by Amy DuBoff
“Why am I not surprised?” She rose from her desk and smoothed the jacket of her dark blue pantsuit as she walked over to meet Ryan in the center of the room. “I’m sure you made an excellent selection.”
“And I’m also sure it would have been just fine no matter which one we picked.” He gave her a light kiss.
“Come, now, that’s no way to talk about your future company!” she jested. “Picking your robotic minions is a very important business decision.”
“It’s not mine yet. That’ll still have to be negotiated.” He sat down in a chair across the desk from her as she returned to her seat.
“It’ll happen,” she assured him.
“I guess we’ll know soon enough.”
Raena perked up. “Wait, you have an update?”
“Your grandfather should be here any minute.”
Right on cue, there was another rap on the door and Cris poked his head in. “Is this a good time?” he asked Raena.
“Sure is. I’ve just been informed there might be news,” Raena replied.
“Indeed.” Cris swung the door open the rest of the way and Kate followed him inside.
“Hi, pull up a chair,” Raena greeted, gesturing to the extra seating around a small conference table in the corner by the window.
Her grandparents gathered around her desk next to Ryan, looking somewhat more drained than their typical energetic demeanors.
“So, what’s the news?” Raena prompted.
“I just had an interesting chat with my brother,” Kate said. “He heard that Byron Monsari might be retiring early.”
“That’s good, right?” Ryan said. “He publicly detests people with abilities.”
“Unfortunately, not good news,” Cris replied. “He may detest us, but his successor, Celine, loathes, abhors—”
“I’m not sure if those words really have a hierarchy on a hate scale,” Raena cut in.
“Well, whatever it is, it’s worse,” Cris concluded. “Byron is in the ‘avoid us whenever possible’ category and Celine is ‘execute them all for being abominations’.”
Raena scowled. “People like that really exist?”
“They are few in number but mighty in conviction,” Kate said with a sigh. “Either way, if we want any chance of a unanimous vote, we should try before Byron leaves office.”
“Even with all our evidence, you think Celine would still vote in favor of the Priesthood?” Ryan asked.
Kate scoffed. “Considering that the Priesthood’s interventions, regardless of the underlying motivations, resulted in fewer people with abilities—she’d probably laud them and ask for more.”
“Except the High Priests themselves have abilities and want to grow that power,” Raena objected.
“Hypocrites turn a blind eye when it suits them,” Cris said. “This wouldn’t be the first time.”
Raena groaned. “Fair enough. So, what’s left to do?”
“We’ve laid all the groundwork we can with the other High Dynasties,” Kate said. “The biggest outstanding item is restoring Dainetris’ voting rights.”
“Meeting with the citizenship council,” Ryan supplied.
Cris nodded. “We simultaneously present a case for restoring the Dainetris name and joining the Dynasty with Sietinen.”
What a terribly romantic way to think about getting married. Raena’s gaze flitted between her grandparents and Ryan. “I take it we’re talking about a private, civil ceremony rather than a big party?”
“The more secretive, the better,” Cris replied. “Once we move ahead, things are going to progress very quickly.”
“You ready to get hitched?” Raena asked Ryan privately.
“I have been for a long time,” he replied. “It feels like it happened years ago.”
“All right, we’re ready when you are,” Raena acknowledged.
“Okay,” Cris agreed. “I’ll make the final arrangements.”
* * *
Jason slipped out of the study room a minute after Tiff. It wasn’t the most becoming for two Junior Agents—especially members of the Primus Elites—to be sneaking around for random hookups, but over the last four years, either no one had noticed or they simply didn’t care.
The relationship was exactly what Jason had hoped to find—a companion to help release the tensions of a difficult training day without emotional entanglements to cloud his judgment. He cared about her, certainly, but in the same way he regarded all his closest friends in the TSS. She felt the same way, as far as he could tell, and so what had begun as a fling had turned into an ongoing arrangement. They’d both spent time with other people in the first year or so of their relationship, but they kept coming back to each other. Now, while they were still free to see others if they wished, Jason was far too busy with training to take an interest in anyone else.
He returned to the Primus Elite quarters at a slow pace, providing ample time for Tiff to get settled in before he arrived. While he strolled, he took the opportunity to run through his to-do list for the evening, including an update on the dimensional tear for his father.
Over the years, they’d developed a system to measure the size of the tear to track its progression. Fortunately, the initial expanse rate his father had observed hadn’t continued, and it was still small enough to not pose an imminent threat beyond its obvious appeal to the Priesthood. TSS guards posted around the rift would make sure no one could get close enough to gain access.
With his task list mentally organized, Jason closed the final distance to his quarters and palmed open the door. Inside, half a dozen of the Primus Elites were watching a video on the main viewscreen. Tiff was perched on the arm of one of the couches chatting with Adaline, and she bobbed her head in acknowledgment as he entered.
“Hey,” Leon greeted from the couch. “Have you checked your email in the last half-hour?”
“No, why?” Jason replied.
