Tantalus - 18. Beginning

Chapter 18. Beginning.

Jim and I looked at each other in the aftermath of the mothership's destruction, speechless, dumbstruck.

“There has to be a mistake,” I protested weakly, but not even I believed it.

“That was one of the most advanced ships in our military,” Jim said with a quiet voice. “It was shielded. It had long-range sensors. It was supposed to be nearly indestructible.”

This weapon of the Travelers is new to me, Echo joined in. I am performing an analysis, but it will take time.

“So they're coming?” I asked, and the thread of desperation in my voice was picked up by the little Furballs who were even now attempting to climb the Spire. It was hard for them with their short, squat bodies, but they wanted to be with Jim and me.

“They're invading, just like we are doing,” Jim replied grimly. “Why now, though?”

The Temples had remained dormant for a very long time. It is only a hypothesis, but I believe that their recent activity must have drawn the interest of the Travelers. They must have realized, at long last, that the weapons which once destroyed them are still in operation.

“Then… What do we do?” I said, looking out the many windows of the Spire at the magnificent view of Tantalus that spread out before me. The wind bore a faint fragrance of growing things, and the majesty of the planet Argos was hard to ignore. It was even harder to remember that something was coming from that world, something which had destroyed the People even with their advanced technologym like it was nothing.

Something caught my eye even as I watched. It was a small black speck that appeared to be growing larger with every second.

More flyers are approaching, Echo said, confirming my thought. At the same time, it shared with us a high-definition image of the squadron and I felt my spirits sink to the floor when I realized that these craft were piloted by people.

In every movie I had ever watched, in every war game I had ever played online, human-piloted craft were the last resort of the Air Force, elite soldiers sent on the most dangerous missions to annihilate all resistance. I had no idea whether that was the case in real life, but I suspected it was from the careful synchrony with which the nine planes advanced and maneuvered as one.

“We have to get back down to the ground,” Jim said urgently. “This place is their target. It has to be.”

Estimated arrival in nineteen seconds, assuming trajectory and velocity remain the same.

“No,” Jim whispered, and looked down the hundreds of steps we had climbed. The Furballs had almost reached us, tired though they were, but they had only come to die with us. There was no way we could get to the ground so fast.

“I guess that's it,” I said dully. After so many close calls, I had stopped being surprised at being seconds away from dying. It didn't make it any less terrible, but I really could see nothing we could do.

“Don't you have weapons?” Jim demanded, approaching the floating machine. “That beam you used to destroy the other missile. Activate it!”

There are living beings aboard the flyers, Echo said calmly.

Jim opened his mouth to protest again, but I placed my hand on his arm to stop him.

“It's okay, Jim. We can't ask Echo to kill nine people just to save two.”

He looked at me and back at the machine, uncertain. He didn't want me to die, but I saw how he reluctantly accepted the truth of my idea. His shoulders slumped.

Ten seconds until the flyers are within firing range.

“Hey, we got to live a good life,” I said, trying to cheer him up. “We're talking with an ancient alien artificial intelligence. How many people can say they've done that?”

“But you'll die, Kyle,” Jim said, and his voice broke on the last word.

Die? Tag asked innocently, shuffling against my leg. He was nearing the end of his own endurance, but he was concerned for me.

I knelt down so I would be at his level, more or less. I stroked his soft fur and looked into his many eyes.

“Sorry, buddy,” I told him, and all the other Furballs gathered around us. “There's no other way. Goodbye.”

The Furballs were instantly distressed, unable to understand what was about to happen, but they were terrified of losing us and they crowded around, mewling softly.

I stood up and took Jim's hand.

“You're a very brave man, Kyle,” he told me. “You've done a lot of growing up very fast, but I'm sure your father would be proud of you, wherever he is.”

I nodded jerkily, and I had to swallow before I could answer him. “I love you, Jim.”

He bent down to kiss me. “I love you too.”

Five seconds remaining.

Neither Jim nor I spoke. The squadron was visible to us with the naked eye now, nine deadly outlines of deepest black against the orange sky.

“Force fields,” Jim whispered suddenly.

“What?”

“Echo, can you make a force field around us?”

Yes, but –

DO IT! Jim shouted with his mind, and I could barely follow the lightning sequence of events that happened immediately afterwards.

