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I came out of deep sleep without a whimper of nightmare.
Asleep. Awake. Just like that. No flashing dark.
I stared at the curved glass cover of the SAC, not sure how I felt about that. There was no furry blue face on the other side to reassure me things were okay. I didn't know if I wanted 'okay' if it meant losing those vivid memories of Anthy.
The SAC lid slid aside and I sat up.
I stared at the Frairy, dressed in a beautiful turquoise and gold saree, accessorized by pink paisley rubber boots, red ascot, and a bowler hat.
"Hey, Flygirl! Welcome back to life."
Thok.
"No," I said. I had prepared for hopeless devastation. This was worse. "Where am I and why are you here?"
"Zant. Listen—"
"No! You destroyed my life. I should kill you!" The last exclamation left my throat feeling a little raw. I paused to look around the large, shadowed dome. Nothing but support beams and piles of boxes. Not a place I'd ever been before. "Help!" I yelled as loud as my throat allowed.
"That's rude. This is His Frilliness' residence," Thok said patiently. "There's no one else here."
One of His Frilliness' under-ruffles rippled as he floated silently behind the Frairy in the dim light.
"Help!"
"Trust me, no one can hear you. If you listen, we can work this ou—"
"You can't hold me against my will. I demand you release me!"
"Look, we can fix this."
"Fix the loss of Saura? My wetware? The loss of my shipskins, awaysuit, the Thief's Hand? The kid? No! Help!"
"Okay," he sighed. "Not gonna fix things quite the way you want, but we can—"
"I demand to speak with an EA representative. Help!"
He shot me with a tranq dart.
***
I CAME TO ON THE METAL decking. Someone had extricated my body from the SAC, leaving me on my side with the container supporting my back.
"Don't make me shoot you again," Thok warned from where he stood several meters away. His Frilliness still floated behind him.
Compounding the ache in my head with another tranq dart seemed a bad idea. I pushed myself up to a sitting position. "What do you want?"
"You have some grievances. We understand." He raised his hands to stop my objection. "We'll address them. First, let me explain something. It's complicated, okay? So just shut up and listen.
"Ninety Sol-years before the Earth Alliance was invited into the Whooex Union of Stars, His Frilliness spotted what he thought was a Human in the company of an Endar in the street on a Mu Juad world—they get along, the Mu Juad and Endar—if you didn't know."
Of course they would. I stayed silent.
"Your people were off limit to Whooex member contact at the time, so it was a major concern. However, it was difficult to investigate the incident, the Primacy being as closed and unfriendly to certain original members as they are. Around that same time, the Proambu and their worldbuilding project got too close to Primacy space on the outer arm and stirred up the Endar, who were on the brink of declaring war for no apparent reason."
I knew the reason.
"It just happened the Proambu were on the verge of revising their model of worldbuilding. Spurred by Endar hostility, they shifted their attention away from that area of space and moved on with their projects. Later, when Human membership in the Whooex Union came up, the Endar were so violently opposed to it that the idea of them collaborating with Humans seemed outrageous and the earlier incident fell in priority and remained uninvestigated.
"If the Primacy had let things subside with the Proambu, everything would have faded to obscurity. But they didn't. They kept up their aggressive stance and drew attention to that region of space. His Frilliness felt compelled to investigate and found Zam Fiella, a world occupied by what appeared to be a Human colony, just inside the edge of the Primacy, in an area of space the Earth Alliance did not have the ability to reach at that time.
"Had the Endar illegally snatched a Human population to seed a world? We—well, the MoMo—wanted to explore the genetic link between the two peoples, but it was not a top priority and stirring up an overly aggressive old enemy seemed ill advised. His Frilliness decided to monitor the situation from time to time.
"When the Endar presence on the world suddenly and sharply increased, His Frilliness took a renewed interest. Discovering the Makima were telepathic, he made discreet contact with them. The general population are gentle souls, but there are a few individuals in leadership positions that fit right in with the Endar Primacy's attitude of superiority and control. Those people, along with members of the general population, began to disappear to some unknown off-world destination. It was obvious the Primacy was up to something. Then came our little girl, Lirilune, and High Jerak Seok's arrival on Zam Fiella. Laboratories sprang up and suddenly there were nurseries of beautiful babies, all with the same sweet little face. Meanwhile, Seok was keeping Lirilune under his tight control. It was time to investigate Primacy activity. Our Makima contacts on Zam Fiella agreed."
