Authors: Tony Peak
“You can't escape!”
Kivita laughed and tickled Basheev, the dark-skinned Dirr boy, on the observation deck. After he squirmed into a corner beside a six-foot tall indigo hibiscus, she pretended to lose interest, then turned and tickled his armpits. Laughing, Basheev fled behind the two Naxan women, who mused over potting soils.
“Look here: there is to be no playing around these plants!” called Maihh, the head Naxan horticulturalist. Her gray hair was tied back in a bun, which shook when she moved. A green-and-yellow dress draped her thin frame.
“C'mon, let's go,” Kivita said, but Basheev laughed and shook his head.
Maihh clicked twice and crossed her arms. “You are standing too close to that golden rhododendron, young man. It is a rare species.”
Hands on hips, Kivita leaned toward the flower. With their mauve petals and brilliant yellow buds, the rhododendrons reminded her of her childhood. Rhyer had always brought back flowers from his travels, though often in small containers. This bush came to her shoulder, and
had an eight-foot diameter. Kivita reached out to it, trying to imagine its native world.
Maihh lightly slapped Kivita's hand away. “They only remain as beautiful as you are, my dear, because they remain untouched.” She clicked once and grinned at Kivita.
“I'm still amazed at the work you do.” Kivita steered Basheev away from the rhododendron. “I've never seen such flowers.”
“Nax is all desert, so my people had to master plants before we could master ourselves. Life is easier to cherish when it is so frail. So similar to us Thedes. Have you enjoyed your stay with us so far?” Maihh clicked twice.
Gazing around the observation deck, Kivita nodded. “It's like another world aboard this ship.” From the corner of her eye, she spied Basheev trying to sneak away.
“Gotcha!” Kivita grabbed Basheev and tickled his belly. In his struggles, the boy's hand brushed a hibiscus blossom.
Maihh clicked three times, while the other Naxan woman shouted and waved her hands in the air. Laughing, Kivita and Basheev rushed through the circular door. They almost knocked over Jandeel in the adjoining corridor.
“You'll be banned from that room yet,” Jandeel chided with a smile. “May we go to the library now?”
Kivita tousled Basheev's head before he ran off. “Yeah, yeah. I just ate after waking from cryosleep. Kinda hoped for a little relaxation before we started again.”
Jandeel frowned. “I realize we're asking much of you. The Sages on board, including me, want more information to study from that Juxj Star. Believe me. I wish I
could do this myself. But we don't know what awaits us at the end of this jump. We must be prepared.”
“Yeah, you're right.” Kivita paused and considered how far she'd progressed. Eight Haldon months had passed, with four months of it spent in cryostasis. Navon, Jandeel, and the others had taught her much about the Thede ambition: sharing knowledge with all, so everyone could be equal and content. Though not certain about such a lofty philosophy, Kivita relished the sense of community aboard
Luccan's Wish
.
Each time she saw the Thede children, like Basheev, Kivita thought of Sar. His lie about being sterile, or what he would think of her, the daughter of a long-dead queen. A princess without a crown, without a throne. Without her swarthy, curly-haired king.
“Are you well?” Jandeel asked, concern in his eyes.
“Still taking it all in, you know?” She gestured at the ship around them.
Jandeel smiled. “Let's grab a drink before you give the other Savants more tasks.”
As they walked through pressurized corridors and chambers, people smiled at Kivita. Everyone knew her Savant talents, which now exceeded even Navon's. But how much longer could she handle all this attention? Gifts had been placed in her chambers: flowers, a Tannocci marriage contract requesting her hand, and even a lock of Ascali hair, a potent symbol of respect.
Why did they think she deserved all this?
She returned the smiles, but despite the new friendships and attention, Kivita missed the hammock on
Terredyn Narbas
, and Sar's mysterious smirk. She hoped he was . . . well, she just hoped.
In the galley two other Sages stopped Jandeel and
whispered to him. Kivita smiled at them and blew a kiss to Basheev. He shied away, then blew it back. The air smelled cleaner since her knowledge about the improved air scrubber had been put to use. As she neared the serving counter, the Dirr serving woman, Rhii, grinned.
“Stars shine and twinkle, miss! No wonder Basheev ran in here with that smile. I see you still have that Dirr braid I plaited for you.” Rhii handed her a cup of wood-snake milk; Kivita now loved the thick drink.
