by Ryk Brown
“I suppose, but…”
“That’s all I want… To know who I am, not just who I’ve been for the past five years.”
Neli looked at Connor with sympathy. “Connor, what if you don’t like who you were? What if you’d rather stay Connor Tuplo?”
“I hadn’t really thought of that,” Connor admitted. “Everyone always talks so highly of Nathan Scott, I guess I just assumed…” He paused and took another deep breath, letting it out in a long sigh. “Well, like I said, I haven’t decided if I believe all of this, and I certainly haven’t made a decision about whether or not I should become Nathan Scott. But rescuing those two clone doctors, along with the rest of their party, is the best way for me to get the answers I need in order to make that decision. I’m just asking you both to support me in this.”
“I’m in,” Dalen repeated, raising his hand.
“Shut up,” Josh chided.
Neli stood up and gave her captain a hug. “I’m in, Connor,” she whispered. She pulled back and looked him in the eyes. “Just don’t get us killed. Understood?”
“Understood,” Connor replied with a grin.
“But there’s one condition,” Neli added, turning to Marcus. “After this is all over, you are going to tell me everything that happened to you.”
Marcus swallowed hard. “Everything?”
“From the time you left Haven, to the time we met. I want no more secrets. Understood?”
“Yes, ma’am,” Marcus agreed.
Connor smiled, looking at Josh.
“Family,” Josh said, smiling back.
* * *
Travon entered the living room of his residence on the far side of the main lodge. His wife and children, and his children’s families, were all gathered, awaiting his news.
Travon went to the only empty chair and sat, the weight of what he had to say resting heavily on his mind. He looked into the eyes of his wife, and then his two adult children, all of whom were staring in his direction. There was no good way to break the news. “We must leave this world.”
“What?”
The question came from all three of them in unison.
“This is our home,” Travon’s wife, Anise, replied. “This resort has been our dream. We worked our entire lives for this.”
“I know,” Travon replied.
“I start my internship in the fall,” his son, Rorik, complained. “Do you know how hard I’ve worked for this?”
“I know.”
“It’s not fair,” his daughter, Kyla, added.
“Maybe it isn’t as bad as you think,” Anise suggested. “So far, they have only attacked our defenses.”
“That’s not true,” Kyla’s husband corrected. “I heard that they have been rounding up many civilians, all over the world.”
“You don’t know if that’s true,” Rorik’s wife argued.
“I know the Jung,” Dumar said, raising his voice above the others. “They will come!” he yelled even louder, forcing them all to quiet down. “They will come. They will come because of me.”
“But you’re retired,” his wife reminded him.
“It does not matter. I know things. And even if I didn’t, they will still want to interrogate me.”
“So let them,” Rorik argued. “Let them ask all the questions they want. What could you possibly reveal? You’ve been retired for seven years now.”
“I know more than you realize,” Travon said.
“Then let them come for you,” Rorik shouted angrily. “We are of no use to them, and we are certainly no threat.”
“They will use you, all of you, to get to me.”
“That’s ridiculous,” Rorik argued.
“Rorik,” Kyla scolded him.
“They will line you up in front of my eyes, and they will kill you, one by one, until I tell them what they want to know.”
“Then simply tell them!” Rorik insisted.
“I cannot!”
“You would let them kill us? Your own children and grandchildren? Just to protect the Terrans?”
“You’re talking about billions of lives, Rorik,” Travon pleaded.
“What could you possibly know that would…”
“I cannot tell you!” Travon shouted. “That would put you in even more danger! The fact that I have told you that I possess knowledge that the Jung would want is dangerous enough!”
“Rorik.” This time, it was his mother urging him to listen.
“None of you know the Jung as I do. They are more brutal than Caius could ever be! They will turn our world inside out, killing all who stand in their way. They will reshape this world into something none of us recognize.”
“Sounds pretty much like Caius to me,” Rorik said.
Travon sighed. “You are an adult, Rorik. I cannot force you to come with me. But I beg of you, for the sake of your family, to do so.” He looked at his daughter, Kyla.
Kyla looked to her husband, Joffrey, who nodded. She turned to her father. “Yes, we will go with you.” She then turned to Rorik, with pleading eyes.
Rorik could feel everyone’s eyes upon him, including those of his own wife, Fiora.
“They will need doctors, no matter where we are,” Fiora told him, taking his hand.
Rorik sighed in resignation, then walked past his father on his way out. “This is all your doing,” he said accusingly as he passed his father.
Travon bowed his head in shame, sighing. “Everyone prepare yourselves. We leave at sunrise Pack only what you can carry on your back, or in your hands. No more. Space will be limited.” He looked up again, his eyes meeting theirs once more. “I am truly sorry to have brought this upon all of you.” Then he, too, turned and left the room.
* * *
Connor, followed by Marcus and the rest of the Seiiki’s crew, stepped out of the Ghatazhak hangar office and back into the night air on Burgess. He spotted Jessica and General Telles standing by a combat jump shuttle in front of the hangar, presumably waiting for him to come out. They spotted him as well, and started to walk toward him.
