Chapter 25
With an echo of the sense of ‘been here, done this,’ Kellen stood in his bay as first one, then another shuttle landed. The people that began to straggle out appeared shell-shocked, relieved, worried, afraid, and possibly just a little excited.
“It’s my first spaceship,” one woman muttered, looking around with awe.
But they were all also exhausted and though they hadn’t starved yet—the supplies on the shuttle had been enough to keep them going but they’d been rationed and running out—they were hungry for real food.
His people looked as strained as they each were capable of. Trac, of course, didn’t look like anything but himself.
But there were his people—crew and rescued—and it appeared they picked up a bird along the way.
The strain of the last week showed clearly on their faces.
Even Lt. Dish was missing all of her perkiness.
She dragged down the ramp and gave him a wan smile that he suspected even a bowl of popcorn couldn’t help.
“What do you want more?” He asked. “Food or sleep?”
She paused, and it appeared to take almost more effort than she had energy for, to try to decide.
“Go get some rest,” he said.
She nodded. Kellen looked at Trac, nodding toward her and the cyborg went to her, picked her up and strode out. The lieutenant didn’t even squeak a protest. It was possible she was already asleep.
Riina also looked hammered, but oddly content.
Kellen glanced at Tim and thought he detected the same subtle contentment in his eyes.
Had they finally both realized their feelings for each other?
While he didn’t want to be captain of a love ship, it was nice to see that they’d finally found each other.
Still, both of them also showed signs of strain and exhaustion. But he needed their help to deal with the Arroxan Prime people who had somehow ended up with them. He couldn’t wait to hear that story.
It felt like it took forever to feed and settle their Arroxan Prime guests. Now that they knew they were safe—Riina didn’t point out that safety was relative when you were hurtling through space using a star drive—they’d become almost cheerful. And extremely curious.
They also found, according to Lt. Dish, their whine-one-one buttons.
But they’d been tucked in at last, and Riina had been able to both eat and get some rest. She woke when she felt them drop out of star drive and made her way to the bridge as quickly as she could get ready.
Tim was already there. Had he rested at all, she wondered? There were tired lines around his eyes and mouth, but he smiled when he saw her come in.
“We’ve just arrived in the Arroxan Prime system,” Tim told her. “We’ll reach the planet in six ship’s hours.”
“We were able to transit back quickly because we knew the route,” Veirn explained.
“We collected a lot of new data while looking for you,” Captain Kellen said.
He looked tired, too. She almost said something but stopped herself. He was the captain. He’d get rested when he felt like it was the right time.
“We had something interesting happen,” Kellen added. He leaned forward and manipulated some controls. An image popped up on the forward screen.
“Is that…” Riina began as she stared at a much healthier looking purple alien female.
“We believe so,” Tim said.
“It is a message of thanks,” Veirn said.
“How do we know?” Riina listened, but all she could hear was the same alien sounds they heard at the junk yard.
“It arrived with both prime numbers and music as part of its coding,” Veirn explained. “I could, of course, have translated it incorrectly if their prime numbers were different than ours, but since you saved her life, we can reasonably assume certain things about the message. And she is smiling.”
Riina grinned at Tim. “I think it is reasonable to assume it isn’t a death threat.”
“That,” Tim said, grinning back, “is new in my experience.”
Riina felt a stab of pleasure that he could joke about his dark past.
“There is more,” Tim said.
“More?” Was this the bad news of the good news, bad news scenario?
“I have been able to pick up the news telecasts from Arroxan Prime,” Veirn said.
That seemed like good news? She hoped. There were people alive to make those broadcasts.
“The damage to the planet is much less severe than we expected, based on our readings and observations at the time,” Veirn said.
“In fact,” Kellen said, “their seismic disruptions have been reduced to levels more typical of similar planets in our systems. It is possible that the sensors were originally installed because the seismic activity as so a-typical.”
“It did seem,” Tim observed, “that the entity was targeting high seismic regions.”
“And from what Dr. Walker reported, their people didn’t settle in those areas,” Riina said.
“In addition,” Veirn said, “they built resilient structures, so the damage from the extractions was manageable.”
“Extraction?” Riina’s voice might have squeaked some at this characterization.
“It is now clear that the entity extracted the Vorthari,” Veirn said.
“But how…”
“They sent the Arroxan Prime government a bill,” Kellen said dryly. “In their language and currency.”
“A bill?” Riina’s voice definitely squeaked this time. “And how are they supposed to pay it?”
“If the news sources are correct,” Veirn said, “they already have taken payment. They also extracted some minerals while they were here.”
“Very valuable minerals,” Kellen said, “but their seismic problem is solved, so they seem to think it is worth it.”
Riina blinked, as she considered this information. “So we came to help with their Vorthari problem…”
“..these aliens solved it for us,” Tim confirmed.
“But,” Riina frowned in puzzlement, “how did they know to come? Who hired them?”
“According to sources inside the government,” Veirn said, “someone called Pollin Sollin sent them a message.”
There was a short silence, then Riina said, her tone almost hushed, “Do you think he knew what he was doing?”
“I’m going to go with…” Tim said, “not a clue.”
Rinna smiled at his use of the Earth term.
Another short silence ensued. Kellen cleared his throat.
“I could be wrong,” Kellen said, “but I think our first contact problem is also moot. Without our intervention, they have learned they are not alone in the universe.”
She exchanged a look with Tim that was decidedly rueful as she mentally checked that mission priority box off, too. It was hard not to feel like their dash to the rescue had been a little embarrassing.
The only thing left for them to do was to return their accidental guests to their planet. And find out what Dr. Walker wanted to do about his side chick.
