44

The Journey of Rick Heiden

All Rights Reserved © 2019, Rick Haydn Horst

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales, and incidents are either the products of the author's imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

CHAPTER FORTY-THREE

I recovered from my panic attack and had nothing left to do but wait. The rest of the day, I busied myself spending time in the gym down the street, eating, or getting some rest. Mason had awoken me at 19:00, so I could take care of details that I hadn't earlier.

Etsuko had already come and gone during my gym time. She had painted "SJS Berlioz" on the side of the ship just behind the hatches, a location Venn intended for such an attribute. She chose an attractive font.

I had left the interior of the ship stained with blood and smelly dried sludge. Mason had kindly cleaned the penthouse of any grimy tracks, but I felt I should help with the ship. Toward the end of that task, wiping down the stowage area reminded me of the vials I'd put there. I took them out to look at them. I didn't know what to do with them. I held eleven vials in my hand, and as I looked at them, I noticed that they all said

Revertor

except one. Pearce had accidentally grabbed one labeled

Princeps

, the Prime Sharer, the one enhancement more dangerous than any other. The idea of pouring it out tempted me, but I couldn't do it, and I didn't know why. I put them back into the cupboard, wondering how I might slip the contents of a

Revertor

vial into Gabe's drink one day. If I ever had such an opportunity, it wouldn't have happened any time soon.

At fifth meal, Aiden returned to the Penthouse. He didn't say much, and I ignored his red eyes, as I didn't want to embarrass him. I invited him to eat with me.

"Are you okay?" I asked him as we ate in near silence.

"No," he said. "Did you visit Maggie today?"

"I did, actually, but I didn't wish to disturb you." I placed my hand on his. "We will get through this."

The rest of the evening, we talked on the balcony and watched the shadow pass across One City and the sunset two hours later.

I had Mason secure the perimeter of the house to ease my worry, and I left my communication link on that night. I went to sleep with thoughts of David, and at 4 o'clock, Mason awakened me. It shocked me that I slept through the night for the first time since I returned.

I ate my first meal, waited the required hour for digestion, and descended the stairs to exercise in my new gym for a few hours on the first floor. I discovered the Master Builder had left me a

thank you

. As she said she always does, she altered Baden's design. We had more than enough room for the gym, so as a token of appreciation (more than a token really), she included a full locker room, complete with a dozen beautifully crafted wooden lockers, showers, steam room, and dry sauna. She must have had dozens of bots working all night to complete it by morning. The gesture demonstrated kindness and thoughtfulness, attributes some might have believed impossible of her. I would have to find a way to show her my gratitude.

During my exercise routine, I stretched my limits a bit, but after a two-hour workout, I ate a hearty meal and took a nap. I arose again at 8:30 and ate my usual second meal. If I intended to put on some muscle, I knew I had to eat.

I had a good morning, overall. I intended to visit Pearce and Maggie. I found Pearce sitting up in bed without the bandage. Still blind but no longer groggy, he seemed in good spirits, as his headache had almost gone. They talked to him about his options, or lack thereof, as they had limited him to only one realistic option, the one he wanted least.

I inquired about the specifics involved in obtaining synthetic eyes. Their description frightened me. They give the patient a preparatory enhancement, which prepares their body for the removal of their biological eyes. During that, if they aren't already, they go blind. To keep them from noticing they cover their eyes, so they can't see. That part takes a day. They then surgically lift the eyes from their sockets and give the patient the main eye enhancement, which creates all the linkages necessary for the synthetic eye to function. That would take two days. They then install the eyes, and the nanos complete the final connections. The full installation from beginning to end takes four days.

I had the notion of getting synthetic eyes, because what they could do fascinated me, but after hearing the procedure, I found the whole idea repulsive.

I went to visit Maggie, and I ran into Captain Dupré, known to his friends as Rocke. He had just visited Maggie and waited to enter the lift on his way down when I arrived on the fifth floor.

"Hey!"

"Rick!" He hugged me. "Or should I say, Captain Heiden?"

"I admit, it has a nice ring to it," I said. "How are you?"

