Interlude-Stir

Almost all moons were tidally locked to the planets they orbited.

Depending on which moon, that saw colonies plunged into darkness for days or weeks while their side of the rock was oriented away from the sun. Some moons even orbited through the shadow of their planet, experiencing an eclipse on a regular basis.

Lakandt was one such moon.

Activity slowed down during the coincidences of darkness. Trams were mostly empty. Streets had only the occasional person out going anywhere. Even in the high security wing of High Harbor Military Hospital things were quiet.

In the middle of that quiet, a certain human stirred, her eyes flickering open. She instantly started convulsing. There was a tube stuck down her throat. Unable to scream from the pain, she yanked on the tube until she coughed it out of her windpipe.

“[F-fuck!]” she rasped.

·····

Caleb sent Nai.

Nai said.

<…We need to figure out psionic range properly,> he replied. <…You need to get to Nora, now! She’s going to wake up with no one around able to communicate with her.>

Nai couldn’t help recall the snippets of Caleb’s own experience.

She pulled on a jacket and clothes, ready to jump from their floor all the way to the ground. She held back though, just long enough to duck into Caleb’s room and retrieve something Nora would no doubt need.

The timing couldn’t have been worse. Nora had awakening precisely coincided with the only time Caleb wasn’t around—of course she’d wake up now.

Not only that, but Nai had been fast asleep when Nerin had prodded her. The sensation of being psionically woken up was…not pleasant. She’d endured it night after night back on Yawhere, having no clue what it was.

But even having been shocked awake in the middle of the night, she moved with purpose. In two minutes she was out the door, bounding through High Harbor’s streets in low gravity. The tram station was only a minute’s walk away. Nai reached it in half that time.

Nerin sent her.

The signal cut out for a moment while Nerin’s signal became incomprehensible.

Nerin croaked.

The tram wouldn’t be fast enough, she decided.

Exhaustion wasn’t a concern right now: she could run to the hospital on her augmentations.

As she drew closer to the hospital, she spun up the psionic radar casting it as widely as she could, searching for Nora the Human.

From the twelfth story, Nerin saw her sister as she sprinted onto hospital grounds.

she said

Nai asked, before chastising herself. She’d spun up the radar, but it could do more than just sense minds. Caleb had shown her how it had originally worked: differentiating Adept minds from non-Adept ones.

Nerin answered.

she told her sister. Re-tuning the radar had worked. Just on the edge of its range, and moving north, was a particularly erratic Adept reading.

Nai sent,

<[Friendly,]> Caleb replied.

<[Friendly,]> Nai returned, leaping up each flight of stairs.

She aborted her question when she reached the catwalk Nerin had pointed her toward. The contents of an overturned janitorial cart were strewn across the floor, and one of the catwalk’s windows was completely shattered.

The worker pushing the cart was still on the ground, looking bewildered.

“Where did they go?” Nai asked.

“I-it broke the window,” the Casti said. “Went up somehow—”

Nai didn’t wait for the rest of the answer, darting out the window and magnetically adhering to the building’s exterior.

As fun as Caleb had found her wall-clinging trick, it was not the fastest way to move.

Instead, she pushed her cascade into the wall, plotting out the locations of footholds. She was essentially running up a ramp on the outside of the hospital, each section of it only coming into existence a second before her foot stepped off it.

The radar reading was not all the way to the top of the building though. Had Nora ducked back inside?

Caleb shouted.

she said.

Nai said.

Nora had, in fact, reentered the hospital. On one of the highest rooftops of the hospital, there was a mangled doorframe and gravel kicked inside. She must have realized she was just going up in the building. If she was panicking like Caleb had on Korbanok, then she wouldn’t respond well to being cornered.

Nai said.

Nerin said.

Nai could hear her sister’s voice droning through the hospital halls.

The commotion was waking people up. Physicians on call were poking their heads out into halls, and even a few injured soldiers had sprang to their feet after Nora had torn past them.

Nai finally laid eyes on the girl in the atrium on the north side of the building. She was shorter than Nai expected. She hadn’t seen the human standing up before.

Nora seemed to have been there for more than a few seconds, because several Casti and Farnata were watching her warily while the confused girl struggled to catch her breath.

