The Archer's Paradox - The Travis Fletcher Chronicles (15 page)

“Explain.” Xnuk Ek’ seethed through gritted teeth. Niji No Tori made to speak but Xnuk Ek’ cut her off with a chop of her hand. “No, just leave. I have business with Travis Fletcher.” Niji No Tori jumped to her feet and began remaking her ponytail. “I will speak with Sundaravāda Ci
ṭṭ
e later to discuss your conduct.”

“Of course.” The girl replied with a submissive bow, and made to leave.

“Just wait a minute!” Travis interrupted, indignation colouring his voice. “I asked her to stay and keep me company and she has been very good company.” He put a protective hand on the girl’s shoulder.

“What do you mean?” Xnuk Ek’ asked, her eyes glinting dangerously.

“I mean that she has been more of a friend to me than you or anyone else on this ship.” He retorted. “I have learnt more over a couple of glasses of wine from her than I have from you since I met you.” He had had enough of Xnuk Ek’’s evasions, cryptic answers and cutting remarks, and he was getting his own back.

“Go on.” She prompted.

“I know what a bakaan is and that twenty kalkaans make a bakaan.”

“So?” She was being deliberately belligerent, goading him, and it was working. Niji No Tori was looking distinctly uncomfortable and tried to leave but Xnuk Ek’ was blocking her exit.

Travis caught the edge in his minder’s voice and attempted to rein himself in. “Well, I know that this ship is nearly five and a half miles long,” he exclaimed, spreading his arms wide, “and that’s fucking big.” He smiled, trying to lighten the atmosphere, but Xnuk Ek’ was having none of it.

“Is that all?” She sneered.

“No, I know that your planet’s year is nearly half as long again as Earth’s and that you live nearly ten times longer, and I know about The Fall.”

Niji No Tori gulped and Xnuk Ek’’s eyes narrowed. “What about
The
Fall?” She hissed vehemently.

“I know you really fucked yourselves up, big style. Almost complete self-annihilation across five suns; sort of puts the Mutually Assured Destruction between America and Russia into perspective, doesn’t it?”

“That was over two thousand years ago.” she replied with a finality that should have ended the discussion.

Sensing that reconciliation was beyond reach, he went back on the attack and retaliated with a broadside. “And you are still paying the price for it, aren’t you? Don’t come the fucking high and mighty with me, bitch.” He shouted, accusingly. “That’s why you need me.” He pointed at Xnuk Ek’ then jabbed himself in the chest to emphasise the point. “Primitive little me!”

No-one had noticed that Sundaravāda Ci
ṭṭ
e had come in behind Xnuk Ek’ as she watched each of them in turn during the heated exchange with an odd look on her face.

“You told me that our races were similar,” He paused dramatically, “you never told me we were directly fucking related! In fact we’re not just related, you fucking made us, you conniving bastards, the fucking lot of you!” He finished, indicating everyone in the room. No one replied.

“Tell me about the train crash.” Sensing his advantage, he changed the subject, staring down the tall alien.

Xnuk Ek’ did not flinch but the other two swivelled their heads between the antagonists. Sundaravāda Ci
ṭṭ
e kept her mind closed and her expression neutral but the young
Paal Kanik
was close to complete meltdown. She sensed something ugly was coming and she broadcast pleas, mental and verbal, for them both to calm down.

“Tell me that you were not responsible for the crash and my family being killed.”

Xnuk Ek’ became introspective for a moment before replying carefully. “I did not cause the event that killed your family.”

“But you were there, weren’t you?” He accused.

“We were observing.” She admitted.

“Did you see what caused the crash?” He asked, dangerously.

Xnuk Ek’’s eyes softened for a moment as she nodded.

“Could you have prevented the crash?”

“I saved your life!” Xnuk Ek’ retorted. “It was ME that threw you clear before the vehicle you were in was ripped apart!”

“That’s not what I asked! Could you have prevented the crash that killed my family?” He repeated slowly, word by word.

Xnuk Ek’ paused and took a deep breath. “I could not.” She stated simply.

“You’re lying!” He shouted, pointing accusingly. The atmosphere in the room suddenly changed, but Travis did not notice. “I think you deliberately let my family die just so that I wouldn’t have anything to live for. I think...”

