Chapters 9- 10 Interlude in Three Parts
Part 1 - Falling Apart
Only one word came to Gideon's mind as he read the latest Ranger reports- stagnation. No promising leads in weeks. The cure looked impossibly far away. It was hard not to despair. The Captain expected, or rather desperately hoped Galen would have a suggestion. But only stony silence flowed from the mage standing behind him. Gideon wondered why Galen didn't at least make some witty comment about the sad state of their mission. He turned to ask Galen for ideas only to meet a sort of sadness he'd never seen on Galen before.
"What's wrong?" Gideon demanded.
Galen answered, "It will be here soon enough."
Gideon ordered, "Situation report Lt. Matheson."
"Scanners show clear. All boards green."
The Captain looked at Galen expectantly. "Well?"
He cocked his head to the side and said, "You will detect it..." He stopped speaking for a moment. Everyone shifted at their station as Galen said with a over-dramatic sweep of his hand toward the front screen, "Now."
Lt Matheson said, "Long distance scanner is picking up… It doesn't match a known silhouette. It's traveling perpendicular to our trajectory."
"Visual display."
The front screen changed to show the unknown craft. And there it was, black as the space behind it, more spider than spaceship. The shadow-like ship that had flown through Gideon's nightmares to most nights was real, and close. The same ship that destroyed the Cerberus, killed the entire crew, except for the very young Ensign Gideon. Gideon broke into a cold sweat, feeling the all too familiar fear and rage creeping up his spine. He stood and walked toward the screen as if he could confront it through the display.
Without a second thought, Gideon snapped out the order, "Change course, match unknown vessel."
Matheson answered, "Matching course and speed. Sir it's faster than us. We'll lose it eventually."
"Do your best."
Gideon turned away from the screen to find Galen staring at him, studying him with a singular intensity. Gideon wondered if Galen would help him in this, something not part of their mission to find the cure for Earth.
Answering the unasked question, Galen sighed in resignation and said, "I will guide you, when the time arises."
#
Hours later, perched on the edge of his captain's chair with Galen standing at his side, Gideon stared at the tiny black dot of the receding ship as the Excalibur entered normal space far behind it.
Gideon asked, "Where are we?"
Matheson answered, "Scorpius 772. Singleton, three rocky, one gaseous, no habitable planets. Claimed by IPX 2255. The ship just went off scanner. It was heading into the inner system when we lost it. We can extrapolate a course Sir."
Matheson waited for the explicit order the Captain eagerly gave, "Scan the system while you take us in...,"
Matheson interrupted the Captain with new information, "Multiple contacts on a direct intercept course... Four ships, matching Thunderbolt silhouette... They are broadcasting friendly, Sir."
The Captain did not hesitate, "Take us in." He turned to Galen seeking anything the ever-silent technomage might willingly share. Galen had reverted to his detached but mildly curious self. This all too familiar expression gave the Captain some comfort.
Lt. Matheson said, "Incoming message, piping it to speakers."
A calm crisp voice spoke, "Excalibur, this is Lt. Thorne. You are about to enter restricted EarthForce space. You will turn around immediately and leave the system or we will engage. Excalibur this ..."
Matheson turned down the message and said, "Message is repeating. Their weapons just went hot."
Gideon keyed the counsel next to him to send a response, "Lt. Thorne, this is Captain Gideon. We are authorized, with all clearances, by EarthGov and the Interstellar Alliance to go anywhere mission critical. Check your records and stand down."
Their answer came in the form of a salvo of rockets fired by the lead fighter in the direction of the Excalibur.
Matheson said, "Incoming fire, projected wide, 10 clicks off starboard side."
A warning shot, thought Gideon. They escalated it, even though, the Excalibur could easily dispatch them. The pilots in those ships knew this as well as he, which meant they were ordered to stand their ground, which meant there must be more here then just four fighters. He guessed a base. But unless he was willing to start killing EarthForce officers to make his way deeper into this system, Gideon needed another plan.
"How unbelievably rude and wasteful. It's not like rockets grow on trees," said Galen. The well-timed remark was all Gideon needed to decide on a course that would avoid pitting his crew against whatever this system concealed.
The Captain ordered, "All stop. Retrace our route and take us back into hyperspace."
The order surprised the crew but they obeyed. Gideon rose and as he walked past Galen on his way from the bridge he whispered, "Walk with me."
#
Side by side, Galen and Gideon walked silently through the halls and into the Captain's quarters. No matter what, he had to follow that thing. Every part of him needed to find a clue about why his old crew had died. A plan formed in his mind, now he just need the technomage next to him to agree.
Once sealed in his quarters, Gideon walked over to his desk opened a drawer, pulled out his antique vid recorder. It was made to look more like jewelry, like what they used to call watches, with its thin leather band that fastened to his wrist. The mage watched him with interest but didn't pry.
Gideon said, "My mother gave me this when I was promoted to my first deep space assignment on the Cerberus. She said she hoped I'd record some of the more interesting sights I saw. This'll be the first time I use it. I can almost hear her voice in my head disapproving of what I have in mind."
Still as a statue, Galen's coolly answered, "You should listen to that voice."
Sloughing off his uniform, Gideon walked over to a closet and pulled out a plain, brown leather, jacket. Ignoring Galen's comment, Gideon continued, "I want you to take me in your ship. I assume it's stealthy enough. There has got to be a base somewhere…"
Galen interrupted him, "I tracked the vessel going into some sort of facility on the light side of the innermost world. I will go and investigate this base, alone. I promise to return and show you what I discover." As Galen spoke, Gideon continued to prepare. Pulling open a drawer of his desk, he found his PPG in a small holster. He shoved a clip into the back. Its charging up an answer to Galen's refusal. Gideon bent down to strap it to his ankle.
Gideon snapped out his answer, "Not good enough. I'm going to order a survey of the local cluster. They can do that better without me and it will keep the Excalibur busy but near by. I'm going with you."
Trying one more time, Galen spoke, "I would advise against that. You should remain here, with your crew and continue the search for a cure. Your presence will distract me. Taking you is a mistake, one that might cost your life and worse mine."
As Galen spoke, Gideon tossed aside the pillow on his bed, picked up a second PPG, and placed it in a hidden pocket inside his jacket. All the while, Gideon combed his memory for something he could use as leverage to force Galen to take him. Like the right key fitting its own lock, Gideon realized what to say.
"That is not what you promised me after the Well of Forever." Galen said nothing and patiently studied Gideon seeming to know where this was going. Gideon continued, "Remember, after you hijacked my ship, you went on about how I should just go back to trusting you as if nothing happened because you are oh so good at keeping your vows. Then you promised to help me keep my vow to get to the bottom of what happened to the Cerberus. I'm calling in your IOU Galen. That ship we followed is the first clue I've found in ten years. It's my turn to hijack your ship and you along with it."
For a while Galen looked like he wanted to argue, but seemed to settle on biting his tongue. Galen simply turned on his heel, strode for the door and sharply said back over his shoulder, "I will be aboard my ship at your beck and call."