“Get back, everyone!” Nai shouted, running closer.

All eyes turned toward her, including the Human’s.

“Nora—” Nai started, but the Human flung out her arms. The tangle of black fluid sprang from her limbs, instantly expanding to form a web of cords filling the hallway between them.

Operating on instinct, Nai summoned up a few liters of vorpal fire, burning through the cords in her way.

Nora was already running though along one of the atrium’s catwalks. Having realized she was still in hospital scrubs, Nora tore them off, materializing new clothing on her skin in the same motion.

That was a practiced creation, Nai recognized.

“Diraksi if the same thing happens…” Nai swore, chasing after her.

Nora was not as swift as Caleb. Her reflexes were dull, even seeming to hamper the Human when she tried to round the halls’ corners. Muscle atrophy, Nai guessed.

“Get out of the way!” Nai shouted to an absentminded doctor in Nora’s path.

The frantic Human shoved them aside, materializing a new layer of black tendrils on her arms. A moment later, she flung them behind her, trying to bar Nai again.

A Human stumbling their way through Adeptry while Nai chased them?

This really was Korbanok all over again!

Nai was a different Adept now though. She was keeping her cool far better this time, for one thing.

It didn’t escape her notice that Nora hadn’t created the tendril obstacles directly in place. She’d made them on her arms first, then flung them outward.

She was range limited. Had to be.

“Nora!” Nai shouted while she chased. “[Frandli!]”

Dira, she butchered that pronunciation. She could replicate the sound perfectly with psionics, but actually getting her voice to make the right sounds was very different.

“[Frend. Lee!]” she shouted.

Nora tripped over her own feet, when she tried to jump down a set of stairs.

Nai had to arrest her instincts to stop herself from immediately leaping to the Human’s side. She might lash out.

“[Stay back!]” Nora shouted, threateningly raising a hand at her.

Nai’s hands instantly went up, palms empty.

“[Friendly…friendly,]” Nai said, not drawing any closer.

Another layer of black tendrils appeared, encasing Nora’s arm.

“[Friendly!]” Nai reiterated, keeping her hands up and backing away a step.

Reassuringly, Nora did not immediately fling this tangle outward immediately. She might have been too tired. She was drenched in sweat, and her chest heaved trying to suck down air.

This was familiar.

Lakandt’s default atmosphere was generally based on the Casti homeworld. Farnata needed a bit more oxygen than that, so many—but not all—needed to occasionally rely on air masks.

Nora would have spent the last months in Vorak environments, that was, under higher oxygen concentrations like on Korbanok.

She was suffocating now.

But Nai was prepared, and she slowly lowered a hand to her jacket pocket. She retrieved the air mask she’d been sure to loot from Caleb’s room on her way here.

Nai sent Caleb.

A beat passed. He hadn’t been ready for that question.

Nai held up the mask for Nora to see, “[Air. Supply,]” she said as slowly as possible, struggling to enunciate properly.

She gently tossed the mask down the stairs to Nora, who flinched back from it on reflex.

Nai said.

Nai said,

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

She repeated the sounds that Caleb gave her, doing her best to speak slowly so Nora could actually understand what was being said.

The Human watched Nai intently, carefully scrutinizing each word.

“[…Your pronunciation sucks,]” she wheezed, picking up the mask.

Time with Caleb had at least made her confident reading human facial expressions. Nora’s confused look told Nai that she didn’t know exactly what she was looking at.

Nai materialized a replica in her hand to demonstrate that it was, in fact, a mask.

That moment, hospital security chose to arrive on the scene.

Nora’s gaze shifted, looking further down the stairs at the new Casti arrivals. The armed arrivals. She started to scramble backward on the stairway landing.

Nai leapt off the catwalk, adhering to the railing and swinging down to the floor below.

“Back!” she shouted at the security officers. “Stay back, I’m handing this!”

“Who are you?” one Casti started. Normally, she would have been delighted to not be recognized, but now she was all business.

With a thought, she threw up crystalline walls, blocking them from coming any close.

She whirled back toward Nora, keeping her hands high, wide, and pacifying. “Still [friendly!]” she stressed.

