Nova (35 page)

It was an amount of food–cubes and Vitani that equaled a two–day
supply. Even at quarter–rations, the two would be entirely without sustenance
in six days, maximum.

It was a frightening proposition. Even more so, K’llan
suspected, for herself than Avara, given the driving need for Feeding that was
every Vosaia’s legacy. As Z’arr and Serros slung the packs the Shield Operative
had organized over their shoulders and met each other’s eyes, it was an issue
that K’llan could tell both of them were aware of but chose not to discuss in
detail until they had to.

One step at a time, as they say, and they had only too
many steps to place on the path before them.

“Shall we?” Captain Serros asked.

Studying her companion, K’llan could not help but to reflect
on how strange Serros appeared in the borrowed Karukai garb that she wore. A somewhat
loose, dark scarlet, long–sleeved jacket with a removable hood covered her
naval standard, dark royal blue undershirt, and crimson–seamed, somewhat tight
black utility trousers did the same for the lower part of her body. Avara’s
boots and weapons were the only familiar elements to her accouterment. K’llan
could only picture how she herself looked in the same outfit; much, she
imagined, like snow and ice smeared with blood.

Not
, she thought acidly,
a look for any self–respecting
Vosaia, but very well suited to the Karukai
.

“Yes, let us begin.”

The two started out at a standard quick walking pace to get
the feel of the land they navigated and to preserve their Arca enhanced
strength in case of threat from the unknown but certainly extant local fauna.

As they traveled, no matter in which direction she turned, K’llan
saw endless miles of gray–green grass, flowing with the currents of the wind
like sea–water tumbled by a warm summer gust during the bright light of day. So
apt was the comparison, at times K’llan fancied she could have literally dove
into the green and simply begun swimming her way forward through the grass
eddies.

Indeed, the meadowland was so thick that she and Avara were
forced to search the ground until they came across a reasonably well–worn
animal path heading in the general direction of their destination.

As they moved along the traverse, the hot air was thick with
the
clicks
and
zzzsszts
of springing cicadas the size of mice calling
to one another, the sound syncopated with the gentle snap of both jeweled and
muted butterfly wings. Several times the two women heard rustling noises
working through the space surrounding them and spotted tiny, eight limbed rodents
with stubby tails flying through the brush. Green, yellow, and gray grass
snakes and lizards were also a common sight as they sat sunbathing along the
path. Once, a sort of fawn colored feline the size of a hawk growled over his
still–freshly bleeding prey, a small, mud–colored pig–like mammal. The cat
grabbed his kill in sharp–toothed jaws and slunk into the grass to secure his
prize. Overhead, the piercing calls of birds of prey slashed into the ever
present low hum of insect and animal life.

In late afternoon, they stopped in a small clearing for a
welcome rest and to take a full swallow of hydro–fluid, essentially the
equivalent in hydration value to a generous glass of water. Consuming the sweet
fluid, K’llan fought a stab of dizziness and nausea and for a moment, struggled
to breathe before the sensation slipped away.

Picking up on her broadcasted feeling of physical distress,
Serros turned her head from her survey of the path. “K’llan, what’s wrong?”

“I believe… I may have hit my head harder than I thought and
so the exertion is getting to me.”

“I see.” She responded, and Z’arr did not have to struggle
to interpret the distinct note of displeasure in the Captain’s voice at K’llan
not having volunteered the information earlier. Saying nothing of the
sentiment, Serros lifted her arm and began a full bio–metric scan with her CPA.
Minutes later, she reported “You have a mild concussion and extensively bruised
ribs. Both would account for the nausea, especially in tandem.” Gesturing to
the immediate surrounding area, the Captain remarked “I think here is as good a
place as any for making camp for the night.”

Concerned with their lack of progress, Z’arr shook her head.
“I do not think that is necessary, Captain. We should at least spend our
allotment of capability and travel for an hour at Arca speed.”

“No, it’s more important that neither one of us pushes
ourselves to injury. There’s no local med–center that we can call upon, after
all.” Seeing that she was about to protest a second time, the Human added,
“Head wounds are tricky, Lieutenant, and you’re not a PV. I think we need to do
something about it before we move on.”

