by Chris Ward
She pressed a little retractable feeder to lower herself down. She was just a short distance off the ground when it jammed. Still tied around her belt, she was forced to remove the whole belt before she could jump down. With no choice but to leave it behind, she ran through the smoke in what she hoped was the direction she had seen Davar go.
Milling all around her with their loads of water, the Evattlans were no longer paying her any attention. The moss was a raging inferno; the heat from it searing her face. And from the ground, the queen was a thrashing shadow battering herself against the cavern roof.
‘Davar!’
He was crouched in a tunnel entrance, his eyes wide with terror. He looked up at her cry, frowning as though seeing a ghost. ‘Beth? Is that really you?’
‘I saw you from above. We were climbing the wall.’
‘We?’
‘Harlan5 and I. He fell. Come on.’
‘I came for you,’ he said. ‘I didn’t know how to find you.’
She took his hand and pulled him across the floor. ‘We’ve got to get out. If we can find a tunnel leading up—’
Davar shook his head. ‘No. We’d never survive the climb with the queen thrashing about like that. Where are those bugs getting that water? We have to follow them.’
Beth nodded, letting Davar lead her into the tunnels. Evattlans rushed past them out of the gloom, but none paid them any attention. The air was smoky and the heat intense, but the farther they ran from the cavern the easier it became to breathe.
Not far from the main cavern, they stepped out into a smaller one where a river cascaded out of the rocks to their left. Lines of Evattlans knelt by the water’s edge, drawing in large mouthfuls then leaving for the main cavern, their places taken by the next in line.
Davar grabbed Beth’s shoulder. ‘Basic principles of science,’ he gasped, looking excited and terrified at the same time. ‘Smoke rises. Water falls. In we go.’
She saw the hope in his eyes. She wanted to say something profound, but there was no time. They linked hands then ran past the nearest Evattlans, leaping into the water.
What had appeared a serene, gently flowing river had a vicious undertow. Beth’s legs were torn out from beneath her, and she pulled Davar close, holding on with all her might as the water sucked them away.
Beth opened her mouth to say I love you in case she never got another chance, but water filled it, water was everywhere. Then, darkness was everywhere too, as they were swept away into the tunnels.
28
Lia
Lia found it difficult to keep the look of amusement off her face. ‘Look, physically the resemblance is clear, but it’s the timeframe that makes me doubt your claim.’
Lump shrugged then patted the glass tube. ‘He’s a Farsi. They far outlive regular humans, even those who’ve undergone advanced genetic therapy, which is most of them. Vain buggers. Us Farsi’s are far more modest.’
‘Modest? Huh. I could label Caladan with a lot of things, but modesty isn’t one of them.’
Jake stepped forward. ‘Young man… er, I think… I find the insightfulness in your words a jarring contrast to your appearance,’ the journalist said. ‘Do you think we could arrange an interview? My audience back on Cask will love this.’
Lump tried to grin, but it just looked like the top part of his head was about to slide off the bottom.
‘Sure. But I’ll require payment.’ Then, without any change in his expression, he began to laugh.
‘Help me here,’ Lia said. ‘Perhaps—and I say this theoretically, because it couldn’t possibly be true—you wish Caladan was your father. Perhaps you felt a kinship with him during his captivity, one which is manifesting itself as a true situation.’
Lump shook his head. ‘No. He’s my father. My real, biological father.’
‘Putting the whole apparent time-travel thing aside for a moment, may I ask, with complete respect, what on Old Earth was going through your mother’s mind?’
‘I don’t mean in the natural sense. You see, my birth mother was once part of a research fleet which was captured by pirates.’
Lia glanced at Jake, who lifted an eyebrow, then looked back at Lump. ‘Go on.’
‘Well, the pirates were a dire lot, devils the lot of them. They were involved in the genetics trade, particularly banned genetics.’
Lia, with little clue to what Lump was getting at, just nodded.
