by C B Williams
Wren laughed. “I warned you you’d need to suspend your disbelief. I didn’t believe it either until I met Spur, the spirit of my home planet. She had gone dormant because Her people stopped believing they could actually have a relationship with Her. Eloch brought Her back. Perhaps your planet is dormant, too.” She stood gracefully and offered her hand. “Let’s meet the others.”
Jon let Wren haul him to his feet, surprised at how strong she was. Then he helped Perin, taking comfort in her warm grasp. In silence, the four crossed to the other side of the meadow, down a shady path by the little creek, and over to another panel. He paused and turned, looking at where they had come. The land stretched for miles. “Shouldn’t this have taken us longer to get across?” he asked.
“Eloch has done something to time and space in here,” Wren said. “Genji says it has to do with quantum physics.”
“And I say if it works, why do you need to know how?” Eloch said.
Wren snorted. “You say that about everything you don’t want to take the time to explain.”
After they exited, Wren continued with her narrative. “This corridor leads to the Bridge, where the others are monitoring your ship,” she told him. “If you go the other way, you come to the sleeping area and galley.”
“How many on board?”
“There are ten of us.”
Jon halted. “Ten,” he repeated. “All this space, and only ten people.”
“Yep,” Wren nodded. “Like I said, Eloch has been expanding over the years, but we like the space. We each have a lot of privacy this way.”
“What about maintenance? A ship this size would need constant monitoring. Even if it’s automated, people need to check the readouts.”
“Not if Eloch is aware of everything inside and outside of this ship. He takes care of it. You’re going to have to—”
“I know. I know,” Jon said, interrupting her. “Suspend my disbelief. I got it. I’m just trying to understand. It’s as if I’m in some sort of weird alternate reality.”
“Well, in some ways you are. But I’m going to let Genji and Spider explain that to you. Come, let’s go.”
Jon followed, shaking his head. What kind of a name was Spider? Come to think of it, what kind of name was Wren? “Who are you people?” he muttered to himself.
Perin touched his hand. “You’re not crazy,” she whispered.
They entered a flight deck different from every other flight deck he had ever seen. And the group who studied him as he made his way over? The word motley came to mind.
A man and woman slowly rose, their movement drawing his attention. Their clothes were even more different than the three accompanying him, Eloch in his skins, Wren and Perin in their tunics and flowing pants.
This pair wore bright, colorful garments which left their arms, legs, and feet bare. Both were tall, with lean, well-defined muscles which rippled underneath golden skin. Their hair was thick and dark, nearly black, and the woman’s was tied and hung down her back.
He didn’t want to stare, but he couldn’t help studying the strange, intricate drawings etched into their skin running down half of their bodies, mirror images. They were quite stunning, Jon decided, yet somehow dangerous. It was the way they watched him, as if they were trying to catch his scent, just like a large predator. It was rather disconcerting.
The other two women present were small and fine-boned like Wren, although one was round and feminine, with short wavy hair and a beguiling smile, while the other was more serious and sharp-featured, with a thick plait of straight, dark hair.
There were also two men sitting near the smaller women. They were closer to his age and height, but leaner than he. One of the two had thick, dark unruly hair, thick brows, and dark eyes. The other had more open features and lighter hair and eyes. The women and men were dressed extremely casually. Jon decided it was safe to assume the crew had no regulation uniforms. He wondered about it because, as casual as they appeared, they still seemed a very disciplined and well-organized group. He turned his attention to the last man.
The final man was nearly as tall as the golden couple and was the motliest of them all. His hair was shaggy, he needed a shave, and Jon noticed a small tear on one of his shirtsleeves. He stood, sleeves pushed up, arms crossed with arrogant confidence. Jon was sure when he walked it would be with a swagger. This man, he noted, also bore a drawing, a handprint, on his right forearm.
The man caught Jon studying him and smirked. “This the Sleeping Beauty we’ve been waiting for?” he asked. “Looks to me he could have used another forty winks.”
