Logos (Link Book Three), page 15
PART THREE
ALLIES
ONE
Visions came to her in her dreams. Jane recalled the communication from her father a few years earlier while she toured the Sun Colonies for the release of The Foundation of Ethos. Her mother had died of a freak illness, the kind you rarely heard about since the medical field had been transformed by predictive analytics. Her mom was supposed to fly to Mars to join her for a night of respite before Jane continued to Venus Station for an interview with the Colonies’ most gifted artist.
Now, she’d left behind an ailing father who had the same disease as his wife. Apparently, it tended to stay dormant, hiding within the cells undetected until something triggered its activation. Jane had been screened countless times since learning it might have been environmental, but everything was inconclusive. It had been part of the reason she’d accepted Dr. Abimbola’s offer so quickly. She preferred not to dwell on the notion she could one day wake up locked out of her own body. If it did happen, there were drugs to aid recovery, which was one of the reasons her dad hadn’t succumbed to the disease.
While she rested in the quarters offered by Kelleg’s people, she saw her mother as she’d been when Jane was young. They walked through a garden in their neighborhood. Jane had never wanted for anything in her entire life. It allowed her to concentrate on her studies, and to obtain that doctorate she’d always thought would bring her happiness. Every decision she’d made was to get farther in her career, but each step left her feeling empty after a week or two.
Ethos was different. Flying in Excursion Two through the Link was what it meant to live. Taking chances. Even being on Yezon, without knowing whether the Locus would let them leave, offered a sense of excitement.
Images of various stages in her life played like flashcards. They slowed until she saw Captain Calvin Brooks on the bridge as they approached Ethos. Jane examined the scene while the Link powered on Caelum, the Link Controllers beaming with energy.
She recalled touching the stone on Caelum and being able to transport without the aid of a Locus. Had that truly happened? They’d shaken it off like the Preserver they used left a lingering essence on the stone, but what if it wasn’t that?
By the time Jane was fully awake, the memories of her dreams remained, but slowly dissipated like a morning fog in the countryside.
The room was black, as were most of the design choices of the Locus on Yezon. When she moved, a light activated, reflecting off the shiny panels, and she dug her face into what passed for a pillow. It had no case, and conformed to her head as she squirmed. Finally, Jane decided to start her day, unaware what time it was or how long she’d been out.
A fresh uniform waited on a table by the exit. It was identical to her own, just without the Sun Colonies patch. Her armored suit was gone, but a pair of white laceless shoes were on the floor. She slipped them on after getting dressed, finding the fit quite accurate. When she opened the door, Lois was in the hall, T-51N draped across her lap. She gasped and sat upright when Jane cleared her throat.
“I must have dozed off,” Lois said.
“How long were you here?” Jane asked.
Lois grunted as she rose, and her back cracked. “All night.”
“Why?”
“I wasn’t about to let anything happen to you.”
“We’re all in this together. You aren’t here to protect me, Lois.”
Lois frowned. “Is that what you think? I’m the muscle. Singh is our translator, and you’re…”
“A historian.”
“Our negotiator.” Lois yawned and knocked on the adjacent door. “Curtis, stop dreaming of me and get out here!” She banged a few more times until the anthropologist appeared, fully dressed and praising the fit of his shoes.
“Did you see these?” He crouched and jumped. “I’ve never had anything so comfortable.”
“So the Locus split apart. One group became ruthless terrors, and the other are what… practicing their skills as cobblers?” Lois asked. She wore the armor, refusing to take it off in case they needed to fight their way out.
“Can you take a minute and change?” Jane pointed to the quarters Lois had been given last night. “I don’t want us to seem untrusting.”
“But we are!” Lois proclaimed.
“Rule number one. Don’t tell the other side that.”
“Fine, but I’m doing it under protest. Here, hold this.” She shoved the gun at Curtis, who struggled with the weight.
Lois returned five minutes later with her curly hair pulled into a knot. Her skin glowed, and Jane had a stab of jealousy at how perfect the soldier appeared with minimal effort. “What are you looking at me like that for?”