An odd look of triumph crossed Xnuk Ek’’s face before being replaced by unadulterated anger, Sundaravāda Ci
ṭṭ
e moved to one side, without taking her eyes off Xnuk Ek’, and poor Niji No Tori staggered and sat down heavily, her eyes wide in disbelief at what she was hearing. She looked helplessly from Travis to Xnuk Ek’ and back again. What had she done? She wanted to scream at them to stop and throw herself between them, but her body refused to respond and her voice choked off in her throat as it contracted in fear. None of this impacted on Travis as the alcohol from seven glasses of wine coursed through his veins and something seemed to be egging him on; he was on a roll and nothing was going to stop him. The weapon was in Xnuk Ek’’s hand before anyone saw her move. Travis saw the small black device without registering what it was. She pointed it at Travis and fired with a look of final determination on her face. Time slowed as Travis watched the ball of energy leave the device and strike him in the chest. It incinerated his ship suit where it struck and buried itself in his flesh. Every pain receptor in his body immediately screamed in protest as he felt as if his skin had been instantly flayed from his body before being dumped in a vat of acid. He threw his arms wide, his eyes bulged from their sockets and his mouth opened in a silent scream from pain so intense no sound could form in his throat. Merciful blackness enveloped him before his limp body hit the floor.

The first thing Travis registered was the sound of people around him. He could make out voices but not what they were saying. The words were clear enough but they were in a foreign language. He tried to open his eyes but nothing happened. Was he blind? Then his body registered pain. There was a sharp, burning sensation in his chest as if someone had thrust a red hot poker through his rib cage and left it there. The pain intensified as he breathed in and there was also an unpleasant tingle at his extremities. Was that a good thing? He could feel pain, so he must be alive, so that was good, wasn’t it? He wasn’t sure. Then he remembered a pair of shining silver eyes, a ball of light and a searing pain of pure white exploding in his head. He sat bolt upright with a scream on his lips and regretted it immediately as the pain in his chest multiplied many fold and he collapsed backwards, convulsing in pain and clutching his chest. He felt hands restraining him and more voices. One seemed to be aimed at him. It was soft, female, reassuring and totally indecipherable. Others sounded like questions and answers between themselves, some male some female.

“Who are you?” panic edged his voice. “I can’t understand you. What happened? Where am I? I’m blind. Can you speak English?” Where was he? He felt like he should know but the answer eluded him as he grasped for it.

All the other voices fell silent for a moment before the one close to him started up. It seemed to be asking him questions.

“I’m sorry, I don’t understand. Do you speak English? ¿Hablas Inglés? Parlez-vous Anglais? Sprechen Sie Englisch?” The voice did not sound Spanish or French and definitely not German but it was all he could think of, and even if the voices replied in any of those languages he still would not understand. “Where am I? I can’t see!” his voice quavered, hot tears filled his useless eyes and he started to shake uncontrollably and hyperventilate as post-traumatic shock gripped him. He felt something touch him inside his head, his body relaxed and his breathing eased. An unseen hand raised his head and he felt something uncomfortably warm attach itself to the nape of his neck. There was a squirming sensation, like a bug crawling over his skin that only lasted a moment before it was gone. After a pause he heard the voice again.

“Can you understand me now?” It asked.

“Yes.” he replied, relieved to hear an English voice.

“Do you remember what happened?” he recognised it as the voice that had asked him questions before.

Travis thought for a moment. “A bright light, pain, that’s all.” he replied. “Was I hit by a car?”

The voice ignored his question. “That is troubling. I must investigate.”

Travis felt himself falling into unconsciousness again, but not before he became aware of another entity slipping into his mind.

He was flying over a city. It looked like Sheffield but not quite. He surmised that he was dreaming, so the fact that he was flying with no means of support or propulsion did not alarm him. He saw smoke. It seemed to be significant to him, so he turned towards it. BBC Radio Sheffield looked like it had been hit by a bomb. Black smoke was pouring out of the windows, the antenna leaned drunkenly to one side and there was a hole in the roof. On the roof was a woman with long dark hair streaked with grey. She wore white robes with bejewelled butterflies emblazoned on its high collars. He felt as if he should recognise her. She looked up and waved at him to join her. He spiralled down. As soon as he touched down the woman started talking and gesticulating at the damage around them but he could not understand her. She took him to the edge of the hole in the roof and motioned for him to look down. He saw an object lodged in the wreckage below that pulsed with a black light as dark as a black hole. She pointed at the ruined antenna and operating console below it, but her explanation made no sense to him so he just shrugged. She turned and began pulling panels off and examining the charred contents inside. The scene faded and he felt himself falling...falling...falling into blackness.