‘They were undertaking forced impregnations to better conceal the banned genetic material, moving it from their own mules to others. Their original mules were a series of captured pilots, but after the material was transferred, the mules were supposedly killed.’
‘That sounds plausible,’ Jake said with no hint of sarcasm that Lia could detect. ‘Shall we drink some Stillwater and arrange terms for a full interview?’
‘Years later, after my mother escaped, she tracked down the pirates and discovered the identity of the captured prisoner used to impregnate her. His name was given as a single word: Caladan. I have carried that word close to my heart ever since.’
‘Much as the thought terrifies me, I still find it difficult to believe,’ Lia said. ‘The Farsi are one of the most populous of the human-subspecies—’
‘Exactly,’ Lump said, lifting a knobbly finger. ‘They possess a forty-percent higher fertility percentage, plus a far extended sexual lifespan to that of regular humans.’
‘Compensated for by gross unattractiveness,’ Lia countered. ‘Plus, Caladan is a common name, adopted so I believe, after an ancient war hero who rose to fame during their battle for independence during the subspecies union and uprising.’
‘A staple of Cask System’s history books,’ Jake said. ‘Considering there is a Farsi colony on New Bolivia.’
‘You won’t let us in, but you’ll let them?’
Jake shrugged. Lia turned back to Lump. ‘I still don’t see—’
‘I ran a blood test,’ Lump said. ‘I checked Father’s DNA against mine, and it’s a perfect match.’ He patted the glass panel. ‘This man is my father.’
Lia was keen to find out more about the miniaturization facility and what had befallen the scientists and their test subjects but Lump repeatedly insisted on hearing tales of his father’s supposed exploits. Remembering she was talking to an effective child, Lia did her best to leave out tales of debauchery, but when she had removed gambling, drinking, womanizing, scamming, thieving, and lying, she found there was little left.
‘We picked up the shipment of precious metals and headed back to the spaceport,’ she said. ‘Cal… um, your father, well, he paid the tax duties at the customs office then we set the Matilda’s launch procedure. Are you sure you’ve not heard enough?’
Lump was grinning so wide Lia wondered if the upper half of his head would lift right off like the lid on a stew pot. ‘Go on, go on.’
‘Well, then there was this time—’
Jake put up a hand. ‘Before you start, let’s have a toast,’ he said. ‘The Stillwater salutes your great father, lad. Drink to his honor.’
He held out the flask. Lump looked at it then smiled. ‘To Father,’ he said, snatching it out of Jake’s hands and taking a long swig.
‘Better?’
Lump belched then wiped his mouth. ‘Sublime.’
‘Isn’t it so?’
The little creature nodded and belched again, then slid down in the passenger seat he occupied and immediately began to snore.
Lia looked at Jake. ‘Did you lace the Stillwater with something?’
Jake shook his head. ‘Not at all. I just performed a simple hypnotism trick. Would I be not wrong in thinking he was driving you close to insanity?’
‘Completely.’
‘We could jettison him in an escape pod. He’d never find us again.’
Lia grimaced. ‘While objectively I love your suggestion, at the same time my complex moral code won’t let me abandon Caladan’s child, no matter how ridiculous it all seems to me now. Plus, onc
e Caladan wakes up, Lump can follow him around and leave us alone.’
‘So what do we do now?’
Lia took a deep breath. She hadn’t yet told Jake about the communication from her mother, but the time had come. ‘I’m afraid I need to leave.’
Jake frowned. ‘You? As in you alone?’
‘Yes.’
‘Why?’
‘I received a distress transmission. A private one. A… personal one. Someone I love dearly is in trouble, and I have to go.’
‘Oh. Caladan won’t like it.’
‘I don’t like it either, but I have no choice.’
‘There’s always a choice.’
‘Not this time. I can’t refuse to help. I’ll never forgive myself if I don’t go. I’ll take the shuttle. It’s fully fueled now. I can go to where I need to go, then on to Trill System.’