“I wasn’t!” Curtis claimed and gave the T-51N back.
“Not you. Her.” Lois waited for an answer.
Jane gestured down the hall. “Someone’s coming.”
She wasn’t sure, since she was still getting used to the subtle differences between the Locus, but she thought this was Tellan. They’d found him in the underground chamber with nine other Preservers on Ethos. He wore a gray uniform that almost matched his coloring. His dark eyes were narrow, and his nostrils flared as he approached.
Curtis spoke, and Tellan nodded, then turned as if he expected them to follow.
“Not today. Maybe tomorrow,” Jane whispered, using Calvin’s old mantra.
He led them through a complex network of tall corridors created to accommodate the size of the Locus. Jane felt small when they entered a foyer and reached an arched doorway where a half-dozen Locus soldiers were posted on either side.
The air was thick and aromatic. Jane peered into the room beyond, noticing a steady stream of smoke rising from an object.
“Welcome to the Thinking Chamber.” A female Locus approached, and Jane didn’t believe it was the same one from yesterday. While the Locus had no hair, the tailing protrusions behind her head were speckled with natural markings.
“Hello. You can speak to us?” Curtis asked.
“Yes. When the robot Atticus visited, he gave us a program. I learned the language so I could act as a translator, should we ever encounter you again. None thought it would be so soon,” she said. “I am Vash.”
Jane introduced their group, and she nodded. “Tellan provided your names.”
The Locus with them seemed nervous, and he spoke to Vash quietly, so as not to be overheard by Curtis.
“Tellan regrets that not all of you can join Kelleg in the Thinking Chamber,” she said.
“Why not?”
“It is imperative that you understand the severity of your actions.” Vash was two feet taller than Jane, and she felt the size difference as the alien’s ridged brow furrowed even deeper.
“We were stuck…” Jane was cut off by her raising a two-thumbed hand.
“Kelleg will see you now, Miss Vanderbilt.”
Lois stepped forward. “I won’t let her out of my sight.”
“No harm will befall her.” Vash gestured into the Thinking Chamber, and Jane glanced at her companions.
“It’s fine. Do what they ask, and we’ll be home before you know it.”
“Good luck!” Curtis called as the large door closed.
Instead of a room filled with robed Locus, like Calvin and Henry had recalled, a single alien stood in the middle of the depressed rounded floor, staring at the smoke as it lifted into the cavernous ceiling.
Kelleg spoke without peering up.
“He asks that you join him.” Vash moved to the stairs.
Jane took them one at a time, slowly wandering to Kelleg. As she neared him, she noted the smoke was real. It drifted farther away when she stopped, and she picked up the pungent scent emanating off the haze. Only then did Kelleg watch Jane. He talked slowly, and Vash repeated the words for Jane.
“We were born of the stars, on a distant world.”
Jane noticed the imagery shaping into the fume. A rotating planet projected out of the device dispensing the smoke. “That’s Caelum,” she said, recognizing the continents.
He bared his teeth. “It’s Levebos to us. It was there we first discovered the Oniri. Thousands of years later, our ancestors began to understand the power held within the dense stone. Only by accident did they learn it could transport matter. As time passed, our technology improved and we perfected space travel. With little resistance, we spread out, exploring centuries-long colony missions to the nearest systems. They found more Oniri, left behind by an ancient race no one’s ever met.”
His arms drifted out of the long sleeves, showing the wrinkled and faded tattoos. “Another millennium saw us rooted on four planets, with dozens of outposts. That’s where our stability fell apart. War. Famine. Disease. There was one world to settle on, where all could exist without fear of death.”
“Ethos,” she whispered.
“That’s your name for it, yes.” The image in the smoke shifted to Ethos as it once was before Locus or human intervention. “Little did my ancestors know, it would be the beginning of our divide. The Hiphol were created when they first encountered the Bheelo. An entire race, destined to be enslaved by someone of my blood. When confronted, the Hiphol leaders ordered us back to Caelum. Instead, we retreated to Yezon. They have yet to find us, and we’d prefer to keep it that way. You understand why my people don’t want you to leave, correct?”
