Chapter Seventy-Three (Nakteti) (1/2)
Nakteti held tight to Major Carnight's arm as the shuttle shuddered going through the storm clouds. She kept her eyes squeezed shut, attuned to every vibration of the frame, every change of pitch from the engines, the booming of atmosphere super-heated by the passage of gigawatts of electricity expanding then collapsing. She could smell the humans around her, none of them the slightest bit concerned as the shuttle vibrated in response to narrowly being missed by enough electricity to power a city superheating the air which cooled instantly and collapsed back into itself, causing a sonic clap that she knew could probably be heard for miles.
Worse yet was this was apparently allowed by the weather controlling mechanism around the planet.
She still remembered how beautiful the planet was from orbit, though.
The shuttle plunged through the clouds and into gray air that was filled with precipitation.
”Mommy! A rainbow!” an immature human female squealed out. ”Mommy, look! Mommy!”
Without meaning to Nakteti turned and looked out the window to see what the child was squeaking about and stared.
A trick of TerraSol's energetic yellow star, the atmosphere, the drops of liquid H20 that had formed around microscopic dust or ice crystals, all combined to throw a rippling, pulsating arc of prismatic light through the gray sky.
She gasped, her eyes able to see additional colors than humans. She was mesmerized by the way it rippled, the amount of colors that shimmered, the way it seemed to sweep along with the shuttle.
The scientific part of her mind just told her it was atmospheric projection of prismatic light generated by near-white light through the drops of water, but that part was stilled in wonder at watching it.
Electricity flickered through the clouds, massive bolts, blue in color with white edges, streaming from different clouds to connect and then jump to the ground. She gasped, her fear forgotten by the sight. Even the sonic rumble that shook the shuttle didn't bother her as she watched the lightning flicker in the clouds.
Their magnetic field is so strong it creates opposing charges between the atmosphere and the ground, Nakteti remembered from her briefing.
A wild, savage planet.
The being she held onto, Major Carnight, was the product of this crazed ecosystem and maddened planet, yet every time she was distressed he would hold her, applying the correct pressure so that her distress would lessen. In many ways he reminded Nakteti of the planet she was heading toward the surface of. Dangerous, powerful enough to tear her apart with no effort but comforting and solid, easing her distress with the very bulk and power that could kill.
There was a ping on her implant, the updated one fresh enough that it still itched slightly, the skin around it still slightly pink. The shuttle was about to land. The new datalink implant wasn't the only thing. The inside of her thigh still itched where the humans had put a 'biocleanser' into her leg. It was attached to the main artery, able to filter out everything from prions to almost visible to the naked eye debris. Designed to break down anything foreign into base proteins to allow her organs to just process the remains.
A simple device, that she'd watched the complex 3D printer creation engine in the medical bay print out. That her own medical officer had stared at the template and how it worked, clenching and unclenching her hands in fury.
”It's so simple. The math, the tech, is right there and obvious to anyone! Imagine how many lives this simple blood cleanser implant would save every year!” she had cursed. ”I could have built this, anyone could have built this, if we'd just been allowed to think of it.”
There was a sudden deceleration that made both of her stomachs drop to her toes and pulled her from the memory.
The immature female human went ”WHEEE!” and threw her hands in the air.
Nakteti managed to not throw up, even though she turned and grabbed Major Carnight's arm with all four hands.
The shuttle landed with a bump, it settled deeply then lifted slightly, making both of her stomachs bobble in her abdomen. She held onto Major Carnight as the other humans got to their feet and slowly left the shuttle.
”Teddy!” a small immature human female, still small enough the mother held it close to her body, blurted out, reaching for Nakteti. The little hands, still strong looking, opened and closed. When the mother kept moving the small human started crying as if her heart would break.
”She thought you were a stuffy,” Major Carnight said. ”I hope that didn't offend you.”
That made Nakteti giggle, covering her mouth with one of her catching hands. ”No. No, it doesn't.”
More humans walked past, some glancing, some staring at something provided by their implant that only they could see, others obviously focused on a task they needed to complete. Nakteti just watched them all leave, until finally they were the only ones left.
”Are you ready? Despite personal space, it's going to be crowded,” Major Carnight told her.
Nakteti nodded. She held onto the Major's thick arm as they left the shuttle, walking down the connecting tube, and into the concourse.
Staring around her, Nakteti grasped. While her own species was used to crowding, bumping and touching each other, what she saw amazed her. Humans moving together, in streams, pooling near eateries, where luggage came out on anti-grav conveyors, or just, to Nakteti's eyes, random spots in the massive concourse.