“You guys head back to the ship,” Connor instructed his crew. “See how the repairs are going.”
“You got it, Cap’n,” Marcus replied.
Connor turned and walked toward Jessica and the general, his hands in his pockets.
“Captain,” General Telles greeted, as they got within earshot of one another.
“So,” Connor began as he came to a stop, “I’m still not sure about this whole Nathan thing, but I am willing to help you rescue those people. Mainly, because they are friends of Josh and Marcus.”
“That’s the only reason?” Jessica asked, surprised at his reasoning.
“No, it’s not,” Connor replied with a sigh. “It’s more than just dreams. I’ve been having flashes of what I think are memories. People, faces, events. Some of them are good, but some of them are horrifying.”
“Captain Scott had to make many difficult decisions in his lifetime,” General Telles explained. “And he witnessed some terrible things as well.”
“It makes me wonder if I even want to remember who I really am.”
Jessica and General Telles said nothing.
“But,” Connor continued, “as I said, we will help you with the rescue.”
“And after that?” Jessica wondered.
“After that, I’m taking it one step at a time. No promises. But I am going to have some questions for those two clone doctors, that’s for damn sure.”
“The extraction is scheduled for twelve hundred local time,” General Telles said. “That is in approximately four hours, our time. How long will it take you to get to Corinair?”
“It’s about thirty hops, so let’s say forty min
utes, just to be safe,” Connor replied.
“Then we should takeoff in three hours,” Jessica suggested. “It’s better if we get there ahead of them.”
“Agreed,” the general said.
“Yeah, and we might need a few extra minutes to plot that last jump,” Connor added.
“Another reason to leave a few minutes early,” Jessica said.
“You’re sure about the size of that cave?”
“The opening is approximately the same size as this hangar,” the general explained, gesturing at the open, well-lit space behind him.
Connor looked skeptically at the hangar. “I can’t believe I’m agreeing to this,” he muttered, shaking his head in disbelief.
“Look at it this way,” Jessica said, putting her arm around him and leading him back toward the Seiiki. “If you miss, you’ll never know it.”
Connor looked at her. “Thanks. I feel so much better.”
* * *
Light was just beginning to fill the valley, as the Corinairan sun had not yet risen above the surrounding mountains.
Anise Dumar stood looking across the courtyard at the lake in the distance. She heard the crunch of her husband’s footsteps from behind, followed by the gentle touch of his hand on her shoulder. “I love watching the mist on the water at this hour,” she sighed.
“The mist will still be here when we return,” Travon comforted her.
She turned to look at him. “Then there is still hope?”
“There is always hope, my dear.”
She put her arms around him in a tight embrace.
“I can never express how sorry I am that I lied to you all those years,” Travon whispered. “But I never lied when I told you I loved you, and still love you to this very day.”
“I know,” she whispered back.
“We must go,” he said. “They are waiting.” Travon let go, took her hand, and walked her back to Jerrot’s truck, its engine running, and its bed loaded with their family and friends.
Travon helped his wife up onto the back of the truck, then climbed up himself. Jerrot raised the gate and latched it, then climbed into the cab and started turning the truck around toward the main gate.
Travon, Anise, Rorik, and Kyla all watched as the family’s prized possession, their lovely resort, slowly disappeared into the forest.
“We’ll reclaim it, someday,” Travon promised them. “We’ll reclaim it all.”
* * *
Connor walked the perimeter of the Seiiki, carefully examining the work that had been completed only minutes ago by the Ghatazhak technicians. They had worked on his ship all through the night, starting shortly after first touching down at the Lawrence Spaceport on Burgess, even before he had agreed to help the Ghatazhak rescue their friends.
The Ghatazhak had kept their word. His ship was fully repaired, and in record time. In addition, it was fully fueled, and his stores were loaded. He could take off now, and leave the Ghatazhak behind, and have enough to get well away from the Pentaurus sector. But he had made a promise, to both Josh and to the Ghatazhak. And, he wanted to know more about himself.
“Them techs did some nice work,” Marcus said as he followed the captain around on his inspection. “And they did it twice as fast as anyone I’ve seen. Ten times faster than the kid could’ve done.”
Connor cast a sidelong glance at Marcus as he continued his inspection. He reached up and unlocked an inspection plate on the underside of the left engine nacelle, peeking inside. “There’s no safety wire on the hydraulics reservoir fill cap,” the captain said.
“I’ll make sure that gets taken care of before we lift off,” Marcus promised.
“Check it on the starboard engine as well,” Connor added.
“Yes, sir.”
“She passed all her diagnostics?”
“Yup. Twice.”
“Fire up both engines, and run the tests with the engines hot.”
“Cap’n, we only got twenty minutes before takeoff…”
“Both engines hot, Marcus,” the captain insisted. “I don’t want any surprises on this one. We are jumping into a cave after all.”
“Good point,” Marcus agreed. “I’ll get it done.”
Josh walked up to Connor as Marcus was walking away. “Cap’n, a word?”
“What is it, Josh?”