“Better look.” His friend returned his attention to the video.
Curious, Jason hurried through the common area to his bedroom.
Ned was in the room, and he looked up with excitement from his tablet when Jason appeared in the doorway. “We’re foking graduating!”
“We are?” Jason pulled out his handheld from his pocket as he sat down on the foot of his bed.
There was a message from the Lead Agent addressed to the Primus Elites as a group that they had become eligible for graduation and would soon complete formal CR testing.
“This doesn’t make sense.” Jason shook his head. “What about internships?”
Ned shrugged. “Beats me, but I won’t complain.”
Jason opened a chat feed with his father via his handheld. “Graduating? Seriously?” he wrote.
A reply came back several seconds later, “If you want to chat, come to my office.”
“On my way,” he wrote back and stood up. “I’ll be back in a few,” he told Ned while heading back toward the door.
“Getting the inside scoop?” Ned asked.
“What good are perks if you never use them?” Jason smiled.
Tiff raised a questioning eyebrow as Jason walked back through the common area but said nothing.
He took the elevator up to Level 1 and traversed the familiar hall to his father’s office.
The door was ajar when he arrived and Jason let himself in. “So, what’s the deal?” He closed the door behind him.
Wil rose from his desk and walked around it to lean against the front. He crossed his arms. “In short, we’re out of time.”
“Things are ready on Tararia?”
“Almost,” Wil acknowledged. “A matter of weeks, if that.”
Jason released a long breath. “Okay then.”
His father nodded. “This means it’s probably time for you to have that overdue chat with the Aesir.”
“I guess it is.”
“Are you ready?”
“Yeah.” Jason smiled. “Let’s do this.”
CHAPTER 13
>
“Jason, it’s time.”
His father’s words pulled Jason from his reverie in the TSS spaceport above the moon. The Aesir had arrived and his test was about to commence.
“I’ll come with you,” Wil offered again.
Next to him, his mother’s face was lined with concern, but Jason could tell she already knew his answer wasn’t going to change.
“Like I said before, you need to finish getting everything ready here,” Jason insisted. I’ll finally get to see the Aesir face-to-face. Years of preparation and anticipation for just a few hours with them…
His father wrapped him in a warm embrace. “See you soon.”
As soon as he was released, his mother hugged him. “We’re anxious to hear about what you see. We’ll be ready to act.”
“Save me some dinner,” Jason said with a smile, giving them a wave while he turned to walk down the concourse.
His smile faded as he caught sight of the Aesir ship pulling into docking position, his expression transforming to serene contentedness. Even from a distance, he could sense the soothing energy of the vessel his sister and father had spoken about. It resonated with him and set him at ease.
“Join us,” a chorus of voices sounded in his mind. Their power struck him, but they were also welcoming. “We have been waiting for you.”
More excited than nervous, Jason ascended the gangway as soon as the ship had docked and its side hatch was open. A figure robed in black was waiting for him at the entry portal.
“Hello, Jason Sietinen. I am Dahl,” the robed man greeted, inclining his head. “At last we meet.”
“I wished to come when you tested my sister,” Jason replied.
“The time had not yet come for your vision,” Dahl replied. “We hope you will now be able to guide us in what must be done.”
“I hope so, too.” Jason swallowed. No pressure—just everyone counting on me.
“You will only see what is written in the pattern,” Dahl stated. “If it was not meant to be seen, then it won’t be.”
“And if I see nothing?”
Dahl hesitated. “Then we will take that as it comes.”
The Oracle led Jason through the ship to an observation room that matched his sister’s description. The transparent, curved walls and floor made Jason feel like he was walking amongst the stars, though after experiencing astral projection, it was still a far cry from the real thing.
Half a dozen other Oracles were already in the observation room, standing in a semi-circle. Jason bowed his head in greeting, but the robed figures didn’t acknowledge the gesture, their faces hidden in the shadows of their hoods.
A vibration underfoot was the only warning before the view outside the window transformed into the ethereal blue-green light of subspace. Jason watched the swirling colors while trying to study the Aesir. The entire transit time, they remained motionless and impassive. Dahl seemed calm and unworried, so Jason took it as a good sign that everything was going to plan.
After fifteen minutes, the Aesir ship dropped out of subspace. Looming outside the ship was a dark maw in the surrounding starscape. The nexus.
It was every bit as awe-inspiring as Raena had described. He felt its pull—drawing him to see his truth that must be shared.
“You are aware of the procedure,” Dahl stated, breaking the silence. “Proceed when ready.”
Jason took a deep breath and cleared his mind. This is easy. I’ve done it hundreds of times.
He stared into the black maw and released his consciousness from himself, keeping a single thread connected to his physical form. The blackness surrounded him. He was a single spark within the void.
Light extended from him, illuminating the silvery threads underlying the fabric of reality. The threads wove through one another and shivered as energy coursed through them.
Jason zoomed outward to gain a better vantage of his surroundings, revealing that the nexus was near the core of his home galaxy. A presence he identified as the Aesir has been woven into the energy pattern in that place, though their signature was still new compared to the ancient fabric itself. Yet, it fit—there was a path for their future.