“I might add one on the other side, too.” Kivita touched the small, plaited tress dangling from her right temple.
Rhii grinned wider. “Stars blinking, miss! Beware of the third braid. Only married Dirr women plait three into their hair.”
Cheseia stepped up to the bar beside Kivita. “I hear your studies have truly come along?” Since volunteering for the maintenance staff, Cheseia's cryostasis shift remained a month away. The beautiful Ascali hadn't aged in a noticeable wayâsave for her eyes. Those exhausted russet orbs always seemed occupied.
“Yeah, you wouldn't believe the things I've seen. Hey, you look tired. You okay?”
“I am definitely fine.” Cheseia touched Kivita's braid. “You are so radiantly vibrant here. I must honestly admit, when I first saw you . . .”
Kivita smiled wanly. “Yeah, I know. I was a scruffy salvager tramp.”
Cheseia squeezed Kivita's hand. “Now I know you thankfully are not. You are truly honorable.” The Ascali released her grip and accepted a cup of jiir juice from Rhii.
“I . . . thanks. Hey, you going to the gym later? I liked that last workout we had.” Kivita gulped her milk to alleviate the sudden dryness in her mouth.
“Yes, but now I must surely go to Level Two and continue my duties.” After touching Kivita's braid again, she left.
Kivita sipped her milk, eyeing the Ascali's departing form as pride swelled in her chest. To think they'd once been enemies.
“Winking stars, but I still remember when Sar saved my boy and me from that Inheritor blockade,” Rhii said. “Darkest stars, it was near Susuron, maybe thirteen Haldon years ago. Basheev was no taller than your knees, miss.”
“Really?” Taking another drink, Kivita's pride deflated. All this time she'd hated Sar, cursed him, and he'd been saving people. Making a difference while she'd slept in cryo or caroused in dingy spaceports.
Jandeel joined her at the bar and accepted a mug of reed ale. “Everyone is growing more excited as we draw closer to those coordinates. People will grow more nervous, too. Everyone wants to know what's coming.”
“Guess that's where I come in.” Kivita finished her drink. “C'mon, let's go visit my favorite gem.”
After exiting the galley and taking an elevator to Level Six, Kivita and Jandeel entered the ship's library. Sages, students, and Savants looked up from their studies. She was dressed in a blue skinsuit and chaps, and more than a few admiring stares came her way. Her cheeks warmed.
“Yeah, okay, so you know I'm in here.” She smiled. Everyone chuckled and grinned back.
Jandeel sat at a desk with four other Sages, and three
male Savants sat on a bench opposite them. The students all waited, holding computer chits and glue pens. Kivita still felt uncomfortable while these people paid attention to her words, even the inflection of her voice, every time she described her visions.
Entering from another door, Navon smiled at Kivita. “I see Jandeel finally discovered you?”
Kivita sat on a grass mat in the center of the room. “Sorry I'm late. What's the lesson this time?”
A Naxan Sage dressed in evergreen robes cleared his throat. “Come, now, my dear. You promised to reveal the genus of the Haldon red-grain seed from the Juxj Star.” He emitted three clicks.
Jandeel frowned and rubbed his chin. “What of those details about energy dumps?”
A Tahe Sage, her slender form swathed in white cloth, spoke. “We require new engines to test such theories, Jandeel. The resources are not present aboard this ship.”
“I suggest we let Kivita focus on her former transmissions,” Navon said. “Perhaps a hint at what this Vim signal is and the coordinates we are headed toward will be gleaned.”
Kivita waited while Jandeel placed the Juxj Star on the mat beside her. Though she'd uncovered minor data from it since her first meeting with Navon, no further probing of its deeper knowledge had been attempted.
Everyone sat still, watching her. Waiting. Her heartbeat raced. She swallowed. No matter how many times she did this, Kivita knew she'd never get used to it.
Laying her palm over the gem's surface, Kivita closed her eyes, and a slight tingling traveled across her temples. Weeks of training allowed her to resist the cold
throb in her skull. With acute focus, she skipped past the datacore's outer information layers.
Her skin numbed. Sounds around her faded.
The image of figures in white exoskeletons returned, one Kivita hadn't seen since touching the datacores near Xeh's Crown. The shapes moved with mechanical precision, lifting huge steel girders and beams. Other forms walked around the base of the figure, carrying tools and satchels. Upturned earth and mortared foundations waited nearby. Tall, angular buildings and ordered forests riddled the landscape around the worksite.
