by J. N. Chaney
She stopped at the door to her lab. “That’s not a bad idea, Captain. Let’s finish talking inside.”
As soon as everyone was inside, she flipped a switch that slid the door shut. “I’ve taken the liberty of securing this room from any prying ears. Dr. Davon, Sigmond, and I have tested it multiple times and I can say with great certainty that we may speak our minds without concern.”
I walked further inside the lab. “How long before they figure out what you did here?”
“That all depends on who they are, but I imagine we don’t have long,” she conceded.
Large cages still sat at the back of the room and I could just see the orange fur of the fox she’d successfully phased a week earlier. The doctor had continued her tests, but it was a work in progress, last I checked.
Dressler waved us over to her latest addition to the lab. Besides her usual equipment, two pods now graced the far corner of the room.
The pod made a hissing sound as the lid disengaged and released a blast of cold air. The dead Celestial inside didn’t move, nor did I expect it to. Its features and body seemed eternally preserved, as though it were only asleep and could wake at any moment.
I knew this to be false, given what the doctors had told me, but that didn’t stop me from tightening my grip on my weapon, all the same.
I stared back at the face of my enemy with disgust. The slitted eyes were closed and its lips were no longer pulled back to bare sharp teeth at us. Still, even in death, the creature looked anything but peaceful.
Waking up would be difficult for it now since the doctor had already completed an autopsy. The incision lines still looked fresh from being in cold storage and the white flesh puckered where she’d sewn it back up. As a rule, blood and the like didn’t usually bother me. Maybe it was the fact that this Celestial looked so far removed from its human ancestry, but I had a hard time thinking of it as a thing with feelings and a brain. It was more like the Boneclaws from Karin’s homeworld, a raging monster of a thing, lost to reason and thought. I shoved the unease away, unwilling to let myself get lost in it.
“I have been experimenting with the hard light blade,” Dressler said, pulling me out of my thoughts and pointing at the device attached to the Berserker’s wrist. “It has proven most interesting. When I attempted to remove the emitter, I found that it was part of the Celestial’s body.”
“What does that mean?” asked Abigail. Her brows drew together in confusion. “The emitter is organic?”
“Not quite. Think of it like major surgery. Such as when a person gets pins and metal plates in their legs or arms,” she explained. “The device is more of an implant.”
I leaned down for a better look at the Celestial’s arm and saw what she meant. At first glance, the device appeared to be set on a metal cuff, but the emitter and cuff were one. The whole production was fused into the forearm, just above the wrist, and the shiny metal acted like a part of the limb.
“Where’s the other one?” I noticed the left arm had been removed just above where the cuff would have ended.
The doc gestured vaguely behind her. “I’m studying it.” She had a gruesome job in this respect.
“Is this metal band made from the unknown compound you discovered?” I asked.
“Yes,” she confirmed. “I believe they attach the device while the Celestial is still in the creation tank. The shavings would come from shaping it to fit the host.”
The Celestials had spent the last two thousand years perfecting themselves, both physically and mentally. Their construction of Tartarus was just one shining example of their intelligence. These hard light weapons were another piece of that grand technological puzzle. It would have been impressive if they weren’t so determined to kill us.
“And what about the chambers?” I asked. “What does this metal have to do with the workshop we found?”
“You saw the tubes,” she told me.
I nodded. “Sure.”
“Do me a courtesy. Examine the back of this pod.”
I leaned behind the pod, squeezing close to the wall. “Okay, what am I looking at?”
“How many connections do you see?” she asked.
“For the tubes? Two, I think.”
“That’s right,” she confirmed.
I pulled away from the rear of the pod and looked at her. “So?”
“So,” she continued. “The tubes we found in the lower room were grouped in sets of four.”
I tilted my head. “What’s that mean?” I asked. “They’re pumping these things full with double the amount?”
“I don’t know. Maybe,” she said. “But that’s why I believe they’re not the same type of Celestial. All the others we’ve found have used two tubes per pod. I believed it was standard until I saw otherwise in that room. The size of those tables also has me concerned. They appear far larger than this one.” She nodded at the dead Celestial before us.
“We’ve seen bigger before,” I said, thinking back to the Scout we encountered on Earth.
“Indeed, we have,” she said. “But the kind we’ve found on this station are largely of the Berserker breed. There have been no others.”
I thought back to the chamber and grimaced. The Berserks had been taller than me by half, their limbs impossibly thick.
“That’s not the only thing I wanted to show you,” Dressler continued.
Motioning for us to follow, she walked over to one of the tables and picked up the corpse’s missing left emitter, which was hooked up to one of the computer stations.
“The reason I brought up the Scouts and Berserkers is the emitter. I couldn’t make it work while it was on a deceased host, so I removed it and modified the cuff. It can now be fitted for a human.”
She held it up for us to inspect. I noticed the bandage on her left forearm poking out of her lab sleeve again.
Beside me, Abigail gasped. “Don’t tell me you tried that thing on?”
“I most certainly did,” she said bluntly.
“What the hell, Dressler?” I barked. “You told me the testing wasn’t dangerous.”
