The other three, however, were undeniably human, though as ragged as refugees. Zhao squinted…. Who were they? And what was that thing they were with?

Rachel Stewart suddenly broke free from Pav and ran toward them, screaming, “Daddy! Daddy!”

Part Seven

Second thoughts: Okay, voyages of exploration usually suck, at least for most of the voyagers. For every Columbus or Admiral Zheng He who gets his name in the history books, there are a few dozen or a few hundred people who die along the way, and nobody thinks about them.

I guess that’s how it goes.

On the plus side…you do get to see shit you’d never see if you stayed home. And meet some interesting people, depending on what you mean by people.

KEANU-PEDIA BY PAV, ENTRY #6

THE PRISONER

For many cycles, the Prisoner’s only wish was to escape from its chamber, and to somehow shame its Connate. With the small aid of the Two Arms, that task had been accomplished.

But what shocking surprises awaited it! The changes in the habitat, the disappearance of its former allies!

The relentless pressure from the Two Arms to move, and to consider—much less act in support of—their petty goals.

The moment had been supremely disorienting, a reminder of the horror the Prisoner had felt when first locked away in the annex to the Beehive.

With no contact with its allies, hampered by these new companions, its only option now was to return to the original goal from many cycles back…the original mission that had been the cause of its downfall.

It seemed so far in the past—seven plus seven cycles—that the Prisoner and its Connate had plotted to turn the Small Ones’ powers against them, creating their own assemblies that would fight, then absorb the others, giving the People final control of all habitats and the warship itself!

But then…to be betrayed by one’s Connate! To have been forced to make the Small Ones his allies against the People!

Now the Prisoner’s mission was clear: Locate its former manufacturing gear, and help the allies to shame and destroy the Connate.

Then…deal with the allies.

Help the allies. Shame and destroy its Connate.

Then, apparently, die.

Unless it found something new to live for.

MAKALI

Makali Pillay had endured many shocks and surprises since being scooped up in the Bangalore vesicle. But nothing prepared her for the sight of a teary teenage American girl running toward them. What was Rachel Stewart doing here? The last she knew, Zack’s daughter was in the human habitat with 180-plus others!

And Pav was with her. And the Chinese spy, Zhao.

And the dog!

And a human woman she recognized as Yvonne Hall, the dead Destiny astronaut.

Followed by the Architect, and three giant jellyfish creatures.

It was good that she’d barely eaten or slept in the past forty hours. Emotional numbness and nearly paralyzing fatigue allowed her to be objective. This wasn’t happening to her, this was some kind of lucid dream, one in which she knew what was happening, but was powerless to change it.

She feared for Zack Stewart’s mental health. He had been reunited not only with his daughter—he hadn’t even known she was missing!—but with Yvonne Hall. He was openly weeping, visibly confused, thoroughly shaken.

She realized that she was crying, too.

And so was Dale Scott. To Makali’s astonishment, he slid an arm around her and pulled her close. She could feel him trembling. “God,” he said. “We’d better get it together.”

Makali agreed, because they weren’t the only actors on this stage.

The Skyphoi had surrounded Dash. The Sentry stood impassive, almost immobile, as the giant balloon creatures bumped and floated above him, their colors flickering through the visible spectrum in what had to be deliberate patterns. “What do you suppose they’re saying?” Makali said.

The three-way reunion between Zack and Rachel and Yvonne had settled down to the point where Makali felt she and Dale could join in. Rachel did the introductions, ending with the giant creature that could have knocked Dash the Sentry over: “This is the Architect.”

“You mean, an Architect,” Zack said.

“Aren’t they the same?” Rachel said. Zack’s tired nod confirmed it.

Makali noted the Destiny commander’s body language: tense and wary. He had one hand on Rachel’s shoulder, the other on Yvonne’s. Now he subtly pushed his former crew member forward. “Does he remember me?”

“Yes,” Yvonne said.

“And my wife?” Zack said.

“Yes.”

“Why did she die again? Can he answer that?”

“I can,” Yvonne said. “Because the stress of being reborn, becoming a Revenant, is so great that adult bodies often don’t last long. They are created to serve as bridges between two races…once communion and understanding is established, they begin to fail.” A look passed between Yvonne and Zack, who was about to offer consolation or commiseration, Makali felt. But Yvonne stopped him. “Information persists,” she said. “Take that for what it’s worth…. If you’re asking me, I don’t know that I’d want to go through this again…. Remember what I’m looking forward to: dying for the second time. It wasn’t that much fun the first time through.”

“It seems really mean,” Rachel said.

“Maybe,” Yvonne said. “But I don’t think they know. Or care.” She considered it further. “They’re really not like us.”

Makali looked at Dale, who simply stared at the hard-packed ground. She felt that she was eavesdropping on a moment of great intimacy, like a confession to a priest. Of course, there was no intimacy. There were other creatures and other activities all around them.

But the idea of confession suddenly caused her to wonder, perhaps stupidly, what a priest would make of this Revenant business, or how certain knowledge of life after death would affect religious thought—

At that moment the power died again, the thrum of the railcar—which Makali had been hearing without recognizing the source—died, and so did the lighting in the tunnel.

The only illumination was from the three Skyphoi, lit up like lanterns with their own power…and now showing impressive collections of internal organs.

Before Makali could make sense of what she was seeing, Dash joined them, the Sentry almost a ghostly voice in the dark. It said, “If my people emerge and find us, there will be casualties.” It wasn’t clear to Makali whether Dash was addressing the Architect or Zack.

“More casualties, you mean,” Dale said. “Who killed Valya?”

“The Skyphoi have a history of conflict,” the Sentry said.

“Not with us,” Dale said.

“The Skyphoi detected me,” Dash said, “and judged me to be hostile. You were with me.”

“There’s no point to a postmortem now,” Zack said. “The question remains: How do we get to the vesicle?” He turned to the Architect. “That’s the mission right now, isn’t it? For everyone? Get to the vesicle before these Reivers do?”

“And stop the Reiver infection,” Yvonne said.

Makali was torn between her professional desire to observe the Architect and these Skyphoi—and the by-now-familiar Sentry in its interactions with the other aliens—and to simply help Zack and get on with the work.

She wanted to go home. During their few free moments in the march across the blasted habitat, Zack had begun to enthuse about the possibilities. “You guys rode a vesicle here. There’s no reason we can’t ride a vesicle back to Earth.”

But that had been an hour ago, before Valya was killed. Before this…insane rendezvous.

The various parties quickly established that the vesicle pod was adjacent to, but on the other side of, the Skyphoi habitat. “Can we go through?” Zack asked.