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Kendra lay down on the bunk within her barracks. Darkness had fallen across the colony now, and the lights of her room were turned down low, as she was fighting a horrible headache. Most of her bunk-mates were currently at dinner, but her stomach was twisted in knots, and the last thing she wanted to do was eat.
The Spirit Dawn colony had been Kendra's home for six months now. She had been one of the first humans to land, after the colony material had descended with the first shuttles, guided by android workers. Once the initial habitats were set up, the human workers, the "flesh-and-blood" androids, had followed, plus their immediate supervisors, the “low-tech” humans, the Sub-Hybrids, that were among the more expendable.
Kendra had been among these workers. While often derided, there were advantages to being a Non-Hybrid. She and her friends were considered expendable. This often meant they were the first in, checking out problems aboard ship, and the first to land on Shendar.
Matthew had brought Kendra back to the Spirit Dawn colony around noon to the hospital, a small building in the main complex. She was fed, hydrated, and given a round of anti-biotics to fight off anything she might have caught in the wilds, that could cause her fever.
During the treatment, which Kendra did not like because she hated being confined to a bed. She also kept the noise in her head to herself, the singing valley, and the feeling like a warm river running through her body.
The hospital kept her under observation that day and the following night, but during the night Kendra's fever broke. She was released the at the end of the following day, with permission to return to duty.
"What did you think you were doing? It is dangerous going out there by yourself. We know next to nothing about this world yet, other than this small valley that we have landed in. Not to mention that I’m sure everyone knows you were gone, and you are going to be in some serious trouble."
The person talking was Matthew. Pacing in front of the bunk where Kendra was sitting, Matthew had a pained, worried look on his face. Matthew and Kendra knew each other well, having worked together for the past couple of years, even before they had arrived on the colony world. He was also Kendra's best, most trusted friend.
Matthew had short-cropped, blond hair, and a heavy build. He was a couple years older than Kendra, now eighteen Sols. Standing almost six feet tall, his size dwarfed that of the younger girl. He had a rounded face, one that smiled easily but was now filled covered with lines of stress.
Like Kendra, Matthew was a non-Hybrid, unable to access the colony's Song, the river of thoughts from the people of the colony, all accessible to all other colonists. For him, too, it was quiet. And for this the Non-Hybrids were not trusted. People regarded them as "secretive", and threats, even though everyone knew it was not the choice of the Non-Hybrids in their physical rejection of the Song technology.
It was easy to tell the Hybrids from the "Nons", as Matthew did not have any evidence of chips embedded under the skin, along his arms, neck, or skull. Matthew's body, his nervous system, was not "evolved" enough, and could not handle the digital connections required to interface with the river of thoughts, or the separate interface into what was known as the Grid, the computer networks aboard ship that allowed most everyone to access the shipboard and planet-side computers mentally, using their mind's eye as the video screens, or overlaying their actual sight with electronic displays.
This lack of technology in Matthew made him feel inferior, but to Kendra he was beautiful. She saw Matthew as herself, more a part of nature than just an extension of the computer systems that she viewed as ruling the colony.
Like all of the non-Hybrids of the colony, Matthew's classification was that of Worker, those colonists that were deigned to do non-intellectual, grunt work, with the direction of the more-evolved, of the technologically advanced.
He and Kendra had been working together for a couple of years now, first aboard the Phoenix, and now planet-side. They had both been trained as mechanics, and would physically lay computer cables, cooling hoses, and the like. Matthew liked to say that he helped to make ships "breathe", to live, that he helped the ship to be a living thing. He longed to talk with the ship, with its technology, more intimately, and was bitter at not being able to use the Grid to communicate with it, instead having to rely on outdated interfaces - voice, keyboard, and touchscreen.
"Please stop," Kendra replied. "Not so loud." Her voice came out almost in a whisper. She knew she was going to get a lecture from her friends, and especially Matthew, but right now she did feel up to it. She was back in the barracks, and sitting on the lower bunk, head in her hands.
"Leave her alone for now, Matt."
This was Sarah, another one of their friends, though Kendra suspected that Sarah was much more interested in the young man also in the room. She would be a good match for Matthew, Kendra thought. She was happy, carefree, in a way that Kendra only wished she could be.
