Path of Ranger: Volume 1 (48 page)

The smooth floor of that roof started to fall chaotically. Various platforms were rising up in the air to make a bunch of isles on the different height levels. Nea got up over them pretty quickly, leaving JB at the bottom.

“You want to get to me, ranger?” she shouted from the top. “You get to take care of them first!”

JB looked back to see a few dozen bipedal robots charge at him from all sides at once. Two meters tall combat machines armed with swords made him really worry. The mutant realized now that it wasn’t a game anymore. He had to move over those isles to keep them apart. He looked at Nea once again on the run. Whatever she had planned, JB was excited to find out. Those upcoming two months of training now were promising to be intriguing. JB couldn’t wait to see what might be next.

Two months passed as a couple days. JB had finished the full ranger craft training course. Now he knew how to operate a B-class spaceship, the basics of space combat, and many other vital skills.

Nea and he became a couple. Their feelings grew stronger more and more, and each day of theirs was much more precious than the one before, since the days were running out. JB knew for sure that if he decided to spend the rest of his life with someone, it would be her. And there he was. With a universe wide open in front of him. A limitless world full of dangers and adventures. The ranger was coming on his special path that would lead him to unknown lands, where any next step might be the last. There was no place for her in there, only in his heart. That new life was gradually displacing the old one from his memories. The new world seemed the real one, and the past was echoing as nothing more but a shallow dream.

The first governmental mission waited for JB. No parade, no honors for the agent. Just two people were aware of his real purpose. For everyone else he was just another pilot, free of enemies, friends, and past.

JB was in the hangar, preparing his ship for launch. It was a small vessel. Fifteen meters long and six meters tall. Two external engines were fixed to the outer frame, which could spin around the body’s axis. Generally it was a reliable, well-armed, fast, and maneuverable ship.

There were no one but JB around. Nea came in over his landing space. She looked sad, but at the same time proud. The woman knew it was the last time they could see each other before a long time of being apart. The engines were already on. In just a few minutes, he would launch and leave the planet.

The mutant felt a change in his surroundings. He knew that she came. The moment that sense grew, he got up to his feet and walked over the ship towards her. JB jumped from the vessel right before her. The man finally put his arms around his loved one. That firm hug made them feel complete again. Nea was smiling. Her eyes got wet with tears. She didn’t want to let go of him. Not saying a word JB pressed her firmly to his chest. She felt safe with him.

It was close to sunset. His eyes gained a sense of that shining. Turning her head up, Nea looked at him.

“Are we going to see each other again?” she asked.

“Don’t you doubt that,” JB answered confidently. “Just promise me that you’re going to think of me every time you look up in the sky and see the stars.”

“What beautiful words,” she whispered.

“Yeah, too bad they’re not mine…”

“Who’s, then?”

“Eminem,” lifting his eyes for a second JB confessed.

They both laughed.

“Here, it’s yours,” Nea handed him an old holster with a Desert Eagle gun in it.

“And I’d totally forgotten about it…”

Nea moved her hand down to lay it on that leather sack on JB’s belt. He revealed the secret of his strength to her. Just to her one, no one else. The first tear finally rolled over her cheek. It went down and dropped right on that bag.

“I love you, JB,” she whispered.

“I love you, Nea.”

The last hug was the strongest one, the most painful one. He gathered all the warmth inside that he could. The purest feelings of his love were in that warmth. Words were not enough to share what he felt for her. For a moment, they became one whole, when JB passed that warmth to her. She felt it.

More tears ran through Nea’s cheeks. She loosened her arms and let him go. While making his first short steps backward, JB still held her hands. He smiled kindly. Seeing that, she smiled back. The ranger let go of her hands and walked to the ship. When he got in the cockpit, they looked at each other for the last time. The hatch closed. In a few seconds, the thrusters burst the first flames. The vessel lifted up and moved out of the hangar. Streaming through the air space it flashed into the sky to disappear in its blue darkness.

Five years of service as a government undercover agent passed. The war kept going on. With each new year, the Galaxy Union was losing more and more space to the enemy. Over that time, JB’s group got divided. The people spread across the galaxy. In search for a new home, many of them had to travel far from Earth to do things they had never imagined before.

Doctor Gibson became a famous bioengineer in small circles. He had designed a prototype of a military suit that would allow soldiers to fight on the most severe planets. It was a colossal breakthrough for  humankind for the next several decades.

JB had mastered the ranger craft. He had traveled through many solar systems, met thousands of other pilots and been in the most remarkable worlds. The scope of his quests was broad: from negotiations of local scale to military espionage. The hero fought hundreds of times against frolls. The blaster and sword became a part of him. As a ranger, he was a legend. But as a secret agent, he dreamed just of one thing – to be relieved from the service and to come back home.

Nea was his one and only contact to Atlantis. As a measure of precaution, they weren’t able to talk for all those years. It was always encrypted messages, drop boxes, and many other spy tricks to keep the communication out of sight. Every day apart from her JB spent in dreams to be with her again, as a free man. The time had come. Five years were behind. The debt was almost paid.

