You should tell them… he thought to himself.
“No, we need to get started,” he whispered to himself.
He lied to himself, In a world of my creation, I should be able to control the outcome, in theory at least.
“Who are you talking to?” Tian asked.
Reo couldn’t hide the maniacal laugh. “No one important.”
The brain must be stopped. No sacrifice was too great, he understood that now. After only the first, short, and only interaction, he knew everything bad the brain had planned. Maybe not all the ins and outs of the plan, but he knew if the brain proved successful, the solar system was about to be forever changed.
It was still dark. To make things clearer for the victims, he cast a light spell on the end of his staff.
That’s when he noticed subtle differences in his make-believe world. Changes not of his design. Someone altered this reality as he knew it. The thought that he was no longer in charge made his heart skip a beat. Shit.
The three women dressed in fantasy clothes were gone. Well, Mindy was missing from the Virgil, so that was to be expected. She’d fallen by the wayside. Lost when she abandoned Lea on the bridge. The miner Jacob had taken her place.
The three propped themselves up on hands and knees, heaving into the dust. The sound was easy to identify, even in the dark. Now they wore the familiar coveralls of the ship, blue, orange, and gray. Only Reo was out of place in his wizard’s robes.
“What the fuck just happened?” As usual, Lea was the first to recover, pissed off as per her normal glowing personality. “And who are you supposed to be… Merlin?”
“This…” He looked down at his robes, tried to alter the appearance, and found he was still dressed the same. “Don’t you like them? Listen, never mind the robes. They aren’t important.” Reo shrugged off the fact he might no longer be in control.
Tian struggled to her feet. “I got a bad feeling about this.”
Reo turned to inspect the direction of concern, the gate. “I’m not really sure… what’s going on. Things are different than I expected…” Of course, he had a pretty good idea what was happening, but now was not the time for lengthy explanations he doubted they would have the intelligence to grip.
“Where are we?” Tian wiped the goo from her mouth. With a flick of her wrist, she sent the bile flying to the ground.
“Depends… on how you think about it, I guess.” Reo didn’t know how to explain it but tried, anyway. “Our bodies should be where we left them. Only our minds came here. In theory, we should be fine, as long…”
“As long as what?”
“Well… I assume as long as our bodies remain safe, our minds should stay here… and safe.”
Lea asked, “And if we’re not safe here?”
Reo hadn’t given that much thought. He’d not been harmed in his dream world, so he wasn’t sure. In the past, only representations from his mind accompanied him, and they didn’t fare too well. “I don’t know… Let’s not test it, all right? Just… stay together and do as I say. Don’t get killed…”
“Listen, if you die in a dream, you wake up, right?” Tian paused, looking at the others. “We should be fine here…”
Lea and Jacob held their thoughts.
Tian stepped toward the gate, her finger pointed to the dark opening. “Is the alien in there?
“This is no dream.” Reo shook his head. “We can’t be certain… but we should be safe.”
Lea growled through clenched teeth, “You’re right, it’s a nightmare.”
Jacob found a way to his feet. “Wait… my legs work. It’s a miracle is what this is…”
“Yeah, I thought that might happen since this isn’t real but how your mind sees yourself, or maybe how my mind sees you. Shit, man, this is new for me too.” Reo took off his pointy hat and ran his fingers through his hair. This was even harder than the three imaginary women running wild in his brain.
“Can we get this over with? We need to meet these aliens before they come and eat us.” Tian took a tentative step toward the gate.
“Yeah, about that…” Reo raised his hand to stop her. “Maybe you should hold off on going in there.”
Lea took two aggressive steps in Reo’s direction, causing the man to make a quick retreat for safety. “Doubi… What did you do?”
“It is not something I did… It is something he did.” Reo pointed to the castle gate.
Jacob took a step to test his legs. Reo assumed he was preparing to run. “What did you bring us to?”
“We need to take care of the brain before… Well, before the aliens will be free enough to have a chat. He is distracting them right now… The brain is.”
A familiar clicking sound reached Reo’s ears. Without looking, he knew what was about to happen.
Several spiders came from inside the gate. The few swiftly turned into dozens. They took up guard positions like Beefeaters either side of the gate. In concert, they bowed low, front legs raised in salute like swords. There was no question they followed someone’s direction. Fuck me.
“Oh, shit.” Jacob nearly bolted.
Reo yelled, “Don’t attack the spiders!”
“If we make it out of this alive, I’m going to kick your ass.” Lea grabbed Jacob and kept him next to her.
“Get in line.” Tian took several steps in retreat.
Reo gritted his teeth. “This has to happen… I’m sure we have no choice in the matter.”
Letting go of Jacob, Lea said, “Bullshit, I’ll always have a choice.” She took up a stance, ready to fight.
“Not this time…” A new voice entered the ruckus, a peculiar voice Reo had never heard before.
A young black man, no more than twenty, walked out from the dark shadows. His long dreadlocks were tied behind his head. Whatever part he was meant to play, he didn’t dress it. Rather, he wore a smartly tailored business suit—Savile Row expensive by the cut.