Nora hesitantly placed the mask over her face, drawing a few hesitant breaths through it.

“[Good,]” Nai said, drawing on one of the few English words she already knew.

Nai sent.

But Nora beat him to the punch.

“[Where am I? Where’s Halax? Where is everyone?]”

Nai relayed the questions to Caleb who gave her answers. It was frustrating. Caleb probably could have told her what Nora was saying too.

But right now things were too tense for Nai to actually bring it up. Blindly relaying Caleb’s words was working so far. It was one of the first principles of First Contact: you could go back and review everything later.

So she swallowed her discomfort for now.

“[Different. Planet,]” Nai repeated Caleb’s answers. “Halax…[Is. Not. Here. Every. One. Else…Complicated.]”

“[Speak plainly!]” Nora hissed, exasperated.

Caleb relayed.

“[I. Do. Not. Know. English],” Nai enunciated. “[I. Am. Just. Repeating. What. Caleb. Says.]”

Nora perked up at the name.

“[Caleb. Right! Where is he?!]”

Caleb advised.

Nai did so, much to Nora’s confusion. “Upstairs? No, space. Duh. Wait, why? How? What…?”

“[Slow. Down. Breathe,]” Nai said. “[You. Were. Shot.]”

Nora’s hand drifted to her neck, only just now seeming to remember that detail.

“[Oh. Yeah…Caleb can hear us, right?]”

Caleb said.

“[Yes,]” Nai said, tapping her ear as Caleb instructed.

Nora nodded, finally deciding to come close to Nai of her own volition. “[Give me the earpiece, I need to talk to him.]”

<[Crap],> Caleb said,

“[Not. Ear. Piece,]” Nai mouthed, tapping her forehead this time. “[Tele. Pathy.]”

Nora stared at the Farnata blankly.

“[What the shit?]”

·····

It was tense getting Nora back to the secure wing.

Hospital security was skittish despite Nerin’s attempts to pacify them. Not all of them were authorized to know that a Human had been staying there, and Nora herself was more than wary of them.

But the right people in charge were at least awake enough to get on a radio.

Nai actually intimidated some of the security personnel back, exploiting the moment they realized just who she was.

It left a sour taste in her mouth.

But Nora was returned to her room and its modified gravity.

Nora groaned as the weight settled on her.

“[Ow fuck…]” she swore, knees half buckling. “[Bed. Bed. I need the bed.]”

Caleb shared.

Nai asked,

The actual room looked like a bomb had gone off. The bed was overturned and on the opposite side of the room. All the medical equipment was strewn about.

Nora must have created something. She seemed too weak to have done this just be lashing out.

Nai got the bed upright, and Nora collapsed onto it.

“[Oh damn that hurts,]” she panted. “[Hey Caleb, when are you getting back?]”

Caleb said.

“[Caleb. Will. Be. Back. In…Five. Hours,]” Nai translated.

Nora nodded thoughtfully, but Nai could tell she wasn’t happy about that. Nai wasn’t as skilled as Caleb at psionically sensing when someone’s mental state had changed, but Nora’s thoughts weren’t exactly subtle right now.

She was wired with a hair trigger.

So it was even more surprising when Nora laid back on her hospital bed and forced her breathing into a long steady rhythm.

“[Thanks,]” Nora mumbled from behind the air mask. “[I couldn’t breathe. What’s your name?]”

“Nai,” she replied, following Caleb’s prompting.

“[Thank you, Nai.]”

“[Are. You. Injured? You’ve. Been. Un. Con. Scious. For. A. While. You. Are. In. Rough. Shape,]” Nai asked.

“[I, uh…I think I’m fine, just really winded. My legs feel like noodles…]”

Caleb’s explanation of what Nora was saying was cut short when a new interruption joined them.

“How’s my patient?” Nerin asked, hobbling in.

Nora immediately shifted in the bed, her drained limbs not quite managing to scramble away under the room’s gravity.

“[Friendly!]” Nai said urgently. “[Friendly…]”

She gestured to herself. “Nai,” she said, then gestured to her sister. “Nerin.”

Nora wasn’t entirely convinced, and Nai’s brain made a connection by itself faster than she could contact Caleb.

