The Archer's Paradox - The Travis Fletcher Chronicles (16 page)

Travis opened his eyes. He was standing in a familiar hallway with the front door to his apartment ahead. Next to him stood the old
Ts’ats’aak
, dressed once again in white, high collared robes with the butterfly insignia.

“Your wound is being dealt with, but I need to attend to the mental injuries.” she seemed to be waiting for something.

“I didn’t think you needed my permission if it was a medical emergency.” he prompted.

“That is correct,” she affirmed, “and neither do I need your presence, but there are matters we must discuss where we cannot be overheard. What more secure place than your Mindscape. For this reason I require your permission to enter.”

Travis was confused and not a little afraid of what he was going to learn. He felt he was caught in the middle of something that he did not understand and could not control, but he nodded his acceptance. Sundaravāda Ci
ṭṭ
e indicated the door and Travis moved to open it.

As they flew towards the damaged building that represented the portions of his brain that required attention, Sundaravāda Ci
ṭṭ
e took a detour over the dark centre of the city she had shown him before. She pointed and he could see that there was also damage to these areas as well. They wheeled about and landed on the roof of the damaged BBC Sheffield building. Sundaravāda Ci
ṭṭ
e stood surveying the destruction. She turned to him with a serious look on her face.

“If you repeat anything we discuss here, I will kill you myself as a matter of honour.” she began without preamble. “Unless Xnuk Ek’ gets to you first.”

Travis gagged and took a step backwards. “You people have serious problems and I don’t think I want to know.”

She grabbed his arm and pulled him close with strength that did not match her stature or age, until their faces nearly touched. “What I tell you here may save your life.” she hissed.

Travis shook his arm free. “Ok, so tell me. I promise not to say anything.”

Sundaravāda Ci
ṭṭ
e nodded curtly. “Xnuk Ek’’s weapon did not malfunction.”

“Eh?”

“I surmised what she was doing so I attempted to disable her weapon.”

“You didn’t do a very good job.” Travis retorted, indicating the destruction around them.

“I am
Ts’ats’aak
, not a weapons expert and I only had moments before she fired.” she bit back. “Anyway, I made no changes because the weapon had already been tampered with.” she finished in a conspiratorial whisper.

“How? I don’t understand.”

“Components were damaged so that most of the energy pulse would dissipate before striking you, but I did not anticipate this much secondary injury to you.” she finished, waving at the devastation around them.

“Why didn’t you just stop it working?” He asked. “Surely that would have been easier?”

“But then my intervention would have been noticed and Xnuk Ek’’s honour would not have been satisfied.”

“I’m sorry,” he apologised, but still, weighing up the pain he was going through just to save that stuck up bitch’s honour, “I am grateful you saved my life...again.” It seemed he was always thanking someone for saving his life since he met these aliens.” No, not aliens, if that young nurse / assistant, whatever, was right. “But why?” Sundaravāda Ci
ṭṭ
e gave him an uncomprehending look. “Why was her gun sabotaged, and why did she shoot me in the first place? I thought I was the ‘Saviour of Your Race’. It seems a little counterproductive to kill me if that’s the case.” he finished, his voice laced with sarcasm.

“Now we reach the crux of the matter. Xnuk Ek’ left her mental shield open so I was able to discover what she had learned, but whether this was by design or accidental, I am unsure.” she paused until she had Travis’ full attention. “It seems that Xnuk Ek’ was caught between two opposing matters of honour, what we call The Paradox of Honour.” Travis shrugged so she gave a quick explanation.

“So what’s this got to do with me?” he was at a loss as to how a simple computer salesman from Earth could cause such a massive incident.

“Xnuk Ek’ believes that you were not given the whole truth before you were given the choice of coming with us.” Sundaravāda Ci
ṭṭ
e explained.

“Ooooh kaaay.” he said, not sure how to respond, nor liking the way this was going.

