Infinity's End: Books 4-6, page 62
“No.” He turned to Jann. “Will you walk me down the aisle? He can’t do it as he’ll be occupied,” he said, indicating Cas. “Is it incest if your brother marries you? I’m still not clear on—”
“Box, shut up for a minute!” Cas snapped. Some of his connections had burned out; he was right, he did need better plating. But there was a workaround, all Cas had to do was attune his remaining receptors and connect them to Box’s mapping system. If they would still connect.
“He gets grumpy when he’s under pressure,” Box whispered to Jann.
“There,” Cas said. “Reboot the system. Tell me if you see anything.”
A small click sounded somewhere within Box’s metal frame. “I’m picking up two different signals. I believe one is the electromagnetic radiation from Ensign River’s prosthesis.”
“And the other?” Cas asked.
“Unknown.”
“Perfect.” He closed the port, stepping back. “Whatever is keeping our systems from working is emanating a dampening field. My bet is that signal is the source of that field. I’m also betting if the captain is still alive, that’s where she is. How far away?”
“Six kilometers. Due northwest.” Cas’s legs rebelled at the prospect. But they didn’t have a choice. If there was a chance Evie was still alive, they had to try and find her. And if they didn’t shut off that field they’d never be able to leave this planet.
“Okay then. Box and I will go after the captain. I want everyone else headed back to camp. Hopefully the bear-things haven’t found them yet.” He turned to Laura. “I need you to prepare them for what’s to come. Lieutenant Zaal is in a bad way and if they need to move him they’ll need ample time.”
“You must not have heard me. I’m going with you,” Laura said. “I’m not about to leave her to whatever the hell is out here ripping people apart and placing them in piles.”
“I’m going too,” Jann said, her weapons slung over her shoulders, making it clear there would be no more discussion on the subject.
“What is the point of being first officer if no one will listen to me?” Cas said. Jann only shrugged. “Fine.” He glanced at Rafnkell, who he normally would have put in charge as she was the highest-ranked non-com. But she only stared off into the jungle, not paying attention to anyone. She’d been quiet this entire time. Instead, Cas turned to Tileah. “You’re in command until you return to camp. Get these people back safely. Use what they’ve learned to avoid the bears.” He handed her the tracker River had given him. “This will get you there.”
“I won’t let you down, sir,” she replied. Cas didn’t question her resolve. Anyone who had been a victim of the Sargan trafficking ring was bound to be hard as iron. She had been right; the tattoo on her head served to remind not only her, but everyone else, that she was tough as nails and could get through anything. He had no hesitation about leaving the rest of the crew in her hands, despite Rafnkell and the remaining pilots’ technically higher ranks.
“What do we do about these?” Jann asked, indicating the piles of remains. “We can’t just leave them like this.”
“I don’t see we have another choice. We don’t have time to bury them.” He hated to say it. So many of the crew hadn’t gotten their proper sendoff. And it was a disgrace to leave them like this, piled up like trash. Maybe once they’d found the captain and had power back, or at least something that could repel those bears, they could think about rites. But they didn’t even know who made these piles. And their ominous nature wasn’t giving Cas the warm and fuzzies.
Jann nodded; she knew as well as he did they couldn’t do anything for them. Cas’s eyes lingered on what remained of Uuma. Why had they come out here? What had been Evie’s thinking? She had known he and the rest of the team were planning on circling back around to the shuttle, but maybe they’d taken too long?
“Ensign, take what supplies you can carry from the Honduras and get moving. Even if time is stretched out here, it’s only going to get darker, and you’ve got a long hike back to camp.”
Tileah nodded and issued orders for the rest of the crew to begin parceling out what they could carry from the Honduras, while also telling them to rest and refuel while they had a moment. Cas glanced to Box. “Are you ready?”
“Oh, you assume I’m coming? After that blatant violation of my personal space?”
“I figured you’d want in on the action,” Cas said. “You are the hero, after all.”
“Now you’re just mocking me,” Box replied. “You’re right. I am the hero. And I’ll be the one to lead us to victory.” He turned to Cas. “How did you know how to set my scanning system to pick up the signal?”
“There’s a lot of things about your internal processes you don’t know about. Over the years I’ve had to disable a lot of them for your own good.”
“You have not.”
Cas rolled his eyes. “I had to. Whoever set your original programming didn’t do a great job of making sure you were stable.”
“Turn them back on. Right now,” Box said. Cas thought he heard anger in his voice.
“Box, they were all military applications. And they were screwing with your programming. I shut them off for a reason.”
“Then why I don’t I remember any of it?” He put his metal hands on his hips. Cas noticed he stood at a slight crook that hadn’t been there before, possibly due to a fight with one of the bears.
“Trust me, if you knew what you were like in those early days you wouldn’t blame me. You weren’t very pleasant.”
“And he is now?” Jann asked.
“Trust me,” Cas replied, “It was a lot worse.”
“When this is over,” Box said. “We need to have a very serious discussion about my personal autonomy.”
“Fine. But now we need to go. Is everyone else ready?”
Laura only stared out into the woods, her hand on the strap holding the sword across her chest. “We don’t have time to stand around here and chat,” she said.
