The Lazarus Particle (30 page)

At least, that’s how Fenton had described it.

“So, without getting too technical about it,” Fenton said, “everything that makes us who we are, everything that we consume to sustain ourselves, everything that we build and create and advance—all of these things, at their most basic level, share certain fundamental, constituent parts.” He started ticking them off his fingers one by one. “Carbon, oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen—”

“Building blocks,” Roon prompted from the front of the gathered crowd.

“Building blocks, exactly. Thank you, Roon.” They shared a quick smile before Fenton pressed on, animated as ever. “At the molecular level, it’s all about the building blocks. Whatever is built can be unbuilt; you just need to understand how to break it down, how to unpack it, without destroying it. And since you can’t actually
destroy
matter anyway, that isn’t much of a problem; the real trick is how to manage it, how to coax it to rearrange and reconstitute itself. At least, that
was
the problem.” Fenton grinned triumphantly as the projection switched from the numbing presentation to a live view of their present position. “Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the Lazarus Particle writ large.”

At least he didn’t pause dramatically, Dell thought. It took a moment longer for his brain to register the change in the projection, another two or three to fully process it before he gasped appropriately. Maybe he
should
have paused
dramatically, after all. To his left, Alexia’s gasp overlapped not just his own, but dozens of others as well.

Given their position within the Nasib System—charted as viable but otherwise uninhabited only a decade earlier—they should have seen only empty tracts of space pinpricked with the light of stars older than eons. Instead, there suddenly and quite unexpectedly shown
a planet
. More the size of a moon, really, but unquestionably an independent celestial body. It was altogether beautiful, a bright crystalline gem splashed through with tracts of emerald and aqua that shown radiantly against the cold, lifeless backdrop surrounding it.

Without even realizing it, Dell lifted his hand into the air. Fenton caught sight and pointed to the upper deck of the command module. “Ah, Dell! Question?”

“Major,” he started. Fenton winced noticeably, but Dell was still too transfixed by the projection to notice. “Are you saying those things that are inside of us… they
made
this?”

“Well, yes. That’s about the size of it.”

“But how?” another voice asked from the lower deck. “Out of what?”

“Helmsman, scan the system for the Errene Belt.”

“This is incredible,” Alexia whispered from his left, eyes still glued to the projection.

“I think it’s about to get a whole lot more incredibler.”

“That’s not a word.”

“Shh,” someone hissed nearby.

Meanwhile, on the lower deck of the command module, the helmsman finally conceded defeat. “Nothing, Major Wilkes. It should be here. But it’s just not.”

“Yes and no,” he corrected, once again gesturing to the projection. “It’s all there. As you see.”

Dell blinked, distantly aware of the hammering of his heart. If what Fenton was saying was true, he and his erstwhile team had somehow contrived a method of deconstructing something as massive as an asteroid belt spanning tens of thousands of kilometers and wholesale reassigning its constituent parts to the purpose of constructing a brand new planet.

Fenton had been right all along. They truly were witnessing history beyond any known measure, literally the greatest discovery of all mankind. A history he was present to witness thanks to the very same method writ small.

In the span of a single breath, the galaxy as Dell DeCoud knew it expanded vastly both in scope and wonder.

“Lights,” Fenton said, stepping forward. The command module returned to its normal level of illumination. “Well, it looks like you all more or less see where I’m going with this. That just leaves one question.” He grinned, the gleam in his eyes so bright it was practically blinding. “Who wants to see it
up close
?”

Dell carved through the fluffy, virginal clouds high above Fenton’s planet with a whoop of delight. He’d never flown anything so
fast,
so
nimble
. He barely had to twitch his hands or even think a thought before the yacht seemed to react in anticipation of his every move. And this was a damn yacht! Basically a glorified, overstuffed shuttle. Imagine if they could get this technology into their fighters. Commander Harm had assured him Corliss and Rishi were already mocking up drafts and schematics, but the timeline was sketchy. No matter. For now, he was high on the very possibility.

Others proved slightly less enthusiastic.

“God, I think I’m going to be sick,” he heard Roon’s choked voice in his ear piece.

“Sorry!” He eased back, banking softly and surfing the yacht’s belly through a fresh bank of clouds. “Heh. Got a little carried away. That any better back there?”

