This is a fan translation of Line of Dreams (Линия грёз) by the Russian science fiction and fantasy author Sergei Lukyanenko. The novel can be considered a fan fiction of the original Master of Orion game.
Chapter 4
"Water," Tommy said. Continuing to spray the boy's body with an anti-burn aerosol, Kay handed him a glass. Tommy still couldn't move his legs, but his arms obeyed him.
"You'll get blisters in an hour," Kay informed him without much compassion. "But not too many."
"Did we get away?"
"Yeah, we're in hyper. Get dressed."
Tommy sat up on the bed and started to carefully put on his shirt. He asked, "Where's Arthur?"
"In his room, with Andrey. He's an even better doctor than I'm a killer."
Kay himself didn't seem to be bothered by his presence in the "oven". The ceroplastic pumped into his skin had protected him not just from the Meklar's blows but also from the heat. Kay clearly wasn't bothered by the inevitable carcinogenic effect.
"Did I screw up badly?" Tommy asked.
"Moderately." Kay sat in a chair, staring at the boy pensively. There was a wall of ice between them, which only the two of them could sense.
"Shall I put on some music, Master?" the ship asked suavely.
"Put in some earplugs! Go ahead, Tommy, ask."
The boy carefully lowered his legs from the bed. He tried to put some weight on them and then leaned back onto the pillow.
"Kay, why did you change your mind? Why didn't you leave me there?"
"How'd you figure it out?" Dutch inquired.
"With my head. There wasn't much use for me there, and there couldn't be. If you really needed another fighter for the raid, you would've asked the Family for one. Right?"
"Right."
"This means that you wanted to use me for something else. Since we were rescuing my double, then I, most likely, had to take his place. If the body was where it was supposed to be, then no one would have chased you."
"Smart kid," Kay agreed. "But no one was going to kill you. I did promise you that. Just stun you."
"Thanks."
"I hear the family politeness. Don't mention it." Kay stood. "I'm going to go see Arthur. He's doing much worse, kid."
"You didn't answer my question," Tommy spoke, and Kay suddenly did hear Curtis's tone of voice.
"All right. If I tell you that I felt pity for you, will you believe me?"
"Of course not."
"Then don't."
Louis called Kal straight from aTan on Dogar. He informed her that he had renewed his immortality and asked to send a shuttle to pick him up. Isabella cut the connection. She had enough trouble dealing with Marjan, who was being worked on by a brigade of doctors and technicians, and with T/san, who, after the bout with his kinsman, had ended up next to him on the operating tables of Meklar surgeons. Nomachi was capable of getting to the station himself, since his ISS badge allowed him to do much.
She was also infuriated by Lemak's nonchalance. The Admiral had spent the day running around the station, watching over the repair work, speaking with the planetary administration and the main headquarters, who were alarmed by what had happened. His reputation and the events of the past several weeks had allowed him to quell the scandal. Kal had no doubt that, in the end, everything would be blamed on Darlok terrorists.
The Admiral summoned her only later that night, which was a clearly unambiguous gesture. Kal appeared in his office, blazing with indignation, and was met with a glass of martini.
"We need to relax a little," Lemak informed her. "It's not every day that the Imperial Forces and the ISS get such a smack on the head, is it?"
"Someone's head was held far too high," Isabella said, accepting the glass. She couldn't argue with Lemak in this situation, but she had no intention of holding back on the barbs.
"I won't argue that." The Admiral was amiably inclined. "But what an insolent fellow, huh? I admire your Altos."
"He's not mine!"
"And, sadly, not mine either." Lemak sipped his wine. "Kal, stop burning out your nerves. What did we really have? A boy who managed to jam up our entire interrogation system. Capable of handling any pain and turning any drug into shit. I'm not even certain that our doctor found the reason for his resistance. Besides, Arthur had aTan, and we probably hadn't prevented all possibilities of committing suicide. He was just sure of himself."
"So what do we have now?" Isabella asked sardonically.
"Now we have a clear trail of the boat, which is flying the boy straight to his destination. We're leaving in the morning and will stay on their tail. Curtis Jr. won't last long, you know that. But he is clearly intent on completing his daddy's task. He only has one option: to hurry."
