“Hail the Wrath,” he said to Darwyth.
“What do you want kid? I already told you no,” Captain Thrail barked, barely acknowledging Neutrino’s interruption as he looked over what appeared to be reports in his hands.
“Captain Thrail, I may be the worst Slipstream Messenger in the history of the galaxy, but if there is one thing I excel at, it’s falling out of the Stream. Either stand down, or I will use the Slipstream to fire my ship directly at your hull. Even if you’re not destroyed, I’m pretty sure you won’t be able to fight anymore.” Thrail chuckled heartily and prepared to disconnect.
“I would listen to him Captain,” Darwyth interjected, “A ship being slingshoted out of the Slipstream would pack quite a punch.” Thrail considered Darwyth and slowly stopped laughing.
“You’re being serious?” he asked.
“I estimate we would destroy a third to one half of your ship,” Lylia added solemnly. “Easy pickings then for the Sun-entity.”
“Are you insane?” the captain yelled. “You’re siding with the enemy!”
“No, Captain Thrail. We’re siding with reason,” Neutrino said. “If you attack the Sun-entity, you will lose, and the rest of us will be doomed. This is our only chance.”
“I’ll blast you out of the stars before you even get a chance!”
“You could try, but we’re going to be coming out of the Slipstream so hard and fast, I doubt you’ll be successful.” Captain Thrail growled and fumed at Neutrino for several tense moments. An officer leaned in from his left to whisper in his ear. The captain nodded and glared at Neutrino some more.
“This is a mistake.”
“This is our only option.”
“What you’re doing will end with our deaths and the death of our entire system!” Thrail warned. Neutrino felt a sinking doubt creep in, but he pushed it away. He knew he was right.
“Do I have to start counting, Captain? Or will you just do what I asked?” Captain Thrail snarled at him, and some of that fierce composure seemed to fray in his anger.
“Stand down,” Captain Thrail barked to his officers.
“They’re coming to a stop,” Lylia reported. “And so is the Sun-entity.”
“What about the Wrath’s weapons?” Neutrino asked.
“Still hot,” she said.
“Captain?” Neutrino asked. Captain Thrail snarled again, then made a cutting motion under his chin towards someone that Neutrino couldn’t see.
“Weapons are powering down,” Lylia said. Neutrino breathed a sigh of relief.
“Thank you, Captain Thrail.”
“You’ll regret challenging me kid,” he growled, and then the transmission was cut for the second time.
“They’re changing course, heading towards the Central Worlds,” Lylia reported. After a moment she added, shaking her head, “I can’t believe you just did that.” She looked at Neutrino. “That was incredible. And insane!”
“Very impressive,” Darwyth said. “Of course, you know that little Slipstream stunt you threatened never would have worked.” Neutrino shrugged and smiled.
“Maybe not, but he didn’t know that. And I was willing to give it a try anyway. It seems like lately, desperate moves are working out for me.”
The Sun-entity appeared to be waiting patiently for them to return. As they came to a stop, what looked to be the same orb as before, (although who could tell, really?), separated from the rest and approached. Mathius rose and moved to a position near Neutrino, startling him in the process. The boy had been so silent that Neutrino had nearly forgotten about him. Fizz left Mathius’ shoulder and jumped onto Neutrino’s chest.
The orb reentered the cabin of the Kalyaliss. Mathius stood still and allowed it to attach. At the same time, Neutrino disengaged from the ships controls and stood to face it.
“Peace,” the Mathius-entity said. It was unclear if it was a question or a statement.
“I sure hope so,” Neutrino replied. “Can we be at peace with one another?”
“For now. Is you choice,” the Mathius-entity continued, “You stay out, we stay away.”
“Gladly,” Neutrino sighed. He finally felt okay breathing. “Thank you.” It seemed an odd thing to thank someone for agreeing not to destroy your entire race. So much hurt had already been done. He thought of Creet and how he would react to Neutrino thanking the enemy that took his wife. He looked to Lylia to see how she was taking it, but she just stared blankly at her computer screen.
