The one thing on which Duncan had learned he could rely on with Thessalia was that the shit always hit the fan when you least expected it. Since the tense emergency meeting less than two hours ago, Duncan had been engrossed with briefing the rest of the soldiers and then coordinating evacuation prep with Rick. It had been a hectic but overall smooth process, the fortnightly drills to which the entire expedition was subjected paying off in dividends. With the shuttles loaded and a number of potential planets identified, they were as ready as they could be were Argo to come under direct attack.
He felt both anger and anticipation well within him at the thought, his body tense and ready for action. He’d been able to channel his excess energy into action for the past couple of hours, but now that the preparations were complete, Duncan felt the tension coil within him once more. He felt jittery and on edge, as if the adrenaline had been circulating in his system for too long, which, now that he thought about it, he supposed it had…. Ever since last night and that kiss—he broke that thought off abruptly and started pacing slowly around the control room.
He made a slow loop around Argo’s command center, taking in the rapt attention on the faces of the men and women manning the various stations. He passed by Corrin, who was standing just at the far doorway, his arms crossed over his chest as he glowered across the room. Duncan sent him a sympathetic look, knowing that Corrin had to be feeling just as helpless as he was with nothing to do but wait. He moved on and peered into Jane’s office, where he could see her and Rick and Jason deep in conversation. Jason was pointing to a star chart while Jane nodded and made notes on a datapad. They were probably discussing possible allies on whom they could depend were they forced to leave Argo permanently. He wondered where Chris was—
Slamming the lid down on that thought sharply, he strode over to the central viewing screen and stared out at the small cluster of ships that their enhanced sensors had spotted. He felt something in his chest clench at the thought that soon they might be forced to flee Argo, never to return. At least they’d be leaving together, he thought—all of them—and the tightness eased off a little at that. Chris was probably ensconced in the labs on the lower levels. Duncan had sent a crew of soldiers down there as soon as they’d been briefed, with orders to do whatever Jason or Chris asked of them. He hadn’t seen them since, so he assumed Chris had found them useful.
Realizing abruptly that his thoughts had led him back to Chris, Duncan started walking again. He soon found himself back where he’d started and briefly considered doing another round of pacing. He knew, however, that doing that wasn’t really going to help. What he wanted—what he needed—was to be doing something active to help the situation. With that in mind, he started to head for the door, intent on heading down to the labs.
“You hear something from Vabre, Harris?” Corrin asked as he fell into step beside him.
“No,” Duncan replied. “Just thought I’d head down there for a progress report in person.”
Corrin nodded and shot Duncan a sideways glance. “You’re not looking any better than this morning,” he commented mildly.
Duncan cast Corrin a disbelieving look. “Well, no,” he said at last. “Wasn’t really expecting to, what with the rampant virus, the hovering armada just waiting to attack, and the threat of emergency evacuation.”
Corrin just shrugged, looking thoroughly unrepentant. “Ah,” he said. “Let’s go talk to Vabre, then.”
Duncan shook his head and held his tongue.
The main lab was a mad whirl of activity when they arrived; clusters of people gathered around consoles, whiteboards covered with schematics, screens on every wall plotting what Duncan assumed was the path of the virus. Chris stood in the middle of it all, calling out instructions and appearing to direct several distinct groups of scientists in their allotted tasks. Duncan could even spot his soldiers dotted around the place, mostly helping out with equipment, but a few appeared to have been roped into helping with the manual debugging process. He and Corrin exchanged amused looks before stepping through the door and promptly getting caught up in the commotion.
“Ah, Duncan, Corrin,” Chris called out as soon as he noticed them amongst the melee. He had a slightly crazed look in his eyes and was clutching several pads somewhat precariously together in his right hand as he waved them over with his left.
Despite the dire situation—both personal and professional—Duncan found himself grinning at what was obviously very carefully controlled chaos. Maneuvering rather cautiously around the milling scientists and engineers, he and Corrin made their way over to Chris’s side.
“Hey, Chris,” Duncan replied as they arrived, reaching out to grab one of the pads as it started to tumble out of Chris’s grip.
“Ah, thanks,” he said, reaching out for the pad and dumping it, along with the other three, onto his desk.
“So, how’s it coming?” Duncan asked. “You look like you’ve got a lot of bases covered.” He nodded toward the deeply engrossed workforce.
“Yes, yes,” Chris replied, nodding in a distracted manner. “We’re combing the whole CPU, system by system.” His mouth pulled into a moue of displeasure, and he leaned toward them both, lowering his voice slightly. “But I’m concerned that it’s not going to be enough.”
