Terminus (Fringe Worlds #1) (23 page)

Chapter 33

There were all kinds of rumors about the types of things that existed or took place in the Beyond. There was supposedly a world where magic was as real as science. Legends also told of a gigantic space dragon whose fiery spittle turned into stars. One of Maker’s own cousins – a commercial starship captain – claimed to have once encountered a shapeshifting monster out there.

One of the tall tales that may have actually contained a grain of truth concerned a group of brilliant academics and technology specialists who prized knowledge above all else. Convinced that the pursuit of higher learning transcended morality, these demented doctors and rogue scientists allegedly performed forbidden, heinous experiments in all areas of science and medicine. When their activities were uncovered, they purportedly fled to the Beyond, where they still practice their immoral crafts aboard secret vessels known as sub rosa ships.

It was generally accepted that the mad scientists origin story was hogwash. However, there were constant claims over the years, as humanity spread across the stars, that various government organizations adopted the practices mentioned in the tale. It was said that the military in particular continually engaged in and conducted experiments regarding weapons and technology that were forbidden by treaty, diplomacy, or plain decency and morality. These and other similar activities purportedly took place in secret, unmarked vessels – sub rosa ships – situated in the Beyond. It was this type of vessel that Maker was declaring the derelict in his story to have been.

After making his announcement – that he had actually been aboard such a ship – Maker wasn’t sure what to expect. Guffaws, perhaps. Maybe even questions about his mental health. What he didn’t expect was another silent exchange between Dr. Chantrey and Browing.

Maker frowned, somewhat perplexed by their reaction, and then it dawned on him.

“You knew,” he said. “You already knew it was a sub rosa ship.”

“Yes,” Browing admitted. “It was a ship that certain…special interest groups, shall we say, had long used for classified purposes.”

“Mad doctors and secret experiments,” Maker said.

“Right, but it was more than just that,” Dr. Chantrey said. “It was also a warehouse. Generations of advanced technology and weapons, among other things, were stored there – some of it incredibly dangerous.”

“So what happened to it?” asked Maker. “How’d it end up floating dead in space?”

“We’re still not sure,” Browing said. “As you can imagine, it wasn’t a facility that anyone maintained ongoing contact with, although the ship’s personnel did provide regular updates. Until the day they stopped doing so, that is.”

“Didn’t you investigate?” Maker asked.

Browing scoffed. “Yeah, right. We were supposed to launch an official investigation for a ship that’s not supposed to exist, conducting illegal experiments, and filled to the rim with banned weapons and tech.”

Maker couldn’t hide his surprise. “So you just left it sitting out there?”

“No,” Dr. Chantrey said, giving him a frank stare. “We didn’t.”

Her tone and the look on her face seemed to imply something, but Maker couldn’t immediately put his finger on what it was. Then the truth hit him like a sledgehammer.

“Me,” he said softly, the words tasting bitter in his mouth. “You sent me and my squad.”

Maker frowned for a moment, thinking. “That last mission I went on, before we found the derelict. It was a complete farce. The whole point was to get us close enough to pick up the sub rosa ship’s distress signal. You
knew
I’d choose to check it out.”

“We didn’t
know
,” the doctor corrected. “But your psych profile suggested it. And just to be clear, I never knew what your last mission was. It wasn’t necessary for my analysis, so they never told me.”

“You…” Maker said vehemently to Dr. Chantrey, practically spitting the word out. “You were involved back then. It’s why you’re here now.”

“I don’t deny it,” she said. “Prior to you, we sent two ships – ostensibly on other missions – through that region of the Beyond. The first mission picked up a distress signal so we knew something had happened to the sub rosa ship, but the mission leader declined to investigate. The same thing happened the second time, so we knew that we had to find someone who was unlikely to leave anyone stranded. I was then asked to look at personnel histories, backgrounds, and so on with the specific purpose of finding a soldier who
would
investigate.”

“And I fit the bill,” Maker concluded.

“Yes,” the doctor stated. “I correctly hypothesized what your actions would be then, so they brought me back to give insight into how you’d conduct yourself on
this
mission.”

Maker shook his head in disgust. “You people…”

“Okay, stop saying ‘we’ and ‘you’ like these were personal choices that the doctor and I made,” Browing said acrimoniously. “These were decisions made by people far above the pay grade of anybody in this room, and like you, Dr. Chantrey and I follow the orders we’re given.”

“You, them,” Maker hissed. “You’re all in bed together, so as far as I’m concerned you’re all the same.”

“So what do you think we should have done?” asked Browing, hot with anger. “I’ve already explained to you that a sanctioned search-and-rescue was out of the question. We couldn’t just leave the ship out there floating around. We needed to know what happened – to the ship, its crew, and its cargo. Because sooner or later, somebody was going to find it, and who knows what they’d do with what they discovered on board.”

Maker blinked, Browing’s words turning his thoughts in a new direction. “Salvage rights.”

“Yes,” said Browing with a nod. “Any civilian vessel that comes across a derelict or abandoned vessel can lay claim to it and its cargo. Trust me, that far out, the ship was more likely to be found by a band of pirates or criminals, and if you knew half the things that were housed on it, you’d pass out at the thought of them ending up on the black market.”

