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| Generated by Google Gemini Advanced text-to-image AI software, powered by Imagen 3 |
People keep telling Tinaya their secrets, and including her in them. She
knows about The Question, and the questionable course corrections. She knows
about Thistle’s true nature, and their persistent connection to Verdemus, as
well as a satellite Nexus. She’s aware of the war against the Exin Empire, a
ton of what the Bridger Section is all about, the fact that her son is a
time traveler, and even a few tidbits about what’s to come in the future.
Now there’s this whole thing with her husband that she has had to add to the
pile. Over the last year, the Chief Medical Officer and the Head Temporal
Engineer have been working with him to understand his new powers. He is not,
as they suspected, a retroverter, which are those who can de-age others, or
themselves. What he does has nothing to do with health and vitality, in
fact. He’s an old man, and no matter what he does to his outward appearance,
he’s not gonna manage to generate extra years to his lifespan.
He’s a chameleon, which is a term that Dr. Cernak had to come up with
himself, because this power is not anywhere in the database. There are some
people who have time travel abilities so powerful and precise that they can
actually transport individual photons of light from one point in time to
another. Or maybe it’s more like they’re copying the photons. Tinaya doesn’t
know all that much about it, but these are simply illusions. Behind the
holograms, the true person still remains. This is not what Arqut is doing.
He is modifying the substructure of his skin and skeletal system in order to
make himself look different. He can look like himself at a different age, or
someone else, at any age. With enough time and focus, he can modify only his
face, or his whole body. This is decidedly not a time power, and the
experts are at a complete loss as to where the power might come from.
There’s a lot out there that no one on the ship understands. Not even Omega
and Valencia have all the answers. There is something of interest in
this matter, however, and it involves a fundamental truth about the universe
that the database only touches upon. Despite the fact that everyone here is
descended from a population of ancestors who lived in a different universe,
they actually don’t know much about how the multiverse works. There are more
than two; this much is known, and not because Ansutah makes it impossible
for there not to be, but because of vague and unrelated reports that various
researchers have collected over the centuries. And there is a theory, based
on this limited data, that the physics of these other universes might range
from a little bit different to unrecognizably so. They may allow for the
existence of a person who can shapeshift into others on a purely organic
level, as opposed to a workaround via nanite technology, which the experts
were able unequivocally to rule out as an explanation for Arqut.
The reality is that they have exhausted all avenues of information gathering
that they have at their disposal. If they want answers, they’re going to
have to look for them somewhere else. And Tinaya doesn’t have the ability to
do that with him. So now they have to make a choice, and it might lead to a
premature end of their lifelong commitment to each other.
It’s the Nexus that can potentially and
theoretically transport Arqut to another brane, as it’s called by the
researchers. The technology apparently comes from one of these other branes,
and while they’ve not been able to figure out how to return to that weird
waterworld they were sent to as soon as the Nexa were activated, Valencia
believes that she has discovered the term sequence to somewhere else that
might be of help. She calls it The Nucleus. If anywhere in this universe has
the ability to access the full network, it’s there. But if Arqut does go in
search of answers, he’ll have to go alone, or at least Tinaya can’t go with
him. She has to stay here to complete her duties as a captain, and later an
admiral. More importantly, she has to stay for Silveon. He’s getting bigger,
but he still needs a mother, if only for appearances. It would be hard to
explain where both of his parents went, and why they left him behind. Even
if they could claim that there’s some secret mission off the ship that would
benefit the Extremus, why would they send both parents of a young child? No,
they either have to separate, and possibly never see each other again, or
scrap the whole thing. Arqut is leaning towards the latter.
“Don’t you wanna know?” Tinaya asks.
“Where my new powers come from?” he guesses. “Yeah, but...I don’t want to
leave Silveon at all, even though you’ll still be here. I may never come
back. I may die out there. It’s not worth the risk. It seemed like a decent
idea when Valencia brought it up, but there are too many variables that we
can’t account for. Yeah, I can feel myself talking myself out of it in real
time. This is a dumb idea. Who cares? Salmon go their entire lives not
knowing who’s pulling the strings with their patterns. The idea that I could
die under a similar looming mystery isn’t as big of a deal as it sounds. I
don’t think I need to know any more than I do now.”
Tinaya was secretly hoping that he would say that, but she can’t let on.
“Are you sure? I mean...it has to be from somewhere else. Organic
shapeshifting isn’t a thing.”
He shrugs. “What good is it? I’m too old to be a spy, and I don’t know that
anyone should have this kind of power anyway. What I should do is die, and
have my body cremated, so no one has the chance to reverse engineer it, or
something. Going out there, I lose control over my own postmortem
directives. You can protect me. You can keep this power out of the wrong
hands.”
“That’s a good point,” Tinaya agrees, sincerely and gratefully. She’s about
to elaborate on her thoughts, but her watch beeps. “Oh. I have to go meet
the new captain. Wanna come?”
“Am I allowed?”
“It’s a partially public affair,” she explains. “We don’t want it to look
like we’re making some backroom deal. It’s actually better if you’re
there...if you’re up to it.”
“Yeah, sure.”
They walk over to the port side together. Niobe meets up with them in the
corridor with little Silveon, who’s not so little anymore. He’s currently
eight, going on eighty. He’s loosening up a little bit around others,
creating a narrative that he’s so subdued and unexcitable because of his
precociousness. He still has to remember to laugh at childish jokes, and
not at jokes that should go over the head of someone his age. He’s
considering adding a third friend for him and Waldemar, who is now about to
turn sixteen. Their age gap is starting to get noticed, so the idea would be
to split the difference, and find a twelve-year-old to bridge the gap.
