The Light-Field (51 page)

‘Eaten by giant lizards seems pretty harsh, Jaz?' Ringbalin's compassionate streak took over.

‘A couple of minutes ago you were ready to implode him,' she pointed out.

‘Implosion does seem a rather more attractive option actually,' Khalid butted in. ‘Why didn't you let him finish me that way?'

‘Because that would have been an abuse of power!' Jazmay spat back.

‘And leaving me here to be an alien feast, isn't?' Khalid found that funny.

‘He's right, Jaz,' Ringbalin conceded, whereupon the ex-Valourean let loose with a string of swear words to try to relieve her frustration.

‘You know the boss would not leave him,' Ringbalin added, hoping to calm her a little.

‘
All right then
,' she gritted her teeth to agree. ‘Get over here before I change my mind.' Jazmay held out her bare hand and Khalid was quick to raise himself and take hold.

Every cloud has a silver lining and inside Jazmay was smiling broadly, for Khalid didn't know that she was also a shape-shifter; she needed only to make skin contact with someone to steal their entire DNA blueprint.

‘You won't regret this,' Khalid ventured to say.

‘Oh.' Jazmay let the smug smile manifest openly on her face, as she held Ringbalin's hand. ‘I know I won't. Complete the circuit.' She instructed Khalid to join hands with Kestler, who held Ringbalin's hand. ‘I don't know how this is going to come out, or even if it will work at all, so prepare for anything.'

Unfortunately, KEPA craft could be reduced to their elementary particles and stored in a bracelet worn by the pilot when not in use — such was the advanced technology of the Chosen. Jahan had mentioned that they kept and serviced spare vehicles back at the KEPA base inside the Shutura Crevice; she just hoped that at least one of those craft was currently in its solid state.

‘Here goes,' she forewarned, as she closed her eyes to focus on her memory of the interior of the recon vessel. As the light-filled sensation of teleportation swept over them all, Jazmay figured they were going somewhere and anywhere was probably better than their present circumstance.

 

Praise the universe!
Jazmay inwardly breathed a sigh of relief upon finding herself and her company deposited inside one of the KEPA craft. She had landed in the pilot seat, Ringbalin beside her, Khalid and Kestler in the back.

Through the front windscreen she discerned their vessel was sitting on the surface of the water in a well-lit dock, inside a natural sub-
terrain sub-bay. That was the beauty of the base at the Shutura Crevice — it had been built inside a natural hollow of a mountain and could only be accessed via an underwater cavern, beneath the surface of the lake that bordered the large mountain. No enemy would guess its existence, and even if they'd heard rumours of KEPA's base, they'd have to scour the entire untamed planet to find it. Jazmay's attention diverted from the view outside through the windscreen to the control panel, where she discovered this was Jahan's actual craft — easily identifiable by the picture of the yacht he'd built himself, stuck on the dash.

‘He's here!' Jazmay turned and scrambled past Khalid and Kestler to get to the exit door — even if Chailida had been attacked, the chances were Jahan had escaped harm.

‘Who is here?' Ringbalin queried, appearing distinctly uncomfortable inside the metal vehicle.

‘An old friend.' Jazmay turned back, having had an afterthought. She reached back into the cockpit to grab a headset, which was in fact a translating device. Those of the Chosen who had assumed their immortality inherently understood all languages, but at this stage of his life, Jahan had yet to experience physical death, and so had not been endowed with any of his immortal talents.

‘But Jaz, even if this guy is an old friend, he's not going to remember you!' Ringbalin pointed out.

‘That won't matter,' Jazmay suppressed a fond smile, ‘he'll be well disposed toward me anyway.'

‘How can you be so sure?' Balin sought reassurance.

‘Because back on AMIE, this man is my husband.' Jazmay grinned.

‘Whoa.' Ringbalin was shocked. ‘How is
that
possible?'

‘Reincarnation,' said Jazmay. This was a concept she'd learnt about from the Chosen, and as Ringbalin had no memory of his time spent here, he was confused. ‘I'll explain some other time. Stay here.'

‘With him?' Ringbalin didn't like the idea of being left with Khalid, with only an old man as backup.

‘Climb out onto the dock by all means,' she suggested and manifested a pulse laser weapon, which she set to stun and handed to Ringbalin.

