This is it. Tinaya and Lataran are going to tell the general public of
Extremus that they have maintained a permanent connection to Verdemus.
Having a Nexus on the ship was always an option, but the people who first
developed the idea of the mission ultimately decided against it for obvious
reasons. There was never any law that said they couldn’t build one,
probably because doing so takes the intelligence of a lesser god, and the
patience of a saint. It was sort of against the spirit of what they’re
trying to do here, but since the two they have access to were built for a
rescue operation, it’s okay. Things might change in the future, but for now
the council says that it’s fine. They have already been briefed on the
subject. The braintrust lied to them too, though. They ended up making the
claim that, since the two Nexa weren’t constructed by the original
designers, they couldn’t be on the network. They could only connect to each
other. So people will be able to travel from one to the other, but nowhere
else.
With the council’s input, it has been decided that travel will not be a
free-for-all. For a period of exactly one year, anyone who wants to visit
Verdemus will have to apply to do so. The application that they submit will
either be for a temporary stay, or permanent residency. They will have the
chance to upgrade or downgrade later, should they change their minds. Some
will be excited for the chance to live out their lives on a real planet,
only to realize that they don’t really like it there, with all the bugs and
everything. Others will go just to see what it’s like, and ultimately fall
in love with it. Nothing has to be decided today, but it does have to
be decided in 396 days. At that point, the connection will be completely
severed. The Verdemusians, both new and old, will have to fend for
themselves from then on, and the Extremusians the same. They’re dropping
people off, like a bus, and this proverbial bus will not be turning around
again. But buses do turn around. They do it all the time, it’s a specific
route. So this is not really a good analogy, which is what Tinaya struggled
the most with when she was writing her speech. The final draft has her just
explaining the situation in no uncertain terms.
They’re going to tell the general population that the Nexa will be destroyed
on both ends. What the council believes is that the Nexus will simply be
disabled, and can be turned on again for emergencies. What only the small
group of the original non-clone, non-secret explosion survivors knows is
that the connection will just stay up the whole time, and they’ll be free to
move back and forth however they please. They probably won’t do it much, but
they’ll at least be able to communicate with each other. Lilac, Aristotle,
and Niobe are staying on Verdemus. The latter two feel that it is their
home, and the former wants to be with her son. Vaska will be staying too,
not only because she isn’t on the Extremus manifest, but also because she
wants to keep studying it. Omega and Valencia will be working on Jaunemus
for now, but if anyone’s going to be using the Nexa after the one year grace
period, it’ll be them. They have important jobs to complete, and they need
the leeway to complete them. Tinaya will be staying on Extremus with Arqut,
and of course, the Captain will too. Spirit and Belahkay have not yet made a
decision, but they’ll surely stay together.
This is a joint presentation, but Lataran will only be responsible for
answering questions at the end, since this is just for the crew for now.
Tinaya is the one who will be explaining everything. She’s pacing on stage,
nervous but using her breathing techniques. The curtain that separates her
from the audience is soundproof. She could scream as loud as she pleased,
and no one would notice. She almost wants to do this, just to recenter
herself. She’s not dealt with the crew much as of late, since her leadership
experience has been mostly relegated to the civilian side, and she’s been
away for so many years anyway. Very few currently on rotation were there
back in the day, so he doesn’t know many of these people.
Tinaya checks her watch, not wanting to be late. The seconds are ticking by,
but she still has about twenty of them left, which is more than enough time
for her to get over her nerves, and figure this out. Right? Why is she so
anxious about it? She’s been around people. Well, in a different way, sure,
but not like this. Extremus is a hollow chunk of metal hurtling through
space. It has to be a structured well-oiled machine, or everything falls
apart, and everyone dies. They had so much more freedom on the planet, and
life was a lot more forgiving. Holy shit, how did ten seconds pass so
quickly? Okay, get ready. There’s the button to open the curtains. Why isn’t
Lataran here with her? Oh yeah, she’s greeting people by the door. That’s
stupid, and annoying. The only thing worse than speaking in front of a huge
crowd of people is being alone. She needs support. She needs Lataran.
