"None of the others could stand to be around me for any real length of time, and I definitely did not want to be cramped up in a ship for who knows how long, which just might be obliterated from this system before it could even meet up with the ARC. Besides, who knew if they would even take us into that fracking mother ship of humanity.” She spread her hands out encompassing the entire station and added, “So all this made sense to me."
“Can you help us?”
“What, do you want on board the Overseers ship?”
My grim expression said it all, but Kore said, “I want to go to Kahel.”
She looked at Kore and me and then asked, "Why do they want her so badly? Avenging a death or something?" That would be the only reason Lara could think of that would be worth all this fuss.
“Not exactly.”
“I am the product of splicing the genes of aliens and humans.”
Lara let out a low whistle and said, “Are these aliens friend or foe, Jett?”
That question took me aback. They had not harmed either Kore or my vessel while leaving Icharus, but they had crushed the ARC retrieval ship. I might have done the same if I had the resources available. They did have a working relationship with the Council, but how many more civilizations did they have contact with? It seemed they were far more advanced than the Overseers were. What did they really need Kore for?
I finally replied, “Does it matter? ARC was the catalyst that caused the destruction of Icharus.”
“Let me rephrase my question. Who is the bigger foe, these aliens or ARC?”
“The Ouder are,” Kore answered, “By far.”
I leaned back in my chair and said, “Maybe we’ll stay a while with you here.”
“You can stay, Jett, but I need to go to Kahel.”
“Not much of a mining operation on that moon and Urania is nothing but ice and gas. Stay here, this place is big enough. I could use the company, so long as it is only occasional,” Lara added with a wink.
“I am going and it would best if Jett stays here with you.”
I sighed, and Lara said, "You are in trouble Jett. I heard the transmissions from Kahel, and they are undecipherable. You are both fools if you think there is something on Kahel that can save you. But I can tell you are both going to go there and poke whatever you shouldn't with a stick all the same. You need a real ship to get you there, enough fuel to get you there and back again, and some provisions. Lucky for you, I have all three in abundance, just not any of the fool parts you both have full measures of."
She stood up and walked over to a glass-fronted case mounted on the wall. She opened it up and pulled out a key. She kissed it and threw it at me. "Take good care of The Beven.”
I grabbed the keys and looked out into the transport area. I spotted the ship, and it was a well-worn class four, a left over from the pioneering dags from the ARC. I was relieved. Technology from back then was made to withstand a lot of different potential scenarios. I turned back to her, “You sure you want to give it to me?”
"Look out there Jett, I got a ton of abandoned ships." I did look, but there were no more pre-gen ships except for this one. "She can easily hold enough fuel for a return trip or not."
I nodded, and then she shoved a crate at me. "That should keep the two of you a week easy, in case you try to make a run for the ARC after all."
“Do you know where it is?”
“It moves in and out. Hard to say, but the last time I saw it, it was near Urania.”
"Thanks, Lara. I'll come back for you if we decide to make a run for the ARC."
“You would have better luck getting on board that alien ship I think,” she said tilting her head towards Kore.
“What about water?”
“I’ll fill up the H₂O tanks when I refuel it.”
I put the crate under an arm and used my other to trap Kore’s hand. I pulled her out of the room. Kore allowed me to drag her all the way to the ship, but then stopped and said, “Jett, I need to speak with you.”
“No, you don’t.”
She finally jerked her hand out of mine and said, “I do. I believe that only bad things will happen if you accompany me.”
“And what if we stayed here.”
"You cannot make me stay," she said to me but was staring at Lara.
"No. We are going together, and we will try to board a larger vessel. Then we will board the ARC. I will not leave you to go this alone. You will not be alone." I will not be alone.
“You are delusional. They will never let me board the ARC,” she whispered. “Let us look for the origin of the signal and solve the mystery of that.”
“Then, if we can’t board the ARC, we will return together to this station?” I asked.
“Yes,” she replied flatly.
• ѻ ● Ѻ • ○ ☼
We exited the orbit of Notos’s moon, Sepia. Kore mood was reticent, and I doubted if we would be returning to Lara's station. I looked ahead to where Urania hung in the view, a pale blue small disc in the distance. It would take us about eight oras to reach it, which would have taken five times as long in the research vessel.
Kore was the one to break the silence first. “So you killed people back on Icharus?”
“I told you that I didn’t really do that anymore. That was Damus’s job.” Why would she ask me this again? I knew she remembered.
“Could you kill me?”
“Why would I do that?” She was making me angry now.
“Would you kill an Ouder?”
I frowned. She was making me do a lot of that recently. I refused to answer her questions.
“What is the difference?” she asked so innocently, without malice or avarice. It was almost like an oculus interface, and I did not have a clue as to how to answer her question.
I took a deep breath and then answered her as best as I could, “I can’t explain what I feel for you. There is no word for it in my language. I want to protect you, care for you.”
“Like a plant?”