#
Scorpius 772A
The blasted, rocky mountainside glowed a slight red from the star that did not make it above the horizon. The average temperature hovered a couple hundred degrees below zero degrees Celsius except for a small sparkling sphere that contained an oxygen based atmosphere at a temperature ideal for humans. Gideon marvelled at the sparkly bubble that kept them both from freezing to death and dying of decompression.
Gideon stood behind Galen as the mage knelt in front of an airlock door built into the side of the mountain's base. Galen's hands rested on the control pad, all his fingertips touching it, unmoving, his pose like a prostrate monk seeking absolution from the small panel. The Captain studied the landscape. The subtle fluctuations of the shield did little to obscure the surrounding ugliness. He raised his hand, and tapped the shield, sending ripples away from his finger as if he had just thrown a stone into a glittery pond. Amused, he did it again. And was about to do it a third time when from his feet Galen commanded, "Stop that."
Chastised but unrepentant, Gideon replied, "We're too exposed out here. It's been almost ten minutes. How long is this going to …"
Galen cut him off, "Longer now that you have distracted me a second time. This door is well programmed and their security system is quite determined to report our intrusion. Now be a good door …" His voice, directed at the airlock, trailed off gently. They waited silently for another minute before the door began to slide silently open. With some relief, Gideon entered followed by Galen.
As the airlock cycled in air, a graphic schematic of the base they were about to enter appeared suspended over Galen's hand. It showed a simple circular layout - everything on one layer consisting of various sized rooms at the core surrounded by one large circular corridor with more rooms at the periphery. The exception was a quarter of the image closest to Galen looked like a hanger. A red line connected their current location and the hanger by a circuitous route.
Galen rapidly spoke, "Memorize this route. It avoids all their security measures. Our only worry is a foot patrol currently here," A blip appeared on the illusion slowly moving counter clockwise toward their location. The airlock completed its work and the inner door leading into the base began to open.
Galen grabbed Gideon's shoulder, squeezing it lightly. Locking eyes with the Captain, Galen warned, "I will meet you back here in ten minutes. Be good and be careful Matthew."
The emotion Galen let slip out of him, a sort of rich warmth soaked in a brandy of worry, took Gideon by surprise. Embarrassed, Gideon broke eye contact and fiddled with his wrist recorder, activating it.
"Don't worry about me," Gideon answered. He pulled out the PPG from is jacket, checked the charge and reholstered it. The pressure on his shoulder eased as the Captain continued, "Besides I have nothing to worry about since you're here."
Looking up he realized he was alone. The image of the facility suspended in the air, began to fade. With one last lingering look to study the route he must take to reach the hanger, Gideon left the airlock intent on finding his answers.
#
Galen barely heard the Captain say here as he had already walked several meters down the corridor heading straight for the guards. In his mind's eye, he called to his tech with his intent to make himself invisible to anything that might be watching. No text, or language were needed to be exchanged, his tech eagerly complied to Galen's wish and he vanished from sight. As he made his way down the hall, he activated the microprobe he had just planted on Gideon's shoulder. It relayed everything the Captain saw instantly to Galen but he shunted it aside, only occasionally checking on Gideon to make sure he wasn't getting himself into trouble or at least not more than they were in already.
Two guards appeared slowly marching in step straight toward him, each cradling a PPG rifle. Ignoring them, Galen focused on his real purpose. He brought to mind the schematic of the base he had just shown Gideon but this time the complete version, showing the lower level below the layer he had shown Gideon. As the guards were about to walk into him, he formed a platform under his feet, which silently levitated him up and over the guards, who kept on patrolling none the wiser. Galen made his way to the lower level, all while wondering what was down there. It was marked simply as 'Deep Storage' on the maps he had teased out of the computer system running this facility, but it was the only area that had no security surveillance of any sort.
When he arrived, the door readily opened for him, without Galen having to intercede. There were no locks, nor guards. The floor gleamed of polished metal, but the rest was all speckled granite. Just a plain rock walled room with a large conveyor belt to his left, which ended at an open door of a large industrial incinerator. The fiery glow lit the room. On the opposite wall, to his right, a row of stasis pods. Next to the only exit right by him, a simple computer console and chair. As he cautiously walked, Galen's mind raced to a disturbing realization- each pod, every single one of them, contained a human. They all looked dead.
Hurrying back to the console, he touched the screen long enough to send a seeker daemon into it with the simple command, Find what data you can about the containers in this room. Return to me through the ether. He assigned a dedicated frequency to keep track of it. As a daemon swept out of him eager to attend his master's business, Galen moved to the nearest black container, and opened it.
A body- naked, female, frozen, gray of a corpse, oddly scoured of all hair. Touching her neck, the sensors in his finger tips came to life. No pulse. He moved both hands to her temples, looking for any neural activity, but once again nothing.
As he mused about the possibilities, he noticed them. Small delicate black tendrils tapering back from her shoulders out of sight. He flipped her over and the mass that revealed itself sent him reeling away. These surroundings were cleaner and more clinical than Z'ha'dum but the mass was the same- their tech. Although it looked much smaller and shorter, barely stretching a quarter the length of her back. And know that he studied it - asymmetric, misshapen, like a careless child spread a lumpy strand of black play-doh along her spine. A few tendrils had reached out and tried to fuse up her spine to the neck. Galen touched the mass hoping it lived but it was as lifeless as the woman.
He looked to the incinerator, down at the woman, and last of the other dozen pods. Mistakes. These were failures to be disposed of without so much as kind word or sympathetic nod. His heart lurched from his chest to his throat. He swallowed hard to bury his sorrow.
His daemon returned to him and presented him with a small database of names joined with serial numbers, neither of which meant a thing to Galen. He forwarded them to his ship and asked it to trace the names and numbers. Wherever these unfortunates originated was where Galen would go to discover who or what was trying to make their tech again. And he would do it alone. He could not trust anyone, not Gideon, not anyone on board the Excalibur, not the Circle, especially not Herazade. He could not rule out the Circle being behind this twisted dead woman, or their being in league with those responsible. But he desperately hoped that the Circle had nothing to do with this and were just the the fools or cowards they appeared.
In his mind's eye, a disturbance caught his attention. The probe's images jostled about as Gideon sprinted up a ramp. Focusing all his attention on the probe feed, Galen, to his astonishment, watched Gideon climb into the Hybrid Shadow ship they had followed.
#
Gideon pushed his luck. The technician had left the hatch wide open. Why wouldn't he walk right into the black monstrosity. He filmed it all. If only he could fly it back to Mars himself, grab the first general and point to this ship and say- See this thing. This is what destroyed the Cerberus. It was no accident. But some sort of Earthforce blackops project. Now that he had proof that this thing existed beyond his nightmares, he finally had his first real evidence and clues.
Walking up the ramp he marveled at the thing. All sleek blackness, like a Shadow vessel but much smaller and boxy, like an inferior artist's re-imaging of a classic piece of art. He touched the wall, if felt like smooth leather, and almost comforting. With the recorder panning back and forth he made his way in deeper. The hallway opened into a central spherical room, that looked like a bare storage bay. Metal grates on the floor , and visible struts on the walls made level surfaces. To either side a few conventional shuttle seats had been anchored to the floor and wall. Ahead, far out of the single spot light that illuminated the center of the room, he hadn't noticed the man until he swept his recorder over that wall. A still human embedded in the wall, his bottom half, and arms out of sight. His face relaxed and with eyes closed, Gideon approached the … he wasn't sure what this was, the pilot perhaps. Up close, he recorded the black tendrils under the man's skin. They appeared like capillaries around his eyes, and grew thicker, rope sized, toward the back of the man's neck.
