Confluence, p.32
Confluence, page 32
Ryan lay motionless for a few moments. He took shallow breaths and spoke toward a shiny new wrist device. “Well, I’d say that went well.”
“I understand you have once again been dismissed.”
Ryan winced as he sat up. “Think we might need to implement a more reliable method of tracking and maintaining separation?”
“Understood and implemented. Khattara Eschala’s current position is Centauri. We should maintain separation by avoiding this planet.”
Ryan smirked and shook his head. He touched a tender point on his side. “Two hundred years wishing for a sense of humor, and this...”
“Careful what you wish for, Commander.”
Ryan nodded as he looked off toward the corner where Eschala had disappeared. “Careful, indeed.”
“Commander, was this confrontation sufficient to change your mind about remaining on Centauri?”
He shook his head. “Nawh. We’re good now. We needed this to move forward.”
“Ryan, she assaulted you. That is not an indication of a healthy relationship or one worthy of your interest.”
Ryan smiled bright and looked off to the distance. “So lemme get this straight. Are you sayin’ I shouldn’t be friends with anyone that tries to kill me?”
“To whom are you referring?”
Ryan closed his eyes and faced into the warmth of the star’s light. “Many I cherish…You should know.”
“If you are referring to our first moments together when you reactivated my cognitive functions, defensive protocols were the reason behind my attack on you. A lack of familiarity with you or knowledge of your intentions triggered an automatic defensive response.”
Ryan nodded. “Yeah, that makes a great deal of sense.” His eyes opened, and he gazed out to the corner where Eschala had retreated. “That’s exactly what it was.”
“To whom are you referring?”
“Vi, I saw something in her eyes, and it wasn’t aggression. She’s trying to scare me off, and that too is a defensive response.”
“If your feeling-perception-based theory is incorrect, further engagement with the Centauri may cost your life. What potential benefit warrants this risk?”
He nodded and felt the tender spot in his ribs. “I’ll admit a certain admiration for her, but there’s something else to our presence here. As I explore it further, there’s a link between past history here and the path ahead. I just laid hands on the Lumuera, and I hurt it. I felt a connection, and I was a conduit that felt like…like a weapon. That’s never happened before, and I don’t think it was a coincidence. This place is connected to a moment or an energy trapped in the past, and it’s a gate to the future. As of yet, I can’t put my finger on it.” He shook his head. “It’s maddening. Eschala is a key to some part of this, and we need more information.”
“Recall her words and actions a few moments ago; further engagement may be difficult. Considering your physiological status, further contact will reduce your viability.”
Ryan chuckled and winced. “She packs a wallop.” He grunted coming to his feet and panted through the pain. After a few seconds leaning against the tree trunk, he whispered, “The GM and her Uncle Bayhden have some interest in me. Perhaps Bayhden’s involvement will be a conduit of further contact.” Ryan’s breath evened and slowed. “In light of her uncle’s participation, does that lower the percent likelihood of Eschala trying to take me out?”
“Perhaps…”
Ryan smiled and nodded. “It made it go up, didn’t it?”
“Affirmative.”
◊ ◊ ◊
Khattara stood in her uncle’s office with wide eyes and shook her head. “I don’t understand. Why me? I just went to another planet to investigate this guy. I did my part. Until we know who he works for, I’m a danger…I mean, he’s a danger.”
“You know him best, and we need to determine his alliances. Based upon what he told the GM, we believe he was trying to recover the mini-Daerk he described as being a member of some kind of Separates group.”
Khattara scoffed. “Wait, what? He was on that ship for the Daerk creature? Are you sure?”
“Well, he seemed to know an awful lot about it.” Bayhden looked up and saw Khattara’s face was burning purple in color. “Are you alright?”
She looked down and shook her head. “Yeah, just that I thought he was there for a different reason.”
“Right, that cover story about his family business and hitching a ride. Seems a little too coincidental if you ask me. Regardless of the narrative, an alien force took out an entire Daerk battle group around this Paavi. The fact he and the GM emerged unscathed leads me to believe he may have knowledge or alignment with this force. The GM is near giddy with chatter about the implications with his newfound Paavi friend. In all honesty, we could be looking at a diplomatic first contact scenario if we can get him to disclose what he knows or with whom he’s aligned. Can you imagine an alliance with a group that can take on the Daerk?” Bayhden glanced up at Khattara and saw her gaze out to a distant horizon. “What’s with the look? There something you wanna tell me?”
“I uh, just came from an altercation with the weird Paavi.”
“Really?”
She nodded.
Bayhden squinted. “Is it something you can work around?”
“I may have led him to believe I never wanted to see him again and also to stay away from me.” Her eyes connected with her uncle’s. “And I, uh, may have broken a rib or two.”
Bayhden sighed and shook his head. “You need to fix this. Our kingdom and the Aligned Systems may depend upon it. We’ve devised a plan that will require your participation. We created a new learning section as a ruse to draw him out. The subject focus of the class is transition training to get you both up into our Kalhvard patrol vessels. Although his shuttle stunt buggered up the palace landing pad, the fact that he even made it to the surface in one piece demonstrated a capacity with piloting. We think if he’s in a more familiar or comfortable environment that he might lower his guard and reveal his purpose.”
