June 3, 2361 AIA

The Golondrina

When autopilot was set, Vas stood up from his chair and looked down into the main cabin.

His brother and Reyer were sitting side by side on the middle bench. She was leaning up against Ciro’s chest. His blanched face looked angry, sad, and ill at the same time. When he peered over Reyer’s shoulder, he met Adan’s eyes.

“She won’t talk to me,” he said.

Vas turned to the robot. “Lynx, I want you to strip her completely and do every scan you can think of. If they left something on her or in her, I want you to find it. Then treat her wounds.”

“Sir, Miss Reyer prefers not to take medical treatment from a bot.”

“I think you’re the only one she’ll accept it from right now. Do it, Lynx.”

“Yes, Captain.”

Ciro bolted up the stairs and hissed at his brother, “What do you think you’re doing?”

“What are you talking about?” Vas turned away as Lynx helped Reyer remove the jacket.

“Have you seen her?” Ciro held up his hand; it was smeared with blood. “She needs a break. She needs medical treatment, and she needs to be left alone, and you’re having Lynx do a strip search?”

“Sit down, Ciro.”

Ciro glared at him.

“Sit down.”

The slow, final tones of the order made Ciro hesitate. He sat down in the copilot’s seat.

Vas looked out at the empty black of velox. “Before anything else, she needs to be safe.” He lowered himself into his own chair. “We have to make sure no one’s following us.”

“Couldn’t it wait? They can’t trace us in velox.”

“You want the men who did that to her to find her again?”

Neither brother spoke for a while.

“What happened to her?” Ciro whispered.

“I don’t know.”

“Why won’t she talk to me?”

“I don’t know.” Vas glanced over and saw the wretched sorrow on his brother’s face. He put his hand on the inert control wheel. “She won’t talk to me either.”

They lapsed back into silence. They could hear her quiet murmuring and Lynx’s whispered responses, but they couldn’t make out any words.

When Lynx came up the stairs, they had already been out of velox for some time. Both brothers were staring morosely out the viewport.

“Captain, Miss Reyer is free of any and all forms of devices and implants I am aware of. I have seen to her injuries, and she is resting as comfortably as possible.”

“Good.” Vas felt the robot’s hand on his wrist, then a sudden stab in his arm. “Ow!” He looked down and saw a needle and tube already filling with blood. “What the hell are you doing, bot?”

“I’m drawing your blood, Captain. I will need yours as well, Master Ciro.”

“Why?” Vas demanded.

“Because Miss Reyer instructed me to.”

“I thought you said you didn’t take orders from her!”

“I said I didn’t have to take orders from her, but she’s gotten into my head, Captain.”

Ciro—always on alert for any indication there was a weakness in his AI programming—found that phrase deeply disturbing. “What do you mean by that, Lynx?”

“She is extremely upset, but her logic is clear and compelling. If you do not allow me to take a sample, I will restrain you and take it by force.”

“Is your robot going rogue?” Adan stopped himself from yelling, but it still came out as a dampened shout.

“I don’t think so,” Ciro said. He sounded far from certain. “I think we’d better do as he says.” He asked Lynx, “Did you take a sample from her?”

“Yes. There were a number of open wounds to take it from.”

When Lynx had both their blood samples, he returned to the main deck. Vas and Ciro glanced back in turns. They could only see glimpses of Reyer because the robot was standing between her and the cockpit, doing whatever she had convinced him was necessary. She was sitting on the middle bench, a loose blanket wrapped over her bandaged shoulders.

When Lynx was done, he turned to the side and looked up at Vas. “I am ready to make my report to Miss Reyer, Captain. I think you would be interested in the outcome as well.”

Vas and Ciro both went down.

When they were all together, Lynx made his announcement.

“I can confirm with almost certain probability that this is Adan Vas. His current DNA profile is an exact match to his last three Rising profiles, his Rising initiation profile, and the Supremacy birth records from his home planet, P31. I can confirm, with the same level of probability that this is Ciro Vas. His current profile matches with his initiation profile and his own birth records from the same planet.”

Reyer spoke. Her voice was tight and sharp. “What about Bray?”

“I have no current profile for Private Bray, but all profiles taken by the Rising since his initiation have matched.”

She shook her head. “That’s no good. He was only with the Rising for three years. Can you find anything earlier?”

While Lynx searched his own vast memory and connected to the ship’s data banks, Adan said, “Xenos?”

Reyer finally looked at him. “Yes.” She looked away. “I’m sorry I threatened you. Again.”

