Adrift (The Sirilians Book 1) (6 page)

Jayda and Lukas joined the escort group, but the general didn’t look pleased. He gave them a harsh glare as their contingent moved towards the exit.

“Karincin, may I ask what your race is called?” Jayda asked as they walked.

“I’m Sirilian, and you may call me Karo.”

“It’s nice to meet you Karo. I am Jayda, this is Lukas, and you’re in the Arath System.”

He’d never heard of it.

They neared the exit of the quarantine bay and Karo took one last look at his Scout ship—his home. He reminded himself that his only choice was to go with the aliens and allow them to analyze it. It felt very strange to be outside of its walls, to be breathing different air, to have people flanking him on either side, to be in this large a room. He had conflicting urges: one part of him felt the need to create distance between himself and the others, while another part craved contact.

The hallway they entered was small, and the nearby walls soothed Karo’s unease. Thankfully it was only a short walk to another set of automatic doors.

“This is one of the Medical Centers on-board,” Jayda commented.

It was an impressive space: there was a central area to monitor all patients, and a semi-circle of beds with room to treat several dozen injured people. Doctors and technicians were bustling around, but he saw no patients.

One of the doctors, a woman with her black hair pinned atop her head, greeted their group and spoke directly to Karo.

“Hello, I am Doctor Notani. How are you feeling?”

How am I feeling?
A list of emotions ran through Karo’s mind, but he was sure that the doctor only wanted to know about his physical welfare.

“I experienced nausea, but that has passed. Now all that ails me are minor cuts and burns from when my systems short circuited.”

“We can easily take care of those. I’m more worried about what effects traveling through the fold had on you internally, since I’m told that your ship doesn’t have specific gravitational shielding.”

She gestured to a raised platform occupying an entire wall. “I’d like to have our Medical Unit scan you to see if you suffered any ill effects. Would that be alright?”

Karo looked at the medical device Doctor Notani had gestured to, and saw a flat platform attached to several consoles. Nothing too intimidating. He acquiesced and moved towards it while looking around. He watched the doctors, security team, and others closely, but aside from General Bogaard they all seemed pleasant enough.

The security personnel were now positioned just inside the room’s main doors, with Jayda and Lukas standing side-by-side a few feet away. All were looking in his direction. He wondered if they suspected he was a threat, or if they were just as curious about him as he was about them.

“Have you treated one of my kind before?” Karo asked Doctor Notani.

“I personally have not.” She looked up from the console towards Jayda who stepped forward.

“Actually Karo, I don’t think our people have ever met a Sirilian.”

“Really?” He’d been hoping that the fold had taken him closer to the Sirilian system, but perhaps he’d been wrong.

Jayda kept her voice light. “There’s a chance I’m mistaken. There are a lot of alien races in the galaxy after all; sometimes it’s hard to keep us all straight.”

Doctor Notani chimed in, “With your permission I’d like to take a DNA sample from you so that we can compare it to others in our database to search for a match. Once we find your race, we’ll compare your health to others and make sure you’re alright.”

Karo nodded in agreement, but was distracted as General Bogaard and several armed men entered the Medical Center. “Jayda, Lukas, I’d like to speak to you both for a moment.”

“Of course general,” Jayda replied, while Lukas remained silent. Neither looked happy, and they gave each other a meaningful look before they followed the men out into the hall. The older man kept his voice relatively quiet, but Karo could still hear their conversation.

“I will remind you both that there’s clear procedure when taking an alien combatant on-board our ship. I expect you to adhere to that in the future.” Obviously he expected the duo to obey.

Lukas replied in a voice that sounded to Karo like he was fighting to keep emotion out of the tone. “General, I agree that we need to secure his ship, but he is not necessarily our enemy. From his description, he was attacked by the Voro Anim, who destroyed his propulsion. It is not his fault that we pulled him here.”

Jayda was quick to continue, “There’s an easy way to prove his story. If he was indeed attacked by the Voro Anim we will be able to detect their weapon signatures on his ship. If we find evidence to corroborate his story, then per Arathian protocols he will be considered a guest in our system, and will be treated as such.”