Sarah was just a tad smaller than Matthew, and she was very cute. She had a roundish face, and had freckles that always broke out with sunlight. She had long blonde hair, usually tied back in a ponytail that hung all the way down to her buttocks. She was a bit older than the others, now having lived for twenty-two Sols. And she had filled out like a woman. Her body was curvy, full in the chest, with sexy rounded hips. When she smiled, whatever room she was in became brighter, at least to the men close by.
But while Sarah was able to capture a man's heart easily enough, she seemed unable to keep them in a serious relationship. Sarah, like Kendra and Matthew, was considered technologically "defective". Her body, her nervous system, also resisted integration with technology. But her disability was less pronounced than that of her two friends. She could not hear the Song, but could access simple computers and security cameras on the network. Her abilities were generally not good enough to master the computers she could access, but was good enough to look up information.
Hence she was good enough to head up guard-duty in the base, and both Matthew and Kendra. Though Kendra and Matthew were assigned to a different unit, and more often when on explorations of the valley, at times her friends were under her direct command, and she would have to become distant. This, fortunately, was not one of those times. Kendra much preferred the concern of a good friend than the reprimand of a superior officer.
"I understand the desire to explore this new world we are on, Kendra, and the freedom that it seems to give us. But you cannot just go out on your own. You are already going to get a reprimand for this, and I hope you don't get any time in the brig. You really must not do that again!"
Kendra lay back on the bed, closing her eyes. "I know, I know," she mumbled. "But this colony is so stifling. I thought, if we could just get to this world, that once we arrived things would change. We would be able to set up farms or schools, that we wouldn’t be under the all-seeing eye of the government anymore!"
Sarah and Matthew exchanged uncomfortable glances. Such things being said were usually logged.
"Don’t say things like that around me. I don't know if the my tech level allows for remote recording." Sarah's faced Kendra, her face turning stern. That look, it made Kendra nervous. She glanced at Matthew, who gave her a knowing look. If what Sarah heard was recorded, and if anyone in command was looking for trouble-makers, Kendra was now on their list.
Kendra sighed. Here, in the colony, she had to play her part.
"I know," she said. "It won’t happen again."
"See that it doesn't," Sarah demanded. She then turned, and left Matthew and Kendra alone.
Kendra closed her eyes again and draped one arm over her forehead, moaning.
"You can't just go around saying things like that with Sarah around. You will get her in trouble. You'll get us in trouble as well."
"It's not like she is going to report us," Kendra protested.
"She doesn’t have to report us, not if what she hears is being recorded," Matthew declared. "Don't give The Assembly more reason to distrust us, Kendra. They’re already going to be watching you very closely after that stunt you pulled yesteday. What made you want to go outside the colony anyways? I mean, I get the exploring, but you will have more than enough time to explore this world. You can’t explore if you get thrown into the brig."
Kendra wanted to wish Matthew away right then. She didn’t need the lecture, but she knew he was right. What she had done was reckless. But she had felt so free! It might be unwise, it might be wrong, but Kendra already knew she was going to go exploring again on her own.
"So, what was it like?"
Kendra opened her eyes and looked up at her friend.
"What do you want to know?" she asked.
"Well, we’ve tried to send out probes that have gone beyond the rim of this valley, and our ships in orbit have done some recording of the surrounding land despite the interference, but I think you've gone the farthest on foot of anyone in the colony. What was it like?"
Matthew smiled down at the young lady before him, and she couldn't help but smile back. Her head hurt, her body hurt, but she had had a fun adventure, and she wanted to share it with one of the few people in the colony she could trust.
"I want to tell you some secrets," she said, "but you have to promise to keep these things to yourself. Don't even tell Sarah."
"I promise," he agreed. Kendra said up on the bunk, and Matthew plopped down beside her. She looked around the room, uncertain, and he added, "Okay, let's go for a walk. You need some air anyway."
Kendra pulled on a gray jacket, one of those provided to the "workers" of the colony. Matthew followed suit, and they stepped out of the barracks. Kendra moved slowly, as incredibly sore as she was. Matthew put his arm around her, to help support her. They walked down several hallways, all of which looked the same, dull gray metal, small lights running along the top. It was so functional, unimaginative, unartistic. Sterile.
