Eva and her mishmash of a family sat around a table. Simple silver bowls waited in a stack. They glistened, just a touch, in the sunlight. At the center of the table, rested a machine. It was just tall enough to make its presence awkward. Eva had to peek around the top to see some of her family members, but the machine was the centerpiece. It possessed two tanks, one larger and one smaller. A couple of tubes moved between the tanks, and a dispenser dropped a line down to a holder for bowls.
Sten picked up one of the silver bowls. He leaned across the table, placed the bowl in the holder, and pressed the dispenser.
Spring Peeper tried to hop into the bowl, but Sten caught him around the center of his coil. Spring Peeper’s lower body dangled and boinged back and forth.
“Wait your turn,” Tiny Tin accused.
Sten dropped Spring Peeper back into his place, on the table, as he couldn’t see if they put him in a chair.
“There’s plenty for everyone,” Sten promised.
Sten was right. He served round the lubricant ice. A bowl for each robot and android. More of the ice waited in the tanks.
Beside his bowl, Spring Peeper jumped up and down. He got ready to dive inside.
With a single gloved hand, Wheelian jabbed a syringe into his ice. He drew the ice inside and then injected it straight into his shoulder joint. He also tucked a flexible straw into the smooth, not quite liquid, delicacy. He pressed his mouth around the straw, in a tight seal, and took a long draw. “Ah.” He slumped.
Tiny Tin worked ice into his joints as well. He didn’t bother with a straw as he didn’t have a mouth, but he employed two syringes and a tube that he connected to a port on his box. “We are heroes.”
Ferrou had no ice. Joint lubrication had no meaning for repair fluid.
Sten and Eva used spoons.
Sten left his spoon on the side of his bowl and considered the lubricant ice, which looked cream against the bowl’s silver. “The taste is interesting, and it penetrates synthetic tissue quite quickly to get through to the joints, though I think a direct delivery system is most efficient.” Sten glanced at Tiny Tin and Wheelian.
Both had glazed eyes as they sat at the table.
Eva worked her spoon through her ice. “It’s not how I remember. I think the recipe needs tweaking.”
“Your memory of that time is not the most accurate. The ice is just right,” Tiny Tin said.
“It’s perfect,” Wheelian cooed. He spooned some into his mouth, even as it disappeared into his joints via straw and syringe.
Spring Peeper jumped high, did a flip and landed in his. He squatted low and shifted side to side, showing only his eyes. The ice squelched around him.
Ferrou burbled.
“You don’t need to remind me of my damaged memory,” Eva said. “But, I stand by my assertion. Something is missing.”
Sten stared across the table. He leaned forward, and Eva thought she had his agreement. He said nothing and looked away again.
Sten had never had lubricant ice, until that day. It was a Lurrien invention for Lurrien synthetics, and nothing like it existed in Girandola. He could not know what lubricant ice should be. He could not detect what was missing, yet Eva thought he had his own idea. Whether he would make a comment about her inability to replicate a perfect impression of her past or tell her that her mindset had merely changed, Eva could not say.
“The Volanter won’t come back after that beating.” Wheelian stabbed his ice with a spoon. “They know better than to trifle with us.” It was a strange declaration in Wheelian’s high pitch.
“They’ll be back,” Eva said. “They’ll come back stronger too.”
Sten stirred his ice. “Probably.” Sten glanced at Tiny Tin. “Does anyone want the rest of my ice?”
Three robotic faces perked up. Ferrou slumped further.
“You can have mine as well.” Eva pushed her bowl to the center.
Spring Peeper jumped, did a triple flip, and landed in Eva’s bowl, abandoning his own, half finished. Wheelian and Tiny Tin both grabbed Sten’s bowl and pulled it towards them. They exchanged a look – anger on Tiny Tin’s part and fear on Wheelian’s.
“Share it.” Eva slipped away from the table and walked slow.
Sten caught up. “I…”
“Yes, I know. What’s missing from the lubricant ice has to do with my mindset – my inability to exist in the moment and think about anything other than Lurren’s future.”