“I’m ready when you are,” Jann said.
“Then let’s move,” Cas stared at Box who only stared back. “Well?”
“I’m deciding whether or not to incapacitate you.”
“Box, we need to go. Where’s the signal coming from?”
He held up a finger. “Still deciding.”
“We don’t have time for this,” Laura said, pushing past the two of them and heading for the woods.
“Lieutenant, that’s not the way,” Box said.
“Then stop fucking around and tell me where to go! The woman I love could be dying right now and you’re stuck here worried about your stupid pride.”
Box hung his head for a moment. “I apologize. It’s this way.” He began walking along the side of the shuttle, then into the woods. Laura followed right behind.
“I think she hurt his feelings,” Jann said, coming up beside Cas.
“He’ll get over it.” Cas hoped it might help Box forget to ask Cas about his former programming.
But then again…he’d never had that kind of luck.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Evie wasn’t sure how to process what she’d heard. This creature, a member of a species determined to destroy her people and their way of life, thought she would help them in their goal? How deluded must he be? She stared at him from the other side of the table. As long as the stone slab was between them she felt like she had at least a bit of control over the situation.
“Why do you want to destroy us? What did we ever do to you? We’ve never even encountered your species before,” she asked.
“You have. But you wouldn’t remember. No one would remember,” the Athru said.
“Why did you destroy the Bulaq homeworld? What do you want with Earth?” The creature laughed. It was a low-pitched, haunting sound which wasn’t appealing at all.
“You are so naïve. If you want the answers to your questions, you must be willing to surrender your mind.”
“What does that mean?” Evie asked, trying to run through her options. She didn’t see any doors anywhere; with her luck the only way out was the giant skylight above them. One of the walls probably disappeared as soon as he placed his hand to it or something. She could try and incapacitate or kill him, but she might also strand herself if that was the case. What if there were a hundred more right on the other side of the walls, just like in her dream?
“You don’t have the physical strength to incapacitate me. Your bones are weaker, your muscles smaller. Your senses are dulled compared to mine. There is nothing about you that’s superior.”
“I’m captain of a starship, that’s enough,” Evie said.
The Athru shook his head. “No. It isn’t. You must be willing to surrender your very self if you want to understand your own nature. There is a part of yourself you don’t even know. The Athru part. If you surrender to it, all will become clear.”
“And if I do…what then?” she asked. She wasn’t even sure how to do what he was asking. And she’d already eliminated the possibility of faking it. He would know, or at least he would pretend to know. But she had no clue what surrendering herself meant. She still wasn’t sure she believed she was part Athru herself, and she couldn’t even trust her own memories.
“All your questions will disappear, and you will understand your purpose. Once you surrender, I will answer those that remain, though most will be self-evident.”
Evie didn’t like the sound of that. She thought back to when she saw that map through the mines in her head. That had come from somewhere, and at the time she hadn’t cared where. She also hadn’t been able to trust herself not to hallucinate. Had all of that been part of her “other” self? Perhaps if she concentrated on it…
But then what would happen to her mind now? There was no way to know, and her “friend” over there wasn’t about to give her any help. All she could do was trust she was strong enough to handle it, whatever “it” was.
“Okay,” she said, standing straight. “If those are your conditions, then I agree. Maybe once I understand we can come to some sort of agreement.”
“Unlikely. When you are done I will speak to you again.” He backed into the shadows.
“Wait, you aren’t going to tell me what to do?” Evie asked. How was she supposed to know if it had worked or not? She walked around the stone slab then stopped. She was in his place, his rules. Without some kind of map, she wouldn’t be able to figure a way out of here. And she bet all those stone interfaces were keyed to his genetic signature only. She thought back to Omicron Terminus again. That was the only connection she had to…whatever this was. She focused on how she felt when the map flooded her brain, as well as how she felt when she experienced the hallucinations, though she couldn’t remember what half of them had been.
The more she focused on those moments the more she felt something pulling at the edges of her mind. It was as if she were on a giant tarp, pulled taut. Something clawed at the edges, causing the tarp, with Evie in the middle to sink. Evie closed her eyes and focused on this manifestation, not knowing if it was another hallucination or not, but she could now see herself clearly on the tarp. As it sank further, the claw of a hand appeared at one edge, tearing into the tarp’s restraints. The claw was gnarled and ugly, with sharp nails like knives at the end of it. But there was also something familiar about the hand. A second hand appeared, also clawing its way forward as the tarp continued to sink further. Then, at the edge where the tarp dropped off into nothing, the owner of those claws appeared; its dark brown hair a matted and dirty mess. Evie gasped as she saw the creature appear. It was her, but monstrous. Her eyes were black mirrors and her mouth was four times too large, stuck in an open position, rows upon rows of razor-sharp teeth filling its mouth. Finally, it said in her mind.
No! Evie yelled. I’ve changed my mind! You can’t have control!