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

She was talking to him like a friend; Adan’s heart felt like it would bend until it broke with the weight of his relief. He sat down beside her.

“Don’t,” she said.

“Don’t what?”

“Don’t ask if I’m all right.”

“Miss Reyer, even I have limits when it comes to stupid questions.”

Lynx had finished his task. “There are no available records I can check against. We would need access to Supremacy medical information or birth records from his home planet.”

Adan and Alix both looked at Ciro.

“Oh my god, people!” he cried. “What do you want from me? We’re in the middle of nowhere!”

Reyer said, “Lynx, can you figure out if Bray was a xeno by comparing his profile to the profile of other people?”

“Unlikely. The best chance of success would require a DNA profile from a known xeno.”

“I know a xeno, but I don’t know if you have his profile.”

“If he was ever a member of the Rising, either I or Master Ciro should have his profile on record, Miss Reyer.”

“The name is Ivan Rurik.”

Adan could only imagine how hard it was for her to keep her voice level.

Ciro and Lynx moved to get the relevant information.

“Ivan Rurik is alive?” Vas asked.

“No,” Reyer answered. “He died on Geonon One, but there’s a xeno walking around in his body, wearing his face.” She turned to Adan. “It was worth it. I know what they want from me.”

Vas couldn’t form a response before Ciro came back with his working tablet.

“I have it here.” He had Lynx connect in and download the files.

“All profiles match,” Lynx said.

“They would,” Reyer rubbed her eyes. “I’m an idiot. We’d need a profile from after Geonon One.”

“Was Ivan Rurik on the base we recently departed from, Miss Reyer?”

“Yes.”

“Before we took down the wireless system, I downloaded all the base files to my memory.”

“Why would you do that?” Ciro asked.

“So it would be faster and easier for me to retrieve information if needed, sir. I would have deleted any irrelevant information after fourteen days.” There was a pause. “It was only a small base, sir.”

“And those files have DNA profiles?” Vas asked.

“A complete identity information file is required for all personnel working on a Supremacy base. Shall I search for Ivan Rurik?”

Reyer shook her head. “They gave him a new name. He’s a colonel now, that’s all I know.”

“Lynx,” Ciro said, “compare Ivan Rurik’s DNA profile to the DNA profile of Colonel Jack Harlan.”

“Jack Harlan and Ivan Rurik are not the same person.”

“I know that—” Reyer was almost yelling.

Adan put his hand on her knee to interrupt her. “Lynx, could Jack Harlan be the xeno version of Ivan Rurik?”

“It is not impossible, sir, but there is currently no way to know for certain.”

Reyer, after she had calmed herself, said, “Lynx, if I asked you to pretend that you knew Colonel Harlan was a xeno, could you do it?”

“Yes, Miss Reyer, although ‘pretend’ is not a fitting—”

“Never mind that, Lynx!” Ciro shouted. “If Harlan is a xeno, what would your conclusion be about Private Bray?”

The robot considered. “I cannot draw a statistically relevant conclusion with only that information. There are many similarities. There are many differences. Neither the similarities nor the differences fall outside what would be expected when comparing two different beings from one another. For more certainty, more information and comparisons would be required.”

Lynx swiveled his head to look from human to human, waiting for the next assignment.

“Thank you, Lynx,” Alix muttered.

“You’re welcome, Miss Reyer. Will that be all, Captain?”

“For now, Lynx. Go watch the instrument panel.”

When the robot left, Ciro moved so he was closer to the others. “What’s going on?”

Reyer pulled the blanket around her shoulders tighter. “I don’t know. I’m thinking. I think when Bray joined the Rising three years ago, he was already a xeno. They moved him there on purpose. If he was a xeno when he came, his DNA would always match.”

“And this Rurik-Harlan is a xeno?”

“Yes.” Her voice was breathy. “We don’t know how many there are—we don’t know who they are—”

“Not everyone is going to be a xeno,” Vas reminded her.

She ran her hands through her hair. “I have to calm down. There’re so many things that are confusing. I have to calm down so I can think.” At that moment, a loud growl peeled out from her stomach. She closed her eyes.

Adan stood up and walked to the back of the ship where the rations were kept. “Think later, Reyer—eat now. Ciro, I want you to try and get some sleep if you can, I’m going to need you running off something other than canned coffee soon.”

“What about you?” Ciro asked as Vas handed Reyer the dehydrated package and a bottle of self-heating water.

