Adrift (The Sirilians Book 1) (15 page)

“Yes.”

For some reason Jayda and Deian blanched slightly at the idea, but Karo sat quietly trying to wrap his mind around the concept that his people had purposefully changed themselves into the beings sitting across from him. Not that he was any better than the Grays, he was just—different.

“How long after I left did the process begin?”

“Roughly four centuries.”

So it hadn’t been my people,
Karo thought. Yes, it had been the Sirilians, but not ones with the same mindset as when he’d lived there. A lot could happen to change a planet’s culture in four-hundred years. He thought about his memories of Siril, and the holographic images the Arathians had shown him. He felt a pull towards the planet… it was still his home after all.

“What happened to Siril?” Karo asked. “Why was it abandoned?”

“The short answer is that once genetic modification became widespread, it caused the Sirilians to change into two separate sects. Both groups left the planet; the intellectuals, which are the Grays’ ancestors, moved onto space stations and never returned to life upon the planet.”

And now it sits empty.
It was unthinkable to Karo. Siril had been a beautiful place, with soaring mountains, massive oceans teeming with life… cities filled with people. His parents, friends—they were long since gone. Even their bodies had returned to the lifecycle of the planet long ago. A wave a nausea rolled over him, and he gagged.

“I think I need a moment,” Karo announced shakily. He barely noticed that he’d interrupted Ambassador Lear and Jayda.

“Of course Karo,” Jayda replied. “There’s an adjoining room through that door.”

Karo followed where she pointed, and nearly ran from the room. He didn’t look around, but instead sat heavily upon the first chair he came to and hung his head. His mind flashed through memories of his friends, family, and a hazy image of a woman with long white hair.

He felt tears sting his eyes. His mother and father, everyone he’d ever met was long gone, but they didn’t
feel
gone to him. He’d been awake such a short time that if felt like he’d only said goodbye to them five years ago.
How could everything be gone?

Tears fell down his cheeks, but he didn’t have the will to suppress them. Instead, he spent the next few minutes embracing his sorrow, and weeping at all that he’d lost. His hope of returning home was gone. All he had now was his ship. Was that to be his entire existence now?
Am I to spend the remainder of my life onboard that ship, listing through space?

The thought was repellent. He’d spent enough time—hundreds of lifetimes—within its confines. The thought of going back to the inky blackness of space alone… there was no way he could survive that. Not anymore. He didn’t know where he’d go or what he’d do, but he was not going back.

The choice made him feel better. Although he’d lost everyone back home, he was still alive. And now that he was freed from his mission, he was able to find out what that new life would entail.

The thought gave him a ray of hope. 

He stood to try to shake off the worst of the grief, but knew that he needed more information. He couldn’t move past this without learning all he could. He owed himself, and his people, that at the very least.

Karo nodded to himself, took one more deep breath, and rejoined the others.

Jayda, Lukas, and Deian stood the moment he stepped into the room, and he saw expressions of sympathy on each of their faces. The Grays thankfully hadn’t left yet.

Jayda moved towards him and took his hand in a comforting gesture. She squeezed his palm. “You okay?”

Karo squeezed her back. “I’ll be alright.”

She spent a moment looking at him, but must have decided that he was being honest. She led him back to the sitting area, then let go of his hand. Deian smiled at him, and Lukas patted him on the shoulder reassuringly, reminding him that he was not alone. He may be the last Sirilian in existence, but he was
not
alone.

They each retook their seats, and Karo turned to the Ambassador and Chairman Rowe. “I would like to get a copy of your historical data.”

There was a long pause, and both aliens looked at the Arathians uncomfortably. Karo maintained eye contact with the Ambassador until he finally spoke.

“We are unable to give you records from our database. But if you come with us to our space station, we’ll tell you the information you seek.” 

“Why can’t you just tell him now?” Lukas asked. “We could leave you three in private, if you’d rather speak alone?”

The Grays shared a look, but it was Karo who answered. “It’s alright Lukas; I think I need to see for myself.”

