Lost Galaxy: The Complete Series (Books 1-6) (Complete Series Box Sets), page 67
He wanted to shut off that flow of data. It made his head ache, but he couldn’t figure out a way to disconnect himself. He would have to ask Onaeki about it. He didn’t want to offend her by removing himself without her permission.
She reposed so much confidence in him. She made him her envoy, and thanks to her, the Republic did the same thing.
He couldn’t ask for a better position in which to find himself, but he still didn’t want to lower his guard. His fortunes changed so quickly. The tiniest misstep could wind him and his crew back in the shit where they started.
Sweeney’s voice broke in on Bowman’s thoughts. Sweeney sounded even more tremulous than was usual for him. “Is something wrong, sweetheart?”
Bowman opened his eyes to see Sweeney standing next to Akin. She hadn’t entered the medical suite with the rest. She remained just inside the entrance with her fingers clenched around her cannons. She glared at the crew and the Pteran workers as though she was about to start shooting again.
Sweeney pivoted in front of her and peered up into Akin’s ferocious face. “What’s wrong, baby?”
Akin’s countenance flushed with angry red blotches. Sweat stuck her hair to her forehead and her nostrils flared with deep, heavy breaths. She looked on the verge of attacking someone.
Bowman pushed himself up on his elbow to say something to her when, without warning, she crumpled before their eyes. Her knees buckled and she collapsed in a heap. Her cannons hit the floor and bounced away from her.
“Holy shit!” Sweeney hopped away and then sprang for Akin. “Baby! Wake up! What’s wrong?’
Phelps started to climb off her exam table, but Van Dyke, Maro, and ZAK reached Akin first. “She’s bleeding from her ear,” Van Dyke growled. “She must have suffered a much worse head injury than we thought.”
He rolled Akin onto her back. The Pteran workers came over, and between them and ZAK, they lifted Akin into one of the nets. They put her in the tank and attached her to their wires and tubes.
Bowman shut his eyes again. He should keep watch over his crew, but he couldn’t stay awake much longer. His head swam every time he closed his eyes.
He reeled into a vast universe where he saw the whole Pteran collective at once. Thousands upon millions of workers transmitted their locations, their progress, and their sensory input to his brain. He couldn’t stop it.
“You can stop it any time you wish, Lieutenant.” Onaeki appeared at his side in her worker form. He had to keep reminding himself that she didn’t really look like this.
“I don’t want to…”
“You want to. You just thought that you wanted to stop the connection.”
“I meant… I don’t want to shut you out. I don’t want to disconnect myself from you.”
“I am an individual and you are an individual, Lieutenant. You communicate with your fellow humans through vocal language. You can communicate with me the same way.”
“I can’t. You’re in a different part of the hive.”
“You can come here and communicate with me.”
He had to smile. “We wouldn’t be talking like this if I did that. We wouldn’t be talking at all right now if we didn’t have the collective.”
“We do not need to communicate at every minute of the day and night, Lieutenant. You have accomplished your aim. You have brought peace to the Republic. You can rest now.”
He turned to face her and found that they were in the middle of space again at the same time they were at Zhima Station. They were in the Reflex on Ludu. They were everywhere he’d ever been alone with her.
His heart wrenched looking at her like this. “I wish you were still like this. I wish… I wish I still had my friend the way she used to be.”
“I am still your friend, Lieutenant. I will always be your friend.”
“I wish that was true. You’re Queen now. You’ll never be the way you were before.”
“You will not be the way you were before, either, Lieutenant, but we have much too much work yet to do. We will be working together for many, many years until the Pterans and the Republic become used to each other. We will both have need of you for a long time to come.”
“You know what I mean.”
“I can see through the collective that you are injured and exhausted. You have suffered much since you first fell into Ieko’s custody. You must sleep now.”
Bowman didn’t think he could sleep to save his own life, but just as he thought that, something hit him in the head. He didn’t see it coming and it shut down his thinking so fast that everything just… stopped.
He woke up in dead silence except for a soft bubbling noise. A greenish-blue light gave a soft glow in the darkness.
His eyes snapped open and he realized in a flash that he was no longer connected to the Pteran collective. All those voices, all those minds, all that information no longer existed for him.
He raised his arm to run his fingers through his hair, but he no longer had a right hand. The gauntlet still surrounded his left wrist, but it no longer transmitted information to him. It was as dead as before.
Onaeki must have disconnected him from the collective. She must have realized that he would never do it himself. She really was a true friend…and now she was Queen over the whole Pteran species.
He caught himself trying to tap into the Assailants to see what was going on in the rest of the Republic, but of course, he couldn’t see them.
“How are you?”
Bowman jolted upright to see Van Dyke seated by his bed. The young constable looked decades older than the fresh-faced boy who first came to work at the Novis Outpost.
Deep creases marked the corners of Van Dyke’s eyes. That bottomless sense of comprehension and understanding of the darkest realities of life flickered in Van Dyke’s gaze. His burned scalp and cheek gave him a haunted look that would never go away.
Bowman glanced around the medical suite. It was totally empty except for the two of them and Akin floating in her tank. “Where is everyone?”
