The Decade Worlds

by Patrick McClafferty

  “Mairi!” He called out. “Coffee?” Silence greeted him.

  “There seems to be a problem, Gareth.” Ell’s voice was serious. “Mairi is still asleep, and she seems to be running a temperature of thirty-nine Celsius. I wasn’t aware of how potent the toxin on Puborg is.” Gareth banged into Mairi’s room, and stared down at the pale sweating face of his adopted daughter, her auburn hair plastered to her forehead. He didn’t wait for a second opinion.

  “Athena, what’s wrong with Mairi? Can you do something?” He didn’t have to glance around to know that Athena had arrived.

  “It appears that Ell made her vaccine with a few too many live bacteria. You can heal Mairi yourself.” She smiled at Gareth and put her hand on the side of Mairi’s face. “Touch your daughter, and I’ll show you how.”

  Gareth bit back a curse, and placed a gentle hand on the girl’s cheek.

  Her body knows what it needs to do. Athena said serenely. Just give it enough energy. Gareth felt the energy flow out of him and into his daughter. The effect was nearly instantaneous, and he felt her temperature drop. Beneath his hand Mairi shuddered and took a deep breath. Her hazel eyes opened and looked up into his.

  “Hello daddy.” She said weakly. “I don’t feel very good.”

  Let her sleep now. Athena said calmly. The crisis is past. By tomorrow she will be as good as new, and by the next day she will be even better. Beneath his hand Mairi shut her eyes, and her breathing became slow and regular.

  Thank you. Gareth was startled to find that he had tears in his eyes. Thank you for saving my daughter.

  You saved her yourself, my Gareth. I just pointed you in the right direction.

  He chuckled. That’s pure sophistry and you know it, but thank you all the same.

  In the kitchen he poured his coffee and sat down in a comfortable chair. “Is your daughter well?” Ell’s voice almost sounded afraid.

  “She’s on the mend. You might rethink the toxicity of your vaccine, Ell. We don’t want it killing as many as it saves.”

  “I agree completely, however if the toxicity is lessened it will take longer for the recipients to develop an immunity, maybe as much as a week.”

  Gareth grinned. “And during that week they will probably be sick as dogs, so it won’t matter a whole lot.”

  “Hmmmmm.” Ell mused. “You’re probably right. I recommend testing the new reduced potency vaccine on someone young enough to shake off the effects quickly. I was thinking of Lyndra or Chiu.”

  “Why is everyone always picking on my family?” Gareth grouched. “We’ll ask them when they get back.” He took another long drink of his coffee.

  “With access to the central computer for your meals and drinks, why make your own coffee?”

  Gareth looked at his empty mug. “Call it a personal foible. I think it tastes better if I make it myself.” He sighed. “However, the other way is quicker. Capulus fervens.” He said after only a moment’s hesitation. A steaming cup appeared before him. He was lucky, he thought as he sipped, that he remembered the words for hot coffee in ancient Latin. He recalled that his earlier attempts to order coffee had resulted in ordering… something that crawled out of his cup on multiple legs. “Now, how hard is it to build a gateway?”

  “That will depend on the transport time to a habitable star via starship, plus a month for three drones to set up the gate and get it operational.”

  “I want to set up one or two more gateways on Gocaea.” Gareth clarified. “I suspect that the traffic to and from that world will be considerable.”

  “I will begin construction of the gateway materials and drones. That will take two months. Where do you wish the gateways?”

  “Northern greenzone, close by the original settlement, and eventually one in the southern greenzone.” He shook his head. “I don’t see why the humans abandoned that world.”

  Ell let out a small laugh. “Gocaea has no oceans to play in. Xolia has virtually no land. Puborg is beautiful, but deadly and Vurean has no metals of any sort. The original humans were very picky.”

  “I suppose.” Gareth commented dryly. “How are you doing on refitting the museum ships?”

  “The first transport is almost ready. Give me another week to prepare it to handle Qual passengers. Surprisingly, the ship that needs the least work is the Momar class destroyer.”

  Gareth grimaced. “Don’t these ships have names? Calling a ship a Momar class destroyer is a bit… cumbersome.”