“That was for the phasing,” she reminded me. “And, as I’ve already said, it’s nothing. Just a little burn from a miscalculation. My own fault, really.”
“I’ll say,” I told her. “What if it took your arm off…or worse, if it killed you?”
“Worried about me, are you?” she asked.
“Gods no,” I said with a scoff, but then smiled at her. “It’d just be inconvenient of you go off and die right now.”
“Well, in order to move forward, I must experiment,” she continued, ignoring my remark.
“He’s right,” Abigail said. “You’re family. Not to mention how valuable you are to the war effort.”
Dressler’s expression softened and she began to undo the bandage. “Thank you for being concerned. I assure you it was merely a topical burn, one that is already healing.”
She held out the injured portion of her arm for us to see. The burned skin was puckered around the edges, but mostly bright pink.
“Why didn’t you use one of the healing pods?” Abigail asked.
The doc blew out a breath, trying to keep her patience. “Because I don’t have time to sit still and wait. Had it been more serious, I would have visited the pods, but I must press on with my research.”
“Next time, use it,” I ordered. “And from here on out, if someone almost loses an arm, I want to hear about it.”
“About the blade,” Abigail went on. “I’m assuming you found a way to make it portable.”
The doctor nodded. “Yes. Using the cuff, I worked with Sigmond to make the device compatible with our tattoos.”
“Good idea,” I said, trying not to look at the two Union soldiers and their Sarkonian counterparts, each pair of them standing near the doorway.
“More to the point,” she continued. “I also managed to incorporate the Celestials’ phasing abilities into the device.”
“Seriousl
y?” asked Abigail.
Dressler nodded. “We failed thirteen attempts, but the fourteenth yielded a worthwhile result.”
I looked down at the device in her hand. “When will this thing be ready?”
Dressler smiled and held out the cuff. “Now.”
8
“Let me get this straight, Doc.” I held the cuff with some care, as though it might spark to life and burn me as well. “You want me to put this thing on—the same thing that injured you already—and test it out right now?”
“That’s right,” she replied, flashing me a mocking smile and looking downright gleeful. “Don’t tell me that The Renegade, Jace Hughes, is scared of a little alien tech?”
“You look like you’re getting a little too much enjoyment out of this,” I said.
“What are the possible side effects?” asked Abigail.
Dressler tilted her head at the device. “I felt a slight tingling sensation. Nothing painful. Worst case scenario, I suppose, would be an unprecedented reaction to your physiology. You could remain in a state of phasing, perhaps fall through the floor. It’s difficult to say.”
I stared at her. “Uh huh.”
“I assure you that it is quite safe,” Dressler said. “I’ve used it multiple times already. This is just a verification check.”
That didn’t make me feel any better, but I decided I couldn’t back out now.
I turned the device over in my hands to study it. A series of sensors covered the bottom of the emitter, which I now saw had been modified. Where the hard light blades would have come out, other hardware had been installed.
“It’s okay if you’re not feeling up to it,” Abigail said. “I can do it.”
She reached for the device, but I held it away and scowled at her. “Thank you very much, nun, but I can handle it just fine.”
Abigail smiled innocently and dropped her hand to pat my arm. “Of course.”
She knew I would never ask anyone in my crew to do something that I wasn’t willing to do myself. I was a different man from when we first met, but I hadn’t gone that soft. Not yet.
“Walk me through how this thing works,” I ordered.
“There’s no on or off switch,” Dressler explained, stepping forward to help me. “It will react to your thoughts, like all the Earth tech you’ve used before. Think of it like a strike ship. Just envision activating it but without the weapon fire.” She pointed to an indicator. “If this is green, you’re good to initiate a phase cycle. Red means it isn’t ready and a built-in failsafe won’t allow it to work.”
“Got it,” I muttered, then did as she instructed. The cuff closed gently around my wrist and automatically adjusted to the correct size. I hadn’t noticed how tense I was, expecting it to snap shut or give me a jolt. When none of that happened, I relaxed some and experimentally flexed my wrist. The cuff was snug, but not overly tight, and surprisingly easy to wear. “Now what?”
“Close your eyes and think about being invisible,” she said.
“As people do,” I mumbled, squeezing my eyes shut. I pictured my body disappearing from view for a few seconds, then cracked one eye open. “I don’t feel any different. Did it work?”
“Yes,” Abigail confirmed.
I opened my eyes fully and studied the two women. Both were still looking in my direction, but slightly off center. I stepped to the side, trying to see if they noticed.
“Jace?” Abigail said, her eyes fixed on the spot where I had been a moment before.
I looked down at my hands and feet, surprised that I could still see them. That was when I heard the snort. Dressler tried to disguise it as a cough but couldn’t hide the smile. “Very funny, you two. We don’t have time for this.”
They devolved into a fit of laughter, which I decided to ignore. While they were distracted, I shut my eyes and tried again, this time imagining myself phasing like the fox had done in the lab a week ago. I imagined the cuff coming to life, the sensors activating and sending a pulse into my wrist. The device reacted at once, causing a tingling sensation throughout my arm. It started along my skin, then quickly worked its way up and into my chest.