“When I can.” The captain called up to the cockpit, “Lynx, I want you to pick another random bit of space. We’re making a two-hour run in velox this time. I want more distance between this ship and those xenos.”

When Adan had finished approving the course and setting the ship down in velox, he told Lynx to take over. Only after he had clomped down the three steps did he realize that Ciro was already asleep, his head reclining on a tablet. Vas smirked at the sight, then he looked over at Reyer.

She was back on her normal bench. She had put on a shirt and pulled her wrap over her head like a hood. The blanket was still around her shoulders. She seemed to be staring at nothing, the metal spoon forgotten in her mouth.

He walked over to her. “Another?”

She stirred. “Please.”

He returned with another serving.

“Thank you, Captain.” She whispered so she wouldn’t wake Ciro.

He sat down across from her. “They starved you.”

Reyer cracked the outside container on the water and drew the bottle close to her as the chemicals began to heat up. “It was worth it.”

“Yeah. You said that before. Have you seen your back?”

There was a flicker of a smile. “I got the job done.”

Adan put a hand to his forehead. “You sure made it look easy too. You know what? I’m never letting you out of my sight again.”

“It’ll heal.” She dumped the hot water into the open bag.

“Ito’s going to kill me.”

“I’ll make you a deal—if you don’t tell her it was my idea, I won’t tell her you let me do it.”

Vas let her eat for a while. Then he whispered, “You look like you feel better. More calm.”

“It’s amazing what lidocaine and warm food can do, Captain.”

“Was that your first time dealing with xenos?”

The spoon hovered near her mouth. She finished taking the bite, then said, “Yes.” For a while she stared out the porthole at the nothing there was to see. “Vas, have you—did they ever…” She struggled for the words.

“No,” he offered. “They were always strangers.”

“I knew they could take a person’s form and memories. I knew that…” The sentence trailed away to nothing.

Adan was watching her face. “Rurik?”

She pushed her food around with the spoon. The smell of it suddenly made her feel nauseous. She put it down on the floor beside her. “He talked to me,” she mumbled. “He sat there and pretended that it had been him.” Reyer put her fingertips on her forehead. “I think I may throw up.”

It occurred to Vas that maybe the worst part of the ordeal hadn’t been the beating.

Alix took a deep breath. “Then you came in. You busted into that room, all hero, cut up those bots. I was so glad to see you—you have no idea—I was so glad…but then I had this horrible thought. ‘It’s a trick. That’s not him.’ And it was like something inside me was snuffed out.” She wiped her eyes with the edge of her wrap and sniffed. “God, I’m so sorry.”

“Hey, no.” He leaned forward and took her hand with both of his. “I don’t care if you cry. I don’t care if you hold a gun to my face because you think I’m some kind of monster.”

Reyer shook with a silent giggle.

“You didn’t shoot, after all. That’s what really matters—at least to me. And it did turn out to be me.”

“It did.” Reyer tried to smile at him. “I guess I should thank you for being you, Captain.”

“It’s the least I could do.” He reluctantly let go of her hand and leaned back in his seat again. “Now, tell me—what did they want from you?”

“They’re looking for a planet out beyond the boundary zone. It’s in the fourth section. It was one Rurik explored. He told me about it. The xeno remembered him telling me about it. I think the xeno that took over Rurik told them everything he knew—that would explain the compromised information after his death.

“Do you know what planet it is?”

“It won’t be hard to look up.”

Vas growled in his throat. “Don’t be so sure, Reyer. When the Rising found out it had been compromised, they deleted a lot of data. Then there was the wipe when old Home Base was destroyed. It might explain why they went to such great lengths to get their hands on you.”

“Vas, give me the right star chart, and I can point to it.”

“I see.” He paused. “But why do they want to find it? Would the Supremacy find it useful?”

“I have no idea. We couldn’t find a use for it.”

Vas rubbed his chin. “You say you can point to it?”

Reyer nodded.

“Did you tell them anything?”

“No. I think they suspect that I know, but I didn’t tell them anything. You’re thinking of going to the planet, aren’t you?”

“I’m just thinking, Miss Reyer. I’m not making any plans.” Vas stood up and put his hand on Reyer’s shoulder. “Get some rest, if you can.”

“And you, Captain?”

“Me? I think I’ll steal one of Ciro’s tablets for a pillow, then crash out on the floor right there.”

“He does make them look comfortable.”

“Yeah, he must find the hum of electronics very soothing.” Vas stepped over the middle bench. “Good night, Miss Reyer.”

“Good night, Vas.”