Oblivion's Peril

by M. H. Johnson

  Just then the monitors began flashing strange colored lights, beeping like mad.

  Christine's eyes widened. "Get the Silbion flasks, stat!"

  The cyborg gazed at Christine for a long silent moment before rushing off, several assistants in white coats immediately entering the room. "Bring the defibrillators, they're going into cardiac arrest!" she screamed, gazing down at Yin with panicked golden eyes. "You can't die on me, child. None of you are allowed to die, I won't permit it!"

  And as the beeping and yelling intensified, Val was pulled into roaring blackness once more.

  13

  No. It doesn't end there, I won't let it! Val roared into the darkness, trying desperately to hang on, blinking suddenly, not quite sure what had alarmed him. If anything he felt kind of good, enjoying the buzz with club music in the background, gazing into Yin's brilliant violet eyes.

  "God, you look gorgeous," Val whispered, pushing all thoughts of premed and finals as he just stared at the girl who would have captured his heart if not for... what? Val frowned, shaking the thought away.

  Yin grinned, sipping her own beer before putting it down, and his as well. "You like my eyes, do you? Let me show you something else you'll like." She gave him the tiniest push, and Val found himself falling into an impossibly plush bed covered in red silk sheets.

  Before Val could even blink in surprise, strong arms had wrapped around his neck, soft lips pressing against his own. First softly, then passionately they embraced, Val swimming in pleasure and euphoria and forgetting why he had even hesitated, drowning in her glorious warmth, drinking in her throaty laughter, savoring her sighs. She gazed up at him, smiling into his eyes as they twined together, kissing him with increasing fervor as they made the night their own.

  Soft laughter washed over him as Yin collapsed in his arms endless heartbeats later, her hot breath caressing his ear. "I can't tell you how long I’ve wanted to do that, Val."

  Val grinned. "Me too. I was just holding back because..." Why?

  Then he heard the beeping as Yin's gaze turned sad. "I know. You love Julia. So much. And I could fall for Dirk, maybe, but I've wanted you in my arms since the first time my dark hero saved me from certain death. And since I'm dying anyway, promise me you'll hold me till the end?"

  Val felt his heart roar. "You're not going to die, Yin. I'm not letting that happen." And even as he kissed her deeply, passionately, holding her tightly in his arms, even as she lifted her hips and drew him in, biting her lip and gasping as he was sheathed in her warmth, he was reaching into the depths of his psyche, deep into that mysterious rift into that pocket dimension that was seemingly his alone, wondering if he could pull off a miracle even in his dreams.

  He filled her with all the passion and desire a man lost in dreams of rapture could give her, and something else as well. When she finally collapsed in delicious languor endless heartbeats later, she glowed with pleasure and gratitude both. "Did you really just save my life, Val? Again?"

  Val flashed a teasing smile. "It's just a dream, Yin. Now rest. You need it."

  And whatever words had accompanied her tender smile he did not hear them, slipping into blackness once more.

  "Get out of here, soldier, no reason both of us have to die!" Chris, charging through a kill zone, desperate to get to his men, bullets tearing through his form until Val had swept him up safely in shadows only he could see. A gasping, pale-faced giant of a man blinked, gazing at Val with a strangely rueful smile. "I guess this was one enhancement experiment I should have passed on, hey, buddy?"

  Val smiled, handing his bloody friend a flask flashing like liquid rubies. "Shut the fuck up and take your medicine, soldier. That's an order."

  With a surprised blink, Chris did just that.

  The sudden relief on his face was palpable, but before he could say a word, Val was gone.

  Val blinked, gazing at Dirk, his haunted eyes watching the replay of a certain mad tyrant determined to incorporate their home.

  "Why the hell am I here, a pawn dying in a Highlord's schemes, when I should be back home, fighting for our world?"

  The pain in his eyes tore at Val's heart. "Right now, our enemies hold all the cards. If we rock that boat before we're ready, all we'll do is cause panic and risk the lives of millions. We need to get stronger, Dirk, and we need to come up with a plan that doesn't risk half the population of Earth. I'm well on my way to working out a plan, but it's going to take time. And the serum you took might actually help you get stronger. Much stronger. If you live."