A shimmering yellow barrier materialized outside the Spire.

All of the fighter planes fired at once.

I felt a surge of energy drain from the crystal structure above our heads and channel its way through Echo – into Jim.

Jim raised his big hands on either side of him, following the reluctant mental directive of Echo. The jewel in his chest started glowing fiercely, blinding yellow, like the midday sun.

The projectiles from the planes hit us then, and all the Furballs squealed in terror at the savage impact. The force field held, though. I saw how the fighters swerved out of the way, coming around for another shot.

Jim fell to his knees. His arms were trembling.

In a flash of understanding it came to me. Jim was maintaining the force field with the strength of his own mind.

This is dangerous, James O'Brien, Echo said urgently. The energy of the crystal is all but depleted and a much larger Mind is needed to direct the flow of energy. Such a Mind exists no more. If we continue this for much longer you will die.

“Jim!” I yelled, reaching out to support him, but Jim flashed a dangerous look at me with his emerald green eyes and for an instant they seemed to glow the same color as the jewel in his chest.

With savage finality, Jim severed the mind link between us and slammed a mental barrier in place.

I gasped. It felt worse than a punch to the gut, worse than being dunked in ice water. When I reached out for Jim with my mind I felt nothing.

The Furballs around us began to tremble in terror.

“Don't… interfere…” Jim ordered me, sweat already dripping from his brow. The palms of his hands had a faint luminescence around them, and even though I only had a faint idea of the intensity of the link he had established with Echo, it felt like a roiling vortex of energy surrounding him, threatening to devour him alive.

“Jim!”

The fighter planes fired their second volley.

The entire structure trembled, but the shining force field around us held. Jim cried out as if he had been shot directly. He nearly lost his balance, but when I reached out for him he shouldered me roughly out of the way.

Then he stood up, excruciatingly slowly, as if he were carrying a giant weight on his back.

“Obey… just this once…” he told me, his eyes finally softening. “Go. Leave while you can.”

Mental synchrony parameters approaching dangerous levels, James O'Brien. You cannot maintain this link.

“Jim…”

“Go, Kyle. Live… live your life. Please.”

I looked at all the Furballs huddled around us. I looked at the man who was sacrificing everything in order to save me.

Fighter planes were coming back around, sleek and deadly.

All I felt was love. And with that, I made my decision.

“Echo, hack their communication channels now,” I said, projecting the complete certainty of my resolution. I could not feel Jim anymore, but I could look at him. Talk to him. “You're not doing this alone, Jim. We're a team.”

Jim smiled fleetingly, but a sudden spasm ran through his entire body. He managed to remain upright but only barely. The glow in his chest started to dim.

Communication channel open, Kyle Mercer.

“Good. Hey, you, over in those fighter planes. Stop shooting! I repeat, stop shooting!”

There was a brief hiss of static and then total pandemonium in the channel that Echo had hacked into.

“What the…”

“… locate the source of – “

“...who…”

“Everybody shut up!” an authoritative voice said. Silence followed, and I saw how the entire squadron began to fly in a a big circle around the Spire, almost as if they were orbiting it.

“Please,” I said, looking over at Jim, at the tremble in his arms. The gossamer net of the force field began to flicker, threatening to disappear. “We're human. Don't shoot us.”

“Who is this?” the same voice said.

“This is Kyle Mercer. I'm an apprentice to Doctor James O'Brien, who is also here. We're on top of the tower.”

“How did you hack this channel?”

“Long story,” I said. “Please. Don't kill us. We can't hold the force field –“

Jim fainted. I tried to catch him but I wasn't quick enough. The Furballs softened his fall, but the force field failed the moment he was out.

“We have a clear shot, Lieutenant,” another voice said.

“Don't shoot!” I begged. When I touched Jim's body it felt cold. I was terrified.

“Stand down,” the earlier voice said. “This is Lieutenant Rachel Dietrich speaking.”

“Sir, we have confirmation from the voice analysis. That's Kyle Mercer all right,” someone else said.

“Well, I'll be damned,” the Lieutenant said. “Hernandez, get me an approach vector to see if we can land. We need to find out just what the hell two scientists are doing on top of that thing. Mister Mercer, is the tower dangerous?”