“That’s Grale,” Wren said. “He’s our comic relief and one of the pilots.” She nodded at the serious, sharp-featured woman sitting in the chair just to the right of where Grale stood. “And that is Aiko, our other pilot. Over there,” Wren continued, gesturing toward the golden couple, “are Genji and Kalea. They’re one of the reasons our ship’s center module is so enormous. In their Nuri forms, they’re much larger.”
“Nuri forms?”
“Yeah,” drawled Grale. He glanced down at Aiko and winked. “They change into big lizard things that fly and spit fire. They’re also rather protective of Eloch, so watch your step.”
Jon gaped at Genji and Kalea.
Genji and Kalea stared back.
Jon swallowed.
“Genji,” Wren said, frowning. “Ease up.”
Genji almost hissed when he said, “He does have some explaining to do, Wren.”
“And he will, Genj,” Wren said mildly. “But I don’t really think he’s the enemy.” She sent a smile to Jon. “At least not an intentional one.”
Genji shrugged and pinned Jon with a glare until Kalea touched his arm.
“The guy with dark curly hair over there is Spider,” Wren continued. “He and Genji are our lead problem-solvers, although we all get to dabble in the problem-solving arena, but Spider and Genji are the scientists.
“And these last two are Mink and Wade,” she said nodding at the feminine woman who dimpled at him and the man with the light eyes. “Wade and Mink keep us well and alive. They’re our Cryo-stasis and med lab specialists.” Wren clasped her hands together. “So now you’ve met everybody.” She turned to the group, “Everybody, this is Jon.”
Jon saluted. “Jon Gaylord, navigator of the Defiance.” He glared at Genji. “And I have some questions for you all as well, one being how did I get here and how were we unaware of this ship’s presence?”
Then he caught a glimpse of what was on the table in front of Spider and gasped. “And how did you get your hands on my Fission Generator Wand?”
Spider glanced at Genji. “So that’s what it’s called.”
“Makes more sense now, too,” Genji said to Spider. He returned his gaze to Jon.
Spider raised his brows, “You’re right, Genj. Much more sense. Good name for it.”
Genji glared at Jon. “We got it because you shot Eloch with it,” he hissed. “You nearly destroyed him, and our ship along with it.” Something rippled under Genji’s skin, something wanting to get out.
Jon sucked in his breath and took a step back.
Kalea touched his arm. “Genji,” she cautioned.
“I warned you to watch your step,” Grale said. He grinned as he leaned back and refolded his arms.
“Ease up, people,” Wren said and then glared at Jon. “You, too.”
Eloch cleared his throat. “Let’s keep in mind why we’re here,” he said serenely.
Genji touched Kalea’s hand, which still rested on his forearm. He took a breath before speaking to Jon. “Sorry,” he told him. “Grale’s right. I’m a little protective of Eloch.”
“His Nuri has a temper,” Kalea said apologetically. “And they are both very loyal.”
“I think we should explain to Jon exactly where he is,” Spider said. “That way we can all be on the same page.”
“Good idea,” Wren said. “Jon, why don’t you take a seat in the copilot’s chair,
over there by Aiko?”
Jon glanced at Perin, uncomfortably aware that he was still clutching her hand.
“I will take you,” Perin said with a gentle tug.
Wren and Eloch exchanged a smile Jon suspected he wasn’t supposed to see.
Jon sat, and the others arranged themselves around him so they could all see the viewing screen easily. Aiko glanced at Jon with a slight smile and nodded at the viewing screen. “Empty space, right?”
Jon nodded.
“But look at the readouts,” she said, pointing at a flat panel of screens easily accessible to both the pilot and copilot chairs.
Jon looked and then looked back at Aiko, “I see numbers, but I don’t know what they mean. I can’t read your language.”
Aiko flashed him a grin. “Of course you can’t. I’m sorry.” She pointed at one screen specifically. “These are the coordinates of something that should be right in front of us.”