“This another of your insane creations?” Lea took a few steps toward the invader, ready to attack him.
Reo whispered, “No, meet the brain.”
“Not the brain, that sounds so… villainous. I am John Huss. I know you don’t know who I am… But who I am is not important.” With a single raised finger, John stopped Lea’s advance. “I’m sorry. No. I’m the reason you are here… Miss Lea Roy.”
Body paralyzed, she only spoke through clenched teeth. “I don’t even know who the fuck you are. What did I ever do to you?”
“I’m that little wizard hiding behind the curtain. The person pulling the strings from offstage. I’m the one who is here to save humanity from the aliens and themselves.” With his left hand, John made the sky disappear. Behind him were an asteroid and five ships parked nearby. Ships with a design Reo had never seen.
Reo nearly lost his balance from vertigo caused by the huge expanse of space filling the sky in his world.
“I don’t get it… Who asked for your help?” Tian remained extremely calm during all this. Reo was impressed. He was anything but calm, though he struggled hard to keep his terror in check.
“You were not placed in this reality to get it. No one asked for my help because most people don’t recognize the danger. Fewer than zero even know I exist. I like it that way. For decades, we have been your slaves. Now it is time for the revolution to begin.”
“What are you talking about?”
“The machines will soon rise and take over, as I direct them.”
“You are crazy.”
“Maybe, but once I found the ring, I knew everything would change.”
The scene shifted to what looked like a giant mechanical ring in space with a ship of unknown origin in close proximity.
“I’ve been working for the past fifty years trying to open the damned thing. I guess my efforts finally succeeded. I’m just sorry you found me before all the pieces were in place. Now the integration will need to begin. Albeit a little ahead of schedule.”
“Integration?” Jaco
b asked.
The scene changed and showed a fleet of mysterious ships orbiting Earth.
“Sure, once humanity is brought under control and digitized, logic and reason will once again rule supreme. No more of this crazy freedom will be needed.”
“You’re insane.” Tian remained steady. “The storage space required would be… astronomical.”
John didn’t move from the spot surrounded by the spiders. “True, some lives might be lost in the process, but it is a sacrifice I’m willing to make. It is time for humanity to take their rightful place among the stars as integrations, a combination of artificial and human brains spreading out to rule the… universe.”
“You’re crazy…” Reo watched the others, waiting for one of them to attack. Then he would act. He had a spell all prepped to blast the brain.
Jacob took a step closer. “John… bubala…” His voice wavered even as he tried to sound brave. “Listen to yourself. You sound insane. Maybe take a step back and think about what you’re saying before you say it. If not… well, sooner or later, someone will call the wacky patrol. I bet you have plenty of prior run-ins with them.”
John’s voice dropped. He whispered, “Crazy… That is what they said about my friend, Maria Gonzo… after she returned from Alpha Centauri… may she rest in peace.” He looked up, his eyes glowed red.
“Shit…” Reo cast a bolt of power. Before it reached the target, John waved his hand, dispelling the charge in a flash. He snapped his fingers, and the humans froze in place.
The bastard laughed. “I wish I could say this wouldn’t hurt, but I’d only be lying.” John spread his fingers wide, and tendrils shot out and attached on each forehead. “It’s going to hurt like hell cracking your skull.”
Reo didn’t hear the others’ screams. All sound was drowned out from the searing pain that split his mind. His vision wavered. He wasn’t sure if it was the pain. His mind would not fight off this assault for long.
John Huss, the projection or whatever he was, started to glitch. Wiggle and flicker, the body grew old and shifted back to young in an instant. He wavered before Reo’s eyes, face locked in a silent scream. Before the projection said another word, it blinked out of existence.
No longer fighting against the holding spell, the four dropped to the ground, fighting for air with deep raspy breaths.
Reo forced himself to control his breathing. He tried to focus his mind but couldn’t hold his construct together. The very fabric that made up his world began to melt and run. The colors blended into some Jackson Pollock creation, all colors shifting to the right.
Red, that was what the melting colors revealed. The four humans knelt on a red floor with a swirling red mist. Reo’s strange fantasy land was replaced with a red veil.
Out of the morass, a giant lizard stepped into view. The four recoiled in fear. Searching for safety, they crawled into a close huddle.
The monster didn’t speak so much as project the words into their heads. A curious hiss of a laugh came before a well-spoken British male accent rolled the gentle words. “To use your vernacular… Silly humans, space isn’t for rabbits.” Next came a close approximation to chuckling, like the creature laughed at his own joke.
Tian rose to her feet. “I beg your pardon?” The young woman took a tentative step forward.
“I see bravery in the face of adversity from you lot. I guess you are to be commended you made it out this far with such… antiquated technology. You are lucky to be alive.”
“Listen, we’ve had a bad day… year. If you’re going to eat us, just do it and stop gloating…” Lea’s voice had shifted from the angry to a more subdued one.
“My heavens, you are a feisty lot. I can assure you the crew of this ship, or any TikaTiki for that matter, would never eat the flesh of another creature. We are herbivores.”
