Icharus_ARC Series

by Renee Sebastian

  “What do you think they meant by cryptic messages?” I asked.

  “I don’t know, but I don’t think it was sent by the Overseers. They aren’t even bothering to land on Icharus to look for her, why would they land on a nearby moon?”

  “To carry out their dag-by-dag operations of destroying our planet.”

  “I imagine since you’ve been on foot, you missed the last Council transmission,” he told me.

  “What was it?” Kore asked.

  "They are going to push our planet into Aka if you aren't handed over to the Overseers before the end of this dag," Malik told us.

  “How?”

  “Some large vessels have entered the system, presumably towships and yes, they can do it.”

  "Frack it." I leaned back against a rock and huffed out a breath. I looked at Kore to see how she was processing this information. When she noticed I was looking at her, she said, "I will turn myself over to them."

  Malik clicked his tongue and said, “You will do no such thing. We Aokians have worked hard to be as free from Senja and Kinnopolis’s influence as possible, while still participating in the union. I don’t know why they want you, but if they do, then that is as good a reason for me to keep them from getting you… but why do they want you? That is the real question.”

  “She’s a hybrid,” I told him.

  “Shinka.” It was a statement, rather than a question.

  “Not Shinka. She is more than that.”

  I saw the space between his eyes crinkle in the dim light, and then he asked, “What do you mean by that?”

  “She is better than us in many ways, but she appears to not have any emotions.”

  He walked right up to her, picked up her hand and examined it. After a moment he dropped it and went nose to nose with her, staring intensely into her eyes. She bore it all without flinching. He finally said, "Are you sure she is not artificial?"

  “What do you mean when you say artificial?” she asked Malik.

  He stepped away and stared at me, unwilling to explain. I finally said, "He wants to know if you are an organic, carbon-based life form, and not one made exclusively of wires and chips." Then I answered him and said, "Nage did not say one way or the other to me, but I can say she has blood." But whether there was something unusual in it, Nage did not tell me.

  “If she is not human, I can’t get her off world. My transport license has been restricted,” Malik told us.

  “Restricted? When has that ever stopped you before?

  His countenance took on a conspirator aspect, and he replied, “Good times, you and I have had.”

  “With the planet about to be murdered, one more ship should not be a problem. Everyone is bound to be flooding the space checkpoints with every homemade, pieced together, hunk-of-junk spaceships. Can you get us to Kahel or not?”

  "I can get you to Sepia, and after that, you are on your own."

  I frowned but nodded my head all the same as I thanked him.

  He checked a device in his hands, and when it did not show him the numbers that he wanted, he hit it a few times with his hand and said, "I wonder if the rad storm has passed?"

  “It has, at least to acceptable levels,” she answered. For us lingered unspoken in my mind.

  Malik looked over at me, and I shrugged my shoulders as I replied, “If she says it has, then it has.”

  His lips pressed into a thin line as he looked her over one more time, and then he said, "Come on, I have an LTV, a few clicks away." He got up and moved the slab out of the way. We followed him into a local transport vehicle. I glanced up at Aka again, wondering when the orange light would melt Icharus into flame and ash.

  • ѻ ● Ѻ • ○ ☼

  The ride back to Tanah, where Malik and I grew up was bittersweet. Koda had left annos ago for an Ostrovo assignment. Malik had not heard from him since. I watched the lichen-covered rocks paint the landscape in darkened hues of reds, greens, and blacks, in hopes of absorbing whatever they could of the sunlight, while still surviving rad storms and scorching heat during solar flares. I thought that the next time I would see them I would be returning for funeral rites, and yet, here I was thankful I could once again see the salt flats or the ancient trails where people crossed the vast expanses to visit friends.

  Kore, as usual, was impassive in her expression as she looked across the lonely stretch of land. Sensing my stare, she turned and asked, “How does his area receive their water shares?”

  “There are long pipes that run underground to water agencies. People go there for their rations and then return to their homes with them.”

  “They carry their water?”

  Malik said, “Unless they get a special permit to lay their own pipes underground. There are not enough resources for Kinnopolis to do it for them.”

  “In Malik’s case, he petitioned and was approved to get a small diameter pipe,” I told her. “I’m sure it didn’t hurt that he paid for it too.”

  “Why did they approve it?”

  “He was rewarded for being so productive in producing Helium-3.”

  “Helium-3?”

  “We Aokians like to call it the triple hurt,” Malik told her with an evil grin.

  “It’s what we use for energy.”

  I would have told her more, but Malik had slowed the vehicle and said, “We are at the check-point. We are about to find out if she is biological.”

  “I can vouch for that.” At least there was a component of her that was. “I was able to sneak her through the last checkpoint as an animal.”

  “Well, we’ll see if it will work again.”

  I watched the station house grow larger, its black frame, opaque and dead, in a land desperate to hold onto life. This one had a magnetic wand that when you passed under it, it would read the implants embedded along our spinal cords and the iron quantities in our blood to determine who and what we were. Neither Kore nor I had an implant anymore, so this was going to be interesting.

