‘We’ve managed to keep that knowledge restricted to heads of sector and a small number of Military personnel. The General Marshal would like us to have access to the alien home world before making an announcement. It may,’ Leveque added drily, ‘cause considerable public anxiety.’
‘Can I move yet?’
He nodded. ‘You can move freely now. I must warn you, however, that your appearance has been affected far more than expected.’
‘I’d rather guessed that. Is there a mirror somewhere?’
Leveque gestured at the corner of the room. I swung my legs over the side of the bed, stood up, faced the mirror, and gasped. I didn’t look monstrous, but I did look shockingly different. The lights of the web were constantly flickering under my skin. I could even see them through my hair.
I rolled up the white sleeves of the hospital sleep suit I was wearing, and stroked my shimmering arms with my shimmering hands. My skin felt perfectly smooth and normal to the touch, it just looked …
At the start of this year, I’d joined a class of norms, told them a lot of lies, and convinced them I was normal too. There’d been no visible sign I was Handicapped, but now … No one would ever mistake me for a human being again.
‘Major Eklund and a number of other visitors are waiting outside,’ said Leveque.
‘Fian hasn’t seen me looking like … He hasn’t seen me since I went into the tank?’
‘No. You made your wishes quite clear on that point.’
There were a Military impact suit and a skintight hanging on the wall. I lifted them down. ‘I’ll suit up before I see people.’
‘Your regrown skin couldn’t fully harden while in a tank, so you’ll find it uncomfortable putting on the suit,’ said Leveque. ‘I’ll call a doctor to give you pain medication.’
I shook my head. ‘I hate taking meds.’
‘I’ll wait outside then.’ Leveque went out of the room.
I stripped off my sleep suit and put on my skintight without any problems, but getting into the impact suit was a struggle, my skin protesting at the harsh touch of the fabric. When I finally had the suit on, I pulled the hood up and sealed it, checked that the suit display with my name and rank was set correctly, and then stood still for a moment. The sharp stinging pain from my skin gradually eased down to a nagging soreness, and I gave a sigh of relief.
I went to the door, opened it, and walked into a large open area. I had a blurred impression of a lot of people sitting on chairs, but I was only really aware of the one standing up facing me.
‘I knew it,’ said Fian. ‘I knew you’d come out here with your hood up and sealed.’
His voice was a mixture of exasperation and amusement. His long blond hair was tangled, as if he’d been running his hands through it. His face was strained, tired, and somehow older than before. I wasn’t surprised. If I’d been waiting for three endless months to find out if Fian would live or die, if I finally had him back but knew it might only be for a few hours, I’d be a complete wreck.
‘You don’t need to hide yourself from me,’ he said. ‘I don’t care what you look like, so long as I don’t lose you. If it was the other way round, if I looked different, would you want to dump me?’
I shook my head. I’d first been attracted to Fian because he looked like Arrack San Domex, the vid star I had a crush on, but I’d stayed attracted to him because of all the things that made him so uniquely special. His intelligence. His stubbornness. His love of history. The way he could be grimly serious, and the way he could make me laugh. After all we’d been through together, what he looked like didn’t matter so long as he was Fian.
‘Of course I wouldn’t,’ I said, ‘but the first priority is to sort out the pedestal. We can deal with personal stuff afterwards if … if there’s time.’
‘There’s going to be time,’ said Fian. ‘The changes to the web will work, they have to because I can’t go through all that again, and I want your Military Oath that you won’t hide your face from me after we’ve dealt with the pedestal.’
This was so typical of Fian that I had to giggle. ‘Major Fian Andrej Eklund, you have my Military Oath that I won’t hide from you.’
Keon Tanaka’s voice spoke in typically lazy tones, reminding me that Fian and I had an audience. ‘Jarra claimed she didn’t order Fian around, but I didn’t believe her. I certainly didn’t believe he gave her orders. Amaz! I’d think it was someone else in that suit, but no one could fake the distinctive Jarra giggle.’