Sten’s mouth opened slowly. “I was going to say that I heard something about the being – this Pen Pal.”
Eva whipped her head to face him. She glanced down the hall to the kitchen, listening for the others. They laughed and joked and didn’t hear.
“What have you heard?” Eva asked.
“Pen Pal has completed the final test. No word on if it passed. But, we have its location – well, we will as soon as Camellia gets some sleep. We’ll need to vote whether or not to rescue it.” Sten clasped his hands behind his back. “One vote per country, which is comparatively generous to Lurren, I must say.”
Lurren didn’t have the people to justify an equal vote to places like Groaza, Tagtrum, or Ponk.
“We’ll vote no,” Eva said. “We don’t need to add a new problem to our situation.”
Sten held up a finger. “Consider this…the Volanter will be back. We both know that. We seem to have some advantages in this war. We’re the defenders, and we utilize summons and magic combined with technology better than they do. However, they have some fast casters, and they likely have far more ships than we have. They may even be able to enlist other children of the Volanter against us.”
Eva shook her head. “Then, why haven’t they done it? It won’t be easy to beat them, and we shouldn’t celebrate yet. But, we can beat them on our own – we need to.” Eva turned and resumed her walk to the workshop.
Sten trotted to her side and kept pace. “Eva, don’t make the mistake that Leonidus and the others made. You knew that Lurren needed to take a risk to be rid of Ul’thetos; we may need to do the same.”
Eva stopped and whipped to face Sten again. “We may need to take some large risks, but contact with an extradimensional being – orders of magnitude more powerful than Ul’thetos – is not the answer.”
“You don’t know that it’s more powerful than Ul’thetos.” Sten grabbed her shoulder and prevented her escape to the workshop.
Eva brushed him off, and their doorbell rang.
“Are you getting that?” Tiny Tin shouted.
“Yes!” Sten called back. He gave Eva a hard stare and then headed to the door.
Eva crossed her arms and waited in the hall. She didn’t flee to the workshop and figured that should be enough to please Sten. Though, he would want to continue the conversation. He would insist that the being known as Pen Pal was worth the effort. Eva knew different. Anything the Volanter locked up had to be worse than Ul’thetos, or at least, the same. Eva was in charge, and Eva would make the vote. Eva would vote no.
Sten reentered the hall. Trailing him was Pan.
Eva uncrossed her arms and stood a little straighter.
“Pan has an unusual request.” Sten gestured to Pan. “I’ll let her speak for herself.”
Pan drew a long breath. “I need to borrow…well, I need you to give me some nanites. My friend, Aria, is sick. Your nanites heal. At least, that’s what Camellia says.” Pan stared and waited. “My dragon is outside if it makes a difference.”
Eva raised her eyebrows. “It does not.” She glanced at Sten. “But, we aren’t going to object. We’ll give you some undifferentiated nanites.”
Sten started for the workshop. He walked fast.
Eva continued, “We can grow them, with few materials, so there’s unlimited supply. Now, do you have anything from Aria – hair, skin, nails?”
Pan’s eyes narrowed. “Why would I collect those things? I’m not that creepy.”
Eva spread her hands. She knew the skin and nails were a long shot, but she’d seen several organics exchange hair. Camellia had some of her mother’s hair, and Eva was present when Camellia snipped white hair from Cernunnos’ body.
Pan sighed and seemed to relax. “Do I need to get some hair before you can help me?”
Eva shook her head. “No. But, you’ll have to rely on the nanites to program themselves. It might turn out to be a boon too you, depending on Aria’s condition. Sten will give them some general knowledge about female Scaldin anatomy.” Eva nodded over her shoulder. “That’s what he’s doing now.” Eva held up a single finger. “However, if the problem is specific to Aria’s genetics, then it would be best for us to program the nanites here.”
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Pan frowned. “I don’t think it’s her genetics. She’s been tested twice, probably three times now. She’d know. She’d tell me…I think.”
“You can always come back.” Eva surprised herself with that promise.
Pan nodded slow, and silence fell over them. From the kitchen, Eva heard the voices of Tiny Tin, Wheelian, and Spring Peeper. She heard machine whirs, sounding smoother than they had since the fall of Lurren.