To film more, Gideon reached out to move the head. The moment he touched the man's bare skin, the pilot let out an ear piercing screech.
Gideon ran, right into two guards aiming their rifles at his chest.
"Hands up, down on your knees!" A marine ordered.
Gideon had no choice. He dropped to his knees with his hands up.
#
The mantra, Bringing Matthew was a mistake, repeated on a loop in Galen's mind. He had boxed himself in with that promise he gave Gideon after the Well of Forever.
Why didn't I pay closer attention? Galen rebuked himself anew as he burst into the bay, cloaked on a platform.
The guards had already sprinted up the ramp and into the ship, to late for Galen to knock them unconscious. More guards poured into the area. The two that had gone in, came out leading Gideon, with hands zip-tied in front. They marched him down the hall to a small conference room. With every step Galen regretted agreeing to bring Matthew with him more. It limited his options severely. He could have been in and gone with the information and no one the wiser. Now, he had to stay close to Matthew in case they decided to make him disappear down that incinerator. Worse, he might need to resort to violence to save him. These were Earthforce soldiers, marines by the look of them, Matthew's corp. Not a challenge, but Matthew would not be happy if they died, especially at Galen's hand.
Hovering a few steps behind the guards as they led Matthew, Galen hoped. What else could he do but follow like a puppy whimpering for his owner and hope for an opportunity to slip Matthew out in secret.
#
Well, I can kiss my captainship good bye, thought Gideon. After this, he doubted even President Sheridan could keep a court-martial at bay. Maybe Galen would show up to fix it magically. Or not. What could he do? If he tried to free him, there'd be a fight and that was the last thing he wanted. He'd have to free himself and since they stripped him of his guns, it'd have to be by talking.
Acting as if he adjusted his bound hands, Gideon flipped his watch recorder over. The gift from his mother looked more like antique jewelry than anything. The guards hadn't thought to take it. The recording remained engaged. EarthGov had promised that after the Shadow War all secret projects involving shadow tech would be ended. Everything cleaned up. Clearly, they lied. Gideon had wanted to believe but now he wondered how deep the lies went. If he could get more answers, he'd have a record of everything.
The small conference room they led Gideon to had a table for 6, a screen on his left, mirror on his right, and another door leading out on the far wall. A guard pulled out a chair and maneuvered him to a seated position. With his hands bound in front of him, his comfort seemed to be their intention. The four guards broke off, with a pair at each door.
Their silent vigil ended when a full bird colonel entered. Tall, and broadly built, chiseled jaw, full head of thick salt and pepper hair. He walked as if he was ready to pull his sidearm any moment if called into action. A poster boy for the officer corps, with the name Remil stitched to his chest on his fatigues. He sat at the head of the table and threw a datapad in front of Gideon. It displayed his service record. Gideon waited. No matter what happened, he needed to keep calm. He still had a couple cards he could play.
"Captain of the Excalibur. Cherry picked by President Sheridan," Remil spoke the name as if he had just tasted sour milk, "To lead the expedition to save Earth by finding a cure to the Drakh plague. We have a hero in our midst gentleman." Gideon realized he spoke to the guards, who took it without reaction.
"Leave us," The Colonel ordered. The guards marched out the opposite door which Gideon had not been through. A click from Remil opening a swiss army knife made Gideon jump. Remil read his reaction to strike with his bound hands, and showed off that he only had the scissors engaged. "Easy Captain. I don't think we need this." With a snip the plastic sprung off his wrists, flopping onto the carpet.
Rubbing where the plastic had bit the skin, Gideon played his first card. "Then you know I'm authorized to go anywhere I think necessary for my mission." With a raptor's stare locked on Gideon, Remil snorted at the answer as if he had made a bad joke.
"How did you get into this base Captain?" Remil didn't care one bit about the Excalibur's mission. Matthew stayed quiet.
Remil answered his own question, "Could it be a certain technomage you are known to travel with, who goes by the name Galen?" Unprepared for the question Matthew's eyes widened, but he remained silent.
Remil said, "Well since nothing here will aid in your quest Captain, I have to guess about why you're here." With a tap on the datapad before Gideon, Remil changed it to a view of the hangar and the tethered shadow hybrid. Seeing it whole in an Earthforce facility made Gideon's skin crawl.
Sooner than he thought he would, Gideon laid his second card of the table. "That … thing destroyed my old ship, the Cerberus."
"No it didn't. That one is gone, destroyed by the technomages as they fled like cowards. Did you know that?" Gideon could not hide his shock as he shook his head no.
Remil's voice turned soft, "Didn't your technomage friend explain it to you?"
Another no. Gideon felt like he had just been dropped from high altitude without a shoot.
"Would you like to know why?" Matthew tried to speak but he couldn't. His mouth had gone dry. All he could do was stare at the image on the datapad.
"They knew we were close to a real break through and that would challenge them. So as they fled like rats of a sinking ship, the technomages targeted us, and that ship."
Gideon managed to say, "But the Cerberus." He felt like the snake in the throws of the snake-charmer's melody.
"That was a beta model, it had … control issues. It was defending itself from the technomages, it made a mistake, a horrible mistake. The crew of the Cerberus made a tragic sacrifice. We all deeply regretted what happened with your old ship Captain. But it was necessary to get where we are today. A place where aliens and things like technomages can't threaten, or bully Earth anymore."
"What do you mean things like technomages?"
"Ah, I imagine your friend hasn't mentioned that either. Haven't you ever really looked at him, his ship? So good at hiding in the shadows. For a thousand years, the technomages bartered, sold their souls to the Shadows to do their tricks, their magic. Just one of them is more filled with shadow tech than everything on this base."
Matthew couldn't move beyond taking shallow breaths. Why hadn't he noticed that until this Colonel pointed out the obvious? Because he didn't want to think about how Galen knew what he knew, and did what he did. Because Gideon wanted results, and didn't want to think Galen, all technomages, might be like his nightmare ship. It felt like he took a punch to the side of the head. If this was true, and it made too much sense to ignore, he had to ask Galen. Not a religious man, still Gideon prayed this wasn't true, or that Galen would have an explanation.
Tearing his eyes from the screen Gideon focused on the man feeding doubts in his mind. The pleasure the man got from revealing such secrets too evident to Matthew made it certain he had an agenda.
"Why are you telling me this?" Matthew asked.
"Because by coming here you've shown initiative. I'm impressed frankly. Somehow you manipulated that technomage to get what you wanted. Earth needs those who see what needs doing and are willing to bend rules and use things." The pieces snapped together for Matthew. A damn Earth-Firster. The war was supposed to to get rid of this crap. Instead, it hid, burrowed deep out of sight out here. Whatever he could get out of this guy, he would take to Sheridan. Time to string this guy along.