Jane absorbed what he’d told her, assuming many of the sordid details had been spared. As Lois had said, this was a negotiation. Even though Vash was in the room, translating for the elderly Locus, it felt like there were only the two of them, facing off.
“Why did you have so many Preservers on Ethos?”
He glanced at her. “It is important.”
“You helped the human colony be relocated to Pathos. I thought you were done sticking your neck out,” she said.
“The Oniri needs to be reclaimed. The Hiphol mar our name to the stars, don’t you see? We believed that by helping the humans, we could preserve Ethos. My son and his associates were chosen to protect the Oniri source.”
“What is an Oniri source?”
His eyes glimmered as he watched the smoke pouring out of the machine by their feet. “Each world has one. They were left behind by their creator. The Link, as you call it, is meant to send ships to distant worlds.”
“Are the Sun Colonies in danger?” she asked.
“Yes.”
“We can’t stay on Yezon.”
“I grow weary,” he said.
“Then help us defeat the Hiphol,” she told him. “You’d rather place your Preserves in stasis and wither away in this Thinking Chamber while the Hiphol continue to terrorize the galaxy?”
He rubbed the markings on his arms. “There is much you don’t know.”
“Then tell me,” she pleaded. Smoke enveloped her, and she waved an arm, trying not to inhale it. Her body was lighter, her mind starting to fog.
“Perhaps it would be better to show you.” Kelleg’s arms vanished into his sleeves.
Vash followed the old Locus up the steps and to the exit.
“Where are we going?” Jane asked.
Lois and Curtis snapped to attention when they arrived. “Everything okay?”
“I think so,” Jane replied.
“Can we come?” Lois asked.
Kelleg spoke, and Vash repeated: “No, this is for the historian only.”
Jane glanced behind her as they marched, wishing her team could stay. She heard Henry’s voice in her head, urging her to remember every detail, because it might be important.
The Hiphol were flying through the Link, and invasion was inevitable. According to Kelleg, Earth was also a target, which worried Jane to no end. Her students were spread around the Sun Colonies.
Jane’s footsteps echoed when they reached a wide corridor. Five Locus guards moved aside for Kelleg, bowing their heads deferentially. The old Locus winced and stepped past a glowing barrier, urging her to do the same. Jane took a breath, and energy surged in her veins as she walked. Vash came in behind and silently trailed her liege.
“What is this?” Jane asked.
“The Oniri Band,” he said.
“But that’s millions of light years away.”
“As I said, the ancient beings were capable of many things lost to the modern era. Even the Hiphol are not aware of the Band’s existence, or my ability to access it,” Kelleg said with his translator. Vash stayed back, looking uncomfortable with their change of location.
This place was far different than what the Locus used on Yezon, with brown walls and an intricately positioned stone walkway leading to a floating blue sphere.
Kelleg sighed and slipped his arms out of their coverings. The markings burned hotly, steaming as he neared the ball of light. He fell to his knees, and Jane grabbed for his shoulder. An alarm sounded from a device on his collar, and Vash rushed over.
“His organs are failing!” Vash took his hand.
He talked, but Vash didn’t translate.
“What’s happening?” Jane wanted to help, but didn’t know anything about the Locus physiology.
“He wished for you to walk into the sphere,” Vash said evenly.
Kelleg’s alarm continued to sound, but the steam stopped rising off his tattoos. Instead, the skin was puckered and red, the dark markings gone.
“I…” Jane swallowed, wondering what kind of mess she’d gotten herself into.
“Please, or it’s too late,” Vash told her after Kelleg’s pitiful cry.
Jane couldn’t help but sense the importance of Kelleg’s instructions. Before she could talk herself out of it, she stepped into the light.
She was blinded by it. Everything was white. A pressure began to build in her head.
