Chapter 22 #2
“It is not out of goodness. And the logic behind it is enforced by strict rules against breaking the norms,” Khoth admitted.
“So everyone has the same home as you and your family even though she is the High Councillor?” Jace asked.
“No, her station commands greater resources. But it is the position, not her, that requires this,” Khoth answered.
Jace wondered if that was true. It wasn’t like Nova Voor was keen on letting those greater resources go.
He had assumed it was because she had a vision for the Alliance, and she likely did.
But he also wondered if she feared losing those greater resources and the admiration they brought.
But he wasn’t going to press that, because whatever the weaknesses in the Thaf’ell’s way of doing things, humanity’s was worse.
“I just realized something a little… freaky,” Jace said with a grimace.
“What?”
“Well, your point about how there are starving people? That there are people who have more than they could ever spend? That things could be… evened out?”
“You are thinking that you now could do that? With the Osiris’ help?” Khoth guessed.
“Totally. In fact, right now, the Osiris is offering me a method to move the ones and zeros that now represent most money on Earth…” Jace raked a hand through his hair.
“But it would cause a cascade of other problems. I can’t just pull one thread and expect the rest to stay put.
And no one is asking me to play god, which it would be and--”
“You do have so much power, Jace. But you will seek the wisdom from within and from others to know what to do with it,” Khoth said without hesitation.
Jace could hear the solid thump of Khoth’s heart in his left ear.
It was soothing and he needed soothing right at that moment.
Because Khoth’s words were sort of freaking him out.
In the past few days, he had been so focused on the tasks before him that he hadn’t thought much ahead of that.
Now he realized that maybe he had been thinking too small.
“After the Khul are dealt with… I have some choices to make, don’t I?” Jace asked softly.
“You could change the whole trajectory of the human race more than you already have,” Khoth agreed.
Jace lifted his head up and stared at Khoth’s face in horror. “More than I already have?”
Khoth lifted his right eyebrow. “Yes, Jace, you have introduced humanity to the stars and to the Alliance. That will change everything.”
“Yeah, but that was always going to happen!” Jace cried, suddenly desperate to not be responsible. “Humans would have either figured out the tech or the Alliance would have broken down… eventually.”
“You did meet my mother today, didn’t you?” Khoth lifted the other eyebrow.
“Uhm, okay, I see your point but it's not like she is going to live forever! Like… like me… oh, my God…” Jace lowered himself--or more like collapsed--onto Khoth’s chest as he contemplated these things.
Khoth’s hand was back in his hair and his steady heartbeat thumped in Jace’s ear. Jace just closed his eyes and breathed. Khoth smelled incredible too. A mixture of spice and incense.
“Calm yourself. You are getting ahead of the moment,” Khoth urged. More stroking. Jace wanted to purr.
“I don’t know…” Jace murmured. “How can I forget this now that I see it?”
Would you like a sedative? The Osiris asked.
No, no, I want to be awake with Khoth, Jace said. Maybe later.
He had to admit that there was something alluring at the thought of dreamless sleep though in Khoth’s strong arms. But he rather liked being awake in Khoth’s arms, too. Besides, Khoth’s words were almost soothing. Yet his brain plucked at him.
Jace continued, “If I don’t think about the future then I won’t be prepared for it--”
“There is much between now and then, yes? Much to do. Much to decide. Much will happen,” Khoth asked and his fingers curled around Jace’s right ear.
“Uh, yeah. Like a ton,” Jace admitted. Now he was getting stressed about that! But Khoth kept petting him.
“This cycle alone you have already done much and it is not done. You will meet with your parents and the general. Review potential human crew. Determine if you need be worried about the Osiris’ money manipulation--”
“Tcha. Yeah, it didn’t steal from anyone, but it just created the money out of nothing,” Jace said with a sigh. “So long as Walter doesn’t get in trouble, I’m okay with it. Sort of. Kind of. It’s just money. Oh, God.”
Jace buried his face in Khoth’s chest and breathed deeply. Khoth’s hand ran up and down Jace’s back now.
“My point is made though. You have concrete decisions to make in the short term. In the medium term, you also have greater decisions such as who among the Alliance species you will choose for the crew. That will change things for those species too,” Khoth pointed out.
