Brynin 3 (9 page)

Nebo nodded, his face tensed up.

Worik scowled. “I’ve got a bad feeling that all of us are gonna die before we go back home.”

Nebo grimaced, but didn’t say a word.

Dusk had come. To our right, at the top of an adjacent hill, a great many four-foot tall, mocha–colored, furry creatures with long ears and narrow snouts barked. Soon they hopped down the slope and went past us.

Boma squinted, trying to see them more clearly. “Those are Finas, a harmless species that eats wild Oza berries and Nopa leaves. They’re migrating toward the Baqqar plain, a spot that’s about thirty miles north of here.”

“How did you find out about the Finas?” I glanced at him.

“I opened a database and discovered that the Tiel eat a lot of them. Be on the lookout. There might be some Tiel in that grove of Zeeo.” He pointed at it.

I didn’t see any Tiel.

After hiking by a dried–up streambed, everyone threw his or her compressed tents to the ground.

I said, “I’ll stand guard for a few hours.”

Nebo announced, “When your shift ends, I’ll take your place.”

I gave him a thumbs up. Everyone climbed into their tents and started whispering nervously, terrified.

I took a compressed chair off my sleeve, expanded it, placed it in the grass and sat down. Somewhere in the darkness, beyond several dimly lit Mus Nantus, a bird chirped. I rested my flamethrower on my knees and yawned.

Inside the tents, guards switched on lights. The wind started blowing harder, making it less likely that the Oiins would attack. I took a protein wafer out my sleeve, tore off the wrapper, and ate. Near the top of a hill, a few silhouettes—small birds, barely visible in the dim light—started whistling.

Somewhere in the dark snakes hissed, but I couldn’t see them. I said, “Ey.inf.on.” My left eye switched to infrared.

Eighty yards from me, a nine-foot-long Eoim, an ivory-colored snake with lime green spots, hissed and slithered away. Behind it, several more opened their mouths. One of them lunged at a Qeq, a rodent, and swallowed it. Moments later, all of them crawled toward a Zeeo Xutus.

Worried that the Zeeo would give off toxic fumes, I sniffed, but only noticed a pine smell. I grabbed a bottle of water off and drank. Above me, amidst a sea of stars, a cloud glided across one of Danig’s moons, Uir. At the same time, the faint chirping sound of insects, a harmless species called the Leom, grew louder.

Nothing more happened before Nebo came to relieve me.

At dawn, I crawled out of the tent. It folded flat, and I stuck it on my sleeve.

All around me, the guards and Boma likewise put their camping equipment away.

“Is everybody ready?” Boma glanced to the right and left, a weary expression on his face.

Everyone else nodded, and all of us walked around the hill. Behind a waist-high thicket, a hissing sound got louder. Everyone raised their weapons, waiting for a Tiel to strike.

I listened closely.

There was only silence.

The snake had crawled away.

Within an hour, after descending a steep incline, we reached another dried-up stream and stepped over it. About twenty feet away, behind chest-high wild grass, I heard a soft cracking noise, a barely audible sound made by a large snake that was crawling over weeds.

Boma murmured, “It might be a Tiel, but I can’t see it.”

We swerved to the right, stepped into the streambed, which was bordered on both sides by knee-high vines, and continued on.

Just over an hour later, we reached a small clearing. In front of us, about two hundred yards beyond a grove of Mus Nantus, a sixty-foot long triangular ship, a craft with rectangular facets on its belly, rose out of the hangar. According to my tablet, the ship was called an EQT, an equipment transporter.

All the guards cheered, “We made it!”

I took a deep breath, relieved.

Much to my surprise, the ship began plummeting. In an instant, it crashed. As I watched in horror, it exploded.
Maroon flames spread out.

All of us ducked.

Boma sighed. “That EQT was full of explosives. There won’t be any survivors.”

“Why did they crash?” I turned toward him.

Boma replied, a haggard expression on his face, “Wind-shear.”

All of us hiked on.

As our boot heels kicked up dirt, Heos—hundreds of small crimson snakes, a species with narrow snouts and huge white eyes—crawled out from beneath logs. After raising their heads, they sprouted wings—then flew at us.

