We kept the ship at idle as we waited. I sat in the nuisance of gravity at the oval table, swept away by yet another turn of fate. Erin briefed the rest of the crew, leaving them in the same near-catatonic state trying to grasp what was happening. I looked up from my seat in search of a blast of daylight and found Paris standing next to me.
“Adrian, we need to talk.”
“Sure, what’s up?”
“It needs to be private. Can we use the science lab? No one’s back there.”
We walked heavily back to the lab. Paris pulled the connecting door shut but did not close it all the way. Light from the open door in the adjoining airlock beamed in.
“There’s some things I need to clear the air on,” he said, and he had never looked so intent.
“Paris, this may not be necessary. I know things haven’t always been exactly good between us. I’ve always known I was a bad judge of character. I should have done better with you. I was wrong about you from the start.”
“Forget it, Adrian. You weren’t so wrong about me. Part of what I need to tell you is pretty ugly. I might as well get right to the point. If you take down the little overhead night light in my sleeper cell, you’ll find a memory module. It contains all the information I’ve gathered on the stellar drives, the weapons systems, and the shields. There are two people within the agency who are dealing illegally with off-worlders. They want the Nasebian technology badly. Their names are there. I kept them on the module for insurance. The reason we had an antenna fail on the way in was because I was secretly trying to force XYK band transmissions through the antenna amplifier to send the classified data out. No one would have seen those transmissions.”
“Why? Why would you do that?”
“Are you kidding? There are off-worlders who can offer you part of a populated planet as your own if you’ll do their bidding; live the rest of your life as a God, almost.”
“And you wanted that?”
“No. A quantum physics doctorate like me? Hell no. They were going to give me the names of the people who caused the death of my family. I would have done most anything to get those names.”
“Well, at least I’d have to say I can understand that part. I might feel the same way in your position. Tell me something, was Bernard Porre one of the names on your bad-guys list?”
“Are you kidding? No. Porre is so infatuated with his own sense of perfection the mere suggestion of him breaking the law would probably make him faint. I guess at this point I’m not in a position to be judging anyone, though.”
“Why this sudden change of heart?”
“This trip has changed a lot of things. It’s been more than a wakeup call, it’s been the best thing that ever happened to me. The man in the black cloak was my recent past come to call. I knew that all along.”
“Paris, this is kind of a strange time to pick to come clean, isn’t it?”
“There’s a reason for that. Besides, it’s never too late to confess your sins, don’t you agree?”
“Maybe this can all be worked out. This mission would not have succeeded without you. Seems to me that balances things out pretty well. Back on Earth, they can still get the bad guys. I don’t see you as really being one of them. When we get back I believe I can manage this. I’ll see that it’s taken care of and that you’re left out of it. When we return I think I can arrange it so that you’ll be free and clear.”
“That’s the other thing, Adrian. I’m not going back. I’m staying.”
“What? Are you out of your mind?”
“Something else I haven’t told you. My wife is here. She’s an exact copy in every way. She’s three or four years younger than she would have been had she lived, but it’s her.”
“How do you know this?”
“In the library, when we discovered the duplicates, I fished around just on the outside chance. I found a recent picture of her at a hospital fundraiser. I nearly passed out from the shock. It’s the largest hospital in New Province City, not that far from the library. I went AWOL and took a trolley there while you guys were still away. I promised Erin I would tell you when the time was right. I got a look at the hospital staff schedule when the front desk was left unattended, and hung around until my wife came on duty supporting the ER. Then I cut myself to get admitted. She walked by my treatment room door and I called her by her new name, Maretta. She stopped and stared at me for the longest time. She came into the room and I hit her with the same lines I used on my wife. She came back with some of the same answers. She waved off the intern and treated me herself. There was an instant thing between us. I picked a subject that I knew was dear to my wife’s heart and asked her if she’d meet me over lunch to discuss it. She agreed. I need to get back there.”
“Holy crap, Paris!”
“I really need to get back there.”
“This isn’t your world, Paris.”
“It is now.”
We stared at each other in a long, silent, telling moment. I did not need to measure his determination. That old saying that the eyes are windows to the soul was more than fitting. Everything Paris Denard had lived through was there, impressed upon me.
“You could have disappeared from us right from the hospital, couldn’t you? We would have played hell trying to find you.”
He looked at me but did not speak.
“You came back to finish the mission, even though you knew I might not let you stay. You knew we might not have been able to do this without you.”
We stared at each other in a moment of understanding.