"I am sad about Maggie," he said. "I hope they can help her. Physically though, I feel better than ever. I've wanted to visit you, but you've stayed busy and so much activity is happening. Jiyū is beyond words."

"Has all that's happened in the last few days put you off living here?"

"Not one bit," he said.

I ventured to ask a question that I shouldn't have. "How's Cadmar?"

He looked at me with a straight face. "In love with you," he said, "and personally, the whole thing has left me conflicted."

"Well, you are his best friend."

"Oui, but it's more than that," he said. "David is incredible, and you both complement one another well, but Cadmar is equally incredible in a different way. I've never met anyone like him."

He thought for a moment and shook his head. "Magnar can try to keep the two of you apart all he likes. Once Cadmar has set himself, he doesn't let go. Cadmar cannot have Tamika, their bond is irreparable, and you know why, but he loves her no less than he did. You know the story of how they became mates. It demonstrates Cadmar's tenacity, and not just for the chase. He would still be with her had the incident on Earth not happened, but it did. He told me he intends to wait for you, no matter how long that is. In the meantime, he does his job, lives his life, and feigns indifference toward you in the presence of others for the sake of propriety and your honor; but make no mistake, he is waiting."

"That's the most romantic and disturbingly beautiful thing I've ever heard," I said. "What if I told Cadmar I didn't want him?"

"Cadmar would know you were lying," said Rocke, "and so would I."

"How would you know?"

"Because the first thing out of your mouth didn't indicate he was wasting his time," he said. "I consider you a good friend, so I will tell you this before I must go. Not to brag, but I know Cadmar far better than you, better than Magnar even. Right now, you've only stood ankle-deep on the beach of the ocean that is Cadmar. You can't understand how phenomenally lucky his wanting you makes you. Don't squander it."

"I wish I knew what to say to that."

"For now," he said, "that's unimportant. You'll know what to say if that time should come."

He entered the lift but stopped the door from closing. "One last thing, a Trust member in red, is in Maggie's room. He seemed a bit creepy. I asked him if he knew Maggie, and he said he waited for someone, so I had my visit with her and left."

"I appreciate you letting me know," I said. "I'll see you again, I'm sure."

Gabe waited less than a day before seeking me out. I took a deep breath and decided the time had come for the inevitable confrontation. The man scared me, but I told myself I had already gone through worse and headed toward Maggie's room.

He stood looking out the window to the street below. The sun had risen above the mountain, and morning light beamed into the room through the blinds. I stood at the doorway, where he hadn't noticed me. I knocked on the metal frame. When he turned, his heavy brows and stern expression suddenly took on a more sinister appearance knowing what he had done.

"Rick," he said, "I knew you would come. Please enter, I won't hurt you. You're the only man I know who has an Attendant following him wherever he goes. If you ask it to stay outside the door, I would appreciate it. As you can imagine, this conversation warrants considerable privacy."

I did so and closed the door to Maggie's room. I watched him settle into what he would say. He kept his body language in vulnerable and pleading positions. He made signs not typically expressed by him, like slumped shoulders and outward palms, but I knew even his body language could lie. I planned to listen to what he had to say and believe nothing; it didn't work out that way.

"I know how this looks," said Gabe.

I put my hand up. "Stop! Back up and change tactics, this time, a little less heavy on the misunderstanding and a lot more concern about this." I gestured to Maggie, lying in bed. "I already worked out that you wound up your clockwork Dmitry with a selection of your thoughts, motives, and memories to get what you wanted. You let him go and watched your creation take a life of its own. Now we have this." I gestured to Maggie again. "It's gone beyond your intention. You've worked on this for some time, and Maggie hadn't even come into the picture yet. You couldn't have intended it. I get that. I beg you not to leave them like this."

"How did you figure it out?" he asked.

"I came here to visit Maggie, not stroke my ego. I will keep my promise to you if you do as I asked. You've won, isn't that enough?"

"You're right," Gabe said. "I only wanted to sabotage Amaré's plan and get into the vault. I didn't know its location, and I didn't know how to get into it. I only knew about the box under the floorboards. Dmitry ruthlessly did what he did. I'm not like that."