Zefbiri is evidently searching for the right candidate, which is a crazy way
to make a friend, but this being an important mission to the future, it
might be their only reasonable option.
Lataran was right that the new captain would be a boy. Oceanus Jennings is
only 28, having graduated from the captain’s track a few years ago at the
very top of his class. He’s bright, professional, approachable, and frankly,
attractive. Most importantly, he’s young, which the people have been wanting
to see in the chair again, even if they aren’t willing to say the quiet part
out loud. He is the kind of candidate that should always have been the only
ones considered for the job. Again, he’s the appropriate age, and there’s
nothing political about the appointment. Well, that’s not true; it
always involves at least some politics, but it wasn’t done as some
kind of favor, or with a deep agenda in mind. He’s great on paper, and he’s
great in person. He became a natural leader of his peers in his youth, and
is expected to do quite well next year. He didn’t campaign, or step on
people’s heads to advance his career. He simply put in the work, and now
he’s receiving his just rewards.
“Captain-in-waiting,” Tinaya says to him, shaking his hand. There’s no
official deadline for when a new captain must be appointed—as long as it’s
before the previous captain’s promotion—so captain-in-waiting isn’t
an official term, but it’s there if anyone needs it.
“Admiral-in-waiting,” Oceanus replies respectfully with a smile as wide as
the breadth of the whole ship. That’s not a term at all, since she has a
real rank, but it’s fine. “I look forward to your advisement in the coming
years.”
“We’ll see how long I last,” she jokes, self-deprecatingly acknowledging her
own advanced age.
He holds that professional smile. “I would like to introduce you to my First
and Second Lieutenants, Marlowe and Altin Gibson.”
Boys club. Okay. “Brothers?” she guesses.
“That’s right, Captain,” Marlowe confirms, shaking her hand.
“I feel like I’ve heard that name before too; Gibson.”
“Our grandfather, Hardy was an engineer back in the day,” Altin explains.
“He was a pretty big deal.”
Tinaya nods as if she recalls who he’s talking about, but that would have
been a long time ago. “Yeah, he was great. I’m sure you’ll do well too.” A
boys club, and brothers. Well, hopefully it works out. The ship won’t
survive another scandal like Tamm. “Oh, there they are,” she says, one arm
open to receive her husband as he’s walking up with Silveon. “May I
introduce you to Superintendent Arqut Grieves, and our amazing son, Silveon.
Say hi, Silveon.”
Silveon has his whole body pressed up against his dad’s hip, like he’s
nervous. He’s not saying anything, but staring at the new Captain and his
posse. Hopefully, he’s only playing the part, and doesn’t actually have an
issue with Oceanus. Tinaya doesn’t know what she could do with a warning
about his future.
“He’s just a little shy,” Tinaya lies.
“Aww.” Oceanus bends forward to get closer to Silveon’s eye level. “Wadya
think? Are you gonna follow in your mother’s footsteps, and become a captain
too one day? “Silveon Grieves, Eighth of Eleven; how does that sound?”
Silveon just looks away, still shyly.
They go through the motions with this meet and greet, then leave as soon as
it’s socially appropriate to do so. “What was that?” Tinaya asks once the
door to their stateroom is closed. She’s grown accustomed to speaking to her
little one as an adult. It no longer feels quite as weird and disturbing.
“What does Oceanus end up doing?”
“He’s not the captain where I’m from,” Silveon answers. “I’ve never even
heard of the man. That’s kind of what scares me.”
“Is that why you were acting so childish?” Arqut asks him, not at all
meaning that as an insult. He literally has to act childish all the time.
“I don’t know how to be around him. I was thrown off since you didn’t tell
me who was succeeding you, mom. I’ve been so focused on Waldemar, and now
I’m realizing that we truly are in a new timeline, which I can’t predict
anymore. That’s all I was thinking about. What if Waldemar just never
becomes captain either? I wasn’t trying to stop him, only change him, but
who knows what other changes I’ve made without realizing it? Things could
end up worse.”
“I believe that Waldemar will still take the seat after Jennings,” Tinaya
contends. “You’re not the only one with future knowledge. The Bridger
section was quite convinced that there was nothing they could do to stop it.
Of course, they never gave me a name, or even a shift, but based on what
little you’ve divulged, I’m confident that you and they were talking about
the same man.”
“All you can do is stay on mission, son,” Arqut tries to advise.
“That’s not necessarily true,” Silveon argues. “I knew the man who was
supposed to serve between mother and Waldemar. I knew how to control his
future too. I don’t know Jennings. I don’t trust him; not because I don’t
think he deserves it, but genuinely because I don’t know. I hate the
uncertainty. No one told me how much I would hate that from being a time
traveler.”
“Well, I’ll be an Admiral, at least for a good few years. Lataran is younger
than me, so she can keep Jennings in line after that. We’ll make it work.
You’re not alone in this. I think you forget that since you weren’t planning
on having so much support.”
“That’s true,” Silveon agrees. “And mom?” He steps over, and takes one of
her hands in both of his. “You’re gonna last the whole next shift. You’re
healthier than you were in the other timeline, and she made it through.”
“Thanks,” she responds. “Probably shouldn’t say any more.” Tinaya takes a
breath, and turns away to walk towards the viewscreen, which is faking an
image of outer space.
“What are you thinking about?” Arqut asks.
She turns back and smiles at him, and then down at Silvy. “How lucky I am,
to be here, with the two of you.” She stares at the screen again, for a
pretty long time. “Maybe I shouldn’t tell you this, but I feel like you have
a right to know. And even though, Sil, you said I was going to live for
another two dozen years, you can’t promise that. So let me give you time to
prepare yourselves.” She spins around. “When I die, and they ask me The
Question...I’m going to answer no.”