There was a long pause, and even though Karo couldn’t see the general, he knew that the man had to be seething. The tone of his voice supported Karo’s mental image.

“I still have the authority to detain him.”

Jayda replied to him in a serious tone. “General, are you insinuating that protocols enacted by the royal family concerning first contact with unknown alien races are null and void? If so, I’m sure the High Council will be very eager to voice their opinion on the matter.”

Score one for the princess.
She was basically asking the general if he was going to disregard protocols that her own family had established; protocols that were enforced by some sort of governing body.

Karo strained to hear the general’s reply, but Doctor Notani appeared at his side. Her words drowned out what was being said in the hall.

“Please lie down,” she instructed him.

Damn!
He was dying to know what the general was going to do. His life literally depended on it. Would they send him away? Make him leave his ship?

The doctor initiated the medical device from a nearby console, and a scanner descended from the ceiling.

“Try to remain as still as possible,” she told him. “The scan will be completely painless.”

The device made low sounds as it passed over his body. The recorded scans were illuminated on several screens in front of the doctor, and Karo had to be reminded to lie still when he turned his head to look at them. He remained as immobile as he could, but nothing could stop the whirling inside his mind.

He couldn’t believe that in the span of just a couple short hours, he’d gone from his ship of isolation, to suddenly being on-board one with a species that his race had never encountered; from solely relying on himself, to having his entire future in the hands of an unknown alien people.

At least he seemed to have a couple of advocates on his side.

“You may sit up now,” Doctor Notani instructed.

Pulled from his thoughts, Karo got off of the table and uneasily watched the growing crowd of doctors that had gathered around the monitors showing his scans. Several spoke low to one another and pointed to various images, while others stood with their brows knit deep in thought. Either they were intrigued by his anatomy, or there was something wrong with him.

“What’s the matter?” Karo asked, unable to wait any longer. “Did traveling through the fold damage me?”

“I don’t think so,” Doctor Notani replied as she approached him. “How long have you been living on your ship?”

“Twenty years, but most of that was spent in a regeneration chamber.”

“What does the chamber do?”

“It keeps my body in stasis and repairs any injuries I may have sustained.”

The doctor looked studious for a moment. “How long were you in stasis?”

“Approximately fifteen years total. Why? Is there something wrong?”

“I ran your DNA through our medical database but didn’t find a match.” Before he could panic she continued, “That only means that we’ve never met a Sirilian before. I have nothing to compare your physiology against, but I can still tell that you’ve sustained cellular damage. It’s possible that your stasis unit is degrading.”

Karo felt a hand on his shoulder and saw Jayda standing to his side. How long had she been there? The touch was reassuring—he welcomed it.

“The stasis units were developed to last for centuries. How can that happen?”

“I don’t know.”

“Will you be able to heal the damage?” Jayda asked.

“Yes, presuming his regeneration chamber has a record of his base point and we’re able to access it.”

“What is a base point?” Lukas asked, stepping to Karo’s other side.

“The base point is a record of Karo’s health before he departed Siril. It’s stored in the chamber’s memory core so it knew to what point his body should be restored.”

“So, it’s like a reset button?” Lukas asked. 

“Yes, exactly. But we’ll need your permission to enter his ship and obtain the records.”

Lukas gave the doctor permission, but only after the ship had been secured and was no longer a threat. “Take Deian with you. He can work magic with ship systems,” he added.

“Yes, sir. Karo, I recommend that you stay here in the Medical Center where we can monitor you. I don’t think you’ll experience any adverse effects, but without knowing more about your race I can’t be sure.”

How is this possible?
Karo stood silent, somewhat frightened by the events unfolding.

“Karo, please try not to worry,” Jayda reassured him. He looked at her and saw compassion and empathy on her face. “Arathians may have never met your people, but our search is far from done. I’ll elicit help from other races. We’ll find them, undo any damage you sustained, and help you get home.”

She made it sound so easy.

“But my ship… even if I knew which direction to go, my ship is in no shape to get me there.”

Lukas interjected, “We’re responsible for the damage it sustained, so we’ll help with that too. I’ll assign a repair team to see what we can do about getting you a new propulsion drive.”

