The Return (Alternate Dimensions Book 5) Page 7

  “Alright, all I have to do is plug it into the auto-nav of the station and we’ll be on our way.”

  I watched as Janix hit a few buttons, then the vessel rumbled to life. Without any further ado, we were on our way.

  I was hit again with a certain bit of anti-climactic anticipation. After so much blowing up, hijacking and falling from the sky, driving along in the space-station equivalent of a mini-van with blacked out windows was a far cry from what I would call exciting. And while normally I was all about the reprieve after a good fight, I had been resting for so long in the hospital that I didn’t really want to slow down.

  Oh well, I supposed there would come a time, very soon, where I would desperately wish for some kind of respite.

  I looked to Jyra and Janix, trying to gauge how they were feeling. I could practically see their emotions simmering just below the surface, waiting for an opportunity where it was appropriate to express them. I had to admit, they were handling this a lot better than I would, were the shoe to be on the other foot, so to speak. I would be a sobbing, howling, snotty mess stuck somewhere between disbelief and utter happiness.

  “So, how has the work on the cure been going while I’ve been gone?” No answer. I looked to Jyra to see that her face was glued to the window, her eyes locked on something outside. “Hello? You okay over there?”

  “I’ve… I’ve seen this area before.”

  “Yeah, well it’s the Quadric Station,” Janix said with a quiet laugh. “It’s one of the most commonly traveled and densely populated of all the civilian stations.”

  “No,” She murmured. “I’ve never been outside of the science sector.” She fell quiet again as she continued to stare. “I feel like it’s on the edge of my mind… just waiting to be-” Suddenly she sat up ramrod straight. “I remember. I have been here before.”

  “Oh yeah?” Janix said, obviously trying to lighten the mood. “Maybe on a little nerd fieldtrip to see the normies?”

  “No.” She answered calmly, although when she turned to face forward, I could see the thin sheen of sweat across her brow. “Just a very specific dream.”

  Chapter Seven: When De Ja Vu Turns Deadly

  “I don’t understand,” Arq said, looking at us with obvious confusion written across her face. “You had a dream about the station and it means what now?”

  “It wasn’t just a dream.” Jyra objected.

  From the moment of her revelation, we had rushed to our connecting vessel. I had wanted more than anything to just use the damn comm system to hail the new captain, but Jyra was decidedly against that. She said we couldn’t risk anyone overhearing that wasn’t meant to. I guess after the betrayal that had led to me being gutted and dying in her arms, I couldn’t blame her for being paranoid.

  So now the three of us were standing in her quarters, Bajol and Viys’k present as well. I could tell there was the underlying tension of everyone seeing me for the first time since finding out I wasn’t dead, but it was being pushed to the bottom of the list while we dealt with the matter at hand.

  “Andi had the same thing back down on the facility where I was being held captive. It stopped us from being torn apart by the kodadt. I don’t understand these visions, I suppose, but I do know that they are warnings of terrible, deadly things.”

  “Believe it or not, I’m not actually doubting that you had this dream, or even that it meant something. What I don’t understand is what the hell we’re supposed to do about it. Something bad is going to happen in the station, a massacre, but you don’t know who is behind it or why or how. It’s a bit like grappling with a ghost, don’t you think?”

  “Well hold on,” Viys’k said from where she was perched on top of the couch. “Let’s be sensible about this.”

  “I believe I am,” Arq rebutted. “Unless you would enlighten me?”

  “I think it’s fairly obvious, isn’t it?” We looked blankly at the thief. “Oh, really? None of you guys get it?”

  “Enough gloating.” Arq said tersely.

  “Alright, sorry. I just… look, I think we all can agree that dream Andi had about Jyra’s lab was definitely planted by Genesis. He wanted us there. But I don’t think he can show Andi false memories. I think what she saw did indeed happen, just much earlier than she perceived.”

  “I mean yeah, that makes sense. It gave him time to possess one of the immune kodadt.”

  “Who is in stasis, by the way. Didn’t know if you were curious or not. But anyways, I would be willing to write off the vision as just that, a trap meant to send you to your death, but what if it was more?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “What I mean is, why did the asshole of a cloud have a whole hold packed to the brim with kodadt? You could argue that he was using them for show, but you literally survived their actual planet. I don’t think a single ship full ‘o them would make you break a sweat.

  “What if… what if they weren’t for show. What if he’s taking them somewhere and Jyra’s lab was just a detour along the way? That’s Genesis’ thing, right? Having multiple contingencies running at once and all that. What if that place he was taking them was none other than the quadric station?”

  My heart skipped a beat, but surprisingly it was Bajol who was speaking next.

  “How is that possible?” he asked. “The Quadric station has kodadt detectors every few yards on its hull, and every single port has multiple genetic scanners. If even a single molecule is detected, a ship must be quarantined far away from the actual station and submit to medical testing.”

  Viys’k shrugged. “I don’t know man. I’m just telling you my theory.”

  “Um, I actually have an idea,” I offered, raising my hand. The rest of them looked to me, just as surprised as I was. I had forgotten to ask how long I had been gone, so I wondered if they had gotten used to be not being around. “Let’s say they had a really good cloaking system. One as good or almost as good as ours. Technically, Genesis could get his ship within most of the heavy, nuclear weapons.”

