CAMPSHIP LUNA ROSSA, EN ROUTE TO NABERIUS
“Sounds like one heck of a dream.”
“I know, right?” Akasha leaned back in her seat and sighed wistfully. “It all felt so… so
real. I remember every detail so clearly. The smell of the dish soap, the sound of the birds chirping outside. How his lips tasted when we kissed… All of it. It was pretty intense.”
Sitting beside her, Rho had a slightly amused expression on her face. “As a CAST, I remember every detail of every dream, so I can’t really relate. But I
am glad to hear you think we’ll still be friends twenty cycles from now!”
Akasha grinned. “‘Course we will! You’re my best girl, now and forever. You know that.” She snaked an arm around the Caseal’s shoulders and pulled her close. “We’ve only been friends for… what, two or three months now? Yet I feel like I’ve known you for ages. Not to mention, you’re one of the few people who doesn’t treat me like… well, some kind of rock star.”
“What? You mean you’re famous or something?” Rho exclaimed, feigning ignorance. “I had
no idea!”
Akasha laughed at that. “Seriously, I mean it. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”
“I treasure our friendship too, Kashie. And y’know, honestly, you’re one of the few people who doesn’t see one of my sisters when you look at me. You see me for who I am.”
“You have sisters? I had
no idea!” exclaimed Akasha, continuing the joke.
That time they both laughed. Then the Newearl added, “I’m a clone of Dr. Kestren, so I know a thing or two about living with someone else’s face. I also know this change has been hard on you, but you’ll get used to it. I promise.”
“Yeah, you’re probably right. Thanks, Kashie.” Rho shifted her attention to the viewport next to her. Outside the campship, an endless sea of stars glittered against an infinite curtain of blackness. Beautiful, in its own quiet way.
After a few moments the Caseal turned back to Akasha, one eyebrow raised in curiosity. “By the way, have you told Ivan about the dream yet?”
“Yeah,” she replied, but quickly changed her mind. “Well, okay, not
all of it.”
“Not the juicy bits, you mean.”
“Also the part with Kira at the end.”
“Kira? You mean your friend, the one who—”
“Yeah.”
“Ivan’s still not over her? It’s been three months already.”
“He’s trying. Really! And he’s doing a lot better lately. I just don’t want to give him any reason to backslide on that progress.”
Rho nodded sagely, like she agreed with everything being said. “Speaking of progress, I guess that means nothing’s happened between you two yet?”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa! Hold it right there!” Akasha threw up her hands in a halting gesture. “I thought I told you, I’m not doing anything on that front until—”
“—Until you’re a big, strong, grown-up woman again. I know. But that’s
nine months away—allegedly. Can you really wait that long?”
“Of course. I’ll wait as long as it takes.”
“If you’re worried he only sees you as a kid…”
“That’s not it.”
“I’m sure he knows you’re the same person inside, no matter what you look like.”
“I’m telling you, that’s not it! Well, not the main reason, anyway. I just want to look and feel like myself again before taking that next step.”
“What if he finds someone else before then?”
Akasha snorted at the thought. “Ivan? Not gonna happen, trust me. He’s not that type of guy. Besides, he’s too busy working on his medical career to go around chasing tail.”
Rho gave her friend a
come on, girl look. “He doesn’t have to be the one doing the chasing, y’know.”
“So what do you want me to do about it?”
“Go for it! Why wait nine months for something you could have now? I mean, what’s the worst that could happen?”
“What’s the worst that could happen?!” Akasha wailed, completely dismayed. She ticked the possibilities off on her fingers one by one. “Let’s see. First and foremost, he could say no, totally derailing our friendship and making things super awkward between us. Or he might say yes, but what if deep down he’s not over Kira yet, and we end up drifting apart because of it? Or maybe he would’ve said yes, but he doesn’t want to be seen dating a sixteen-year-old. Or… or… or…”
Rho’s steady hands clamped onto the girl’s shoulders. “Calm down, Kashie. You’re gonna hyperventilate.”
Akasha closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Somehow, it had a calming effect.
“Look,” Rho continued, “I’m not saying you have to do anything this second. I’m just saying, y’know, think about it.”
“I don’t know…”
The red-haired Caseal leaned past her to address the man sitting across the aisle, on the other side of the campship cabin. “Hey, Lieutenant Serious! You’ve been listening in on our conversation. What do you think Kashie here should do? Should she go for it or not?”