Jane lifted her arms when they started to burn and saw the etchings on her skin. They looped and whirred, moving like a snake to wrap her wrists, hands, then up to the elbows. Peace overtook her, and Jane watched the view change with incredible clarity and calm.
As the light dimmed, the Oniri Band Henry mentioned came into sight. It floated around the sphere she was presently in, moving slowly as it rotated. Asteroids ranging from the size of a pebble to larger than Excursion lingered in the system, as if drawn to the alien Band.
The tattoos stopped searing and took on the light of the sphere instead.
Jane understood the Link.
She controlled it.
She was the Link.
TWO
“Then how did they escape the ship?” Black shouted.
Calvin had seen Minister Black in a fury before, but that was when he was white-haired and feeble. The fleet admiral in front of him was anything but weak.
“Calm yourself, Minister,” Ambassador Cunningham said. D’Artagnan sat by his feet, chin set to paws. He looked up at Cal, then shifted to watch Black as he paced the empty hold. There were signs of the captive Cadre everywhere, just not of the occupants.
“I’ll be calm when we find Rallin and his team of traitors and eradicate them!” A vein throbbed on Minister Black’s forehead.
“It’s obvious they’re Hiphol, not victims as they claimed,” Cal said.
“No kidding.” Black finally stopped his incessant movement and sat on a bunk. “Where did they go?” Both the minister and the ambassador gazed at Calvin like he should have the answer.
“We did a full sweep of the ship, and no sign of them,” he told them.
“At least we can put Operation Cadre into motion,” Black mumbled.
“You’re not really going through with that, are you?” Cal had read the report drafted a week earlier. “The hull isn’t even intact.”
“Then we’ll fix it.”
“Would someone care to fill me in on what Operation Cadre is?” Cunningham asked. “And where in the stars is Henry?”
The doors opened, and Henry stalked in with his Automatons. Linus Vanderbilt and Fred Wallace came behind him, their expressions glum. Socrates and Thodoros were also present, but Atticus’ absence was evident.
“Sir, you remember what Commander Huntington said about Fred or Linus being here when the Hiphol escaped?” Cal whispered to Cunningham.
“What’s that?” The leader of the Sun Colonies lifted an eyebrow. “Clearly, it’s a complete fabrication by our young Denier friend.”
“Neither of you set foot on this ship earlier today?” Cal asked the pair.
“I was at the colony all day working on the network with William Trellis,” Fred assured him.
“And I spent the afternoon with Henry, trying to access the hidden files from Atticus’ hard drive.”
“I can attest to both of their whereabouts,” Henry said. “Surely you’re not trusting the Denier.”
“No,” Cal quickly proclaimed. “But with two hundred missing enemies, I don’t want to leave any stone unturned.”
He gazed at the bunks and the minimal personal belongings left by Cadre Dagger. How could they possibly have lost two hundred prisoners?
“When do we begin the search?” Henry asked.
“It’s already been done.”
Henry pointed at his robots. “Find them and keep the Cadre Leader alive.”
The tall robots clomped out of the room, going in separate directions.
“Is that necessary?” Ambassador Cunningham asked. “I could have D’Artagnan track the aliens if they were on board.”
“Go ahead,” Henry said.
You’d have to be blind not to see the power struggle on Ethos. Henry Abimbola wanted control, while Darius Black was in charge of the defenses. Ambassador Cunningham seemed to stay out of it, sticking to middle ground while they fought for his attention. Calvin understood the importance of having a straight line of command; otherwise, things rarely worked out like anticipated.
He had a headache, one that hadn’t vanished when he took an injection an hour earlier. Jane was still gone. Luke had probably gotten himself killed at Ivoth, and they’d just lost the Hiphol on Ethos.
Sanya entered and wiped sweat off her damp forehead. “Who invited the machines? That damned robot almost ran me over.”
“Can the dog really track?” Cal asked.
“D’Artagnan once found my granddaughter after she disappeared in the forest during a trip to Siberia.”
