by Viola Grace
The women nodded, and they all ran in different directions. Xaia paused and looked to Lameera. “You are going to get them to a safe site?”
“They are going to remain topside. Most of the Nine don’t like our caves.”
“It’s a good thing that we are turning the tunnels into hallways then.” Xaia nodded. She turned and found the back of Ai’s head. “Right. I am heading to my bot. I look forward to properly meeting my ancestors later.”
Xaia ran across the silt and sand, heading for her bot. Ai met her half way and scooped her up, setting her up against his chest and inviting her into the hatch.
She gave the briefing as the tendrils made contact with her neck. “We are going to stand at five hundred metres from centre, and we will use all of the bots’ scans to watch it rise. If we see it wobbling, we move in and hold it as it rises, not pushing, but not letting it go off true.”
Hima asked, “True?”
“Straight up and down. The walls will be straight.” Xaia grinned.
She had a thought. “Did we ever get rid of the Tokkel in the tunnel?”
Duel said, “Nope.”
Xaia hissed. “Please, send Lameera a message that we want those guys out of there. That tunnel is going to get filled with a support.”
A moment passed, and Duel piped up, “She wants to know if we can deal with it. She suggests sending them toward the first city and telling them to fix the gates.”
Hima piped up. “I can do it. I look way scarier than the rest of you.”
Duel murmured, “She isn’t wrong.”
Xaia sighed. “Fine. Go. Duel, you go, too. You have to translate.”
“Aw. Right. Forgot about that.”
The two bots headed out and walked in long strides to the defunct mine.
* * * *
Duel watched from her perch on Kab’s foot as the Tokkel grabbed the rations that they had been given, the water, and they headed to the new city with the order to fix the door of the outer city.
“Elder Lameera, the Tokkel are clear of the hot zone. We are good to go.”
“Excellent. Seven minutes and we rise. All stations are reporting secure, and our population is nervous but excited.”
Duel patted Kab’s foot. “I guess we should get back to our stations.”
Hima grinned as she was scooped up by Len and disappeared as he lifted her.
Kab’s waiting palm was Duel’s ride back into the safety of his command deck.
When she settled into the cradle, Kab asked her, “Do you mind the change?”
“No. I am an organic being. Change is part of life. It did hurt like hell though, just mentioning it.”
He chuckled, and when she had them back in position, there were only two minutes left in the count down.
* * * *
The rising was something that was taught to all little girls in the crèche. They were told about the hidden city and its rise into the sun where the wind could make power and the sun could grow plants directly instead of via the light tubes.
Lido watched as the ground trembled. The bots were ready to help, but if the myths were true, the hidden city could rise without any intervention.
“Cio, are you recording this?”
“Of course. This is going to become part of your history.”
Lido chuckled. “A lot of things that were part of our history have reared up to bite us in the ass.”
“This is true.”
She grinned and watched as the first cracks appeared along the edge of the subsoil city. It slowly began to lift, and Lido stood by to catch it if necessary.
At first, it rose to knee height, and then, it paused. Checks with the scanners showed that it was right on track. There was a two-minute pause, and then, the second set of elevators pushed upward, and the city rose another forty feet.
The final push gave the central portion of the city a height of one hundred feet, and then, the communication crystals that had managed to reach space from deep inside the ground rose in a towering cluster with the central crystal gleaming bright crimson in the late afternoon sun.
The city set out its supports, and the tendrils snapped downward to dig into the soil and rock. Lido recognized it as the same tech that had made the bridge over the chasm.
Lido waited, and soon, she got the signal from Duel. “Pilots, the city is stable. We are off duty until called upon. Park your bots.”
Lido looked around, and she found the cluster of sixty life signs that were watching over the city from the ridge behind it.
She turned Cio around to face the open expanse of Hera, and she smiled. “This is a better position than guarding a wrecked city.”
“It is a much better position. Will you continue to remain in contact with me?”
She got out of the cradle with a groan. “Of course, I will. I am your pilot. I am going to make sure that you get the best of maintenance, and I will oversee everything.”
Lido cocked her head. “If you mean via headset, I didn’t take it off, they took it off. How did I manage the connection with you anyway?”
He paused and then answered, “That was part of what the nanites needed to build. You have a living jack now, with its own defense system.”
“Ah. Yes, they told me about that. The fact that I can now feel the differences in steel to a micron is a little disturbing as well. Ah, well. Life is change. I will be in touch in the next few days. Who knows? We may start exploration of our world and that is definitely a job for a bot.”
Cio chuckled. “I would heartily agree.”
He opened the hatch and bent to lower her to the ground, setting her gently on her feet. “Well done, Pilot Lido.”
“Well done, bot Cio. Get some rest.”
He slowly straightened and then resumed his impassive look toward the distant horizon.
Lido turned toward the city and went about trying to find a door to this new world.
Chapter Eight
Kabriuk watched Jeanell begin to shift and twist in the water. Down below, Duel rose and stood in front of the tank. Duel pointed up, and Jeanell took the hint, kicking her feet upward in a frantic effort to get out of the fluid.