A look of irritation crossed the man’s face. He turned to Rho and replied, “First of all, my name is Sitrius. Cal Sitrius. And I was
not ‘listening in’ on your inane conversation.”
“Oh c’mon, you think you can fool CAST sensors? I saw you glance over here twice in the past minute. Your ears perked up three times. Subtle, but definitely noticeable. You were obviously listening, so don’t even bother trying to deny it.”
Sitrius became doubly agitated. His jaw locked tight and his eyes narrowed. He was practically fuming, and not only with anger. In truth, he was also embarrassed. “I-I wasn’t… That is, it’s not like I had much choice. We’re the only ones here, and you two schoolgirls were chattering so loudly I couldn’t even hear myself think.”
“Okay, so you admit you heard us. That still doesn’t answer my question.”
“Then to make it clear, I have absolutely no opinion on the matter whatsoever,” he huffed. There was a note of finality in his voice. Then he looked away, signaling the end of the discussion.
Rho shrugged. “He’s just shy,” she said to Akasha, and left it at that.
A few minutes later the pilot’s voice came on over the speaker: “Final approach to planet Naberius. We will be arriving at the drop zone shortly. All ARKS personnel, prepare to disembark.”
* * * * * * * * *
A trio of bluish-white streaks plummeted through the atmosphere, disappearing beneath the lush green canopy below. A moment later they struck the forest floor and rematerialized as a trio of ARKS soldiers: Akasha, Rho, and Sitrius. High above, the twinkle of light that was their campship veered away and disappeared into the midday sky. It would return when their mission was complete.
“Let’s move out,” said Sitrius, and immediately took off walking. The two women fell into step behind him.
They were about five kilometers from the camp. They could have dropped closer, of course, but they didn’t want to risk revealing themselves in case any Darkers were still in the area. So instead, they had opted to walk.
It was a beautiful hike. Quiet, peaceful, surrounded by towering trees with moss-speckled trunks. It was also cold. Much colder than Akasha’s last trip to Naberius, though that had been closer to the equator and therefore more tropical. Their current location was near the forest’s northern boundary, where the thicket of trees gave way to grassy plains and rocky hills. Cold winds carried down from distant mountains stole most of the heat from the air.
“Brrr, I should have brought a jacket.” Akasha rubbed her bare arms, which had broken out in gooseflesh.
“You should’ve been born a CAST,” quipped Rho. “Then you could’ve adjusted your internal body temperature like I did.”
“I’ll have to keep that in mind for my next life.”
They continued onward. Over a rotting log, under a natural stone arch, across a shallow stream. Two kilometers went by in relative silence.
Then Rho said, “Hey, Lieutenant Serious, tell us a little about yourself.”
The man’s posture stiffened, but he kept walking. “For the last time, it’s Sitrius. Not ‘Serious,’
Si-tri-us. Considering I’m team leader, not to mention your temporary CO, you could show a little respect.”
“Fine.
Please tell us a little more about yourself, Lieutenant Serious,
sir.”
The Newman groaned in exasperation and shook his head.
“Rho, don’t tease the lieutenant,” chided Akasha. “He’s very sensitive about his name.”
To Sitrius she said, genuinely, “Sorry about that. Rho here isn’t actually hating on you, despite how it seems. Actually, she doesn’t bother giving nicknames to people she doesn’t like.”
“Kashie! Don’t say it like that, you’ll give him the wrong idea.” As if to prove her point, Rho stuck her tongue out at Sitrius.
The Lieutenant sighed, then relented. “There’s not much to tell, really. My parents died when I was just a boy. I’ve spent the past fifteen years trying to be a man who would’ve made them proud.”
It was an unexpectedly earnest answer. So much so that it caught Akasha off-guard. “I’m… sorry to hear about your parents. I never had any myself, but I always imagined that if I did, I would have wanted them to be proud of me.”
“Yes, yes, we’ve all heard the story. You’re a clone of Naya Kestren modified with Newman DNA. You found Kestren aboard
Orpheus but your twin brother murdered her shortly after. You tried to stop his nefarious plot but he killed you too. Then you were reborn from some sort of egg, and now the artificial hormones in your body are giving you one hell of a growth spurt.”
The way Sitrius recited the details, it sounded like he had heard the tale several times already. Most likely, he had.