“They won’t last forever,” Eva warned. “The nanites get used up, and Aria doesn’t have a generator to produce more. If this is a long-term problem, you might be disappointed with the results.”
Pan laughed but not as if she really found humor in the situation. “If this is a long-term problem… Mother Tree, I hope not.” Pan ceased to smile and spoke soft, “I’ve just got to get Aria back.”
Eva had no answer. She looked away, at her home’s barren walls, and wondered why Camellia had sent Pan. What was Aria’s exact ailment? Camellia would tell – if Eva asked. But, that might invite more personal conversation, and Eva had a policy against unnecessary personal conversation till the end of their war.
Sten’s steps rang down the hall. Then, he came into view. He held a gold canister. He stopped before Pan and pointed at two openings on the top. “I’ve set these nanites to recognize and repair Scaldin anatomy. If you want them to do work specific to Aria, you’ll need to come back. Now…” Sten tapped the first opening – a sliding tab. “This is the refill port. Please don’t touch it, unless you need to add some water.” Sten gently sloshed the cannister. “It should sound like that.”
Pan nodded.
“If it doesn’t, get distilled water – you need it to be pure and clean. You can pour it into this tab. The water will go right through the filter.” Sten slid the tab to show Pan how it worked, but he didn’t open it fully or leave it open.
Pan watched him with strong intent.
Sten smiled gently and pointed to the second opening. With a single finger, he slid its cap aside and revealed a soft grey membrane. “When you want to give Aria a treatment, you put a syringe’s needle through this membrane and pull some nanites out. Then, you inject them into her.”
Pan’s eyes flicked from Sten’s face to the membrane. “I don’t have a syringe.”
“Right here.” Sten pulled one from the side of the canister. It slid out of a compartment. He hit a button, and the needle popped up. Sten pointed to the button. “This one releases and retracts the needle. Press the syringe against her skin, hit the button, then pull it out before you retract. You’ll need to sterilize the needle. Then, you can retract it.” Sten pointed to a small lever on the side of the syringe. “When you want to fill the syringe, slide the already released needle into the membrane, and pull this lever up. Remember to sterilize the needle before you retract it.”
Pan touched her temple and said something in Scaldin that Eva couldn’t understand. Pan backed up a few steps. “That’s way more complicated than I anticipated.”
Sten rubbed a disinfectant wipe over the needle and hit the button to retract. The needle slid back inside, with a swosh-click. “It’s easier than its looks. We can practice on another cannister, if you want.”
“Maybe.” Pan reached for the syringe. She took it from Sten and held it with care. Slowly, Pan turned the syringe in her hands and studied. “Should I stab her in the…problem spot?”
“As close as you can get. It’ll help speed the process.” Sten handed Pan the canister. “There should be about fifteen good doses in here.”
Pan cradled the canister. She slipped the syringe back into its holder. “Thanks. I hope that’s more than enough.”
Eva watched as Pan turned and headed for their door. Nanites were a wonder and could heal a lot of ills, but they had their limits. Eva hoped that Camellia realized that and hadn’t sent Pan on a foolish errand.
Meladee and Benham steered clear of another ship. Five of them hovered around the Volanter’s main wormhole, placing traps. Some ships reached with mechanical arms and dropped buoys or satellites into place. Others, like Halfmoon, dropped magical bombs into place, via shoots.
“Now, we have two ships painted all black,” Benham said.
Meladee shrugged. “Yeah, we’ll do a fun design when this over. Something complicated.”
Benham eased them between two ships. “What do you have in mind? Please, no googly eyes.”
Meladee smiled. “Fine, I guess. How about a checkerboard in green and yellow?”
Benham swore in Girandolan, words that Meladee had never learned. “Not that either,” he said.
The com beeped. “Hey, I know you guys have been working for an hour,” Inez called.
“Two,” Meladee grumbled, leaving their side of the com on mute.
“But, I think I’ve worked out where the next most likely wormhole locations will be if the Volanter decide not to use any of the pervious places.” Inez paused, and the com fizzled. “Do you think you could save a few traps for those locations?”