In a few minutes, they stepped out a side-door to the barracks. The barracks was toward the edge of the colony, and before them not 10 yards away was a wall, 15 feet high and lined with guard towers. The wall wasn't complete, and there were gaps in the defenses, which is why she had been able to slip out the day before. But the wall was being constructed quickly, and within a month or two the entire colony would be surrounded by the wall, the only way in or out through designated gates.
It was for their "protection", of course.
But to the carefree young lady, it was a prison.
Close by was a pair of androids, operating machinery that was preparing more large metal sections of the wall that would later be lifted into place. Kendra knew that behind the androids' eyes were human operators, controlling the artificial lifeforms by connections via the grid. The androids could perform many of the tasks independently, but it was military rules that all androids be watched, controlled.
Not that different from how they treat us, Kendra thought.
Matthew and Kendra angled away from the androids, who turned briefly to watch them walk away. The Hybrids controlling them may have been surprised at the sight of the humans, two humans that could not be heard in the Song. After a moment, both androids turned back to the work at hand.
The young pair moved onto a tree-lined walkway, away from any buildings, and hopefully they were free of the surveillance microphones and cameras that seemed to be everywhere.
The sun was now dipping behind the mountains to the west, and long shadows were cast over them by the nearby trees. Kendra shivered as the temperature began to drop, something that happened quickly on this alien world.
"So," Matthew said in a low voice. "Why don’t you tell me what it is like out there?" He looked down at the small woman who was still leaning on him for support.
"You wouldn't believe the things that I saw," Kendra began. She told him about the strange creatures that she had encountered, the large beast with the horns, the birds, all of the wildlife. He had seen many of them on his own, authorized, expeditions exploring the valley, but the large beast intrigued him.
Matthew was amazed at the description of the glow that surrounded the beast, and the way it had tried to communicate with Kendra. And he became very worried for his friend after the description of the way the beast had assaulted her with its strange powers in the hidden valley.
Kendra's ears were still ringing from the dressing down she had gotten from Lieutenant Kylis, who had threatened her with spending the next month in the brig for leaving the complex without authorization. Kylis, as she often was, seemed angry about not being able to read Kendra's responses. In the end, due to the amount of work to be done, Kendra was informed she would resume her duties, but that if there was one more infraction she would be banned from the team and sent back up to the Celestial Guard for punishment.
Matthew and Kendra were suiting up for another trip into the forest. This was an official trip, exploring the surrounding land to gather samples of both the rocks in the area, as well as many of the plants and flowers that were close by. Other Non-Hybrids and Sub-Hybrids were getting ready as well, dressing up in protective clothing and preparing rovers, which would be loaded up with scientific equipment. The equipment would measure radiation, soil, rocks, and other plants, examining them for usefulness to the colony and possible dangers going forward, including whether any diseases or poisons were embedded in the different samples.
Each rover would be manned by a two-person team with the back of the rover stuffed with equipment, and Matthew had been lucky enough to pull Kendra as his duty partner. That couldn't really be a coincidence, and indeed it wasn't. Matthew had also been talked to by Kylis, and told to keep his friend under control, or he would also be in trouble.
"No one in the unit has mentioned it yet, other than you, the lieutenant, and Sarah. But I'm sure everyone knows," Kendra pouted. "If I hadn't gotten sick, I would have been back to the colony to start the shift."
"Maybe," Matthew replied, as he shoved equipment into the back of the rover. "You were supposed to be with me at the Outpost to help set it up. A lot of our team was back at the colony working, and some were in the field. So maybe not many people planet-side noticed, but I'm sure the command crew knew that someone went into the forests, and maybe even that it was you."
Kendra loaded some drinks and food into the front seat, then stood up and crossed her arms across her chest. Matthew's eyes involuntarily followed the motion, but he quickly looked back at her face, blushing.
"I don’t care anymore," the young girl stated. "Unlike most everyone else, they don’t know what I am thinking, or what you are thinking for that matter. It makes it very easy for us to be honest with each other. Besides, there is a lot less danger out there among the trees and the rivers than among the colony. The animals here, the plants, the trees, they just act according to what they are. But humans cannot be trusted."
Matthew smiled.
"Didn't I just have to come out and rescue you? I don't remember ever having to do that when you were in the colony."
