by Tim Kaiver
"Don't shoot." Jolnes pushed Cullen and Torek's rifles down. "That's one of them."
The beast slowed to a calculated walk at fifteen paces distance. It snorted as it drew closer.
"Emmit?" Jolnes called out.
"I am. And this is Adi." Emmit stopped his wolverine five paces from Jolnes. "Are you the general's son?"
"No." Jolnes turned and pointed at Cullen. "He is. Why?"
Emmit swung his leg over the wolverine's back and jumped off. "First, I need to get into your ship and start affixing the grill to your p-drive. Do you have water? I'm thirsty, and I bet they are too," he said, thumbing over his shoulder to indicate his friend and beast.
He stopped before Cullen, unspoken wonder in his eyes as he looked up. His energy seemed driven by a fervor for something greater than escape.
Is he one of the two ultras? Cullen thought. "I'm Captain Re," he said, smiling as the thrill of his new mission returned.
Emmit grinned in a way that made Cullen wonder if he'd just answered the boy's question. Something caught the boy's eye and he walked past.
***
Behind the captain, Emmit spotted a handle sticking out from some moss growing on the wall of the cave. "What's that?" He pointed the captain's rifle light toward it.
Emmit ripped the damp weeds off the half-buried chest.
Item found: Ocia's tool chest.
*Task to upgrade p-drive – Activated.*
The blue message resonated like a reward chime deep in his mind.
Open instructions to affix grill to p-drive? Yes or No?
This is so weird. And yet, he'd never felt so… lifted, like when the wolverine had leapt off the cliff, except this was in his mind, in the beating of his heart.
Yes, he thought.
The toolbox opened. Inside, he found ten liters of fenarum, the p-grill, and all the parts and tools he'd need to install it. If he’d got 5 XP for riding the wolverine to this ship, how much would completing this task give him? He needed 125 XP to reach his next level.
Item names floated up to a column under the title "Inventory." The last item read "Instructions."
"Let me help," said Captain Re as he shut the lid and lifted the case.
Emmit followed him toward the ship and mentally selected the instructions from his inventory. A schematic diagram of the p-drive lit up in a 3-D blueprint he found he could shift at will. Ocia had given him many puzzles for building while in his neuronet treatments, but he'd never done one outside the mental connection. His hand went to his n-jack, hidden beneath the hair behind his ear. He wasn't connected. This was real.
"You done this before?" Captain Re asked as they neared the ramp to the ship.
Emmit looked him in the eye. "No." And as he shook his head, he smiled. He hadn't. But he couldn't wait to try. "Oh, this'll be fun."
4
The cart carrying Ehli and Nassib leveled out as the light from the ceiling revealed the end of the track. A figure emerged from the shadows—Ocia. He caught the cart and helped slow it to a stop.
"Did Emmit make it?"
Ocia helped her out. "Yes. He's fine."
Ehli exhaled as her anxiety eased a little.
"He's getting started on the drive enhancements we require to get out of here. We should run, though, if your leg is feeling up to it."
Her stupid left leg. She'd pulled her hamstring last fall, and still had problems reinjuring it after long days on her feet. Today was a better day, but she didn't trust it. "How far?"
"Not far. We'll get you some treatment on Saemera." Ocia pointed to Nassib behind him. "We'll lead. You guard our tail."
"From what?" Ehli asked.
"In case they find out where we went."
As Ehli jogged, she tried asking Ocia about the Cipher, but her throat didn't produce the words. She tried switching to asking him about ultras, but again, something held her back.
Your lips and mind will not reveal its secret until Shephka deems you ready. Find the general's son.
Her eyebrows rose at that. The Cipher used minds, plural. Maybe the general's son could tell her. She kicked her speed up a notch and felt a little sore, but kept on. Not long after, her hamstring gripped her leg with a sharp pang. "Agh. Stones. Wait. Ocia."
He turned and slowed. Nassib reached her first and offered to help, but Ocia shooed him away. "I'll be fine. We're almost there."