“The Pterans took them off to their own quarters. I don’t know what accommodation Onaeki is giving them, but I don’t think it’s much more comfortable than those cells Ieko put us in. I don’t think the Pterans understand human comforts.”
“You should have gone with them. You need rest, too.”
Van Dyke shrugged and looked down at the floor. “I couldn’t sleep so I figured I’d keep an eye on you.” Van Dyke cocked his head and examined Bowman with knowing scrutiny. “What did Onaeki do to you?”
“Nothing. She disconnected me from the collective.”
“She seems to care about you.”
“What makes you say that?”
“The workers said so. They said the Queen gave orders that you were to be treated with the highest level of protocol.”
“What about the rest of you?” Bowman asked. “Are you still prisoners, then?”
“They don’t say anything about us, but they did act quite conciliatory when they took the others off to their quarters. They even promised to give us food and water.”
Bowman snorted, but he didn’t feel like joking about this. “I’m sorry, Luke. I’m sorry about your dad. His loss is…”
“He knew what he was doing when he tried to help us. You got him out of jail. If he’d come home with us, he’d be…”
“He didn’t come home with us. He gave his life to save the Republic.”
Van Dyke shrugged again. “That isn’t saying much.”
“It’s everything.”
Van Dyke’s penetrating eyes drifted back to meet Bowman’s. “If he did it, you did it even more. Why don’t you give yourself credit for what you did?”
“I didn’t do anything. Onaeki…”
“You saved her life. She wouldn’t have done any of this if you didn’t save her on Ludu. You convinced her somehow to consider sharing the Long Lane with the Republic. You did that. None of this would be happening if not for you.”
Bowman looked away. He didn’t want to take the credit for ending the war. He raised his hand to scratch the side of his face and confronted his missing arm again.
He squirmed at loose ends for a minute. He didn’t know what to do with himself. He wanted to talk to Onaeki. He found it difficult to think without her and the rest of the collective in his head.
“Are you okay, Sir?” Van Dyke asked.
“I’m fine. I just…” He started to sit up.
“Take it easy. You’ve been out for a long time. You might feel…”
Bowman ignored him. He swung his legs off the table and almost fell flat on his face when he put his weight on his legs.
Van Dyke jumped up and grabbed Bowman’s other arm. He steadied Bowman and lowered him back onto the table. “Steady there, big guy.”
Bowman cradled his swooning head. “How long have I been out?”
“About a week. The workers said…”
“A week!” Bowman shot off the table a lot faster this time. “How could you let me sleep that long?”
“I didn’t. The workers wouldn’t wake you up. They said they had orders from Onaeki to let you sleep.”
Bowman forced himself up and headed for the exit. “What’s going on outside? What’s going on with the Republic?”
“I have no idea. None of us has seen or heard anything. We’ve been stuck in here the whole time.”
“Shit! I have to talk to Onaeki. I have to find out what’s going on.”
Van Dyke stepped forward. “I’m going with you.”
“No!” Bowman waved him back. “Stay here.”
“I don’t need to stay here. There’s nothing wrong with me. I was only here keeping an eye on you. If you’re going, I’m going, too.”
Bowman rounded on him. “I don’t need a nurse. I can find my way down to the cavern by myself.”
“I know you can, but you’re too important now. You’re the one link between the Pterans and the Republic. Neither party will talk to the other without you.” Van Dyke cracked a wry grin, but it didn’t cheer Bowman up. “You’re everybody’s ambassador, you know.”
“So what does that make you—my bodyguard?”
Van Dyke bit back an even broader grin and now his face shone with inner light. “What’s wrong with that?”
“I don’t need a damn bodyguard. No one is going to attack me and I know my way around this place better than you do. Besides, you aren’t armed.”
Van Dyke bent down and picked up a repeater from behind the exam table. He snapped the ammo strap into the magazine. “I am now.”
Bowman surveyed the young man. Van Dyke looked nothing like a Republican constable. He looked like something feral, something from another world, something wild and capable of anything. Bowman wouldn’t put it past Van Dyke to do anything, even if it meant breaking the law.
“Fine. You can come.”
Van Dyke laughed. “I know I can.”
Bowman stormed out of the medical suite and headed back to the cavern. Being disconnected from the collective left him feeling vulnerable and isolated. He needed to know what was happening outside this hive and Onaeki was the only one who could reconnect him.
What if she refused to reconnect him? What if she insisted that he communicate with the Pterans and the Command Council the old-fashioned human way? He couldn’t stand that.
He got so used to knowing everything about everyone and everything in the Long Lane with nothing more than a thought. His mind skipped around trying to connect to… someone, anyone.
He searched for ZAK, Onaeki, the Assailants, Lucky… No one answered him. He was all alone, locked inside his own mind. He felt himself going crazy from loneliness and silence.
“The workers in the medical suite told us the Command Council has tried to contact Onaeki,” Van Dyke told him on their way down to the cavern. “She keeps putting them off. She said she wanted to wait until you woke up.”
“Terrific!” Bowman grumbled. “How’s Akin? How much longer is she supposed to be in suspended animation or whatever the hell they call it?”