“My God, Paris. What are you getting into?”
“I will marry her and I will get my wife and daughter back.”
“What if it goes bad? What if it doesn’t work out? She dumps you a few weeks into the relationship?”
“I know that woman better than I know myself. I’ll give her all the things she wants before she even knows she wants them. It’s a test I already have all the answers to.”
“After we leave, there won’t be any Earth ships coming by this way any time soon.”
“If any do, tell them not to bother dropping by. I won’t need them.”
“You’re that sure?”
“Absolutely.”
“My God, Paris.”
“You going to let me do this?”
“What if there’s another you out there somewhere?”
“I’ll change my appearance just enough. No one Erin and I ran into knew me. No one at the hospital knew me. I doubt there’s another me anywhere in that part of the world.”
“Wow, still, you’re asking a lot.”
“You can just leave me right here. I’ll work my way back to the city.”
“Family and friends on Earth?”
“No family left. I’ve been pretty reclusive. I’ll barely be missed.”
“Paris…”
“I know this is a bitch for you. There will be red tape when you get back. You could get called on the carpet for leaving me.”
“Not too concerned about that part. I get in trouble better than anybody I know. If they want to call me on the carpet they’ll probably have to get in line. You could say I have post graduate work in breaking all the rules.”
“There could even be legal ramifications.”
“I’m usually on the beach with a fishing pole when those happen.”
“So will you do it? Will you risk your career for me?”
“Stay on board, but be ready to be dropped off.”
“Please don’t trick me on this, Adrian. It’s everything to me.”
“I’ll call you to the forward airlock when it’s time.”
A tap at the door interrupted us. RJ called out, “Adrian, you’d better come see this.”
We returned to the habitat area and found everyone glued to the portals. We squeezed in to see. There was an ocean of people surrounding the ship. Thousands. Colorful clothing, signs and banners, the name Amoura held high in every direction. It was becoming noisy. Tam
bourines, cymbals, horns, and drums began going off everywhere. There did not appear to be any kind of security personnel, but somehow a wide pathway on our right remained open. We strained to look and spotted a procession in the distance headed our way. Lavish wardrobes, large golden medallions hanging from necks, tall staffs, sacred relics held high.
The parade slowly passed by. It was a long one. Twenty minutes of marchers before the heart of the ceremony came into view. Our guest of honor was inside a sarcophagus woven from strands of gold. It was shaped in her form and the spaces within the weave made her sparkling silver gown partially visible. Six bearers carried her on a litter covered in bright red cloth. They paused in front of the ship and slowly turned to face our ramp. The crowd quieted. There seemed to be no verbal coordination required. At the base of the ramp they stepped up in unison. Near the top a reorganization of positioning began, but the litter remained absolutely motionless and protected. At the airlock entrance two bearers entered and received the litter. Their motions were fluid and calculated. They seemed to require no guidance whatsoever. They brought the sarcophagus in, never touching a wall or door, and turned it for entry into our sleeper section. I stood at the door near the galley. They ignored me.
We had left the sleeper cell across from mine open to receive her. The lead bearers backed into the corridor and aligned the litter. They cautiously slid litter and sarcophagus into place and secured it with heavily embroidered ties. From satchels they withdrew items that looked like incense, alms, and other items of worship and turned to look at me with expressions of patient entreat. I understood and backed away to the habitat area. The crew looked on stone silent as the Griffin continued to hum at idle. The ceremony took less than ten minutes. The bearers slowly departed single file out the airlock and down the ramp without speaking a word. The sleeper cell compartment door had been closed. Amoura was in her stasis travel state.
The crowds persisted outside the ship, though they became quiet. I made my way to the flight deck and asked Danica to make the ascent as slow and as gentle as possible. A pause at fifty feet seemed called for. Wilson and I cast a last look at the somber faces in the crowd, retracted the ramp, and slowly closed and sealed the hatch. Danica brought the engines up gradually, causing the masses to back away. We slowly lifted off, paused at fifty feet and brought the gear up, then drifted upward away from the assembly.
Back on the flight deck I stood behind Danica and said, “One more stop to make.” She looked up at me inquisitively.
“We have to drop Paris off. He’s staying.”
“You can’t be serious.”
“He has his reasons, and I agree with them.”
“But we’re not coming back.”
“He knows.”
“But why?”
“Hold on orbit until darkness, then take us down to the same drop off point.”
She looked at me with an endearing expression I had not seen before. I nodded but could not think of anything appropriate to say.