  Dirk croaked bitter laughter. "I'm dying, Val. I can feel it."

  Val nodded. "You are. But this might help." He handed his friend the flask.

  Dirk flashed a bemused smile. "Will it really save me? Or is this just one more desperate grasp at hope from a dying brain?"

  Val grinned. "It can't hurt, right? But if you waste it, I'll fucking kick your ass."

  Dirk scowled, looking ready to smash it on the floor, much to Val's horror. Then he abruptly stopped, gazing at Val carefully. "How do I know you're real?"

  Val flashed a rueful smile. "I just made love to the girl who isn't quite sure you'll ever really want her. It might have been a dream, but the flask in your hand is real. I think. So take the damned potion and live. And tell Yin how you really feel about her."

  Dirk’s scowl deepened. "You really slept with her?”

  "In your dreams, Dirk. And if you don't take that potion, you'll never be able to kick my ass or make love to hers, in real life. Where it counts."

  "You're damned right I'm kicking your ass. That girl is mine."

  Val grinned at his irate friend, relieved to see him drink down the ruby mixture.

  "And Val?"

  "Yeah?"

  "Thanks for saving my life."

  14

  His father's gentle gaze held his own. "How are you, son?"

  Val shrugged, ignoring the exquisite brunch laid out for them by a pair of servitors long since left. "Rough night’s sleep, but it could have been worse."

  He closed his eyes, taking a deep breath, embracing the darkness ever just a heartbeat away. Reaching out with his Psi-Sense. He was the shadows all around, feeling the scurrying feet and nervous awareness of a creature much like a mouse... and nothing else.

  No one was there.

  "Son?" His father's voice, raw with sudden alarm.

  Val grimaced, coming back to himself. "Sorry, dad, just making sure we had privacy."

  His father smiled, sipping what the locals considered coffee, grimacing only slightly. "Do you want to talk about it?"

  "Not much to tell. I got knocked out, getting too close to Julia’s training the other day."

  A thoughtful frown. "It sounds dangerous, whatever Christine and her daughters are doing, and I wouldn't want you to get hurt. But if it's strengthening you somehow, then I'd just caution prudence, as I would any soldier learning to master a new weapon."

  Val nodded. "No worries there, dad. I've learned from that mistake. It's Julia that I'm worried about. She's being pushed to learn all she can. About her heritage, her potential. Here, in this world, even though she's technically 11 years before her majority, it still doesn't keep the sharks from circling. Exotic and beautiful as Jordia is, it's still a land full of opportunists and predators. Ironically, if you're a talented specialist, you have more safety and security in some ways than even Highlords do. Or at least, Highlords who are on less than stable footing, out of the local politics for decades, and suddenly thrust back in by necessity."

  His father flashed a bemused smile. "I think I can appreciate that." He gazed out beyond the terrace they were taking their leisure upon, taking in the carefully manicured lawns, gardens, and crops growing in the distance, with an abrupt demarcation where cultivation was replaced by scrublands and desert. "For all its challenges, Jordia truly is a beautiful place, and Christine's home is a palace."

  "Without the television."

  His father chuckled. "True, though their hyp
erion monitors can almost make up for it. Did you know they actually have evening programming? It's just that we have no way of recording it or changing the time it plays. They just need one central station, and I shudder to think how much power goes into displaying those live shows or playing those movies. Still, a man could grow bored watching television in a foreign language in a room designed to seat dozens, even in a place as beautiful as this. Fortunately, Christine did not hesitate to provide Andrey and me with tutors, and for some reason I'm feeling more alive and energized than I have for quite some time."

  Val frowned, but couldn't deny the man before him looked as fit and energetic as Val ever remembered him being. Never a slouch, he had been entering triathlons not that long ago. "You look good, dad."