“What does that—” Duncan started to ask, but was interrupted by a scientist, whose name he couldn’t recall, rushing over to them waving a pad.
“Dr. Vabre,” the man said, panting slightly as he thrust the pad into Chris hand. “Here.”
Chris looked down at it briefly before raising his head sharply to look at the man. “Morris,” he said, “where did these readings come from?”
Morris swallowed audibly. “The main reactor,” he said at last.
“Damn it!” Chris said pulling a hand through his hair in annoyance and glancing around the room as if looking for someone.
“Jason’s still in with Jane,” Duncan said.
“Ah, yes, of course,” Chris said and activated his radio. “Jason, it’s Chris—our problem just seems to have got bigger. You need to get down here.”
Exchanging a concerned look with Corrin, Duncan waited impatiently for Chris to elaborate. However, having been assured that Jason was on his way, Chris’s attention was immediately called back to the pad in his hand.
“Chris?” Duncan asked, aware of the sharp tone of command in his voice.
Chris looked up, startled. “What?”
“Yes, exactly, what?” came a new voice, and Duncan turned to see Jason hurry into the room, Rick close on his heels.
Chris waved the pad at Jason, his expression worried. “The virus has just hit the main reactor.”
“Shit!” Jason replied, grabbing the pad and becoming immediately engrossed.
Duncan exchanged a concerned look with Rick, and then turned to Chris. “What does that mean exactly?” he asked. “Come on, Chris, how serious a problem are we talking? Are we at evac point yet?”
Chris looked up at him, his eyes frantic now. “Yes,” he said simply. “If it’s already got as far as the main reactor, then I’m afraid it’s as good as over. There’s just no way we’ll be able to maintain power for long enough to purge the virus from our system, even if our antivirus program works.”
“Jason?” Rick asked, Duncan’s question mirrored in his tone.
“He’s right,” Jason replied tightly. “We’ve got to go. And quickly.”
Just then, as if to underline Jason’s words, the lights and computer screens in the lab flickered ominously. Both Chris and Jason immediately surged into action, Chris shouting for the engineers to switch to the backup generators and Jason ordering a technical team down to the reactor room to monitor the radiation levels. Rick too leapt into action, turning to Duncan to order him to begin the evac procedures before switching on his radio to speak to Jane about announcing the evacuation stationwide.
Duncan was on his radio at once, contacting the officer he’d stationed on each of Argo’s levels and ordering them to begin clearing the decks.
“We’ll have to hurry,” Chris said, his laptop clasped in his hand and a rucksack from which protruded all manner of devices slung over his shoulders. “I can’t guarantee how long we’ll be able to power the shuttle bays once we lose the main reactor.”
“Right,” Duncan said. “We go now, then. Get the rest of your crew together and let’s clear this deck.”
“What?” Jason squawked, looking from Duncan to Rick, his eyes wide in appeal. “No… I mean, just give us a few more minutes—we still might be able to salvage this. If only we could find a way to keep the reactor powering the station for long enough to run the antivirus software—that’s all it would take!”
Duncan froze at Jason’s words and turned to stare at him, only to find Chris already staring back. The memory of the previous evening hung heavily in the air between them, and for a moment, it seemed as if neither of them breathed. Then Chris blinked and looked down at his laptop, drawing in a deep breath. Duncan waited, feeling the tension curl within him as Chris collected his thoughts.
“But this is Argo, Rick,” Jason was pleading. “Not some random outpost. We can’t just abandon Argo.”
Duncan swallowed thickly, and Chris suddenly looked back up at him, his gaze catching Duncan’s and holding it hostage. He was vaguely aware of the chaos around him—Jason and Rick arguing about the evacuation, the scientists clearing the room, the evacuation klaxons sounding along the corridors, and the lights dimming again suddenly as the reactor lost power once more—but none of that seemed to matter. Suddenly he knew exactly how Chris felt. The mere thought of having to leave Argo—the only home he’d ever known—quite possibly to never return was simply tearing him up inside, as if someone had just thrust a knife directly into his heart. He could see a similar pain mirrored on Chris’s face, and before he could think through his actions, Duncan found himself reaching out for Chris.
As his hand closed around Chris’s shoulder, intent on drawing Chris to him, Duncan felt inspiration hit. He looked up sharply, meeting Chris’s gaze to see that a similar thought had occurred to him.
“Ohmygod,” Chris gasped all in one breath, looking down to where Duncan’s hand was still clasping his shoulder. “That’s it!”