“She sustained damage to her brain stem which is what controls heartbeat and breathing. They fixed the problem, but they kept her in the tank to let the swelling go down. She’s supposed to get out in a day or two.”
“How did she keep fighting for so long if the damage was that bad? Why didn’t she fall over before she got into the medical suite?”
“Maybe the adrenaline kept her going. It happens.”
“What is the Command Council saying to Onaeki?” Bowman asked.
“I have no idea. She won’t tell any of us anything.”
“Have you tried to talk to her?”
“Are you crazy? None of us wants to go down to the cavern again… except ZAK. She could probably answer your questions.”
“Screw it,” Bowman snarled. “I’ll ask Onaeki myself.’
“She loves you.” Bowman shot Van Dyke a glare, but Van Dyke only shrugged again. “It’s true. She trusts you.”
Bowman didn’t answer. He didn’t want Van Dyke or any of the rest of the Reflex crew finding out how closely he’d become bonded with Onaeki in their short association in the collective.
They entered one of the long passages. The old familiar light glowed through the Iprolphol walls. It came from all sides.
“What’s going on with the power supply? How are the Ovax handling the new situation? I didn’t think they would have to keep generating power for the Pterans for this long.”
“They aren’t generating it,” Van Dyke replied. “They stopped a few days ago… right after you passed out, actually.”
Bowman spun around on the spot. “They aren’t? How is the hive functioning, then?”
“Interestingly enough, that is one of the very few things the Pterans were actually willing to explain to us. It turns out the Pterans wanted to come back to this particular planet because they used the chemical mixture of the atmosphere and the oceans to generate power. They don’t need the Ovax anymore. They have all the power they need just from being here.” Van Dyke pointed to the ceiling. “According to the workers, this compound the hive is in right now was left hooked up to the planet’s geochemical system when the Republic drove the Pterans out of the Long Lane. Onaeki just tapped right back into it.”
“So where are the Ovax?”
“They’re on a bunch of hives about seventeen hundred parsecs beyond what used to be the forward strike front. They’re waiting for…”
Bowman shut his eyes and started walking again. “Don’t tell me. They’ve been waiting for me to wake up.”
Van Dyke didn’t say anything and Bowman didn’t ask. Bowman only hoped the Ovax weren’t waiting to thank him or something ridiculous like that. This ambassador bullshit was spiraling way out of control.
CHAPTER
SEVEN
Bowman and Van Dyke entered the cavern. Onaeki’s protective module rested on the floor. It didn’t open to reveal the Queen. Bowman waited, but nothing happened. She didn’t appear to talk to him.
The cavern seethed with millions of workers. What were they doing?
Van Dyke bumped Bowman’s shoulder and drew his attention to a worker approaching from behind the Queen’s module. ZAK stopped in front of Bowman. “Welcome back, Lieutenant. The Queen will be pleased that you’re finally awake.”
“What’s going on, ZAK? Why doesn’t Onaeki open up and talk to me?”
“She is in the middle of a breeding cycle. She will be indisposed for at least another four days. She has given orders that, if you are awake when the cycle ends, she will meet with the Command Council then.”
Bowman opened his mouth to ask ZAK to either reconnect him to the collective or to find out why Onaeki disconnected him, but he stopped himself. He felt even more crippled without that—mentally crippled.
“The Queen left orders that we were to remove your gauntlet when you woke up,” ZAK went on. “If you wish, I can remove it now.”
“You want to… remove my gauntlet? But that must mean…”
He didn’t say it. Onaeki must intend that he would never reconnect to the collective ever again. His heart plummeted at the thought. How could she do this to him?
“You have four days to relax, Lieutenant,” ZAK told him. “You should entertain yourself. You have no responsibilities.”
“Entertain myself! How am I supposed to entertain myself here?”
She cocked her head to one side and scrutinized him. “I imagined you would want to do nothing after your recent experience. The Queen assigned you quarters along with the rest of the Reflex crew.”
“I don’t want to go to any quarters. Where’s the mainframe from the Reflex?”
“What do you think you’re going to do with that?” Van Dyke asked.
“I’m going to entertain myself, of course. I’m going to do anything other than do nothing. Where is the mainframe, ZAK?”
“It is in a compartment of its own. The Queen did not know what you wanted to do with it, so she set it aside. She said you could decide when you woke up.”
“I’m awake now, so where is it?”
“I will show you.”
Bowman fumed on his way back into the never-ending passages. He didn’t want ZAK showing him around. He wanted to be connected to the collective so he could go by himself.
Did ZAK and Onaeki go through this confusion and turmoil when they got disconnected? Did all the Pterans who crashed on Republican planets suffer this drowning sensation?
ZAK let him back upstairs and turned off near the medical suite. She cocked her head the other way when they passed the entrance. “The medical staff will revive Akin today. She will return to her own quarters.”
“Is the rest of the crew together?”
“Yes, they are. The Queen assigned them separate quarters, but they refused to be separated. They’ve been spending all their time together.”
Bowman huffed under his breath. So they’d been hanging out together while they waited for him to wake up. They should have woken him up instead of leaving him to sleep while the whole world rearranged itself.