It was true of both Matthew and Kendra. Both of their systems had totally rejected the neural interface with the AI components that both colonists and crew were outfitted with, starting shortly after birth. In Kendra's case, every time the nano-bots had adapted themselves to her nervous system, her body would change, and the connections between the starship's computer systems and her mind were severed. It was as though her body were fighting the technology, rejecting the next stage of humanity.
It wasn't something Kendra was ashamed of, but rather something she wore as a badge of honor. Others, those who could hear the Song, and interface with the Grid, mistrusted her greatly. But Kendra always noticed that as people interfaced with one another, and with the Song, their personalities, their differences, would often fade away. It felt as though everyone started to think with one mind, and, more scary, that they often started to think with the mind of the most forceful personality around.
But Kendra, and Matthew, were obviously different. In the colony-ship of some twenty thousand souls Matthew and Kendra were considered totally inferior, in a society that prided itself on the combined knowledge of all people instantaneously available to all, no one could read, no one could understand, either Matthew or Kendra. And it was the combined opinion that Matthew and Kendra could not possibly understand the rest of the colony either. There were other non-Hybrids and sub-Hybrids, those whose integration was limited, around, but this pair of souls were totally severed from the Song. Only completely independent chips, which didn't require a neural connection, worked within them, such as the embedded trackers, and the temperature and heartrate monitors they were equipped with.
Whereas Kendra's rejection of the Hybrid technology was a mystery, it was better understood what Matthew’s problems were. Mankind had been enhanced in the past two centuries, their DNA, their genetics modified so as to be better able to interface with computers and other electronics. But despite the usual treatments, both natural medicines and nanobot injections, during the pregnancy period, his DNA had come out "inferior", ordinary, non-enhanced. Those onboard had considered discarding him after birth, but his parents had insisted he could join the ranks of the Sub-Hybrids.
Matthew shook his head, trying not to think of how most people in the colony look down on his.
He looked at his friend, this beautiful young woman. She had always had a mysterious gift long rejected by their technical society as supersition.
"So, are there any of them out there?" Matthew asked. Kendra's system may have completely rejected the Hybrid Technology, but she was a special individual. She could sense things, beings, that no one else could. When she was small, she used to talk about them, but others took this as another sign of her inferior genetics, and treated her to suppress her "symptoms". Matthew, however, always believed her. She was always so sincere. Besides, life aboard ship had been repetitive, boring, depressing. Matthew enjoyed the mystery. He wanted to believe there was more to flying a giant metal container through space.
Kendra looked down, at her feet.
"Yesterday, when you found me... my... ability was out of control. I was sensing everything. The trees, the rocks, the land itself. I could feel the wildlife around me. I was overwhelmed."
"Are you sure that wasn't the fever?" Matthew asked. "When I found you, you were burning up."
"Whatever it is that allows me to sense things, instead of whispering to me, it was yelling at the top of its lungs. Today... the extra noise is still there, but it is lower, bearable. Through it however, I can still sense something *different*. I don't know. A Spirit. Or a lot of them. It feels like they are floating on the wind, in the mountains, or beyond the mountains."
Kendra eyes began to lose focus, as she remembered her jaunt, and the previous exploratory missions the week before. She faded away into herself. This was very noticeable in the Hybrids as they were constantly accessing the Grid, but why Kendra did it is a mystery to Matthew. He knew that she would be gone for a couple of minutes, and he always worried about her when this happened. He sometimes wondered if she has seizures, which he had learned from history would often happen to those who had head injuries. But in the case of this friend, it was different. Others believed there was something wrong with her mind. Matthew, however, believed that she might be the healthiest of them all. She was certainly in excellent physical shape, small but strong, and fast.
Matthew moved between Kendra and the other workers, as they prepared for the mission. Though she is known to have these episodes, he wanted to hide it when she "left" as much as possible, as she seemed too vulnerable in those situations. He moved her slightly, taking her hands in his own, and looked into her eyes. Kendra's eyes shifted slightly, and looked into his. Her eyes were a deep combination of brown and grey. As he looked into them, he felt strange. It was almost as though he is falling into the eyes, as if something was drawing him in. Was it Kendra? Or, something else?