  “The ships were transferred to the museum before they were ever put into service, and as such were never assigned names. Do you have a preference?”

  He thought about it for a moment. “Yeah, I do. Pequod and Achéron for the two transports. Bonhomme Richard for the corvette. The destroyer will be the Constellation, the science vessel the Griffon, and the frigate the USS Maine, after the ancient American battleship. She will be an American Flag ship, so make sure to adorn her hull with the Stars and Stripes. I’m not sure about the shuttles. I think…”

  “Each of the three shuttles is assigned to one of the warships.” Ell commented dryly.

  “The destroyer can actually accommodate six shuttles, or one corvette in her hanger bay. The frigate and science vessel will each support two shuttles.”

  Gareth stared out of the wide windows and mused about the small fleet of spacecraft. “It’s too bad that all the rest were scrapped.” He said in a wistful voice. “Our expanding Terran Empire may be able to use them, someday.”

  Ell made a sound similar to a human clearing his throat. “Shyrrik just informed me that not all of the capital ships were scrapped at the end of the war.” Gareth frowned. “While the generals and admirals made a great show of mothballing a few of the smaller warships and transports, several of the larger units were spirited away to a large stasis hangar deep below the surface of Mars.”

  Gareth began to laugh, and continued until tears coursed down his cheeks. “Generals and admirals have always,” he gasped, “since time immemorial, been good at slight-of-hand. While everyone’s attention was riveted on the small museum here in Earth orbit, the real game was taking place on Mars. Ask Shyrrik how many ships of the Earth fleet were actually destroyed?”

  The voice coming out of the air sounded as if it had been personally insulted. “None.” She replied in a flat voice. “The explosion that the Admirals SAID destroyed the fleet was, however, quite spectacular.”

  Gareth wiped at his eyes. “I suppose that the sensors the government relied on to verify the destruction of the fleet were operated by the military.”

  “Of course.” Ell replied dryly. Gareth began to laugh all over again.

  Three days later, with Mairi back on her feet and certified by both Ell and Athena as completely toxin resistant, Gareth and his daughter took a casual stroll through the gateway, to the world of Puborg. Mairi gripped his arm as the cool, sweet, death laden air swept around them. “This is lovely.” She whispered; her eyes wide. They had just reached the site of Gareth’s impromptu camp when she stopped and shook her head, leaning more heavily than normal on his arm.

  “Are you all right?” He asked, concern in his voice.

  She’s fine. Athena reassured him. Her system is just readjusting to the toxin levels in the air, just as yours is.

  “I’m just a little dizzy, is all.” She blinked her eyes rapidly several times.

  “A mutual friend says that your system is adjusting to the toxins in this world. Let me know if it doesn’t clear up or if it gets worse.”

  Mairi took a deep breath. “I feel better already.” She said in astonishment as her eyes swept the area. “Is this where you camped for two months?” She asked, pointing to a dead patch on the grass where Gareth’s tent had been. The nearby brook was still gurgling merrily, and the birds still sang their hearts out in the nearby trees. The air was invigoratingly cool.

  “This is the place.” He murmured, looking at the small ring of stones that surrounded his fire pit. A few feet away there
was still a small stack of wood. “We should go.” He said, turning away from the camp site. “It’s some distance to the settlement, and I’d like to bring back the rest of the transport globes with us.”

  The young woman sighed. “As you wish, Father.”

  An hour later two globes piloted by Gareth and Mairi proceeded at a walking pace through the gateway, followed by a floating sled carrying the last three pods, safely in standby. The two globes glided through the gateway, followed immediately by the sled, stopped and deactivated as soon as Gareth and Mairi stepped out. They were immediately enveloped in a thick decontamination field that stayed on for a full minute, before it vanished. A small drone conveniently sent by Ell picked up the four beer-case sized, but very heavy boxes that were the pods in standby, and arranged them neatly to one side of the arrival platform and close by the other two that Gareth had brought out with him on his first day away from Puborg.

  Mairi touched his arm as they walked back toward The Yeugate dome. “How are you feeling?”

