Beyond the Stars: INEO (7 page)

I followed his eyes and looked up at the clear night sky tunneling through an opening high above our heads. Tyden and the others came up beside us.

“It’s the reason this place needs to stay on common ground,” Tyden said.

Azil nodded at Tyden. “Fights break out all the time whenever a group of idiots try to monopolize its control, but it always ends the same. The uncivilized parties kill each other off, then a group of level-headed societies come in and reestablish the order for shared custody of the port,” she said like it was routine.

Tyden pointed across the room. “Oh, good, they’re here,” his voice rose with delight. “Let’s check with the Farni. Maybe they could suggest a way to help us find the Dreons.” He eyed up a group of golden skinned, humanlike beings with long blonde hair covering their scantly dressed bodies.

“Wonderful,” Urit said with his focus fully returned to finding Nia.

Everyone immediately obeyed and started walking away, except me.

I grabbed onto Gaelan’s arm and held my footing. “Wait. Really? Alternate dimensions? This is every physicists dream to see something like this in person. Do you know how many theories we have on the subject of alternate dimensions? Where does it lead?” I asked, still mesmerized.

My friends paused and turned to give me an understanding look.

Gaelan waved to them knowing I would demand a longer explanation. “Go. We’ll catch up.”

They nodded and went on without us.

“Did you ever go? Is this where we’re headed? To another dimension?” I got excited at the possibility.

“Actually, we use the term
dimension
loosely. It’s difficult to define. For all practical purposes, we have
successfully
visited the closest parallel dimension, numerous times, but not any further than that. It’s a shady area. The destination appears to be dependent on how far you penetrate the anomaly. We also discovered the outlet shifts depending on when you enter, so you have to be careful to calculate it just right.”

“When can we go?”

Gaelan stepped closer to me and put his hand on my shoulder and gave it a squeeze. “Us—
no,
forget you saw it,” he said, sounding overprotective. “Our Council has forbidden all access to the Black Port at this time.”

“But a gateway into another dimension, I would think your people would be all over this, knowing how much you like to explore. Even
I
find myself desperately wanting to go and learn. Don’t you want to find out what else is out there?”

“I didn’t say I’d
never
go back, just not yet,” he said, crinkling his eyes.

“Why? Is it too far?”

“No, we are waiting until we resolve a previous incident. We don’t fully understand how it works. There is a risk of being unable to return. The last one of our ships to venture through has yet to come back. They executed their plan to explore the area a little deeper. Where they turned up is anybody’s guess. We sent in a homing probe to study the region further to help us discover what happened to them, but it isn’t due back for another twenty-one years. So, for now, we wait.”

“That’s awful. What if they need help or if they’re lost?” I cried.

Gaelan crinkled his forehead in distress. “It goes with the territory,” he said in an unemotional tone.

His calmness about Space travel reminded me of how his boldness put mine to shame.

“I don’t understand. Can’t you ask someone here to help? There has to be a way to go in and get them. You have to—”

“No. It would be rash. And it doesn’t work that way. There are plenty of groups here I would never put my faith in. They hold different values, and it could expose our vulnerabilities.” He raised his voice in frustration. “You worry me. You sound overly confident in our abilities,” he said with a wince before pausing to take in a deep breath. “Wait … that came out wrong. What I mean to say is that everything we do is carefully calculated and executed with extreme precision. There are still too many unknown variables with the port. A haphazard strategy is the best way to get yourself killed. It is prudent to wait until we are better prepared. We need far more data on the region before we revisit it.”

I thought about his words. He sounded upset. I realized that he was probably trying to cover up his true emotions. The fact that the ship never returned
did
bother him. He seemed devastated by the loss. I was grateful to hear the scientific method behind his motives. It was also good to hear him admit that he wasn’t immortal or infallible. I knew his actions stemmed from experience, and knowing their advances in longevity, Gaelan had every reason to believe he would have the opportunity to explore it again one day. He was healthy, only seventy-one years old, and looked to be half his age.

“And seriously, Sami,” Gaelan said in a more upbeat tone, “look around you. Do you really need to know where some of these goofs come from? Come on, that guy over there has antlers for goodness sakes?”

I let out a tiny laugh.

Gaelan put his hand on my lower back. “Now you see why Earth is our most remarkable find. We don’t share the same commonalities with the visitors here as we do with you. You’re the discovery of a lifetime—invaluable,” he said with a smile, giving me the impression his words held a much stronger meaning.

I nodded while my mind raced through every possible theory to explain the Black Port’s existence and mode of operation.

“You’re suddenly quiet. Why?” Gaelan asked with a raised brow.

“I was just thinking.”

“I hope I didn’t scare you. We do know what we are doing. We have traveled extensively and remarkably well, I might add. And I would never take you anywhere I didn’t feel was safe,” he said adamantly.

“I know. But I like knowing this side of you. It’s good to hear you don’t have all the answers. It makes me feel more on your level.”

He huffed, which could have been interpreted as a laugh. “Yes, our level and yours are still a bit off. Let’s not compare. The amount of failures we had to endure to get where we are, are nothing to look forward to.” His voice took on a somber tone.

“No doubt,” I agreed. I loved that he wasn’t cocky about his intelligence. He was probably one of the smartest men I’d ever known, yet also the humblest.
What a turn on!