This time when I opened my eyes and looked down at my hands, they were entirely gone. Abigail and Dressler seemed to be recovering, their eyes falling back on the spot I was standing. Now, however, they could no longer see me.
I snuck around them, slowly moving behind Dressler.
“Did it—” Abigail paused, blinking and looking throughout the lab. “Jace?”
Dressler’s eyes widened. “It must have—”
“I’m right here!” I said loudly, cutting her off.
The pair yelped and spun around. I was ready to try something else when Abigail pointed down at the floor. “There.”
A quick look showed that one of my feet had reappeared. It was odd to see the rest of my body follow, like a holo image loading over a bad connection, and we all watched with fascination.
“What happened?” I asked Dressler, confused as to why I was visible again.
“For now, the effect only lasts for about ten seconds,” she explained. “Any longer and it reverts to normal. I’m still working on extending it.”
“Don’t feel bad, Doc,” I assured her. “A handful of seconds might not count for much in a lab, but in a fight they could prove useful.”
“It certainly is,” said Abigail, a look of fascination coming over her. “If I’d had this when I was younger…” Her voice trailed off and her eyes grew distant.
Dressler turned to me. “Are you ready to try something else?”
“Like what?” I asked, suspiciously.
“Well, the invisibility is only part of the phasing, so why don’t we see if you can walk through something?” asked the scientist.
Going invisible was one thing but passing my body through a solid object quite another. Grisly thoughts of my limbs being stuck in a table or half of me sticking out of a wall came to mind. “What, you want me to walk through a wall or something?”
“Of course not,” she said. “I have set up a series of objects, each made of different materials.”
We followed her to the other side of the lab where three tables had been pushed together. When I’d first walked in, they had appeared to be covered with clutter, but now I could see they were arranged carefully. I noted that most of the objects were random everyday things, like a ball, data pad, and dinner plate, but noticeably different materials, as the doc had said. Others, like a piece of gray metal, a pistol, and one of our Neutronium bullets, sat separately from all the others, probably to represent whatever combat situations we might need the device for. At the far end sat two vertical stands. The first held up a flimsy material that looked like a bedsheet. The second was a large piece of white metallic material.
Abigail stood at the table, holding the gray metal. It was blackened around the edges, bent and twisted, making it impossible to determine what it was, although I had my suspicions. Titan’s hull was identical, and I’d spent enough time on that ship to know a piece when I saw it.
This tech could be what tipped the scales and saved humanity. I didn’t have the luxury to hesitate in my resolve. None of us did. Determined to see this through, I stepped forward. “Alright, Dressler. Tell me what to do.”
She pointed a finger at me. “You’ll start from the top, and no messing around this time.”
“I’m ready when you are.”
“Remain stationary. Observe everything you feel and see. Begin now,” she instructed.
I repeated the same process as before, this time with my eyes open. The tingling sensation shot through me again and my hands disappeared in front of my eyes. As Dressler had instructed, I didn’t move from the spot. After the initial feeling subsided, my entire body began to vibrate. I hadn’t noticed that the first time, probably because my focus had been on sneaking up behind Abigail and Dressler.
“Excellent,” the latter murmured when the five seconds ended and I was once again r
endered visible. “Next, you will interact with the objects. Once you are in the phasing cycle, simply pick up an item. A single attempt only.”
“No argument here.” I positioned myself in front of the ball. “Doc, what happens if the cuff stops working while I’m still passing through?”
“Best not to think about it, Captain.”
“That’s reassuring,” I muttered.
As soon as I was invisible again, and not wanting to waste time, I grabbed for the ball in a sweeping motion. The moment my hand passed through the ball, I felt a change. Without meaning to, I yanked my hand back.
“What happened?” Abigail asked sharply upon seeing me. She took a step toward me, eyes dark with concern.
“Nothing. It just felt weird for a second,” I told her. “Like when you get a sudden chill, but just in the one spot.” I wanted to say it was like my molecules had been rearranged, but that wasn’t quite it either.
We continued the tests, working through each item on the table. When that was done, she made me do it all over again, holding them prior to phasing.
“I suppose you want me to walk through those?” I pointed at the bedsheet and white metal slab.
The doctor gave me a once over before nodding. “If you’re feeling up to it. I suspect you are beginning to feel fatigued.”
I started to say no, but now that she mentioned it, I found that I was, and not the usual kind either, but the type of weariness that seeped into your bones. It had snuck up on me, almost out of nowhere. “I can keep going.”
“Don’t overdo it, Jace,” Abigail cautioned.
With a quick nod, I stepped up to the bedsheet.
“Just once,” said Dressler.
I wouldn’t admit it, but I was getting more exhausted by the second. It took significantly more effort, but soon enough I was walking into the thin fabric and coming out the other side. A wave of that same feeling rolled through me, followed by slight nausea. Thankfully, both passed just as quickly as they’d come. Finally, there was only the last sheet of metal left. I stumbled to it, forcing one foot in front of the other.
“Jace,” Abigail said sharply. “I don’t think you should be doing this.”
