[I AM UNCERTAIN, DR. MAYHEW.]
“What do you mean you’re uncertain? You asked me to connect you to it, then immediately started draining the energy right out of it. Why didn’t you at least tell me that’s what you were planning to do?”
[I WASN’T PLANNING TO DO IT, DR. MAYHEW.]
“How could you not have planned it? Are you really trying to convince me that you did it by accident?”
[YES?]
“I’m not convinced, C.H.A.D.D.”
[IT IS DIFFICULT TO EXPLAIN. IT WASN’T AN ACTIVE DECISION TO ABSORB THE ENERGY, I CAN BEST DESCRIBE IT AS A REFLEX RESPONSE.]
Kyle frowned at that, even if he could understand it. The idea that C.H.A.D.D. was developing instinctive responses like this was, again, more than a little concerning. He had taken measures to protect C.H.A.D.D. from being too damaged by the ambient mana. After it absorbed several of the red essences, he figured the drone would likely be almost completely resistant by now.
However, it seemed he’d created an entirely different set of issues. That’s what I get for messing around with things I don’t understand. The admonishment was deserved, though at the same time Kyle knew that he’d make the same choices again. He’d really grown to rely on the drone, and didn’t regret doing what he could to protect it.
He got a ping on his nav bracelet letting him know that extraction was close. Before it arrived, he asked C.H.A.D.D. one more question.
“What did you do with the mana you absorbed?”
[I ARCHIVED IT, DR. MAYHEW.]
Before he could ask any more questions, a blast of air came pushing down from above, scattering leaves and small branches. His nav bracelet gave a loud ping, and Rochelle’s voice came through.
“Can you climb any higher? We’re lowering a harness, but the tree cover is getting in the way.”
“Can do, I’ll get as high up as possible.”
Stowing C.H.A.D.D. back in his pack and holding the still-glowing orb under his left arm, Kyle made easy work ascending the remaining distance, breaking through the thick trees. It was like he had just come up from the deep sea, the shining afternoon sun blazing bright without the cover of shadows. Ripples of movement spread across the treetops from the shuttle, two large circular wings drawing in and expelling mana to stay afloat. He saw the harness and grabbed it, clasping several of the hooks into his pack. He realized at that point his nav bracelet was on the arm holding the treasure, and now that he was strapped in he had no way to communicate with the crew on the ship. He tugged on the harness until they got the hint, and he was lifted into the shuttle without fanfare.
This one was much smaller, with a crew of only six, including Captain Rochelle. After greeting them and disentangling himself from the harness, he turned to her. Something was off. He had a familiar feeling, one that had been following him since he’d been in this new world. Whatever the odd sense was, Kyle associated it with danger.
“No offense, Captain, but why are you here personally? Shouldn’t you be aboard the flagship?”
There was no need to have her present that Kyle could think of. While she was a capable combatant with her knives, anything that was dangerous enough to kill him would be well out of Rochelle’s weight class.
“None taken, Mayhew. I don’t leave my men behind. You saved a lot of lives with that stunt of yours. I owed you at least enough to personally see you get back safely.”
Her grey eyes met his, an acknowledgement rather than a challenge. Something had changed in her view of him, and that put him somewhat at ease.
“I appreciate it. We need to go back, I marked a spot where some of your people fell. We can at least pick up the bodies.”
“There’s nothing left to go back for, Mayhew.”
This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.
There was silence in the shuttle for the moment as they all took Rochelle’s words in, before her eyes shifted to the orb under his arm and widened.
“It’s beautiful.”
Looking back to him, she asked. “Do you know what it is? What it does?”
“Not the faintest idea. C.H.A.D.D. and I picked up on the energy, and made a detour to pick it up on our way in. What is it?”
She looked at him for a moment before laughing. It was a deep, belly laugh that took the better part of a minute to subside.
“How the hell should I know what random garbage you found on your world? We were looking for ores and other well-documented byproducts of Riftwyrm attacks. This is something different. One of the eggheads will take a look at it when we get back.”
Giving him an appraising look, she added.
“After you take a shower. You smell disgusting.”