There were just two missions left. The first one was a delivery assignment. JB had to visit an old friend at the science station of the Zaurak solar system. Mark Gibson was chief science officer there. The ranger looked forward to it.

The second mission still remained unknown.

When the vessel came close to the Guimg planet, an alert message popped up on the screen. The ship was set under surveillance. JB found himself surprised by that since he had the best stealth equipment on the market and beyond. A voice sounded from the speaker.

“Attention! You have entered a restricted area, ranger! Inform the intention of your visit!”

“I’ve come to see an old friend, yo,” JB replied honestly.

“Please, follow our pilots to the hangars.”

In thirty seconds, a two military ships appeared the JB's level. One flew in the lead, the second one stayed behind him. Both of them had Blue Army markings, yellow ‘M’ letter on the blue triangle background. Everything went fine, an escort led the guest through the desolation of that dead, rocky planet. JB didn’t have any idea why a research center might be there. The board computer identified oxygen in the air, so the ranger supposed that Gibson might be working with a team of terraformers there.

The speed was gradually lowering. JB noticed an artificial hole at the base of one of the rocks. They were heading right there. The gate opened up and all three ships entered the hangar.

It was much warmer inside. It was the first opportunity for Bridgers to stand on solid ground for the last month. Two big men came out of the guard ships. Soldiers. Heavy combat suits, short haircuts, and assault rifles were on them. As for the ranger, he looked nothing like any kind of official. His outfit consisted of colored pants made with strogus leather, a light blastproof vest, and the sneakers. His weapons were a compact phaser and a large knife. His hair was long and braided. In general, his look reminded of some futuristic hybrid hippie style.

One of the guards addressed the guest.

“Ranger JB, we were instructed to walk you to the administration. Follow us.”

“You got it, man,” the mutant replied, scanning the hangar.

“We don’t allow weapons here,” the soldier nodded at his phaser.

“Even me?”

JB behaved arrogantly. He was a legend among rangers, so special treatment with lots of grants wasn’t a rare thing for him. But not in this case, as it appeared. The soldiers didn’t like rangers much in general, and famous ones especially. The guards insisted on disarming the guest.

“Okay, take it,” JB handed him the phaser. “The knife stays,” he said and passed the soldier. “Let’s move it, the clock’s ticking.”

Despite the arrogance of the ranger, the soldiers gave him that. Although their disintegrators remained in their hands, on alert. The senior officer commanded them to unlock the door to the center. They kept on.

JB was analyzing his visit in general. The first impression was quite positive: reliable security, proper location of the station. There were hidden sensors and armed turrets everywhere. His sixth sense could smell them.

In a few minutes, the escort led JB to the presence chamber. The guard reported over the radio of their arrival. A few more men entered the room. The first one was another soldier, the Chief of Security. Other two looked like scientists, one namiamifican, and one human. The last one was JB’s old comrade, Mark Gibson.

There was no wonder why Gibson worked along with namiamificans, most human scientist organizations did. They were an extremely intelligent race that contributed a lot to the GU’s science development. Namiamificans had telepathic skills as a method of communication among each other. But since there was no mouth or any kind of voice mechanism in that kind’s anatomy, the communication with humans was conducted through external techs. JB noticed that compact speaker on the alien’s chest.

“JB! Happy to see you, man!” Mark cheered up in greetings.

He firmly shook the ranger’s hand and watched him carefully, being amazed how JB changed over five years. It wasn’t just the joy of seeing an old friend in the Doc’s eyes, but also an interest. The mutant was one of his biggest projects after all.

“Yo, Doc! How are you? Doing fine, I see…”

“Man, you have no idea what we’ve…” Doc stopped abruptly. “Oh, where are my manners? I haven’t introduced my colleagues.” He put his palm on the namiamifican’s narrow shoulder. “This is Dr. Galuazhee, a specialist in the fields of cybernetics and bioengineering. And Colonel Johnson, Head of Security.”

“We’ve heard a lot about you, JB,” a neutral toned voice sounded from the alien’s speaker.

“Really? Those are rumors, mostly,” the ranger joked. “So, what were you saying, Doc?”

“Yes, right. We’ve been studying samples from the biopsy of yours over these years. How are you feeling?”

“Fine, I guess…”

“What about the appetite?”

“Reduced after a year or so. Now it’s somewhat higher than average, I’d say.”

“Do you sleep?”

“A little. Few hours in several days.”

“That’s excellent. Your organism is stabilizing,” Mark pronounced thoughtfully. “Okay, you rest now. We’ll start doing tests tomorrow.”

JB found himself a bit confused hearing those words.

“Doc, I’m here on a mission, you know. I say we get down to business right away.”

“I see; you haven’t changed a bit…” Gibson looked at his comrade with a fresh view once again to recognize that old guy he knew. “If you don’t mind, I still would like to do some tests anyway.”

“Whatever you say, Doc. You’re the man. Your dudes, by the way, may unload the stuff I’ve brought for you.”