ALLIES
ONE
Visions came to her in her dreams. Jane recalled the communication from her father a few years earlier while she toured the Sun Colonies for the release of The Foundation of Ethos. Her mother had died of a freak illness, the kind you rarely heard about since the medical field had been transformed by predictive analytics. Her mom was supposed to fly to Mars to join her for a night of respite before Jane continued to Venus Station for an interview with the Colonies’ most gifted artist.
Now, she’d left behind an ailing father who had the same disease as his wife. Apparently, it tended to stay dormant, hiding within the cells undetected until something triggered its activation. Jane had been screened countless times since learning it might have been environmental, but everything was inconclusive. It had been part of the reason she’d accepted Dr. Abimbola’s offer so quickly. She preferred not to dwell on the notion she could one day wake up locked out of her own body. If it did happen, there were drugs to aid recovery, which was one of the reasons her dad hadn’t succumbed to the disease.
While she rested in the quarters offered by Kelleg’s people, she saw her mother as she’d been when Jane was young. They walked through a garden in their neighborhood. Jane had never wanted for anything in her entire life. It allowed her to concentrate on her studies, and to obtain that doctorate she’d always thought would bring her happiness. Every decision she’d made was to get farther in her career, but each step left her feeling empty after a week or two.
Ethos was different. Flying in Excursion Two through the Link was what it meant to live. Taking chances. Even being on Yezon, without knowing whether the Locus would let them leave, offered a sense of excitement.
Images of various stages in her life played like flashcards. They slowed until she saw Captain Calvin Brooks on the bridge as they approached Ethos. Jane examined the scene while the Link powered on Caelum, the Link Controllers beaming with energy.
She recalled touching the stone on Caelum and being able to transport without the aid of a Locus. Had that truly happened? They’d shaken it off like the Preserver they used left a lingering essence on the stone, but what if it wasn’t that?
By the time Jane was fully awake, the memories of her dreams remained, but slowly dissipated like a morning fog in the countryside.
The room was black, as were most of the design choices of the Locus on Yezon. When she moved, a light activated, reflecting off the shiny panels, and she dug her face into what passed for a pillow. It had no case, and conformed to her head as she squirmed. Finally, Jane decided to start her day, unaware what time it was or how long she’d been out.
A fresh uniform waited on a table by the exit. It was identical to her own, just without the Sun Colonies patch. Her armored suit was gone, but a pair of white laceless shoes were on the floor. She slipped them on after getting dressed, finding the fit quite accurate. When she opened the door, Lois was in the hall, T-51N draped across her lap. She gasped and sat upright when Jane cleared her throat.
“I must have dozed off,” Lois said.
“How long were you here?” Jane asked.
Lois grunted as she rose, and her back cracked. “All night.”
“Why?”
“I wasn’t about to let anything happen to you.”
“We’re all in this together. You aren’t here to protect me, Lois.”
Lois frowned. “Is that what you think? I’m the muscle. Singh is our translator, and you’re…”
“A historian.”
“Our negotiator.” Lois yawned and knocked on the adjacent door. “Curtis, stop dreaming of me and get out here!” She banged a few more times until the anthropologist appeared, fully dressed and praising the fit of his shoes.
“Did you see these?” He crouched and jumped. “I’ve never had anything so comfortable.”
“So the Locus split apart. One group became ruthless terrors, and the other are what… practicing their skills as cobblers?” Lois asked. She wore the armor, refusing to take it off in case they needed to fight their way out.
“Can you take a minute and change?” Jane pointed to the quarters Lois had been given last night. “I don’t want us to seem untrusting.”
“But we are!” Lois proclaimed.
“Rule number one. Don’t tell the other side that.”
“Fine, but I’m doing it under protest. Here, hold this.” She shoved the gun at Curtis, who struggled with the weight.
Lois returned five minutes later with her curly hair pulled into a knot. Her skin glowed, and Jane had a stab of jealousy at how perfect the soldier appeared with minimal effort. “What are you looking at me like that for?”
