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."It felt like I was gone for an hour.I'm never gonna get used to any of this shit.""I don't understand.What happened exactly?"The question seemed so small, so insignificant, and Jack laughed."I bonded with Legacy," he said."I don't know if I could describe the rest.except.that my brother is gone."Pain throbbed behind his chest, gripped at his slowly beating heart, but it was a bandaged wound, not fresh nor tender the way it should be."How do you.""Donovan's about to return from Earth, and I touched him through the link.Charlie died stopping a terrorist attack down there, and Donovan went to clean up the mess.""I'm so sorry.""Thank you," Jack said."But you don't have to be.Charlie.he did something important, and that's more than anyone could ask for.That's all I want to remember right now."Kai nodded and said, "Understood.So, are we still leaving? Do you have a plan?""No," Jack said curtly."I have work to do here.We have to prepare for the Nefrem."Chapter 32Complex MessiahMarcus Donovan opened his eyes.He was on Retriever's bridge, a small compartment lit in yellow, with the remarkable disc of the Moon filling the forward view.The shuttle quickly approached the many-kilometer-long green dragon called Legacy, who sat motionless against the starry night.Marcus cleared his throat and said, "Jack Hernandez made contact with Legacy again."Rao turned away and fiddled with his hands while St.Martin asked, "Is he alright?""Seems to be.Legacy thinks she managed to repair whatever she broke the first time."There was more but he couldn't figure out how to describe it.Jack had touched Marcus' mind with a light touch, communicated with him and plucked out his recent memories like a child snatching dandelions.It occurred across Legacy's connection in some way Marcus struggled to understand, revealing just how little he really understood about the ship and her connection to the Eireki.They were a matched set, capable of a bond more profound than his own glitchy interface allowed, and he would never have it.He curbed his jealousy."When we get back, we should expect.Jesus, I'm not sure what to expect." The words made him feel more than a little scared, and even more excited."Expect something," Rao said."Check."St.Martin simply nodded.Marcus tried to relax, but the numerous bandages on his body wouldn't permit it.His little stunt back in Amiasha had left him with fist-sized divots all over his body, eaten away by the rogue omnibodies before his viral code could infect them.The wounds itched and stung, and he was going to be badly scarred when he healed.Leopard spotted.Retriever flew into Legacy's forward bay and set down on the shining pad.The shuttle's rear ramp came down, and Marcus lifted himself up into the air and flew out while the others walked."Report directly to medical," St.Martin said."I'm not running the show anymore," Marcus replied."Mr.Hernandez wants us to meet him in the projection room, and I'd recommend we do as he wishes." With that, he zipped off into the transit tube and assumed the others would follow behind.The tube deposited him in the round projection room.It was a domed chamber with concentric channels cut into the floor, each filled with a fluid that glowed faintly blue.The fluid was an inert bioplasma doped with microscopic creatures which luminesced when excited.Jack Hernandez stood on the far end of the room, dressed in one of the white-and-cyan Legacy Fleet uniforms.He was still playing with the buttons and tugging on fabric to get it in place.the uniforms were usually custom tailored during fabrication, but he'd apparently grabbed a spare he found in a closet.His sleeves were rolled up and Marcus noted that the bandages were gone from his arms.The wounds had healed enough that only reddish streaks remained on his olive-colored skin.His face was gaunt, making his features sharper and more birdlike than seemed fitting.He had high cheekbones and a jutting chin, a nose that was long and Mediterranean.Eyebrows were thick and bushy and his hair was still standing on end, the same as any psychiatric patient who'd spent days tugging on it.The look behind his eyes was one of exceptional calm, and Marcus wasn't particularly surprised despite what Jack had been through.He'd felt it when Jack contacted him, strong and steady like a father's guiding hand.Marcus remained in the air and ducked his chin to Jack, who smiled and glanced to his alien partner standing silently at his side.Rao and St.Martin arrived a few seconds later followed by Alex Faulkland, whose tightened jaw spoke volumes of his continuous displeasure."We have much to discuss," Marcus said.Jack gave him a knowing nod.Then he floated into the air and raised a gleaming fountain from the floor with a wave of his arm.The look on his face was one of wonder tempered only slightly by the constant worry everyone suffered since the invasion."Thank you all for coming," Jack said."This isn't how I normally do.anything, really.But the situation has changed.""Yeah," Marcus said, "it always does."The misty air glittered and a thin simulacrum of smoke appeared in the air, then Jack's eyes flared and the smoke coalesced into an image hovering in the center of the room.It was a planet eerily like Earth but with continents in all the wrong places, and it gleamed like a patchwork of emerald and sapphire.Jack said, "This is a recreation of the Nefrem homeworld as it looked about seventy million years ago.At the time, the Nefrem were a lot like us.technological, curious, self-possessed.Then the Biotech Revolution came and their society took a hard turn.""A war?" Marcus asked."No," Jack said."Simple technological progress.They made a series of discoveries in short order that allowed them to reshape living tissue into any form they desired, and their entire civilization changed practically overnight."Jack's hologram rolled into motion, and their perspective slid across the planet's surface [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