‘Don't be long.' Ringbalin accepted the weapon reluctantly.

Jazmay looked to Khalid and the old man. ‘Do what he tells you, and don't piss me off.'

‘I wouldn't dream of it.' Kestler was eager to cooperate.

‘I'm just happy to be here,' Khalid stated, deadpan.

Ringbalin followed Jazmay out of the craft and onto the dock to stand guard, looking awkward. He was a healer, not a soldier, and was not comfortable letting Jazmay out of his sight — this was plain in the expression on his face.

‘You've endured much worse than this for the boss before today,' Jazmay said in parting.

‘We've been propelled into an alien universe, how do you figure?'

‘Last time this happened … you regretted not coming,' she enlightened him. ‘So much so that you risked your life by allowing Zeven to teleport you into the unknown to get here.'

‘I didn't know that,' he mumbled. ‘That seems very impulsive of me. I can't imagine ever wanting to leave Module C.'

‘You can't imagine wanting to leave Dr Portus, you mean.' Jazmay saw right through his statement; he'd been having an affair with AMIE's female marine botanist for some time.

Ringbalin cracked a smile to confirm the truth of her words.

‘Your Ayliscia was murdered last time around, for betraying her people for a man.'

Ringbalin was shocked to hear this.

‘You owe the boss so much more than you know, little man,' she explained. ‘So find your backbone — the boss needs us now.'

Ringbalin nodded, bemused but committed, as Jazmay turned and made her way toward the only above-water exit from the sub-terrain dock.

 

Upon her approach, the exit door vanished to grant her entry. No unauthorised personnel were ever in here, thus the lack of security.

She followed a corridor past labs, offices, a large kitchen area and bathrooms to the control room. A good distance away from the glass doors, Jazmay halted to view the young man. He was alone in the room beyond, and was the very image of her husband back on AMIE.

His blond curls were longer and hung to his shoulders, and his skin was tanned dark from his outdoor vocation. As a member of the Kila Environmental Protection Agency, Jahan spent a good deal of time in the wild, and had a deep love of the sun and sea.

With his back to her, Jahan stood observing a bunch of soft-light screens that rose from the control panel before him. The footage was of a war zone, which hastened Jazmay's steps.

‘It has already begun!' she exclaimed in horror as she entered.

Jahan did an about face, tears of anger streaming down his face. As he didn't recognise her, he pulled his weapon and began threatening Jazmay in a language she didn't comprehend.

Jazmay held one hand up in truce and with the other, held out the translator she'd retrieved from his craft. Her offering made him curious and he motioned for her to toss the translator to him. Jahan awkwardly maintained his aim and positioned the translator on his head one-handed. With the headset in place and turned on, he said, ‘Say something, I need to get a fix on your locution.'

Jazmay frowned — she still couldn't comprehend a word he was saying.

Jahan held a hand to his mouth and then drew it away, so that she might understand the request.

‘My name is Jazmay Cordea,' she stated as clearly as she was able, and Jahan nodded to confirm he was understanding her.

‘Did you have something to do with this attack?' he replied, and when the device translated his words in her own language, she was thrilled they'd broken through the communication barrier.

‘No, Jahan, I did not,' Jazmay replied, and Jahan was disturbed that she knew his name. ‘I am part of a team sent here to warn your governor about this attack.'

‘Sent by whom?' he queried.

‘Your governor.'

‘Our governor sent you to warn himself?' Jahan wondered if the translator was working properly. ‘That makes no sense.'

‘If you can move through time, it does.'

Jahan was surprised by Jazmay's claim. ‘No one can move through time, not even En Noah.'

En Noah was the historian among the Chosen and was considered the wisest among them — even the governor sought his advice.

‘I know time travel is not a developed talent among your people, and only very few of my people have mastered the art … I am one of a handful,' she concluded calmly, but Jahan was angered.

‘Well, it would seem you've missed the mark!' He motioned to the attack taking place on the screens in front of him. ‘I don't understand how my kindred are being overpowered by these … creatures? Why aren't they fighting back, or even trying to flee?'

‘One of my people mentioned that the lizards use a mind invasion technique to communicate with their victims,' Jazmay said. ‘Perhaps they are able to influence the actions of their victims as well?'