“I wasn’t!” Curtis claimed and gave the T-51N back.
“Not you. Her.” Lois waited for an answer.
Jane gestured down the hall. “Someone’s coming.”
She wasn’t sure, since she was still getting used to the subtle differences between the Locus, but she thought this was Tellan. They’d found him in the underground chamber with nine other Preservers on Ethos. He wore a gray uniform that almost matched his coloring. His dark eyes were narrow, and his nostrils flared as he approached.
Curtis spoke, and Tellan nodded, then turned as if he expected them to follow.
“Not today. Maybe tomorrow,” Jane whispered, using Calvin’s old mantra.
He led them through a complex network of tall corridors created to accommodate the size of the Locus. Jane felt small when they entered a foyer and reached an arched doorway where a half-dozen Locus soldiers were posted on either side.
The air was thick and aromatic. Jane peered into the room beyond, noticing a steady stream of smoke rising from an object.
“Welcome to the Thinking Chamber.” A female Locus approached, and Jane didn’t believe it was the same one from yesterday. While the Locus had no hair, the tailing protrusions behind her head were speckled with natural markings.
“Hello. You can speak to us?” Curtis asked.
“Yes. When the robot Atticus visited, he gave us a program. I learned the language so I could act as a translator, should we ever encounter you again. None thought it would be so soon,” she said. “I am Vash.”
Jane introduced their group, and she nodded. “Tellan provided your names.”
The Locus with them seemed nervous, and he spoke to Vash quietly, so as not to be overheard by Curtis.
“Tellan regrets that not all of you can join Kelleg in the Thinking Chamber,” she said.
“Why not?”
“It is imperative that you understand the severity of your actions.” Vash was two feet taller than Jane, and she felt the size difference as the alien’s ridged brow furrowed even deeper.
“We were stuck…” Jane was cut off by her raising a two-thumbed hand.
“Kelleg will see you now, Miss Vanderbilt.”
Lois stepped forward. “I won’t let her out of my sight.”
“No harm will befall her.” Vash gestured into the Thinking Chamber, and Jane glanced at her companions.
“It’s fine. Do what they ask, and we’ll be home before you know it.”
“Good luck!” Curtis called as the large door closed.
Instead of a room filled with robed Locus, like Calvin and Henry had recalled, a single alien stood in the middle of the depressed rounded floor, staring at the smoke as it lifted into the cavernous ceiling.
Kelleg spoke without peering up.
“He asks that you join him.” Vash moved to the stairs.
Jane took them one at a time, slowly wandering to Kelleg. As she neared him, she noted the smoke was real. It drifted farther away when she stopped, and she picked up the pungent scent emanating off the haze. Only then did Kelleg watch Jane. He talked slowly, and Vash repeated the words for Jane.
“We were born of the stars, on a distant world.”
Jane noticed the imagery shaping into the fume. A rotating planet projected out of the device dispensing the smoke. “That’s Caelum,” she said, recognizing the continents.
He bared his teeth. “It’s Levebos to us. It was there we first discovered the Oniri. Thousands of years later, our ancestors began to understand the power held within the dense stone. Only by accident did they learn it could transport matter. As time passed, our technology improved and we perfected space travel. With little resistance, we spread out, exploring centuries-long colony missions to the nearest systems. They found more Oniri, left behind by an ancient race no one’s ever met.”
His arms drifted out of the long sleeves, showing the wrinkled and faded tattoos. “Another millennium saw us rooted on four planets, with dozens of outposts. That’s where our stability fell apart. War. Famine. Disease. There was one world to settle on, where all could exist without fear of death.”
“Ethos,” she whispered.
“That’s your name for it, yes.” The image in the smoke shifted to Ethos as it once was before Locus or human intervention. “Little did my ancestors know, it would be the beginning of our divide. The Hiphol were created when they first encountered the Bheelo. An entire race, destined to be enslaved by someone of my blood. When confronted, the Hiphol leaders ordered us back to Caelum. Instead, we retreated to Yezon. They have yet to find us, and we’d prefer to keep it that way. You understand why my people don’t want you to leave, correct?”
