Resurrection (The Inherited War) (9 page)

             
Sky stood up and tugged on her sister’s hand.  “Come with me.”  She led Snow from her office to her private quarters.  Sky hit a button on the wall and a door slid open and a small platform appeared.  “Take your clothes off and stand on the pad.”  Sky pointed at the floor where the pad was.

             
Snow started to object but Sky cut her off.  “If you want to be a part of my army, you have to wear its uniform.”   Sky saw confusion then comprehension dawn on her face.

             
Snow wrapped sky in her arms and began to cry.  “Oh, thank you, thank you.  I promise I won’t let you down.”  She quickly started to remove her clothes while Sky turned around to give her privacy.  Sky waited while Snow stepped naked onto the platform and it took her measurements.  Snow felt something slowly start to climb from her feet up her legs.  She looked down as the human’s more advanced Second Skin crawled slowly up her body.

             
“It’s better than what you’re used to.  It will keep you alive in extreme heat and cold, and it recharges when you move.  It hardens when struck by kinetic weapons and dissipates heat and plasma.  It can be overwhelmed but it will last longer than anything else in the galaxy during combat.”  Sky turned around and looked at her sister.  “You’re going to be a distraction, for the males on board anyway.”  Sky walked over and had the suit machine make her a duster styled after the one Cole had designed.  “Please, wear this when you are out of your room.  You definitely are not a little girl anymore.”  Snow put on the coat and gave her sister another hug.

             
“Now what?”  She asked Sky.

             
“Now we head to the Twin World system and recruit an army.”

~

              Sky and Snow walked together to the command briefing room.  They talked quietly along the way about the things Sky missed while she was held prisoner and of the things Sky did while she was prisoner.

             
“What is he like?”  Snow asked her sister.

             
“Cole?”  She looked at Snow who was nodding yes.  “He is one of a kind.  Literally.  He is strong, confident, funny and tender.  He exudes and aura of virility.  When he is Commander and not just Cole, his self-confidence brings out the best in those around him.  He is the best of what it means to be a friend, commander, and lover.”  The last she said quietly.

             
Snow giggled.  Sky stopped and looked at her sister who broke out into gales of laughter.  “What is so damn funny?”  She asked incredulously.

             
“You, little miss ‘I don’t have time for romance, I am a doctor.’  Getting involved with man, a human man to be exact.  I never would have guessed it, though now that you mention it, you do look a little different.  Sex agrees with you I think.”  Snow broke into fresh laughs as Sky tried to smack her on the back of her head.

             
“And what do you know about it?”  Sky asked her sister.

             
“Plenty.  I am highly sought after and have had males lining up at my door my whole life.  Mom and Dad didn’t have a chance of keeping me pure as my name.”  She smiled at her sister.

             
“Figures, and to answer you, yes it does agree with me.”  This time both Nixa broke into girlish giggles.  They took a few moments to compose themselves before they continued their walk to their meeting with Thalo and Jeth.  “In all seriousness, I watched Cole from birth to manhood and when he saved me from my kidnappers…that sealed my fate forever.  I can’t imagine my life if I never got him back.”  Thinking about Cole made her choke up a little and she got her sisters arm over her shoulder.

             
“Don’t worry sis, now that you have me, we are sure to get him back soon.  Besides I have to meet the male that changed your mind about relationships.”  They stopped as they came to the door to the room that the Worlders were waiting in.  They gave each other a quick once over before heading in.

             
“Ahh,” started Thalo, “the ladies have arrived.”  He got out of his chair and gave them a sweeping bow.  “May I?”  He held his hand out to Snow and guided her to a seat.  “You both are visions of loveliness, though I confess to never before having met a Nixa of your, shall we say complexion.”

“Give it a rest Thalo,” Jeth said, “remember you are married in another life and Sky definitely doesn't want you in the family.”

“Please, my overly large friend, one can still be courteous.  Not all of us go through life letting our enormous muscles do our talking.  Some, like me, of poor stature are forced to rely on other charms to impress the ladies.”  He grabbed Snow’s hand and gave it a gentle kiss.  He looked at her for a moment then with an audible sigh he let go of her hand and moved to take his seat.