The Frairy's expression darkened. "Clearly, with their particular talents, these people's existence was not something the Endar wanted exposed and we needed to explore the link between Makima and Humans. Getting Lirilune's family off world was a real bitch. The Makima had limited space travel in the past. We had to dredge up one of their junk ships and quietly restore it to space-worthiness. It could never have made a journey beyond Idwal, however. That's why we arranged for you and catgirl to pick up three people, Lirilune's family, and take them to the Jian Jian Research Facility."
My mind flashed to our third cabin, packed from deck to ceiling with foodstuffs.
"Yeah, you get it." He looked smug as he straightened his ascot. "They were going to participate in a multi-species study into their genetics. It was their choice," he added when I narrowed my eyes. "No mad scientists like in your Old Earth videos.
"You and Catgirl were our best option to facilitate this. You had skills and compassion, but we knew there was no way you would agree to do it, so we arranged things so you had no choice. We had to put a hard squeeze on your buddy, Scriver, if that makes you feel better.
"Anyway, I don't need to tell you how things went badly. Luckily, Ritto-ssa and Proambu trade together and we had arranged for a Ritto-ssa ship in the area for backup, just in case. The Endar wouldn't dare challenge them in Proambu space."
And Lirilune's family had paid the cost, I thought angrily. "You knew there was a risk people might die?"
"There was a certain level of danger, yes, but our Makima contacts were willing to accept it. You Humans, of all species, understand risk-taking."
"The Endar killed Lirilune's family! They tried to kill me. The Primacy nearly took control of the Trade Consortium because of your manipulation! And now, because of your stupid, ill-conceived activities, the kid can't go back to her world, the Makima have an army of mind-manipulating clones, and the Tabisee have taken Saura!"
"Zant. This will all work out—"
"Work out?" I surged forward and managed to get a firm grip on the red ascot. I twisted it, burying my knuckles into the flesh of his throat, against his windpipe.
"Stop," he choked, trying to push my hand away.
"Save your air," I snarled, twisting harder.
Something brushed my arm.
All the muscles in my body went numb and I collapsed, the hand caught in the Frairy's neckcloth the only thing saving me from head trauma.
Damned cloudhead!
"Sheesh!" Thok disengaged my fingers and lowered me to my side again. "We knew they were telepaths. We knew the Endar had a lab on Zam Fiella and were experimenting with the cloning process. But no one warned us of Lirilune's special abilities." He had the consideration to sit down on the floor nearby so I could see him. "Were we played by the Makima? Maybe."
I struggled to form words, but my muscles refused to respond. Shit! So many questions and no way to ask them!
"Oh," he mocked my frustration. "You don't understand why the EA and the MoMo are intensely interested in a seemingly estranged Human colony out on the edge of nowhere. Well, Flygirl, it didn't take long for us to figure out that they're not Human.
"Now, here's the really curious thing; they haven't been on that world for as long as they claim, though they've made it look that way. We think the Endar just don't know enough about Human civilization to detect the anomaly."
That was enough to stop all my efforts at freeing my locked jaws. Now I was listening intently.
"Yeah, they come from somewhere else. We think probably across the void from the next galactic arm. And maybe they're not lost. Maybe they're an exploratory probe. There is only one reason a civilization sends out an exploratory probe, right? To assess the potential for expansion. Is that good or bad? I don't know. You heard the Primacy's plan. You're a bright girl." He patted my head and the lock on my muscles released. "What do you think?"
I sucked a gasp of air and sat up. "They're willing to let the Primacy do their dirty work to conquer the Whooex Union," I said.
"There's hope for you yet."
Memory suddenly pushed through my hostility and anger. "The Threadmaster! Where is he?"
"We placed him in the care of the Proambu."
"Why? He's my one bit of proof the EA is under serious threat!"
"Do you think the EA is up to handling him?"
After everything I'd just heard? "No." My heart rate was beginning to level off.
"Neither do we—think we can handle him, that is. We put someone in charge of him who can."
"The Proambu? How?"
"For one thing, the instrument of their sentience is different than the rest of us, making it unlikely he can manipulate them. And they have no interest in achieving more power. "
"What did they do with him?"