A day passed in tests and studying. JB went through a whole set of various diagnostic operations. It wasn’t part of his mission, but since Gibson was so eager to feed his interest, the mutant didn’t mind.

At the end of the day, Mark and Galuazhee stayed in a separate room to discuss some matters. Meanwhile, JB hacked into the local mainframe to study the station’s layout. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust Gibson, but more as a matter of habit developed over the years. An agent always had to be aware of his position as fully as it was possible.

As it turned out, that station was way larger than a regular terraforming setup. And the personnel count was much bigger.

What are you working on?

The discussion was over and the scientists returned back to their patients. Gibson’s serious expression seemed a bad sign to JB. They were still arguing about something on the way. The namiamifican used all kinds of small illustrative projections coming out of his tentacles to support his thoughts. They were like flashes that dispersed as abruptly as they emerged. But judging by the Doc’s eyes, he managed to get all of that.

“We have some news,” Mark said to the mutant.

“So, what is it?”

“We did a blood analysis, restudied the DNA structure…” the alien began, but JB interrupted.

“The results?”

“As you wish. According to the new generated virtual model of your organism the process of the DNA adjustment has finished.”

“So?”

Then Gibson took the initiative of breaking things down.

“There are some changes we’ve found,” Mark started. “As it appears, you don’t use the full potential of your body.”

“I feel fine, man.”

“No, what I mean is, you can’t use your full potential fully under ordinary circumstances. You’re too phlegmatically calm in most situations.”

“Yeah. Should I be a drama queen to everything?”

“No. Maybe. The emotions would let you use more of your strength. We’ve checked your hormones level, those look okay. So it has to be a psychological issue. Are there situations where you may feel lonely in your life?”

“Doc, I fly a spaceship, most of the time I stay there in space all by myself.”

“Right, right.”

“So it has to be a socialization shortage that causes ataraxia?” Mark turned to the college with that suggestion.

Galuazhee didn’t seem to pay much attention to Gibson’s words. But when he sensed the look on him, the alien thought it was time for him to express his thoughts.

“An absence of emotions in difficult situations may cause an adrenaline shortage in your blood. That limits your muscle and brain abilities.”

“Have you just called me faint and stupid?”

“Yes,” the alien confessed.

“No-o-o…” Gibson rushed to correct the college.

He looked seriously at Galuazhee and kept shaking his head, letting him know that they would better not annoy that ranger.

“What we are saying,” Mark continued. “You need a personal stimulator to normalize the adrenaline balance when the time calls for it. Here, take it.” Doc handed JB a small box with an injector inside. “That’s an essence of the miran lizard's venom, an artificial adrenaline. Just a few grams will increase your strength significantly. Be careful, though, if anyone else tries to use it, they’ll most likely die.”

“Great, poison in a box. Ain’t Ranger Juice enough for me?”

“No, that thing is cheap garbage.”

“It’s not that cheap,” JB mumbled.

“Look, B. I’m the reason why you are this way. And you’re still my responsibility. So, please, let us just do our job,” Gibson made a try to reach to his patient. “What about your sleep? I need some details.”

“Same old, same old. Woke up about six weeks ago.”

“How long do you sleep?”

“This time I’ve hibernated for three weeks,” JB counted up. “Got lucky, actually. The time matched the flight from Vega system.”

“Was that hibernation artificial?”

“No, natural.”

“You don’t use artificial hibernation?”

“No, never.”

“That’s good, keep it that way.”

“So, what’s the fuss about, Doc?” JB wondered.

“Your body temperature now stays at a rate of twenty degrees Celsius. You can regulate that from zero to forty at will. If you reach more than forty, it will be harmful to you. But on the other side, when the temperature drops below ten, you may hibernate for months this way.”

“And I can do all of that by will?”

“Theoretically, yes. But you’ll need proper training,” Mark explained. “Do you absorb life energy involuntarily on touch?”

JB stared at Mark with a stone look, as if he was challenging him. Doc accepted and offered the mutant an open hand.

The ranger grabbed his comrade’s palm and a sly smile grew on his face. Gibson looked worried for a few seconds, but the overall weakness, which he had expected, didn’t come through. And just Doc breathed out with relief, he felt an unexpected lightheadedness. It was it. Then JB released that hand.

“I can control it now,” Bridgers said. “So, what about that hibernation?”

Gibson took a few seconds to get back in shape from that evil joke played on him.

“I can’t tell you anything more for now. If you notice any difficulties, let me know immediately.”

“Will do.”

“And the last thing. I don’t know whether it’s good news or bad. I guess it’s up to you to decide. You age slower than you did.”

“Come again?”

“According to the simulation, your enhanced metabolism and cell regeneration make you age slower. We weren’t able to figure out a possible lifespan of yours, but it seems that you have about two hundred to three hundred years solid.”

“Interesting…” JB said. “Is that all?”

“About you – yes.”

“Besides me?”

“We did conduct some research in the field of technology, equipment, weapons, communication and so on. In fact, our R&D team was very busy. But don’t you worry about that, it’s classified. Can’t tell you anything more.”