  Smiling, he glanced at his cane. “I can probably do without this tomorrow. I thought that if you were up to it, we could check out the next world on our list. Chiu and Lyndra should be back later today, and we’ll grab one of the marines. We only have three EVA suits.” He chuckled. “After getting the anti-toxin shot, they won’t feel up to doing much for the next few days.”

  “You’re going to get us into trouble again.” She gave him a wide grin. “I’d love to go.”

  Sergeant Xianliang, encumbered by his active EVA suit, stepped in front of Gareth, his rifle held loosely at port arms. “I have point.” He said simply.

  Gareth looked at the young man, who had matured by leaps and bounds in the past few months, and smiled. “You have point, Sergeant.” He said without any special emphasis. Beside him, Mairi hid her smile as she watched the young man who was only a few years older than she. The young man took a deep breath and stepped forward, vanishing in the space of a heartbeat. Gareth took his daughter’s hand and together they too stepped across lightyears.

  Mairi gasped, and her hand tightened on his like a vise. “This is beautiful.” She said in awe.

  Gareth tapped the young marine on the shoulder. “Go back through the gateway and let Ell download your suit camera. She can tell you what world this is, and if there are any particular dangers we have to be aware of. Then you can report back here. We’ll wait for you.”

  “Aye, aye Sir. Go and return.” The marine pivoted on his heel and stepped back through the gateway. Gareth wasn’t taking any chances, and was getting as much information as he could before he went exploring. No more than a minute later there was a flicker, and Sergeant Xianliang was back. He didn’t quite salute as he reported. “Ell says that this world is named Sedona, named after a mythical place on Earth. Environmentally fit for humans, there is a psychic force that seems to travel about the planet carried on the wind. This ghost wind has been said to cause mystical and even spiritual experiences; some going as far as to claim enlightenment by its very touch. The rest, the ones without a suitable disposition according to Ell, find the experience somewhat like a bad trip on drugs. Wind storms are as violent as they are sporadic, and every plant has deep anchoring roots to keep them from being blown away. Human visitors not attuned to the somewhat moody weather have to live in special wind-proof, man-made bubbles that sometimes leak, allowing the strange energy to affect the occupants and occasionally suck them out of the domes if not properly maintained. There is a group of natives who live in vortex-proof caves under the planet's surface and the humans need their help to prevent the domes from leaking. These natives are mole-like creatures the size of an earth cat, but highly intelligent and are very misunderstood. It’s Ell’s belief that the original human settlers from Eldenworld couldn’t belittle themselves by admitting they needed the help of mere rodents, and abandoned the world as unsuitable.”

  Gareth was listening to the report, but not hearing. The gateway stood on a small rise overlooking a clear winding river that chuckled over and around rounded boulders. Sometime during the past visits, wide flat stepping stones had been laid across the river to allow foot access. The warm dry air smelled of Creosote bush, while clumps of juniper, agave, and sage dotted the rocky landscape. Towers of wind-carved sandstone poked skyward between buttes and craggy mountains, and even at several kilometers Gareth could hear the low moan of the wind through the oddly shaped rocks. The sky was a deep denim blue. Rugged and awe inspiring, it was one of the most beautiful places Gareth had ever seen. He blinked as he suddenly noticed Mairi leaping across the river rocks, her EVA suit obviously turned off. He bit back a curse as he turned to the marine. “You had better follow my delinquent daughter. Don’t let her drive you to distraction, and if she gets into trouble give me a shout.”

  “But,” The young man looked torn. “I was told to stay with you.”

  “I can take care of myself. Go with my daughter. I’m just going to cross the river and wander around close by.” He smiled at the young marine. “The EVA suits have locators in them, even when they are turned off.”

  “Aye, Aye, Sir.” The marine flipped off his EVA suit and was off at a run.

  With the river some distance behind him, Gareth was surprised when a small furry rust colored head poked up from behind a reddish rock, and then disappeared. There was the sound of pebbles falling, and the faint noise of claws on stone. Smiling at the timid locals, Gareth sat on a smoothly wind-sculpted rock, put his hands behind his head, and gazed up at the azure sky. The sun was warm and yellow, and the sunlight felt good on his face.