There was a ripple of laughter at his words. I took a hasty look round, and was startled by the number of familiar faces. Keon was sitting with Issette and Candace. Dalmora, Amalie and Krath were with Playdon. Colonel Leveque was sitting on one side of General Torrek, and a female Commander I didn’t recognize was on the other. Beyond her were the Medical team leader, Colonel Stone, Drago and …
‘Oh nuking hell!’ I stared blankly at the figure sitting next to Drago.
‘Bad, bad Jarra!’ Issette sounded truly appalled at my shocking language.
‘Sorry, but …’ The world seemed to whirl round me in a giddying fashion.
Fian’s hand shot out to catch my arm and steady me. ‘Colonel Leveque didn’t tell you Raven was alive? I didn’t know myself for several days. The doctors had to wait to see if there was brain damage.’
How could Raven be alive? For chaos sake, I’d seen the man cut in half! And that, I suddenly realized, was exactly the reason Leveque hadn’t said anything about it. I’d seen Raven cut in half, so I’d have asked a lot of questions he didn’t want to answer. Questions about why Raven hadn’t been legally brain dead before the rescue team reached him. The Military had broken a lot of laws to keep me alive, which was perfectly legal because my survival was vital for the Alien Contact programme. They must have broken laws to save Raven as well, and that wasn’t legal at all.
The important thing was that Raven was alive. The reality of that finally sank in, I stopped worrying about how it could be true, and just celebrated the fact that it was.
‘I’m so glad you made it, Raven. I thought … Thank you. You saved both our lives.’
Raven’s worried expression changed to a smile. ‘I was just doing my job, Jarra.’
I turned to Colonel Stone. ‘I see you didn’t get demoted, sir.’
‘I was strongly tempted to demote both Colonel Stone and Colonel Leveque,’ said General Torrek, ‘but Fian talked me out of it.’ He turned to the stranger next to him. ‘Psych are ready?’
‘Yes, sir. Media interest is at fever pitch. I’ll join my team now. We’ll play your pre-recorded announcement, then open the live link to the newzies.’ She headed off down a corridor.
The woman was obviously a team leader from the evil Psych Division. I groaned at her mention of a live link to the newzies.
‘My team’s already on standby,’ said Drago. ‘The three of us just need to suit up and we can all head to the launch area.’
Drago, Fian and Raven reached under their chairs, produced impact suits, and started taking off their uniforms to reveal they were already wearing their Military skintights underneath. Playdon, Dalmora, Amalie and Krath were used to seeing people wearing just skintights, but I saw Candace hastily turn her head to gaze at the nearest wall. Issette was pretending to look at the wall as well, but I could see her sneaking furtive looks at Drago. Keon was watching her, appearing amused rather than angry.
I made a mental note to tease Issette about this later, and tell her she was a bad, bad Issette. If there was a later.
‘Why are we going to the launch area, Drago?’ I asked. ‘Aren’t we portalling to Gateway base?’
Drago paused for a moment before putting on his suit, unconsciously giving Issette the chance for some more furtive admiration. ‘Isolationist agents attempted to infiltrate Portal Network Administration. Their plan was to stop you and Fian from reaching Fortuna’s moon by sabotaging your portal signal as you portalled to Gateway base.’
‘Sabotaging o
ur portal signals!’ I felt sick. I’d once seen a horror vid where someone tried to portal during a solar storm. The storm messed up the creation of the portal signal by the transmitting portal, so what arrived at the other end was just a twisted, dying lump of flesh.
‘Military Security arrested the people involved, but we’re playing safe by taking you all the way by ship,’ said Drago. ‘The Orbital Ship Portal Network is run by the Military and far more secure than the civilian portal networks, so we’ll use that to travel between Adonis and Gateway systems.’
‘Psych Division felt this method of travel would also provide more entertainment for the newzies,’ added Colonel Leveque.
Drago, Fian and Raven finished putting on their suits, though they left their hoods down for now. Everyone else was on their feet too, apparently coming along to see us off. I’d stopped Leveque from telling me the probability of the web failing to stabilize, but it was obvious everyone else knew, and the look on Candace’s face told me it was uncomfortably high.
