Aurora Rising: The Complete Collection (187 page)

S
EATTLE

Graham considered the view out the window of the transport once they cleared the atmosphere corridor. Azure waters raced by beneath them, and too soon the horizon began to glimmer as the lights of a cityscape at dusk drew close.

The transport landed at the Olympic Regional Spaceport in Seattle. He knew of Seattle because of its proximity to and association with Vancouver, and Vancouver’s importance to the Alliance military. Otherwise he would be rather clueless as to where exactly he found himself. Oh, he could name another half a dozen Earth cities, but there were
so many
. So many cities, so many people.

He let the crowd carry him out of the spaceport and onto the street. Once there, however, he stopped and leaned against the façade behind him.

So this was Earth. The motherland. One tiny corner of it, anyway.

He drew the chilly, damp air into his lungs and smiled in satisfaction. Then he pushed off the wall and let his eVi guide him to the address he’d been given.

A mountain of work awaited him on Seneca. His office, all of Division, arguably society itself needed to be patched up and put back together again. But the last several days, weeks and months had been one long, brutal kick in the ass, and he was going to take a damn break and relax first.

The meeting place was a casual open-air pub on the Puget Sound waterfront. The large deck was spatially heated and he was accustomed to a cool climate, but he was glad he’d brought a jacket nonetheless.

Richard stood and extended a hand when he reached the table. He shook it warmly then shifted to his right as Will did the same.

“Good to see you again, sir. It’s been all of, what, three days? Four? Feels like longer, though.”

Graham made a face as they sat. “I don’t think ‘sir’ is going to have any place in the evening’s festivities, so you can cut that drivel straightaway. In fact, do you even work for me anymore? I’m not sure the topic ever came up.”

Richard and Will exchanged an interesting and indecipherable look. Will chuckled softly. “Well….”

He motioned across the table. “Doesn’t matter. I presume Richard filled you in on the goal for tonight?”

“Something about ‘epic’ and ‘truly’ and ‘drinks.’ I figured I’d just follow his lead.”

“That more or less covers everything. And since I’m the guest, I’ll buy the first round.”

Richard scoffed. “Don’t be ridiculous. You’re the one who traveled all this way. I’ll buy the first round. You can buy the rest.”

“Ha!” Graham gave a hearty laugh and relaxed back in his chair as a drop-dead gorgeous waitress flashing long legs and nearly as long chestnut-and-gold tresses arrived with a platter of drinks. Yep, the evening was going to be enjoyable indeed. “And the first round is already here. What an excellent beginning.”

He reached for a glass but stopped halfway, grimacing. “Shit, I came straight here and haven’t booked a hotel yet. Any recommendations on where to crash once the epicness is done?”

Richard shook his head as he distributed the drinks. “We do have a spare bedroom. In the event we’re able to successfully get ourselves home, you’re welcome to it. Besides, tomorrow—or possibly the next day, depending—I’ve got some ideas I want to talk over with you, so we might as well be in the same place.”

“Ideas?”

“On how we can better ensure we—the politicians, the military, the public, even you and I—don’t fall prey to something like Aguirre’s conspiracy so easily in the future. But they’ll keep.” He raised his glass. “To saving the galaxy?”

Graham’s glass joined Richard and Will’s above the table for an emphatic
clink
. “To saving the galaxy.”

59

EARTH

EASC
H
EADQUARTERS

T
HE BED SEEMED TO SWALLOW
M
IA
, cocooning her in warming blankets, tubes and monitors. Her raven hair was gone, shaved to make way for more monitors.

How, Caleb wondered, could such a tiny body have contained so much spirit, so much verve and all the mettle beneath it? “I feel as though this is my fault.”

Alex had given him space to absorb the grim scene in private, but now she was at his side and her hand was on his arm. “Because you offered her the chance to participate? No. Caleb, she understood the risks, and she wanted to do this.”

“How can you know that?”

She retreated slightly. Talking about the details of her link with Valkyrie was proving difficult for her. She claimed it was simply hard to put into words, but he suspected she worried those details would frighten others away. Would frighten him away. He’d call her on it soon enough—but not here.

“When our channel was fully open the connection between the Prevos was very deep. I hesitate to say I was
inside
her mind, but in some ways that’s what it felt like. Trust me when I tell you she was proud to be playing such an important role.” Her gaze dropped away from him to rest on the terribly still form in the bed. “If anything, it’s my fault. If we’d gone public with the threat from the alien agents, if we’d done everything possible to stop them immediately without regard to secrecy or timing, we might have prevented this from happening.”

Her voice hinted at genuine distress. He grasped her shoulders and urged her around to face him. “But if what you say about the connection is true, she made the decision on how to proceed along with you, right?”

Alex shrugged weakly. “Yes.”

“So how about we blame the aliens, okay?”

There was the smile he craved. “Sounds reasonable.”

The door slid open to allow Dr. Canivon’s entrance. She gave them a curt nod and began inspecting the readings from the myriad of monitors in her coldly dispassionate manner.

Caleb respected that the woman had enabled Alex’s vision to come to fruition, but he did not care for her personally. She looked at Alex, she looked at Mia—hell, she looked at everyone—as if they were specimens being evaluated for use in her experiments. In his opinion Miriam had been correct in her assessment of the doctor. He’d known people like her over the years and wasn’t keen on the way they made decisions.