  "And I feel it, son. Me and Andrey both. Honestly, it's not nearly as rough as it might be. You know we went to West Point together. Now it's like we’re going to school all over again, only now it’s linguistics and advanced mathematics we're studying, along with Christine's myriad notebooks she had somehow managed to grab before we jumped through. It's a godsend, actually. It explains so much. I can see why Christine used to read those volumes to her daughter. And best of all, it's all in English."

  Val grinned. "Their charts are a nightmare. Unless you're a cutting-edge physicist or mathematician, they won't make a lick of sense. And even then, we're primitive compared to our hosts in that regard."

  "Incredible though, isn't it? An encyclopedia's worth of knowledge in a single chart."

  "Or at least a couple volumes of an encyclopedia," Val allowed. "Of course, we have the internet, so we don't need to memorize a formula somehow containing all the wisdom and secrets of a particular field."

  "Which is one thing they need Earth for."

  Val nodded. "Our computer graphics and all of our visual graphics applications are light-years ahead of theirs. And they have nothing like our internet. Not because they're stupid, but because this universe, for some reason, has some added degree of complexity I can hardly describe. But it makes networking systems and recording or displaying information, digitally at least, extremely difficult. Without those monitors only capable of live feeds, this space-faring culture would be reduced to board games for entertainment!”

  His father nodded. "And we all saw that massive monitor in that monster's ship."

  Val smirked. "The wanna-be CEO of Earth? Yeah. I think it also works off simple hyperion physics exclusively. I don't think even Caesar’s monitor can record like ours can, it just displays. Or perhaps it really is like looking into a mirror, just one you can control."

  His father smiled after taking a bite of what really were good eggs, Val thought, some foods comfortingly familiar. "And the way they took over everyone's monitors before that announcement... certainly they can manipulate Earth technologies well enough, or use technicians that can, once they are in our own universe."

  Val nodded, gazing at his father with the slightest bit of concern. "Are you okay, dad?"

  His father grinned. "I really am, Val. Seeing you prosper and thrive here, Andrey and I reaffirming our old friendship..." He gazed at the heavens. "And the thought that I might somehow be able to find your mother and siblings again? Yes, Val. I feel better now than I have in a long, long time, television be damned." He flashed a smile. "Besides, there's no telling what I might learn about Dominion technology that we all might one day put to good use."

  Val grinned. "That's the spirit. Charts or no, Christine or a trusted assistant can just mentor you the old-fashioned way, especially once you learn the language."

  They talked of other things then, sharing good food, warm memories, and laughter. Val was pleasantly surprised to see how well his father was faring here on Jordia, the world jumping actually giving him a measure of hope he had lost long ago.

  Later they met with Andrey, who was also looking surprisingly vibrant and refreshed, assuring he hadn't felt as vigorous and healthy as he did now in years. He was quite happy to join Val and his father for a walk along Christine's expansive gardens, the older men going over their studies as if they really were a pair of graduate students preparing for their next test.

  Val shook his head in bemusement but was happy for them, part of him wondering if perhaps Christine was somehow rejuvenating them both. On the one hand, he worried for his father and was halfway tempted to confront her, but his father looked as energetic and happy as Val had ever seen him, that subtle melancholy that had always lingered about his otherwise charming father was now completely gone. For the first time in a long time, his father seemed almost carefree and genuinely happy.

  Val swallowed, heart in throat. "Dad?"

  "Yes, son?"

  "Do you think mom will visit us?"

  His father shrugged, eyes filled with hope. "Christine let me know she put the word out as safely and discreetly as she possibly could. The chances might be slim, but it's such a comfort knowing Hanna might be out there, along with your brother and sister, living safe, happy lives so different from the ones we left behind." He flashed a hopeful smile. "And wouldn't it wow her if I could actually speak her language?"

  Andrey chuckled softly. "It was a treat to see Christine smile when I chatted about dinner in Jordian with her last night. My head's still throbbing, but those hypnosis lessons seem to be paying off for us both."

  Soon after they passed where Val's friends were recuperating, and though Sten and Elise were feeling better, Val knew Gregor and Halvar were still inside.