Jane absorbed what he’d told her, assuming many of the sordid details had been spared. As Lois had said, this was a negotiation. Even though Vash was in the room, translating for the elderly Locus, it felt like there were only the two of them, facing off.
“Why did you have so many Preservers on Ethos?”
He glanced at her. “It is important.”
“You helped the human colony be relocated to Pathos. I thought you were done sticking your neck out,” she said.
“The Oniri needs to be reclaimed. The Hiphol mar our name to the stars, don’t you see? We believed that by helping the humans, we could preserve Ethos. My son and his associates were chosen to protect the Oniri source.”
“What is an Oniri source?”
His eyes glimmered as he watched the smoke pouring out of the machine by their feet. “Each world has one. They were left behind by their creator. The Link, as you call it, is meant to send ships to distant worlds.”
“Are the Sun Colonies in danger?” she asked.
“Yes.”
“We can’t stay on Yezon.”
“I grow weary,” he said.
“Then help us defeat the Hiphol,” she told him. “You’d rather place your Preserves in stasis and wither away in this Thinking Chamber while the Hiphol continue to terrorize the galaxy?”
He rubbed the markings on his arms. “There is much you don’t know.”
“Then tell me,” she pleaded. Smoke enveloped her, and she waved an arm, trying not to inhale it. Her body was lighter, her mind starting to fog.
“Perhaps it would be better to show you.” Kelleg’s arms vanished into his sleeves.
Vash followed the old Locus up the steps and to the exit.
“Where are we going?” Jane asked.
Lois and Curtis snapped to attention when they arrived. “Everything okay?”
“I think so,” Jane replied.
“Can we come?” Lois asked.
Kelleg spoke, and Vash repeated: “No, this is for the historian only.”
Jane glanced behind her as they marched, wishing her team could stay. She heard Henry’s voice in her head, urging her to remember every detail, because it might be important.
The Hiphol were flying through the Link, and invasion was inevitable. According to Kelleg, Earth was also a target, which worried Jane to no end. Her students were spread around the Sun Colonies.
Jane’s footsteps echoed when they reached a wide corridor. Five Locus guards moved aside for Kelleg, bowing their heads deferentially. The old Locus winced and stepped past a glowing barrier, urging her to do the same. Jane took a breath, and energy surged in her veins as she walked. Vash came in behind and silently trailed her liege.
“What is this?” Jane asked.
“The Oniri Band,” he said.
“But that’s millions of light years away.”
“As I said, the ancient beings were capable of many things lost to the modern era. Even the Hiphol are not aware of the Band’s existence, or my ability to access it,” Kelleg said with his translator. Vash stayed back, looking uncomfortable with their change of location.
This place was far different than what the Locus used on Yezon, with brown walls and an intricately positioned stone walkway leading to a floating blue sphere.
Kelleg sighed and slipped his arms out of their coverings. The markings burned hotly, steaming as he neared the ball of light. He fell to his knees, and Jane grabbed for his shoulder. An alarm sounded from a device on his collar, and Vash rushed over.
“His organs are failing!” Vash took his hand.
He talked, but Vash didn’t translate.
“What’s happening?” Jane wanted to help, but didn’t know anything about the Locus physiology.
“He wished for you to walk into the sphere,” Vash said evenly.
Kelleg’s alarm continued to sound, but the steam stopped rising off his tattoos. Instead, the skin was puckered and red, the dark markings gone.
“I…” Jane swallowed, wondering what kind of mess she’d gotten herself into.
“Please, or it’s too late,” Vash told her after Kelleg’s pitiful cry.
Jane couldn’t help but sense the importance of Kelleg’s instructions. Before she could talk herself out of it, she stepped into the light.
She was blinded by it. Everything was white. A pressure began to build in her head.