  “Isss it sssstill alivesssss?” A tiny sibilant hissing murmured close by his left ear. Without moving his head, Gareth looked to the left, catching sight of a small furry face. The small black nose twitched slightly, reminding him more than a little of their ferret-faced guide Kuan Yang. He bit his tongue to keep from laughing.

  “Issss unknown.” A small voice from his right replied. “I will bite itss and ssssee if it movessess.”

  Gareth frowned as he attempted to wrap his tongue around the hissing language. “Ifsss you bitesssesss me I will bitessssesss you backsss.” Gareth said in a low voice. The creature to his right jumped a half-meter in the air in surprise.

  It landed on four stiff legs, to stare at him wide eyed. “You sssspeaks our languagesss!”

  Gareth sat up and turned to face the small speaker, and it was his turn to stare. He’d seen pictures of meerkats in past, but had never seen one face to face until now. The small black nose twitched and the long ringed prehensile tail formed a perfect question mark. “Yes, I speak your language. Is that a bad thing?”

  The one on his left cocked its head to the side. “Dependssss,” it hissed, “if you opensss mouth only to tells liesssess.”

  Gareth opened his mouth, frowned, and began to chuckle, his estimation of the small creatures going up several notches. He had just gotten to his feet, when a low moaning wind slid through the surrounding rocks. Gareth felt the sudden need to seek shelter.

  “Ssseee!” The first meerkat exclaimed. “It feelsss the weather comesss. That is good, I thinksssss.” It looked at Gareth. “You comesss.” It gestured back into the rocks where the first creature was already bounding.

  Gareth glanced out across the wide rocky arroyo he found himself standing in. “I lookss for my daughter and one otherss.” He muttered, not knowing if the creature would understand.

  The meerkat made a small chittering sound. “Isss already inssside.” The creature hissed. “Follow now!” Gareth rolled his eyes and followed.

  They found the second meerkat standing beside a low counterbalanced stone door. Inside the far chamber Gareth could only see dim figures moving. As they entered the room, the second meerkat swung the door closed with a tomblike crunch.

  “Daddy!” Mairi’s voice cut through the dimness like a knife and a moment later she threw herself into his arms. “The Kats led me and your bodyguard here. Isn’t this the coolest?
” She pointed to the first of the kats Gareth had seen. “Niaucriss told me that this cave system is one of the oldest on Sedona. It’s tens of thousands of years old, she said.”

  Gareth frowned at his daughter. “You can understand them?”

  A small frown creased Mairi’s forehead. “Sure. Can’t you?”

  “I can.” Gareth replied slowly. “But…” He turned to the young marine who was glaring at the meerkats. “Sergeant, can you understand what these creatures are saying?”

  “No Sir.” Sergeant Xianliang returned, glaring at the small creatures. “They sound like chittering squirrels to me.”

  Gareth sighed. Would you like to explain things, Athena? He asked in a tone that said very eloquently that he should have seen it coming.

  When you yourself asked me to help your daughter adjust, I simply made a few necessary changes to her physiology. Language enhancement is a necessity in your line of work, wouldn’t you say?

  He bit back a curse. But I thought that was for Eldenworld only.

  Did I ever use the word only?

  Scheiße! He swore to himself. Scheiße! Scheiße! Scheiße!

  “Is something wrong, daddy?” Mairi asked in concern.

  Gareth sat down beside her on a flat, well-worn rocky outcropping. “No, Mairi, nothing is wrong. I…” His jaw snapped shut as something blew through the stone walls of the cave, brushing his mind with an incredible power.

  Mairi clutched at his arm. “What is it?” She asked in fear.

  Gareth touched her hand. “I’ve felt Athena’s touch enough times. This is like Athena, but less subtle. Relax, he’s just curious about you is all.” I hope. As soon as he felt his daughter relax slightly, he glanced at the young marine. The young man was sitting rigidly, his carbine gripped tightly in his hands. “Marine!” Gareth barked. “Lower and disarm your weapon. There is nothing to fear here.” Sergeant Xianliang sat frozen and trembling. “Now Sergeant!” Gareth snapped in his best Command Voice. The magazine and then the rifle hit the rocky floor with a clank. The young marine sat trembling for several long moments and then… The tension seemed to go out of him, and his eyes softened. Gareth let his breath out.