster, I seem to take time to forgive and time travels differently for me, in terms of things that affect me. Is that normal for someone like me?”
He bent down and touched her face. “It is normal for someone like you.”
She smiled in relief then but saw something in his face; it looked like disappointment. She stood. “Trickster, what’s wrong? Should I give them back?”
He moved up a little closer to her and leaned in. She felt his breath on her cheek, and his lips touched so gently. “Keep them. I wanted to give you the ones I was growing.”
“Oh.” She felt a little warm. “We could swap?”
He brushed his lips over hers in the gentlest kiss she ever had. They both sighed.
“I will keep them for you, Ara.”
“I’d like that, Feathers.”
Ara turned back to the seeds, feelings of excitement rose even as she touched her lips, remembering his sweet kiss.
Her own seeds!
She turned to ask him something. “Trickster?”
But he had gone and she hadn’t heard or felt the portal.
“Damn, I wanted to ask why would someone send me an entire collection?” Because she was the Mobile Unit? To what? Chaos? To Dusty, Lusty … err … Rusty and Crusty? Because Trickster helped a filament of each connect to her on EL?
Kav’s note said the flower was fresh, “perhaps Chaos keeps it fresh.” So, if he picked it up, and he would have, why was it now on her arm and not on his? She lifted her hand, sniffing at it, it smelled too!
The center of the flower was a dark … hole.
How odd. She put her finger on it but jerked back, falling off the crate onto the floor when she felt an outpouring of great sorrow. Feeling foolish, she righted the crate and sat back down. Again, she carefully put her finger over it and pressed. There was a strange pressure. She gave it a quick double tap and grimaced. “It’s not a bloody mouse, Ara.”
Ara looked back at the seeds.
Inside she could see movement as the energy was fluctuating. They were arranged on oval plates, and she noticed each plate was a certain height from the base, and they were not just in a square formation. “Hmmmmm.” A pattern e
merged and she decoded it easily. “Nyx again, who is that?”
Sub-Log XXX
Iota
Station: The Welken
Galactic System: Cradle
Planetary System: Planet of Law
Ara’s four-day trip was uneventful after the initial excitement of finding out Korbet had told her to follow a special secure route while she was in HaV. He didn’t say why but uploaded everything she needed.
“Why only four days?”
“It’s a special shortcut.”
“I see.”
But it was Korbet, and so far he’d only been kind to her. Her Seeker had travelled this route as well. He even thanked her after. She smiled knowing he’d see it on his monitor as mainly teeth. She heard his laugh.
“Why thank me?”
“For not arguing with me.”
“I’m a good girl.”
He snorted with amusement. “It must be frustrating being the baby. You’re a cheeky one.”
“For some reason I don’t mind that coming from you.” She sighed as she inputted the new data, checked the parameters and set off. She managed to land on her allocated spacepad without embarrassing herself. She was a little nervous when the Planet of Law Controllers contacted her and assigned her the landing coordinates. She left her special seed container in the Seeker’s small but secure lab and locked it up tight. The flower still decorated her arm. She told Korbet about it in case it was a security risk but their tests were clear.
As she walked up the multitudes of steps built all around the courthouse sitting on a small hill, the busy skies above Ara gave the impression of flocking birds. In fact, hundreds of rangers had exited HaV and flown in and down to the surface of Planet of Law. Most were shuttles with their main vessels in orbit. She could just make out those rangers through the converging flock. The planet was massive considering its low population but security was tight. She heard what sounded like an explosion and she turned and looked up.
