Critical Path

Layla climbed through the hatch and looked at the final free stool between Denver and the croatoan.

“Thought I’d save you the seat next to the turtle,” Charlie said.

“Whatever, Charlie,” Layla said.

She gave Denver a disapproving look. He shrugged and gestured to the stool. “Looks like we’re going any minute now. Better buckle up.”

The engine noise grew louder. The ship shuddered. Out of the corner of his eye, Charlie saw Layla grasp Denver’s hand.

Hagellan twisted in his chair. “Now we go.”

It spun the holocube around and pressed several symbols. Charlie looked at the high-definition display on his right, showing a starboard view of outside. The ship jerked, like a plane hitting a spot of turbulence, and lifted from the ground. Seconds later, it picked up speed and powered toward the sky.

The g-force pinned Charlie in his seat. He watched through the window. Unity became a speck on the landscape.

As they climbed higher and higher, he viewed more of the continent. Huge areas of dark brown smoke covered hundreds of square miles. Hopefully where the remaining population had started burning the root fields. He still needed it to remain agile, but wouldn’t mourn its passing if it meant a planet clear of croatoans.

The ship violently rocked.

“Preparing to leave the atmosphere,” Hagellan said. “I’ll engage the jump drive to activate as soon as we get through.”

The rocking grew fierce. Charlie felt like he was inside a tennis ball being dragged quickly through a sack of stones. The force pulled his cheeks back, and a bolt of pain shot through his skull.

Denver and Layla both had their eyes tightly shut and clung to their harnesses.

Outside he could see the curvature of the Earth.

The planet looked like a giant blue and green marble smeared with thin light orange streaks. Charlie had seen footage from space and pictures on the Internet, but he never dreamed he would be here. He never wanted to be here. But now, he had to be here.

Just as he thought the ship would break up, for no other reason than their size compared to the violence of their ride, the rocking quickly subsided, replaced with a feeling of weightlessness and near silence, apart from the moaning engines.

Denver comforted Layla. The ordeal looked like it had nearly broken her.

“Still no communication with the gate on Tredeya, but systems are working,” Hagellan said. It clicked a few times, probably relaying the situation to its two cohorts.

“What does that mean?” Charlie said.

“We still go if you are ready?”

“What does it feel like?” Denver said.

Hagellan fiddled with the cube and held a stumpy thick finger over a circular symbol. “You won’t feel a thing. We’ll be there in five seconds.”

Charlie nodded. “Go for it.”

Hagellan swiped its finger across the button, and the holocube flashed three times.

A blinding flash of light filled the cockpit, accompanied with an almighty bang, like somebody had just thrown in a thunderflash grenade the size of a garbage can.

CHAPTER FORTY

Augustus leaned back in the chair and closed his eyes, wallowing in the feeling of a root high as the compound replenished his body and cured his aches and pains.

While he enjoyed the numb feeling, his thoughts entered a kind of meditative state, allowing him to put into logical place the events of the last month and all of their ramifications.

A smile stretched across his face as he thought about the time at Unity.

For a moment, he had got caught up in their pathetic games, nearly lost oversight.

Despite Charlie Jackson’s attempts, Augustus was still here, still on plan, albeit in a more circuitous route than he had intended.

While the remaining croatoans were rounded up, thinking they were going to be part of a glorious colonization and defeat of their enemies to the north, he would have time to go back to his original orders.

His original plan.

With the original allies.

A laugh escaped from him now as he thought back to all the time he had spent with Hagellan and the council, learning their secrets, gaining their trust. At no point had they ever known. Pride washed over him at a job done well. Painting himself as this loyal but bumbling ex-emperor had worked perfectly.

The croatoans had proved as easy to manipulate as humans.

Just like his real masters said they would be.

His right hand reached to the three-inch-tall, black prism-shaped object in his pocket. He leaned forward, the smile easing from his face. With object in hand, he stood up and locked the door. From the window he saw Zoe busying about the paddocks, organizing the ranks of croatoans. How easy it had been to inspire confidence.

That was one of the croatoans major flaws: without their strong council leadership, the average alien had little mind of its own and little conviction. Which, of course, made them good drones, good fodder.

And easily defeatable with the right approach.