It’s too late. The creature’s thin, bony leg, with claws on the end of its foot appeared over the edge, pushing the Evie-creature to its full height. She was naked, her emaciated form warped and bent at odd angles. Her arms were twice as long as her legs, almost to the point where they dragged on the ground and her tiny ribs were clearly visible through the skin. Her head was twice as large as it should have been for a body of such a size and its wicked grin never left Evie’s eyes. You’re mine now.
No! Evie yelled again as the tarp sank lower and lower, encasing her in a cocoon. She couldn’t squirm or move at all as the tarp constricted her form, pinning her arms to her sides. She continued further and further down until she was staring up at the monster creature, laughing as it waved its hideous hand.
Evie was lost.
Her eyes snapped open again. She stood, on the far side of the stone table. A cypher her people called it. She looked at her hands, each of them grotesquely human, with manicured nails. She hated them already, and she’d barely been aware for more than five seconds.
“Welcome to the world, sister,” her compatriot said. She turned to him.
“Your name is Rockron.”
“Yes.”
“And I…I have no name. I am the bastard child of Esterva and Osborn.” The names were ingrained in her mind, as if she’d always known them.
“Esterva,” Rockron said. “Then she is the traitor. Once our mission is complete, we will find and punish her.” He turned to one of his terminals, placing his hand on the surface.
“The other one, Evelyn, she will not return,” she said. “She is much too weak.”
“I am glad to hear it,” Rockron replied. “In honor of your new life as an Athru, choose your moniker.” He held out his hands to her.
She walked around the slab, taking his hands in her wretched human ones. “I choose the name Daingne. Evelyn is such a weak name. Fitting for a human, but not for me.”
“Ah,” Rockron said. “Appropriate, I think. Now. You have questions.”
Daingne thought about it a moment. “Not as many as she did. As you predicted. I thought I’d never see the light of day. Trapped, for thirty-one of their years. Until he cracked the egg. The despicable father. How could a human possess such an ability?”
Rockron narrowed his eyes. “I don’t know. It shouldn’t have been possible. But when he attacked her it did something. We need not dwell on it. Now we must prepare.”
“—For the humans’ extinction, yes. I only regret I’m stuck in this form.”
He turned from her. “Not forever. You are a special case after all.”
Daingne winced. “I can still feel her, in the depths. She’s fighting.” Upon seeing Rockron’s concern she continued. “But she won’t return. Her mental facilities are much too weak. It is more of an annoyance than anything else.”
“Good. I tried coaxing your presence from her, but she had enough control to keep you suppressed until actively releasing you. I would hate for her to find a way to trap you again.”
Daingne shook her head. “It won’t be an issue. Tell me everything about my people. There is only so much I know from her memories.”
“You have an innate hatred of the humans. This is natural for the Athru, and we are finally mobilizing on the great plan. It has been millions of years in the making. After millennia of searching, we have found their homeworld. The planet they call Earth.”
“They have the audacity.” Daingne scoffed. “I assume the information in my mind is accurate.”
“Instinct coded within your very genes,” Rockron replied, moving over to the stone controls. He placed his hand upon them, and they lit up, glowing a bright blue with Athru script. Daingne had no trouble reading it.
“This world, it is our staging ground. Our weapon against the humans.”
“The thing that has made all our efforts possible,” Rockron said. “I was left behind to guard the structures but imagine my surprise to find a human ship in orbit. And the fools came down on their own.”
“They were in distress,” Daingne replied. “It was damaged.”
“It matters not.” Rockron touched the stone again. An image of the Tempest came up, still in orbit. “Their temporal signature is still within that of the rest of the universe. Mere minutes have passed on board since her crew arrived.”
“Ah. The temporal distortion. The human was too stupid to figure it out. Being on this planet gives us an unlimited amount of time.” She glanced down at her body. “But this body is frail. It will expire within another sixty or seventy years.”
“Do not worry, sister.” Rockron tapped her shoulder. “We can move you from it. It already has the base genetic markers. What is most important is the mind. Now that you are your true self, that is all that matters.” He turned back to the stone. “The humans are helpless without their technology, to which I have eliminated access. And with nowhere to go and no way to defend themselves we will manage to kill them all in a short amount of time. Then we can rejoin the others. It won’t be long before they reach the humans’ precious Coalition.”
“What of the other species? The Untuburu, the Yax-Inax. The Claxians?” Daingne asked. “They do not deserve our wrath.”
“No. They have done nothing wrong. The collective agreed they will be spared as much as possible. We hope to form an alliance with all of them once the humans are extinct. Essentially we will take their place.”
“The humans deserve nothing less.”
“Tell me,” Rockron said. “You have access to her thoughts. How did a human ship end up out here? Even if they did detect us, they shouldn’t have had the technology to come this far this fast.”
Daingne sneered. “They allied with the Sil. It was their technology which allowed the humans to traverse the distance.”
Rockron frowned. “The Sil may think we are coming after them. We’ll have to make it clear that is not the plan. Perhaps they will abandon their human allies.”
“Do you expect the Sil will retaliate? She has seen their technology; they are formidable.”
“I’m surprised they were willing to help such an inferior species, as it was. They may be advanced, but I must take some time to catch you up on our technology. Thirty-one years for you was over twenty thousand for us. Improvements were made.”