“Lataran.”
The Captain’s hand pushes Tinaya’s out of the way just before she can open
the curtain. “Don’t push the button. Button is bad.”
“What are you talking about?” Tinaya questions.
“We’re not doing this. Trust me, it’s a bad idea. I’ll explain everything,
but we need to get you out of here right now.”
“What about the crew?”
“I’ve sent them back to their assignments,” Lataran replied.
“You have?” A completely different Lataran asks. “That’s news to me.”
“What the hell are you doing back here?” The first Lataran shoves Tinaya
behind her as if trying to be a human target.
“Well, one of the new Forest Rangers was running a little late for the
presentation when he saw me sneak backstage, and then immediately saw me
again at the entrance. I could have teleported, yes, but it didn’t look like
that’s where I was headed.”
“Well, shit.” The first Lataran lets go of Tinaya, and holds up her hands
defensively. “Now, I know you have to place me in hock, but you should know
that I’m not here to hurt anyone. I’m not an impostor. I’m a time traveler.”
“I’m not taking you anywhere,” the second Lataran corrects. “Tinaya
is taking both of us, because neither of us can be trusted.”
Tinaya doesn’t move.
“Tiny, that is protocol. You have to assume that we’re both bad guys.”
“She’s right,” the first Lataran says. “I never meant for the two of us to
be in a room together. I wanted to get us away from here before I explained
why I came back.”
“That’s a great idea,” the second Lataran says. “So stop talking!”
Tinaya removes the magcuff from her belt loop, which is standard issue for
all crewmembers, and some key civilians. It’s so thin, she forgets that one
is in every pair of pants that she owns. She only has the one, so the two of
them will have to share. They look like twin sisters holding hands, but not
for long. Tinaya teleports into the hock entrance, and checks them in with
the Hock Watcher. He’s totally indifferent to the situation. He quietly
locks them up in two separate interrogation rooms, and alerts the council,
as well as First and Second Lieutenants. While he’s doing that, Tinaya
reaches out to the current crew consul. She’s actually never met Icarus
Faulkner, but he’s said to be just the nicest guy in the world.
In these uncertain situations, both copies of the same person will be
treated equally until the authority can determine which one of them belongs,
and which one doesn’t. But one version of Lataran is claiming to be real,
and from this time period, while the other is admitting to being an
interloper. So they’re starting with the assumption that both of them are
telling the truth, and focusing their efforts on the latter version. Consul
Faulker pulls Tinaya’s seat out for her, but doesn’t sit down next to her
right away. “Can I get you two anything? Water? Tea?”
Tinaya reaches her hand towards him. “That’s not your job anymore, Consul.”
When he was still young, before he began his apprenticeship, he really did
serve as an assistant to an earlier consul. That was so many years ago; he
should not be experiencing a conditioned response like this. “It’s quite all
right, I’m still standing.”
“We’re both fine,” Tinaya insists.
“She’s right,” Lataran is forced to say when Icarus looks over at her so she
can answer for herself.
He finally relents, and takes his own seat. Poor eyesight is virtually a
thing of the past. It really just depends on what you define as
normal. Almost no one needs to wear lenses. Those who do
almost always want some sort of enhanced vision, like telescopic,
microscopic, or otherwise augmented. Icarus, however, is legitimately
farsighted, and has not elected for corrective surgery, apparently because
he doesn’t want to put the surgeon out. Yeah. There is such a thing as being
too nice. He puts his reading glasses on, and inspects his tablet. As
he goes through his spiel, he skims through the early report, and doesn’t
look up at anyone. “This is Consul Icarus Faulkner of the VMS Extremus,
sitting with former First Chair, Tinaya Leithe. We are interviewing a
purported time traveler who has appeared in the form of current VMS Extremus
Captain, Lataran Keen. The interviewee has been magnetically bound to the
table, and is being treated respectfully and humanely. She has been offered
refreshments, and...” Now he looks up. He quickly taps on the screen. “Do
you need to use the restroom?”