"Kendra," he said quietly, trying to reach her. "Kendra, come back." He squeezed her hands, gently stroking the top of her fingers with his thumbs. She responded, almost imperceptibly squeezing his hands back, but her eyes continued to betray that Kendra was somewhere else.
He let go with one hand, reaching up, and brushing a loose strand of hair out of her face. Her skin was soft, smooth, and for a moment he felt himself half distracted by her beauty. Then his mind refocused.
"Kendra," he whispered. "Kendra, there are people around now. I need you to come back." He half said this allowed, has prayed it to the ancient gods of The KshDonar.
After several minutes, Kendra's blinked several times. Whoever was looking through her eyes, the presence faded, and the eyes took on the familiar shine of Matthew's best friend. She noticed his hand brushing the side of her face. She briefly rested her head against his palm and fingers, closing her eyes. She then gave him a small smile, before completely shaking off the episode, and standing up, pulling away.
"Base, this is Hover One. Approaching Southern Rim. Altitude 20 meters. All systems within normal params."
The Chief Pilot, Mikalim, communicated with the base via the Song. His mind's display registered that the message was received. He switched between his natural sight and his mind's eye several times a minute, keeping an eye on all the sensors. His hands were on the manual controls of the Hovercraft. It felt unnatural, uneeded, but the Hovers were equipped with the manual controls in case of system failure. It was possible, even with the recent modifications, that he would be putting the hover down roughly.
"Mikalim, I am picking up some interference," his copilot, Ranol, stated. The shielding is holding. We should be fine. Electrical systems are adapting to the radiation."
Chief Pilot Mikalim looked over at his pretty copilot. Her eyes were closed, doubtless scanning readouts on their test run with the updated Hover. He caught himself admiring her body, the way she filled in her clothing, visible even strapped in and in uniform, her brown hair pulled up into a bun. Small lights flickered through the skin on her neck and face, showing the path of her implants.
Mikalim checked himself, knowing that his thoughts were being logged, and shared, by all on this mission, those in the craft and those monitoring from base.
He looked at his copilot's face, and he caught the slightest hint of a smile. This look, too, she caught over the Song.
The hills started to climb up to the rim, and the pilot pulled the Hover up gently, increasing altitude. He scanned the readouts in his mind's eye. Something was happening. The atmospheric interference was increasing steadly. The Hover's systems adjusted again, keeping the electrical signals within an acceptable range, but he became nervous. The fluctuations caused by the atmosphere were uneven. The Hover's systems clocked up to keep up with the changes.
A message came in from the base, relayed to both crew within Hover One.
"Your craft's systems are ramping up. If the cores get over 80%, pull back and return to base. Are you seeing anything with natural senses not being picked up on the Song?"
"Negative," Ranol answered for the chief pilot. "The atmospheric readings are eradict, but the enhanced systems are compensating. I would not count on the systems holding up in a storm, however. Not without further modifications."
"There is wildlife everywhere," Mikalim observed. "Pilot Ranol and I have seen a few birds from up here. Some big ones. The infrared is showing numerous life in the forest below."
Ranol looked over at him, smiling.
"A brand new world," she said aloud. "Let's try not to screw this one up."
"I hear that," Mikalim replied. He reached over to give her hand a squeeze, then stopped. Ranol's electronics had always flowed steadily under her skin, but now they blinked erratically. Moments later his natural sight began to dissolve, white static invading much of his sight.
"This is all wrong!" The Chief Pilot could hear Ranol's voice, spoken aloud, but it came to him as from a great distance. "Something is taking over our systems. They've been infected."
Something flooded through Mikalim's body, his mind. His systems, his circuitry, his body, no longer responded to his commands. He saw operations issuing from his implants pushing the Hover forward, accelerating toward the ground.
"Keil!" Ranol cried from beside him, using his given name. He felt her fear over the song, but that was the last he sensed as the Hover crashed into the hills, a small explosion issuing from the wreckage.