We had a five-minute walk to reach the launch area, where several vid bees were hovering in midair, waiting for us. I stared past them, counting the array of fighters parked in front of a giant portal. Fifteen of them. At the centre of their formation was a survey ship, like the one Drago had landed on Fortuna’s moon.
‘The survey ship can take all four of us,’ said Drago.
We stopped at the edge of the launch area, and Leveque attached something to the left shoulder of my suit. I looked down and saw a metal disk flashing amber.
‘A steady green light will indicate the web stabilization phase has successfully completed,’ said Leveque. ‘A flashing red light indicates immune system control is degrading and you require medical attention as soon as possible.’
He stepped back. Drago, Fian, Raven and I walked on towards the survey ship, with the vid bees chasing after us. I forgot about the flashing disk on my shoulder, as all my worries were drowned out by awed excitement. After a lifetime of frustration, I was finally going to the stars!
37
Drago opened the door of the survey ship. ‘Marlise has run the pre-flights for us.’ He gestured at the two front seats. ‘Jarra, you’re flying us. Fian will be your co-pilot.’
‘I’m flying?’ I shook my head in disbelief.
Drago laughed. ‘You’re finally leaving Earth, Jarra. I think you should do it in style.’
‘I’d love to fly, but … Shouldn’t you be co-pilot? I’ve never done anything like this so I’ll need help.’
He laughed again. ‘Fian’s a qualified fighter pilot and can give you all the help you need.’
‘He is? How totally, totally zan!’ I turned to stare at Fian and saw him blush. ‘But how did …?’
‘The Military were worried Isolationist agents might try to destroy the alien sphere in Earth orbit,’ he said, ‘so Drago’s team were ordered back here to help guard it. Drago and Marlise saw I was going crazy sitting around worrying about you. I’d already had some flying lessons from you, so they decided to finish teaching me to fly to keep me busy.’
‘But you have to do an awful lot more than learn to fly to qualify as a fighter pilot, and you’ve only had three months.’
Fian shrugged. ‘Sleeping only took up eight hours a day. Watching Playdon’s lecture vids and eating meals occupied another four. That left six hours a day flying time and six hours in flight simulators. You can learn an awful lot in three months when you’ve got sixteen fighter pilots taking turns to teach you.’
I opened my mouth, about to eagerly say that Fian would have to give me fighter pilot lessons, but closed it again. I couldn’t plan my future beyond the next couple of hours.
‘Of course, I’m still useless compared to Drago and Marlise,’ added Fian.
‘Everyone is useless compared to Marlise,’ said Drago. ‘In our first flight simulator duel, she shot me to pieces in three minutes and seventeen seconds, and I fell hopelessly in love.’
I climbed into the pilot’s seat, Fian sat beside me, and Drago and Raven took the two seats behind us. They pulled up their hoods and sealed their suits. I tapped the door control and it obediently closed, shutting out the nosy vid bees.
Fian pointed at the control panel. ‘Jarra, hit the flashing light on your right to signal you’re ready to launch.’
I touched the control, the light went solid green, and I heard a female voice on my suit broadcast channel.
‘Zulu base to Earth Flight, your portal to Earth orbit is established and you are clear to launch.’
Earth Flight! I gave a startled laugh. They’d designated us Earth Flight, like the historic first drop portal flight to Adonis. That had to be Psych Division’s idea.
The first bank of black fighters lifted smoothly off the ground. The centre one, with the silver flashes that showed it belonged to Marlise, led the way through the portal, followed by the fighter on its right and then the one on its left. The second bank of fighters rose into the air and followed them, and then it was our turn.
I engaged hovers and our ship lifted into the air. A survey ship was much wider than a fighter, so I took it slowly, literally holding my breath as we flew through the portal. I was prepared to see the blackness of space, and the heart-grabbing beauty of Earth from orbit, but I wasn’t expecting the dazzling light sculpture ahead of me, or the vast wing of a solar array overshadowing me to my left.
‘Engage thrusters and move clear of the portal, Jarra,’ Fian’s voice gently reminded me. ‘Our wingmen need to be able to follow us through.’
I hastily engaged the thrusters and flew to join the group of fighters to my right. ‘Sorry,’ I said. ‘I’m a nardle. I should have realized we were going through one of the portals they use to send fighters up to guard the alien sphere, so we’d arrive near that and the Earth Africa solar array.’