Still, if anyone alive could help Mia be…alive, it was her. “We’ve been given the highlights, but I’d like to hear the bottom line from you, Doctor.”

Canivon glanced up at them in surprise, as if she’d forgotten she was the one who had intruded. “The brain damage is extensive. Some basic faculties may be restorable, but many areas appear to be permanently lost. Yet great strides have been made in the last several years in cerebral regeneration therapy, so perhaps I’m being pessimistic.”

She appraised the readings a second time. “But there may be another way to help her.”

Caleb perked up a little at the tease. “Don’t play cryptic. I’m sure it’s experimental and risky or you wouldn’t be proposing it.”

If the woman noticed the backhanded insult, she didn’t show it. “I’ve been informed the Alliance recovered most of Meno’s hardware and a number of modules sustained only minimal damage. In addition, we imaged the Artificial’s neural net as part of Noetica. If Meno were to be rebuilt—and the result was substantially identical to what existed before his destruction—he might be able to access her brain functions despite her comatose state.”

“What would be the result?”

“He could tell us with a high level of specificity the nature of the damage in different regions. And…well, I have no justification for this belief save my technical observations of the human/Artificial interactions in the Prevos, but it’s possible Meno could take over portions of the lost functionality. He could fill in the gaps himself, particularly since her neural imprint modified his programming.”

Alex frowned. “If it worked, it would mean the link was no longer optional. She wouldn’t be able to turn it on and off.”

“Likely true.”

Caleb’s voice came out shakier than he intended. “And it would mean she would be less…herself. Less human and more synthetic.”

“Also likely true, though what that means in practice will be unclear for some time.” Abigail regarded Caleb with her customary clinical precision. “She has no family of record. There is no one to make decisions on her behalf. But it’s my understanding…” her eyes darted briefly to Alex “…you’ve known her for many years. I can pursue this path, but I’m interested to know: is this something she would want?”

This response was stronger, more resolute. “Yes. Without a doubt. She’s a fighter, and she wasn’t afraid of the technology involved.”

“Very well. It will be a lengthy process—reconstructing Meno alone will take several months—and I don’t anticipate seeing any results for a while. But if or when we do, I’ll of course notify you both.”

Alex sighed quietly. “Thank you, Abigail. We appreciate you seeing this through.” She looked to him for guidance; he tilted his head toward the door.

Once they stepped into the hallway she grasped his hands and scrutinized him in concern. “Are you all right?”

Was he? He did her question justice by pausing to think about it. Mia would want to live—but if unable to do so, she’d be happy knowing she had done a damn good job of helping to save the galaxy, and had done so on her own terms.

And the galaxy
was
saved. And Alex had pulled it off while still remaining fundamentally
Alex
. And no one was trying to kill them.

The future was theirs to write.

He nodded, making sure it projected the truth of his conviction. “Yes, I am. I really am. Where to now?”

Her eyes lit up. “Home.”

S
EATTLE,
A
LEX’S
L
OFT

The plates were put away, the table clean after a damn near perfect dinner of lime-grilled pompano, cippoline onions and smoked tomato salsa. Watching Caleb cook in her kitchen had been a delight, the results arguably even more so. When given culinary tools not available on a ship he’d worked true magic.

Alex carried their wine glasses to the low table in front of the couch and settled down against the cushions. It was a clear night and a nearly-full moon lit the sky and the loft, so she dimmed the lights to a soft glow.

Valkyrie was on her own for the evening. She was likely spending it colluding with the others on facilitating the gargantuan rebuilding efforts, exploring the many zettabytes of data captured on the alien superdreadnought, or analyzing the nature of time and space, and possibly all three. All worthwhile endeavors. Until those who fancied themselves in charge decided what they wanted to do with these new creations, the Artificials were at least making good use of their talents. But Alex found she vastly preferred this, right here.

She glanced back toward the kitchen to see Caleb removing a slender container from his pack. Though curious, she didn’t ask about it as he joined her.

He took a sip of wine then handed her the box. The covering was a muted delft blue and velvety to the touch.

Now she did ask. “What is this?”

A small smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. “You may remember your birthday kind of passed us by while we were on the other side of the portal. I told you we would celebrate when the crisis was over. So as a start…” he gestured to the box she now held “…happy birthday, Alex.”

She had never been any damn good at receiving gifts; the one-sided generosity involved in the act made her twitchy and uncomfortable. She stared at her hands and their contents. “You didn’t need to….”

“Of course I didn’t. Open it.”

She located the seal, unlocked it, held her breath and opened the lid.

Encased in gel cushioning rested a bracelet made of a deep onyx-hued metal. It wound around in two spiraling circles and narrowed at each end to a soft, curved tip. She ran fingertips along it, startled by the unusual texture. The metal was like no jewelry she’d ever encountered.

“I crafted it from my sword during the trip from Krysk to the Seneca battle. The sword is the last remnant of the
Siyane
untransformed. You deserve a piece of it, if only as a memento. I realize you’re okay with the way the ship is now, but still.”