“Are you sure General Bogaard will agree to that?”

Lukas and Jayda shared a look. “You let us handle him.”

“Right now let’s worry about repairing your cellular damage,” Doctor Notani added. “That’s the most pressing issue; then you can concentrate on all the rest.”

Karo nodded as relief flowed over him for the first time in many years. Maybe his long voyage was going to be coming to an end. Surely he’d given the Department of Space enough time and information about the galaxy to warrant him coming home. 

When they found his homeworld, he might even be able to talk to his family. It had been several years since he’d gotten a response from anyone, so he was eager to hear any news. The prospect of speaking with his mother, father, and Reus made him feel much better about his current predicament.

As the doctors got to work developing a treatment, he was given a semi-private room on one side of the Medical Center. He had a change of clothes, a device attached to his chest to monitor his body’s systems, and a bed much larger than the one he had upon his ship. There were also two guards stationed at the entrance to his room, and a door that was made out of some invisible barrier that had to be lowered before the medical staff could enter or exit. The only privacy was the small chamber to the side that contained a toilet and cleansing stall.

Could be worse,
Karo thought to himself.

“We’ll come by later to check on you,” Jayda told him. “Try to get some rest.”

Karo bowed politely. “Thank you, Princess. I appreciate the help your people have given me.”

She smiled. “You’re welcome. But please, call me Jayda. See you soon.”

Lukas lifted his hand in goodbye, and Karo copied the gesture. He sat heavily upon the bed and tried to be grateful for the day’s events.

Hopefully he’d be going home soon.

“You’re right. I couldn’t handle being alone in space.”

Aevum sat at her console and watched Karincin’s message end on her vid screen. He’d recorded it in the early hours of the morning, and had recited a fairly good apology.

After leaving him at the restaurant she’d spent some time venting into her video journal. He had been so arrogant, and had rebuffed her concerns like one would dismiss the buzzing of an insect. She’d been incredibly offended, especially since his behavior implied that he thought her unintelligent.

Aevum didn’t care that he agreed with her analysis of sending people on solo missions—it wasn’t her goal to bend people to her will—but if they were going to someday Pair Bond, it was important that he respected her as a professional.

He was accustomed to working with technology, where the answers to problems are black and white; her job was all in gray-scale. She had to rely on her research, her observations, and her gut to make the best analysis that she could. It was very different from his work.

After spending some time ranting, she’d been able to look at the evening’s events a bit more objectively. She’d tried to see their arrangement from his point of view, but Aevum had a hard time imagining what it would be like to be born into a family like his.

Families associated with the High Council were known to have a highly regimented lifestyle and crippling expectations. It must be difficult for him, but that still wasn’t an excuse for his behavior.

Still… she had to admit that she was curious about Karincin. The image on her screen was of a completely different man than the one she’d sat with during that awful dinner. This one seemed thoughtful, considerate, and had even smiled at her. The dichotomy was intriguing, and she admitted that she did want to see him again—but this time it would be on her terms.

She inputted a command to record a reply.

“Good morning, Karincin. Thank you for the apology you sent last night. I accept it, and agree to your proposed Second Meeting,
but
I have some conditions: one, leave the Assembly’s cue cards at home; two, I get to pick the activities for the evening; and three, you must agree to stay open-minded. I will send you the particulars later this afternoon. I hope you have a pleasant day.”

She ended the message and immediately sent it before she changed her mind. She wasn’t sure where she was going to take him, but if the posh restaurant he’d chosen was any indication, Karincin really needed to get out of his comfort zone.

*****

Aevum stood outside the entrance to the city’s largest sports arena, where the hugely popular game Zero G was played. She watched the constant stream of autotransports pull along the curb to unload their passengers, knowing that Karincin would arrive at the exact time she’d indicated. She found herself smiling when he proved her right, and her gaze followed his movements as he climbed out of his transport several feet away.

He was dressed very differently than the previous evening. Tonight he wore comfortable-looking black pants and a snug dark jacket. At the collar Aevum could see a pale gray shirt peeking out. He looked handsome, especially with his self-confident walk as he headed towards her. She gave him a small smile and he reciprocated.