“I noticed you didn’t offer to hold my hand and help me sit down.”  Sky chimed in with a smile.

“You, my dear Doctor, are spoken for by a close personal friend of mine.  One I would not want to upset.”  He leaned in conspiratorially close to Snow.  “Cole tends to blow things up, shoot things up, and generally just destroy anything that gets in his way.”

             
Snow giggled at the flamboyant Worlder.  “Such a charmer, my name is Snow by the way.  Nice to meet you.   Sky has told me all about you two.”

             
Thalo glanced at Sky.  “All good things I hope.”

             
“Of course,” she replied.

             
“Can we move on to business if the pleasantries are done?”  Jeth rumbled from his place at the table.

             
“Yes let’s,” Sky said, “first of all, my sister is now part of the crew.  She will train with the rest of the recruits we pick up from your worlds.  She will work just as hard as the rest and will receive no preferential treatment.  She earns her rank and position just like everyone else.  Have the other ships already departed for the Twin Worlds System?”

             
“Yes.  I sent them home after coming on board.  They were given their orders to begin drawing recruits and should have already started.”  Jet said.

             
“How is that possible?  They only left a little while ago, they couldn’t have gotten there already.  Could they?”  She looked around the room.

             
“These ships are better, in every way, than anything else in the galaxy.  The others are already at the Twin system.”  Sky smiled at her sister as she watched her attempt the math behind travel that fast.  Snow whistled as she gave up trying to figure out how fast the ships had to travel.

             
“How long to recruit and train a capable force?”  Sky asked the Worlders.

             
“To do it right.  A year.”  Thalo started to respond.

             
“No.  To slow.  Tell me you haven’t forgotten where Cole is and what is probably happening to him while we wait around.  One month, less if you can do it faster.”

             
Thalo and Jeth looked at each other.  “We understand your impatience, but we will accomplish nothing if we go in underprepared and undertrained.  We will just put his life in jeopardy.  We will have to go in fast and get to him quick.  If we stall for too long, or fail to penetrate their defenses, they may kill him before we can get to him.”   Thalo saw the look in Sky’s eyes.  “But that’s not to say we can’t try for a month or less.  We still have a problem to solve though.  We need help once we get on the planet.”  Thalo stroked his chin as he talked.

             
“What do you mean?” asked Snow.

             
“We know now that the Esii can invade our minds or some minds.  Distance in space must limit their ability, but once we are on the ground they could take over key members of the force and wreak unimaginable havoc.  We need to insure we can defend against mental attacks.”  Thalo looked at the two Nixa waiting for a response.

             
“Are we sure they can take over the mind of healthy individuals.  They didn’t when we raided that space station, and the only one who ever got subverted was near death when they swapped her consciousness.”  Sky was thoughtful as she spoke.

             
“We have to assume they knew they were defeated on the station and chose to keep their ability hidden.  We also must assume they can do it to us if we get close enough.  We must be prepared for every eventuality if we wish to succeed.”  Jeth had remained quiet so far throughout the discussion.

             
“We have an idea but wish to hear if you have one also.”  Jeth finally spoke up and joined the debate.

             
“No, nothing I can think of.  Without knowing how they do it.”  Sky said as she looked at her sister who shook her head no to the unvoiced question.  “What is your idea?”  Sky asked the Worlders.

             
“We need to find the Kin.”  They replied as one.

             
Snow snorted a laugh.  “Can we chase Grumpkins and Snipes while we are at it?”  Thalo frowned at her mocking words.

             
“Listen here little girl-” he was interrupted by Sky.

             
“That was uncalled for Snow, but I tend to agree with her.  The Kin are just a legend.  Bedtime stories told to Nixa when they are little.”  Sky leaned forward and rested her arms on the table.

             
“No, not legends but truth,” Jeth interjected, “they were boon companions and great allies during the Purge War.  They were known as the “Beautiful Defenders” or some such.”

             
“Yes, they are as real as you or I,” Thalo said, “We just need to find them.  Then convince them to help us.  According to our records, that survived the Esii attacks during the war, the Kin were brought in by the Pures just before the final attack on the Esii homeworld.  It was only after the Kin joined the war that ground battles were fought.  There wasn’t much I could find out other than there was always at least one Kin with any unit that fought the Esii on the ground.  There were records of soldiers willingly giving their lives to save Kin from attack.  They were so important that the Pures hid them away and turned them into a fable before the final attack on the Esii.”

