Transcendent (9781311909442) (20 page)

Krys stared at him and then glanced back at
the shallow hill behind him. Several kilometers beyond the hill,
Shelby would be waiting for him with a birthday dinner. And a
present, he remembered. But what could she give him? Another
outlawed alcoholic drink? Or maybe something more personal,
maybe—

Krys almost laughed at himself. Who was he
kidding? He was a kid! Well, maybe not anymore, legally, but she
was still five years older than him. She cared for him, sure, but
like a brother or a friend. Not like that. Krys sighed and turned
back.

“No.”

“So you’re one of them, then? Just like my
Lily, she’s decided to forget everything that—”

“Mig, stop,” Angelo growled.

Mig turned away and hung his head.

“Mr. Strain, I don’t want anyone getting
hurt anymore,” Krys explained. “But that’s going to keep happening
the way things are. It’s slavery, what they’re doing to people. I
see it but almost no one else does. It’s like they’ve been
brainwashed to not understand the history of the human race.”

Mig turned back around. “What are you
saying?”

Krys took a deep breath. “I’m saying I’m
staying, but I’m going to help you.”

“How?”

Krys took a moment to meet each of their
gazes. “Don’t use anything electrical—they can track it. Stay
natural, as much as you can.”

Kerry reached up to scratch his beard and
smiled for effect.

“Whenever I can, I’ll bring supplies out.
Find a way to leave a list of things you need and keep checking
whenever you can.”

“Where?”

“The third pineapple field, on the southern
side of the irrigation pump. That’s central enough I can make up an
excuse to swing through there from time to time.”

Mig stared at him and nodded, and then he
thrust his hand out. Krys shook it and understood why Mr. Strain
didn’t offer any words. Krys was fighting the lump in his own
throat. He was spared when Fina swept him into another hug and
kissed him on the cheek.

“What?” he gulped.

“Thank you for saving us,” she said.

Krys felt the world spinning as he tried to
figure out what she meant. “Oh, you mean when I left you guys?”

She squeezed him again and let go.

“You guys stay safe,” Krys said. “And get
going. I’ve got a lot of work today and I still have to figure out
the details of leaving stuff for you. Anything you need right
away?”

Mig turned to the others as they all started
talking. Krys winced and then reached into his satchel to pull out
his infopad. He had a hunch he was going to need to write it
down.

Krys trudged up to his door and reached for
the biometric sensor. He pressed his hand against it and sighed. He
was exhausted after the day he’d had and the promises he’d made. He
didn’t even know if he could manage what he’d said. At least not
with any regularity. Even if he could slip past Shelby, there were
others who would notice. Soldiers, at least.

“Happy birthday!”

Krys jerked his head up and stared into his
open door. A meal was laid out on his table but it was what sat
behind it that left his already overloaded mind speechless. Shelby
sat wearing a short dress that was dark blue in color. It was the
first time he’d ever seen her in anything other than body armor or
the blue and white uniform she wore from day to day. His eyes
tracked up the long stretch of exposed leg, up to her thigh and
where it disappeared beneath the dark color of the dress.

“Whoa!” Krys managed

Shelby laughed. “That’s all you’ve got to
say?”

“I, um—” Krys stammered and then shrugged.
“Yeah, that’s it.”

Shelby laughed. “Get in and shut the door. I
don’t need anyone seeing me and thinking anything
inappropriate.”

Krys twisted his head as her words tied
together some random comments he’d heard from others. He nodded.
“Too late.”

“What?”

Krys blushed. “People are talking about you.
Us, I mean.”

Shelby groaned and shook her head. She
sighed and looked up at Krys. “What do you think about that?”

“Um.” Krys gulped and tried to figure out
how to answer her question. “About people talking?”

She nodded and stood up. “And what they’re
saying. About me. About us.”

“Whoa,” Krys mumbled again. “I, uh, I don’t
know. I guess I haven’t thought about it.”

Shelby stared at him long enough for Krys to
feel fresh sweat beading up on his back. She nodded. “I’m
surprised,” she admitted. “I thought young men thought about these
sorts of things all the time.”