“Setting course to the geosynchronous Provincial City drop point, Commander.”
Paris began saying goodbyes as we readied ourselves for descent into the planet’s early evening darkness. I met him in the airlock without having to call. I handed him every bit of gold, silver, and platinum from the science lab. We opened the hatch together at fifty feet and watched the shadows of Earth II’s forest slowly come into view. Danica brought us to a hover two feet off the ground. Without hesitation Paris jumped to the grass and turned to look back. I nodded and he reciprocated. I yelled clear to Danica and we slowly began to rise, but I could not bring myself to shut the hatch. Paris and I locked eyes. It was as though a new man was staring back at me. It was also a new friendship, one I suddenly regretted leaving behind. The moment was so intense I stood bent over holding the hatch, unable to close and break our gaze. At one hundred feet, he was a silhouette too far for eye contact. I reached out and waved, and saw him wave back. He looked away and ducked into the brush, a man heading back in time in more ways than one. I twisted the hatch shut, stood and held on, then considered the value of love and what both men and women were sometimes willing to do for it. It occurred to me there was nothing exempt, nothing at all. A time–tested proof that if you loved your family enough, there was absolutely nothing you wouldn’t do to protect them or find your way back to them. Paris was on his way back, and way down deep inside in a place usually avoided there was a voice telling me he would make it.
Danica brought us to orbit and when we came into position, kicked in the OMS engines to drive us away from Earth II’s stronger influence. She put us in station keeping so we could prepare for the jump. Amoura’s bearers already had secured her sarcophagus within the cell. All that remained was last minute stowage and strapping in. The jump position put Earth II outside our starboard portals. We all took a moment to float there and stare out at the blue and green orb slowly rotating in the sunlight. The vision was so different from when we had first arrived. We knew who lived there. It was a sibling race of humans. It would be difficult not to consider them family. They were getting ready to enter the dirty nuclear age, the age where you learn by hurting yourself. There was a quantum physicist from the future down there now. Maybe he would help make that transition less painful. Maybe no Hiroshimas would be necessary on Earth II.
Strapped in and waiting for the jump, we watched the last of the Earth II’s broadcasts on the forward monitors. RJ, sitting next to me, said, “I’m going to miss these black and white 2Ds.”
“You can always shut the color off your screens.”
“It’s not the same. The intent isn’t there. The honest-ness of gray scale is missing.”
“Then there are the uncolored versions of the classics.”
“Yes. The only saving grace.”
A banner suddenly popped up on the screen announcing ‘Breaking News’. A news broadcaster appeared with a headline behind him reading ‘Sound Barrier Broken’. A military spokesperson had confirmed that today at 09:50 standard time, test pilot Colonel Vance Cameron had piloted the rocket aircraft Flair 1 past the sound barrier at an undisclosed military facility. No further details were available at this time. An image of a pilot climbing down from a rocket plane appeared on the screen. The Colonel was seen walking away still wearing his helmet, his oxygen mask hanging down against his chest. As he past the camera, he paused for a moment and stared directly into it. It felt like he was looking at us. The Griffin kicked forward to light. The image faded into snow.
Wilson called back from his station, “By God, he did it!”
RJ looked over at me, “I have a feeling our secrets are safe.”
Danica and Shelly settled us to our first leg. As we pulled away, I realized we were on a different spacecraft. From the moment Amoura had been brought aboard the ship had become a very different place. I thought perhaps the effect would wear off once we settled into routine, but the aura persisted. There was a golden tint in the air. Golden sparkles out of the corner of your eye made you stop and look, though they seemed to disappear when you searched for them. The corridor between the sleeper cells had a visibly golden glow to it, as well. I felt both apprehension and entrancement at the thought of sleeping within that strange ambiance. Somehow, I seemed to feel it was more than I deserved.
We were affected in other ways even more personal. There was a subtle joyousness between us. It was the night before Christmas, the morning of leaving for Disney World, or the day of the family camping trip. It was all of those and it did not wane or ebb. The crew consciously had to stop themselves from smiling at each other, often unable to do so. Everyone came to understand it was the Amoura effect, though we did not speak of it. Everyone’s jokes were especially funny. When someone told a story, it was totally captivating. The poker games were intensely entertaining. You found yourself just as happy for the winners as you were dejected by losing. Everyone was always on his best behavior. It wasn’t actually euphoria, it was more like euphoria was comi
ng.