He laughed. ‘It’s an amaz view, isn’t it?’
‘It’s totally zan!’
I didn’t know which way to look first. There was Earth, blue mixed with the white swirls of cloud. There were the wings of the solar array, each one only paper thick but reaching out a vast distance. There were the constantly changing patterns and colours of the alien sphere’s light sculpture.
‘We need to move well clear of the array before we drop portal,’ said Drago.
The fighters had all arrived and formed a neat formation around me. Marlise’s fighter led the way and I followed along with the others. Fian leaned across for a second, checking something on the bank of controls on my right.
‘Zulu base to Earth Flight,’ said the voice on broadcast channel, ‘you are clear of hazards and free to drop portal to Adonis.’ She paused for a second and spoke with an odd emphasis. ‘Zulu base to Earth Flight, are you ready for this?’
I giggled as I realized she was quoting the words from the original Earth Flight.
‘Answer her, Jarra,’ said Drago.
I briefly opened broadcast channel to give the answer Major Kerr had given. ‘Earth Flight to Zulu base. I’ve been ready for this all my life. Let’s do it.’
‘Earth Flight, starburst ready for drop portal.’ Drago spoke on the comms channel that pilots called ship to ship.
The formation of fighters instantly broke, scattering outwards. Ships only risked drop portalling in tight formation in emergencies.
‘Drop portal countdown is set to ten seconds,’ said Drago. ‘Call it for us on broadcast channel, Jarra.’
I’d never done this, even in a simulator, so I turned my comms off for a second to ask a nardle question. ‘The drop portal control is the red button on the right?’
‘Yes,’ said Drago. ‘You’ve never portalled further than between continents, Jarra, so you won’t know there’s a momentary dizzy sensation on interstellar distances. That’s perfectly normal so don’t worry about it.’
Drago was both wrong and right. I’d portalled to an Alpha sector world once when I was 14, but I hadn’t noticed any dizzy sensation, only blinding pain.
> I spoke on broadcast channel. ‘Earth Flight, prepare to initiate drop portal sequence on my mark. Mark!’
I hit the red button, and an automated voice started counting down. As it reached zero, a dust ring appeared ahead, moving towards our ship at high speed. It engulfed us and there was a split second of disorientation, then I saw the blue and white planet had moved position and its continents had changed shape.
‘This is Adonis Orbital Traffic Control welcoming Earth Flight,’ said a deep male voice on the broadcast channel. ‘It’s night here on the inhabited continent of Adonis, but we’ve got our lights on for you, and we hope you still think it looks like a beautiful world.’
I recognized another quote from that long ago flight. I laughed, looked down at night on Adonis, and saw something odd was happening. The swathes of lights were blinking on and off. It took me a moment to work out the population of Adonis had been watching our arrival on their equivalent of Earth Rolling News, and it had organized them to turn their lights off and on in unison. Nearly half a millennium ago, the original Earth Flight had left the Handicapped behind, but now Adonis was welcoming one of us.
‘Earth Flight to Adonis Orbital Traffic Control,’ I said on broadcast channel, trying to keep my voice from shaking and failing miserably. ‘I can see your lights saying welcome, and it’s truly the most beautiful sight I’ve ever seen.’
‘Adonis Orbital Traffic Control to Earth Flight. We’re glad to hear that, Commander Tell Morrath. Transmitting your flight path to Orbital Interchange 1 now. Your orbital portal is already pre-empted and established to take you through to Gateway.’
A flashing line appeared on my screens, but I didn’t have to worry about it. The fighters had formed their formation around us again, Marlise was leading the way, and I just had to follow as we flew above the inhabited continent of Adonis, chasing the brightness of dawn.
I saw the orbital interchange ahead of us, and magnified the view on my screen to get a closer look at the six great portals floating in space. Five of them had red flashing lights around their perimeter, while one had lights that were solid green. I was confused by that, and by the fact it was deserted. There should be a cloud of ships around an orbital interchange like this, all waiting for their outgoing portal slot.