             
“What do you suggest then?  I don’t think you would have brought it up if you didn’t have a plan to find them,” Sky asked.

             
“We do have a plan, but I don’t think you will like it.”  Thalo spent the next hour outlining his plan to find the Kin.  “So now that your sister is here I think it will work.  If she is willing.”

             
“No, absolutely not.”  Sky started to say.

             
“Okay, I will do it.”  Snow interrupted her.  “I have been there before so no problem.  I can handle any male of any species.”

             
Sky looked at her sister.  “Are you sure?  You don’t have to do this.”

             
“Take it easy sis, I can handle this.  I have done worse to get information.”

             
Sky looked at her sister long and hard.  “Fine, we are in.  When can we go?”

             
Thalo smiled as Jeth rose and made for the exit.  “Why right now of course, seeing as how we are pressed for time.”  Thalo also rose and indicated the sisters should come with him.  “To the bridge and get ready to go.”

             
Sky knew she was about to regret her decision to let her sister join her crew and the fact that she was actually about to let Thalo execute his highly questionable plan.

CHAPTER 8

Approximately 20,000 years
ago

Jarrod had been on the Kin’s planet for only a few hours.  He had only been here a few times before, but as always the planet astounded him.  The exterior was as harsh a place as could be found in the galaxy.  Once you got past the first crust layer of the planet and into the secondary atmosphere, everything changed.  There was about a mile separating the bottom of the primary crust from the surface of the secondary surface.   The underside of the primary crust was the ceiling of the inhabitable part of the planet and it was covered in lichen.  The lichen radiated a soft yellow glow that mimicked the light of a system sun.  Fissures in the surface of the secondary crust allowed heat from the core of the planet to escape and generally kept the air temperature at a steady eighty degrees.

Jarrod had landed his personal ship in an empty field near the main city of the Kin.  He knew the rules that the Kin lived by and knew to keep his ship at a distance from their city.  The Kin used no technology.  They relied on methods taught to them thousands of years ago by their creators.  Jarrod’s ancestors. Long ago when Jarrod’s ancestors were first exploring the galaxy they had found this planet and surveyed it.  They discovered, by accident, that the outer surface was just a shell and the real planet was down below. They found one semi evolved species living there and collected some to study.  They were found to have no sentience or intelligence. They were, however, smart animals that generally made the people around them happy.

His ancestors began taking the creatures as pets and they accompanied humans on their long flights of discovery around the galaxy.  Until one of his ancestors ran into the Esii.  After failed attempts to communicate with the Esii, and multiple losses of personnel sent to the planet the Esii were marked as off limits and quarantined. Secretly, they were studied.  One of the researchers had a Kin as pet on board his vessel.  This Pure was the one who initially discovered the Esii’s talent at mind control and telepathy.  Shortly after that discovery was made, and the Esii that he had captured almost escaped and killed his crew, he also discovered that when the Esii encountered the Kin the Esii became enraged and suffered extreme pain.  Building on his early experiments and believing that one day things might come to a head with the Esii, he started to experiment with the Kin.  He succeeded beyond his wildest dreams.  Through breeding and genetic manipulation he achieved sentience with the Kin.  He taught them science math and language. Then he hid them away from the rest of the galaxy.

He deemed they were far too fragile of a race to be exposed to the rigors of life amongst the stars and had the planet declared off limits.  Now thousands of years later, Jarrod, stood on the brink.  If he involved the Kin in this war it would change them forever.  He had stopped just short of entering the city proper and was staring at the crowd that had gathered to welcome him.  Resigned to his fate he walked the last few steps and got within ear shot of the gathered Kin.

“My name is Jarrod,” he said, “and I am here to ask a favor of your people.”

~

Cole hung limply from his bonds.  His head lolled to the side and his eyes were unfocused.  Saliva slowly ran from his mouth down his chin to drip onto the floor.  The skin around his wrists had chaffed and parted from the strain of supporting his body.  Blood ran in streams down his arms and across his chest to form a puddle at his feet.  Cole was locked in his own mind and paid no attention to his body’s current state.