Duncan nodded. “Yes,” he said, feeling both excitement and trepidation start to pound through him. “Yes, it could be, but—”
“But, nothing,” Chris snapped before Duncan could voice his reservations. “It’s the answer—you know it is.”
“Perhaps,” Duncan said, “but, Chris, what if I….” He took a deep breath and forced himself to face his fears, removing his hand deliberately from Chris’s arm. “What if I do that to you again?”
Chris shot him a look of utter confusion. “Do what again?” he asked, before flushing deeply, obviously recalling the details of exactly what Duncan had done. “Oh… that…. Well, I don’t quite see what that has to do with anything,” he said, his blush growing in intensity. “I mean, just because we both… um… got a little carried away last night doesn’t mean….” The lights flicked again, staying off for longer this time as the backup generators slowly started firing. “I mean, really,” Chris continued, obviously having gained some composure during the brief blackout, “this is hardly the time—I think we both know that, right?”
Duncan frowned, confused by Chris’s words; they both had gotten carried away? He opened his mouth to reply, only to find that Chris was already heading over to the shelf on which the silver box of connectors was sitting.
“Harris?”
The voice of his commanding officer snapped Duncan out of his trance, and he turned to face Rick. “I think we may have another option, sir,” he said.
“You do? What?” Jason asked from his place at Rick’s side. “Chris?”
“Yes, yes, possibly,” Chris replied, darting back to them with the box of connectors clasped firmly in his grasp. “We might be able to use these,” he said, waving the connectors briefly at Jason before he plunked the case down onto his desk and started scrambling with his laptop, a mess of wires, and his many datapads.
“The mind-reading gizmos?” Jason asked in confusion. “How are they going to help?”
“Like this,” Chris replied, scrabbling amongst and then tossing one of his myriad datapads in Jason’s general direction.
Jason managed to catch the pad, only just, and was soon absorbed. “I don’t see…. Ah, wait, I do see. So these things actually managed to produce a power surge somehow?” Jason looked up at Chris, his expression incredulous.
“Yes, somehow,” Chris echoed, starting to shove things into a rucksack. “It’s down, I believe, to the fact that the genetic identification system is now operating, together with the fact that Duncan here has the right genetic markers to allow the connectors to work fully.”
“The right genetic markers?” Rick asked, glancing at Duncan askance.
“I’m half-Revian, sir,” Duncan replied.
“Ah, yes, I knew that,” Rick said, nodding. “But I still don’t really see what that has to do with creating power with those things.”
“Nor do I, at least not fully,” Chris replied. “But it does seem to be at least one of their purposes, along with allowing telepathic communication between people.”
“And it doesn’t matter how they work anyway,” Jason put in. “At least, not now.” He waved the pad Chris had tossed him at Rick. “If these readings are correct, Duncan here might just be able to create enough power to boost the reactor long enough to run the antivirus software.”
“We’ll need to get to the cellium reactor room,” Chris said, slinging his bulging rucksack over his shoulder. “I can access both the reactor and Argo’s central processor from there.” He glanced over at Jason and Rick. “But I’d recommend the rest of the station to continue with the evacuation. Just in case.”
Rick nodded. “Understood. Jason, get going—head to the evac point, and I’ll meet you there.” As Jason set off, stopping only briefly to give Chris a quick hug, Rick turned to Duncan. “Harris, you all right with this?”
“Yes, sir,” Duncan responded at once, not a shadow of doubt in his mind.
Rick nodded once. “All right, then. I’ll radio you when the last of the shuttles are clear.” He paused then, reaching out a hand to clasp Duncan firmly on the shoulder. “And you radio me when you’re ready for us to come home.”
Duncan smiled at the confidence in his commander’s voice. “I will, sir,” he replied with equal assurance. “And thank you.”
Rick nodded in acknowledgement. “Good luck to you both,” he said before turning to leave the lab.
As Duncan turned to watch Rick go, he suddenly became aware of the silent presence of Corrin. “Corrin,” he said in surprise. “I thought you’d left with the others.”
Corrin shook his head. “You need help,” he said.
Duncan noticed that Rick had paused on his way out of the lab. “No,” he said, shaking his head. “Chris and I have got this covered. Head out to the evac point with Colonel Tennant.”
Just then the door slid open, and Fleming rushed in. “Sir,” she said, skidding to halt. “Sirs,” she quickly amended, glancing at Rick. “Dr. Carter has just left Argo on the penultimate shuttle. We need to get out of here.”
“Yes, go,” Duncan ordered, giving Corrin a hard look as he spoke.