“You mean use your Synergy Enhancement?” Z’arr asked,
already knowing the answer.

“Yep.”

“But Avara… our food supplies are limited, and such an
expenditure of energy will only increase your hunger; it will speed up the rate
of deprivation.”

“I see the concern, however, if wait for natural healing,
the result will be the same except we’ll have covered a significantly reduced
amount of distance in the meantime.”

Reluctantly, the Vosaia nodded, unable to refute Serros’s
logic.

“Let’s set up camp first, and then proceed.”

The two made short work of preparing the site: clearing the
brush from the area to discourage insect and reptile visitation, setting up a
latrine three–dozen paces away, and positioning the auto–assemble tent and
miniature generator. Serros also took care to place alert nodes around the immediate
area of the camp, each wirelessly connected to the generator and programmed to
belt an alarm if any life–forms over fifteen pounds in size entered the
perimeter.

When their efforts were complete, Serros had K’llan sit
cross–legged on the ground and the Captain knelt down before her on one knee. “I
will warn you, it is not an entirely pleasant sensation.” Avara informed her,
gaze almost uncomfortably direct yet warm as always. “Are you ready?”

“Yes.”

With a nod, the Human Shield placed a palm on each side of
K’llan’s neck and then closed her eyes. For several seconds, nothing happened.
K’llan sat watching Serros’s becalmed  face and dark–crowned head as she listened
to the sounds of Dantis’s surrounding wildlife either settling in or beginning
to move about with the approach of dusk.

Then gradually, K’llan became aware of a …
vibration
,
undulating from the Human to herself, energy rippling from Serros’s palms to
Z’arr’s neck, then flowing throughout her entire frame. Minutes seemed to pass,
then the impression increased in agitation and shifted from vibration to a
prickling sensation, almost like a thousand slender needles were being
carefully inserted one after the other into flesh and bone.

With a gasp of pain, Z’arr’s own hands flew up to grasp
Serros’s wrists, but the Human did not release her hold. K’llan could
feel
Avara’s determination and empathy swelling within her
nya
and flowing
from her consciousness to meticulously inspect Z’arr for any sense of unwellness
or injury. Soon the stabbing prickles faded away entirely to be replaced only
by gentle yet sustaining heat.

In that warmth, the Vosaia suddenly felt as if a doorway
between their minds had been cracked open and she felt her consciousness moving
towards the beckoning light. Essential components of the Human’s soul and will
spun about and fused with K’llan’s
nya
, as she further opened that portal
and peered within. Strength, purity of purpose, concern for K’llan’s injuries,
fear for the wellbeing and status of Marcus, Ca’rrakk, Dane, and Belgrum as
well as for the entire crew of the
Excalibur
. Lingering horror over what
they had witnessed onboard the
TS Ardent
… All this and more swirled
within the confines of Avara’s self and were recognizable to K’llan in the form
of a scattershot of images, pictures, and feelings.

Then, like a child ripped from her mother’s grasp, Z’arr
felt the doorway simultaneously begin to close and recede. The enveloping swell
of Avara’s
nya
slipped away like breakers over a sand–crested beach.

Taking stock, the material world gradually came into focus
once more, grounding her. Though physically drained, K’llan felt entirely
whole, without the slightest trace of lingering pain or dizziness. Yet
emotionally, she felt a stabbing ache of absence at the loss of their amplified
connection.

“
Wow
. That was unexpected.”

K’llan lifted her heavy lids to meet the somewhat wide–eyed
gaze of Captain Serros, the blue of her eyes so bright that Z’arr had blink to
see beyond the fading kobalt light to clearly make out the Human’s features.

“Yes…” K’llan found that she was not sure how to respond. In
her years as a SFT Agent, she had undergone healing from four separate people
with a Synergy Enhancement, but those experiences were nothing like what had
just occurred. In tone and flavor, the exchange of thoughts and feelings was
much more like the experience of union between closely bonded Vosaia.

“Felt like I was actively trying to get a read from you,”
Avara mused, “But I wasn’t. And the images and emotions were so
clear
…
I’ve never experienced that before.” Then, almost with a trace of awkwardness,
Serros realized her hands still rested on K’llan’s neck and she quickly pulled
away, concerned that the contact was unwanted.