"Stop lying," I said. "Dmitry was ruthless because you're ruthless. You closed Pearce and me into the vault, didn't you? I bet our escape inconvenienced you. Did you intend for us to die there?"

His expression changed. He stopped slumping and stood there. "Why would you turn the other way? You would view that as dishonorable. Isn't such a thing beneath you?"

"I would live with it to have them back."

"What's in it for me?" he asked. "Your silence is not enough."

"It shocks me you've bothered," I said. "You could use your Prime-Share ability on me to make me do whatever you want, and there is something you want."

"As you've seen with Dmitry," he said, "the more complex the sought outcome, the harder it is to obtain it. The Prime-Share ability works best on simple things, as Amaré used it. It's easy to insert into someone's mind that they want to have a baby. It's better if I control you in more an old-fashioned Faustian way. I figure that would appeal to your appreciation for opera."

"Faust? Hardly," I said. "I have nothing but selfless and honorable intentions."

"A lapse in your moral integrity to get what you want is Faustian," he said, "and don't lie to yourself, you want Maggie back for your sake, not hers. You are selfish, just like everyone else."

"You have no moral high ground to comment on my morality. You know nothing about it or my motives. What do you want?"

"I will release Maggie and Neal, no one else," he said, "but only if you to embrace me."

"I will not be your lover!"

He laughed. "You should get so lucky. No, you're the wrong sex for that. When I say I want you to embrace me, I mean as a close friend."

"Why?"

"Well, I may lie to you," he said, "but I can be honest with myself. I'm not a winsome or charismatic man."

"So, you're looking for a friend, is that it?"

"Oh no, far more than that," he said, "I'm looking for an endorsement, and you endorse me with your friendship."

"You want my seal of approval."

He smiled. "I couldn't have said it better."

"What's the purpose?"

"I want inclusion to a line of pre-established loyalties. The people revere Amaré, and he endorsed David, who endorsed you. You hold influence. I want you to give me your seal of approval, and I want you to step down as David's proxy."

"That's a lot to ask," I said. "Let's suggest I do it. It still relies on individual perceptions of you. What happens if my approval is insufficient?"

"I believe a trite little reply for such a question is, we'll cross that bridge when we come to it."

"What you ask is a lot," I said.

"If you think of refusing because my modest request seems too much, then I must assume you find the terms disagreeable. Let's see, how can I make my request more palatable? Hmm. Oh, I know. I will release Maggie and Neal, as per the agreement, and then you will do as I ask, because if you don't, I will send a 'Trojan Horse' to Earth, and David will find himself hunted down like an animal."

"You said you were David's man," I said. "I believed you."

"I am a consummate liar."

"How do I know you're not lying about killing David?"

"Do you embrace the gambling lifestyle? Care to make a wager?"

"I don't gamble," I said.

"Oh, sure you do," he said. "We all take chances the question is whether you take a high or low risk. The higher the risk, the greater the reward when you win. Will you gamble that I'm lying?"

I closed my eyes and tried to swallow the lump building in my throat. "When will you release them?"

"That's what I want to hear. I cannot do it yet; there's a time for everything. Once I have, I'll expect your end of the bargain soon thereafter." He stalked out the door and left.

I stood at the end of Maggie's bed for several minutes, looking down at her lifeless, breathing body. "I will do whatever I must to help you," I said. "If I hadn't invited you here...I will make this right, Maggie."

I had no idea upon what Gabe waited, but wait, I did. I established a routine during that time to keep myself busy. I got up at 4 o'clock, ate first meal, worked out for two hours, ate again, slept, ate second meal, and visited my sleeping friends. I repeated that morning 161 times. That took me 30 days into our new jear, and for David, who had not returned from Earth, only a month had passed. During that time, things settled down on Jiyū, but much had happened.

Pearce regained his sight ten days after the accident. They had given him a pair of synthetic eyes. They made the irises any color he chose, so they matched the delicate tones of blue and hazel that characterized his natural color. He seemed pleased, and I wouldn't describe their appearance as overtly synthetic. They gave his face an attraction that he didn't have before. It took a few days to learn to utilize their various modes, and it took the same amount of time to learn how to use the Prime Sharer enhancement. Once he felt confident enough, he departed immediately to retrieve his son. He left two Earth-weeks prior, and I expected him back at any time.