As he took in the sight, Jason felt content. Things were as they should be.
However, a chill began to seep throughout his being. He looked to the distant horizon along the threads of the energy network and saw a darkness creeping forth. It twisted and corrupted the threads as it advanced, breaking down all that was peaceful and good. Nothing could stop it, and it would all happen too quickly for anyone to act.
Jason tried to trace the darkness back to its source. He strained, searching, but there was no origin in sight.
Then, it came into focus. The darkness was seeping through the dimensional tear—but not just from the tear, corruption had also begun to overtake the Aesir’s position that had once been in balance.
No, but the Priesthood are the enemy! Jason’s heart raced in his body somewhere far away. We need the Aesir to help us. They can’t be a threat, too!
The darkness continued to advance, consuming everything in its path. Worlds along the thickest corridors of the energy network disintegrated, energy tendrils dissolving into nothingness as the pattern was undone. The universe was dying.
Jason searched for the meaning in his vision. If the Aesir are allowed access to the dimensional tear, will that lead to all our destruction?
That didn’t make any sense. They had lived in such harmony, had such respect. And moreover, granting them access to the tear was the key condition for gaining their help to take down the Priesthood.
There has to be another way. Jason yearned for an alternative, willing some alternate path to emerge.
The vision faded into darkness yet again.
Silvery tendrils illuminated in the darkness. Again, he saw the Aesir in harmony, but this time, there was another presence on the horizon. The tear remained, but it was controlled. A sentry guarded it. The sentry seemed so familiar, but Jason couldn’t place an identity.
The order and natural integration extended beyond the Aesir’s realm to the rest of the Taran worlds. Energy channels between even the outer colonies had been strengthened into lasting connections between the worlds. Tarans were unified and prosperous.
Unlike the previous vision that had a sense of imminent danger and urgency, this new vision was of a far future—what could be if all the right actions were taken.
How do we make this future? The outcome was everything Jason hoped to achieve. To have the result placed before him without knowing the means to reach it was torturous. He clawed at the vision, trying to rip it apart and see what lie underneath.
The vision distorted like a reflection on the surface of a pond as he stripped through the layers to find answers. How do we take out the Priesthood? Where will they attack us? We need details for the here and now!
No hidden truth was buried beneath the vision—only a vague pattern of the interlocking energy conduits. The threads were meaningless to his eye and he cried out silently in his mind with frustration. I’ve failed… I haven’t seen what we need.
Jason returned to his physical body, leaving behind the nexus and its cryptic secrets. He’d need to find another way to discover the path ahead.
Dahl and the other Oracles were watching him expectantly when Jason opened his eyes.
“What did you see?” Dahl asked.
Jason’s heart skipped a beat. I can’t trust them. I can’t say anything. “Take me home,” he demanded. “I finished your test, I made it out. You can’t keep me here.”
“Why do you now fear us?” questioned Dahl.
Jason tried to suppress his thoughts, but the vision was too raw on the surface of his mind. “You make your intentions sound so honorable, but you crave power just like anyone else.”
Dahl raised his eyebrows with surprise. “None have spoken about the Aesir in such a manner.”
“I have a habit of calling things like I see them,” Jason replied. Any
one is tempted by power. There is no pure intent.
“And is this your own conclusion or something the nexus revealed?”
“A little of both.”
“This perceived truth makes you wary. Why?”
“I know my father had an agreement with you,” Jason said. “I’m not sure that was the right call.”
“You now want to change the terms?”
Jason stared the Oracle in the eyes. “I want what’s best for the Taran civilization as a whole. I don’t know you, so I can’t trust you.”
“I have lived sixty of your lifetimes. Do you question that wisdom?”
“Age doesn’t automatically make you wise. You’ve hoarded technology and hidden away in a rift. Now you seek to possess an energy source that you claim is too powerful for the Priesthood to get their hands on—but it’s totally okay if you do? Yeah, I’m going to be a little skeptical.”
The slightest smile touched Dahl’s thin lips. “This gives us much to reflect on.”
“That’s all you have to say?”
“Perhaps I am too old and my mind moves slowly,” Dahl replied. “I will withhold comment until I know the right words.”
With that, Dahl and the other Oracles spun around and left Jason alone in the observation room.
They’re just going to leave me in here? He had a momentary flash of concern that there was a hidden airlock in the room, but then he felt the telltale vibration of a jump initiating and the vessel slipped into subspace.
He kept an eye on the door throughout the jump in case one of the Oracles returned, but there was no sign of movement.
The ship dropped back into normal space after fifteen minutes and maneuvered into docking position with the TSS spaceport. As soon as a shudder ran through the ship, indicating the docking clamps were in place, a chorus of voices in Jason’ mind finally broke the silence.
“You are home. Leave us.”
He stood his ground. “I shouldn’t doubt you,” he replied. “We need to work together.”