Benham hit the com. “Sure. Just tell us where.”
“Great. I’m sending you the coordinates now.”
Meladee glanced at the com and saw the green light that designated it as active. She propped her chin in her hand and let Benham steer. “So, we can predict where new wormholes will pop up? Is this some fortune teller thing, or advanced magical theory?”
“A bit of both,” Inez called.
Benham steered for a set of coordinates that flashed on one of their screens. He was careful to avoid other ships, receiving similar orders from Inez.
“Sotir was able to pinpoint large areas, and Eder and I did some study of those spots. We might as well try to protect them.”
Meladee scrunched her nose. “You got Eder back off planet?”
“No.” Inez’s tone changed. “He helped from Groaza, over com.”
Meladee was sorry she asked. Everyone had their little problems. Meladee had hers, and she didn’t even want to deal with those.
“You guys will be able to do more together once we figure out how to properly defend ourselves,” Benham said, by way of comfort. “Alright, we’re here.”
“Spread them out a bit since we don’t have an exact location.” Inez’s chipper tone returned.
It was an act, but it was an act that Meladee appreciated.
Meladee hit a button and dropped her first trap. She hadn’t made the bombs, but she provided some spells to other mages. They had made three Ul’thetos bombs as well as other little presents. Meladee worried that the Volanter would figure out summons of their own soon, but till then, she planned to bombard the Volanter with magical animals. It was Meladee’s specialty.
Benham slid them around their little corner of space, and Meladee dropped the traps wherever felt good.
As Benham retreated, Meladee got a good look at their spread. It covered a large enough distance that anyone who came out of that area had a fair chance of blundering into one, possibly two.
Benham held out his hand, and Meladee slapped it.
“We’re good,” she said.
“Laying traps is my favorite part of this whole effort.” Benham turned the ship for Iruedim.
Their home planet filled the center of their view, and soon, it would expand to fill the whole windshield.
Meladee put her hands behind her head and laced her fingers together, creating a cradle. “So, what do you want to do before we…I dunno…die?”
“If you think we’re going to die, then I want to have sex and sleep.”
Iruedim began to expand in their view.
Meladee nodded. “Yeah. I could do that. You know, I love setting the traps, but I rarely get to see how they play out. Wish I could watch the result from afar, maybe with a snack.” Meladee always liked to watch her magic work. It was part of the reason that she used summons. It was exhausting to be always thinking in battle.
“We can always sit out the next one,” Benham said. “But, if our addition to the fight makes a difference, I’d rather not.”
“Yeah,” Meladee agreed, with less reluctance than she expected.
The silence that followed was a little awkward, but Meladee could handle it.
Pan closed Aria’s door and left her friend in a darkened bedroom. The door made a soft click, but Pan knew Aria wouldn’t wake, as she lay under a sleeping spell.
Under the bathroom’s comparatively harsh light, Pan cradled the cannister in one elbow and padded across the tile floor. She’d left the light on and allowed it to filter into Aria’s room. It gave her something to see by, while she jabbed her friend in the stomach with a needle and syringe full of nanites.
What was Pan’s world coming to?
Pan flicked the switch off, crossed the threshold into her own bedroom, and sealed her door against the deed she’d just done. She took the cannister from the crook of her elbow and held it, with guilty fingers. In bare feet, Pan paced across her carpet. She opened a drawer and placed the cannister in. Then, she closed the drawer, and it slid shut soundlessly.
Pan walked to the base of her bed. She climbed on to the bottom and slithered her way up, barely using her arms.
She normally slept in Sotir’s room, but she couldn’t provide illicit medical care to Aria from Sotir’s quarters. With the work done, she could pad down the hall and find him, but she wanted to be alone. Maybe, she could attribute that feeling to what she’d done to Aria. Pan’s stomach churned.
Fuzzy shapes loomed in the shadows. Pan could tolerate their presence as they were just stuffed animals. In fact, Pan would take advantage of their presence. She stuffed her hand into the animals.
Pan made a sound of surprise and withdrew her hand. She’d touched flesh.