“She was forbidden from making you aware of the omissions.” Sundaravāda Ci
ṭṭ
e continued. “She was compelled by her honour to tell the truth, but this would question the honour of her
Ka’nsah
and she had no proof.”

“So to get her out of this Paradox of Honour, she forced me to call her a liar, leaving the way open to save herself by sacrificing me?” Travis concluded. “I was given a thumbnail sketch of your Codes of Honour by Nigy Now…er…your nurse.” he explained when Sundaravāda Ci
ṭṭ
e raised her eyebrows at him.

Sundaravāda Ci
ṭṭ
e nodded. “Xnuk Ek’ has no personal animosity towards you.”

“Ha!” Travis barked sarcastically. “I don’t think that’s true.” he pouted. “Not that I am calling you a liar,” he added quickly, holding up his hands defensively, “I just think you are mistaken.”

Sundaravāda Ci
ṭṭ
e smiled at his hasty, if unnecessary, recovery. “I think she actually likes you.” she reiterated.

“Remind me never to really piss her off then. I’d hate to be someone she really dislikes” he grumbled. “But that still doesn’t answer the question of why the gun was sabotaged in the first place. It must have been someone who knew what she was planning.” he postulated. “But I don’t understand why.”

“That is what I intend to find out.”

“So, now what?”

“I will do what I can to ensure she is treated honourably.” she turned and regarded the ruined equipment behind her. “Now you must allow me to continue my work.”

“Is that it?” Travis exclaimed. “You people take the fucking biscuit, you really do. What am I supposed to do now? What’s going to happen to Shnukekk?”

Sundaravāda Ci
ṭṭ
e turned back to face Travis with a smile playing round her lips at his appalling pronunciation. “Xnuk Ek’ is confined to her quarters. You are unlikely to see her again. She will be taken before The Council to answer for her actions.”

“What will happen to her?” he had a feeling of foreboding.

“She could be executed for endangering the success of the mission and the Xi Scorpii race.”

“Fuck me!” Travis exploded. “All for the sake of honour?” His legs felt weak and he sank to the ground. He did not want that on his conscience. He almost wished his attacker had succeeded so at least he would never have to live with that thought.

“Indeed. But that is unlikely.” Travis looked up into the old
Ts’ats’aak’s
eyes hopefully. “It is more likely that The Council will not want to attract too much attention, so she will be side-lined into an occupation where she can do no harm.”

Travis was not sure if that sounded any better. “What about me?” he asked again.

“Xnuk Ek’ may have succeeded in saving your life…”

“Everyone is saving my life!” he exclaimed rolling his eyes skyward.

Sundaravāda Ci
ṭṭ
e ignored the outburst. “The Council will now be forced to take the long way and allow you to develop your abilities before attempting to extract the tissue samples we need to affect a cure for our people.”

“And that means……” Travis prompted.

“You will survive the procedure, our race will be saved and you will be able to go home.”

“Ok, I like that.” Travis got to his feet again. “Everyone wins, nearly everyone.” he finished, remembering Xnuk Ek’’s plight.

“I may even be able to accelerate the process, now I know what to do.” she turned back to her work. Travis looked over his shoulder and saw the door to his apartment.