  “Yeah, but then what? They’d never be allowed to dock and port.”

  Now it was my turn to be a little incredulous that they weren’t picking up on what it was most likely planning. “It won’t have to dock and port. Because it’s going to crash its ship right through the hull.”

  Now their eyes went wide and things began to click.

  “Think about it? Genesis has a cure, which means that it didn’t plan for the Kodadt to wipe everyone out. It wants power to unfairly swing to one species so that it can use that imbalance to let this dimension crumble. What better way to do that than with a sensational massacre? People will be terrified, and rocked by grief. Marshall law will probably be declared and then through some wheeling and dealing, BAM, exactly back in the position it wanted to be in. All by shoving the nose of its ship straight into that station.”

  “Would that get it through?”

  “I’ll have my engineers run the computations. But… I think that might be it. Crashing a ship through a weak point in the station is such a primitive move that I don’t know if any of us would have come to that conclusion on our own.”

  “Well, if that’s the case, what do we do to stop it?” I asked. “We can’t exactly warn the Councilmen and be like, hey boys, this giant cloud monster that has already partially infiltrated your ranks is planning on using its massive ship as a battering ram so it can pour whatever infected kodadt that survive the crash into your sterile station. Thanks, okay, bye!”

  “We could leak information to them. I think warning them and risking Genesis overhearing is worth it to give them a little extra prep time.”

  “Is it?” Jyra asked. “This is our opportunity to end him once and for all. Genesis is dying -or at least what’s left of him in this dimension is. As for others, I can’t speak to that. Possessing an unwilling host took much of their energy and there’s already so little of them left. We defeat them here, and we’ll be at the other side of the great choice. This coul
d be the ending we’re all looking for, and we can’t risk them know that we know.”

  “But what if we fail? Do we really want to risk an entire station so we have a chance to kill that sonofabitch?”

  “We’re not going to risk an entire station.” Jyra answered resolutely. “Because we’re going to find a cure and get it into the fire suppression system.”

  “Oh,” I murmured, breaking the quiet shock. “We can do that?”

  “We will do that.” She looked to Bajol. “Are you ready to save the galaxy?”

  He looked a bit startled at the call out but nodded his head willingly. “Our latest tests weren’t as conclusive as I would like, but if you think we are within range of a cure, I am more than willing to contribute to a final push.”

  “Good.” She said before grabbing my hand. “Now, if you all don’t mind, I would like a moment alone with my partner before I banish myself to the laboratory. Any objections?” No one said anything, and I couldn’t tell if they were shocked or impressed with her sudden display of authority. Clearly there was a reason why she had been so capable of running her own research branch. Her eyes moved to Janix and she gave him a look I couldn’t interpret. “You can follow in about ten minutes.”

  “Aye-aye, Ma’am!”

  And with that, I was being pulled out by the much smaller female.

  Normally I didn’t like to be manhandled or yanked anywhere unless it was involving a run-for-your-life situation, but I was pretty sure I could make an exception for my best friend and… she had said partner, hadn’t she? It was occasionally hard to tell -being in a different universe words and ideas sometimes had different meanings- but what else could it mean? I knew we had feelings for each other, but it was nice to hear such a declaration out loud.

  She finished leading me to quarters that were definitely different from my previous room. I guess it made sense that my friends wouldn’t want to sleep in the area my bed had been. Too many bad memories probably.

  Once we were inside and the door shut securely behind us, she threw her arms around me once more and rested her head in the crook of my neck. I could feel tears, hot and wet, dripping down my neck and into the collar of the jumpsuit my rescuers had provided me. I cradled her to me, holding her as sobs wracked her small body.

  “I thought you were gone.” She cried, voice muffled by my body. “You died in front of me and we buried you!”

  “I’m sorry.” I answered softly, stroking her hair. I just noticed that she had cut it in my absence. Had that been for practical reasons? Or grief? “Was I gone for long?”

  “You came back after two weeks. Today is the fifteenth day. I had just long enough to finally accept that you were gone, and scape myself off the floor of this ship, then suddenly you were back again.” Finally, she pulled away enough to look up at me. “What happened? How is this possible?”

  “I’m still not entirely clear on that. Something about Genesis’ self-perpetuating material in me, being in the wrong dimension, and then some stuff about light.”

  “Light? What do you mean?”

  “You know that magical space being that gave dimensions Strangers?”

  “Yes.”

  “Well, we’re kinda like… descendants slash reincarnations of it. Some kind of mishmash of genetics from our dimension plus the energy of that same being who created the Strangers.”

  “So… then we are not Strangers?”

  “Nope. And that’s why we’ve been able to visit each other outside of the meeting place. We’re drawn to each other. Light wants to find other light.”

  “Why? What is the purpose of it all?”

  “Okay, so you know how there are almost an infinite number of dimensions sitting atop and around each other?”

  “Andi, I had to search through each of them for your specific cellular vibration. I am well acquainted with the multi-verse.”

  “Well apparently there’s another one.”

  “Another… multiverse?” She repeated, looking dubiously at me.