  “That’s disconcerting,” I heard Malik say.

  “What?”

  “The facility has been powered down. Anyone may pass through now,” he answered.

  “Then they aren’t keeping track of anyone’s movements?” Kore asked.

  “Apparently not.”

  This was bad. Senja had given up and was abandoning the ship. I wondered what Kull would think of this. Where was he now? But more importantly, what was in that signal coming from Kahel? I had a feeling that if we could find out what it was, then we might be able to buy a little time from the Overseers.

  Chapter 16

  Aoki was not as developed as Senja, but we would have a roof over our heads, which should offer some protection from Aka’s storms. There was a driver in a sand skipper waiting for us on the other side of the checkpoint, which was thermally and rad protected.

  His driver, Lara, was an Aokian born and bred. Her skin had been permanently darkened by the light which was stronger here, and pock scars peppered it from past rad storms. Still, the star's light was not as intense as it was out on the Sinai desserts, where no one lived, except for the occasional water broker and the bands of outlaws. Those outlaws were never on a hunter's radar because soon enough the elements or wildlife took them. Even more desolate were the volcanic islands of the Ostrovo state. Only a few of those were populated by mainly mining corporations.

  Lara coughed drawing my attention back to her. Her hair was also heavily striped with lightened streaks, while her eyes were dark. As I stared into those eyes, I noted the always chapped look around them and her mouth. Soon, mine would be that way again too. I never slept with her, but that had been her decision, not mine.

  She took one look at Kore, turned around in her seat and started the engine. She had a grim look on her face but said nothing. She knew who Kore was and even though she did not approve of what Malik was doing, she was going to follow his orders to drive us back to his compound. Later, in private, I imagined she was going to let him have it.

/>   We jerked forward on our way towards Malik's compound. What would happen once we got there? Malik would make the transport happen for us, but where did that leave Icharus? The planet was going to die. Everyone who couldn't get transport off of it would die with it. I knew that the right thing to do was to turn her over to the Overseers, but that was now as alien to me as watching the only planet I had ever known collide into Aka. If Malik said he would get us off-world, he would do his best, but could I trust everyone else we met along the way, like Lara?

  I turned away from everyone and stared out at the orange and blue landscape. I had always loved the contrasting colors here, but not enough to stay when the call came to be a Friend at the End officer. I was not looking forward to seeing any of my brothers and sisters since many of them hated the fact I had left them behind. Rarely did an Aokian get the chance to move to Senja. The winds may have been dangerous at times in Kinnopolis, but the water benefits made it all worthwhile.

  I closed my eyes and felt every inch of the headache that had settled between my eyes. I opened them and stared at Kore until she turned slowly towards me and returned it.

  “Keep a low profile when we arrive.”

  “That will be easy.”

  I doubted that, and then she turned away to stare at what must have been an alien landscape to her. Just wait until she arrives at one of the moons.

  I turned my attention to how I was going to keep her under wraps until we were able to leave this planet. The people I had left behind were scavengers, maximizing every resource for its usefulness. Kore was pretty enough to make leaving Icharus with her challenging, but if they knew her capacity with technology, her escape would become impossible.

  I decided the best course for action would be to sleep these last few hours until we reached Malik’s facility. I leaned back, closed my eyes, and went right into a light sleep. At least growing up among thieves had done something good for me.

  • ѻ ● Ѻ • ○ ☼

  With a jarring halt, I cracked my eyes open to see that we had arrived. The air was thinner here, and Malik handed back an oxygen rebreather to each of us. We would use them once we left this vehicle and until we reached the building. I slipped it over my head and affixed the device over my nose. Kore followed my lead and then we all got out.

  Malik did a retinal scan at the compound's security checkpoint and gave his verbal recognition code words. The large warehouse that stood before us was bleached white from Aka overhead. He pulled the vehicle about an eighth of a k-lo from the insulated door. Malik dug through a bag and withdrew a couple of head wraps. He tossed then our way, and Kore watched as Malik and I protected our heads for the walk to the entrance. Then she followed suit.

  The winds were brutal and the sand bit at my hands. My neck stung where the fabric did not cover it. I spontaneously reached out and took Kore's hand. She looked at our interlocked fingers, but her step never faltered on our run to the door. When we reached the door, it opened, and we entered the building.

  There were not many people left in the transport facility, but there was never a lot of us anyway. I looked beyond the immediate threat and noted that there were only two cargo vessels left in this building.

  “How many more ships do you have?”

  “Only these two. Everyone else left in the others.”

  “How many are left?

  "Enough," Malik carefully said. He meant to leave some people behind if one of the ships was now dedicated to only Kore and me. Things just became infinitely more difficult.

  “These vessels are large,” Kore commented. “Why did you not take the nomads with you?” Kore asked. I looked out of my peripheral vision and observed that we had already been noticed.

  Malik looked at me with askance. I sighed and said, “Malik takes care of his own.”