“If that plant was the last one on earth and my next breath was reliant upon it to continue breathing, then yes. Listen, the difference is that I would kill anyone who means you harm, Ouder or human alike, but I cannot kill you. Do not ask this of me.”
She tilted her head a little, staring into my eyes, and then she said, "The signal is emanating from Urania, not Kahel." There was no doubt in her eyes. How she knew was not relevant to me anymore. At that moment I knew: I was infatuated with her. I wanted to believe that the perfection of her, her uniqueness, this beauty before me, might grow to care about me. I wanted to grab her, kiss her, and convince her the best choice was to turn this vessel around and to go back to Sepia. Lara was practically begging us to stay in her own particular way.
Instead of doing any of those things, I asked, "How long have you known?"
“Since Kull brought me to his secret camp. I overheard the signal and thought it odd, but it was not until we were at Malik’s that I became certain of it. I broke into their security system and studied their audio of the Ouder transmissions.” I wanted to be mad at her, but as in all things, I could not. “But then when we were eluding them, I told you that they did not try and contact me.”
“But they did?”
"No. I believe the ARC tried, however. I think they have set up a signal diverter on Urania. They are broadcasting the signal remotely from Kahel to lure me there."
"The Ouder and the ARC are working together to find you, and now we are going to hand you over to them."
She stared at me. Then she said, "I cannot be what you need me to be until I understand who or what I am."
I crossed my arms across my chest and glared at her. “Am I changing the coordinates?”
“I need to know who I am, Jett. We do not know much about these Ouders or people of the ARC, but I do know that Urania is where I need to be.”
“For the record, I will kill anyone who tries to harm you.”
Chapter 25
We slept the dreamless sleep of the desperate. When we woke, we ate like it was the last meal we would ever have. After the planet was more than a twinkle in the sky, and the space around the planet became crowded with the destitute seeking entrance onto the ARC. The Overseers' vessel was still some ways off, but the enormity of the ship was not unlike the size of Sepia. I turned on the comm panel and attempted to find the alien signal origin.
Kore came and sat down next to me. "The oculus for the ship needs to be recalibrated for the signal. Hand it to me, and I will do the modifications." I handed it to her, and after a few tigs, she noted, "This oculus is not as good as the one at Malik’s facility. It will take me some time to upgrade its operating systems to become sensitive enough to pick up the required qubits."
“Well, that is one thing we do not have.”
She looked at me as if she was seeing me for the first time. "We only need to triangulate its origin point, not translate the signal." I nodded my head and then she added, "Thank you, Jett, for helping and accompanying me."
“What happens when they have you?”
She smiled and said, "That is the great mystery, is it not? But I will not forget you, and if it is within my power, I will make sure you are not hurt or forgotten. When the Ouder understands your importance to me, I am confident that you will not be injured."
I grunted at that. I had no inclination to believe that at all. “They just committed planicide, do you think they will welcome you with open arms?”
“They need me…” For something hung in the air like stale smoke, something toxic and clinging.
I looked out again at the blue disc waxing before our eyes. It would not be long before the ARC located our position. “Kore, what if they are not what you think they are?”
“Then I will do what needs to be done.”
“What does that mean?”
Just then the comm exploded with noise. “Identify yourself.” It was the ARC.
I exchanged a meaningful glance with Kore and then she nodded her head, trusting me to make the right response. Do I turn her over to the ARC transit ship and win some sort of favorable exchange with the ARC and the Ouder? Or do we go directly to the Ouder and cast every human being aside.
I pressed the button and said, “Just looking to refuel on Kahel and then we’ll be on our way.”
Silence for less than a tig and then, “Are you requesting entrance onto the ARC?”
“Icharus is dead, but we don’t want entry onto the ARC.” Both truths.
“Request denied.” Huh, when did entry onto ARC become compulsory? Did all the hundreds of ships surrounding us know that?
“We are hoping for a mining position on Kahel for ARC.” That was obviously a bluff.
Silence and then, “How many on board?”
Kore motioned to me. I flipped off the comm, and she asked, "I thought they had the technology to detect that?"
“So did I. Did you find the location of the Ouder signal yet?”
“Yes.”
I smiled for the first time in what seemed like annos. “Can you send the Ouder a message to come and get you?”
She returned my smile, the first real sign of emotion I had seen on her face since I met her. I did not care if she was simply mimicking my own. “Yes.”
“Right now would be a great time to do it, if it really is the Ouder transmitting it.”
“Jett, I believe it is an Ouder signal. I just sent a photon binary reply, very rudimentary for an advanced interface system, but they should get it and be able to respond almost instantly.”
I turned back on the comm, “Two.”
“Board on deck Θ. Sending coordinates now.”
I turned back off the comm. They would get the point sooner rather than later that we were not doing that, but what were we supposed to do now with ARC breathing down our necks? “Any response yet?”
She did not look up from the oculus, but said, “They are waiting for us.” She showed me the coordinates.
“I can fly there, but you know we can’t land, right?”