He grinned. "He's got a world all his own."
The grin broadened at my blank expression. "You are aware of what the Proambu do, right?"
"Disassemble and reassemble planets into ringworlds. They wouldn't give him a whole ring."
"Actually, I did mention they moved on from that. Their Dyson model is a bit different now." He waited for me to mentally catch up with him. "They found an easier way to do things, which is why they left Idwal Platform in place instead of moving it. It's easier for them to shift an entire planet to a stable star and place it inside its habitable zone, than to move the material and reassemble everything. It takes a lot less time, and if they want a different type of world, they just set the planet's revolution a different distance from the star. Your Threadmaster friend has a whole world all to himself."
I opened my mouth. Shut it.
"They recognize a threat when they see one," he said.
"What about Zam Fiella? The clones? And Liri said there were more Threadmasters."
"Most of the Threadmasters were returned, though we suspect the Endar held a few back, along with some telepaths. We'll have to address that eventually. The clones were too young to take off world. Our contacts among the Makima have agreed to care for them. And to keep them under observation. Meanwhile, Zam Fiella is isolated from outside contact and the Proambu are prepared to enforce it. You can appreciate that, can't you?"
Quarantine? Hell yes! "But the Makima—"
"Jeez, Zant, stop being such a crusader! They'll be fine, and the rest of us will be even better. Now get up, because we have a lot of work to do."
"We?"
"You, me, His Frilliness—"
No. Not we.
"—First Astrogator Cerros Syrhas..."
"Saurubi?" I froze, one knee still on the floor.
He shrugged. "The Tabi have always had an eye on the future. Which brings us to you. The outcome of this gig ended pretty well considering how badly you botched it."
I made a choking sound, which he ignored.
"We need a Human who knows the straight on things, and you are reasonably competent. It's easier than finding, recruiting, and convincing another one of your people that the universe is a big, bad place."
"You could have tried doing that with me from the start!"
"We weren't completely sure of everything back then. Besides, you wouldn't have signed on. It took a threat to the kid to get you fully engaged."
That was true: I might never have stepped up if Lirilune hadn't been under threat. It had offered me a chance to achieve a tiny bit of absolution for Anthy's death...
My face burned with shame. Was I that selfish, that I had only acted out of an altruistic sense of guilt over my little brother's death?
The anger at the MoMo and Thok drained away.
"Relax, Zant, you made some decent decisions." He offered me a hand up. "Nothing blew up in your face."
I still resented the whole situation, but the "we" had me hooked and he knew it. Ignoring his hand, I climbed to my feet. "What about Saura?" I asked.
"The Tabi military and their political structure, along with certain other members of the Union, are currently getting an update on the situation. Need-to-know, of course. Select individuals in the EA are also aware."
"Saura," I repeated.
"Tabi-sanctioned part of the team. On her way here now."
"What team? We lost our ship. We lost our shipskins, our away suits, my wetware..."
"First, that tin can ship of yours was never lost. It was only waiting for your return. And your gear is an easy replacement."
"My wetware—"
"Give me your left arm," he said.
"Why?" I had only recently gotten it back, and I didn't feel like putting it at risk again. "The Xix didn't—"
"Give it!"
I reluctantly extended the arm.
His short fingers flicked lightly over the surface of my exposed skin.
"The Xix didn't..." I began again. My wrist and forearm tingled and grew warmer. "What are you—?"
Pain shot along my nerves, up to my shoulder and neck. A blast of light inside my brain blanked my vision and sent me staggering back a step. I stood there, stunned, my left forearm burning like fire. I looked down to see an unfamiliar pattern beneath my skin. Unfamiliar in configuration, but marked with Human symbols that I recognized.
There were more contact points than there should have been. More than EA military wetware.
"That could have been done better," I observed weakly.
Thok grunted. "Sheesh! Stop whining."
"Why's it look different?"
"The Xix misunderstood and installed the newest version of Whooex wetware instead of your old junk. The EA doesn't have this tech yet, which means you have to be discreet. Certain individuals objected, but it's too late now."
"It works the same as the original EA version?"
"Better. It gives you added access to certain things. We'll discuss that later."
"I had this the whole time?" My anger started to boil up.
"The High Jerak interrupted things at the hospital before the Xix could activate it. Which turned out to be a good thing, since you gettin' cocky on Rhom coulda' got you killed."