“May I ask you something?” The Mathius-entity didn’t reply, so Neutrino took it as a yes. “What happened to everyone who disappeared?” Neutrino felt more than saw Lylia look up from her monitor.
“Gone,” It said.
“Gone?” Neutrino paused. It wasn’t a very specific answer. “Could you bring them back? I mean, you seem so powerful; do you have the power to return them?”
“Cannot.”
“Cannot? Or will not?” Lylia said, still stifling the raging anger under her skin. The Mathius-entity stared and said nothing.
“What about just one or two people?” Neutrino inquired more gently. He looked over at Lylia again, so strong yet so damaged, and his heart ached. “Like Lylia’s friend maybe? Or Creet’s wife?”
“Cannot,” the Mathius-entity said finally. Obviously It was done discussing it, (if you could call what they had a discussion). Lylia, who was still struggling to hold back tears, shared a moment of sad gratitude with Neutrino before returning to her monitor.
“But you’ve destroyed so much,” Neutrino didn’t want to jeopardize the peace they had just agreed to, but Arnasi was in so much trouble. He couldn’t stop himself from saying, “Even the soil on Arnasi is dead. They’ll have to abandon the planet if they can’t grow anything there.” The Mathius-entity stared a moment more.
“We thank Neutrino. You make peace. You make hope you species. We help now.” In his peripheral vision, Neutrino spotted two orbs moving swiftly away from the collective. The Mathius-entity continued, “They go, fix soil. Cannot bring back the lost, but can strong dirt for grow again. Will grow fast for many seasons.”
“Thank you,” Neutrino was disappointed that they could not bring back the others, but at least the planet would still be habitable. He supposed it was better than nothing.
“We help now. We tell you last thing: not make orange line.”
“We already agreed not to come into your space…” Neutrino asked, confused.
“No, we tell you not make orange line other space. Other out there, danger.” Something worse than the Sun-entity?
“What are you..?”
“Goodbye, Neutrino,” the Mathius-entity interrupted. Apparently it had nothing further to say on the subject.
“Goodbye.” The words were hardly out of his mouth before the orb had detached and begun moving back out into space.
“Lylia,” Neutrino said after watching the Sun-entity slowly start to move away, “Plot a course back to Venthall, please.”
“Aye, Captain,” she smirked, but it didn’t reach her eyes. Neutrino looked around the cabin at his companions. Clearly Darwyth was relieved and Mathius seemed to be as well. He was smiling his knowing smile and Neutrino was pleased to see that the boy appeared to have suffered no damage from his encounter with the Sun-entity. Fizz too, was purr-chirping contentedly on his shoulder, although Neutrino doubted she really understood how much danger they had been in. In fact everyone seemed to be doing surprisingly well, except for Lylia. Neutrino walked over to her and crouched down beside where she sat.
“Are you okay?” was the only thing he could think to say. She continued looking at the monitor without seeing anything, her lower lip still unsure of itself.
“I’ll be fine,” Lylia finally managed to reply, but she still didn’t look at him. Neutrino took her hand from the controls and held it for a moment.
“I’m sorry about Cyrion.”
“Me too,” and then Lylia did look at him briefly, the heat that was consuming her
somewhat cooled, but not forgotten.
Neutrino returned to his position at the front of the cabin, feeling saddened but stronger and more confident than he ever had. He had negotiated peace, miraculously, he had faced down a battleship and saved the entire system; everything he had hoped for had come to pass. It should have been a moment of great joy. And yet, as Neutrino looked out the window at the strange and powerful Sun-entity that was retreating, he couldn’t help imagining what else may lay beyond their borders. Feeling decidedly uneasy about it, Neutrino wondered if the tumor of fear that had been gnawing at the pit of his stomach so well and for so long, would ever have reason to dissolve.