  His father measured him with a knowing eye. "Go, son. In this world, just like Earth, friendships are vital. Don't worry about me and Andrey, we're fine. Just promise me you and Julia will share dinner with us once in a while."

  Val grinned. "No problem, dad." He waved once before girding himself and heading inside, paying his first visit since he had been stunned by Julia's Psionic Blast the day before.

  He couldn't help smiling, seeing Elise and Sten in an animated discussion with the smallest member of their crew, looking as much a child as not with tubes and monitors attached to his still emaciated-looking form. "And I'm telling you, with the cuttings in your mother's garden, this would be the perfect place to set up our laboratory. If we just went back to the ship to retrieve that alchemy set, the potions we make would be worth a fortune!"

  "I'm not arguing the merits of setting an alchemy shop here, Gregor," Elise began before her beautiful violet eyes abruptly widened and she turned to gaze at the shadows by the doorway, delicate crinkles furrowing her brow. "Love, did you leave the door open?"

  Sten spun around, looking alarmed.

  "A ghost!" Gregor yelped as Val brushed the back of his neck before manifesting fully with a chuckle. "That's not funny, Val!"

  Val grinned. "I thought it was hilarious. How are you doing, little buddy? Feeling better?"

  Gregor pulled his hair and groaned. "You keep saving our lives, and I keep forgetting how annoying you are!"

  "It's a knack," Val agreed with a wink. "But seriously, how are you feeling?"

  Gregor smirked. "Well as can be, after nearly dying of thirst in a desert just a hundred miles from Elise's home. This is why the Dominion needs to do something about fertility. This planet's been colonized for a thousand years, but between the civil wars and a low birthrate, more than half the landmass is still uninhabited!"

  Elise nodded sadly. "That's true. Only trade hubs, farming communes, and the largest city-states have anything like the dense population needed for a civilization to really flourish. On the other hand, a peaceful wild countryside is incredibly healthy for body and soul."

  Gregor rolled his eyes. "And you Highlords like your country retreats where you can all live like kings and queens with plenty of space between you, and no one says a thing."

  Elise pinned a suddenly swallowing Gregor with her icy gaze. "Absolutely true. And a thought best kept to yourself."

  Gregor lowered her head. "I'm sorry."

  Elise gave the tiny man a careful hug. "No. I'm so
rry." She shook her ruefully. "Partly I'm saying that to keep you safe. And partly because I'm halfway ready to slip into old roles, when I thought I was so much better than the prickly Highlord stereotype I know most mundanes have locked firmly in their heads. Accurate as it might actually be."

  Sten squeezed her hand. "You're protecting us, love. I know it. Just like our newest member did, saving our lives twice over." He turned towards Val, flashing a rare smile of approval.

  Val grinned and clapped the man's shoulder, realizing then how much he had missed the charming, roguish captain.

  "How are you doing, kid?"

  Val shrugged. "Well enough, I guess. I get the impression Christine is going to be putting us all through some high-intensity training, very soon."

  Sten grimaced, then nodded. "That's true. Any new mercenary signing on to a Highlord's cause can expect a pretty grueling couple of months. Especially if you have potential, or your client is in a tight spot. And here I think it's both."

  Val raised a curious eyebrow. "You feel it too?"

  Sten smirked. "I'm no psychic, but if you mean the quiet impending sense of trouble eventually heading our way? Yes, I do. I think this story is going to take a dark turn. I just have no idea when, or how. But if the girl I loved wasn't by my side? Now might be the perfect time to look for fresh work needing immediate hires elsewhere."

  Val smirked. "You do have a knack for sensing trouble coming."

  Sten chuckled ruefully. "Maybe. But either I was in way over my head that last run, or you're such a catalyst my knack couldn't dodge trouble, only try to stay half a step ahead." He gazed upwards where the massive dreadnought had once floated high, high above in the sky. "You know, sometimes I want to ask... but I think the less I know, the better. Some things are best left in the past."

  Elise, Sten, and Gregor all caught Val with their solemn stares. He grimaced and refused to meet their eyes. Sten was right. Some things were definitely best left in the past and never thought of again.