“Good evening, Aevum,” he greeted.

How could she have missed how deep his voice was?

“Hello, Karincin.”

“Thank you for accepting my apology, and for agreeing to see me again. I can assure you that I left the cue cards at home this time, but you can check my pockets if you’d like.”

He said it with a smile, and Aevum appreciated his small joke. This was definitely a different side of him than she’d seen the previous night.

“I trust you. Shall we?” She motioned towards the arena and he nodded.

They walked to one of the entrances where Aevum held her wristunit to the console to gain them admittance. Inside, the space bustled with activity as people boarded lifts that took them to their assigned seating level. Karo began to walk to the right towards the VIP lifts, but she took his arm.

“Not that way.”

She guided him to the left towards the general seating area.

The entire sports arena was shaped like a sphere. The seats were attached to the interior wall of the sphere, which used artificial gravity to keep the spectators seated at good viewing angles. In the center of the space was another orb, this one called the gaming-sphere, where the athletes would compete.

Inside the gaming-sphere was a contained zero-gravity environment, which meant that there was no up or down—hence the name of the game: Zero G. It was played in all directions, and since the gaming-sphere was clear, every seat in the arena had an unimpeded view.

Aevum led him into a nearby lift, and they were soon joined by a family with excited children, filling the small space to capacity. The mother stood in front of Karincin with a small child held over her shoulder. Aevum glanced in his direction, but he didn’t seem perturbed that the little girl was waving her team’s banner only inches from his face. The little girl smiled at him, and Aevum could see the corner of his mouth quirk up.

She barely felt the lift begin its ascent. It soon tipped sideways to follow the spherical shape of the arena, artificial gravity keeping the occupants’ feet firmly on the floor. It stopped at their assigned seating level, and everyone disembarked.

Aevum checked her wristunit for the directions to their seat, but the area outside of the lift was congested with people socializing before the match. She picked her way through the crowd, and felt a hand on her lower back. She knew it belonged to Karincin, who was letting her know that he was following on her heels. His palm was warm. A shiver ran up her spine.

It took several minutes before she was able to find their assigned seats among the energetic throng. Once they were settled, a group of rowdy supporters took seats behind them, and Aevum glanced at Karincin to see his reaction. He looked mildly uncomfortable with the shows of enthusiasm from the other people, but at least he wasn’t leaving. Aevum figured that was a good sign.

“Have you ever been to one of these games?” she asked loudly, to be heard over the noise.

“No. Have you?” He leaned closer to her so that she could hear his reply. She mirrored his movement.

“I used to come all the time with my father to watch my cousin play. He played for the Pulsars, but retired a few years ago. I haven’t been back since. I think his team is playing tonight, though.”

“Did you enjoy the matches?”

Aevum was surprised by the question; for the first time he wasn’t asking about anything factual. “Yes I did. I always wished that I could float in zero gravity. It would be like flying.”

A countdown to the beginning of the game began, and people flooded in to take their seats. Aevum looked around the arena in amazement; no matter how often she came to these games, she was always impressed by its design.

The artificial gravity that held everyone to the outer edge of the arena meant that if she looked straight up she saw the tops of people’s heads. To her left and right it looked as if people were hanging in their chairs sideways—it was very disorientating if she looked for too long.

“Let’s order some food,” she suggested as a distraction. With a few taps of her wristunit, she brought up a virtual menu that she and Karo could order from. It had a myriad of options: various flavors of water, intoxicating beverages, finger foods, and even a menu for finer foods that people in the VIP section were known to order. She avoided those options, and brought up a selection of fan-favorites.

“What looks good?” she asked.

Karincin scrolled through the selections with his brow furrowed. Aevum watched him, intrigued by his studious perusal. It was almost like he’d never eaten fatty, carb-rich foods before.

“What would you recommend?” he finally asked her.

“My father and I would usually get a box of sweet tannis seeds, and pentas.”

“Then let’s order those.”

She finished ordering just in time for the announcement introducing the teams. She’d been right: the Pulsars in their white and black striped uniforms were playing against the Red Giants, who wore (boringly predictable) red uniforms.