He hoped he sounded convincing, because admittedly he wasn’t too keen on leaving the Arathians and his ship—actually he felt an intense need to stay, but managed to repress the urge. He chalked it up to him being away from LINK and his ship for the first time in millennia, as it were.

That’s a long time to be asleep.
It would probably do him some good to step out of his comfort zone.

He looked at the duo. “I would like to visit your people, and learn about what happened to mine.”

Ambassador Lear inclined his head. “We would be honored to have you as our guest.”

“Only for a short time, right?” Karo added. “My ship is being repaired, and I don’t want to be gone for too long.”

“As you wish. Onboard our shuttle we can escort you to one of our stations. Perhaps the one closest to your homeworld?”

“I would like that,” Karo agreed.

The two Grays stood in unison. “We’ll allow you to gather your belongings, and will meet you in docking bay two.”

They didn’t wait for a reply, but bowed to the Arathians in unison, then turned and exited the room.

The three mates turned towards him. “Are you sure about this?” Lukas asked.

Deian chimed in. “Yeah, you don’t have to go. You’re welcome to stay here as long as you want.”

“Thank you,” Karo replied sincerely, “but I think this is something I have to do.”

They nodded.

Jayda stepped forward and enveloped him in an embrace. For a moment he was taken off-guard. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d been hugged. It felt good to be this close to another person. Karo smiled and slowly brought his arms up to return the embrace.

She spoke against his chest. “Take care okay?” She looked up to see him nod, then pulled back. She let go, but Deian took her place.

“I’ll take extra special care of your ship while you’re gone,” Deian said as he wrapped his arms around Karo. Karo felt a pang of emotion at the thought of actually leaving his vessel, but knew that it was in good hands. 

“Please see that you do.” Deian nodded in understanding, and let him go.

Lukas was the last to approach, and handed him a small device. “I want you to take my comm unit. That way you’ll be able to contact us whenever you like.”

“Yeah, like if they’re holding you hostage,” Deian mumbled. Jayda elbowed him.

“I don’t think I’ll be gone long, but I’ll be sure to keep you updated.”

Lukas nodded, and Karo secured the comm device in his pocket. He looked at the three Arathians in turn, and was reluctant to say goodbye. He’d left everyone he’d ever known, and now he was doing it again. Jayda must have sensed his apprehension.

“You’re doing the right thing,” she consoled. “You need closure, and the Grays are the only ones who can give it to you. We’ll be here when you’re ready to return.”

That calmed some of his nerves. “Thank you,” he said to the trio. “I’ll be seeing you soon.”

With that he headed towards the door, not giving himself the option of stopping.

Aevum woke to a sound emanating from her monitor in the adjacent room, but she closed her eyes and hoped that Karo wouldn’t wake. She was wrapped in the warmth of his arms, and the last thing she wanted was to leave their cocoon.

Karincin had been staying at her house nearly every night for the past few weeks, ever since the evening she met his parents. As far as she knew, he only went home every few days, to change out clothes and grab more of his possessions to bring here.

Aevum had encouraged him on several occasions to message his parents, and although she was tempted to pry further, she doubted he had. It made her guilty to think that she was the central element to their discord, but those feelings receded when Karo laughed heartily and joked with her. He was unwinding like a spring held taut for too long.

Thankfully her parents had been away on assignment for the first two weeks he’d been staying with her. She had known that they wouldn’t have a problem with the new arrangement, she just hadn’t wanted to see the looks of amusement, as their usually-celibate daughter went into her bedroom at the end of the evening with a man she’d been paired with.

She really hoped they hadn’t heard anything. She and Karo had tried to be quiet, but really, who could expect her to muffle her cries of passion when he let himself loose on her?

He may have been inexperienced when they’d met, but now Mr. Overachiever was making up for lost time. He made the excuse that he was “perfecting his technique,” but she got the impression that he just liked knowing that he pleased her.

Oh baby,
did he please her! Just the thought of how he felt inside of her, or how his tongue had quickly learned what pushed her over the edge… and his fingers! She could hardly look at his hands without getting wet for him.

It wasn’t just the sex—although sex was part of it—she also enjoyed simply having him around. She’d never lived with anyone other than her parents, certainly never shared her room or bed with anyone. Although it had been an adjustment, she loved having him with her.