Forcing disgust, Matthew said, "I haven't trusted that thing since he hijacked my ship." Remil nodded approvingly. "When I saw that," He tapped the hybrid, "It was time I got answers. So I used Galen. And I'd use him up to get Earth whatever it needs."
With a satisfied smile, Remil stood. "Good. You are not alone. We have much to discuss with you."
"We?" Skin crawling again, Gideon felt he had stumbled into a pit of vipers. Someone else was pulling this guys strings.
"There are other like-minded heroes. You have much to learn Captain- about that ship, about your mission, and what you can do to make the Cerberus' sacrifice worthwhile." Acting enthused, Gideon played along and nodded yes.
"But first I have to make sure you are sincere. Excuse me." Remil exited the same door the guards had used leaving Gideon alone thinking, What have I gotten myself into?
#
Cloaked, Galen vibrated in the dark corner of the conference room. The earlier self reproach replaced by a black maw of despair as he thought. No, not like this. Matthew can't learn like this. As the conversation unfurled, he hadn't felt this useless since he watched Isabelle die in front of him. At the end of the conversation, Galen watched Matthew go full Earth-Firster and throw him under the bus to impress that officer, Remil. Galen hoped and guessed it was a ploy.
When Remil rose to leave, Galen flicked a micro-probe, the size of a particle of dust at Remil. It grappled to his hair and road out with him beaming back everything Remil heard and saw to Galen's tech.
Beyond the door, the 4 marine guards stood at ease waiting with a small man in a gray suit with black gloves, who studied Matthew through the one way mirror.
"Well?" Remil snapped at him.
"He's too tightly wound. I'm only a P4. I need to be closer to verify his statements."
Pointing at Matthew through the mirror, Remil ordered,"You tell me that now!"
The telepath shrugged.
"Get in there. Scan him. Ream his ass if he resists. If he's lying, kill him immediately and dump his body in the incinerator. If he's telling the truth, get out of him where that fucking technomage is. I have to report this. Go."
There was no way Gideon would pass that scan. The outcome, and Galen's choices, narrowed to one- violence. As the group poured through the door like a wave threatening to swamp Matthew, Galen prepared himself to do what he loathed- to kill. The telepath went straight at Matthew but stopped with a look of shock on his face.
"The technomage is here!" He pointed at the area where Galen, cloaked in invisibility, stood in the corner. As the guards unholstered their side arms, Galen's tech sang out their shared will- it dropped Galen's cloak and sent a sphere of destruction after every human but Matthew. The spheres struck their targets at once, enveloping them in distorting darkness. No screams escaped, as the spheres pinched and collapsed to nothing leaving behind parts of former people- a hand still gripping a PPG, smoldering feet, pairs of partial arms and legs oozing blood.
Klaxons triggered all over the base. Within his mind, Galen looked at the base map for an escape route that would involve the fewest deaths. Every hall already teamed with unarmed support personal and a few armed guards pushing their way to the conference room. Galen realized the fastest way out to the hangar was through the walls.
"What did you do!?" Galen heard Matthew's pleading, horrified voice but he couldn't afford the time to engage him. Their escape's success depended on Galen moving fast.
"Not now Matthew." Galen planted his hand on the screen on the wall, to associate with the base's network. A dozen daemons screeched out of him to obey one command, disrupt every system. The lights and alarms all began to blink and falter as if a toddler had gained control of the master switches.
Time to dash. Galen turned to look at Gideon. The barrel of a PPG greeted him. Without a shield up, at this point blank range, a shot could do some damage to him. Perhaps there was time for a few words.
"Put that away Matthew." The command had the wrong effect as Gideon tightened his grip. Of course Matthew had not been privy to Remil's secret conversation, Galen reminded himself.
"Unless you've become an Earth-Firster when I wasn't looking, you would have failed that telepath's scan, and when that happened they had instructions to kill you immediately." Gideon lowered the PPG slowly.
"What do we do?" Matthew asked as he approached Galen.
"Hold on to me." A shield snapped on about them. When a platform lifted the pair off the carpeted floor, Galen felt the tug of Matthew grabbing his leather jacket with both hands.
Time to leave. With a hand out, Galen sent a sphere ahead of them at the wall. They hurtled behind the destruction. When one sphere finished its work, Galen sent the next, and the next as they raced through rooms- a small lab, a janitor's closet, past a toilet with a gawking man sitting on it, an empty room, one full of crates. Finally they burst into the hanger, knocking over personnel like pins at the end of a bowling lane.
Galen didn't stop until they were aboard the hybrid. Leaping off his dissolving platform, Galen ran for the wall. Matthew rolled to a crouch with the PPG out and ready. No one was aboard the ship except the pilot who with closed eyes looked asleep.
Shaking off his coat to the ground, his hands out, Galen buried his arms in the wall of the ship up to his elbows. The black ship and its pilot accepted the association as Galen's tech reached out in longing and merged with the ship. It welcomed Galen's questions- Who are you? What do you want? The ship-pilot opened his eyes and answered, We are the ship, we want to be free to leave and never come back.
Then be free. Galen showed it how. The ship activated itself, starting with it's weapons systems.
Galen called over his shoulder. "Strap yourself in Matthew. Our ride is leaving."
#
In shock, Gideon tried to make sense of what he saw as he strapped himself into a chair. Galen's arms sank in the black walls of the ship. Golden tendrils grew from the point of merger and radiated out, like veins injected with dye. Gideon felt the ship come to life- the exit irised closed, the ship shuddered once, like it fired its weapons, and then the acceleration started. The g's pinned him to his chair, crushing his chest, making it hard to breath. His vision began to tunnel. All the while Galen stood unperturbed.
He must have blacked out, for when he came to Galen sat on the grated floor with his head tilted back against the now black and golden threaded wall. One hand still remained embedded in the wall as if he was holding hands with the ship. Like being caught in a troubled dream, Galen wore a pained frown. With the acceleration done. Gideon unbuckled himself and approached the mage.
Before Gideon could say a thing, Galen bitterly said, "Did you get what you wanted?" With eyes closed, the sleepy accusation stung Gideon.
Exhausted, he dropped to sit by the mage. "More than I wanted." Gideon wanted to ask, What did you do to those men? But he knew the answer, Galen snuffed them out like a God ridding itself of inconveniences. The absolute self assurance Galen always projected was not an act. The power emanated off him like the sun on a hot day and it was not a little frightening. Remil called him a thing filled with shadow tech. All Gideon could be certain of was he didn't really know Galen at all. Time to learn.
"This ship… Are you controlling it with those yellow lines?"
"I freed it."
"What does that mean?"
"It's free." The circular logic left Gideon unanchored. Galen, still looking asleep, continued, "Lucky for us it wanted to leave and has agreed to meet my ship. We'll be able to slip into hyperspace before our pursuers catch up."
"No, we have to take it back to Terran Space, to Mars. We have to confront EarthGov with what we just found. I'm sure Sheridan will help us." That did it. Galen's eyes snapped open. Gideon read the anger. Galen thought this was over. Gideon pushed, "Order it to go there."
"No Matthew. It doesn't want to go anywhere near Mars."