Jon looked out the viewing screen. “Still empty space.”
“Exactly,” said Aiko. “Now I’m going to split the viewing panel in two. The left side is what we are seeing out front and the right side.” She paused as her hands flew over the flat panel of screens. “This is what we can see using sensors Genji and Spider threw together.”
“We’re still perfecting it,” Spider said humbly.
“The images could be sharper,” Genji agreed.
Jon shot them a glance before turning back to the viewing screen. There, on the right hand side of the screen, was his ship. “The Defiance! That’s my ship, but I know she’s not cloaked. You should be able to see her on both sides of the screen.”
Aiko nodded. “That would make sense. Look.” She gestured again at the panel of screens. “Here are the coordinates for the left side of the screen, and here are the coordinates of the right side of the screen. They are the same coordinates.”
Jon rubbed the back of his neck. “I don’t get it. Why can’t I see her on the left-hand screen?”
Aiko peered up at Genji. “Want to explain to Jon what he’s seeing, Genj?”
Genji glanced down at Jon and gestured at the screen. “On the left screen is where we are, our reality. We can’t see your ship because we’re functioning on a completely different wave frequency than where your ship is. Since your ship exists in a different frequency of reality, the only way we can see her is to target that range of frequency. Do you follow?”
Jon shrugged. “Maybe. Keep going.”
Genji nodded. “Spider and I made a device that can take the frequency range where your ship exists and translate it into the frequency range where we are. That translation is what you’re seeing on the right-hand side of the viewing screen.”
Jon let go of Perin’s hand and scooted closer to study the screens. “So what you’re saying is there are parallel worlds, and I live in one world while you live in another.”
“Exactly,” Genji said.
“Fascinating,” Jon said.
“I think so,” Genji said.
Jon looked at Genji.
The two shared a grin.
“So my hallucination wasn’t a hallucination,” Jon said to himself. “I can somehow see between dimensions.”
“You can see between dimensions?” Genji asked.
“Not all the time. Well, once, really. And then the dreams.”
“Jon is a Seer,” Perin said, “like me.”
“Is he blind in that other world?” asked Spider.
Jon scoffed. “No, I’m not blind. I’m a navigator. I need to see to be a navigator.”
“Not just like Perin, then,” Spider said. “Interesting.”
“How did I get here?” Jon asked, already knowing the answer. He craned his neck to look at Eloch, who towered behind him.
Eloch smiled. “I raised my frequency to match the frequency of your world and brought you back. The same way I brought back the stake you shot me with.”
“I did not shoot you with the wand,” Jon said. “I locked onto a power source and discharged the wand into that source in order for us to utilize the power. How could I shoot you if you were living in a completely different frequency? And why would I even want to shoot a person with a fission generator wand? It would kill them.”
“Nearly did,” Grale said.
“To answer your question,” Spider said, “we believe that a part of Eloch resides at that frequency level. We think these parallel worlds overlay each other, since we could still pick up a reading on your ship even though it was invisible to us.”
Jon nodded. “I buy that. It validates my hallucination-that-was-not-a-hallucination.”
He snapped his fingers. “Okay. I think I know what’s going on here.” He looked over at Eloch. “In my parallel universe, my home world is expanding its trade routes. To do so, we create these jump portals we call star gates.” He nodded toward the split-viewing screen. “The Defiance is a military ship. Our military is also expanding its reach to protect the new trade routes. Our mission is to create different star gates—military star gates—that will eventually surround our galaxy so we can quickly be anywhere we’re needed to keep peace. As navigator, I scout for strong energy signals, the stronger the better.”
He paused. “You told me a Champion maintains the balance of the planet he serves, correct?”
Eloch nodded.
“Our military serves a similar purpose, and since a galaxy is bigger than a planet, we needed to find a way to get to the hotspots fast in order to keep the peace. So we developed the star gate technology.” He looked around. “Everyone with me so far?”