Krys’s eyes widened. He swallowed and saw
her lips twitch in a smile. Sure, he’d thought about
that
.
And she’d even figured heavily in some of his fantasies, but there
was no way he could tell her. He coughed and glanced at the food
and then up at her. “So, uh, the present?”

Shelby laughed. “No, it’s not me.”

“Oh! I didn’t—I wouldn’t think that!”

Shelby’s laugh grew stronger. “You’re so
cute when you’re flustered.”

“Cute?”

“Not little boy cute,” she reassured him. “I
mean it in a good way.”

Krys gulped again. Where had the easygoing
and by-the-books Shelby gone? Sure, she’d loosened up around him
and they’d had some good times together casually, but the woman in
front of him now was somebody different. Somebody who seemed much
more real. And scary.

Shelby sighed and turned to pick up an
infopad. She checked it, briefly, and then cleared it out before
setting it down. “The present didn’t work out like I wanted it to,”
she warned. “But I’ve been working on trying to get you fully
authorized as a citizen. You know, what with the identity issues
you’ve had.”

Krys frowned. It was one thing to joke about
it but now didn’t seem like the time. “I am Krys Evans.”

“I know,” she said. “And I believe you. It’s
straightening out the records and figuring out the best way to
proceed that’s taking so much time and work. Don’t worry, I’ve got
the support of the right people and they’re working on this. Even
though it’s been over a year, we need people able to work and get
things done. “

“I don’t understand. Why do we need
people?”

“Because so many were lost,” Shelby said.
“Almost half the human population is in education centers right
now. But don’t worry, exceptions have been made and I’ve been
assured they will be made for you.”

Krys nodded. “Um, thanks. I guess.”

“You guess?”

Krys offered a weak smile. “I’m sorry. I
don’t really know what all that means. I’ve had a long and tiring
day and I didn’t realize there was any trouble with me being
me.”

Shelby smiled. “There’s not, Krys. But I can
see how tired you are. Eat your dinner and think about things.”

“Things?”

She nodded. “Yes. Who do you want to be,
Krys? What do you want? And the things other people have talked
about.”

“Wait. Um, are you saying that, uh—”

“What do you think?”

Krys winced and admitted, “I don’t
know?”

Shelby smiled at him. “You’re a very clever
man. Ask yourself why I’d ask these questions and be doing all that
I am. Part of it is my job, but you can ask around to find out if
anyone else received a personal visit on their birthday.”

“I can?”

“No!” Shelby laughed. “You better not! Then
the rumors will really start to fly and that’s the last thing I
need as the commander of this colony.”

Krys laughed with her, but it was to hide
the heat in his face. He was way out of his league. Shelby was
twenty-one! Shelby stepped up to him and stared up into his eye.
For the first time, Krys realized that she was shorter than he was.
Not by much, but enough to be noticeable. She’d always been taller
than him before—when had that changed?

She slipped her feet into some sandals that
lifted her so she was even with him again. He grinned in spite of
himself and got a smile back in response. Shelby nibbled her lip
for a moment and then leaned over and pressed her lips against his
cheek. “Happy birthday,” she whispered into his ear. “I don’t get
in, or out, of this dress for just anyone.”

Krys nodded as she backed away. She opened
the door and slipped out, pausing only long enough to offer him a
wave before she was gone. Krys stared at the door and then turned
back to the table. The plate of food looked good, but he wasn’t
hungry.

“Whoa,” he mumbled again. He looked down at
himself and saw the grease and dirt on his hands and clothes.
“Shower,” he mumbled in an attempt to force his body into action.
He made his way to his small washroom and stripped down before
climbing into the stall.

Shelby’s words about how the human race
needed people to work came back to him. He hadn’t realized how many
lives had been lost. It made sense, though, if what happened on
Venus was any example. But if that was the case, how were there so
many soldiers? Shelby said they’d been massing for years and had
risen up, but almost all of them were young, like her. Older than
Krys, but not by much.