All around me, guards fired. Bullets tore many Heos to shreds.

I raised my barrel. Flames swept across several snakes. Beyond the flames, grenades exploded.

Without warning, a Heos banged against my face mask. I threw the reptile off and stomped on it, then lowered my barrel and fired. Flames shot out and burned the Heos to a crisp.

More of the reptiles spit from a distance. Although I had my mask on, my eyes started hurting from the venom.

One of the creatures grabbed a guard’s shoulder with its claws, knocking him onto his back. The guard kept firing. Bullets ripped the snake to pieces. By now, snake corpses covered the ground.

Boma shouted, “Cease firing!”

Everyone stopped.

Worik glanced down and kicked a charred snake corpse. “We killed all of them,” he said, amazed.

Boma shouted, “Good job, men!”

We stepped over piles of lifeless Heos, continuing our journey.

Worik spit on the ground, and muttered, “This shit is getting old. I fucking hate this job!”

Hangar

Finally, we reached the hangar and entered.

A six-foot tall Ulthe guard, one of six men in amber jumpsuits, glanced over his shoulder at us. He raised a hand, trying to get our attention. “I’m Sutiiv.”

“Sutiiv, where is Alip?” Boma glanced at him, worried.

He grimaced. “She was on the EQT, the one that just crashed.”

Boma shook his head, angry. “I’m tired of losing friends. I’d like to hold a burial ceremony for Alip tonight by the north entrance.”

I said, “I’ll be there.”

Worik and the rest of the guards muttered that they’d attend, then they quietly walked off.

I headed for ST7, knowing that a spectrometer had to be inspected. In my mind’s eye, Alip, Ieeb and I hopped inside the giag and drove off. The thought that Alip had just died made me sad and more than a little angry. After only a few months here, she was dead. I more than wished that Obno had cared enough to hire more guards.

I left the building and stopped close to Boma.

Beneath a starlit sky, he and the other guards gathered around a waist-high Ulthe raku bowl, a ceremonial vessel partly filled with burning coals. While the fire crackled, they raised tongs and placed more coals in the vessel.

Boma held one hand, the palm aimed toward me, next to his chest, greeting me. “Jason, thank you for coming.”

“It’s my pleasure.” I put my hand close to my chest, copying his gesture.

As part of the ceremony, Boma placed a Na Ya fruit on the fire and it emitted a fragrant odor, similar to the smell given off by burning oak. “We’re here to honor the passing of Alip. She was an Ulthe warrior, a mother who cared deeply about her family.

“For years, just like the rest of us, she practiced the tranquil side of Dehon, the art of seeking peace rather than fighting. She fought in tournaments with swords and laser rifles because Dehon recognizes that if your opponent attacks you must fight or die.

“In a couple of weeks, once the server’s been programmed, I’ll send her husband an email, telling him the bad news. I wish I could contact him sooner.

“Every one of us will miss her, because she saved all our lives many times. With her passing, all of us die a little.”

Boma and every guard drew swords out of their sheaths and raised them, honoring Alip. Without warning, they clanked the blades together. At the same time, the somber looks on their faces deepened.

Boma and the other guards began chanting, “Nalm mor, nalm mor, nalm.”

The translation came out of my earplugs.
Every one of us will fight on, even in the face of death.

I wanted to believe that all of them would keep their word, refuse give in to their fear, so that a few months from now they could return to Icir.

All of them put their swords away. As more smoke rose out of the bowl, they chanted softly, morose expressions on their faces.

But no fear.

In the morning, after eating, I left the small hangar guest-room and headed for ST7.

Boma came out and I glanced at him. “Boma, Vren and I never got a chance to have dinner with Youn or her father.”

“There’s a problem.” He sighed. “Every day of the week, he has to drive a giag from the Crec mine to Hangar Two, an EQT facility that‘s ninety miles from here. Her father doesn’t have the time to see you.”

“Hopefully Youn, Buar, Sone, and Tayt are doing fine.”