32. Gratitude
For the third time in his life Neutrino was in the conference room of the Central Stream Port. He did not, however, feel like sleeping this time. Instead, he felt rather like a very small bug under the harsh lights of a giant microscope. Renix, Commander Trask, and the entire Senate including Darrignar, were seated around the table, and Neutrino’s only apparent ally was Fizz, who wasn’t doing much more than cowering in his collar. They were all taking turns questioning him about the Sun-entity and the peace he had negotiated. They had already been at it for over two hours and Neutrino was getting hungry and frustrated. Lylia, Darwyth, and Mathius had already finished their interviews and Darwyth had said they would wait for Neutrino outside to go to lunch, but his debriefing was taking much longer than the others had. Neutrino wondered if they were still waiting for him. He desperately wanted to check on Lylia and see how she was coping, now that her sorrow had broken free of its cage.
“I don’t see why this is so difficult to understand,” he complained. “I did what you told me to do. I made contact and negotiated peace. I would think you would just be happy.”
“Well,” Darrignar scoffed, “We didn’t actually think you would do it, much less make a deal that would put such a limit on our expansion plans.”
“What exactly are you saying? You wanted me to make contact but not actually accomplish anything?” Neutrino asked. No one spoke. “You didn’t really think it would work, did you? We were just a stall until your new battleship arrived. You risked our lives for a stall!”
“Now Neutrino, let’s not jump to conclusions,” said Mistress Stalizza, “Of course we are pleased with the work you have done. It is just perturbing to some of us that our plans for expansion have been obstructed. As for the battleship, well, we had to have a back-up plan you know.” Neutrino wanted to say something else, but he noticed Renix giving him a stern look as if to say, ‘Drop it’.
“I think we’ve heard enough from Neutrino for now, agreed?” Stalizza asked. The other members nodded in agreement, all but Darrignar who clearly would have liked nothing better than to toss Neutrino out into space without an air shield. “Well then, Neutrino, the Senate is extremely grateful for the work you have done. Is there anything we can do for you to express our appreciation?”
He was going to say no, but then he had an idea. Would they give it to me? It was worth a try, if ever there was a time to ask it was now.
“I’d like to see my father’s file.” The Senate members shifted nervously, again except for Darrignar. If it were possible he looked even more incensed.
“No,” Darrignar said firmly.
“What he means Neutrino, is that it’s simply not possible,” Stalizza intervened. She must have been Darrignar’s public relations person, at least when he was too mad to be diplomatic. “Those files are classified. Thank you for your service, if there’s nothing else…”
He considered staying. He considered yelling at them. Neutrino wasn’t sure what he would say, but he was angry. Angry at their indifference, angry at their deception, but something in their eyes told him it was time to go, that this conversation was over and anything he could say would only get him in trouble. He was afraid he’d already said too much.
“I just, I want to make sure that I explained the Sun-entity’s warning well enough. I think, well, I think they were trying to help us. They were very serious about a more dangerous threat out there, something we aren’t ready for. And I think we should stop expanding the Slipstream until we know more.” The Senate members smirked and grumbled. It was a rather presumptuous statement for a newly graduated cadet to make to the Senate, but they hadn’t been there. They hadn’t stood face to face with this incredible power and they needed to know how serious it was.
“Thank you, Neutrino,” Stalizza said again. She was one of the few that was not near laughter. Did she believe him? Could she do anything about it? “We will take it into consideration. You’re dismissed.”
Neutrino turned and walked out of the room without so much as a goodbye. His mind busy with concerned thoughts, he wandered down the hall and towards the main entrance to the Central Stream Port. He was so preoccupied that he didn’t even hear the commander calling after him.
“When are you going to start paying attention?” Commander Trask barked at him. Neutrino rolled his eyes; he was through being talked down to.
“What do you want?” The commander looked at him with an expression that Neutrino couldn’t quite read.
“I just wanted to say… well, I knew you had it in you, Neutrino,” Commander Trask paused. “You’ve finally lived up to your name.”
“As an insignificant subatomic particle?” Neutrino asked, confused.
“No,” Commander Trask sneered, “That’s not why I choose that call sign for you. A neutrino may be small, but it is hardly insignificant. And neutrinos travel at or near light speed. I assumed you would be fast too.” It seemed like he wanted to say something else, but didn’t. Instead, he just handed Neutrino a folded up piece of paper and strode away.
