by A. K. DuBoff
“That… actually makes sense,” Saera said slowly. “Holy crap, I never thought about it that way before.”
“There wasn’t reason to.”
“It doesn’t explain the strange structures on the planet, though. What else were they hiding?”
“Well, if the ancient Tarans settled Earth—a secret colony—as a contingency plan against a war with the Erebus, perhaps they also hid some of their knowledge, or means of protection.”
“Like some kind of old-fashioned planetary shield?”
“Honestly, we have no idea what technology or capabilities Tarans from that era possessed,” Wil said. “We have considered the advent of subspace travel to be relatively recent, within the last couple thousand years. However, Tarans are millennia old, in one form or another, and the civilization has had its rises and falls. It’s entirely possible that they once possessed technology that makes our modern methods look rudimentary.”
“In other words, what’s down there might be really valuable.”
“Or it could be nothing. I’m just throwing out random thoughts here.”
Saera crossed her arms. “In any case, it sounds like that excavation just became a top priority.”
“Indeed. And it explains why there’s been a pervasive stewardship of Earth throughout history.”
“I wonder if all those people who’ve made fun of ‘that backwater planet Earth’ would feel bad if they learned humans were the fallback plan to repopulate the galaxy?”
“Something tells me that would not go over well.”
She nodded. “And I suppose we don’t know for sure that was the intention. Your speculation makes sense, though.”
“More so than the other hypotheses about Earth I’ve toyed with over the years,” Wil said.
“An ark.” She shook her head. “I guess those mentions of spaceship-like craft in religious texts had some basis in reality after all.”
“And the powers of the gods. Sounds an awful lot like Gifted people to me.”
“Yeah, I had a similar thought when I first learned about abilities. It does seem like divine magic—especially after a story has been passed down for generations, with each narrator adding their own embellishments.”
“For sure,” he agreed.
“Makes you wonder what happened to those abilities over time.” Saera tilted her head in thought. “Earth wasn’t subjected to the same genetic experimentations that caused the Generation Cycle in the rest of the Taran population, was it?”
Wil shrugged. “Not as far as I know. Maybe the blending with the natives eventually weakened the gene expression of those traits.”
“It makes me wonder, though…” She faded out, then continued with Wil gave her a quizzical look, “The Priesthood went to great lengths to design a perfect genetic partner for you, with the intention of creating a patch to fix the Generation Cycle. Of the trillions of people to choose from to be a part of that solution, they picked my dad—a half-human from Earth. Maybe something in that ancient Taran genome that’s evolved into the modern human is the key to solving it all.”
“An ark is also a genetic archive of a different sort,” Wil mused.
“Yeah. I dunno, I might be over-thinking it.”
“We may never know for sure, but we are certainly armed with more information now than we had before.”
Saera nodded. “What does that mean for this device? And whatever else they might find.”
“We study each discovery and continue filling in the pieces,” he replied. “We’re just beginning to scratch the surface of our history. Somewhere, buried in the past, might be the key to our future.”
— — —
After the rudimentary lab at the Alliance office, Leon was amazed by the sophistication of this new facility. If he’d been a willing worker, he would have loved the place—both for its crisp, clean aesthetic and the variety of high-end equipment. As it stood, though, the shiny finishes made it no less a prison.
“You will complete the tasks given to you. No more, no less,” stated the manager, whom Leon had learned was named Edward. The man had never had a particularly pleasant demeanor on Duronis, but now his expression was set in a permanent glare.
“Am I supposed to work alone?” Leon asked.
“For now. Unless you can prove you are cooperative.” Edward deepened his scowl. “If you’re worth the air you breathe, you won’t need assistance.”
Granted, Leon’s line of work was suited to him being an ‘individual contributor’ rather than anything requiring multiple hands and eyes, but he had hoped there would be others in the lab. Aside from it being nice to occasionally bounce ideas off someone—since he’d no doubt need to do some actual work during his captivity—it was also much easier to get away with covert actions when there was someone else around to draw some of the attention. Being alone meant all surveillance would be solely on him; he wouldn’t be able to get away with anything under those conditions.
Edward activated the main workstation on the island at the center of the lab, which was marked with a corporate emblem for ‘SPEAR Tec’.
What’s SPEAR Tec? Leon wondered. He’d never heard mention of the name during his time in the Alliance. Perhaps it was another division within the Coalition’s umbrella?
Edward navigated to a file directory. “Everything you will need is in here.” He opened up a brief and displayed it on the holoprojector.
Leon stared at the bizarre data set. “What is this?”
“Figure it out. We need a stable tether by the end of the week.”
“A what?”
Edward left Leon alone in the lab without giving an answer. The lab door locked behind him, trapping Leon inside.
Fantastic. Doing nothing would immediately get Leon in trouble, and he had a feeling that their threat to remove non-vital limbs wasn’t a bluff. Besides, he needed to understand what they wanted him to do before he could effectively stall or sabotage.