Kabriuk leaned in and caught her hands, hauling her up and to the top of the tank. Duel shoved him aside as she used her fist on Jeanell’s back in a specific rhythm, and his wife began to vomit the fluid that she had been floating in.
Duel smiled at him, and she said, “There are clothes for her at the base of the tank. Keep her warm and let her get the rest of that fluid out.”
Jeanell coughed violently, and then, her breathing eased.
“Ah, there it goes.”
Kabriuk pulled Jeanell to him, and finally, Duel saw the moment that had started her line. The woman looked up at her husband, and she smiled a bright smile. “We made it.”
The hacking of other humans around the room broke the moment. Duel listened, located, and ran from one new arrival to the next, thumping them clear of the fluid.
Around the room, she could hear the others working on the ancestors, and soon, the last woman had been woken and was breathing on her own.
She returned to Jeanell and Kabriuk, nodding to the woman. “It is good to see you up and moving.”
Jeanell looked at her. “Are you one of mine?”
“I am. I am Duel Aka, pilot of Kab, miner and death keeper.”
Jeanell leaned against her husband, her tunic and trousers a pretty blue that mimicked his current colouration. “I am so proud of you. You found us.”
Duel blushed. “Yes, well. First, we found him, but now, I realize we had to, or we couldn’t have woken you.”
Jeanell smiled. “That was the idea. If he didn’t survive, I didn’t want to be there, and if he was awake, the valley was going to ask questions.”
“You are very lucky that the Tokkel attacked again.”
The damp woman became alarmed. “They are back?”
“We sent them packing. Well, most of them. There were casualties.”
Jeanell frowned. “How many did you lose?”
“Oh. Us? None. They lost a few hundred. We didn’t know that they exploded like that until one of the Nine told us.”
Around them, the couples were gathering. Some of the males just held their mates in their arms. The women didn’t seem to mind.
Duel nodded. “We should get topside. There are things brewing that we don’t want to be here for.”
Nyvett kept looking at Aikoro and Alexandra. “What things?”
“They are preparing the rising coils. This place is going to be buried in rubble in a few hours.”
Duel beckoned them. “So, now the only thing is what kind of accommodations in Bot City do you want?”
Kabriuk murmured, “I think we would rather be out in the open air. We have been underground for hundreds of years, after all.”
Duel nodded. “I will send a request to Xaia. She will get to work on a design for housing. You can tweak it, but there are some basics that can be accommodated until you make something permanent.”
* * * *
Duel blinked and pulled herself out of her memory. The new house, complete with courtyard, was being born out of the local materials, and Kabriuk and Jeanell were delighted.
Across the expanse of the woods near the sea, the nanite bombs were going off at the carefully chosen sites. Each couple had chosen where they wanted their home and what they wanted in the designs. It had caused Xaia a few headaches, but the thirty homes had been finalized, and each couple had taken the timed nanite charge and placed it in the centre of their site before they set it off and left the area to watch from safety.
Duel watched as Kabriuk swept Jeanell off her feet and carried her into the courtyard and then their home.
“Well, I suppose I am no longer needed here.”
She walked for half an hour and checked on the gardeners making the grotto. Lido was happily working with her hands covered in dirt. Plants were stacked everywhere, but as the gardeners worked, the logic of the placements became understandable.
“Hey, Lido, how is it going?”
Lido had a smear of dirt on one cheek. “The grotto should be ready for the Nine to formalize their vows in two or three days. The water is an underground spring that we are going to work with tomorrow.”
Duel nodded. “I have the crystal and the stone being extracted right now. Three days and it will all be cut and in place. Do you think it is that important?”
Lido paused. “My cousin spent every work credit she had on her bonding celebrations. For some, it means that the union is official. With the Nine, I think there is a biochemical reaction. All I know is that Cio insists that this is what they need, and so does Ciotan.”
Duel smiled. “They are all really happy.”
“They are. I think that it is a wonderful thing that this would come out of such a hostile situation.”
Duel nodded. “Right. Good way of looking at it. I am going to check on that crystal.”
Lido chuckled. “Excellent. I am getting back into the mud. It has only been days, but I really missed this.”
She dove over and dug around in the soil, happy sounds coming out of her lips as one plant after another found its forever home at her hands.
Duel grinned. She walked up to Kab’s left leg, and the door opened. Once inside, she got in place, and then, she whistled sharply. Two revs of the engine and the front of his foot elevated and she was driving her hover cycle up the ramp and over the landscape.
Now that the urgency was over, there was fun to be had with the bots. Duel revved the throttle and gunned the engine across the grass toward the mine. She needed to grab her housewarming gift, and then, there might be time for some random exploring. The pilots were responsible for the security of the new city now. You had to know what was out there.
Epilogue
Duel was working the soil with Kabriuk and Jeanell. He was now fully dark blue and terrifying, a suitable mate for the woman who had enough nerve to tell him to shut up and sit down. It was so cute to watch him with his mate.