Neutrino watched him go, confused but pleased. He unfolded the paper to reveal a hastily written note with no signature.
Wait for me. Arboretum.
Was it from the commander? Why not just talk to him now?
No, this handwriting is too neat. Neutrino chuckled to himself. The commander’s dismal handwriting had been the cause for many confused orders among the cadets. There was no way that this elegant scrawl belonged to him. But if the commander was just the messenger, then who wrote the note?
Neutrino had to consider his response carefully. Knowing what he did now about his father, it was hard not to be afraid of potential consequences for displeasing the Senate. Was this a trap? Should he run instead? The Arboretum was a fairly open space located just beyond the seldom used entrance five, however, the shade of the trees did create plenty of pockets somewhat concealed from prying eyes. Neutrino shook his head. It seemed unlikely that they would go to the trouble of setting a trap out there when they already had him inside, they could have just detained him. He hated to make the others wait for him longer, but his curiosity would not be deterred.
I’m not living in the dark anymore.
It took Neutrino several minutes to make his way back through the CSP complex to the Arboretum. When he arrived it appeared to be more or less deserted. Neutrino sat down on a bench nearest to the entrance to wait for his mysterious note writer.
Hungry and tired, he looked around at the nearby flora and fauna without really seeing anything until he noticed a red and purple flower that looked vaguely familiar. Finding the information plaque among a group of blue-yellow plants and trees that surrounded the flower, he read, ‘Species indigenous to Arnasi’. So that’s what Arnasi looked like with plants, Neutrino mused. The empty streets, silent but for the ylmax, came flooding back into his mind, and he remembered the friend that had saved his life. He wondered how Creet was doing, if he was okay and mostly Neutrino just hoped he would get the chance to see him again as he had promised.
It seemed so strange to use that word, ‘friend’. Neutrino had been without one for so long and now… Now he felt that there were at least four of them plus one Nilfrit. It was a strange sort of happy terror inside of him, hardly daring to believe all that had changed. He reached up and touched Fizz’
s not fur, while the little one nestled more closely to his neck. Neutrino’s thoughts were interrupted when the door to the Academy opened and three members of the Senate exited, one of whom was Stalizza.
“Neutrino,” she said brightly, “What are you still doing here? I would have thought you’d be long gone by now. Don’t you have some celebrating and a well-deserved rest on the schedule?”
“Celebrating?”
“Of course! Your mission was a success, after all.” Stalizza was cheery and relaxed, as though she was leaving a Refreshing Center instead of the intense meeting which had just taken place. Neutrino hoped she would be on her way soon, but she didn’t seem to be in much of a hurry. “I imagine your mother must be very pleased.”
“I guess so. I’m on my way to meet her soon.” Neutrino had contacted his mother briefly when they arrived, just to tell her he was back and would be bringing a few friends around for lunch. His stomach rumbled angrily at the thought. The other two members of the Senate, Orin and Thranx, shifted anxiously. Apparently they were hungry as well. Stalizza didn’t seem to notice.
“How is your mother? It’s been ages since I’ve seen her.”
“Oh, she’s fine.” How long was this going to take? Neutrino surreptitiously scanned the vicinity, trying to determine if his note writer had entered the Arboretum but was afraid to approach. He saw no one.
“Does she still play Rizrat? Kalya was always good at games of chance,” Stalizza continued not minding Neutrino’s extremely short responses or her comrades’ short patience.
“Stalizza, I’m sorry to interrupt,” Thranx finally said, “But we’re going to be late for our luncheon if we don’t leave soon.”
“Oh, well, why don’t you two go along without me? I’ll be along in a minute when we’ve finished catching up.”
“Very well,” Thranx agreed, “Neutrino.” He nodded and mumbled something that sounded like, ‘well done’. Orin didn’t even acknowledge him. Stalizza laced her arm through the crook of Neutrino’s elbow and began leading him down one of the paths.
Slipstream Messenger (Neutrino Book 1) Page 19