He had awakened, following his self-flaying, back on the poles that hung from the ceiling.  His goggles had been screwed back onto his face, and he felt no pain, other than the uncomfortable feeling of pressure on his shoulders and wrists.  His legs felt fine, but he wasn’t sure.  Slowly he raised one foot, and as gently as he could, he touched his other leg.  He let out a heart wrenching sob of relief.  The skin was back, his nanites were still working.  They must have found a way to halt their processes while they were torturing him but after they were done they were allowed to heal him.

“You sound relieved, what happened to you while you were gone?”  The voice of his friend sounded from its customary spot.

“Leave me alone.  Until you have something of value to say or do, shut your fucking mouth.”  Cole was definitely not in the mood for his cellmate’s voice.  Cole was blessed with quiet for about five minutes.

“Sorry, if they were torturing you I don’t see any signs of it from here.  I was just trying to be friendly,” he responded

“No, it’s just-” Cole thought for a moment, “bad things are going to happen to me here, and it’s frustrating to say the least.  It is not your fault but I can’t help hating the fact that you are free to at least move around and see while I get hung up here.”  They spent the next little bit talking to each other about random things.

“The worst is, I am so tired but I can’t sleep like this.”  Cole was wiggling around trying to get as comfortable as possible when things changed.  It was sudden and unexpected.  One moment he was hanging in his cell talking to his cell mate, the next he was lying on a table with straps around his arms, legs, chest and head.  He was effectively held motionless on the table.  He was staring up at a body length mirror.  He was naked and all the hair had been removed from his body.  They must have knocked him out and moved him. 

Slowly the Pyndingum appeared one at a time in the mirror.  They hovered over him like carrion crows over a dead animal.  He was never sure which one did the talking but it always sounded the same in his head.  “Lesson three is for our benefit.  We must learn the human body
, to understand how to break it.”  The voice still felt like slime inside of his head.  They started their work that day and it lasted for several.  During one of the moments where he actually wasn’t feeling too much pain Cole remembered the word that described what they were doing to him.  At first he thought it was a dissection then he remembered you only dissect dead things.  When you do it to the living it’s called vivisection.   Cole counted each time he was on the vivisection table as one day.  By his last coherent count he had gone to the table five times.

It was the same every time.  They would open up a part of him and experiments on his body and organs.  Every time they had other of their kind in the room to focus on keeping Cole awake and conscious.  He was forced to watch each time.  He saw everything they did to him in that mirror.  He would break that mirror before his time here was over.  Each time they took him to that room they somehow turned off his nanites but each time he woke in his cell his body was whole and undamaged.

The program that monitored his vitals didn’t even have a log of the incidents.  When he was alone he would focus on the nanites and try to work on their programming to change how they worked.  It was frustrating and slow going.  He didn’t have great access to their systems using only his implanted computer.  The fact that he didn’t have much time fully conscious didn’t help him either.  Finally after the last time when they had opened his chest and removed all of his organs so they could get at his spine, it had gone too far.  He shut down.  His conscious mind had retreated to a safe area it had blocked off from the rest of his brain and body.

Even the Pyndingum couldn’t coax or force it out, so here he hung.  His cell mate was in the room with him but had given up talking to him a while ago.  He never got a response or even a twitch of
recognition.  Whatever they had done to this young man the last time must have permanently damaged his mind.

He felt a sinister presence invade his mind.  “You are not doing what we asked.  Your people will be punished if you don’t bring him around.  We do not have the time for this and we will start killing your people if you do not get results.”

“What do you want from me?  You put him in the coma.  How do you expect me to get him out?”  He pleaded to the voice in his head.

“His body is whole and so is his mind, he has retreated too far into himself and has walled us off.  You need to break down that wall and draw him out.  But first, it seems we have a visitor.”  A small door opened up on the wall to his right.  It opened to a room the size of a small closet.  “Wait in here until we open the door.  You best think of a way to bring him around while you are in there.”

The prisoner moved quickly into the small room and found himself in utter darkness as the door close.  For the few hours he was in the room he thought and thought but only came up with one idea.  He didn’t think they would let him try it but it was all he had.  He settled in to wait for his release.