“Also, even though the ship was unmarked, there was always the possibility that it could be traced back to humanity,” Dr. Chantrey said. “The layout, design, sleeping quarters, food. They all point towards
Homo sapiens
, not to mention the distress signal itself. If that happened, the political fallout would be devastating.”

“So because of salvage issues, among other things, you needed to figure out what happened to your mad scientist lab before anyone came across it,” Maker commented. “And the crew of a military vessel doesn’t get salvage rights.”

“Yes,” Browing said. “Kind of a quid pro quo, since on the flip side, military vessels are
protected
from salvage claims.”

Maker had a tough time hiding his contempt. “You guys have been playing me from the very start.”

“That’s the pot calling the kettle black,” Browing countered. “You still haven’t told us how you knew it was a sub rosa ship, or – more importantly – how you made that nine-point hyperspace jump.”

There was silence for a moment, and then Maker let out a long, exhaustion-filled breath. “The head,” he said. “The head in the jar. One of the things I was able to make out that it was saying was ‘sub rosa.’ That also explained why a lot of equipment and stuff I saw on the derelict look unfamiliar to me.”

“Wait,” Dr. Chantrey said. “I’ve seen hundreds of hours of vid footage of you talking about what happened, and you’ve never mentioned unfamiliar equipment before.”

“I didn’t mention
anything
that might have indicated that I knew it was a sub rosa ship!” Maker snapped. “If I had, I never would have seen daylight again, and instead of being here right now, I’d be strapped down in some windowless room getting my brain sucked dry – if I was lucky!”

“So you lied,” the doctor said in summation. “Did it ever occur to you that – somewhere in between all the times you talked about what happened – you probably spoke to someone who actually knew something about that ship? That they might have been in a position to help you if you’d only told the truth?”

Maker scoffed at the notion. “Lady, we’re talking about a sub rosa ship. Telling the story I did is probably the only thing that kept me from disappearing without a trace or dying in a ‘training accident,’ because it showed that I knew how to keep my mouth shut. That’s what your puppet masters really wanted.”

“Assuming all that’s true, it doesn’t explain you lying about your little pet,” Browing said, nodding in Erlen’s direction. “Why lie about his role?”

Maker shook his head in frustration. “You weren’t paying close enough attention. I said that Erlen saved my life when I was fighting Skullcap on top of the shuttle.”

“We got that part,” Dr. Chantrey said. “What’s so special about that?”

“We were in the landing bay at the time, one with no atmosphere,” Maker replied.

His two listeners frowned, but didn’t seem to make the proper connection.

“Don’t you get it?” Maker went on. “Erlen can survive in the vacuum of space!”

Chapter 34

His words seemed to have caught them by surprise.

“Huh?” Browing muttered after a moment, obviously befuddled.

“What, did you think he had a space suit?” Maker asked disdainfully. “Erlen doesn’t need protection from the temperature change, lack of atmosphere, anything.”

There was silence as the other two people absorbed this, casting odd looks at Erlen.

“How’s that possible?” Dr. Chantrey said.

Maker shrugged. “I don’t know. But what I do know is that, had I told the truth about him, they would have torn him apart to find out what makes him tick. I couldn’t have that. I’m responsible for him.”

Dr. Chantrey tilted her head, looking at Maker in an odd manner. She knew from his profile that he was incredibly attached to Erlen (as many people were with respect to pets – despite Maker’s disagreement that the term applied to the Niotan). However, there was something about that last sentence he’d said… The way he’d spoken, with utter conviction, seemed to imply something more than simple devotion.

“Explain that,” she said. “Your being responsible for him.”

Maker seemed taken aback, apparently not realizing how much he’d said. He was clearly reluctant to speak about the subject – even more so than he’d been about the sub rosa ship, which was odd.

“He was entrusted to me,” Maker finally said, looking down at the Niotan as he spoke. “I swore to take care of him.”

“Swore to who?” asked Browing, surprisingly intrigued by the direction the conversation was going.

Maker sighed. “You might recall that during our first meeting I mentioned that there were worlds within the Mezzo – in the
civilized
regions of Gaian Space – that you wouldn’t want to be stranded on? Well, years ago, I found myself stranded on a world well out in the Beyond.”

Maker’s eyes took on a faraway look as memories as fresh as yesterday came unbidden to the forefront of his mind.

“It was an absolute nightmare planet, horrible beyond anything you’d believe,” he continued. “I’ve never come across a world so bred to kill. Insects, birds, plants, animals… Everything, and I mean
everything
, was deadly and dangerous – either infectious, noxious, poisonous, or carnivorous. I’ve never seen anything like it before or since.”

“But you survived,” the doctor noted.

Maker laughed derisively. “No, I was
saved
. There was a native population there – primitive, but sentient. We made a deal. They would keep me alive, and in return, I would take Erlen.”

“What do you mean, ‘take him’?” Browing asked.