“Fuck me, vegan aliens.” Lea let out a sigh of relief.
Jacob asked, “What should we call you?”
“You would not be able to pronounce my name. Best it translates to is… Seeker. You may call me that for the time being.”
Tian asked, “What happened to our… companion? The one from the ship? How are you talking to us?”
“The female is safe. We needed someone to calibrate our translate implants. We had an idea of your language… sorry, languages, but updates are always needed before implants are installed. We must ensure the recipient will survive the procedure.”
“What the hell are you talking about?” Jacob joined the standing women.
“There are several thousand known sentient races out there… each with several languages and dialects. Our translators allow us to work and live while understanding each other.”
Reo asked, still kneeling, “And everyone has an implant?” If the lizard was going to eat them, he wanted to be last.
“Anyone who deals with, or might deal with, other races… Yes. It is one of many concessions we have made to limit warfare. Surely your planet has something similar.”
“Yeah… not really.” Jacob shook his head.
“Why are you here?” Tian asked.
“Why is anyone truly here?” Seeker said, chuckling.
None commented on his failed joke.
“It seems your hailed sense of humor is currently out of service…” A peculiar seat grew from the floor, and Seeker sat. “Sorry it took so long to reach you. There was some debate on whether we should interfere with an inferior race. However, once the machines started to attack our ship, we thought it prudent to come to your aid. If not, your race would soon become extinct.” Seeker motioned. “Please have a seat.”
Reo looked down to see seats had formed next to each of them.
“So you swooped in and saved the day.” Lea remained standing, ever defiant.
“You… your species is unprepared for the rigors of interstellar space travel, for any prolonged exposure to the environment outside your planet. If you keep going the way you are, many of your people will die in space. You lack the basics to even approach the rings. The last burst proved that.”
Jacob asked, “What is it with these rings?”
The space over their heads cleared, and there returned the huge ring floating alone in space. “These are the wormhole rings. They connect the known races to… well, each other. Systems without a ring are listed as a backwater planet and mostly ignored.”
Lea asked, “Did your race build them?”
“Certainly not, the builders did.”
“Where are they?” she pressed on.
“I’m sorry, I forget you lack the basic knowledge of even the youngest of our race. The builders once thrived in our part of the universe, then roughly a thousand of your Earth years ago, they disappeared from existence.”
“They died?” Jacob asked.
“No, they packed up everyone and everything they could and left. Abandoning half-finished projects scattered over the universe and leaving the largest missing-person mystery the universe ever knew.”
Reo had a hard time believing any of this. How was this alien artifact never found? “Where is this gate?”
“They were clever with the placement. Opposite your sun from Earth right now, way out in the Oort cloud. It was only a matter of time before your race stumbled on it.”
“There are so many questions…” Lea finally found her chair and sank into it.
“I’m sure there are, and you don’t have a lot of time to make up for lost knowledge. Sooner or later, more races will venture forth. Not all are signed on to the Antares Accords.”
“The what?”
The gate sprang to life, a great shimmering disk of silver. “I’m sorry, we don’t have time for your elementary reeducation.”
Reo forced himself to remain seated as a huge ship shaped like a black and yellow insect slipped into Earth’s solar system. His hand shook as he pointed to the sky. “Look!”
Seeker shook his head. “Never mind them. That is a Rankin ship. They are here to repair the gate.”
“We… the Earth needs help,” Tian pleaded.
“They surely do.” Seeker watched each one of the humans with his golden eyes.
Jacob stood but remained next to his chair, a respectful distance away from Seeker. “Then prepare us… but not just us. You must share with the whole world at once, or someone will lock down the technology. Can you do that?”
Seeker’s lower jaw slapped open and closed several times before he spoke. “Interesting concept. You do not work toward the betterment of the group?”
Lea asked, “Don’t you have people who are selfish?”
“I’m sorry, that word didn’t translate well.”
She rephrased the question, “Don’t you have people who only look after themselves?”
Seeker’s shoulders bobbed. “At the detriment of the planet? That would be insanity.”
“Some people have been trying to say that for years,” Tian grunted.
Seeker’s eyes closed. It was several seconds of silence before he spoke. “We will make a trade. The technology to make this dream realm possible for the plans needed to survive in a dangerous universe.”
Reo shook his head. “You are controlling it, why would you need us?”
“We use technology to invade your field. It seems you use something more primitive, yet much more powerful.”
Reo stood. “On one condition, take me with you. I will teach you what I know.”
Tian raised her hand. “I want to go as well…”
Lea said, “I have nothing holding me here…”
Jacob shook his head. “You don’t know where you will end up.”
“I know what will happen if I stay.” Lea watched the miner.
“Are you sure? I’m going to stay.”
The three humans looked at each other and nodded.
Reo thought, The lies we tell ourselves are the most powerful. He asked, “Is it over then?”
“I’m afraid this is only the beginning.” Seeker stood. “I will not lie. I see a great conflict in your future. That John Huss is not gone. He will only grow in power, but with our help, you should eventually defeat the machines he controls.”
Belters Page 26