Z’arr could feel the lingering warmth of Serros’s touch begin
to fade in the now falling night. “No, I have not either.” She eventually
responded, almost irresolute in regards to what she could, or should, say.
Again she was struck by the maddening query of how much the Human woman
understood about the connection that had developed between them. Or what her
response would be if she did.

K’llan was saved from the questioning look Avara was
shooting her as a moment later, the Captain sat back onto the ground, overcome
by weariness.

“Are you well?” Z’arr asked, a nail of concern puncturing
her thoughts.

“Yeah. I think our day’s exertions are now getting to
me
.”
She responded, tiredly rubbing her forehead.

“I can only imagine. Time for our rations, I think.”

It took only minutes for the two to switch their portable
generator on to stave off the growing cold and then to retrieve their rations;
a rather unappetizing two inch square of tan nutrient matter for Avara, and a
three inch syringe–vial of Vitani for K’llan.

K’llan watched Avara watching her as the Vosaia inserted the
short needle into the vein of her left inner forearm, and then dispense one–half
a dose of the life–giving serum. As always and especially when around non–Vosaia,
the scrutiny of another viewing her daily injection of sustenance left her
feeling vaguely disquieted, like a stranger observing her in an intimate act.

“Sorry; I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable.” Avara
spoke into the silence, eyes reflecting the muted light of the generator.

Of course she’d picked up on what K’llan was feeling. “It is
all right. I am just not used to administering my injections while in the
company of others.”

“You worry about being judged?”

Suppressing an internal sigh at the Human’s ongoing habit of
being both ridiculously insightful and occasionally obtuse, K’llan nodded in
response. “The feeling is not uncommon; it is the association between Vosaia
history and Feeding.”

“Make’s sense.” Serros remarked thoughtfully, then out of
courtesy, K’llan was certain, said no more.

“You are still hungry?” K’llan asked, quite aware that Avara
had ingested only one–third a standard, normal ration allotment for a Human in
an attempt to stretch out their supplies.

“Suppose you’d call me a liar if I said I wasn’t.” Avara answered
with a faint, softly crooked grin.

K’llan offered a smile of her own. “Not at all. I would and
will
simply say, I think you should eat a full day’s food allotment given our
activities and the healing you just administered.”

“I’m not sure that’s wise, K’llan. We have a long journey
before us.”

“Yes, we do, and no matter what else occurs, at some point
very soon, we are going to have to obtain provisions. Yet just as you pointed
out to me earlier, we need to guard our health to make the journey at all.
Starvation would most decidedly prove to be a barrier.”

After a minute’s regard, Captain Serros shrugged in
acquiescence. “Fine, if you’re going to use my own logic against me, the least
I can do is have the good grace to accept.”

Laughing, K’llan responded, “Well, I’m pleased you do not
intend to be difficult over the matter.”

“Ha–ha. I think you’ve been spending too much time with
Marcus.” The Shield quipped, taking a second bite of the remaining portion of the
first of her two ration–cubes.

“He is becoming a good friend.” K’llan agreed easily.

“Mm.” Was Avara’s only response as she finished the rest of
the large bite and took another swig from her canteen. “I hope he and the
others are okay. They may have made planet–side as well, though with any luck,
Excalibur
picked them up instead.”

K’llan collected and processed the shafts of emotion that
accompanied the Captain’s words with ease. “I am sure he is well, and Ca’rrakk,
Belgrum, Dane, and the crew of
Excalibur
.” The Vosaia deliberately
projected a feeling of certainty and comfort with her words.

Avara smiled in gratitude. “Yes, no doubt.”

Standing with a slow stretch, Captain Serros said “I think we
should try and get some sleep. It has been an eventful two days, to say the
least.”

“For certain.”

Saying their goodnights, the two zipped themselves up in their
sleeping rolls inside the small tent, and in fairly short order, K’llan was
able to detect that the Human Captain had already fallen into a deep, exhausted
slumber as her pattern of inhalation and exhalation metered out into a strong,
steady rhythm.