He turned his attention to the information on the console. At first, the disparate pieces didn’t make any sense for being together on a single project. It was related to the snippets that he had been shown during the meetings on Duronis, connected to a genetic predisposition for Gifted abilities. He knew from his other work that the real point of interest was the transdimensional connection between a Gifted person and the energy in higher dimensions. Even that much was emerging science that was at the edge of his field. The only reason he knew anything about it at all was because of Kira’s unique nanites, but that had only ancillary relation to this work.
Leon flipped through the assignment notes, trying to figure out what, exactly, they wanted him to do.
The brief was all over the place: Map the genome for a set of a dozen individuals. Isolate the genetic markers for transdimensional energy connection. Create a gene therapy to activate those markers in the test subjects, regardless of their base genetics. Develop a way to remotely toggle the transdimensional connection on and off in one specific person.
They want me to do this alone? And in less than a week? It was an insane task. He had his doubts whether it was even possible, regardless of time and resources. The checkpoints in the process sounded like someone had made them up without having any idea how such things worked in reality.
That settled it. He was thoroughly screwed any way he sliced it.
He looked around the room for signs of a camera; there was no way he wasn’t being observed. After a visual sweep of the corners, he caught one mounted above the door in a hidden recess.
Leon stared into it. “What you’re asking is impossible. You can’t spontaneously give a non-Gifted person abilities. If that was possible, they would have solved the Generation Cycle problem years ago. The only thing that might be possible is to simulate a bond, like quantum entanglement between two specific genomes.”
There was no reply at first, and then a woman said over a speaker, “Do that.”
Nothing more.
Shite, now I’ve done
it. Leon groaned to himself. He didn’t know if he could actually accomplish the task he’d suggested, let alone in an expedited fashion. Now I get to figure out how to do this without handing over a bioweapon that could destroy the galaxy.
Chapter 18
With his debriefings complete and his reports filed, it was time for Jason to resume his usual duties as a TSS Agent and instructor.
Normally, returning from a mission and getting back to his routine would be a comfort. Now, with Lexi here, he wished he could take leave and spend more time getting to know her. From just hanging out to showing her around Headquarters, he’d enjoyed her company over the last few days—so much so that the idea of not being around her saddened him.
After silencing his morning alarm, Jason wrapped his arms around Lexi and held her close in bed. Sleeping next to her felt as natural as their first kiss. Though being in the same bed for the last three nights without it progressing beyond cuddles had taken considerable willpower, he enjoyed these quiet moments of simply reveling in each other’s company.
“It’s so early,” Lexi moaned, burying her head under a pillow.
“I wanted a little extra time with you before I had to head out for the day.”
She scooched closer to him. “No chance we can just lounge around all day together?”
“I wish. I’ve got class.”
“Going off to instruct bright, inquiring minds… I feel like a total deadbeat compared to you.”
Jason rolled over to look her in the eyes. “I’ll say it as many times as I need to. I don’t care where you came from or what you’ve done.”
“I know, and I’m grateful for that.”
He kissed her. “You’ve been thrown into my world, and that’s a lot of adjusting.”
“Yeah. I’m trying to focus on what’s here between us and ignore the rest for now.”
“Good plan.”
“So, what happens now?” Lexi asked.
“We try to figure out our new day-to-day lives together.”
“How do we deal with you being a TSS Agent, and me… not?”
Jason nodded in silent thought, weighing how to respond. “I don’t expect you to join the TSS, but that is an option if you want to.”
“I doubt you take people with my kind of history.”
“Not usually. However, there are options for working with the TSS that don’t entail being an Agent and going through that training.”
“You mean like a civilian contractor?”
“Something like that.”
“I don’t know.” She shrugged. “I might consider it, depending on what I’d do.”
“That would be a longer discussion.”
Lexi looked down.
He stroked her shoulder. “Hey, there’s no pressure with any of this, okay?”
“You can say that, but it’s not true.”
“No, really, I—”
“You don’t care? I believe you, and that’s great. But I think your family may see things differently.”
Jason sighed. “Lex…” He interlaced his fingers with hers. “They are more understanding than you may think. Even if they aren’t, though, I don’t care. I will find a way for our lives to mesh.”
She took an unsteady breath. “It’s scary to feel this way about someone after so short a time.”
“For me, too. But we’re in this together, and we’ll navigate each of these challenges as partners. Sure, we come from different worlds, but that doesn’t mean our future can’t follow the same path.”
Lexi leaned her head against his chest. “Thank you. I really am trying to keep an open mind about my place here. Everyone has been so welcoming. The feeling out of place thing is all in my own head.”
“It took me a while to feel at home here, too.”
“I’ve always thought home is more about the people you’re with than the place.”
“Very true.”
She brought her face close to his. “I feel like I’ve found that with you.”