“They are. In the last few days, Buar and his team have finished building one Tokamak, the first of five. Tayt and four other nurse-practioners are testing a serum that will counteract the neurotoxins in the Heos’ venom. Those pre-synaptic neurotoxins block neurotransmission by inhibiting acetylcholine transmitters, so that after a Heos bites someone, they die of a heart attack in a few minutes. Sone is showing his team where to put carbon nanotubes supports in the walls of the tunnels, and Youn has two private tutors, dedicated teachers.”

“I’m glad everyone reached their destinations safely.” I smiled faintly.

“So am I.”

“Have you seen or heard about Vren?”

“No. I’ve been too busy. I tried calling him with my tablet, but all I heard was static.”

I sighed. I wanted to leave later today.

Within an hour, after I finished inspecting the port wing, I climbed the stairs and entered ST7’s bridge. Behind me, on the curved wall, the hatch opened. I glanced over my shoulder.

Vren entered, a cheerful expression on his face. “I found one thousand milligrams of tritium for sixteen micas.”

“That’s not a great price, but it’ll do.”

Vren shrugged. “Obno’s a monopoly. There’s not much choice.”

I frowned. “I can’t say I’m surprised. All they care about is making as much money as possible.”

“It could have been worse. They could have charged a lot more.”

I remained silent, weighing my thoughts. He was right. The only planet that had inexpensive tritium was Red Ten.

Minutes later, after leaving the passenger compartment, I reached the bottom of the steps, hoping the passengers would arrive soon.

A male voice, someone I couldn’t see, announced, “Hello.”

I glanced over my shoulder.

Close the entrance, Dr. Xio and the passengers came walking toward me. Dr. Xio announced, “Jason, we arrived a moment ago. Are you ready to leave Danig?”

“Yes.”

Baaax shouted, “Let’s go!”

I replied thankfully, “Good idea,” and climbed the steps, the passengers behind me.

I entered the bridge and sat down. To my right, on the curved floor, the hatch leading to the equipment room housing some of the ship’s interferometric telescopes, and optical computers opened wide. Vren stepped out of it, headed for his seat.

“All spectrometer systems go?” I asked, continuing the rest of the procedure.

“Go, and glad to go,” said Vren.

Thankfully soon I heard the main engine start, and ST7 rose. Near the center of the screen, the hangar roof slid open. ST7 took off, ramming us against our seats.

We reached outer orbit when, on my left hand, Ieeb’s voice announced, “Jason, hello!”

I looked down. At the top of my wedding ring, where the sound was coming from, a small eye morphed and turned into Ieeb’s face. Much to my surprise, the tiny gray metallic face winked at me playfully.

A small holographic screen, clearly created by the ring, appeared above my left hand. Near the middle of the screen, a video of Ieeb in the white dress, the outfit that she had worn on our wedding day, brightened. She smiled
. Jason, whenever you’re lonely, just say, Ring.Ieeb, and this panel, a device with videos of me on it, will pop up. It’s a gift that Baaax and Fi created.

Now, I’m going to recite one of my poems. Hopefully, it will lift your spirits.

“Of course it will,” I smiled. The ring chanted on.

Dance with me

When I think of the stars above Litor, I remember you

When you touch me, I shiver with excitement

In the morning light, I see your face, and think about our wedding, one of the happiest days of my life.

I love you so.

The hologram vanished. I hesitated, trying to get Ieeb off my mind, because I had to fly ST7 and the next few steps were critical. At the same time I hoped I’d see Ieeb, the only family I ever had, again soon.

Vren grinned. “That’s an interesting wedding ring.”

I nodded, smiling.

When ST7 was close to Icir, a convoy of fifteen Obno starships, freighters with wide round bows and flat sterns, vessels designed to be escorted by twenty stingray-shaped Council Navy destroyers, emerged from the back of my screen. This was a live message, not a recording. Along the sides of each destroyer, between hexagon-shaped protective shields, laser cannon turrets were aimed in several directions.

A 3D life-sized hologram representing a real time message from a Council Naval Officer materialized close to my chair. The CNO, a male Aito, frowned. “Jason, Vren, I am Commander Charig.

“Four weeks ago, Captain Hireb, one of the Obno ship’s skippers, called and told me that if my fleet didn’t escort them the rest of the way to Icir, LN ships would attack them soon.”

“Have the LN fired at them yet?” I paused, shocked by his message.