  “I am not his to protect.”

  "You're with me, and that makes you one of his." At least Malik seemed satisfied with that answer. "Besides, if he can prove to the Overseers that you are off the planet, then we might be able to save everyone trapped here still." But by now, he was no longer paying attention to us. One of his men had shoved an oculus at his face.

  He touched the screen a few times and then handed it back to him. The man was only a few annos younger than I was with a scrubby beard, which I was betting was left unshaven due to circumstance rather than style, and he was staring at Kore. I was not holding her hand any longer, but I wished I was. I crossed my arms instead.

  “Who’s she?” the man asked.

  “Our ticket out of here, so she is off limits,” Malik muttered.

  He stared at her with his black eyes a little longer than I liked, his face full of malice. Eventually, he turned around and headed back to whichever corner he had slinked his way from.

  “Who’s he?” I asked Malik.

  “That’s Cage, my protégé.”

  “You’re not that old Malik.”

  “When you contacted me, I thought that my clock might have just run out.”

  “I would never hunt you down by tricking you.”

  "It's your job," he said in a heavily disdained tone.

  “Not anymore.”

  "Ah, now I see," he said, as he looked Kore over more carefully. "How old is she?" I knew he was thinking how much time we might still have together, if there was even a together to begin with.

  “I am eighty-two annos.” We both stopped and stared at her, but Malik hid his shock better than I could.

  “I’m certain you are mistaken.”

  “No. I am quite confident that I am eighty-two annos old.”

  “Are you older than the Councilmen?”

  “Yes, I am older than Kull.”

  “Why is it that you look younger than him?” I asked.

  “I do not know why.”

  Malik stepped away and motioned behind her for me to follow him. I did not want Kore out of my sight, but we were outnumbered, and if Malik wanted to hurt us, he could have easily have done that already.

  “Stay here Kore,” and then I reluctantly followed him to the side of the building.

  Kore keenly took in everything around us as she curtly nodded her head. She was probably creating an escape plan and knowing her, it would probably work.

  Once we had a modicum of privacy, Malik said, “She is not human.”

  “Of course she is, at least partly, according to Nage.”

  “That old coot, I wouldn’t believe a word he says.”

  “He took my implant out.”

  “And hers too, I bet.”

  “She never had one.”

  Malik looked over at her, and I followed his gaze. She had approached one of the primary operating machines. It looked like it was one of the ones that allocated energy throughout the building.

  “She looks human. She breathes and speaks like one, but I am willing to bet the ships, she isn’t.”

  "Listen, Malik, if we could have created a hybrid human, wouldn't that have been done annos ago on the ARC? Now you are telling me that our pathetic excuse for a planet succeeded?"

  “I’m not saying that at all. What I am saying is that there might have been an outside influence.”

  “What are you saying? Like an alien species?”

  He did not say anything.

  “I’ve been here how many annos and never once has an outside alien intelligence ever contacted us.”

  “They never contacted us, but what about the Council? The Overseers? Don’t be a fool Jett, there is a reason why everyone is hot for this girl, and it's not just because she is better than all of us. You're in over your head here."

  “It doesn’t matter, does it? She is still human in all the ways that count,” I told him. Even to my ears, it sounded like a lie.

  He stared at me.

  “Are you still going to get us off the planet?” I asked.

  He rubbed his face, but finally said, “Yes. I’ll keep my word.”

  “Thank you.”

  “You know you
are the closest thing I have ever had for a friend.”

  “I know,” I told him.

  “So Nage is still alive?”

  “As of sixteen oras ago he was.”

  “Good. That old coot is more slippery than a nut on a greased pipe.”

  I looked back at Kore and noted that Cage was now talking with her. She was frowning. “Looks like the natives are getting a little too friendly with the pretty girl.”

  “Yeah,” I said, glancing at Kore who was carrying on a lively conversation with him. They were speaking in hushed tones by the time we reached them.

  Cage had given Kore his oculus, and she did not even bother to look up when I said, "Do I need to carry a big pipe around with me?"

  “Cage, I thought you were looking into the TCS on the Hejira,” Malik said.

  Cage looked sheepish and tried to take back the oculus, but she would not relinquish it. I looked at her and saw the screen flash across her eyes. She was reading the information far too quickly for a human. I snatched the oculus from her and handed it back to Cage.

  “The thirty-real relay,” she said.

  “What?” Cage asked.

  “Panel Alpha ten.”

  Cage and Malik exchanged meaningful glances. Malik next stared at me, as if to say that this proved his point.

  “Check the relay in the TCS,” she insisted.

  One of the other workers preparing the ship for flight called over to us, “She’s right. Found the bad relay. Changing it out now.”

  I leaned in close to her and whispered, “I thought I told you not to talk to anyone.”

  “If we leave this planet on a broken ship and there were parts that could have been easily switched out to ensure its safety, then they need to fix them now.”

  She made sense. I nodded and then asked Malik, “Can she look over the reports?”