Jeanell huffed and she paused. “Why can’t I make a machine to do this again?”
Duel laughed. “Because your first harvest has to be with your own hands. Don’t worry. You can still eat the rations or the food that we bring to you.”
“You are very flippant with your elders.”
Duel laughed. “You are elder to everyone on this planet.”
Kabriuk laughed.
“Well, except for him. He’s much older than you are.” Duel leaned on her hoe and grinned.
Kabriuk swept his foot out and knocked her hoe out from under her. She caught herself and stood upright again. “Classy.”
“Duel. We have a signal.” Lameera’s voice was in her thoughts.
She paused and smiled slightly. “What kind of signal?”
“The Nine have arrived.”
She looked to Kabriuk. “The Nine have arrived?”
He tensed and looked across the fields where the other members of the Aka clan were helping to put in Jeanell’s first crop. It was a rite of passage with the clan, just as locating and digging out a specific mineral was. Between them and the new Bot City, other clans were treating their elders to the same assignment of labour.
“I need to address our clan.” Kabriuk was suddenly tense.
Duel raised her fingers to her mouth, and she let out a piercing whistle. Everyone immediately dropped their garden implements and came in. “You have your clan. I can run the words through Kab’s speakers.”
“Please.”
Kab shuffled closer and crouched down.
Kabriuk stood up straight. “Ladies of the Aka clan. We are here on an exciting day. The Nine have just sent a signal that they are on the approach. This is wonderful news for our worlds to communicate. However, the Nine have certain restrictions when it comes to behaviour.”
He cleared his throat. “The birth rate is skewed toward the males, which is why we are so excited to have so many daughters and granddaughters. But, when a male meets a compatible female, they confirm the connection with touch.”
He wrinkled his nose. “Unless you wish to begin mating rituals with the members of the ship, I would recommend that you not come into physical contact with them. Don’t engage in the casual touching that we can engage in here. It will start a chemical reaction in you and your prospective mate. It is a hard thing to define.”
Duel smiled. “You are doing well. Keep going.”
He glared at her. “It is unlikely for you to be brought to the ship, but if you do, keep your elbows in and your gloves on.”
Duel laughed.
She asked him, “Are you excited to see your people again?”
“Jeanell is my people. You are my people. They are my species, so yes, I would like to see if any evolution has taken form in the last two hundred years.”
Duel looked at her relative, and then, she shook her head. “So, don’t touch them and don’t get close enough for them to touch me. It sounds like the rules for the city.”
Kabriuk grinned. “I am going to enjoy seeing you interact with them. I doubt that they have run across anything similar to the Herans in their lifetime.”
Duel smirked. “Right. Let’s finish sewing Jeanell’s garden, and then, I will bring you back to Bot City.”
Kabriuk blinked. “They are that close?”
“They are. By the time we get you and Jeanell to the city, they will be in visual communication range. We are trying to gather as many of the Nine as we can for the first contact.”
He laughed. “To prove that you didn’t destroy us?”
“Something like that.”
Jeanell put her hand on Kabriuk’s arm. “We will pack a bag.be happy to come along. Are we going by bot or by foot?”
Duel grinned. “Bot, of course. Haven’t you had enough dirt
today?”
Kabriuk launched his hoe into the forest beyond. “Let’s go.”
Nyvett stood with Iffendro and Ladra. The Nine ship was in orbit, and this was going to be the first contact. The other members of the Nine and at least one member of their family was with them in the grand council room.
Lameera was standing by Diferno and Adreda.
Nyvett watched as Lameera straightened her shoulders and prepared to answer the call.
“Okay. Here we go.”
The wide screen took up one entire wall of the grand council room. The com officer in the corner activated it, and as it flickered to life, they got their first look at the interior of a Nine vessel.
There was a group of ten people standing in their meeting room, and Nyvett stared in shock at the one who stood out.
The woman in question stepped forward to look at the screen. She whispered, “Humans?”
Nyvett inclined her head with a wink.
Lameera answered. “Greetings, visitors of the Nine. We are the people of Hera, descendants of your people and Terran colonists. I am Lameera Otta, and I am the elder in charge.”
The Wilding member of the Nine came forward. “Terran descendants? Are you Gaian?”
Lameera took a deep breath. “The Gaians were only one colony cluster. There were others. We are one of them. We entered the portal moments behind the Gaians, but we were spun back in time and landed here. One hundred years later, we met members of the Nine, just a scant handful of years before the Tokkel came to seek empty spaces.”
As arranged, Kabriuk stepped forward.
Nyvett smiled as she saw the Wilding member looking into his records and comparing them with the image of Kabriuk.
“Commander Kabriuk Kenfor.”
Kabriuk smiled. “I see you have made captain, cousin. It only took two hundred years.”
“I really want to hug you.”
Kabriuk looked to Lameera. She flicked her hand opened twice. “Come down, you can bring ten people with you.”
The captain paused. “Elder Lameera, you are that unafraid?”