“That about sums it up, yeah,” Akasha replied. “Sometimes I forget that everybody already knows me. It’s kind of a weird feeling.”
“You’re our lovable lil’ superstar!” Rho put the Newearl in a headlock and started ruffling her hair.
“H-Hey!” protested Akasha. “Lemme go already!”
* * * * * * * * *
Another two kilometers later, they were almost there. The forest was thinning and pale light was spilling in through the canopy overhead. Somehow, the temperature had dropped even lower.
And it was quiet. Too quiet. A forest was supposed to be filled with creatures large and small, yet Akasha hadn’t seen a single one. Hadn’t even heard one. No Gulfs howling, no Aginises cawing, no Udans chattering. The silence was unnerving.
In the absence of sound, each footstep sounded like a gunshot, a violent explosion that echoed from one end of the forest to the other. The Newearl’s right boot came down on a pile of brittle leaves.
Ka-boom! Her left boot snapped a twig in half.
Ka-pow!
In the distance, an object caught Akasha’s attention. At the moment it was little more than a black spec on the horizon. As they approached, however, she was able to make out more details. The thing, whatever it was, looked to be some kind of metallic cylinder, matte black, with tripod legs attached to one end. The other end was topped with a semi-transparent red bulb.
“Perimeter security beacon,” Sitrius explained. “Motion activated. It sets off an alarm if any native creature gets too close. There’s probably a ring of them surrounding the camp.”
Rho dropped to her haunches. “This one’s totally shredded.”
She was right. The beacon was lying on its side, torn in half. Each piece had long, jagged gouges carved into its metal surface.
“I don’t think any native creature did this,” Akasha said ominously.
The three ARKS looked at each other in understanding.
Darkers.
Sitrius removed one of the twin machineguns from his hip, thumbed the safety switch off and said, “Stay alert. And follow me.”
They moved forward cautiously, trying to remain as quiet as possible. It wasn’t easy. Akasha kept her eyes and ears peeled for danger, not to mention her “extra” sense, the one she kept hidden from most people.
After five uneventful minutes, they finally reached the edge of the tree line. The vast forests of Naberius were all behind them now. In front of them were only grass, hills, and sky as far as the eye could see. Massive snow-capped mountains jutted upward on the horizon, impossibly distant.
Thirty meters dead ahead was the ARKS research camp, or what was left of it. The place looked completely trashed. There was no movement to be seen. No sounds to be heard.
The soldier trio spread out in a triangular formation. Sitrius once again took the point position. They crossed the distance as swiftly as they dared, weapons at the ready.
There were no surprise attacks. No ambushes. Just a soft breeze blowing in from the north that rustled the unkempt grasses and scattered bushes.
Before they knew it, they found themselves in the midst of the camp. It was only then that the true scale of the tragedy became apparent. Every single piece of equipment had been smashed and broken. The remains of the research team were strewn all over the place, some of them in several pieces. There was blood everywhere. Akasha clamped a hand over her mouth to fight the wave of nausea rising up inside her.
Sitrius knelt next to one of the bodies. He reached into the man’s coat pocket and fished around until he found what he was looking for.
“What are you doing?” asked Rho.
“Retrieving his ARKS Card,” the Newman replied, holding it up. “We need positive identification of everyone here. The easiest way to do that is by scanning their cards, assuming they have them. If not, photos will suffice until the cleanup crew arrives.”
They got to work right away with the unpleasant business of identifying the victims. It was a tough, grisly job. Normally such things were handled by specially-trained teams, not soldiers, but in this case they didn’t have the luxury of waiting. Part of their mission was to locate and secure any survivors, and they couldn’t do that without a full account of the dead.
They started outdoors first, then checked the pre-fab structures one by one. In total they found twenty-two bodies. Twelve male, ten female. Nineteen were members of the research team, three were soldiers assigned to protect them from attacks by native creatures… or Darkers.
Among the dead were Senn and Rondeel Vatras, the Newman couple who headed the mission. Their broken, lifeless bodies were discovered inside their own temporary home. It was Senn’s desperate message that had alerted ARKS Command to their plight on Naberius. Unfortunately, the ARKS were too late to save them.
“Twenty-two dead.” Rho shook her head in dismay. “I can’t believe it. I mean, I don’t even know what to say to that.”
“I’d say we’re one short,” Sitrius replied. “There are supposed to be twenty-three people here. Nineteen researchers, four soldiers.”