Eschala’s eyes grew wide. “So I’m the operative…the one sent in to elicit more information?”
“I thought that’s what you wanted, to find out more. Have I made a mistake on who I can trust to get close to him on this?”
She shook her head. “No; you’re right.” She looked off. “I can do it…I’ll…I’ll do it. I’ll draw him out.”
16
Confluence
“I’ve been waiting for a sign.
The large barrel of that gun pointed at me seemed familiar and appropriate.”
Lysander
Daily injections of nanites were repairing Ryan’s physical injuries and had returned some of his augmented strength. The process had moved far slower than normal due to an unknown loss of nanites. Ryan had been injected with more than twenty times the quantity that remained in his system, and Violet was able to track the losses to the repair effort in his brain. While the mass represented by the nanites was small, she was able to measure the missing material. Her best theory was that some kind of lingering quantum effect associated with Ryan’s connection to either the Neutronians or the Lumuera was drawing mass away. The soreness in his side was almost gone, but Violet was unable to diagnose the lingering pain in his head. Both were remnants and reminders of different elements of danger. Ryan agreed to take his regenerative periods at night in orbit within the protective confines of Rex.
“Commander, the drone has returned.”
Ryan was reading a tablet in his rack. He looked up. “What’s it doing?”
“It is directing a beam of focused energy at your quarters. Based upon the spectrum utilized, it is sensing heat, sound, and movement.”
Ryan nodded. “Eschala.”
“I am unable to identify the source directing it or the recipient of the data stream.”
Ryan sat up. “Can you repurpose one of the room sensors to focus a narrow beam on the window?”
He energized the beam to elevate the temperature by a few degrees on a precise localized area of the panes. With this tool, he could display a message for the drone outside using a temperature blossom on the glass. Ryan thought for a second about Eschala’s room in the palace and smiled as he created the message.
The drone hovered outside and registered an image on the panes. I saw your future out beyond, and it was familiar comfort. Thank you for sharing it and getting me to Rex. Thank you for saving my life.
“The drone has departed.”
Ryan nodded. “It was her.”
The next morning, he stepped through the portal to his room on campus. He reached down and grabbed his school identification off the coffee table. His gaze lingered on the surface. He recalled the water glass placed upon it the night Eschala had saved him. After a quick survey of the room, he departed for his first class. During the day he embraced a scheduled routine and looked for any outliers that might lead to the path forward.
He shared a lecture with Eschala in a stadium-like classroom that held over a hundred students. The lecture covered orbital trajectories, and Ryan was warmed by a sense of Ragn’s presence. One of two squeaky doors announced Eschala’s late entry, and she took a seat on the far side of the room. A pattern developed as she came late each day and sat away from him. She refused to make eye contact and departed class before Ryan could catch up with her.
◊ ◊ ◊
Khattara Eschala surveyed the last few steps while leaping up the staircase toward her uncle’s campus office. On the landing she spotted Bayhden’s chief of staff, Sandhall, seated and smiling at her from his desk. She approached with increased caution as the message from Bayhden summoning her had been uncharacteristically vague. Sandhall looked far too happy to see her, and his grin had an edge of self-satisfaction.
He motioned toward Bayhden’s door. “Please head right in; they’re expecting you.”
She heard her uncle speaking from the interior. Khattara cracked the door open and held the handle firm as she glanced through.
Bayhden noted the door’s movement and called out, “Ahh, come in!”
Her eyes grew larger as she recognized the form seated in front of her uncle’s desk.
Khattara stopped abruptly. “Oh, I didn’t mean to interrupt—”
“No. Please come in. We’ve been waiting for you.” Bayhden’s arm animated as he motioned for her to come inside.
Ryan heard her voice and stared straight ahead. He held motionless save one small flare of his nostrils. It sourced from a pain in his head that reverberated throughout his body.
As the Centauri warrior moved deeper into the office, her eyes fixed on the top of Ryan’s head. As Eschala drew nearer, the tattoo on her shoulder burned and itched.
Ryan turned his head and smiled. “How’ve you been?”
“Good…super good.” She pursed her lips and nodded. It was the first time in days that she’d been close enough to connect with his eyes.
Bayhden noted the initial tension between them. As they looked into each other, both felt a strange sense. The two gazed at each other in this moment with the gravity of binary stars. Eschala’s focus shifted from one eye to the other as if trying to peer deeper. Ryan felt the connection and cocked his head.
Unaware of the moment, the general interrupted. “I asked you here to discuss pairing the both of you together for additional simulations.” They turned toward the general as he continued. “Is that going to be a problem?”
Ryan glanced back at Eschala.
She nodded straight ahead at Bayhden. “Nope, no problem.”
Ryan’s head made a circular movement as if he were attempting to nod and shake his head at the same time. Eschala’s eyebrow rose as she glanced at Ryan and then back to her uncle.
Bayhden cocked his head at Ryan. “Which did you mean with that gesture?”