Jane lifted her arms when they started to burn and saw the etchings on her skin. They looped and whirred, moving like a snake to wrap her wrists, hands, then up to the elbows. Peace overtook her, and Jane watched the view change with incredible clarity and calm.
As the light dimmed, the Oniri Band Henry mentioned came into sight. It floated around the sphere she was presently in, moving slowly as it rotated. Asteroids ranging from the size of a pebble to larger than Excursion lingered in the system, as if drawn to the alien Band.
The tattoos stopped searing and took on the light of the sphere instead.
Jane understood the Link.
She controlled it.
She was the Link.
TWO
“Then how did they escape the ship?” Black shouted.
Calvin had seen Minister Black in a fury before, but that was when he was white-haired and feeble. The fleet admiral in front of him was anything but weak.
“Calm yourself, Minister,” Ambassador Cunningham said. D’Artagnan sat by his feet, chin set to paws. He looked up at Cal, then shifted to watch Black as he paced the empty hold. There were signs of the captive Cadre everywhere, just not of the occupants.
“I’ll be calm when we find Rallin and his team of traitors and eradicate them!” A vein throbbed on Minister Black’s forehead.
“It’s obvious they’re Hiphol, not victims as they claimed,” Cal said.
“No kidding.” Black finally stopped his incessant movement and sat on a bunk. “Where did they go?” Both the minister and the ambassador gazed at Calvin like he should have the answer.
“We did a full sweep of the ship, and no sign of them,” he told them.
“At least we can put Operation Cadre into motion,” Black mumbled.
“You’re not really going through with that, are you?” Cal had read the report drafted a week earlier. “The hull isn’t even intact.”
“Then we’ll fix it.”
“Would someone care to fill me in on what Operation Cadre is?” Cunningham asked. “And where in the stars is Henry?”
The doors opened, and Henry stalked in with his Automatons. Linus Vanderbilt and Fred Wallace came behind him, their expressions glum. Socrates and Thodoros were also present, but Atticus’ absence was evident.
“Sir, you remember what Commander Huntington said about Fred or Linus being here when the Hiphol escaped?” Cal whispered to Cunningham.
“What’s that?” The leader of the Sun Colonies lifted an eyebrow. “Clearly, it’s a complete fabrication by our young Denier friend.”
“Neither of you set foot on this ship earlier today?” Cal asked the pair.
“I was at the colony all day working on the network with William Trellis,” Fred assured him.
“And I spent the afternoon with Henry, trying to access the hidden files from Atticus’ hard drive.”
“I can attest to both of their whereabouts,” Henry said. “Surely you’re not trusting the Denier.”
“No,” Cal quickly proclaimed. “But with two hundred missing enemies, I don’t want to leave any stone unturned.”
He gazed at the bunks and the minimal personal belongings left by Cadre Dagger. How could they possibly have lost two hundred prisoners?
“When do we begin the search?” Henry asked.
“It’s already been done.”
Henry pointed at his robots. “Find them and keep the Cadre Leader alive.”
The tall robots clomped out of the room, going in separate directions.
“Is that necessary?” Ambassador Cunningham asked. “I could have D’Artagnan track the aliens if they were on board.”
“Go ahead,” Henry said.
You’d have to be blind not to see the power struggle on Ethos. Henry Abimbola wanted control, while Darius Black was in charge of the defenses. Ambassador Cunningham seemed to stay out of it, sticking to middle ground while they fought for his attention. Calvin understood the importance of having a straight line of command; otherwise, things rarely worked out like anticipated.
He had a headache, one that hadn’t vanished when he took an injection an hour earlier. Jane was still gone. Luke had probably gotten himself killed at Ivoth, and they’d just lost the Hiphol on Ethos.
Sanya entered and wiped sweat off her damp forehead. “Who invited the machines? That damned robot almost ran me over.”
“Can the dog really track?” Cal asked.
“D’Artagnan once found my granddaughter after she disappeared in the forest during a trip to Siberia.”