He heard voices, indistinguishable at first but then clearer. It was a man and a woman and they were arguing.

“It will take time.” The woman was saying. He recognised it as the voice that had asked him questions before.

“We do not have time.” the male said, as if the words would alter reality. He knew this voice too, but he could not remember where from.

“Xnuk Ek’ may have satisfied her honour in ways that she did not expect.” There was more than a hint of irony in the woman’s voice.

“Xnuk Ek’!” The male sounded disappointed, as if he had been personally let down. “I have yet to think of how to deal with her.”

“Deal with her carefully.” the woman’s voice held a warning. “She was forced to act to save her honour in the only way left open to her. If you make an example of her, then others’ honour may be called to account.” she left the accusation open.

“How dare you question...!”

“I question nothing!” the woman cut the man off with a voice that could stop a juggernaut. “Honour is a double edged blade, be careful how you wield
it
.” she warned.

“I know that name.” Travis’ groggy voice caught their attention. “She shot me!” Realisation hit like a bucket of ice water and he was suddenly fully awake. “The bitch!”

“Do you know me?” the female voice soothed his anger and ignored his outburst.

Travis eyes were open but still struggling to focus. It took a couple of seconds for the shapes to take recognisable forms. They were not in his cabin, but the surroundings looked familiar. He was back in the White Room on a bed, naked again, and Sundaravāda Ci
ṭṭ
e was standing over him. A stocky black male with short dark hair looked over her shoulder. “You’re the doctor. You were in my head, in my dream. And you,” he turned to Wingu Kanzu, “you were in my hospital room, on Earth.”

Sundaravāda Ci
ṭṭ
e nodded, satisfied. “Yes, Xnuk Ek’ shot you with a personal pulse weapon.”

“Good job it was set to stun else she might have killed me.” Travis raised a weak smile. “Although I didn’t expect it to hurt this much.” he said in a weak attempt at wry humour.

“What do you mean ‘set to stun’?” Wingu Kanzu asked. The two aliens looked at each other and back at Travis.

“You know: stun, as in disable and not kill.” Travis replied, as if explaining a punchline that no-one had understood.

“The weapon has no such capability. It malfunctioned,” Wingu Kanzu explained, “that is the only reason you are alive.”

Travis slumped back down. “Oh shit. I knew she hated me, but not that much.”

“Her perceived dislike of you was not her motivation.” Sundaravāda Ci
ṭṭ
e began. “It was...”

Wingu Kanzu cut Sundaravāda Ci
ṭṭ
e off. “None of The Original’s concern.” he finished for her.

“I think it is my concern!” Travis retorted, assuming he was ‘The Original’. He recognised the title but was struggling to remember where from.

Wingu Kanzu ignored him and turned to the Ts’ats’aak. “How long will the treatment take?”

“The charge damaged both his
chi’
and
xikin
as well as his other higher functions. I have given him a translator patch, but….”

“That is not what I meant.” Wingu Kanzu snapped.

“The damage is severe, but reparable; he will need three sessions before…..” she replied evenly.

“Will he be ready before we reach Otoch?”

“No, he will need to regain some strength first.”

“How soon?”

“I will be able to have one session in a healing tank before we reach Otoch but I will need two more after we arrive.”

“The Council will not be pleased.” Wingu Kanzu warned.

“The Council can wallow in the lowest level of
Xibalba!”
Sundaravāda Ci
ṭṭ
e retorted sharply. “While he is in my care, I will allow no harm to come to him.”

“Be wary
Ts’ats’aak
, on Otoch there are many who could replace you.” Wingu Kanzu warned with a dangerous edge to his voice.

“Once a treatment has started, to change
Ts’ats’aak
is dangerous to the patient. You should know this, Wingu Kanzu.” Sundaravāda Ci
ṭṭ
e replied as if she was chiding a lazy
Paal Kanik
.