I needed a moment to stop and consider everything.
He waited.
"Why can't the kid mindspeak me?"
"Because your language hardware occupies those necessary receptors in your brain. Telepathy can't get in. It's that way for all Human hardware implants. The MoMo recognized you people were trouble enough without that skill a long time ago."
"But the High Jerak..."
"Thought Lirilune was the prototype for the Primacy's destruction of Humans? He based that on early experiments, on some remote colonists they snatched before Humans became Whooex members. He was wrong. For a successful Human invasion, that is. He can use the Makima to manipulate other members and to isolate the EA, though."
"We're not telepathic."
"Given the right situation everyone is. Hence the precautionary hardware. Catgirl heard the kid out at Idwal."
Saura had told me that. "This is all great and everything—though I'm still pissed and I sure as hell don't intend to thank you since you got us into this—but no one does anything for free. What do you want?"
He smirked. "We need someone to work with us. Occasionally," he added when I opened my mouth to protest. "We're not demanding exclusivity. And you'll work through a contact in the EA. I can't swear you'll never see us again, though, no matter what you'd prefer." He started to walk toward an exit port.
I stayed firmly in place. "And if I say no?"
He stopped. "We'll deactivate some features in your wetware. You can have your stuff, your ship—the title's clear in gratitude for your service—and a sincere thank you. We'll find First Astrogator Cerros Syrhas a new partner inside our organization."
My eyes flicked over him. No bandages covering wounds from pulling this stunt on her? Maybe he had healed in the time it took to get my SAC from the Ritto-ssa. Or her orders had officially come down from the top.
"She's already in? The Tabi are good with this?"
"They were good with things when they loaned her to the Earth Alliance Space Marines. They didn't complain when she developed an affinity for a Human idiot and decided to stick around."
That explained a few things. "And the kid?"
He cleared his throat. "That's another issue."
My heart jerked up into my throat. "She's happy? She's got people who want her and love her?"
"She could have better."
"What do you mean?" Apprehension rushed through me.
"She's not just some kid we can drop into a family. Someone will eventually notice something odd and come sniffing around. We have to put her in the care of people who can be trusted with knowing what she is. Someone whose brain she can't influence, and who stays on the move."
"You mean us?"
"No one else is volunteering."
For me, it sounded great, but how would Saura react?
The door slid open behind him and she strode in, dressed in cobalt blue shipskins, her dusky fur puffed out below the cuffs, and above the collar, giving her the appearance of a skinny, half-drowned cat.
She looked ridiculous and wonderful.
"Idiot!" she snapped. "Tired of waiting! Make decision!"
I already had. "One last thing." I turned to Duff. "Why work with us? Why Humans?
"Because you moralistic, preachy, nosey, interfering, curious, bold idiots are always running around, trying to make things better."
Like the Ritto said: shouting at the universe.
Okay. "And the Tabi?"
"Because those sons of bitches don't mess around. They know how to keep a focus on the big picture and get the job done."
That sounded right. I smiled at Saura. "I'm in. Where's Liri?"
"Locked in third cabin considering new ship rules. Now move! Must do training on wetware before we can leave!" She turned and swept back out the door.
"By the way," I said to Thok before following her. "What is this organization of yours called?'
"The MoMo call it the Curious Fifty-two, for their numbers."
Fifty-two interfering Oulunsk, or MoMos? Could the Whooex Union survive that?
I had to ask one more thing. "What does MoMo translate to?"
He grinned. "Something like, One who Sets the Universe Right."
"They think they're Gods?"
"Nah. They just like to level the playing field."
I nodded thoughtfully. "Yeah."
Maybe we could help them.
––––––––
End
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
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MY WRITING JOURNEY began a long time ago and, though there were times when I could not devote time to the process, it was always present at the edge of my mind, like puzzle pieces turning to fit the whole. There are people that kept me moving forward along the way, from my high school friend, Brenda Kirk, to Joan Summers, to the members of our local writing critique group, past and present, the SKY Writers. I would not have been so bold as to believe I could do this without your inspiration, especially those of you who published before me. And then there's Sam, my loving husband who was always there to support me with anything I needed to get the job done.
I sincerely thank you all.
Cover art and design by Tudor Popa