“They are not on the surface, but are just below the mesosphere.”
“That atmosphere is still pretty corrosive. How are they able to simply hang out there indefinitely?”
“It was never meant to be indefinitely, but I believe the material of the hull of the ship is self-healing to some degree. They could wait there another mes, but not much more.” Her attention remained glued to the screen.
"Right. We'll pretend that we are headed for the ARC intercept ship because they will want to escort us in, and then we high tail it Urania at the last moment. Do you think the ARC will try to take our ship down for skipping their invite?"
She finally looked up and said pointedly to me, “It will not matter at that point. I have transmitted the ARC complication. The Ouder will be meeting us.”
A creepy sensation crawled down my spine. “What else have they transmitted to you?”
"They confirmed that the signal is originating from Urania, and they are waiting for us." I checked the radar, and the neighboring moon was crawling with activity, almost as much as there was in the space surrounding the planet. Anonymity was going to be a real problem. Before I could open my mouth, she said, "The ARC will no longer be a factor."
“They don’t want an audience, huh? What will they be doing to ARC?”
“They will be scrambling their systems in exactly, three, two, and one.”
“And the ARC is down just like that?”
“Yes.”
I looked out for a visual of the mega-ship, but all their lights had flickered off. "Was that some kind of electromagnetic pulse signal?"
"Just set these coordinates, Jett. They will recover in a few tigs."
I set the flight plan in the AFS after she gave me the new coordinates and we accelerated past the ARC. Kore broke the silence first. “I would like a weapon,” and then more hastily she added, “Just in case.”
That was the first reasonable thing I think she said since I met her. “Let’s look around and see what is standard on this vessel.”
After scrambling around opening compartments and unlocking a few small lockers, she said, “There is this.” I looked at the small tool in her hand.
“A micro e-gun. It looks like it would be better suited for extracting water than defending oneself,” I told her.
“Do you think that would suffice?” she asked.
“An electron emitter? Sure that should suffice if you have up close combat. Is there another one for me?” I did not bother replacing my club or plazgun that the ARC had confiscated. I knew Lara would have given me a plazcutter if I had asked. I did not because I did not think it would be of any help where we were going.
A proximity alert sounded, and we both took seats in front of the display. We were skirting close to the ARC retrieval vessel. I looked at Kore, about to ask her what to do, but she had frozen in her seat. I reached over to her and found she had gone rigid. She began to shake, but not the kind of chattering the body did when it was cold. There was something unnatural about it. Was something reaching out to her and she was resisting?
I looked at the control panel, but all I could see was the impending ARC vessel looming in front of us. Then we were jerked hard in our seats. We zipped by them, far exceeding the actual capabilities of the ship.
We next maneuvered expertly through the other ships that were in orbit around Kahel and Urania, until I was staring at the dark side of the moon and the lit side of Urania. The moon’s shadow was a blight in the brilliance of its light. With a lurching stop, the flight plan ended by reaching its ultimate destination, and we found ourselves hovering above the coordinates given by the Ouder.
I checked Kore, who even though had stopped shaking, she had slumped over in her chair. She was still breathing and had a pulse. I breathed out a long breath that I had not noticed I had been holding. It was disturbing to see someone who was usually so strong and virile be vibrating one moment and inert
the next. I was seriously considering turning the ship around and heading back to the ARC, but who was I kidding? There was no way the Ouders were going to let us go now.
I next checked what I could see nearby us. Only a few ships were drifting far away, and they all looked dark. How long had they been dark? They were probably wondering what hit them just as much as the ARC ship had.
I turned on the visual enhancer and shifted it towards the planet’s cloudy shroud. For several long tigs, I could not see a thing, until a small but bright light blinked in a rhythmic pattern from below the cloud cover. It was almost like a mirror catching Aka’s dying light. Kore woke up at the same moment and asked, “What happened?”
“What do you remember?”
“Nothing. One moment we were heading toward the ARC, even though we were really going to the Ouder coordinates.”
"You started shaking violently, and then you passed out." Passed out was a nicer way of saying rigid comatose.
“Did anything strange happen?”
I paused. “Like what?”
“Did anything happen to our ship?”
“Well, the ARC vessel went dark, and then we were zipped past them.”
She leaned forward and scanned the spacescape around us. All the ships orbiting the ARC, hoping to gain admittance to the last show in the system were dark, were drifting like space debris in a death dance with Icharus. "Those ships, is anyone alive on them?"
“I don’t know. I could try hailing them.”
“Do it,” she told me.
I leaned over to the comm and attempted to contact them. “This is the Beven. Please identify yourselves.” No one responded. After I tried to boost the signal, I attempted to reach them a couple more times.
Finally, Kore laid a hand over mine and said, “Stop.” I looked at her and then looked back down at the light on the planet. “We’ll need to get in closer and don the all-weather suits. Will you set these new coordinates into the ship’s navigation and I will prep the suits.”
Icharus_ARC Series Page 19