Wingu Kanzu turned on his heel and stomped out. At the door he exchanged some curt words with someone outside and two well-built males entered sporting side arms on their hips. They took up positions on either side of the door and looked stoically forward.

“Is this really necessary?” Sundaravāda Ci
ṭṭ
e sounded angry.

Wingu Kanzu shot her a thunderous look and stormed off without replying.

Sundaravāda Ci
ṭṭ
e gave the guards a disdainful look before turning back to Travis. “We should begin your treatment as soon as possible.” she said. “Xnuk Ek’’s attack has caused more than bodily injury.”

“What do you mean?” Travis asked, alarmed.

“You have a bad burn to your chest that needs attention, and the malfunction caused some of the energy to pass through your body and overload parts of your brain.”

“But I feel fine,” Travis assured her, “apart from the hole in my chest.” he finished wryly.

“But when you woke, you could no longer understand us.”

Travis remembered and shook his head.

“You can no longer use your telepathic ability and even the ship can no longer hear or respond to you.”

“So no food, no drink, no...
facilities
?” His mind randomly turned to the toilet for some inexplicable reason.

“Correct, unless someone prepares it for you.” she replied, referring to the preparation of food rather than Travis’ ablution requirements.

“Shit.” Travis remembered the dream of flying over Sheffield and the bomb damage to the BBC Sheffield building. His Mindscape! It was all coming back to him.

“Indeed.” she agreed.

“How is…Nijj…urm...your assistant?” A memory reared in Travis’s memory of the young girl screaming hysterically as the energy pulse exploded on his body.

“Niji No Tori?” she shook her head. “I have relieved her of her duties until she feels well enough to return. She holds herself responsible.”

“It wasn’t her fault! I asked her questions, all she did was tell me the truth. That’s what you people are big on isn’t it? The truth?” Travis put a bit more bite into his words than he meant to as the woman’s head snapped up and held his gaze. “I’m sorry.” he apologised and lowered his eyes. “I need to see her. Can you arrange it?”

“I am not sure she will respond.” Sundaravāda Ci
ṭṭ
e explained apologetically.

“Tell her my honour depends on it.” Travis insisted.

“You feel responsible for her pain?” Sundaravāda Ci
ṭṭ
e asked, a soft smile on her lips.

Travis nodded after a pause. “I suppose
I
do.” he replied.

Sundaravāda Ci
ṭṭ
e nodded as if satisfied. “There is hope for you yet, Travis Fletcher. I will arrange it. Come, we must begin.” she called two
Aantah
from another room, both male and from the same star as their
Nohchil
, by their stature and colouring. “First we will heal your wound, it will be as if this never happened, then we will attend to your other injuries.”

“No scar?” Travis asked.

“No, you will be completely restored.” she affirmed.

“No.” The
Ts’ats’aak
and her
Aantah
looked at him surprise. “My scars remind me of my mistakes.” The three still looked at him uncomprehendingly. He pointed under his left eyebrow to a scar about half an inch long. “I got this when I was ten years old and I fell off a climbing frame in the park. I had a night in hospital with concussion and three stiches.” he tapped the scar. “It reminds me I am not invincible every time I look in the mirror. And this,” he pointed to the back of his right hand to a diagonal scar about three inches long, “I got this last year stopping a glass ashtray from hitting me in the face, and it reminds me not to hook up with married women because their husbands’ get upset if they find you in their bed with their wife.” he smiled at the memory for a moment but his audience looked blankly at him. “And this,” he tapped his chest and winced at the pain, “will teach me not to piss off tall alien women with ray guns.” he finished, his tone attempting to be jovial and failing. His smile faded before adding. “Actually, it will remind me of a lot of things, I just haven’t decided what yet.”

“I do not pretend to understand your reasoning or your explanations, but I will ensure a scar is left, if you insist, but the wound must be tended to immediately.”

“Thank you.” he said quietly.

Travis’s sincerity was not lost on Sundaravāda Ci
ṭṭ
e, even if his requirements were. She motioned to her assistants and they levitated him through to the next room and into a tank. She climbed into the tank with him and supported him while it filled with liquid. She could feel Travis start to panic as his natural fear of drowning gripped him as the liquid engulfed their bodies, so she rendered him unconscious.