"What are you talking about? It's a fucking ship!"
"I let you talk me into taking you to that base and more than 5 people are dead. We blew our way out. The rapid decompression of the hanger sucked many out onto the surface."
Gideon buried his face in his hands. Nothing had gone the way he planned, except, he rubbed the recorder on his wrist, he had real proof. Maybe this horror could do some good. He pleaded with Galen, "Even more reason to blow this wide open. What they're doing is beyond illegal." Galen snorted out a pained laugh. Yanking on his hand, the wall let go as the mage climbed to his feet.
Through clenched teeth Galen said, "I killed for you Matthew. And I would not have had to if you stayed behind! From now on I dictate terms."
Two can play this game. Gideon jumped to his feet, to confront Galen. "I didn't ask for you to do any of that! And I'm not letting you get away with not telling what is going on Galen. What you just did to this ship, what Remil said about you…"
A light swipe of Galen's finger traced across his brow. "Sleep."
Gideon lost his train of thought, something about … shadows… technomages… and … his legs sagged as he fell toward the golden black bulkhead.
#
The black suede couch hugged him so well, he forgot himself and wanted to stay in its embrace forever. With the room so dark and warm there was no reason to get up.
"Awake. We are here, Matthew." That voice brought it all crashing down on him at once. Gideon bolted off the couch realizing Galen had knocked him out, again. First to destroy his box, this time to avoid interrogation. Gideon grabbed at his wrist. The weight of his mother's gift still present eased his panic. With a tap of the screen, it came to life. Instead of the interface, a small welcome icon greeted him. A few taps revealed it reset to factory defaults. His recordings had been deleted.
An exit irised open. He was aboard a technomage ship.
"Come Matthew." Galen's voice. Like a wraith, Galen's leather form glided by toward the ramp.
It was all for nothing. Righteous fury erupted from Gideon's chest. "You controlling son of a bitch!"
#
A reckoning rumbled at Galen. Everything had spun out of control so fast. Galen had to slow it down. Apply brakes somehow. Or at least that's what he told himself about why he coerced Matthew to sleep.
Galen expected the outburst but not that Matthew's curse summoned a distant childhood memory of his mother shouting the same phrase at his father. At least he was too young to remember much of their fighting. Just the fear and sadness that lingered from then. The hand of depression gave his heart a chilled squeeze. His tech seemed to sense his feelings and responded, eager to fix his serotonin levels, and flood his brain with natural endorphins to ease his pain. No, please, and never again. Galen refused as he had when he realized much of his relief after becoming one with his tech years ago was the result of his tech playing with his brain chemistry. Refusing meant giving up that profound peace, yet it meant he got to stay who he truly was. A fair trade he thought.
"Don't you dare walk away from me! Why did you delete my vids?" Gideon said, all accusations.
Few could touch him like this and not expect violence in return. Matthew was safe and even got his answer. "You must give me time to study what we are truly against. If I had let you keep them, you would have made yourself a target and I am not ready to defend you."
Galen walked away out of his ship but Gideon grabbed his arm at the top of the ramp.
"What am I to you? An ally, a tool or just some inconvenience?"
"Right now you are all of those things!" The grip dropped as Matthew seemed to be struck by his words as if they were fists. Galen regretted snapping. The crew of the docking bay stopped their work to stare at the circus unfolding before them. Galen felt exposed, naked.
"We must return to the beginning Mathew." The white flag of surrender he thought Matthew would notice. Galen descended the ramp, intent on returning to Matthew's quarters to have the long discussion it would take to unravel and correct the lies of Remil.
"Was the ship that attacked the Cerberus really destroyed by your people?" asked Gideon. Galen realized Matthew had not followed him down. The confusion he read on Matthew's face meant he had not noticed the offer of truce either.
"Yes, in fact it was I who destroyed it." Matthew had not known and this was not how Galen would have chosen to tell him. The pain in Matthew that followed Galen's easy admission did not surprise.
The fury did. Matthew stormed down the ramp. "Why did you bother to save me after…?!" Matthew didn't need to finish. Galen knew he meant, after I watched them all die and have spent my life wishing I had joined them. Galen thought, I should have realized Matthew suffered from the same affliction as I- crushing survivor's guilt. The realization felt small, a fragile thing in his heart. He wanted to say yes, and that is why I look after you, so you can look after me. Instead, Galen split in two. On the outside he stood statue still. On the inside he still held Isabelle's dying body.
"The rest, it's all true isn't it!"
Not here Matthew. Somehow he'd lost the ability to push words out. Galen panned around. Every crewman in the hangar gawked at them. And worst, Dureena bore a crate with Maximilian full of who cared what, bound for who cared where. They to had stopped to gawk at the spectacle as well.
Matthew kept at him. "So many fucking secrets. And you leave me in the dark about it all. I deserved to know. We deserve to know!" He pointed at Dureena and Max.
A crash of a crate to the deck. The voice he knew too well, uttering his name. Dureena walked toward him, crate forgotten.
All confusion and questioning, Dureena asked Matthew, "What is going on Captain?"
Behind her, Maximilian lost control of the other half of the crate, spilling dusty pottery. Galen strained to find a way not to spill his Order's secrets like pottery shards spilled out on the deck waiting for anyone to pluck them off the ground. How could he stop Matthew without raising his hand to him? And he'd sooner cut off his own hands then ever do that.
"Why did I have to learn that you're a walking bag of shadow tech from some random officer and not from you? Then you pilot that shadow ship like you were born to it after it blew its way out and then you send it on its merry way like nothing happened. Why are you really here? To help us or stop us?"
Galen wanted to scream, No, you don't understand!
"Get off my ship Galen, before I have to arrest you for what you did." They were done. Like an emotional hurricane, Gideon left mental debris everywhere as he left the hangar. Galen looked around. Fear from the rest of the crew. Shock from Max. Last he dared to turn toward Dureena. She recoiled from him.
#
Inside his electron incantation, Justin sat at the illusion of his walnut desk patiently listening to Remil, sitting opposite him, explain how that Order technomage and the captain of the Excalibur waltzed into his base and half destroyed it. The soldier looked rattled, his uniform askew and smudged with blood.
"... We're still putting our computer systems back together. It'll be a couple weeks before we're fully operational again."
"Did your Teep scan Gideon."
Agitated, Remil shook his head no and shifted in his seat trying to get comfortable.
Justin didn't try to calm him. "Unfortunate. Exactly how did Gideon escape?"
"Not sure. Our surveillance is down, everything deleted. All I know is that techno-motherfucker went apeshit, grabbed Gideon and blew his way out. Killed 5, including my Teep. Then another 6 got blown out when he stole the delivery truck. Poor bastards froze on the surface before we could get to them."
Justin was not happy. When he wasn't happy usually someone died or worse. An image of Galen formed in Justin's mind. Perhaps it was time to personally get involved in ending that nuisance. But one crisis at a time. "I will send you a new telepath and our production facility is finally at capacity, that ship can be replaced. Do you think Galen examined the basement?" Justin asked knowing the answer.
Remil looked furious. " I checked personally- one body looked moved. I'd assume yes. If he traces the ids ..."