“As I understand it, the indigenous population was responsible for him, but could no longer care for him for some reason,” Maker said, petting Erlen’s head. “In return for their help, I became responsible for his welfare. He was just a babe at the time – practically newborn – but he grew on me. About six months later, I was rescued.”

“At which point you smuggled Erlen aboard the rescue ship and brought him back,” the doctor concluded.

Maker snickered. “I didn’t smuggle anything. I brought him on board in my arms – everyone saw him.”

Maker thought back humorously on the incident. His rescuers had initially tried to tell him that, according to protocol, they couldn’t bring an unknown and unclassified life form back with them – that Erlen had to stay behind. Maker had made it clear in no uncertain terms that that was never going to happen.

Next, they had told him that the ship’s rules dictated that the Niotan needed to be put into quarantine. Maker blatantly stated that the first man who tried to do so would get a broken arm; the next was going out the airlock. After that, no one mentioned anything about Erlen. In fact (probably to save their own hides for not following protocol), his rescuers had failed to note anything about Erlen in their report of Maker’s rescue, which is probably how the rumor of his smuggling the Niotan aboard got started.

“The natives of that planet,” said Dr. Chantrey, interrupting Maker’s walk down memory lane, “where did they get Erlen?”

Maker held open his palms in a hell-if-I-know gesture. “All I could discern is that he came from a planet called Niota.”

“So explain what happened in the operating room,” Browing almost demanded. “He did something to you in there.”

Maker rubbed his eyes with his thumb and middle finger before speaking, trying to think of the best way to say this next part.

“There have been drugs around for ages that can enhance cerebral functions,” Maker began. “Give you better memory, a greater attention span, and so on. Erlen basically injected me with a serum that boosted my brain power.”

“So,” Dr. Chantrey said, taking this in, “his bite can inject you with a stimulant that makes you smarter? He can do that?”

Maker nodded. “Yes, and a whole lot more.”

“Like what?” she asked, intrigued.

“Like make acid,” Browing chimed in, remembering his fashionable hat that Erlen had destroyed during their first meeting in Maker’s cabin.

“He’s a living, breathing chemical factory,” Maker said. “Almost any element he encounters he can metabolize, synthesize, and reproduce…as well as create its antithesis.”

Maker involuntarily rubbed his shoulder where the jwaedin had stung him – the wound Erlen had licked. Wayne had later seen the Niotan bite Maker, presumably injecting an anti-venom. It wouldn’t have been the first time that Erlen’s unique abilities had saved his life.

“At least now we know why he’s always running his tongue all over everything,” Dr. Chantrey said.

“That’s just for show,” Maker commented, then explained about the taste buds in Erlen’s footpads.

“Going back to the brain boost that Erlen’s bite gives you,” Browing said, “how exactly does that turn you into a surgeon?”

“It magnifies my intelligence exponentially, although the effect is only temporary,” Maker said. “It lets me remember everything that’s ever happened to me, any book I’ve ever read, everything I’ve ever seen. And just about anything I’ve ever seen – or seen another person do – I can imitate.”

“What do you mean?” asked Browing.

“I’ve been in more skirmishes than I can count, and I’ve seen men suffer all kinds of grievous wounds on the battlefield,” Maker responded. “More to the point, I’ve also seen doctors and field medics operate on them, trying to save their lives.”

“And, having seen surgeons in action before,” Browing realized, “you can mimic their actions. Perform surgery yourself.”

“Only when I get the serum from Erlen,” Maker agreed. “And it also helps that I’ve worked hard on gaining some practical experience.”

“The medical module,” Dr. Chantrey muttered, remembering the surgical simulator she had seen in Maker’s cabin at their first meeting.

“Exactly,” Maker said with a nod. “I used it and similar modules to bone up on various subjects, and just about any topic I’ve read about or experienced, whether in actuality or via simulation, I can actually put into practice. Like physics, medicine–”

“Or hyperspace travel,” the doctor concluded. “That’s how you did that nine-point jump. Erlen pumped up your IQ.”

Maker smiled. “Very good. But he also did something else. When I started plotting the jump, I was attacked, psychically.”

“What do you mean?” Dr. Chantrey asked.

“The Vacra had some kind of psychic on their side. I could feel it in my head when I was working on the coordinates. I think maybe that’s how they were able to follow us each time we jumped, by reading the mind of the person inputting the data.”

“Or they used some of the sub rosa tech to read the instruments,” Browing suggested.

Nodding, Maker said, “That’s possible. Regardless, Erlen sensed what was happening and somehow helped me shut the psychic out.”

“Helped you how?” the doctor asked.

“I don’t know exactly, but we were able to block the attack,” Maker stated.

“Psychic pets and mind-enhancing drugs,” Browing said softly. “I can hardly believe it. So, with all that extra brain power, are you like some uber man now?”

“Hardly,” Maker said, laughing. “As I said, the effects of the brain boost are only temporary, and I don’t go around juiced all the time – only when I need to.”

For some reason, Browing and Dr. Chantrey seemed relieved by that statement.

“Now you know all my secrets,” Maker said. “What are you going to do?”