“So much. Thank you, Dell.”

As they cleared the canopy of cloud cover, the
oohs
and
ahhs
sounded behind him. It took an embarrassingly long amount of time before Dell realized he was helping form the chorus. But, really, it couldn’t be helped. The planet was perfect. Gorgeous. A true master work. It didn’t hurt, either, to know that they were the first to ever streak through its skies and gaze upon the wonderment of its manufactured creation.

The future. That’s what they were witnessing, Dell and all the others. Fenton’s future, one they would be all too happy to live in. The implications, the promises. They could finally break the backs of the corporate states, for starters. Really propel the movement, undo the damage that had been done, usher in a brave new galaxy…

Ohana Cassel, flying alongside him as the nominal copilot, was the first to notice something strikingly familiar off the starboard side. “Is that the Canyon Sea of Eniz?”

Below them, a series of steep, undulating mounds rose hundreds of feet into the air before falling away sharply, leaving deep, black ribbons of canyon between each of the mounds. Seen from above, the mounds and canyons—which tended to follow the same parallel, curving course for miles on end—collectively resembled a massive, rippling earthen sea.

“That it is,” Fenton confirmed. “You mentioned you were from Eniz. I thought it would make for a nice addition.”

Dell brought them in for a closer pass. Ohana laughed excitedly. “It’s incredible! Exactly like I remember it!”

“Well, to scale, anyway. The entire planet is really just a series of scaled reproductions of well known galactic geographical features,” Fenton admitted. “Easier and quicker than going purely from scratch. Besides, it demonstrates the incredible versatility and variety of conditions that be can replicated.”

Fenton wasn’t kidding. As they toured the planet they streaked across boiling savannah and deserts at the equator, freezing glaciers and ice sheets at the poles, and virtually every manner of environment in between. Finally Fenton gave Dell a set of coordinates, and he guided them to a perfectly scaled recreation of the Antarran Archipelago that Soroya and Xenecia had called home as younglings.

Fine pink coral sand crunching underfoot. Glassy emerald seas chasing the horizon as far as the eye could see. The curving, strangely alluring shores of neighboring islands. The sight rendered Soroya speechless. She clutched at her breast with both hands. A single tear escaped the corner of her left eye, streaking her cheek.

“Xenecia’s contribution.”

“I never thought I would see it again,” Soroya said shakily. She closed her eyes, inhaling deeply. She smiled the smile of joyful sadness. “The air even smells the same.” She wheeled in place, embracing him gratefully. “Thank you, Fenton.” Just as quickly she removed herself, strolling down the beach to wade dazedly into the placid surf.

Commander Harm grinned broadly as he watched the love of his life experience what previously would have been as much an impossibility as a fantasy. “This is some achievement, Major. And, for what it’s worth, I could try all my life to repay you for that moment right there and not succeed, so I’ll just say thank you, too.” He thrust his hand between them.

Fenton took it, wincing only slightly at the Commander’s crushing grip. “You could start by dropping the Major bit. Fenton works just fine for me.”

“Deal.” He looked to the rest of the them. “So, here’s the rub. We’re bivouacking here for the night. The Commandant and I will be claiming the suite on the yacht, but there are plenty of prefabs in the hold for the rest of you. The first full shift will be coming down tomorrow, but tonight this beautiful little bauble is all ours, so feel free to cut loose and enjoy yourselves to the fullest. You’ve earned it and then some. Whatever you do, though, be back in two hours or you’re going to regret it.”

“What’s in two hours?” Alexia wondered.

“Bonfire.” He winked. “Now, if you’ll excuse me.” Turning smartly, he headed out to join Soroya in the surf.

The others gradually filtered off to their own devices, Dell included. He found a nice little spot about a quarter mile from the landing site, plunking down and pulling his knees up to his chest as he watched the waves loll against the shore a few feet away. It didn’t take long for his thoughts to drift back to Kalifka Bazaar, the events replaying in slow motion in his mind’s eye.

“There you are,” a voice announced from behind him, snapping him back. Ohana Cassel plopped down beside him. “I’ve been looking for you all over.”