The animals erupted and revealed a body. Sotir pushed an animal from his chest and rolled over in Pan’s bed.
“What are you doing here?” she asked.
“I knew you wouldn’t come back to our bed…sorry, I mean, my bed. And, I wanted to see you.”
Pan huffed and laid on her back. She could feel Sotir’s eyes studying her. She vowed that if he touched her, she would pull away. When she closed her eyes, an image of her dragon painted itself in stark detail.
“Why were you under them?” she asked.
“I didn’t want to upset the blankets. So, I used them instead.” Sotir didn’t touch her. “You talked to Camellia?”
Pan’s eyes snapped open. “Yes. And, Camellia is going to ask the Pen Pal to heal Aria. I was surprised to find her still alive when I got back. Do you think she’ll wake up and just be herself again?”
A moment of silence passed.
Sotir answered, “No. I think she’ll be a little better, but what the Pen Pal started, we must finish. You know that – you’ve already taken a step in that direction.”
Pan blew out a breath. She didn’t have to explain nanites to Sotir. He already knew. It was a relief and a touch of something ominous. Mostly, relief.
“A week or two – at most,” Sotir continued. “Then, we need to show her that the problem is fixed, and for that, we need to get her back to Gavain.”
“Alright. So, we need to send her home? When are the Volanter coming back?” Pan folded her hands over her stomach and closed her eyes.
“I don’t know. I’m out of foresight. All I have is some past sight and what little of my present sight isn’t affected by my heavy eyelids.” Sotir rolled to his back and pulled a large lizard over his chest.
“You’re not completely out?” Pan turned her head and stared at him. “I’m surprised. I thought you’d have nothing.”
“Me too. Maybe, as I hit my thirties, I’ll have great success with controlling my powers and become the seer of the century.”
Pan smiled. “You already are the seer of the century by virtue of being the only one, with such a far reach.”
“Forward and backward,” Sotir agreed.
Pan’s smile melted. “Though, you were dead wrong about Aria and Gavain having four kids. Why did you tell them that? You gave them false hope.”
Sotir twisted his head and met Pan’s gaze. “I did not. That future was likely before we ran into the Volanter. They would have had time to try medical interventions, and those interventions would have worked.”
Pan just scowled.
Sotir rolled to his side, close to Pan but not touching. The plush lizard remained between them and smiled up at Sotir. “It’s easy to read the past. It’s easy to read short term fortunes – most of the time. But, the far future is hard. There are thousands of possibilities, always in motion. Those colony readings I did years back – I’ll have to redo those and take the Iruedians into account. I read our future together, only to have it shattered again and again by unlikely events that slipped into place.”
Pan rolled to her side and faced him. “Lately, that’s been happening a lot.”
“Yes, it has. Luckily, it doesn’t totally negate all the work I’ve done for Scaldigir, but it’ll add wrinkles. It certainly affects my reputation.” Sotir pushed one of the stuffed animals up onto the pillow as it slipped into his face – a rainbow fish.
Pan grabbed it and plopped it behind her on the nightstand. She thought it funny that Sotir would just squeeze in with her stuffed animals. It forced a smile on to her face.
“You can use the blanket now,” she told him.
His gaze softened, and he smiled back. “I don’t want to move them all just to get under the covers. How often do you get new ones?” He held a little porza and examined its face.
“If I go in a store, and there are fluffies, a new one might come home with me.” Pan’s smile slowly faded. “I use to give a few away, to patients. It’s been a while since I’ve done that. Just give me the short term. What happens now? This can’t be it. We didn’t win.”
“We didn’t. There’s more to come. And, honestly, I think there will be a trick.” Sotir rolled to his back and put an arm behind his head.
Pan felt her face twist with disgust. “A trick?”
“Yes, a trick. I know how you love tricks. Let me know when I can touch you again.” Sotir shifted and closed his eyes.
Pan frowned. She burrowed into her blankets and pillow. So, he knew. She reached for his arm, feeling repelled. With a quick, soft motion, she touched his arm. It felt comfortable, and the pall that hung over her broke.