“Not anymore,” I assured her. “I can guarantee it.”

“Excellent. You've got a lot of explaining to do. I suggest –“

“This is Commander Wylon,” a new voice interrupted. A voice I knew too well. “Lieutenant, destroy that tower. That is an order.”

“But…”

There is another flyer approaching, Kyle Mercer, Echo warned me. Its energy signature is consistent with the source of the new transmission.

She had found us at last. I knew the Commander wanted us dead.

“Fire on them, Lieutenant,” the Commander said with finality. “Now.”

“No,” Jim whispered suddenly.

He was awake again, and he struggled to get on all fours.

“Commander, those are unarmed civilians,” Lieutenant Dietrich said. “It is against Cluster Law to –“

“They are not human anymore! Do as I say, Lieutenant, or I will make certain that you are court-martialed! It was those two who destroyed our mothership, don't you see? They are dangerous! Kill them!”

“Squadron, prepare to fire,” the Lieutenant answered, her voice full of regret. “On my mark.”

“No,” Jim repeated. I desperately wanted to know what he was thinking, but our mind link had been destroyed beyond repair. “Echo… That weapon you used when the Travelers came… The one that disabled electronics. Do you still have it?”

I do, James O'Brien.

I saw how the fighters turned around, circling back towards us. Now I could also see the new flyer that was approaching, a much smaller single-passenger recon unit where I knew the Commander sat.

“Activate it,” Jim said.

There is almost no power left in the crystal, James O'Brien. If I do this, the blast will not reach far. I will also be rendered non-operational for an unknown amount of time. The passengers on board the flyers will die when their engines fail.

“I'll catch them,” he told Echo and me, panting. I grabbed his hand and helped him stand up again. He leaned the greater part of his weight on me.

“Squadron ready to fire,” the Lieutenant reported.

It is too much effort for a single mind, Echo protested. You will have to bear the full brunt of the energy transfer once I am no longer operational. Sustaining those force fields to lower the flyers to the ground will kill you.

“Fire,” the Commander said.

Jim simply closed his eyes. “Now, Echo.”

The machine obeyed.

I felt nothing, but looking up I saw the faint remnants of energy gather at the center of the crystal, become focused, and then explode outwards with a noiseless flash.

The entire crystal shattered into a million pieces.

All of the fighter planes and the Commander's recon unit lost power and fell to the ground like rocks.

Jim lifted his hands a final time and the jewel in his chest shone brightly for a moment. A force field formed around us, protecting us from the falling shards of glass. Outside, I saw ten other force fields form like bubbles around the flyers. They stopped their mad falling and started descending more slowly.

The main body of Echo stopped floating in the air and clattered to the ground, a useless, rolling metal sphere.

“Jim!” I yelled, and he exchanged one last love-filled look with me before the glow in his chest died.

“Goodbye, Kyle…”

The Furballs started singing.

They raised their little voices in a soft and happy song that traversed distance and linked the ragged remnants of the furry aliens into a single Mind again. The song spoke of protection, of resolution, but most of all of love.

I felt the strength of their combined thoughts settle like a warm blanket around Jim and me, gently taking away the burden of the mind link from Jim and replacing it with something else. I could not see exactly what it was because my link to him was broken, but I saw how his resigned expression lightened, how the tension in his body was replaced by relaxed surrender, and I felt how he all but melted in my arms. I held him with all my strength, adding my own voice to that of the Furballs.

Friends, Tag said to me, and suddenly many Furballs were rubbing themselves against us, surrounding us with softness and tiny yips of contentment.

I think I started crying right about then, as I held the man I loved in my arms, thankful beyond words for the fact that they had saved his life.

“Friends,” I answered, choking up with emotion. “Friends forever.”

***

By the time Jim recovered enough to be able to walk, the ground surrounding the Spire was full of thousands of furry shapes that had come from near and far to meet us. I helped Jim down the many steps, relieved to see that he regained more strength with every passing minute. By the time we reached the ground level, he was walking on his own. He did not let go of my hand, though.

We stepped out into the cheerful sunlight and I greeted everyone with as much thanks in my heart as I could muster. The Furballs were very pleased with themselves, and they did little hops and dances to show how proud they were of having been able to help us.