“No.”
Tap. “...an opportunity to use the facilities, which she has so far
declined.” He leans back in his chair, and carefully adjusts the
microexpression detector attached to the one-way mirror behind them. “Okay,
here we go.”
Tinaya instinctively holds to the back of his chair in case he tips all the
way back.
“Thank you kindly.” He goes back into the formal questioning. “Please state
your full name for analysis.”
“Lataran Keen.”
“Middle name included.”
“Don’t have one.”
Icarus looks back at the detector over his reading glasses, which doesn’t
really tell him anything, of course, so he looks down at the results on his
tablet. “Very well. Are you a time traveler?”
“Indeed.”
“What was your date and time of egress?”
“October 12, 2355 at 15:52.”
“What was the purpose of your journey back in time?”
“To stop the announcement of the true nature of our relationship to
Verdemus.”
“Why should this announcement not be made?” he presses.
“It becomes disastrous for both the ship, and the planet. Four months into
allowing passengers to visit Verdemus, attacks begin. It starts with
individual killings, and quickly escalates into full-on bombings. We believe
that a message was recently sent to the Exin Empire, alerting them to the
survival of the planet, and its inhabitants.”
“You believe that a spy infiltrated the visitors in order to sabotage
whatever harmonious society has, and will have, been established there.”
“That’s correct,” Lataran confirms.
“Do you know for sure that it was one of the visitors?”
“Who else would it be?” Lataran asks, very confused.
“Well, when I was briefed, I was told that there are already thousands of
people living there. Clones of Mister Omega Parker?”
“Omega Strong,” Tinaya corrects.
“Apologies. Let the record reflect that I misnamed Omega Strong.”
This sounds like the stupidest thing that Lataran has ever heard. “It wasn’t
the clones. They were there for years before the passengers began to show
up.”
“I am afraid that you have proven a correlative connection, but not a causal
one. That two things occurred in sequence—”
“I understand how logic and causality work,” Lataran interrupts. “Thank you,
but I did pass second grade.”
“You will show respect to the Consul,” Tinaya warns.
“I’m sorry,” Lataran says. “I understand that I have not given you enough
information. Tinaya, you confiscated a flashdrive from me when I checked
in?”
“Is that what that is?” Tinaya asks. “It looks ancient.”
“Intentional obsolescence,” Lataran explains. “For security purposes. Reach
out to the Technology Historians Club. They’ll know what to do. It will have
all the evidence you need to cancel the announcement. We were wrong. No one
can know that Verdemus still stands. We don’t know who we can trust, but
someone is not on our side.”
“We’ll review the data you submitted,” Icarus goes on, “and the claims you
have made. In the meantime, the other Lataran Keen will remain in hock on
the ship, and you will be transported through the Nexus for indefinite
detainment on world.” He switches off the recording, and stands up.
“That’s it?” Tinaya asks him. “No more questions?”
“Until the data can be verified,” Icarus begins, “I would not like to
contaminate my investigation with more, possibly corrupt, information. I’m
sure that we’ll have more to ask once we learn more from that...flashdrive
thing.” He begins to leave the room. “I’ll arrange for covert transport.
I’ll let you two have a moment for a private goodbye, but Miss Leithe, you
are not leaving the ship, and you are not speaking with the other Captain.”
He exits the room with a polite nod to the both of them.
Tinaya and the visiting Lataran do say their goodbyes, because it really
feels like they’re never going to see each other again. It could be that
Lataran’s image has been forever tarnished, and that the real one
will be relieved of her position as well.
After a thorough investigation—with the help of time travel experts Omega
and Valencia, and the current temporal engineers—it’s determined that the
time traveler was telling the truth. The announcement is postponed until
further notice. Five months later, though no passengers are ever allowed to
visit Verdemus, the murders begin, and the planet falls under attack.