“No,” Corrin argued. “We can help you.”
“We can?” Fleming asked. Corrin glared at her, and she quickly amended her statement. “I mean, we can. Chris, you found a way to stop this?”
Chris grinned at her. “Maybe,” he said. “But we’ve all got to get to the reactor room.”
“Fleming, Corrin. I take it you both want to stay,” Rick said, his voice stopping Chis in his tracks.
Fleming’s gaze flew from Duncan to Rick and back again. “Yes, sir,” she replied smartly. “If we can help, we want to.”
“Argo is our home too,” Corrin said firmly.
“Actually,” Chris said, before either Rick or Duncan could respond. “Having more minds connected to yours through the great net might help boost the power we can generate.”
Rick sighed, obviously recognizing a losing battle when he saw one. “Okay,” he replied quickly. “As long as you both know this might fail and there’s isn’t really a backup plan.”
“That’s fine—we won’t need one, sir,” Fleming replied, looking determined as Corrin nodded in agreement at her side.
Nodding, Rick turned to Duncan. “Then you have a go, Major.”
“Yes, sir,” Duncan replied. “Chris, I believe you said we need to get to the cellium reactor room? Well then, lead on.”
During their trek down to the reactor room, the group was silent, their journey only broken by the communiqué from Colonel Tennant informing them that the shuttles had all reached a safe distance from Argo. Duncan let out a sigh of relief at the news, glad in the knowledge that, should they fail, most of Argo’s people would be safe.
“Okay, now what?” Duncan asked as they arrived in the reactor room, the huge cellium reactor, its core eerily dark, dominating the space. The only light in the room came from the glow of the numerous computer monitors, one of the few systems still being powered by their backup generators. He looked over at Chris, who had now moved across the room and appeared to have half disappeared underneath the console Duncan thought accessed the reactor’s central processor. “Chris?” he asked. “Are we doing this or not?”
“Yes, of course we are,” came Chris’s rather muffled reply. “Do you think I want to get blown to smithereens when that armada of ships realizes their virus has worked and we’re sitting here defenseless?”
Duncan exchanged an exasperated look with Corrin and Fleming as Chris started to scramble out from his hole, pushing himself backward onto his hands and knees so he emerged ass first from underneath the terminal.
Just then the backup power cut off again, and it seemed as though the whole station shuddered under the threat of its unseen attacker.
“Well, we need to do something now,” Duncan said. Some of the lights and a couple of the screens slowly flickered back to life, their level considerably dimmed, while the rest remained dead. It was obvious that the virus was winning.
“Okay, okay, I’m coming,” Chris shouted as he heaved himself to his feet, his cheeks flushed red and his hair sticking up in the back. “Right, I’ve uploaded the antivirus into Argo’s central processor, and it’s already started seeking out the virus, but the virus has spread so widely now that our backup generators aren’t going to be able to keep the station powered long enough for the antivirus to clear our systems completely.” He gestured around at the partially powered lab. “Not only has the virus knocked out the reactor and pulled down our defenses, it’s also actively draining our additional power supply, so we’re going to have to do this now.”
“What exactly are we doing, Chris?” Fleming asked. “How are we going to generate the power we need?”
Chris turned to her, a slightly manic expression on his face as he held up the silver box of connectors. “Through the power of the great net,” he replied.
Fleming frowned. “I thought those things connected minds, not generated power.”
“Ah, but that’s where you’re wrong—where we were all wrong,” Chris replied. “The Atarans can only use them now to connect their minds, but their original purpose seems to have been for much more than that. Somehow, these connectors can harness mental energy—at least, they can when the right people are using them.” Chris paused then and looked over at Duncan for a moment before continuing. “When Duncan and I tested the connectors yesterday, there was a huge amount of energy produced as a result of the interaction of our thoughts in the great net. The energy spike produced was enormous. With you and Corrin joining the ‘great net’ with us, I’m betting we’ll be able to produce even more—quite possibly on a log scale, which would mean we’d have more than enough.”
“And we’re the right people?” Corrin asked skeptically.
Chris shrugged. “Not really—at least, not us,” he said, gesturing toward himself and Fleming. “And as for you….” He squinted up at Corrin for a moment before shaking his head. “I have no idea, but I don’t think that really matters. We’re just here for an added boost. Duncan’s genetic structure is different, and that’s what matters.” He opened the silver case and plucked out four connectors from inside. “He can control the connectors. Here,” he said, holding out a connector to Duncan. “You’re going to have to lead us.”
“What?” Duncan asked, shocked.