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."It felt like I was gone for an hour.I'm never gonna get used to any of this shit.""I don't understand.What happened exactly?"The question seemed so small, so insignificant, and Jack laughed."I bonded with Legacy," he said."I don't know if I could describe the rest.except.that my brother is gone."Pain throbbed behind his chest, gripped at his slowly beating heart, but it was a bandaged wound, not fresh nor tender the way it should be."How do you.""Donovan's about to return from Earth, and I touched him through the link.Charlie died stopping a terrorist attack down there, and Donovan went to clean up the mess.""I'm so sorry.""Thank you," Jack said."But you don't have to be.Charlie.he did something important, and that's more than anyone could ask for.That's all I want to remember right now."Kai nodded and said, "Understood.So, are we still leaving? Do you have a plan?""No," Jack said curtly."I have work to do here.We have to prepare for the Nefrem."Chapter 32Complex MessiahMarcus Donovan opened his eyes.He was on Retriever's bridge, a small compartment lit in yellow, with the remarkable disc of the Moon filling the forward view.The shuttle quickly approached the many-kilometer-long green dragon called Legacy, who sat motionless against the starry night.Marcus cleared his throat and said, "Jack Hernandez made contact with Legacy again."Rao turned away and fiddled with his hands while St.Martin asked, "Is he alright?""Seems to be.Legacy thinks she managed to repair whatever she broke the first time."There was more but he couldn't figure out how to describe it.Jack had touched Marcus' mind with a light touch, communicated with him and plucked out his recent memories like a child snatching dandelions.It occurred across Legacy's connection in some way Marcus struggled to understand, revealing just how little he really understood about the ship and her connection to the Eireki.They were a matched set, capable of a bond more profound than his own glitchy interface allowed, and he would never have it.He curbed his jealousy."When we get back, we should expect.Jesus, I'm not sure what to expect." The words made him feel more than a little scared, and even more excited."Expect something," Rao said."Check."St.Martin simply nodded.Marcus tried to relax, but the numerous bandages on his body wouldn't permit it.His little stunt back in Amiasha had left him with fist-sized divots all over his body, eaten away by the rogue omnibodies before his viral code could infect them.The wounds itched and stung, and he was going to be badly scarred when he healed.Leopard spotted.Retriever flew into Legacy's forward bay and set down on the shining pad.The shuttle's rear ramp came down, and Marcus lifted himself up into the air and flew out while the others walked."Report directly to medical," St.Martin said."I'm not running the show anymore," Marcus replied."Mr.Hernandez wants us to meet him in the projection room, and I'd recommend we do as he wishes." With that, he zipped off into the transit tube and assumed the others would follow behind.The tube deposited him in the round projection room.It was a domed chamber with concentric channels cut into the floor, each filled with a fluid that glowed faintly blue.The fluid was an inert bioplasma doped with microscopic creatures which luminesced when excited.Jack Hernandez stood on the far end of the room, dressed in one of the white-and-cyan Legacy Fleet uniforms.He was still playing with the buttons and tugging on fabric to get it in place.the uniforms were usually custom tailored during fabrication, but he'd apparently grabbed a spare he found in a closet.His sleeves were rolled up and Marcus noted that the bandages were gone from his arms.The wounds had healed enough that only reddish streaks remained on his olive-colored skin.His face was gaunt, making his features sharper and more birdlike than seemed fitting.He had high cheekbones and a jutting chin, a nose that was long and Mediterranean.Eyebrows were thick and bushy and his hair was still standing on end, the same as any psychiatric patient who'd spent days tugging on it.The look behind his eyes was one of exceptional calm, and Marcus wasn't particularly surprised despite what Jack had been through.He'd felt it when Jack contacted him, strong and steady like a father's guiding hand.Marcus remained in the air and ducked his chin to Jack, who smiled and glanced to his alien partner standing silently at his side.Rao and St.Martin arrived a few seconds later followed by Alex Faulkland, whose tightened jaw spoke volumes of his continuous displeasure."We have much to discuss," Marcus said.Jack gave him a knowing nod.Then he floated into the air and raised a gleaming fountain from the floor with a wave of his arm.The look on his face was one of wonder tempered only slightly by the constant worry everyone suffered since the invasion."Thank you all for coming," Jack said."This isn't how I normally do.anything, really.But the situation has changed.""Yeah," Marcus said, "it always does."The misty air glittered and a thin simulacrum of smoke appeared in the air, then Jack's eyes flared and the smoke coalesced into an image hovering in the center of the room.It was a planet eerily like Earth but with continents in all the wrong places, and it gleamed like a patchwork of emerald and sapphire.Jack said, "This is a recreation of the Nefrem homeworld as it looked about seventy million years ago.At the time, the Nefrem were a lot like us.technological, curious, self-possessed.Then the Biotech Revolution came and their society took a hard turn.""A war?" Marcus asked."No," Jack said."Simple technological progress.They made a series of discoveries in short order that allowed them to reshape living tissue into any form they desired, and their entire civilization changed practically overnight."Jack's hologram rolled into motion, and their perspective slid across the planet's surface [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]