Tim had a strange moment of disconnect as he took a seat in the small conference room of the Quendala. There was no Doc, General Halliwell, or the Maestra, of course. Instead, they had Dr. Walker, his side chick, Lira Taan, her father, Riina, and Captain Kellen.
“How are your people doing?” Kellen asked Dr. Taan.
“Truthfully?” Dr. Taan ran hands through his hair, causing some disruptions in its flatness. “They will be glad to get home. They are finding space travel…unsettling.”
Veirn had arranged for them to see streams of the various news broadcasts, so they all knew their planet was safe, and in some ways better off. They’d also seen reactions to the alien extraction event—as they were calling it.
Tim suspected that they were taking it as well as they were because there was no one to complain to about it. The aliens had come, extracted a threat they hadn’t known was there, and left with their seismic problem mostly solved.
All that was left for them was acceptance.
Dr. Taan’s lips twitched slightly before he added, “In other circumstances they might have had some exciting alien abduction stories to share, but it’s pretty clear that no one is going to care.
Everyone has an alien story now. And to tell the truth, none of them ever included a space trip to, what did you call it, a junk yard in their expectations of alien contact. ”
“It was more than they wanted,” Lira agreed.
“So basically,” Dr. Walker said, “your problems are all solved.”
Except for what to do about Dr. Walker, Tim thought. But it was Riina who put it into words.
“And what about you, Dr. Walker?”
Walker and Lira exchanged glances. Then he looked at Riina.
“I’d like to stay. They have a whole bunch of new geology for me to explore and map. And…” he looked at Lira, his gaze softening. “The fact that I’m an alien, well, even Drun doesn’t think it will matter. With the alien autopsy off the table…”
“Are you sure? We might not get back your way in your lifetime,” Riina said. “This is—or was—a quiet corner of the universe.”
“I’m cool with it,” Walker said.
His hand covered Lira’s that was resting on the tabletop and they exchanged a look that was weighted with much intent. Tim was rather proud of himself that he recognized it.
“You don’t have any desire to travel the stars, Lira?” Tim asked. He found this all rather baffling. Even as a slave, he had liked going and doing and seeing other planets and systems. It is what had made the dark part of it bearable.
“I never did,” Lira said. “It was my father who was all about the aliens. I’m an archeologist with a lot of new ground to explore, too.”
Tim looked at Dr. Taan.
“But I wasn’t looking up for aliens,” Dr. Taan pointed out.
“I always knew the aliens were below us. And now, at least everyone knows now that I wasn’t crazy.
” He glanced around. “This is appealing. This ship, this type of travel. I won’t lie, but my family is on Arroxan Prime, and I’ve already spent too much time away from them. I am content to go home.”
Words, Tim realized. Somehow, through it all, they’d solved the biggest problems with words. He might be—what was that word that Colonel Carey liked to use?—gobsmacked. Was that it? It sounded like what he felt. Gobsmacked.
Pollin Sollin stood in the shadow of the trees watching as the rest of his people walked down the shuttle’s ramp. It felt good to have Arroxan Prime land under his feet again. He was, he could admit in this brief space of quiet, struggling to process all that had happened.
He’d gone to meet aliens.
And he had. Eventually.
And then everything had gone wrong. Because of aliens, just not because of the aliens he’d hoped to meet.
Instead of a photo opportunity and possible fame, he’d been abducted. He’d been forced to eat alien emergency food so he wouldn’t starve. There had been moments he’d wanted to starve.
Mostly, he sighed as he faced it, he’d been bored. They’d been shut in the back of a shuttle for—he had no idea how long. There’d been no windows to look out of, no way to mark the time. It had passed.
They’d been “rescued.” From shuttle he’d gone to a space ship. He’d had hope, but the food had still been awful. And again, no outside view.
They had been provided them with video from Arroxan Prime so they could see what had happened while they were gone. So they could see what they’d missed.
He’d flown into outer space and the only people who might have been interested in his story had been with him. They were all a non-story.
They’d all missed the main event and had a terrible view for the event they hadn’t missed.
It was…ironic.
He sighed and headed toward the lights of Lira Taan’s house wondering what to do now.
The drop-off was quiet, totally without fanfare, at the site of Lira’s habitation.
Riina insisted on giving Dr. Walker a beacon he could use to contact them in case of an emergency.
If two sets of aliens had found them, it was possible others might as well.
He thanked them, took Lira’s hand, and walked into the shadows after the others.
Drun had given them stiff verbal thanks, while his gaze remained suspicious. He hadn’t enjoyed the unexpected ride, and he’d had a better view than most about what they’d been up against, so Riina didn’t fault him for a lack of graciousness.
Dr. Taan ran a hand down the side of the shuttle, gave a sigh, and then turned and walked after his daughter.
That left Riina and Tim alone in the quiet dark. They didn’t speak as they walked up the ramp. It closed behind them, thanks to Veirn’s fragment, which was still hanging around. It was not a surprise that Veirn had trust issues about Arroxan Prime.
They went to the cockpit, but Tim let Veirn pilot the ship back to the Quendala. He was deeply tired in a way that he assumed was typical of being human, but also happy in a way he’d never been able to achieve as a cyborg.
He lowered his faceplate and pulled off his gloves. Riina followed suit, and they clasped hands as the shuttle lifted off the surface.
“Do we know how long it’s been…” Riina began, then shook her head.
Did it matter, she seemed to indicate? He could be agree. It been long enough and that is what mattered.
Thank you for reading OmnitronW! The next book in the series will be TalusH coming in 2026!