Ehli felt stupid being carried like a child to bed—oh, how her life had changed since that reality with Emmit—but if it meant being able to walk later instead of hobbling for a week or more, she'd accept Ocia's help. "Thanks, Dad," she teased.
"Any time."
Ocia had never had a daughter, but from what he'd shared about his family, she thought he'd be a good father to a daughter. She hoped he'd find his wife and son someday, and that when he did, somehow—beyond likelihood—the Osuna would not have tortured or changed them too much.... The way he told stories of the experiments and surgeries he'd performed while they held his family hostage, it didn't seem likely that his escape and failure to rescue them could have led to anything but harm for them. That had been six years ago.
Six years. The pain of losing Schaefer had barely dulled in the same amount of time. If she'd lost Emmit, too? She rested her head against Ocia's chest, smelling his sweat. It was more than a few days since his last bath, but she loved him regardless. Her dad hadn't reached his fortieth birthday, and her mom had been taken by the Osuna weeks after her birth, so Ocia was as close to a father as she'd get. I'm glad Emmit has you too. You're so good for him.
***
In the engine room, Emmit tapped as quickly as possible as his computer lagged through various link-ups with the Mericure system. This thing is amazing, he thought as he studied the glowing schematic the Cipher held before his eyes to guide him through each step. While he sat on the deck typing, Adi stepped over the wires connecting the laptop to the humming p-drive, pacing back toward the hatch Cullen had just left through.
Emmit swallowed the urge to tell his friend to go sit in the corner, and continued blazing through the installation requests. Adi huffed and made another turn at the hatch.
Emmit's patience bottomed out. "Yes?" he asked, not looking up as he resolved another link step.
"Yes?" Adi laughed. "Yes? As in, oh, is there something out of the ordinary that maybe you'd like to talk about? Or yes—" His tone dropped from joking to mocking. "—is there something wrong with me throwing rotten peas in your face?" Adi barked another joyless laugh, and paced left. "What is going on with you?"
He motioned to the thin computer Emmit was hunched over. "When did you learn how to do that? I've never even seen one of those, and you're talking like someone who's done this his whole life—like an old person who's done this his whole life." He turned to point beyond the room toward the bow of the ship. "And that's not even.... You.... We rode an Osuna wolverine down the face of a cliff! Dang it, Emmit. I peed my pants a little," he whispered. He leaned forward and pointed at his crotch, but Emmit couldn't distinguish one stain on his dark pants from another. Their pants were ten shades of dirty gray on a good day.
Emmit chuckled. "I'm sorry. I brought you the best day of your life and forgot a fresh pair of underwear."
Adi humphed. "No. This isn't funny...." His face cracked into a smile. "Okay, so that was a little funny. You never bring me fresh underwear. No." He wiped off his smile. "I'm serious." His finger pointing at Emmit's nose was at least one part serious, and grew more so with each breath. "Who the Lemae's Eye are you?"
"I'm Emmit," he said slowly, as though Adi were one step slow, and reached out to shake hands.
Adi swatted at him, but Emmit pulled back. "Shut up," Adi said. "That's not what I mean. You know what I mean. I thought we... I thought we were friends." His voice was strained, and he seemed to be on the verge of tears.
That cut the humor from the moment. Emmit considered giving him a hug. "We are friends. Of course we are. Always have been. Always will be."
"Then tell me the truth." His voice growled with anger. "How do you know that?" Adi pointed at the computer. Then at the bow of the ship. "Since when can you ride wolverines?"
Emmit opened his mouth to respond—
"And if you lie to me right now, I swear I'll walk right back to my cell and pray ten thousand curses on your head."
Emmit looked his friend in the eye and took a deep breath. His head slowly shook left to right. He shrugged. "This is as much, if not more, of a surprise to me as it is to you." At least in that he wasn't lying.
"Goat piss. What does that even mean? You jus—you don't just... talk like that. When did you learn those things? You're... like a completely different person."