Chris made an impatient gesture toward Duncan with his hand. “Thank you,” Chris said with exaggerated politeness as Duncan slowly reached out and took the connector from him. “You do realize that we are on something of a deadline here,” he said with a faint smile. He then held out connectors to Corrin and Jessica before picking up one for himself.
“Once we activate the connectors, we’ll be joined in the ‘great net’,” he continued. “It’s actually quite intuitive to use, so I don’t think you will have any problems,” he said to Corrin and Fleming, who exchanged mildly concerned looks but then nodded. “Once we’re joined, we’ll all be able to sense each other’s thoughts. I believe that the closer we can make our connection through the great net, the more energy our connection will produce as a by-product.” He reached toward Duncan again and attached a thin optical fiber to the connector in his hands, securing the other end in a small device he’d set up next to the cellium reactor’s main input terminal.
“Right,” Chris said. “That should do it. Well, go on, then,” he said, putting on his own connector and gesturing for the others to do likewise. “Deadline, remember?”
Taking a deep breath, Duncan slipped the connector into place and activated it. He felt the now-familiar shock of energy rush through him once more and saw Corrin and Jessica both jump a little in surprise as their own connectors sprung into life. Then, however, his attention was grabbed completely by the bright flash of Chris’s thoughts.
Do what you did last time, Duncan, Chris thought to him through the net. Connect us all together—that’s what the strength of your gene can do—it can fully open the great net and all the minds which it connects.
Duncan wasn’t sure he understood exactly what Chris was saying, but then his mind was suddenly full of images from Chris’s mind—Argo’s entire system structure, the myriad of different nodes and modules that made up the entire station and kept her in orbit and alight. It was breathtaking, and Duncan felt the awe well up inside him. His mind was flying, winding its way through and around the complex schematic, encountering nuances he’d never before considered and delighting in seeing Argo through Chris’s eyes. The entire thing was veiled in wisps of thoughts and ideas, Chris’s deep understanding of and connection to Argo vividly apparent.
Duncan’s explorations stuttered to a halt abruptly as he first encountered a dark section—the entire portion of the system was black and rotting, as if it had been burned and then left to slowly decay. It was the virus, he realized, the effect of the virus as interpreted by Chris’s mind, and it was literally killing their station. He felt his anger rise at the obvious desecration of their home and, with it, an overwhelming sense of protectiveness.
We need to fight for our home.
Duncan only realized that he’d projected the thought into the “great net” when his attention was captured by three distinct echoes of reply.
Yes.
Yes.
Yes.
Corrin and Jessica were joined as well. Duncan could feel Jessica’s amazement of the view Chris was sharing with them of their station and hear the rumbling of Corrin’s anger at the destruction they could all see spreading through its previously pristine architecture. He could feel Chris as well—sense his pride in what they were accomplishing, his underlying fear of the virus, and his overriding determination to see this out.
As he basked in their shared experiences, Duncan felt his emotions swell. His deep connection to Argo and everyone aboard, his strong commitment to their mission, his love for his team, his love for Chris—they were all pulsing through him and out into the “great net.” He reached out for his teammates, needing to feel their emotions in return.
Tell me…, he entreated, and his team responded.
He could feel Corrin’s emotions swirling through the net—the aching wound he bore from the loss of his home and family, the solace he’d found in Argo, the trust and respect he held for his teammates, and the loyalty he felt toward Duncan.
Then Jessica’s emotions started flowing through him, trickling into the gaps in between Corrin’s. Duncan could feel her abiding sense of rightness and commitment to their mission and found himself reveling in it. He could also feel her strength and conviction that they would succeed, her unwavering faith in the talents of her teammates, and her love for Argo.
And over the top of it all, Duncan could feel Chris, his emotions giving Duncan a warm glow, and the feelings of love and affection flooded through him in waves. Duncan knew Chris was frightened and that he was unsure whether or not he’d be able to pull this off, but in that moment Duncan also knew that Chris was totally committed to Argo, to his team, and to Duncan.
There! That’s it—it’s working.
The transmitted thought came into Duncan’s mind with a wild burst of excitement and triumph, and Duncan could practically see Chris bouncing on his toes and beaming in his mind’s eye. Another flood of love burst through him at the image. Part of Duncan wondered whether or not he should be concerned to be sharing quite so much with his teammates, but the feelings of friendship and love he could feel emanating back to him from each of them silenced the thought as soon as it occurred. Instead of pulling back as he usually did when anyone got too close, Duncan relaxed and let the connection between himself and his teammates continue for as long as was needed.