"Leaving in the morning," Isabella said, staring through Lemak. "Morning…"
"Are you all right?"
Kal shook herself. She smiled at the Admiral, and her face suddenly reflected the helpless naiveté of that forgotten schoolgirl, who had been taping the pictures of Vague War heroes over her bed.
"I'm tired, Lemak," she complained. "I should have killed Altos back on Tauri. The boy was holding on because he believed in him. One shouldn't leave people faith in their friends; they only grow stronger."
"What friend is he to him? He's a very good mercenary, who was promised mountains of gold and free aTan."
"You didn't see his fight with T/san. A mercenary would've given up or died covering the retreat. Kay was fighting to win and leave. He had an incentive, and he left."
Even the cyborg seemed weary. He came out of the small bedroom—the boat didn't have a separate infirmary—and, finding Kay at the table, sat down next to him.
"Tell me," Kay said, finishing his second cup of coffee.
"He's going to die."
"I see. When and why?"
"Within the week. It's not even because of the torture, his bone marrow has been ruined. It looks like someone was trying to sterilize his blood completely."
"No chance?"
Andrey shook his head.
"Is something upsetting you?" Kay asked. There was surprise in the cyborg's eyes.
"Of course. The operation was a failure. The Meklar's dead."
The twin flunkies were, apparently, not even worthy of mentioning.
"The boy has aTan."
The cyborg thought it over for a second, "Then why were we dragging him to the boat?'
Kay bent to the cyborg's grotesque head and whispered confidentially, "So he could die in a proper place."
Andrey rose smoothly, "I'll take over the controls. Where should I set course?"
"To Ursa."
"To the Bulrathi?"
"Yeah. To the Imperial enclave, of course. As far as I know, the local ISS office has enough internal problems to bother monitoring all transit ships. You're going to transfer to a liner to Gorra, and we'll continue on our way."
"All right."
"Andrey!" Kay said unexpectedly even to himself. "We really did fulfil our mission. Everything's fine. Tell Lyka that I'll get in touch with her… when I'm able to."
The cyborg nodded and asked, "Do you require medical attention?"
Kay couldn't figure out if it was an unexpected sarcasm or an answering gesture of sympathy.
"No, thank you."
When Andrey disappeared on the bridge, Kay rose and carefully entered Arthur's room.
"Hey," the boy said quietly. For some reason, Dutch was certain that Andrey had given him a sedative before leaving, so Arthur's words caught him by surprise.
"Hey," he answered just as quietly. "Feeling better?"
Nearly all of Arthur's body was covered in layers of some pink gelatinous ointment. An autoinjector was gleaming on his left arm, and the disk of the cardiomonitor was frozen on his chest, its spread spiderlike legs piercing the skin.
"Yep. But I'll feel even better soon."
Kay carefully took a seat on the edge of the bed. He touched the boy's head with a light, almost accidental tenderness.
"Who's that kid?" Arthur asked.
"You."
"I see. Was he the one you were after on Kailis?"
"Yeah."
"Can I talk to him?"
"Tomorrow. Everything tomorrow. Sleepy?"
"That's all I've been doing… in-between the questioning."
"Sorry I was late."
"We'll take a hundred years off your immorality… as punishment. Kay, am I going to die soon?"
"In a week," Dutch informed him without hesitation.
"Will you come with me? I'll tell Dad everything, trust me."
"We'll be on Grail in a week."
Arthur smiled, and the ointment on his face started quivering like jelly.
"Kay, I'm almost dead."
"Have I lied to you before?"
The boy was silent.
"Everything's going to be fine."
"Are you sure?"
"We have a fifty percent chance. Exactly."
"That's a lot," Arthur said seriously.
"Of course it is. Now sleep, you need your strength. If you don't last a week, then we'll have to start over."
"I'll do my best," Arthur promised.
"Try. I'll sit here until you fall asleep."
He really did end up sitting at Arthur's bedside for another hour. Then he went back to his room, glared at Tommy, who had taken the bed, and made himself comfortable in the chair. Then again, two hours later, when the analgesics of the "combat cocktail" had stopped working, he ended up waking up anyway.