Adi wasn't wrong. The Cipher said he was an ultra. He'd seen text and felt a different kind of strength, but what was it? At this moment, it was a power to get them off this rock. Until then, he preferred to watch it work, and when the Cipher would let him, tell Adi everything.
"What's changed, Em?"
As his friend looked at him with urgent need, and fear of the unknown, the schematic of the p-drive hovered to the right of his face, the current step in the puzzle darkened in blue over the yellow diagram. How could he explain that, even if it let him? "I need to finish this so we can get out of here. When we're safe, I'll try and explain."
"Where's that paper you found?" Adi pointed at his pocket.
It took a second to connect what he meant.
"The paper you found in the beacon, before you acted like a mad man and charmed a wolverine. Let me see it."
Emmit paused as he considered if that was what had started his change, and if showing Adi would be dangerous.
Adi's stare and twitching lip, on the verge of violence, pleaded for his friend to not let him cross that line.
"Adi, I'm scared." His hand found the beacon in his pocket.
Adi glanced at the movement and back up. "I am too. Please tell me."
The Cipher didn't stop him, so Emmit handed him the beacon.
Adi snatched the tiny ball and quickly unfolded the paper inside. His face reflected curiosity, then confusion. He flipped the blank paper around for Emmit to see. "There's nothing on it."
Emmit snatched it and twisted it around to the second blank side, then back to the first. "How is…?" His stomach ached. Sweat dripped off his cheek. His throat was as dry as the end of a trip to the third ridge.
"I swear, if you're playing a joke on me, I'll hit you so hard."
The hatch slid open to Captain Re carrying a couple bottles of water. He offered one to Adi, who took it and left in a hurry.
Captain Re watched Adi go, then turned to Emmit. "You guys have a fight?" He offered Emmit a bottle.
"A little." His thirst took over. The cool water refreshed his dry throat immediately.
"Slow down or you'll throw it up."
He coughed and wiped his wet mouth on his sleeve. "Okay."
"How's it coming? Can I help?" Captain Re glanced at the screen, which showed the progress. He nodded. "Looking good to me."
Emmit checked over the p-drive, a waist-high clear cylinder longer than he was tall. The hard plastic base housed the brains of the device—the processor designed to interact with the pilot's brain and neuronet implant. Six black tubes curled over the sides and entered through holes on the top, where they fed piston-like bursts of magnetic energy into the engine. The holoscreen pulsed as its base, and beeped, signifying the program had completed its upgrade. His Cipher schematic flashed a lighter blue in the section he needed to complete next. Emmit pressed a box on the screen that matched his schematic. “P-drive activated” appeared on the screen. A yellow green gas was released into the p-drive.
Captain Re hugged Emmit against his side. "Nice work! Come on. Let's get outta here." He tugged Emmit toward the hatch.
As he walked through, a Cipher text glowed before him.
*Task to upgrade p-drive – Complete.*
+40 XP to Emmit.
45/130 to Level 2.
The new experience passed through him like nervous energy, but dissipated just as quickly. He took another sip of water as Captain Re called out his mini-victory to the crew. As they cheered his name, he raised his bottle in celebration with them. To being an ultra! he thought.
5
Ocia didn't have to carry Ehli long before she felt too much like a burden to enjoy the respite. She told him to set her down and let her try a brisk walk.
"Okay. We're not far now," he said.
The ground leveled out, and their tunnel connected into a maze of possible pathways, but Ocia chose his steps as though there was only one.
Nassib's footsteps echoed from ten paces back.
"How did Emmit get down here before us?" she asked.
After a few steps, Ocia said, "I gave him a head start."
A new source of light filled a distant space in the cavern. Multiple beams lit bright points on the floor and near the ceiling. Ehli walked faster. "Is that our ship?"
"It sure is."
She built as much speed as her sore leg would allow. "Come on, Nassib." This is it. We're leaving! "It won't be paradise without you."