I thought about our own astronauts’ recent missions to the moon. Each year, a new rotation of willing candidates were assigned to live at the lunar camp, nick-named Camp Cheesehead, for a year’s time to test our ability of living in Space utilizing only the resources at hand. The underground base was built in lava tubes. The carved out caves were formed by the moon’s ancient volcanic activity. The occupants performed exciting experiments, such as finding new ways to guard against radiation, and my favorite, studies on quantum entanglement. Quantum entanglement was one of the most fascinating and strangest phenomena of particle physics. A pair of particles acts as one, despite being millions of miles apart. If something happens to one particle, the other responds instantly in an identical manner. Although the trips to the moon were successful, they proved to be not only challenging, but costly. I could only imagine the technological breakthroughs we would need to invent to compete in this arena. It saddened me to acknowledge how far we had to go. It felt like a millennium away. I knew I wouldn’t be wrong in saying that seeing a place like this was exactly what the rest of the people on Earth needed. I think our society would be
much
more motivated to find a way to join this intergalactic community if they were made aware of its existence.

Gaelan waited silently beside me, allowing me a little more time to gaze as I stood captivated by the natural phenomena filling the center of the post. I couldn’t help but be mesmerized by the sight and was completely caught off guard when an unfamiliar female voice came up from behind us and addressed Gaelan.

“Would you look who graces us with his presence,” she said with a bit of a swagger in her voice.

Gaelan and I quickly turned around to find an attractive human woman standing before us. She was thin, short, had chin-length sandy blond hair, blue eyes, and was obviously a Katarian.

“Cami,” Gaelan replied, as the woman swiftly rushed past me and threw her arms around his neck, all but pushing me out of the way.

“Gaelan Liitanen, I knew you couldn’t stay away for long,” Cami said in a deeper voice, still clinging to his body while she flipped her hair back to look him in the face.

Gaelan reached behind his neck and undid her grip. “Cami, it’s nice to see you.” Gaelan pulled me to his side and used me as a physical barrier to distance himself from the woman. “I’d like you to meet Samantha Bennett, my companion,” he said proudly.

“Hello,” I said.

She did not answer. Instead, she gave me an unkind glare before taking a moment to gawk at me up and down. “Well, Gaelan, I must say, I never thought I’d see the day. What makes
her
so special?” Cami said, as if I were invisible.

“She’s not you,” Gaelan shot back.

“Well, you know I couldn’t wait for you forever. Actually, I’ve met someone even more talented than you,” she said in a snippy tone, while her eyes appeared to ooze with rage. “Anyway, why are you here? Are you in the market for goods?”

Gaelan smiled, putting on the charm. “I am looking for a Dreon ship. You know everyone who stops in here. Have any passed through? Maybe bought some supplies at your station?

“No, no Dreons,” she said casually.

“Have you heard of any discussion about Dreons? Rumors?” he prodded deeper.

“Not a thing. Why are you so eager to find them?”

“They took something of ours.”

“It sounds like you need a scout.”

Gaelan rubbed his jaw. “Perhaps a scout could help. Do you know of any available for hire?”

“Only amateurs. I would feel guilty for referring you. You need someone with an extensive knowledge of the galaxy. You need someone like Loic Veenhoven.”

“Is he
still
around?”

“Yes, of course,” she said in a seductive tone while she reached up and brushed a wave of his hair off his forehead. “Last I heard he was mining on Dalinova. He might still be there if you hurry.”

She was obviously trying to make it clear to me that they had some sort of past. I turned away, pretending not to care, even though seeing her come on to him made me feel physically sick and shudder with repulsion. Lucky for her, there was a barrier around the Black Port or I might be compelled to push her in.

Gaelan took a step back, appearing eager to leave. “Thanks, I’ll check into it. Goodbye,” he said, taking my hand and hurrying us away.

“Anytime,
Gaelan. You know where to find me if you want to come back and stay a while,” she sneered.

“Old girlfriend?” I asked once we got out of earshot.

“If that’s what you call it.”

“Does Cami work here?”

Gaelan stopped and faced me. “She has her lot. Look, I’m sorry about all of that. We had a brief affair. It was a long time ago. She’s a conniving, manipulative … I mean, it was never good for me; we clashed on everything. I think I was just going through a rebellious stage of my life.”

“Don’t worry about it.” I leaned up and kissed Gaelan gently on the lips. “I love you, and I know you weren’t born yesterday.”

“Thank you. You’re one amazing woman.” He smiled widely before he pulled me closer to him, encircling me in his arms to give me a real kiss, a kiss that helped me to forget where I was and who I was.

“Hmm-hmm.” I heard Tyden clear his throat behind me.

Gaelan pulled from my lips and gave me an adorable grin. I smiled back and released him from my arms, satisfied. I really needed to feel his soft lips against mine. It reminded me of our strong bond and told me that anything he ever had with that twit could never, ever compare.

“Any luck?” Gaelan said as he held his eyes on mine for a moment longer.

Urit gave us a pleased look. “Yes and no. No Dreons have been sighted, but the Farni have invited us to their colony,” he said happily. “They said they would help us build a replica of the Dreon tracer using Nia’s drawings and reverse the transmission so we can use it to locate their ship.”

Gaelan sighed. “I don’t know. That’s really far. Plus, we have to travel through a port key to get there,” he said, running his fingers through his hair.

“Brother, it’s a great plan,” Azil said. “We get to work with the Farni, maybe even pick up some other technology while we’re at it, and we’ll be able to find the correct Dreon ship—no guessing if we found the right one.”

Gaelan sighed. “It’s one option.”

“Why, Gaelan?” Zaric asked. “Do you have a better suggestion?”

“Well, the shopkeeper back there was saying we should consider hiring a freelance Katarian scout. Do you remember Loic Veenhoven?” Gaelan asked.

Tyden groaned.

Azil looked at him in disbelief. “Isn’t he dead?”

“That’s what I thought, too, but no,” Gaelan refuted. “Apparently he’s working on Dalinova.”

“I thought you loathed him,” Azil questioned her brother.

“That was decades ago,” Gaelan replied.