“What are they saying?” Jim asked me, with longing in his voice.

“You can't hear them?”

He shook his head sadly. “Not anymore.”

I felt a pang of sorrow for Jim, but then I saw he was smiling.

“Hey, don't worry about it,” he told me. “I never had psionic potential to begin with. I don't think I would be able to know how to live with that, knowing what others think.”

“Well, they're happy,” I reported. “Tag in particular seems to think that it was his idea all along.”

Jim chuckled. “I always said he was special. Tell him that's why I chose him as my analysis specimen.”

I was about to do so when a tremor of fear ran through the Furballs. They parted ranks quickly and I saw a ten-people delegation approaching from the right. They were all wearing military uniforms, with dangerous-looking weapons slung across their belts.

Jim and I waited in silence until the soldiers reached us. All around us, Furballs were purring softly in tense warning.

“Kyle Mercer and Doctor James O'Brien, I presume,” a youthful-looking woman said. She had inquisitive black eyes and full lips, and she wore a sealed pilot's helmet strapped to one slender air canister.

“That's us,” Jim answered, his voice deep. He stepped in front of me slightly, shielding me from her.

The woman, however, smiled. “I don't know how the hell you did it, or why you're not wearing any masks without passing out, but you saved my men and me from crashing and I'm thankful. I'm Lieutenant Dietrich. Very pleased to meet you.”

She reached out a gloved hand and Jim took it after a brief moment of hesitation.

The Lieutenant gestured behind her. “No casualties. And I'm also damned glad to see that we didn't shoot and kill you.”

“Although you should have,” another voice said. The soldiers parted to make way for an older woman wearing a more decorated uniform.

“You're that Commander bitch,” I blurted before I could stop myself.

If looks could kill, I would have been dead right then from the way she glared at me.

“Easy, Kyle,” Jim said. “It looks like you've been arrested, Commander.”

Only then did I notice that Jim was right. The Commander's wrists were bound together by handcuffs.

“Nothing the martial court can't override,” she answered smugly. “When they do, I'll be sure to personally have you arrested, Doctor. And I will take great pleasure in stripping you of your rank, Lieutenant.”

The other soldiers gathered around their Lieutenant protectively. From the looks they gave the Commander, they didn't like what they were hearing one bit.

“Well, that's going to have to wait, seeing as how our mothership was destroyed and all, and even then I don't see how you're going to explain away giving an order to attack two unarmed civilians,” the Lieutenant said. I found myself already liking her. Then her expression grew somber. “I've been in touch with the other platoons. All our flyers have been disabled, but one of the temporary barracks in the South Pole was able to obtain a transmission from our ship before it was blown up. Something is coming –”

“Something is coming from Argos,” I completed for her.

She raised an eyebrow at me. “How do you know?”

“We have a lot to talk about,” Jim said, glancing briefly at the shattered remnants of the crystal on top of the Spire. “The invaders coming to this world have deadly technology at their disposal.”

“Doesn't sound good,” the Lieutenant said, with a worried look at the globe of Argos hovering menacingly in the sky. “The mothership sent out a distress signal, but the nearest reinforcements are at least a month away. And that's if the signal was picked up at all. We have our troops on the ground, but we're not many. If these aliens are as dangerous as you make them sound, we're going to have a hard time fighting them off.”

“Don't worry, Lieutenant,” I said, smiling. “We have time to prepare. And we also have some very powerful allies.”

“Allies?” she asked me, surprised.

I gestured all around us, at the ground covered in short, squat shapes.

“We like to call them Furballs.”

-End of Book One.-

Well, that's it! For now, at least. I have a second part in the works, but before that I would like to publish the rest of my new story, 01-Spark, for you guys to read. Here's the link: http://www.gayauthors.org/story/albertnothlit/01-spark

Thank you very much for staying with me for the whole ride, and if you would like, you can follow this story to get a notification when I upload the first chapter of Book Two. There's more info about me on my author profile here at GayAuthors if you would like to stalk me, or support me, or just drop by to say hi. Until then, thank you so much for all the likes, the reviews, and all the wonderful feedback I've gotten. See you soon, back on Tantalus!

Thanks in particular to Caz, who helped me make this story the best it could be. Go check out her stories - she's awesome!