Dell blinked dumbly. “You have?”

“Yeah, well, you’re pretty much the only one here who isn’t attached at the hip to someone else, and me, I’m a people person. Not big on being alone. Besides, the way I see it, you owe me for fishing your sorry butt out of empty space.” She smiled a little crookedly, her nose crinkling at the bridge.

Dell’s heart nearly skipped a beat. He couldn’t have cared less if she was teasing him or not. “Yeah,” he said. “Cool. Works for me.”

“Cool. So, what are we doing? Admiring the view or something else?”

“Something else.”

“Okay…”

“The Bazaar.”

“Ah. Yeah, I heard it got a little hairy down there.”

“I killed a man. A guard.”

“Do you feel bad about it?”

“Not really. I’ve killed before. I have the second highest kill count among the wings, behind Commander Harm.”

“Braggart,” she teased, bumping him shoulder to shoulder.

“This one was just so
close
.”

“Well, did he deserve it?”

“He tried to go for his weapon. He would have shot me. Or Alexia. Or Torrey or Breed. Someone, anyway.”

“Sounds like a big fat yes to me.” They sat in silence for a while longer before Ohana slapped her thighs. Pushing onto her feet, she offered him a hand up to follow. “C’mon.”

“Huh?”

“This is boring, Dell. You nearly
died
. Hell, technically you did die. You need to have some fun. We’re going exploring.”

Dell took her hand. At her direction they skirted the shore for a while, then turned inland to follow a river feeding into the ocean through grasses growing taller than their heads. He might have been concerned but for the knowledge they were among the only eight living creatures on the planet. Still, the ghostly whispering of the wind through the grasses was no less eerie. The payoff came a few hundred yards in when the grasses parted to reveal a glittering freshwater cove fed by a forty foot waterfall on the opposite end.

“Now
this
is more like it,” Ohana declared, her face brightening with an excited smile. Without hesitation she crossed her arms before her, grasping the hem of her top and pulling it over her head. The black halter holding her breasts close to her chest followed next, then her boots and socks.

“What are you doing?” Almost immediately, Dell felt silly for asking.

“I want to go for a swim.” She bent at the waist to strip out of the rest of her kit. “I don’t know about you, but the only suit I didn’t forget to bring is my birthday suit. You coming or what, flyboy?” She smacked him with one of those tomboy grins and dashed into the water, laughing as she fell backward and immediately began to backstroke out to the middle of the cove. She was an incredible swimmer. Quickly he stripped down while she hooted and catcalled from the water. His cheeks flushed bright red, but he sprinted for the water as soon as he was naked nonetheless. She met him halfway, catching his hands and pulling him in close. One hand drifted to his side beneath the water, the other to the back of his neck as she leaned in for the kill, her lips latching to his. He returned the favor gratefully.

“Now, isn’t this better than sitting on your ass and staring mournfully out to sea?”

“Much better,” he agreed.

“Good.” She favored him with another long kiss, then broke away and pushed off with her legs. “Race you back to shore!”

“I thought you wanted to swim?”

“I did! Now I want to do something else!”

She beat him, of course, with enough time to arrange their kits into a kind of patchwork blanket. She pitched his naked body onto it as soon as he emerged from the water.

“Whoa!”

“Let’s get one thing straight,” she said as she swung a leg over his lap, straddling him.

“What’s that?”

“We’re just having fun.” She leaned in close, nipping playfully at his neck. “You read me, flyboy?”

“Loud and clear. Not looking for a boyfriend.”

“Winner, winner,” she declared, rocking forward slowly.

Suddenly, Dell was feeling very good about Torrey’s advice in the Bazaar.

In fact, he was feeling very good about a great many things.

By the time they finally finished with each other, swimming and frolicking and fucking to their hearts’ content, two hours had long since come and gone.
 

“Think they saved us anything?” Ohana asked as she hiked her pants up over her hips with a shimmy-shake that made him twitch with arousal.

“Sure they did. Anyway, you heard the Commander. He told us to cut loose.”

“Well, we definitely did that, didn’t we?” She sidled up to him for a long kiss, bare breasts pressed against his chest before she eased back to pull her shirt on. Dell briefly lamented the lost view.