She held tight to him as they went down two sets of moving stairs, got a lift-cart, and moved to the luggage conveyor. As they stood there an elderly human woman, the hair on her head gray, her face lined and wrinkled, looked up at Major Carnight.
”Do you have family with the Sleeping Ones, Major?” the old woman asked.
”Yes, ma'am, but that's not why I'm here,” Major Carnight answered.
”Oh, is it to show your guest around?” the woman nodded at Nakteti.
”Yes, ma'am, it is,” Carnight answered.
The old woman reached forward, grabbing a trundle, its own levitation systems kicking in as soon as it left the conveyor. She looked at Major Carnight and nodded.
”Carry on, Major, and Fight the 13th,” she said.
Major Carnight jerked slightly, looking at the old woman as she began to move away. ”Old Blood, ma'am.”
Nakteti looked up at the surprised expression on the Major's face. ”What?”
”It's easy to forget that people who have chosen to age have lived a long life,” he said, shaking his head. ”Just, preconceptions from being effectively immortal.”
Nakteti clenched her jaw at that. The humans had apparently fought and, for the most part, defeated death. The SUDS at the base of their skull kept a constant recording of their mental engrams, thought patterns, even a molecular map of their neural tissue. It was even backed up through quantum entangling with ”Master SUDS Arrays” all over human space. Even if their body was completely destroyed, their mastery of cloning technology let them grow a new body identical to the old one or to specification. Apparently humans were capable of living centuries before they started suffering mental engrams, and with software, firmware, and wetware advanced, the lifespan was being pushed forward all the time.
Apparently, before that, they had managed to achieve immortality through removing the brain and keeping it under constant repair through nanite infused nutrigel with cybernetic implants to fool the brain into thinking there was a body there. Those were, as far as Major Carnight told her, mostly gone. Slowly succumbing to inevitable decay.
She felt a surge of jealousy.
The humans had evolved after a life extinction event, the fourth or fifth their planet had suffered, clawed their way to supremacy on a resource poor world, and had achieved what was basically immortality without anyone's help. Had beaten the resource problem, becoming a society where time and imagination and personal effort was worth more than any mere chunk of elemental ore or isotopes.
She squeezed Major Carnight's arm tighter, closing her eyes and doing her best to push away her jealousy.
If my people hadn't been found by the Lanaktallans, by the Overseers, what would we have accomplished? What greatness could have we discovered? she thought to herself. Their 'help' was little more than slave chains to keep us bound to their machines.
Finally their luggage showed up. Well, the small tote she was carrying. The Major didn't seem to need one but had suggested that Nakteti carry any mementos she felt like carrying.
Nakteti had chosen to take a blanket, a comfort gripper, and a couple changes of clothing. They all fit in a small tote, which the big human picked up.
They stopped by a few shops on the way, so Nakteti could purchase a few gifts and mementos of coming here.
It was in one shop she stopped, looking at a transparent brick of some kind of material, with the image of a human slightly curled, inside. It marked ”Sleeping One” on the shelf. She looked up at Major Carnight, who was waiting for her to finish shopping.
”What is this?” She asked.
Major Carnight looked at the block and sighed.
”Its for you to buy to remember family members. From a long time ago,” The Major said. Nakteti could hear the slight pain in his voice.
”Do you have one?” she asked.
He nodded slowly. ”A maternal line relative. A many times great grand-mother,” he said. He looked away, at the side of the store. Nakteti noticed the muscles on his jaw were clenched and dropped the line of inquiry.
They walked out of the concourse, out to a covered walk. There was a gray limousine waiting for them with two armed guards in military uniforms standing beside the vehicle. There was a heavy blocky vehicle in front of the limousine, two more behind it, all three had a mounted gun on them with an armored soldier standing out of the vehicle with one hand on the weapon.
She was startled the sheer obviousness of the military vehicles, of the display of a willingness to use armed force. Yes, the Overseers kept vehicles around that were often armed, in order to suppress riots and other disturbances, but the weapons were usually hidden unless there was an immediate need for them.
”This way, ma'am,” one of the two uniformed men said, the other opening the door. She started to step forward when Major Carnight put his hand on her grasping hand that she held tight to his arm with.
”Did you check your implant?” Carnight asked.
”Oh,” she looked at them and touched the muscle she'd learned to use. Both of the men suddenly had boxes around their faces, then blocks around their bodies, arms, legs, hands, feet. Another box appeared, showing what was obviously an official picture, then the names and ranks of the two men with VERIFIED under the box. The vehicle was boxed, then another image of it, and VERIFIED below the box.
”You are important. Always check your implant before getting in a vehicle with strangers,” Major Carnight said.
Nakteti felt her ears flatten in embarrassment. ”I forgot.”