**********

Xnuk Ek’ squeezed the trigger which started a sequence of reactions inside the small weapon she was pointing at the being called Travis Fletcher that cumulated in a deadly pulse of energy being released from its barrel. The time lapse between trigger and ejection was mere nanoseconds, but in that time she saw the look of horror on Niji No Tori’s face, she saw an odd look of satisfaction on Sundaravāda Ci
ṭṭ
e’s and total incomprehension at what was happening on Travis Fletcher’s. In that nanosecond her resolve wavered, but it was too late. She felt the weapon vibrate slightly and there was a faint crackle as the pulse was released to strike Travis Fletcher in the centre of his chest. His expression changed to surprise then excruciating pain as he threw his arms wide then collapsed backwards to the floor, his back arched and his face contorted in an agonising silent scream. Wisps of smoke, the smell of burnt flesh and clothing curled up from his body and the faint whiff of ozone from the discharge assailed her nostrils. She had never fired her weapon at anything but practice targets before, let alone killed anyone. The enormity of what she had done struck her full in the face and she let the gun fall to the floor, her arm still outstretched as if pointing at the evidence of her crime. Time returned to its normal speed again and everything happened at once. Niji No Tori screamed hysterically and fell to her knees, sobbing uncontrollably, outside an alarm sounded as the ship detected an unauthorised weapon’s discharge, Sundaravāda Ci
ṭṭ
e deftly moved in front of Xnuk Ek’ with an agility that belied her age and kicked her fallen weapon out of reach before kneeling to comfort the distraught
Aantah
. Xnuk Ek’ let her
arm fall to her side and regarded the distraught
Aantah
dispassionately. She felt nothing; all emotion had drained from her like water on dessert sand.

The door slid open and two security guards entered purposefully, weapons drawn, searching for targets. They surveyed the scene; one body, one hysterical female being comforted by her
Nuuktak
and a third stood facing them with her arms outstretched, wrists together in a gesture of surrender and a small personal weapon on the floor in a far corner of the room. Xnuk Ek’ looked over her shoulder at the fallen form of her erstwhile charge as the guards bundled her out of the cabin. Did she see his chest move? Was he still breathing? She reached out with her mind but found nothing; not the faintest hint of a thought or activity. She turned back and allowed herself to be led out.

All that seemed so long ago as Xnuk Ek’ sat in her cabin. She had tried to enter a state of
wayak'
to meditate on her actions and options, but she could not quieten her mind as the turmoil of the recent event continually replayed in her head. Had she made a mistake? Did she imagine the Paradox of Honour? If she had approached Wingu Kanzu with her concerns, would they have been able to work it out together? How had the twenty years of trust between
Ka’nsah
and
Paal Kanik
been destroyed so quickly and easily? Tendrils of doubt crept through her mind. She was no longer so sure she had been right.

The door slid open and Wingu Kanzu entered, his mind closed and a look on his face that frightened Xnuk Ek’. He regarded his former
Paal Kanik
as if they had met for the first time and he had taken an instant dislike of her. She rose and hung her head in submission, her mind open for examination. She would accept his judgement, whatever it may be, just let it be quick.

“The Original lives.” he opened, without the customary greetings. Xnuk Ek’’s head snapped up in surprise, a plethora of questions on her lips and mind but he ignored her. “It seems that your weapon was faulty and the charge was not enough to kill him, although he is grievously injured.” he did not expand on the extent of his injuries. The old
Ts’ats’aak
says that he will fully recover in time.” Xnuk Ek’ felt he was keeping something back, but she refrained from commenting. Her mental shields clanged hastily back into place to camouflage the sudden blast of emotions tearing through her mind. Outwardly she remained calm and waited for his next move.

He summoned up a chair and sat down without taking his eyes from her. She felt his gaze boring through her like two lasers as she strove to remain impassive.

“You are an enigma.” he said finally and motioned her to sit, which she did without breaking eye contact with him. She had said the same thing to Travis Fletcher recently, she remembered. “Why did you feel the need to kill The Original, endanger the mission and our existence?” he asked calmly, as if asking to recall her last meal.

“Does that matter?” she asked, stalling for time while she put her thoughts in order.

“It will determine your punishment.” he replied.

She gave him a full account of her thoughts and actions and the confrontation in Travis Fletcher’s quarters, neatly sidestepping Lak’in’s involvement in the process. There was no need to drag him into this, although she was not sure he would forgive her for knocking him unconscious or what he would do about it. As she explained, Wingu Kanzu nodded occasionally but did not interrupt and as she finished, he steepled his fingers and looked up at the ceiling for a moment before returning his gaze to her.