“That last part was not calming. You had me easing back down here, but now I’m all tense,” Jace laughed and then sighed.
“You are a force for change, Jace. You were made to be. Trained to be,” Khoth suggested.
“I was made to destroy the Khul,” Jace said softly.
“You are more than that. For I could say the same thing about myself. Trained since birth to fight our enemy and defend our people. But I am more than that,” Khoth pointed out.
“Yeah, but you weren’t genetically modified to be who you are. I literally had stuff pumped into me to make me better at doing this.” Jace waved a hand blindly around the room.
“On the contrary, the Thaf’ell test and train us to be what we have a proficiency for, remember? I was made into the warrior you see today,” Khoth said. “It might not have been as time-saving as being injected, but it was the same process.”
“I guess… I can see that,” Jace said.
It was hard to think of himself as a weapon though.
But it made him remember that dream-training he’d last had with Gehenna where he’d feared a greater connection to her and the Osiris.
He worried about losing himself to being the Pilot.
As they faced greater and greater dangers, would he be so averse to letting go?
Wouldn’t it be selfish to not give himself over fully?
Hanging onto Khoth at that moment made him feel more human than ever. And he didn’t want to lose this.
“It’s got me thinking…”
“About?” Khoth asked.
“Where our first stop should be after we get the crew,” Jace said. He bit his lower lip and had the Osiris show the planet where it and Gehenna were created. “I think we need to know more about the Osiris and Gehenna and the two factions of Precursors that made them.”
“Could not the Osiris or Gehenna answer these questions for you?” Khoth asked.
“They could. Well, maybe. But they aren’t. They’re being really quiet about it. A little shady about it actually. And it's putting the wind up me, to be honest,” Jace admitted.
The Osiris was completely silent. Gehenna was working on her new body. She wanted to surprise him so she was blocking their connection all but for necessary communications, but he was sure she wouldn’t answer him about this either.
“Putting the--”
“It’s making me suspicious,” Jace quickly amended. “I want to understand something about the people who made the AIs and through them… me,” Jace admitted. “I know we have to manufacturing hubs and--”
“No, that is a wise decision. We do need to know more about the Osiris and Gehenna. The fact that the ship was on Earth and Gehenna--”
“Was a prisoner? Yeah, and the fact that the damage to the Osiris’ hull was from the inside… so, so many questions that need answering,” Jace said.
“My sister met with Dr. Kantor Lafrei, an expert on the Osiris. To the extent there is such a thing. She is a Neenda so--”
“She could feel what the Osiris and Gehenna’s pasts are! Cool!” Jace grinned as information on the doctor’s species entered his mind.
“Yes, exactly. We are retracing Daesah’s steps. I cannot help but think that is a wise thing,” Khoth said.
“Yeah, for sure.” Jace bit his lower lip. “What would Daesah do if she were the Pilot?”
Khoth surprisingly chuckled. “Whatever you are planning to do, Jace, that would be what she would do. I know you well enough already to guess that.”
“Then that makes me feel better, because she seems like she was pretty damned smart,” Jace said.
“She was. And so are you.”
Khoth’s hand was running over his head again. Jace arced and his back let out soft pops in his spine as he stretched out.
“Man, I wonder if they have massage bots on board,” Jace laughed.
Khoth went very still and Jace wondered why. The Osiris had all the answers suddenly.
The activities you are engaging in are already establishing a bond of the type that leads to a mating, the Osiris answered. To massage you would be to take another step in that process.
Mating… wait, what? Don’t Thaf’ell date? Jace blinked.
Do you merely wish to date him? The Osiris asked. For my understanding of your thoughts on this matter--
No, I don’t want to just date him, Jace admitted. But Khoth has already had a lot to absorb and now you’re telling me that I suggested we--
Khoth’s hand dropped to his shoulder and squeezed it. It was Jace’s turn to freeze. “Hmmm, you do appear tense. I think you do need a massage.”
“I’ll find that massage bot and--
“We do not need a machine,” Khoth murmured, his voice lowering and his eyes hooding. “Now, Jace, lay down on your front.”
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