~

The main door to the cell opened and two figures walked in.  Neither of them was Pyndingum.  One was typically Esii the other was as out of place on this planet as Cole was.  The Colonial Administrator looked at the dangling form of the human.

“So this is the pest that is trying to ruin my life.”  He walked into the room and up to Cole’s unconscious form.  “He doesn’t look like much when he is strung up, does he?”  He extended his hand and grabbed Cole’s chin.  He raised his face up so he could see him.  “What's wrong with him?”

“He has had a rough couple of days,” responded the Esii that was giving him the tour.  “He is in the hands of our most capable torturers and will soon be giving us the information we need to rebuild our fleet.  That is the reason why we need you to stall the warmongers who are trying to rally the Worlders to their cause.”

“Like I told you, Nixa is effectively out of the fight.  I have no control over what the Worlders do with their people or military. We are not exactly open allies here, I have to be careful how I go about getting things done.  I can’t just snap my fingers and change galactic policy.”

“No, but you do have contacts all over the galaxy and can put pressure where it is needed.  Need I remind you that we have kept all records of our dealings?  I am sure that if those records fell into the hands of your government, they would frown upon you selling your own people to the Esii for food.  Now you have seen the human and we have discussed our options.  I suggest you go back to your world and begin to implement them.”  The Esii stared at the Nixa Administrator.

“Just one more thing, you say he heals quickly right?”  The Esii nodded his head.  The Nixa reached back slammed his fist into Cole’s nose.  “That is for that bitch of a Nixa and what she did to me.  This is for me.”  He spent the next few minutes turning Cole’s face into a bloody mess.  Shaking his hands the Administrator finally grew tired of his game.

“Let’s go, the stench in here is revolting.”  He followed the Esii out of the room and back to his ship.

~

He awoke when the door to the room opened and he tumbled out.  He hadn’t meant to fall asleep but he had none the less.  He tumbled to his hands and knees before he fully came back to himself.  Struggling to his feet he looked up at Cole.  Someone had done a number on his face.  He had seen some rough fights in his time but had never seen anyone look this bad.  He hated the Esii for what they were doing to this young man.

“Hate us if you will, but obey us you must.  You have an idea.  What is it?”  The voice in his head intruded on his thoughts.

“Let me talk to him about us, my people.  It may draw him out.  Also can he get released from his manacles?”  He phrased it in such a way that if he was denied, he wouldn’t break the rules they had set out for him.  He waited.  He must have surprised them with that one and they were discussing it.  The minutes dragged on while he waited for a response.  Those minutes turned into an hour then into hours.  Still he received nothing from his captors. 

“We agree.  Tell him about your people and their plight.  Do not tell him about yourself or anyone specific.  We will also grant him some time down from his manacles.  We will be watching so do not deviate.”  The presence disappeared from his mind but he could still feel it in the room.  He took a deep breath and walked up to Cole.  He grabbed him around the waist just as the poles released their grip on his wrists.  He gently lowered Cole down to the floor and placed his head in his lap.  He watched as Cole’s face slowly began to heal.  It was amazing what he saw.  The flesh grew back together right in front of his eyes.  The swelling went down and the ugly black rings around his eyes faded away.  He heard a small pop as Cole’s nose popped back into place.  He watched the boy until there wasn’t a mark left on his body.

He lay his hand gently on Cole’s forehead and began talking in low tones.  “Cole, I am sorry I haven’t told you this before but up until now they wouldn’t let me.  You are not the last of humanity, I am a human and there are more of us here.  We were taken just before the aliens destroyed Earth.  We were brought here and have been prisoners ever since.  They took almost a thousand men and nearly nine thousand women.  They have those prisoners somewhere close by and they are starting a breeding program to use us as their new food supply.  If you don’t wake up and tell them what they want to know, they will start punishing the rest of the humans.  There are not many of us left and we deserve a chance.”  He bent down and whispered in Cole’s ear.  “So fight, fight as hard as you can to come back to me.  Fight so that others may live.”

Cole’s body gave a twitch.  His body began to spasm in his lap.  Cole thrashed around violently as he regained control of himself.  He went suddenly still.  The human male stood and moved closer to Cole, he placed two fingers on Cole’s throat and felt for a pulse.