Kivita let out a slow breath. Focus, attune, absorb, like Navon had taught her. The frigid ache in her temples dissipated.
The image morphed into one where the buildings had been gutted and burned. Several large colony ships lifted off barren soil now devoid of foliage. The ships exited the atmosphere and hung in space, where spiral arms filled with blue, yellow, and orange stars blinked. The colony ships departed the dying world.
“Meh Sat,” Kivita whispered. The human homeworld.
As the ships left, a glimpse of gray-green, crescent-shaped craft appeared. Violet beams of light darted from the vessels to the planet below.
“The Sarrhdtuu destroyed it,” she said with a strained voice.
A similar image of Khaasis, with Aldaakian fleets scattering in desperation, appeared in Kivita's thoughts. Again, Sarrhdtuu ships arrived and demolished the planet from orbit. Jewel-blue atmospheres darkened from soot and ash blown from the surface.
Kivita shuddered and licked her lips. “They . . . they destroyed Cradles.”
The vision transformed. Kivita gasped as a Sarrhdtuu held her against a wall, waving the Juxj Star in her face. Purple-slotted eyes widened as moist, steely coils tapped Kivita's head. She got the impression the Sarrhdtuu wanted her to do something with the Juxj Star. Something the viewer hadn't wanted to do.
The images blurred in her mind. Focus, attune, absorb. She couldn't lose her control, her concentration. Not now, please not now.
Kivita's mind peeled away another data layer. A huge chamber filled with transparent tubes and pipes, each flowing with green or yellow fluids, contained rows of vats containing green jelly. Humanoid figures floated inside each vat. Booms with stalklike appendages lifted several figures from the muck.
Yes, another of the images from Xeh's Crown! But . . . the body reminded her of Shekelor Thal's green-rigged augmentations. Sarrhdtuu Transmutation, she now realized.
The viewer struggled until opaque green liquid engulfed the vision.
Coughing, Kivita doubled over. Her grip tightened on the Juxj Star.
The gem sent another scene into her mind, where Rhyer Vondir waited in front of Kivita, wearing his purple cape and polymail. The charred remains of a Sarrhdtuu hull lay on the stone floor. Kivita concentrated on the gray-green metal covered in knobby protrusions.
By thought alone, the viewerâKivita's motherâcaused one of the protrusions to open.
Teeth chattering, head throbbing, she almost brought up the milk she'd drunk earlier. Hands prevented her from slumping to the floor.
“The datacore has stopped glowing,” the Naxan Sage's voice entered Kivita's ears.
“She is taxed. Please stand back so she can have air.” Navon's voice.
Kivita coughed again and sat up. “I'm okay,” she mumbled, then took a deep breath. Her trembling ceased. The throbbing in her head lessened to a dull mental fatigue. The faces around her gawked and stared.
“Did it work? Was the data recorded?” As she loosed a shaking breath, the icy tingles left her temples.
Jandeel gaped at her, clutching his head. “You planted it into our minds. Without touching us, without speaking.”
The Tahe Sage slumped over the desk and whimpered. One of the other Savants had fainted. Several students wobbled, clutching chits filled with written information.
Navon steadied himself against the wall. “You transmitted it to all of us, Kivita. Even I . . . have difficulty with what you have just shown us.”
“The Sarrhdtuu have been our ancient enemies long before we ever came to the Cetturo Arm,” Kivita breathed. “The Aldaakians are right.”
“We have nothing they need,” Jandeel said. “By all accounts, they don't seek out datacores.”
“The Sarrhdtuu ships, the green-rigged peopleâI think they're connected somehow. I don't know how, but . . . my mother manipulated that piece of Sarrhdtuu hull.” Kivita stood. Unlike the others, her strength had already returned.
“The same as you managed with other electronic devices, like you have described to us.” Navon gripped her hand. “Kivita, that is why they want you. That is why
they destroyed those worlds. They fear what you can do. Fear it so much, they massacred civilizations to contain it.”
The Naxan Sage clicked five times. “That is speculation. From that vision, they green-rigged the very Savant who sent that memory to the Juxj Star. The Sarrhdtuu also wanted something performed with this datacore. If they fear Savants so much, why commit those things?”