Time became a luxury, though not in the conventional sense. Every minute of every day was too good to miss. We plunged into the void without a second thought and realized it had seemed like days not weeks getting there. There would be no stopping this time. No high school coaches, beauty contests, professional kick boxing events, and no figures in black cloaks looming.
Something unexpected waited for us on the other side. We burst into stars hardly noticing, still at top warp, until Shelly in the pilot seat called out “Adrian,” on the com system and the tone of her voice made everyone stop what they were doing and pay attention.
Out the front flight deck windows the largest spacecraft I had ever seen was leading us. It was pancake-shaped but had appendages here and there and nacelle-like structures aft. It looked like the thing was riveted together with tiny beads of light all over it. As I gawked from behind Shelly, someone called out, “Adrian, you’d better get back here.”
“Not now,” I answered.
“Yes, now,” replied RJ.
I went back to find there was another identical ship alongside us to port, and a third ship flanking us to starboard.
Wilson, at an engineering station, called out next. “Adrian, check your monitors.”
I looked up at the nearest display in time to see a message slowly spelling out one letter at a time.
‘Commander Tarn, permission to transfer your passenger and mission logs? –Mellenia.’
I am not one prone to goose bumps, but when I saw the name Mellinia, I had them. My heart skipped a beat. The Nasebian emissary I had shared so much with on my last fateful mission was aboard one of these ships. I wanted to see her in the worst way, and I knew she was already sensing that. I realized I was holding my breath. My Nasebian crystal was vibrating in my breast pocket. I hurried over to the engineering station next to Wilson and typed the message myself.
‘Permission granted. Our warmest regards.’
There was a faint hum as we became enveloped in a white glow. It lasted no more than thirty seconds. Suddenly the Griffin seemed to have less color. We were weightless, but the weightlessness seemed to be slightly heavier. Things did not look quite as good as they had. I discovered I was hungry. I looked at the others. They were experiencing the same feelings. I went to the sleeper section and tapped open Amoura’s compartment. It was empty. Wilson called me once more.
“They didn’t just copy the logs. They cut them, Adrian. We have no mission logs left whatsoever, and no personal logs. There is not one reference to Earth II left on this ship.”
“I believe we can infer that all mission information is now classified,” I replied.
Wilson nodded. Before he could speak, Shelly called out. “Adrian, you better get up here and look at this.”
RJ hung behind me. As I pulled forward he remarked, “Busy day…”
The Nasebian ships were gone. Shelly was pointing one red fingernail to the navigation display. “Two days,” she said.
I looked at the display and tried to get my mind to believe. On the blue flight path line our ship designator was now located two days from Earth. In the time the Nasebian ships had accompanied us we had traveled in minutes what should have taken weeks. We were two days from home, just the right amount of time to organize and get ready for reentry and mission resolution.
When we had regained our composure and begun to adapt to reality without Amoura, I took a seat at the table with RJ and helped him capture escaped solitaire cards. He seemed moody in a delighted way. He needed the ace of hearts to go up top, but the deck left in his hand was too small. He wasn’t going to get it. He spoke as he counted cards out. “You see what has happened here, don’t you?”
“Oh boy, here you go again, coming up with some brilliant insight, making me feel like an idiot.”
“Well do you want to know or not?”
“Go ahead,”
“The Nasebian escape pod had a combination of machine and biological circuitry, according to your scans.”
“Yep.”
“So bio-systems are why the Nasebians can’t go through the void, and that’s why the first Nasebian ship got into trouble, causing Earth II to happen.”
“I would have thought of that, eventually.”
“Add to that, something in that area of space is incompatible with them, though Capal seems to have overcome it. I’m guessing this sort of thing is as close as you can come to a Nasebian embarrassment. That’s why they cut all our Earth II data and will dispense it only as required.”
“Pretty messy affair. A whole planet.”
“And the question remains, where is Capal?”
“My guess would be, probably anywhere he feels like being.”
“There’s something else perhaps I should not mention.”
“Oh, for Pete’s sake! The embarrassing insights are bad enough.”
“Well do you want to know or not?”
“Go ahead, dignity lost in any case.”
“The Nasebians have been careful to guide our Earth along in its development of deep space travel. It’s what they do. And, the Nasebians are responsible for Earth II. They’re not going to just let the place run amok. They’re going to want to make adjustments. The void, and the space beyond it, is a problem even for them. They’re going to need someone to go back there eventually, someone who knows the score.”
“Oh my God.”
“Well, it’s just a guess.”
Chapter 42