"Yes, he'll come here." Justin stood and strolled over to the window and looked out at the view. Mars really looked best in the light of the setting sun. "Why did you offer Gideon a place at our table?"
Remil's composure returned. "I thought, Sheridan hand picked him. If we could flip him, it'd be a coupe. Then make a show of running the Excalibur around deep space for while, let things get desperate at home, hand him the cure. Instant hero back home. After Clark, we've been shut out at the top. But if we had a hero who saved the planet, we'd be able to get Gideon elected to any office."
Still the clever tactician, Justin thought. "Not a bad idea."
Remil asked, "I want to return. That techno-piece-of-shit is coming to Mars and I owe him a lesson." Remil balled his fists. After seeing what Galen could do, he still spoiled for a fight. Good but Remil looked too pleased. After a failure like this though, time to cut him back down to size. Justin made sure his tone made his feelings clear.
"No, Major Lee can deal with him should he ever come here." Remil sagged in his chair.
"Don't look so glum Robert. Look at what our contact aboard the Excalibur just sent me."
A flick of his will, Justin played the scene for Remil in the middle of the table. Justin took pleasure watching the confrontation on the flight deck between Galen and Gideon again. His pleasure increased watching Remil smile.
"I think we just got Gideon," Remil said.
The Shadows bestowed many powerful gifts on Justin throughout his long service but his greatest- paranoia, he was born with. "We'll see."
Justin ended his electron incantation. He sat in the real version of the room he had made to speak with Remil. Across his real desk, Bunny sat quietly filing a nail.
"I think we're going to have a special visitor soon my dear Bunny. I want you to personally greet him."
She stopped filing and smiled, "I live to serve, old man."
#
The query from Galen's ship made him blink. /Destination?/
Galen stood in the middle of his main cabin. He couldn't remember how he got there.
It happened again. Destruction and death at his hand. He had watched those men and women die on the surface, writhing in agony as they froze solid. Then back on the Excalibur, the closest thing he had to a home, rejection by those he had considered friends and more, family.
The ship asked again, /Destination?/
All he had done, meant nothing. A few lies was all it took. Like the calm before an eruption, Galen's soul churned with anguish from the faces filled with anger, fear, and Dureena's face- the horror directed at who he was, her shock at what he had hidden revealed. By know she no doubt understand why he always turned her down, he had to turn her down.
The ship asked yet again, /Destination?/
The third query ignited his furious self-loathing. He hurled a fireball through the ship's darkness. It splashed against a wall, dying for lack of proper fuel.
/Course acknowledged./
His ship's engines came to life. Galen felt it jump into hyperspace. He didn't care where it went. Casting one fireball wasn't enough to let his pain out. His usual solace, walking and calculating progressions in his mind could not stop this pain either. After so many years, once again, every inch of him itched to do it- he gave in and called fire down on himself. His tech hummed within but nothing happened. Again, he called on his tech for consuming fire. Again nothing. He used his old spell language. Nothing. His tech was free and so it was free to refuse.
You to? Galen thought. This last most intimate betrayal left him totally alone. Dropping to his knees he let it out. The scream of pain erupted from the deepest part of him. His tech joined, and reverberated within him. The shock wave of emotion stretched and pulled him, warping space-time like a supernova collapse. When it was done, Galen collapsed. Everything looked and felt the same. The warping must have been a trick of his sick mind.
Shedding his coat, shirt, everything he staggered into his shower. Once inside he slammed the control over to one side, to the hottest setting. The scalding water scoured him.
Part 2- Put Back Together
Beyond the rim, the First Ones played like Gods of the spaces in between. When the tiny wave of pain passed them, like the remnants of a distant tsunami, none took notice except one. It recognized the source- the little wise one born out of chaos. Curious, it turned back to look at the distant point of light that had been its cradle.
If only it were free to go back and peek, it thought. But it had promised to stay with the others. Still, it could ask another to check. It cast about looking for an idol power, one disinterested by their current focus and would understand the little one.
A machine mind stalked around the perimeter. Transcendence bored it. To little action. Perhaps it would go, if asked. Their exchange started and finished on the shortest order of time. Intrigued, it agreed.
The machine mind re-corporealized on the material plane as a perfect cube, and dubbed this new form, Don't Blame Me If It Doesn't Work Out, God Told Me To Do It. The being who was once Lorien laughed. The other folded space around itself and headed back to its birth galaxy in search of Galen.
#
Eventually, the self-loathing and pain waned, as it always did. Galen stared at his hands. Instead of burned skin, the way it had been in the past when he harmed himself, the water just made him the king of prunes. Enough self pity, he thought, turning off the water. He withdrew and wrapped a black silk robe about himself.
Checking the time, he'd been indisposed for nearly a day. Stop wasting time and get to work, he chided himself.
He goaded his ship asking after the search.
/Search results for requested name/id associations…/
His ship offered a database. The names paired with patient numbers from a hospital on- Galen froze, of course the least surprising thing today - Mars. A Martian mental hospital in New Vegas to be specific. A day, it took his ship a day to find these. That was far too long. As he dug down into the results, he found why. The ship had had to resort to going off the Circle's network, to use conventional search queries. Sure the Circle's probe network had always extended around Mars, Galen entered the Circle's probe network to look for himself. The probes were physically still there, but offline, locked in permanent maintenance mode for over two years. Odd. Careless or deliberate, he wondered. Perhaps the Circle didn't care to learn what happened to Mars anymore. They didn't seem to care about much these days but themselves. While hacking a normal computer system would be trivial for Galen, a technomage designed one, not so much. It'd take considerable time to make his way past the block or…
If the mountain won't come to Muhammad then Muhammad must go to the mountain. Galen would deploy his own probes about the planet.
/Ship- current location?/ It showed Galen.
Galen rebuked it, "The rim. Do you need to be rebuilt?" The ship answered with an image of Galen hurling a fireball, and the ship superimposing a course vector on top the fireball's path.
His head shook in disapproval as much at himself as his ship's too clever by half-edness. Being on the rim would add much time to the journey.
"Stop and take me to Mars."
/Course acknowledged/
As he headed to his cabin to get dressed, the warnings started:
/Unable to comply. Spatial-temporal anomaly forming, location - not defined/
"Now what?"
/Collision warning/
"Avoid," Galen ordered.
/Engines offline./
/Weapons systems offline/
The dim lights began to flicker in the cabin.
Galen worried. The warnings kept coming:
/Reactors offline/
/Environmental controls offline/
/Collision imminent/
The gravity cut out. Assuming the worst, Galen wrapped a shadow skin shield about himself. Every item, from furniture to shoes not bolted down or tucked away began to float. Galen ducked to avoid his leather couch.
His mind raced about what to do. "Show me the anomaly."
With one last shudder before the ship went dead, it showed him a glimpse. A great white cube the size of a planet swallowed the tiny minnow that was Galen whole. His shadow shield dissolved on its own as something yanked him from the dead husk that had been his ship.
#
The sick-making stretching, like every atom in his body was about to blow apart at the same time, stopped. A thick white fog enveloped him. It wasn't that he couldn't move, it was that he really didn't want to move. This must be how you feel after an all night binge of every vice, he thought.