As for Pearce's journals, because of the nature of the privileged information they contained, he felt he should destroy them. Of course, I couldn't disagree; they had caused enough trouble. We could do nothing about lacking book eight. Its destruction would have to wait. They took a lot of work to create, but he didn't hesitate when he tossed them into the shredder for recycling. He didn't want them to cause more trouble once he brought his son home.

The American faction of the Aggregate had removed the stones from the site. The portal had automatically sent the body back to Earth, but nothing further occurred. We waited for them to clear the spot again. We exhumed the bodies near the portal and sent them back in body bags when Lopez and Greco left us. Our people gave Greco some therapy during the wait, and he made a remarkable recovery.

Laurel and her team had yet to understand the alien language inside the panel hidden on the portal. One of them did notice that it resembled one of the writings on the pylon in the museum. They did make an important discovery, however. We now know how to make the portal slip out of phase.

Many things changed at the Penthouse. Rocke moved into one of the apartments on the third floor, and Aiden moved to the adjacent apartment.

As I promised, I had not seen Cadmar since the day we found the portal in the meadow. We both kept our word on that.

The hospital maintained the lives of our friends with the viral code, but we saw no change, and the nano technicians had other duties. At that point, we had only three technicians left to discover a means to help them.

I visited Maggie and our sleeping friends daily, as did Aiden.

Every late morning, I worked on translating the ancient texts. I had gotten halfway through by then, and I doubted anyone would find them interesting except the historians who snatched them from me the instant I completed one.

Every afternoon, I practiced with the pistols. I had become quite good, but in Magnar's opinion, I hadn't achieved a level of proficiency that would justify removing the lockout on my pistols, but he admitted I came close.

After pistol practice, Magnar taught me to fight, both attack and defense, in the training room near the pistol range. He taught me to punch and kick, to land various kinds of blows during a fight. I learned to either rapidly knock out an opponent or even take someone out altogether. I had no idea there were so many ways to kill someone. During that training, the fear of pain and injury presented my worst impediment, resulting in Magnar employing some brutal teaching methods. I walked away more than once, wearing bruises and a bloodied nose or lip. I learned a great deal from him, and I appreciated his tutelage. However, whether I could utilize what he taught me remained untested.

As for myself, I had gone through several haircuts, and the youth enhancement had completed itself. I barely noticed any change, and neither did anyone else. Svend had to re-scan me every 50 days as I kept growing out of my clothing, but he accommodated my need for roomier clothes with a wink and a smile. I learned to appreciate Pearce's advice. He was right; exercise did help with David's absence. Between my strength training, Magnar's fight class, and gaining some muscle mass, it had the effect of a much-needed boost to my confidence.

All that had happened since I returned to Jiyū had taught me something about myself that I hadn't believed:

I can.

When I need to, I can, and when I realized it, the sensation of something undone or incomplete in the back of my mind had gone.

David sent letters to me every ten of his days. I had two so far, and I should have received a third. He wrote the typical message about how much he missed me and how things were going on Earth. He relayed some horrifying tales of starvation and death in the United States. I suspected things had gotten worse than he said. I sent him letters every forty of my days through our volunteer runner who went to Earth for us. I didn't want to bombard him with piles of correspondence by writing him too often. He had one from me weekly. I didn't tell him too much. It would only make him worry. I felt sure he did the same with me.

On the last of the 161 days, Laurel discovered how to move the portal, quite by accident. Gabe showed a keen interest in its ability to move and wanted to learn how to do it, which alarmed me and made me nervous. The day after this discovery, Maggie and Neal awoke in the hospital. When I wasn't training in some way, translating texts, or sleeping, I was formulating a plan, and the time had come to put it into motion.

CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR

"Good morning, captain," said Mason. He had taken to calling me captain. A dozen or so ships existed by then, and people began referring to anyone who had one as captain, so he did likewise.