He was greeted with silent nods. “Okay then. There’s a certain power level we need to maintain in order to keep our star gates open and functioning. Throughout our galaxy, we have found natural pockets of raw energy. As navigator, my job is to locate those natural energy pockets with high enough output levels to maintain a star gate. When I find one, we launch a fission generator wand and begin drawing energy to activate a gate. In my universe, we’re drawing energy from these natural pockets.”
He jolted around to look wide-eyed at Eloch. “But in your universe, we’re draining planets—sentient planets—of their life force, aren’t we?”
Eloch nodded.
The room was silent.
“That’s horrifying,” Jon whispered.
Chapter 21
Next
“Typical,” Spider spat with a scowl. “They think they are tapped into the Universal Core Essential Thermals and are using fission technology to extract and amplify it for their bloody star gate. But, as often happens when we combine physics with big business, they didn’t do the research required to understand the full ramifications.”
“Exactly. They aren’t amplifying the UCETs at all,” Genji stated. “Instead, they created a parallel draw of a planet’s life force that is inextricably connected to the geothermal energy, thus weakening the planet so it’s unable to sustain life.” He paused and looked at Eloch. “If it goes on long enough, not only will the planet cease to sustain life, it will die. We know this already.”
“It must stop,” Eloch said through clenched teeth. “Before any others die.”
Jon shook his head. “I don’t see how that’s going to happen,” he said mournfully. “The costs involved, the time to find an alternative energy source, all of that…they aren’t going to stop what they’ve got going.”
Genji hissed.
“Don’t let him go all Nuri on us, Kalea,” Grale warned.
Kalea pinched Genji.
His head snaked around with a hiss. He looked at her expression and then slowly nodded, smiling sheepishly.
“We will explain to your leaders exactly what’s happening, Jon, and if they do not see reason, then I will stop them myself,” Eloch said.
“He can do it,” Aiko said. “I’ve seen him do it before.”
Jon frowned. “I hate to disappoint, but that ship there,” he pointed to the Defiance, “could totally disintegrate this shi
p and everyone on it.”
“Not from where we’re sitting,” Aiko said quietly. “From where we're sitting? Your ship doesn’t even know we exist, Jon.”
“It’s true,” Wren said. “You really can’t touch us.”
Jon sighed. "Look, I’m not your enemy. I had no idea the damage we’ve been causing to your dimension with our star gates. Had I known, I would have protested. I’m sorry I had anything to do with this project.” He paused. “So, I’m not your enemy. However, I do think like the enemy. I understand the enemy."
"What are you saying?" Wren asked.
Jon craned his neck so he could see her expression. It was alert, impassive, yet approachable. "I would like to help," he said. "This may sound crazy, but I think I might be destined to help." He held up his hand. "But I'm also not thinking too clearly at the moment. As you can imagine, this has been quite an unusual day for me. And you all threw a lot of information at me.”
“Understatement. I like him,” Grale whispered to Aiko, who grinned back.
“I need to..." Jon paused, searching for words, "...settle. I need to settle in a bit."
“We can arrange that,” Wren said as she moved around to face him where he sat. “But there’s something you need to think about, and think hard.” She squatted beside him so they were face-to-face. “If you decide to help us, Jon, we will be sharing our technologies, our plans, and our secrets with you. More than we have already. If you help us, then we can never allow you to return to your world. Really think about this, Jon. If you help us, you will never see your friends or loved ones again. Not just for our safety, but for your own.”
“I...I hadn’t considered that,” Jon said numbly.
“Well, consider it. Then let us know.” She glanced at Perin. “Perin, will you show him the room next to yours? He can stay there while he’s here.”
“I will,” Perin said.
“Okay, Jon,” Wren said and rose. “Off you go. Just ping us if you have any questions or when you’re rested and have made your choice. If you decide it’s too much of a sacrifice, then Eloch will put you back where he found you and that will be that.”