He rolled onto all fours, and sat back on his heals. It floated in front of him. Another perfect cube, but this one his size. Its six faces like the roiling metal in a foundry.
YOU CALLED.
The sound, like a lightning strike going off next to his head, blew Galen onto his back and ruptured his eardrums. Stunned, Galen writhed in pain, as he felt the fluid trickle out. Shutting off his pain sensors, he had to focus on figuring out what was happening. He rolled up into a crouch, hand out ready to cast.
Before he could react, forget cast, tendrils shot out and righted Galen to his feet. He wondered if this was how he would die- the astonishment at being manhandled by what was clearly a First-One. Instead of death, tendrils dug into his ears. His hearing popped, healed.
"I've forgotten how fragile you meat bags are." It said in a voice the opposite of what had just spoken. The cube shifted and reformed to look like a clone of Galen made out of liquid mercury.
"Why did you call?" The metal voice whispered.
That warping when he screamed had not been a figment of his mind. It happened. What, and why it happened, Galen could not be sure. Somehow he called a First One. Galen studied it- the body looked like a perfect silver copy of his, complete with his robe, his opened robe, his genitalia on display. Self-conscious at exposing himself, Galen pulled his robe tightly together, knotting it closed. If he was going to die, he'd keep a bit of dignity anyway.
"Every second for you is like a million for me. Answer already!" The metal voice yelling at him, dripping with impatience, gave Galen back his voice.
"I did not call you, deliberately. That was," Galen didn't want to say the rest, me falling apart. Instead he said, "A mistake brought on by stress."
"This mode of exchange is inefficient." A tendril again, too fast to stop, penetrated through his forehead, skull and into his brain. Like a water jug tipped over, Galen poured out his life into this cube-metal-man. When it stopped, Galen collapsed, dry-heaved on the ground, realizing if this being wanted to, it could snuff him out like he had snuffed out those men on Scorpius with his spell. So far it hadn't. Galen waited for it to decide what to do with Galen's life.
The cube-man spoke, "Interesting. You are a nexus. Power and decisions are yours. You influence much, care deeply- some in the open, some in secret. Many misfortunes behind you. Before you endless trouble- some of your own doing.. I will speed the resolution of the death virus. The rest … you must manage. Soon, an ally will come for you. When you are all red, on the red world, choose trust or you will be overwhelmed by those who hunt you in the dark."
The opaque and vague pronouncements left him confused.
"This must be how others feel when I make my announcements," he said. The dark humor of it was not lost on Galen. The universe's revenge- a taste of his own medicine.
"Follow my agent, the path will be cleared."
The metal man, melted and reformed as a cube. A triangle budded on its top. The new two dimensional shape stretched and ripped its way out, like a birth, into the third dimension. The triangular blade glowed of its own inner light. When Galen reached for it, it shot off away into the mist.
"Rejoin your companions."
Again the stretching of his atoms, Galen braced himself.
#
Wink and he was face down on decking, a pair of shoes before him. An alarm. The shuffling of bodies. He looked up. Matthew's cold face.
"Galen."
On the bridge of the Excalibur, next to the Captain's chair, Galen climbed to his feet, immensely grateful that his robe made it through with him.
"Why? How? What?"
"Good questions Matthew. Ones I'm not well equipped to answer at this moment." The ship rocked from explosions.
All business, Gideon ordered, "General Quarters. Situation report Lt."
Lt Matheson said, "A thousand klicks off port side. Low yield explosions. No damage."
"Visual." The explosions glowed like lingering fireworks. They illuminated Galen's ship as it tumbled dead and out of control. As a whole the lights formed an arrow, which began to wink on and off like a beacon.
The Captain looked at Galen, questioning everything.
"I believe our answer is in that direction. You should…"
Matthew issued the order before he was done. "Extrapolate a course. All speed ahead."
Galen reached out to his ship. Slowly, it was coming back online. He ordered it to land on the Excalibur. "Will someone kindly get me some clothes."
Gideon shook his head in disbelief. "Come on."
#
This emotionless Matthew looked terrible to Galen. Stubble, black bags under his eyes, thinner even. Change him into a toga, and he could be a cold prophet out in the wilderness calling on all to repent.
After handing a pile of clothes to Galen, Matthew kept out of his way, as he got dressed in the Captain's bathroom. Galen never apologized, he regretted nothing but the loss of life. But this change in Matthew disturbed Galen. When done he walked out to find Matthew hovering by the door. The chill between them kept up a cold, silent wall.
"I believe you ordered me to stay off your ship. I will follow along in mine." An arm shot out from Matthew barring Galen from walking out.
"I could have confronted you more tactfully." Matthew clearly wasn't much for apologies either.
"Yes." Galen waited.
"You materializing out of thin air, this arrow. What is going on?"
"After I left, I some how… summoned a First One, I believe it agreed to guide us to the cure." That got emotion from Matthew, shock.
"Never a dull moment with you Galen. Sit down." It was more order than what you'd say to a friend. Galen remained standing, but the Captain did not. At his desk, all business Matthew questioned him.
"I want those vids back. I assume you kept a copy." Matthew knew him well.
"They are safe in here," Galen touched the middle of his chest. "I assure you, it will not be enough. We need much more. I have uncovered evidence that points to Mars. I plan to investigate there as soon as possible."
Matthew frowned, he didn't like Galen's answers. "That ship would have been enough."
"It did not want to used by us or anyone any more."
"You talk about that ship as if it's a person."
"It is as much as you or I. I could not stop it from shooting it's way out. And if it wants to run away, we should not stop it."
Gideon shook his head no. He didn't agree but would not fight him.
"What Remil said…"
"Remil told enough truth to make the lies believable. Yes, my powers are from tech provided by the Shadows. I willing and gladly let it be put in me, although I did not know its origins then. I, we, trusted our leaders too much. My Order fled before the war because the Shadows wanted to use us and make us weapons. We chose to run away like the ship yesterday did. While we fled we stumbled across an older hybrid ship, the one that destroyed the Cerberus, destroying everything in its path..." Galen reeled off the part of his story that overlapped Matthew's, as much as he could stand to tell.
"I saved you Matthew because I couldn't stand the idea of leaving you to die. I defied my leaders then and for doing these good deeds, and others, I have been cast out."
In contrast to the their confrontation on the flight deck, Matthew silently absorbed it all, without emotion. Galen couldn't tell if he had said enough, but decided to stop there and let Matthew decide.
"I want you around when we arrive wherever we're being led. And I'm going to Mars with you." That was it. Without another word, Matthew left, heading back to the bridge.
Only one certainty came from this, their relationship would never be the same.
#
Abandoned thousands of years ago, the orbital floated dimly near the rim. The inner surface liquid ocean, with a flat landmass tidally locked near the center. It groaned around the edges, under the influence of the tiny artificial sun at its center. The land dead to animal life, only had the most basic vegetation- lichen, moss. The tiny star no longer warmed it sufficiently for more.