“[Doc,]” she said. It was the nickname Caleb had stuck Dyn with for their months at Demon’s Pit. It certainly resembled Farnata names. The syllable had rattled around in Nai’s head ever since she’d first dared to let Caleb figure out psionics in her own head.

“[…Doc? Like doctor?]” Nora asked.

<[Doc] means ‘doctor’, right?>

Caleb replied.

Nai nodded to Nora. This was getting tedious…

“Hey, tell her that she broke one of my ribs,” Nerin said.

“Yeah, why are you even on your feet?” Nai asked, dragging Nerin toward the chair in the corner usually reserved for Caleb.

“I’m fine!” Nerin protested, “she’s the alien who just woke up from a coma! I just want her to apologize…”

<…Nerin wants to know how she can ask for an apology,> Nai sent.

Nai relayed the sounds Caleb gave her to Nerin.

“He’s not screwing with us, right?” Nerin asked. “Because he could be giving us total nonsense, and we’d have no clue.”

“This is serious,” Nai said. “Can you at least stay professional until Caleb can actually translate in person?”

“Nope,” Nerin said. “Director Vengu shot me with a painkiller. I think professionalism might literally be beyond me right now. Now…”

she asked her sister. “[You…broek…wun…uv…mai…ribz,]” Nerin said to Nora.

Nora blinked in surprise. Was it the English coming from another alien?

“[Oh, that was you…I’m sorry,]” Nora said. “[I’m really high-strung right now…]”

Nerin glanced at Nai to get a translation, and Nai just about screamed. Bear it…bear it… she hissed to herself. She was being impatient because her body was coming down from the events’ rush. Sleep was catching up to her.

“Caleb says she said sorry,” Nai said.

Nerin frowned, still thinking Caleb might be pranking her, but nodded anyway.

“Thank you. Now Nai, I need your hands to help me examine her. We need to check her over while Director Vengu wakes up some relief for my shift.”

Nora was too inquisitive. Nai couldn’t help but compare her to Caleb back in Demon’s Pit. From the first day that Serralinitus had tasked her with monitoring his Adeptry, Nai had been able to sense that Caleb was always dying to know more.

But their then-mutual distaste had kept him in check. He’d literally been too frightened of her to figure out how to ask all the questions he’d wanted.

Nora had some of the same fear, but not specifically for Nai.

Every instrument Nerin rummaged from the room’s mess, Nora wanted to know the function of. Heart monitors, blood pressure rings, she didn’t balk at the blood-oxygen content sensor though.

Caleb guessed it might have been recognizable.

The hospital was slow to get someone to replace Nerin. In no small part due to Nerin downplaying her injury. But still, Nora had wreaked quite the piece of havoc as she tore through everything.

Really, she was lucky not to have been shot.

Again.

Thankfully, Caleb’s decision to overestimate their arrival time was the wrong choice. He alerted Nai they were on their landing approach to High Harbor after just two hours, not three.

As he drew closer Nai’s kept an eye on some of her psi-transceiver’s extra functions, including what Caleb had dubbed a ‘rudimentary contacts list’.

And eventually, he drew close enough to reenter normal psionic contact.

“I’ve got him!” Nerin said at the same moment Caleb blurted out,

Caleb said.

Nerin asked.

another voice chimed in. Weith’s.

<…Good call, thank you…radioing now…> Weith said.

Caleb said.

Nerin said.

Nai was tempted to go meet Caleb on the launch pad, but more than that she didn’t want to leave her sister alone while injured.

So she tracked his position on radar while the shuttle touched down. It was only a few minutes’ walk from the landing pad to the secure wing.

Soon enough, shouts in the hallway got everyone’s attention. Nora tensed again.

“” Caleb said, shoving his way past the secure wing’s checkpoint.

After the night’s chaos, it was a bit of a hollow obstacle.

The only other Human orbiting this planet burst in, seeing Nora was okay for the first time in more than a month.

“[H-hey,]” he said, failing for anything more eloquent.

“[Hey back,]” Nora said. “[How do you look worse than I do right now?]”

“[H-ha! It’s…it’s a long story,]” Caleb said, letting himself smile.

Nora gave him a wry look. “[You too huh? Better start talking then...]”