She had eagerly cleared a few shelves in her closet, and so far the only downside had been his penchant for waking at early hours.

This particular morning it was not his jostling of the bed that woke her, but the announcement replaying on her vid monitor. It was nearly unheard of for an emergency message to be sent directly to people’s personal consoles, so it must be of great importance.

Aevum pushed the covers away, and slid out from under the weight of Karo’s arm that had been across her torso. He stirred and mumbled at her to come back to bed.

“Come on, get up,” she told him. “We need to go see what the emergency message says.”

“What message?” he asked groggily, barely opening his eyes in the dim light of dawn.

“The one playing on the vid screen,” Aevum replied as she slung a blanket around her shoulders.

That got him moving. Karo sprung out of bed and pulled on a pair of pants that had been discarded days prior.

The man was a little too used to having a household staff to clean up after him, and Aevum refused to give in. His clothes would sit there until he ran out of clean ones, and then…? Would he buy new ones? Ask her how to use the washing machine? She was devilishly curious to see what he’d do.

They walked together to her sitting room, where the emergency signal was emanating from the monitor. He touched the surface and a recorded message began to play.

The man onscreen was a well-known news reporter who usually recounted events from around the planet. This morning his mouth was set in a grim line, and his expression was hard to read. Aevum’s stomach lurched and she sat on her sofa to watch.

“Pardon the interruption at this early hour, but I have important news to impart. A solar flare has just been detected originating from one of our suns.”

Karo sat heavily at Aevum’s side and took her hand. He clenched it hard, and Aevum didn’t need to be an astrophysicist to know that the situation was bad.

“The High Council is urging citizens to stay indoors until this threat passes. Thank you for your attention.”

The monitor went black and it felt as if the entire planet was holding its breath. The silence was deafening.

“What does that mean? What’s happening?” she asked quietly.

Karo turned to face her on the sofa. “Our planet’s magnetic field usually disperses solar flares before they can reach the surface. This one must be massive for them to send out a citizens emergency report.”

“How bad will it be?”

Karo shook his head. “I don’t know. Siril’s magnetosphere has been on a downturn for the past several thousand years—that’s the reason we’re able to harness gama radiation and use it as our planet’s major energy source—but the downside is that it may not be strong enough to protect us from something like this.”

She grasped his hand tighter. “What will happen?”

“I’m not sure.”

Aevum flinched when a loud sound rang from their bedroom and broke through the quiet. Karo hurried into the room to answer the communication, but Aevum still heard the message that played through his wristunit:

“This is Commander Counnas. I’m recalling you to the department immediately. Please make your way there now.”

Aevum’s stomach dropped. She heard the rustle of clothes, and wrapped the blanket tightly around herself, as if it could shield against the threat that was looming.

She looked up to see Karo standing in the doorway to her bedroom with his jacket and shoes already on. His face was grim.

He walked to her and knelt in front of where she sat before taking her hands and kissing her knuckles. “Aevum, look at me.”

She raised her eyes to his and saw fierce determination in their depths.

“I will do everything I possibly can to ensure your safety.” He cupped her cheek, then leaned in and gave her a kiss. She hung onto his collar as if that would keep him with her. Regretfully, she let her hands fall.

This wasn’t where he needed to be.

She stood with him and walked by his side through her house and to the door. Before exiting Karo kissed her once more. 

“Every time I leave it gets harder,” he confessed against her lips.

Even though the situation was dire she gave him a half smile. “I’m glad you don’t want to leave.”

His mouth curved. “Stay here until I contact you,” he instructed, before exiting into the transport room. Aevum watched the doors close and readjusted the blanket around herself. Her home felt cold and empty without him.

*****

Karo’s transport halted abruptly again, and he cursed at the person who ran across the street, narrowly avoiding being hit by the streams of transports. He had only traveled a couple of blocks away from Aevum’s home, but the ride had taken ten times as long due to panicked people congesting the streets.

Deciding that the trip would probably be faster if he walked, Karo exited the transport and entered the throng of people traversing the sidewalks. Most had managed to keep calm, but there were many individuals who ran panicked in every direction. There was no way to avoid the chaos.