Ryan turned his head toward Eschala, and his eyes traveled around her face. She winked at him with the eye opposite her uncle. Ryan turned back to the general. “It would be my honor to work once again with the best warrior on the planet.”
Bayhden smiled and nodded. “Excellent! Your next assignment will be transition training into our Kalhvard patrol vessels. Check your schedules for class and simulator assignments starting next week. Dismissed.”
As though released from a snare, both Ryan and Eschala rolled away opposite each other in quick movement toward the door. They anticipated the convergence at the last moment and came to a screeching halt. With choppy arm gestures, each motioned for the other to exit first.
Khattara barked, “Go.” She glanced back and noted her uncle raise his eyebrows and cock his head. She spoke again with a softer tone. “Please, I insist; you go first.”
Bayhden smiled and shook his head as the door closed behind them.
Two steps outside, Ryan stopped and spun around. Khattara Eschala’s head rose high as she maneuvered to avoid collision and came to a halt. He raised his hand as though intending to wave back at her and then realized she had followed in the same direction. He mumbled, “Well…OK. See you ‘round, I guess.”
She gazed at him with a tight jaw. “Yeah.” She watched him turn in the opposite direction and scurry off down the passage. As she started to walk away in the other direction, she caught a glimpse of Sandhall’s bright smile. Khattara Eschala’s glare narrowed at him before she departed.
◊ ◊ ◊
Ryan heard a soft chirp in his ear and slowly positioned his arm to view the screen on his wrist device. He and five other student pilots were with an instructor inside a small windowless briefing room reviewing Kalhvard vessel systems. All eyes were watching the instructor step through a power distribution schematic displayed on a forward screen. While Ryan glanced down at the urgent message from Vi, two seats over, Khattara Eschala noticed his attention.
She was compelled to observe his odd behavior, in part because of her mission, but she was also fueled by a growing irritation; he was sincere but not entirely truthful. She felt a strong sense he was hiding his true agenda. That he had exploited an earlier personal connection really caused her to bristle. The fact her uncle and the Aligned Systems’ GM had an interest in him made her burn with a desire to expose whatever game he was playing.
Ryan pressed a button on the wrist device, and Violet piped softly into his ear.
“Commander, we have a situation. Mehvis just left you a message and expressed her frustration at your lack of response to numerous earlier recordings. She indicated her intent to step through the emergency portal leading to the Adriatic.”
Ryan cocked his head and raised his eyebrows. He typed through his device. No prob, trust Mehvis. Have Darlin chat w/ her, I’ll port over after class.
Violet responded in his ear. “Commander, she just stepped through to the Adriatic, and I am fearful of her reaction to the other resident. I cannot get Lysander off that ship, and Mehvis is actively searching the entire vessel for you. Darlin is asking for guidance.”
Khattara saw Ryan’s eyes pop wide, and he shot to his feet. The instructor looked back as Ryan held up his hand.
“Very sorry. I have an emergency.” Ryan scuttled out of his seat and toward the door. “I gotta go.” He held praying hands together. “Very sorry.”
Khattara looked down, closed her eyes, and shook her head. She rose and gathered belongings into her bag.
The instructor glanced back and frowned at Khattara as she too moved toward the exit. “Sorry, did I say something wrong?” The rest of the class chuckled as the instructor continued. “So what’s your excuse?”
Khattara waved her hand in front of her mouth. “Terribly sorry. I’m suddenly overcome with nausea. I feel like I may—” She hunched her shoulders and brought her hand straight up over her mouth.
Everyone scooted in and made a clear path for her to the door. As Khattara moved out through the courtyard, Ryan was nowhere in sight. She used a macro shortcut on one of her tablets to track and monitor his whereabouts. She noted he was on the move at modified speed toward his quarters, and she bolted after him. Two minutes later she stood knocking at his door and strained to hear any response between her labored breaths. Glancing at her tablet, she confirmed that Ryan’s identification was in his room. Scans from a security drone saw no evidence of a biological presence inside.
◊ ◊ ◊
Ryan leapt through the gate and found himself inside the Adriatic.
“Greetings, Captain. Presently, there’s—”
“Yeah, I heard. Where’s Mehvis?”
“She’s in the central passage leading to the command deck. She’s armed and menacing Lysander with her firearm in the passage. There is a—”
“Open shipwide channel. Open it!”
“Shipwide audio active.”
“Mehvis, stand down! Stand down! Do not shoot the Arltog. Mehvis, I’m coming toward you. Weapons hold! Do not fire!” Ryan raced around the corner and saw them further down by the bridge portal. “Mehvis? It’s me. Stand down, Mehvis.” Lysander was backed against the passage wall with his hands raised. Both of his eyes rotated toward Ryan for a moment before one split back, gazing on Mehvis. With her catch over shoulder, she held the pistol steady with a weathered hand. Mehvis backed away from the former gangster and glanced back at Ryan.
“Eylon, take caution; this one’s particularly treacherous. His name’s Lysander. He’s a notorious and vicious gangster.” She raised the BAP higher. “He was number two on our most wanted list.”
Ryan drew near with his hands out. “Everyone just take it easy.”