  “Yup. And that multiverse is where the light comes from. See, it’s kinda obsessed with living things and when it discovered there was a mirror multiverse with no life -just Genesis floating around and doing its thing- it decided to pull a Columbus and invade, planting little colonies of life. Long story sort, Genesis started that whole devouring dimensions thing, the light interfered, but it doing so it stranded itself here. Deciding to play the long game, it scattered itself into thousands of little duos and spread them throughout time and space itself to be reborn in us lucky folk.”

  “That sounds like an awful lot of effort for no real purpose.”

  “Oh, it’s got a purpose, alright. Us Children of the Light, or whatever hokey name you want to give us, are meant to find each other, then unite to fight Genesis at whatever Great Choice we can find then devour him.”

  “Devour? As in eat? As in why you swallowed him whole when you first met face to, uh, cloud?”

  “Usually it’s not that literal, but I’ve never been much for a metaphor. Oh, and we have the ability to hop to different dimensions under the right circumstances. Something even Strangers can’t do.”

  “Huh. This is certainly a lot of information to digest.”

  “Yeah, yeah it is. But Jyra, if you cure the Rabid Kodadt, that will be exactly what we need. You see, I’ve been inside of a kodadt, so to speak, and each of them has a tiny seed of Genesis in them. That’s how he controls them. You cure them, and that seed is released to run back to its master. So, not only will you and I be able to absorb them, but they’ll lead us right to wherever the last little pieces are hiding of it. Although I’m willing to bet it’ll straight up run the moment it realizes the battle is lost.”

  “Then that is what we must do.” She nodded again and finally released me. I knew she wasn’t one for copious amounts of physical affection, so I didn’t try to hold onto her. Instead, I settled for another stroke of her hair before stepping back.

  “Knock-knock! Can I come in?”

  We both jolted, looking to the closed door in surprise even though we both knew it was Janix. “Come in,” I said once I recovered.

  The mooreiree obliged, letting the door slide closed behind him as he looked from one of us to the other. “Alright, I sense some heavy emotions have been going on here. Is this a good time?”

  “Yes.” Jyra said, wiping her eyes and straightening. “I wanted you here.”

  “Y-you did?” He asked, eyes going wide.

  “Of course.” She crossed to one of the beds and sat down, crossing her legs much like I used to. “You love Andi.”

  “Oh, well that’s one way to start this conversation.” He said, moving to sit across from her. I stayed standing in the aisle, suddenly feeling more than a little bit awkward. “But yes. I do.”

  “And you have had partners before, yes?”

  “Uh, yes. Definitely.”

  “I see.’ She was quiet a moment and we both waited for her to process exactly what she wanted to say. “I have never had a partner before. I have never had the need or desire for it. But… now I feel differently.” Her eyes looked to me nervously. “I want to be with Andi.”

  “Well, the feeling’s mutual. I hope that’s not a problem, is it?”

  She shook her head. “No. Not at all. That is why I wanted you here. I think it would be best -provided you and Andi agree- if we all were a… thing.”

  “A thing?” Janix teased. “That’s a little vague.”

  “I’m not quite sure what you would call it. Andi, I love you. It took me quite a while to identify the feeling within me, but I ripped apart the rules of the multi-verse to find you. I’m not complete unless I’m able to be with you. However…”

  “However?” I repeated nervously.

  “You have needs. Uh, physical needs that I do not believe I can meet. Perhaps someday, but not in a manner that would be fair for you.” Her head turned to Janix. “You can meet those needs for her. You can provide the type o
f affection and assurance that I don’t understand. Perhaps someday we will be close enough that you can teach me as well, but only time will tell.”

  “You know what? I think that works for me.” Janix said. “There are things in Andi’s life that I will never understand, and I know that your adventures might take you places I can’t go. But, perhaps together, we can take care of her.”

  “I’m not a child,” I objected. “I don’t need to be taken care of.”

  “Really?” Janix countered. “Out of this room, raise your hand if you haven’t died.”

  The two of them raised their hands and I rolled my eyes. “Fine. You may have a point about that.”

  “So, does this arrangement sound appropriate to you?”

  “Well, I don’t really like calling it an ‘arrangement’,” I countered. “But I know I care for Janix, and I know I care for you. I want you both in my life and I am sure of that now.”

  “Well then it’s settled.” Janix said, standing up. “So, partners, what do you say we go kick some cloudy ass?”

  To my surprise it was Jyra who grabbed his extended hand. “Yes, let’s.”

  Chapter Eight: Sweet Dreams are Made of Sabotage

  It was a bit strange. After so much lime playing center stage in the giant chess match for the survival of our universe, I found myself relegated to the sidelines as Jyra handled finding the cure with Bajol and Viys’k handled the prep for the inevitable space fight that was going down with Arq.

  Thankfully, the krelach and I had a chance to finally have our reunion, and although it didn’t have the same waterworks as my other experiences, it was still packed with emotion.

  We really had become a family, me and my merry band of ne’er-do-wells. And after losing Angel, having me taken out had certainly taken a toll on their psyche. It added an edge to everything all of us did and said. As if some part of our hope had withered away in the grief of what had happened.