If you could call what they had friendship, you could even say theirs was the only one she had outside of Ocia and her son's more obvious relationships. Over the years, she'd seen his regret over his mistake. She had spent nearly a year hating him every time he walked by, and when he woke her up to come see Ocia, they'd walked in tumultuous silence. One night, after waking up from a particularly shocking nightmare about her husband's death—and the first of many where Emmit had run into the kitchen after him just before the bomb rocked her world in light and fire—seeing Nassib and his recognition of her pain, his simple gesture of offering a hand to her back as she exited her cell, was the first of many small steps they both took to meet in the middle. Steps they took away from hatred and fear toward a common ground of being alive and wanting to enjoy what they could.
She ran toward the ship, glad he would make it out, too. He deserved it.
A mound of dark fur rustled and unfolded into an Osuna wolverine, close enough to leap at and devour her.
Ehli jumped back and let out a cry.
The animal shook out its fur and yawned.
When Ehli realized that she didn't have to turn and run for her life—as though it would have made one bit of difference if the creature had decided to chase her—she looked at Ocia. "What's that doing there?"
The wolverine took short steps forward and cocked its head, watching her.
Ocia hid his face, but his laughter made clear the fun he was having at her expense. "It was your son's ride."
"His... what?"
Ocia held up a hand, then directed it palm up to the still-docile wolverine. "It's domesticated."
"You think you could've warned me," she said, punching his arm playfully.
"Mom?"
Ehli spun to see Emmit waving her in from the open hatch at the ship's rear.
"Come on, we're almost ready to go." He followed her gaze to the wolverine. "He's okay, Mom. Ocia, Nassib, come on. I want to show you something."
Ocia nudged her on. "We'll have plenty of time for you to get even once we're off this planet for good."
"Ocia," Nassib called from behind them, "they're here."
Ocia took a levitor pistol from his belt. "Get inside." Then, to Emmit, "Is it ready?"
"It just activated," Emmit said.
"Great. Everyone inside. They've found us."
Emmit looked at the wolverine, then back to Ocia. "Is he coming too?"
Ocia nodded and gestured for him to get inside.
Emmit spun on his heels and ran deeper into the ship.
Ehli ran past the docile wolverine, which watched her as though she were scared for no reason. As she broke eye contact with the animal and ran up the ramp, she spotted a handsome young man—mid-twenties, sharp in feature and muscle—walking down the passageway from the hatch. His shaggy spik
ed blond hair contrasted with the militaristic order of his blue space pilot suit, equipped with a weapons belt carrying a levitor pistol and combat knife, and an ozone collar with its helmet retracted. He looked up from his armpad, which glowed from recent use.
"Are you—?"
"The guards," Ocia interrupted from behind her. She hadn't heard him approach. "Everyone get seated. We're leaving."
The young man slowed, then veered left as she went right to get out of his way. He cut back as she cut back, then spun before they collided. "Sorry," he said, turning around to check, she assumed, that she hadn't fallen or otherwise hurt herself.
She raised her hand, smiling. "I'm fine."
He offered a distracted smile, then sidestepped alongside Ocia.
"That's Cullen."
She startled.
The young man with high-cropped, short dark hair who'd startled her winked, as though proud that even in a prison escape he still carried his charm at level ten… or so he seemed to think.
In spite of his relaxed posture, his getup from the neck down was all business. His dark purple suit, worn by Esune field ops on the most dangerous kinds of missions the Osuna could send them, had red sensor pads dotted down the sleeves and the outer edges of his pants. Each pad was individually programmable to transmit radio waves, emit smells to attract or detract certain animals, discharge poison darts, hold razor-tipped blades…. He wore it with a child-like sense of pride, but in a body mature enough to make him dangerous. His had an ozone collar too, and there was a glowing armpad on his left forearm. He offered a hand to the hatch behind her. "Your son's in there. I'm Torek, but he's your son, so you prob—"
"Yeah, uh, yeah. Are you the general's son?"
"No," he laughed. "The boy asked that too. That's Cullen," he said, pointing inside.
"Thank you." She found the reader on the hatch and it swept open.
The lights in the ship's passageway had been turned off, including the outside floodlights. "Your seats are ready," he said, waving her in.