He understood that everyone was scared—he was scared too—but he wished that people understood the fastest way for them all to reach their destinations was by keeping calm and maintaining order. Panic helped no one.

After several blocks of dodging people, he soon entered the Department of Space’s building through the main doors. He barely saw the blue beam that scanned his body and inputted his DNA sequence into the mainframe to authenticate his identity. A few hallways later he entered the primary work area.

The studious space inside the department was a stark contrast to the frenzied masses on the streets. Everyone working here was an intellectual; they were worried about the prospect of annihilation—same as the people outside—but these people took their emotions and channeled them into gathering facts and working to find solutions.

Karo knew that if there was a way to lessen the risk to their planet, the people in this building would be the ones to make that happen.

He veered to the right and headed to the partitioned area where his team worked. So far only Reus had arrived.
The others are probably stuck in the mess outside.

Karo joined him at his console.

“Thanks for showing up,” Reus teased.

“I figured you could use the extra help.”

“You’re nothing if not magnanimous.”

Karo’s mouth twitched, and he watched the three-dimensional map Reus was pulling up of their star system. Reus’s hands moved through the air as he initiated sensors that would hopefully give them a more accurate view of their suns.

“I forgive you,” Reus continued. “If I had a warm body sleeping next to me, I wouldn’t want to get up either.”

Karo smiled slightly at the thought of Aevum. He had woken with her wrapped in his arms, cuddled against his chest, her back to his front. They’d both been naked, his favorite way to sleep now, since it offered him unrestricted access to his favorite places in the galaxy.

He could have skimmed his hands up higher and cupped her perfect breasts, massaging the nipples into peaks before descending his mouth to their tips. Or, his hand could have traveled lower… fingertips skimming along her delicate skin before sliding one along her cleft. Would she have been wet for him? The thought alone had his shaft swelling. He could have eased her leg up over his hip, spreading her core for his fingers or cock to slide deep. The last thing he’d wanted to do was to hurry away from her.

The image had him aching, and he knew that his pants were now tented. Good thing Reus was the only person around, and he was focused on the problem at hand… like
Karo
should be. Karo discreetly adjusted himself and refocused on their conversation. What had Reus last said? Something about him spending his nights with Aevum?

“First you’d have to find a woman willing to spend that much time with you,” he retorted.

“Ouch! Good one,” Reus replied, while his hands manipulated the holographic image.

“Here,” he announced. “I think this is the best projection we’re going to get.”

Reus stepped back, and Karo’s stomach sunk. The image showed the projected path of the solar flare; it was going to impact the planet’s surface in fifteen minutes. The only consolation—and it was a tiny one—was that it was going to hit the other side of the planet where there was very little life.

Both men stared silently at the model for a moment before Karo began inputting commands into Reus’s console. They needed to disseminate this information right away. Everyone at the department needed to know.

“We need to send this to Commander Counnas right away.”

“What do you think he’ll do?” Reus asked.

The question caught Karo off-guard, and he paused a moment to think. What
could
they do? There was no way to shield an entire population from the radiation of a solar flare.

They could either move the planet out of its path—which wasn’t an option—or tell the citizens to take shelter, which wouldn’t help them.

Karo brought his fist down onto the console in anger. He’d devoted his career to decreasing the dangers to his planet, his home, but the first real risk to their people’s survival and he couldn’t do anything but sit by and be an observer. It made him want to vomit.

If the planet’s magnetosphere had been stronger it would have helped disperse the radiation, but that wasn’t going to help them now. Energetic protons were hurtling their direction. If—when—they hit the planet, they would cause massive biochemical damage to all life within their path.

He looked again at the projection. The flare was going to make impact with Siril in the eastern hemisphere; an area comprised of ocean and an archipelago of small inhabited islands. 

He and Reus shared a look. There was nothing anyone could do. Even if they sent their fastest ships they couldn’t get there and evacuate everyone in time.

Still, Karo sent the information to Commander Counnas before he and Reus began formulating an emergency plan for the fallout.