Jahan couldn't take his eyes off the screen, but his weapon was still pointed at her. ‘But, it's like —'

‘— they've lost their immortality?' Jazmay stated the obvious. ‘That is exactly what has happened.'

‘That's impossible.' Jahan was thrown into inner conflict. Jazmay suspected that he didn't want to believe the claim, nor did he want to believe she was his enemy and lying to him. ‘Explain how that could be possible,' he challenged, in a not so threatening tone of voice.

‘They have a weapon that unbraids DNA, harmless to mortals but —'

‘— it would regress my kindred back hundreds of incarnations!' Jahan found the concept unfathomable, yet it explained the easy defeat he was viewing.

‘In the last time line, this all played out very differently.' Jazmay looked to the horror unfolding on the screens. ‘The enemy only had a handheld prototype of the weapon in question;
now
they have developed a prototype large enough to regress an entire a city! That's the trouble with attempting to change the past. The more stabs you have at it, the more difficult and complicated circumstances become, and the harder it is to resolve the situation in your favour.'

Jahan had gone very pale upon realising that the fate of many other planets lay in his hands. ‘I need to warn Nugia, Numan, Lura, Tarazean, Kaleashian! These are other planets allied to Kila,' he explained to disperse Jazmay's quizzical frown.

‘You are alone here then?' Jazmay wondered if anyone else had escaped the attack.

‘When the unidentified craft appeared on our radar, my superiors were all called to a meeting in the city, but some of my kindred are on the allied planets. I have to warn them.'

‘Can you establish direct contact with those planets from here?' Jazmay queried, hoping to prevent Jahan going into shock.

Jahan shook his head. ‘All the interplanetary communications are in Chailida —'

‘Jazmay!' Ringbalin came charging through the doors.

‘En Noah!' Jahan exclaimed upon setting eyes on the young botanist. ‘Have you gone back in time too?' He noted how young his kinsman appeared.

‘Yasper!' Ringbalin was equally shocked to see a man he recognised and they eyed each other curiously. ‘I've only crossed into another universe as far as I know.'

‘Come again?' Jahan queried.

‘What is the emergency?' Jazmay asked her young crewmate, to
remind him he'd been panicked about something, and Ringbalin immediately resumed his panicked state.

‘Kestler is trying to kill Khalid!'

‘Then why didn't you stun him?' Jazmay, frustrated, took the weapon from Ringbalin and ran toward the exit door into the corridor.

‘I tried, and the charge just bounced straight off him and nearly hit me!' Ringbalin defended, as Khalid came rushing up the corridor.

‘He's a fucking lizard!' Khalid ran past Jazmay into the room, blood streaming down one side of his face from large scratches on his cheek. ‘Lock the doors!'

‘There are no locks!' Jahan countered.

‘We're fucked!' Khalid threw up his hands.

‘You brought one of those things here?' Jahan was furious, as he looked to Jazmay for answers. ‘The one outpost they wouldn't know about?'

The Orions are shape-shifters too.
Her recollection was an epiphany; she'd forgotten all about that little fact. ‘It will not leave to tell,' Jazmay assured him, staying her course.

‘Do you mean live to tell?' Ringbalin queried her intention.

‘Only if it is mortal?' she said, and Ringbalin gasped at the thought that they might be dealing with an immortal foe.

No sooner had the glass doors closed behind her, than her assailant dropped from the ceiling above to land directly on top of her. Its long claws cut deep into the flesh of her shoulders and upper back.

‘Holy shit!' Jahan made a move to assist, raising his weapon to fire, but Ringbalin knocked his arms to throw off his aim.

‘You might hit her.' He urged caution. ‘If she cannot vanquish it, no one can.'

As Jazmay absorbed her foe's DNA, she felt the evil creature's imprint ripple through her being in a cold prickly wave. It intended to telepathically subdue her into submission, where it would horrify her with its appearance and torture her to the threshold of her endurance.
It carried a device that could drain all the fear-filled pineal fluid from her brain — which, to its kind, was the water of life. Unfortunately for the reptilian, until it had completed its conquest, it could not absorb her DNA, so Jazmay had the upper hand. Drinking the vital fluids of other living things kept these creatures alive indefinitely, as long as they fed they lived, but they were
not
immortal.