‘So you’re going to Trill System without us? You know that wasn’t part of our bargain.’
‘I’ll be meeting you there. Once you’ve collected that radiation core.’
‘Talk me through that again.’
‘You need a transportation barge. Something with a hold that can contain that energy source without fear of it leaching. Galanth in Phevius System is where such barges are made. If you can find some way to scrub the identification from this ship you might be able to trade it in.’
Jake nodded. ‘I’m guessing yours is a crew of one? Leaving me with the good pilot and his offspring?’
Lia patted his knee and gave him her most charming smile. ‘But you still have the Stillwater, right?’
Jake held her gaze then nodded. ‘You’re an astute one, aren’t you?’
‘I’m sure it will see you right. And Caladan—troublesome as he is, is loyal. I’ve never known anyone who had my back like he has. You’ll be fine.’
Jake lifted an eyebrow. He was remarkably easy to look at, Lia thought, feeling a vague sense of longing, a pining for a feeling she had last felt almost too long ago to remember. If there were time—
‘So, you won’t wait until he wakes to say goodbye?’
‘It’ll be easier if I don’t.’
‘I’ll have to deal with his rages.’
Lia grinned. ‘He now has a son to care for. He’ll need to show some responsibility.’
‘Can you see it happening?’
‘Not really, but I trust you to herd him in the right direction.’
Jake grinned. ‘With the aid of the Stillwater, I’ll do my best.’
Lia reached out and gave Jake’s hand a squeeze. Nothing more needed to be said.
They ordered some droids to move the recuperation tank into a medical bay on the freighter. A simple anesthetic made sure Lump would continue sleeping until after Lia was gone. She put a hand on the glass beside Caladan’s face then gave Jake a hug. ‘Take care,’ she said. ‘I’ll be seeing you again just as soon as I can.’
‘Meet you in the depths of Trill System where certain death will await all of us?’
‘That’s the place.’
They hugged again, then Lia headed out of the medical bay and down to the hangar where the shuttle waited, not looking back.
Fully fueled and armed, the little shuttle could easily make it to Steer and then on to Trill System, but as she flew out of the hangar with only a blanket of stars in front of her, Lia felt alone like she had never felt before. Caladan and Harlan5 had always been there, at her shoulder, ready to gee her up with some wisecrack. Now they were both gone, and even Jake and his endless praise of the mysteriously bland Stillwater was gone. She prayed they would stay safe, but for the time being, her destiny had changed course.
She set the stasis-ultraspace drive on a course for the nearest wormhole into Phevius System then headed for the stasis tanks in the shuttle’s living quarters to catch up on a bit of much-needed sleep.
29
Paul
The gunk spewing from inside the Evattlan eggs was as thick as tar but stank of methane. Thrown onto a hard floor inside the loading bay, Paul did the only thing he could think of to quell the stench—pulling two spare blaster batteries from the clip on the lower side and jamming them up his nose. He felt blood vessels burst and the liquid flow over his chin, but when it scabbed it would seal the batteries in there and give him some respite, if his watering eyes didn’t wash them free.
At least he still had his blaster. He crawled across the floor, slipping and frequently falling into the wrist-deep lake of gunk until he was indiscernible from the Evattlan larvae spilling out of the burst eggs. From all around came the whir of droids cleaning up the mess, but these workers weren’t concerned with him and left him alone as he reached the loading bay’s wall and jammed himself up into a cubbyhole, blaster held across his knees as he pulled them up to his chest.
Far across the loading bay he caught sight of a group of dark, spindly creatures making their way through the mess.
Shadowmen. He shivered at the thought of being near them. How many could he take out before they spotted him? Paul gritted his teeth then lifted his blaster, aiming down the sight. How good it would feel to depress the trigger, to see those distant heads pop, adding their gunk to the albumen from the bug eggs?
In his pants, Paul felt something growing.
‘War,’ he muttered. ‘There’s no greater lover than you, bitch.’