He leaned in for another kiss, savoring the contact. If every morning could begin like this, good times were ahead.
Eventually, he dragged himself from bed and got going for the day. His flight class wasn’t until the afternoon, but he had a lot of papers to review before then. While he disliked assigning that kind of work, report-filing and other administrative tedium was a fact of being a good Agent, so he owed it to his students to include writing projects in the training curriculum.
Not long after he’d gotten settled into his office, a notification popped up on his desktop summoning him to his father’s office. I can’t go one day without something unexpected coming up.
The door was open when he arrived at the High Commander’s office, and his father waved him inside.
Wil telekinetically swung the door closed behind him. “I know you’re busy, Jason, but I wanted to chat about some things.”
Am I in trouble? He tentatively sat down in his usual chair. “Sure.”
“How are things with Lexi?”
“Good. I mean, it’s only been a couple of days, but it seems like a lot longer than that.”
“I know that feeling.” He paused. “I expect the next few months will be transformative for you.”
“Why?”
“Finding a partner has a way of giving a new perspective.”
Jason leaned back in the chair. “Ah. Well, this isn’t the first time I’ve dated someone since becoming an Agent.”
“No, but this kind of partnership is different, isn’t it? More like having a part of yourself that exists outside of you.”
Jason didn’t know how to respond, so he remained silent. The fact remained that he’d only known Lexi for a short time, and they hadn’t bonded yet. She was important to him, surely, but he didn’t see how their relationship would fundamentally change how he would go about his duties.
“I don’t expect you to understand now,” his father continued, “but there’s a unique challenge that comes from being close to someone when you’re in a position like ours. As commanders, we’re used to putting the needs of others before ourselves. It’s often like that in a relationship, too. That partnership can be a source of strength when it’s healthy, but it can also be a distraction.”
“I get that.” A little defensiveness worked its way into Jason’s tone. This would no doubt turn into a lecture about how he shouldn’t allow being with Lexi to compromise his career advancement.
“No, I’m not trying to dissuade you. Quite the opposite,” his father said. Though Jason hadn’t shared his private thoughts, the sentiment must have come through in his expression.
“What, then?”
“I mean to say that we often carry great burdens as leaders, and shouldering that alone can be too much to bear. Having someone to help us through the toughest times can make all the difference. It’s not a matter of career or relationship, but rather how the two can complement each other. Care for each other. The stronger you are as a couple, the better you’ll be able to perform as a commander when the pressure is on. Be able to lean on each other to stay grounded.”
“Oh.” Well, that’s not how I thought that was going to go.
“It’ll take time to build up your trust in one another, no matter how instantaneous the connection may feel. At this stage it’s only ‘potential’. You still need to put in the work.”
“I plan to.”
Wil smiled. “I can tell. I think meeting her has come at a good time for you.”
“Yeah.” Jason looked down. Any sooner and I might not have been ready to let go of Tiff.
“As you begin this new chapter, it seems appropriate to increase your responsibilities in other ways. To begin, I’d like you to lead the efforts related to the Coalition; identify the branches of the organization and come up with an action plan to quell the threat.”
Jason ran a quick mental calculation of the amount of time that was likely to take. There was no way he could take it on in addition to his
current duties. “I appreciate you trusting me with that, but with classes and—”
“Teaching has been excellent experience for you. I think you’re ready to apply those skills in a new capacity.”
His heart sank. He enjoyed teaching, and the flight lessons, in particular were his only chance to get out into the void. “Is there any room for discussion?”
“We’re very alike, Jason. I hated it when the High Commander told me I had to be an instructor, and I hated it when he told me it was time to stop working in theory and to get out into the field to put everything into practice. It’s only with the benefit of time that I can look back and see that those nudges came at precisely the right moments. I hope you’ll believe me when I say one day you’ll be able to thank me.”
Jason had no reason to doubt his father, and he certainly respected him. The rebellious edge his TSS training had worked so hard to quiet still nagged that he should resist these orders. He had a good thing going right now, especially with Lexi. They could have fun together and keep it low-stress.
Yet, he realized that he truly had matured beyond that way of thinking. He wanted to grow and to push himself. Teaching and going on one-off missions was safe. To reach the next stage of his career, he’d need to step outside his comfort zone. A formal task force command was a big deal.
“I relish the challenge,” Jason said. “I think this is an assignment I can invest in.” With Lexi’s experience, I certainly have the motivation to track down the Coalition members and prevent them from hurting others.
“That’s good to hear.” Wil smiled, pride in his eyes. “I’ll be here to support you in any way you need.”
“Thanks. I’d like to at least finish out the week with my students. Do you know who’ll be taking over?”
“I believe your mother has some people in mind. You can coordinate the transition with her.”
“Okay. Will do.” Jason rose.
Wil stood to face him. “Jason, I want you to know that I’m not giving you this assignment just because you’re my son. You’ve earned it in your own right.”