The athletes—equally men and women—arrived at the arena and walked up a ramp to enter the inner gaming-sphere. The zero gravity hadn’t been initiated yet so all players began with their feet solidly against the outer surface. They walked along the circular shape until each team stood on opposite sides, the tops of their heads pointed at one another.

Once they were in position, the gravity was partially disengaged. They were still able to walk, run, or jump off of the outer shell of the sphere, but the center had become completely gravity-neutral.

Each player wore a form-fitting uniform that was interwoven with sensors, flexible footwear, and small propulsion drives attached to gloves that were used to manipulate the ball and give their bodies momentum while playing. The force released from the gloves could be dialed up or down at the player’s will.

The object of the game was to avoid getting touched by the ball—which would earn the other team a point—while using the propulsion drives to hit the other players with the ball. If you touched it at any time, the other team scored a point. The team with the most points by the end of the time was the winner.

Teammates grasped each other’s arms and waited for the signal. Aevum held her breath. She loved this game!

Suddenly, a horn sounded and a ball was released into the sphere.

The game was on!

Aevum stood and cheered loudly, her voice joining the growing roar. Karincin stood next to her, and clapped his hands along with the crowd.

The players moved quickly to take possession of the ball, but it was a member of the Pulsars that leapt the quickest and used her handheld drive to slam the ball into a red-clad chest.

Pulsars: 1, Red Giants: 0.

“Which team are we rooting for?” Karincin asked loudly over the noise.

“The Pulsars of course! They’re wearing the striped uniforms,” Aevum shouted back.

The Red Giants quickly pulled themselves back together, and sent their players running along the outside surface of the sphere, to cover as much ground as they could. It paid off. One of them came close to the ball and used their momentum to shoot it into the back of an opposing player.

The match continued, and immediately it looked like it was going to be a close game.
Good,
Aevum thought. She hated when one team beat the other too badly—how boring!

The Pulsars now had the ball in their possession. One player cradled it in his palms, careful to keep it balanced with his propulsion gloves and not touch its surface, while the rest of the team encircled him. They held onto each other’s arms and legs, and since it was against the rules to touch the opposing team, the Red Giants could only wait and see what was going to happen. There was nowhere to hide in the gaming-sphere.

Suddenly, the player in the middle yelled something—some sort of coded instruction—and two of his teammates flung themselves away from the others creating a wide hole for him to shoot the ball through.

The ball grazed one of the Red Giant’s calves, and a bell tolled signaling another point. The play wasn’t finished. The two teammates that had pushed themselves away landed against the gaming-sphere and pushed towards the ball again, anticipating where it was going to be thrown. Before the Reds had any chance of following its movement, the Pulsars were able to catch its rebound and lob it at their team-mates. The man in the center of their formation caught it, a look of smug satisfaction on his face.

Aevum jumped to her feet to cheer, and saw Karincin do the same on her left. She looked at him in surprise as he clapped for the Pulsars. She cheered enthusiastically, and nearly knocked into an arena employee who had just arrived with their food order.

“Oh! Please excuse me!” she apologized.

“That’s just fine. Happens all the time,” he replied nonchalantly.

Aevum took the various items—they were served in sealed packages to minimize spilling—and handed some of them to Karincin. She saw him sniff at one of the food choices and smothered a laugh. She was really pushing his comfort level. But to his credit he took a drink of the intoxicating beverage she had chosen, and raised his eyes to hers in surprise.

“This is quite good!”

She couldn’t help but laugh. “You’ve never had it?”

“No. My parents wouldn’t allow it in our home, claiming that it was too unrefined. But I find this very satisfying. What’s it made from?”

“That’s a basic one made from grains, but there are others that combine many ingredients. My favorites are the ones that ferment berries along with the grains.”

“I would like to try that sometime.”

She smiled at him before her attention was once again captured by the movement of the players inside the gaming sphere.

Karo was having a wonderful time at the Zero G match. He had played various sports over the years, but none of them were like this; the moves that the players could achieve in the zero-gravity environment were truly impressive.