“Well, to be honest, I don’t feel right asking you this…”
“Spit it out,” Connor replied as he moved forward to inspect the leading edge of the Seiiki’s port wing-body.
“Well, seeing as how we’re jumping into a cave and all, and how you’ve never actually done that… I mean, you don’t really do any jump calcs or nothin’. You always use the standard sets… Not that there’s anything wrong with that. I mean…”
Connor turned to look at Josh. “What is it you’re trying to say, Josh?”
“Well, I was thinking that maybe Loki should fly right seat on this one? I mean, he’s done this kind of jump before. With me, in this ship, I might add.”
“Loki flew the Seiiki?”
“Oh, yeah. Well, it was called the Mirai back then, but him and I did that jump down to Nifelm together. He’s really good at doing jump calcs, too. Nothing against your piloting skills, Cap’n, but I just figured we should give ourselves the best chance possible, seeing as how we’re jumping into a cave, and all…”
“Relax, Josh,” Connor said, interrupting him. “I’m not insulted. But are you sure about this? You haven’t flown with this guy in at least five years, and he hasn’t flown this ship in just as long.”
“Loki and I know each other,” Josh said. “He knows how I fly, and to be honest, I fly better with him.”
“Okay, if you think having Loki as your right seat improves our chances of success, then how can I argue? I want to survive this just as much as everyone else. But what do I do, then?”
“Uh… Be in charge? Like usual.”
* * *
Jessica, General Telles, and three Ghatazhak sergeants walked up the Seiiki’s cargo ramp. Everyone except the general was dressed in Ghatazhak battle armor.
“A new look?” Marcus commented, noticing the new armor.
“Auto-camo,” Jessica said as she reached the top of the ramp. She tapped a button on her wrist controller, and her armor changed color to match the colors of the Seiiki’s cargo bay interior. “Pretty spiff, right?”
“Whoa,” Dalen exclaimed in awe.
“Marcus, these are Sergeants Todd, Anwar, and Willem.”
“You guys expecting a firefight?” Marcus wondered.
“Insurance,” Jessica replied. Make yourselves comfy, boys,” she instructed her men. “I’m headed forward.”
“The troops have arrived,” Marcus announced over the comms.
“Close her up,” Connor ordered, standing behind Josh and Loki on the Seiiki’s flight deck.
“You gonna stand behind us the whole way, Cap’n?” Josh wondered from the pilot’s seat.
“Probably.”
Josh exchanged glances with Loki.
“Preflight is complete,” Loki announced. “Ship is ready for liftoff, Captain.”
“Very well,” Connor replied. “Take us up.”
Josh pushed the lift throttles forward, and the Seiiki began to slowly rise off the tarmac, beginning a lazy rotation to the right as it climbed.
Connor watched the Ghatazhak hangar come into view, disappearing below a moment later. It was an unusual feeling to watch someone else flying his ship, especially since he wasn’t sitting in either seat. Yet, it somehow felt natural as well.
“Gear is up and locked,” Loki reported. “Gear doors are closed. One hundred meters up. You’re clear to climb out.”
“Cl
imbing out,” Josh reported, moving the main engine throttles forward and slowly pitching their nose up toward the sky.
Jessica climbed up the ladder into the cockpit, stopping behind Connor, who stepped aside to make room for her.
Connor looked her over, noticing her body armor. “Expecting trouble?”
“Nope. We just like to be prepared.” Jessica looked out the window at the blue sky. “Everything working?”
“Better than ever, thanks,” Connor replied.
She looked at Connor. “Are you going to stand there watching over their shoulders the entire way?”
“That’s what I said,” Josh protested. “Jess, tell him we’ve got this,” he pleaded.
“They’ve got this,” Jessica told Connor.
“My ship, my rules,” Connor replied stubbornly.
“Twenty seconds to first jump,” Loki reported. “Inertial dampeners at full power.”
“Goin’ vertical,” Josh announced as he pitched the nose straight up.
“First jump in three……two……one……”
The Seiiki’s windows turned opaque as the ship executed its jump from the atmosphere of Burgess into high orbit above it.
“Jump complete,” Loki reported. “Go for acceleration burn.”
“Throttling up,” Josh replied, pushing the main throttles all the way forward.
“Jump series in three minutes,” Loki announced.
“What’s our ETA?” Jessica asked.
“Final jump point in thirty-eight minutes,” Loki replied. “We’ll take a few to triple-check our insertion jump calculations before we execute, though.”
“Wake me up before you jump,” Jessica replied, turning to head back down the ladder. “I’m going to take a catnap.”
Connor looked surprised as he watched her climb down the ladder. “Who the hell could sleep at a time like this?”
“She could,” Josh replied with a light chuckle.
After nearly six hours of travel on winding mountain roads, some of them a bit worse for wear, Jerrot finally came to the turnoff to the crystal caves. After completing his turn, he came to a stop, then turned and slid open the back window of the cab. “This is the last stretch of road before we get to the caves,” Jerrot explained to Dumar and the others riding in the open cargo bed of the truck. “It should take us about ten to fifteen more minutes from here. But I warn you, it will be quite bumpy.”