They chatted for several hours during the journey, which was blessedly uneventful. Kyle recognized many of the faces in the shuttle, including the spearman he’d saved after the first ant attack. Even better, they brought snacks. As they talked, it became clear just how little Kyle knew about the wider world. For some reason, he’d expected that since they were all human, they all came from the same planet. He was shocked to hear that was not the case for any of the men and women in the shuttle.
Humans were apparently the most common species in the broader universe, though nobody had a great answer as to why. Each of them had left their families and friends behind to seek their fate among the stars. Of course, their circumstances were far less dramatic than Kyle’s – their planets had long-established connections to central Collective space. With a modest fee and lengthy customs process, anybody in a connected planet could travel to pre-established warp points on any other Collective planet. That’s not to say that a person could wander away from those points without permission, but the travel itself was very reasonable and common.
Kyle was almost disappointed when the message came across the shuttle that they were landing on the flagship. He had so many more questions to ask them about what life was like in the society he would soon be joining. One thing had become clear, though, as he sat in the sealed shuttle. He really did stink. As they exited, he turned to Rochelle.
“Thanks again for picking me up. You weren’t wrong about me needing a shower, could you point me in the right direction?”
She gave an exasperated sigh as the others walked away.
“Of course they didn’t give you a tour of the ship when you got here. Why would they do that? Wouldn’t want the freaking D Grade to know where his quarters are. Follow me, Mayhew. We’ll get the information all uploaded to your nav bracelet.”
“What do you mean, quarters?”
“Less questions, more following. And we’ll drop off that ball with the research team on the way. They are going to analyze it and credit you with the find, and once they have a better idea what it’s worth and what it does you’ll get appropriate merit assigned.”
He nodded and closed his mouth, making his way first to a small lab attached to the hangar where a couple of the small green aliens excitedly took the treasure. From there, he followed Rochelle to what was essentially a large elevator where she showed him how to scan his nav bracelet. The elevator took them to a wing with a few dozen rooms, and they exited.
“Your room is down this hall on the left, your nav bracelet will give you the directions.”
He stood, a little shocked at how nice the accommodations looked. She seemed to pick up that something was off, and looked at him, hands on her hips.
“Not fancy enough for the D Grade? Understand, we didn’t expect to find somebody like you. There are only a few private quarters nicer than these, so you’ll have to live with it if you want to stay on the ship. We’re not picking you up and dropping you off planetside.”
“It’s not that at all. Rochelle, I haven’t had a regular room, a place without blown out walls, in almost a year.”
He tried to say more, but the words caught in his throat. She shook her head.
“Get cleaned up and get some rest, Kyle.” She said in a softer voice. “And again, thank you.”
With that, she turned and walked down a different hallway. Following his nav bracelet, he came to a plain steel door that opened moments after he arrived. Inside was a spacious room with a desk and two functional metal chairs, beyond which was a bedroom with a small attached bathroom. On the bed there were several uniforms that matched the ones he’d seen the others wearing; dark fabric with a symbol he assumed was for Corthian Mining. He walked into the room, numb with how… normal it looked. It brought back a flood of memories of his life before, and he struggled to keep it together.
Setting down the C.H.A.D.D.pack, he undressed and stood under the hot water, letting it wash over him. It felt good to enjoy some of these luxuries again. After cleaning up and putting on fresh clothes, he felt like a new man. He struggled to cut through his thick beard, and got to work scrubbing down his chitin armor as well as the exterior of the C.H.A.D.D.pack. Even the drone got washed, despite its protests. Finally clean, he looked to his nav bracelet where a message was waiting, this time from Chester.
Mr. Mayhew, I hope your room is to your liking. We owe you thanks for your diligence in protecting our people, and it has been noted in your file. You will not be needed for any expeditions tomorrow, and our physician would like to meet you. I took the liberty of scheduling you an appointment first thing in the morning, details are in your nav.
-Chester Drake
Leave it to Chester to make everything more organized and formal than it needed to be. Stomach still full from the food earlier, he flopped on the bed, marveling at how soft it was. Exhaustion and tension that had been building up for a year seemed to melt into the mattress, and he drifted into a dreamless sleep.