Before their arrival Galen searched the Order's records to identify this orbital and the First One he encountered. It returned the suitably intimidating name- Hands of God. There was very little real information beyond paranoid warnings that they were severely impatient and had homicidal tendencies. The same sorts of warnings one would give about technomages. The records warned fervently against getting near any little triangle sword shaped things. Those were their soldiers, or enforcers, the Fingers of God. Their default setting seemed to be- when in doubt kill everything in the room. At least half a dozen technomages had died, most gruesomely, trying to harness their power.
Cloaked, shielded and already flying, Galen scanned the land for the Finger of God. Nothing obvious. Everything looked undisturbed except for a freshly excavated patch. He directed the landing party to it, assuming it hid near this freshly dug out pit. Two spiral paths led down to the bottom.
The landing party disembarked the shuttle. They didn't need oxygen. The climate while cold like a winter's day, required nothing more than thick coats. Avoiding everyone, he had kept to himself since his talk with Matthew. Being in Dureena's presence on the surface now, he tried not to look her way. He failed a dozen times over. At least she didn't recoil from him. In fact she made sure she was always in his line of sight. The questions in her eyes felt like daggers flung at him. But she didn't push him more than that.
Dureena and Max teamed up descending down the faster but rockier counter clockwise path. Matthew and Dr Chambers formed the other group hiking down the longer, smoother clockwise one. Alone, Galen rose above the pit and kept an eye on them all through his probes.
He tuned to the one on Max's shoulder so he could watch Dureena. Sweating and breathing hard, Max scrambled over large boulders, while Dureena sprung over them, not put out by the continuous climbing. He enjoyed watching her move too much and would have turned it off had Max not spoken his name.
"Galen sure looks unhappy." Huff, huff.
"What is the human word for yelling at a child who misbehaves?"
"We got a lot for that one: reprimand, reproach, scold, chastise." Huff, huff, huff.
"English has too many words. I pick scold. Galen has the look of the scolded."
Ridiculous, Galen thought. He was sure he looked neither. Of course he did not walk around with mirror on himself.
With agile grace, Dureena vaulted over the last chasm before the flat area at the bottom. Max imitated her, but didn't quite make it. His foot didn't solidly catch the edge. He screamed as he tumbled backwards. Dureena grabbed him by the collar pulling him in the right direction.
Max fell to his knees in front of her, "Oh God! Thank you."
Visible again, Galen touched down silently behind Dureena and said, "I look nothing of the sort."
She spun neatly, dropping into a defensive stance and said, "I thought that would get your attention." A small test, and he had fallen for it. Suckered to her side. Was that her goal? Neither blinking, they studied each other as Max regained his composure after nearly plummeting to his death. Perhaps she understood. Nothing had really changed. He was no Shadow. Nor the horrible monstrosity that destroyed her people. He was simply Galen, her companion. It was almost enough to make him smile. His mind rebuked him, Stop this fatuous wishful thinking, a cure needs finding. He looked away first.
Max, Dureena and Galen walked to the center. No containers, no door, nothing but a fine powdery dirt mixed with the occasional pebble. Nothing.
"I don't see anything. Are you sure there is something here," Dureena asked.
Galen scanned the area. "This is the only area that has been disturbed in a hundred thousand years. So yes."
At the exact center they stopped to consider their options. They got an answer. The ground rumbled.
Galen said, "Get behind me." Max practically ran behind him. With a knife in each hand Dureena stalked around the perimeter ready to pounce.
The Finger of God burst out of the ground, hauling a cylinder the size of a thermos. It dropped the container and hovered above glowing like a low hanging lamp. While dry dust clung to it, the cylinder remained sealed. Peaking out from behind Galen, Max had his terminal out and recorded everything that happened. Instinctively, Dureena took up the position opposite Galen with the Finger between them.
A burst of agitated movement, Galen snapped on a shield, extending it around himself and Max. It made Galen nervous not to be able to shield her as well. The Finger of God glowed brighter as if a dial turned it up. It spun in place like a top and wrote runes in the air in a silver rush.
Galen translated the runes silently, It took you meat bags long enough. Here is your bloody cure. Hands up for whoever wants to save their people from extinction.
Galen considered the miraculous and insulting message. The nondescript container must have the cure. The bit about extinction made him pause. In a way that applied to all 3 of them. Max represented the human race, if this cure did not work, humanity's core would die, a possible extinction level event. Galen's people, the technomages, numbered in the couple hundreds, certainly on the brink of extinction. Dureena's people were the worst off, numbering only in the dozens.
Behind him Max goaded, "Can you read that? I'm not getting a thing." Galen ignored him.
As Galen pondered what it meant. Dureena walked forward and reached for the sword.
"No!" Galen said. Mesmerized by it, she didn't seem to hear him. He didn't know what touching it would mean, but he'd prefer not to find out through Dureena. He could knock her back or engage the Finger himself. But what if that set off a violent chain reaction and got them all killed. Better to keep her away. The Finger began to glow brighter and spun till it blurred. Galen scanned it. It's energy output built.
"Dureena, no!" Still no effect. Perhaps she was under a spell or compulsion. He needed to shock her into listening to him.
He called on his tech to coerce her. He said the first thing that came to mind in the command voice, "A backwater savage has no business with its like." It worked. Stiffening, whatever compelled her broke.
Then she shook off his command somehow, a thing no one had done before. With another step she reached for it. Galen threw himself at the spinning sword, knocking her back. Containing it between his chest and hands, he landed against the dirt, shielding her from the sure attack.
After a few beats of his heart and nothing happened, he rolled over to get a good look. Still and dark the Finger looked like some fancy trinket one would win at a medieval fair. For a moment he wondered if he had imagined the whole thing. No. Dureena stood over him red faced, her daggers poised to strike him. She controlled her body but not her face. Her embarrassed fury made Galen's heart wither, as if he had just snatched candy from a child. His words had hit too hard.
Matthew and Dr Chambers, arrived at a full sprint.
"I saw the whole thing. What happened?" Matthew had his PPG out, pointed at the ground.
As he held the now lifeless killing machine of suspicious origin and unknown intent, Galen climbed to his feet and said, "I believe that is the cure." He nudged the cylinder with the toe of his boot.
Dr Chambers picked up the cylinder and headed back to the shuttle with Max in tow talking excitedly. Matthew stayed next to Galen. Dureena stared at the Finger of God in Galen's arms. An impulse to give it to her overwhelmed him. With one more scan to make sure it remained inert, he held the sword out for Dureena to take.
"Why?" she said. Many answers occurred to him, but he couldn't trust his mouth to not be harsh with her again. Instead he would make it up to her with his actions. Without words, he took her hand, placed what he now thought of as a pretty corpse in her palm, took her second hand and placed it on top. He let his hands linger on hers until she drew backwards away from his touch. Dureena cradled the Finger of God in her arms like a baby.
Matthew demanded, "Is that thing safe?"
"It is now," Galen said as he watched Dureena be completely absorbed by her new treasure.
"That was too easy," the Captain said. Matthew was right.
Galen answered, "Don't worry Matthew, I'm sure that will not last."
On cue, Matthew got a call from the Excalibur, "Captain, we have Drakh warships incoming on long range scanners."
Matthew already ran for the shuttle. "On our way."
Galen sighed, wishing he could have gotten at least a minute of peace between crises.