Krys shook his head as the warm water helped
wash away his troubles. New ones rushed in to replace them.
Troubles like Shelby and her sudden interest in him. He couldn’t
deny it now, not after the kiss and the way she’d looked. He blew
out a deep breath at the memory of how the dark blue fabric had
hugged her body and made her look outstanding.

But why him? She had all the other people in
the colony without complicated pasts. They weren’t young either.
Why should he be different? She had so much more in common with the
others. Even the workers were more like her than he was. Krys shook
his head again. She didn’t make sense. None of it did.

But wow did she look good in that dress. A
dress that she didn’t put on for just anyone. Krys’s grin faded as
he remembered her final words again. “I don’t get in, or out, of
this dress for just anyone.” Out of the dress? Krys groaned and put
his hand up to the wall to steady himself. Had she really meant to
say that? And if she did, did she realize what that might
imply?

Krys shook his head and glanced at the
control panel for the shower. He needed it about ten degrees colder
if he was going to even pretend to do what she asked and think
about things. Otherwise he’d be thinking about other things. Things
like how nice her dress looked—and how nice it would look on the
floor.

Krys groaned again and reached for the
controls. He wasn’t sure if this had turned into his best or his
worse birthday ever.

Lily heard noises in the distance. Down a
hallway? Underwater? They were distorted as though they were
muffled. Something beeped and she knew the shrill noise was muted.
She tried to blink her eyes but all she could see was darkness.

Her chest squeezed as panic set in. Where
was she? What happened to her? Was it an accident? Had the
station’s walls been breached? Had something happened in her
training booth? She thought back, trying to piece things together.
The last thing she could recall was Palla’s warm smile filling her
with confidence. Why was she smiling?

“You’ll be okay,” Palla had said.

She’d be okay. Okay from what? Or because of
what? Did she ask for this to happen to her? She knew she was going
to have the biomech interface implant installed tomorrow, but that
was a day away. She’d called it a birthday present to herself and,
as much as a joke people took it to be, it was true. There was
nothing she wanted more.

All the training and education had filled
her with one desire. One goal. To pilot a real biomech. Some of the
other cadets in her classes understood her. The rest did it because
they’d shown aptitude for it, not because they felt drawn towards
it. For her, every practice run in the simulator fed the fire in
her belly. Palla thought she was becoming obsessed, but her friend
was also the first to boast that Lily was the best pilot in her
class. In the history of the class, for that matter.

“Cadet Strain is awake.”

Lily tried to open her mouth and talk. She
felt some sort of mask or restraint on her. Feeling that made her
aware of the tubes in her mouth and nose. She stiffened and gagged
on them. Her body jerked as she choked, twisting her against her
restraints.

“She’s going to throw up!” someone
shouted.

Hands grabbed her and pushed her down. Lily
struggled. She had to get the tubes out! They were choking her and
putting things in her body she wasn’t in control of. Maybe poison
or something that would prevent her from being able to pilot a
biomech. She twisted and writhed some more.

The mask against her face loosened, letting
cool air tease her cheeks and lips. A moment later, the tubes in
her mouth and her nose were yanked out, burning her throat and
leaving her lip feeling fat and unnatural. She gasped and coughed
but still couldn’t roll over and curl into a ball. She turned her
head and hacked at the irritation in her throat.

“Cadet, relax. This is normal. Here, I have
some frozen chips to help.”

Lily coughed again and shook her head when
she felt something cold against her lips. She managed to rasp out,
“What happened?”

“You had your implant installed,” the male
voice said. “Memory loss up to a week is common—don’t be
alarmed.”

A week! Lily jerked in the bed at his words.
If she had her implant installed, that meant it was her birthday.
She was seventeen. But her birthday was a day away still.
Unless—had she forgotten an entire day?

The bit about the implant and blindness made
sense, though. The interface was tied into the optic nerves as well
as the central nervous system and other tertiary synapses. That
way, she could see what the biomech saw. She didn’t realize that
without the implant being online she wouldn’t be able to see. For
that matter, she never knew the implants could be turned off.