“One of the soldiers is missing.”
Sitrius nodded. “We’ve already done a thorough search of the camp. There’s no one else here. We’ll have to expand our search radius, maybe try checking the work site and forest next.”
“Well what are we waiting for?” said Akasha, already turning to leave. “That soldier might still be alive. If so, they could be in trouble. C’mon, we’ve gotta hurry!”
“Hold it. General Rae gave me explicit instructions not to let you out of my sight.”
“…Seriously?”
“I’m always serious.” Sitrius glanced at Rho, saw she was about to make a joke at his expense, and held up a warning finger. Then he turned back to Akasha. “Let me remind you that you are currently under suspicion for conspiracy and treason, charges levied against you by the ARKS commander herself. Until those charges are cleared, and as long as you are operating under my command, I expect your full cooperation. Is that understood?”
Akasha couldn’t believe it. Someone’s life might be at stake, yet the man was more concerned about her loyalty? “Look around you,” she said angrily, inviting him to do just that. “Even if my brother is responsible for this… this sick nightmare, do you really think I had anything to do with it? Or that I’d want him to get away with it? Because if you do, you’re the worst kind of scum there is.”
With that, she stormed off towards the edge of the forest, leaving Sitrius and Rho behind. Neither one tried to stop her.
* * * * * * * * *
Before she knew it, Akasha found herself surrounded by trees. The sound of her boots crunching over dead leaves echoed loudly in the silence, but she didn’t care. She was too mad to care.
How dare he? How dare he! I try to help, maybe even save a life, and this is the thanks I get? What a colossal ass!
Somewhere behind her, a twig snapped. Akasha spun around, half expecting to find Sitrius there ready to apologize, but no. There was no one there, just empty forest. She waited a moment just to be sure.
Nothing.
“Hello?” she called into the emptiness.
Still nothing.
Great, now you’re hearing things? Get a grip, Akasha.
She was still upset, but the distraction had calmed her down a little. Her head started to clear and her anger at Sitrius began to fade. As annoying as he was, the lieutenant was only following orders. She couldn’t really fault him for that. If anyone was to blame, it was General Rae. The woman was seeing conspiracies everywhere.
Or was she? Akasha had to admit, she never actually saw Shankar die. Her brother
did have the ability to control Darkers, and there was the unsettling account from Senn Vatras about a “large man with a tattooed face.” Who else could it be, if not Shankar? Was it possible Rae was right after all? If so, Akasha was prepared to do anything to stop him—for good this time.
There was another sound behind her, closer this time. Akasha turned to look—
—and was surprised to see Rho jogging her way.
“Kashie, hey!” the Caseal called as she approached. When they were two meters apart she stopped in her tracks and asked, “Are you okay?”
Akasha hesitated, then nodded. “Yeah.”
“Look, I know you’re upset. I would be too. But blowing up at Lieutenant Serious isn’t going to help. It might feel good, but that’s beside the point. You said it yourself, we have to find that missing soldier. That’s the most important thing now. Right?”
Akasha nodded again. “Right. I just… lost my temper, that’s all. Lately I’ve been feeling out of sorts, like I can’t get a handle on myself. I don’t know why. Maybe it’s these ‘raging teenage hormones’ Dr. Mallory keeps talking about.”
“Maybe you’re just a hothead,” Rho suggested with a wink.
“What?!” Akasha scoffed, half joking. “I am
not a hothead—”
Crunch.
Akasha immediately glanced left, then right, then behind her.
“What is it?” asked Rho.
“Thought I heard something. A crunching sound.”
Rho scanned her memory files. “I heard it too, I just wasn’t paying attention.”
“I’ve been getting this feeling,” said Akasha. “Like I’m being followed. Or watched.”
“Is your… y’know,
Darker sense tingling?”
The Newearl shook her head. “No. At least, I don’t think so. There’s definitely something out there, but it’s somewhere else, not here.”
“Then it was probably just an animal. Don’t worry about it.”
“Yeah… Yeah, I guess you’re right. Alright, come on, let’s go.”
Akasha started to leave with Rho. She never thought to look up. If she had, she might have noticed the shadowy figure crouched in the tree overhead. The figure inched forward and slowly, quietly, produced a pair of photon-infused blades.
There was a moment of hesitation. Then the figure leaped straight down, both blades angled towards the back of Akasha’s neck.
TO BE CONTINUED
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