He glanced out of the cubbyhole, leaning along the wall to look for a better vantage point. There were others: control terminals, storage cupboards, doors leading off, shafts angling up or down.
‘Law of averages,’ he growled. ‘Catch me if you can, you skinny assholes.’
He depressed the trigger once, twice, three times, pop-pop-pop, and three heads exploded. The remaining three dived for cover but Paul didn’t stick around to see what they did next. He was already moving, running in a squat along the wall, diving into the next alcove where he cocked his blaster and waited.
They would spot him before long, but not if he could keep them occupied elsewhere.
He lifted the blaster and fired again, this time aiming for the nearest cluster of eggs. They popped like giant bubbles of custard, spraying gunk everywhere. High overhead an alarm began to sound, followed by a sprinkler system starting up, washing away the gunge before it could dry and stick to the loading bay floor.
‘Take that, you scum,’ Paul said, then repeated himself as before, running along the wall to find the next place to take cover. Instead of an alcove, though, he found himself staring through a wide opening into an adjacent hanger. Unlike the cavernous space of the first, thousands of production-line style braces held the Evattlan eggs in ordered lines. On the floor, droids brought more and dropped them into a robotic harness, which lifted them up and placed them in the next free bracket.
There had to be thousands.
‘Time for a wakeup call,’ Paul said. ‘Good morning, Captain.’
If only Beth were here to see this, he thought, as he plucked a photon grenade from his belt and fitted it into a second extendable barrel on the blaster. Both Beth and Davar had traveled light, bringing only some scientific equipment with them, as though expecting to find a quaint spot for a picnic. Much as he loved Beth, she was far too optimistic for her own good, and Davar was little more than an environmentalist wearing body armor.
The Matilda, he had found, had a couple of neat little arms caches that perhaps the previous owners had not even known about. While poking about in the lower holds he had come across a weapons store with a lock welded shut and gummed up over time. He had cut it open while Beth and Davar were in negotiations with the robot and found a handful of cluster grenades. Would they work? Now was the time to find out.
He pulled a blast-proof visor from his belt and fitted it over his eyes. Even if the grenade backfired and blew off half his face, at least he’d still have his eyes to see its impact. He gritted his teeth as his fingers closed over the trigger.
The first explosion went off deep among the stacked eggs. At first Paul though
t the grenade had detonated all at once, and then a series of smaller explosions followed the first, spreading outwards from the initial impact. The nearest blew apart the eggs closest to him, causing him to dive for cover as a swampy wave of albumen came pouring down.
He looked up, smiling. His plan had worked. High above, lights were flashing, and small secondary explosions were emitting clouds of freezing dust as the coolant system broke apart.
The time had come to find out who sat at the controls of this thing, but as Paul turned, blaster fire smashed into the wall above him, showering him with shards of metal.
They had found him.
He rolled behind a bank of terminals, scrambling up into a crouch. Peering out, he saw three armed droids approaching, followed by a line of Evattlan soldiers, wearing body armor and carrying guns.
‘You genetically altered scumbags,’ he growled, cocking his blaster and taking aim. ‘Only thing worse than a giant bug is a giant bug with a gun.’
He took out the nearest droid and three Evattlans with his first volley, silently congratulating himself on his prowess. What Beth saw in that egghead Davar when Paul was about, he couldn’t understand. There was no time for sensitivity when you had wars to win and scum to blast.
The two remaining droids were still coming. Paul blasted out their legs then ran forward, using their fallen bodies as cover while he pulled free whatever weapons he could. One reached up and gripped his arm, so he twisted around and shot it in the face.
‘Time to crank up the volume, bad boy,’ he snarled, kicking the box of useless parts away. Two Evattlans leaped forward as he turned, but he dropped to his knees and brought up the blaster, scything through them. Pieces of exoskeleton and gunge sprayed him as their bodies disintegrated. Paul spat out a piece of bone then stood up out of the middle of the carnage, proud of the splatter covering his clothes.