The young lady he was so enthralled with, whose attention he had craved so much, slid on top of him. There she was, bare flesh against bare flesh, her legs straddling him. He looked up at her, at the long hair flowing over her dark tan breasts. She was such a small creature compared to him. She was small, light, delicate, a little over five feet tall, and barely one hundred pounds. The man was over six feet, young, less than twenty, and very well muscled. She looked at him from under her long, dark curly bangs, biting her lower lip, her eyes hungry. The man ran his hands from her knees, along the outside of her legs and over her rounded hips. There he played, brushing her hips with the tips of his fingers, then moving those fingers up along her sides. She squirmed a bit, laughing, the touch of his fingers against her side sensitive, ticklish. She slapped at his hands, trying move his them away from her flesh. This only encouraged him, and he tickled her all the more.
The man ran his fingers upward, tracing the contours of her waist up to her shoulders. He watched her face. She opened her eyes, looking down at him, moving her hips rhythmically. She let her own hands explore, running them over his well-muscled arms, squeezing his biceps, and up to his shoulders. Breathing quickly, she emitted a mix between a purr and a moan.
He reached up to grab her hair with both hands. Pulling her down, they shared a deep, passionate kiss, their tongues running over top of one another. He tasted her essence, so sweet. Her tongue flicked about his mouth, along his tongue. He tasted her. He was experiencing all of her, knowing her, her taste, her smell, feeling every inch of her over him, against him.
The woman eyes closed now, her head turned to the side as she abandoned herself to the sensations. The man closed his eyes, now seeing her only with touch, exploring the nature of this young woman he was so in love with, so enthralled with, so desperate for. Touch, and sound, listening to her speak with something deeper than words, speaking with pure emotion, pure elation.
It happened. They touched, completely and totally, in a way that the man would never, could never, understand. Breaking through that barrier that separated one being, one spirit, from another, the soul of the man, and the woman he was with, the souls touched in the most intimate way, a pure way, a way he would never be able to describe to himself. He ever felt away with her, away from himself, becoming the one he was with, no longer himself. Seeing himself from her passion and love, the desire and push and pain. They saw one another, the thoughts, loves, fears, all for one brief second he saw the soul that she truly was.
And he was ashamed.
He would one day describe it as a light, a flash. His vision faded, and there before him was the the vision of an angelic spirit. It was her, before him, her soul more holy and pure than her already beautiful body could ever convey.
She became part of him, her spirit, for just a brief moment in eternity. He was totally hers, she totally his, desires and memories, shadows, light, the pure silver of her love and the darkness of her visions.
They touched.
And she left something behind. Part of her was left inside of him, and he broke.
"Jacinta!"
Leonard McKnight sat bolt upright in his bed, his voice echoing throughout his quarters. The captain's body was covered with a cold sweat, as all the memories of his past, of his youth, came back to him, assaulting him, along with the pain of loss. He fought the pain and sorrow. He furiously blinked back the tears that threatened to spill from his eyes.
Then, the captain's thoughts jumped into motion.
He initiated a number of programs to intercept the signals that had gone out of his quarters, those sensors that had recorded his dreams and his emotional outburst upon waking. Those feelings were not supposed to be possible among crew, especially among those in command, as all strong emotions were regulated by the tech that was injected, integrated, with the neural systems of the human body.
Except his tech was different, modified, changed by the captain himself.
Hacked.
The captain would not lose himself to the technology the way he had seen so many other people's personalities get crushed.
Captain McKnight scanned the ship's systems, ensuring that there would be nothing left, no trace of his emotional outburst, of his strong, so life-like dreams. He left his thoughts adrift among the ship's systems, surfing on the Song, a combination of the flows of computer signals and the thoughts and dreams of his shipmates, along those of the colonists, his perception gliding around familiar algorithms, code that he himself had written, assembled, manipulated. He let pieces of his consciousness glide along those streams, cleaning up the mess left by his dreams. Yet even now he turned the main part of his mind away, pivoting to other matters.
The captain could not let his moments of weakness from the past take an innocent life. Not another one. He could not, would not, allow another person's life be ruined, or to die, because he was too slow to act.
There were few people in his crew that he could trust with this task, and no one that he could involve at this stage without raising suspicion. Instead, he turned to more algorithms he had written, bypassing all of the security systems of the ship, until he was able to open a channel of communication, completely secure and unobserved, to another spacecraft, one that was on the further edge of communication range, that usually followed along the tail end of the fleet. In a much higher orbit, much closer to that of the larger of the two moons, the spacecraft was barely in range to take the call.
After a few moments, a video image in Captain McKnight's mind came to life. In it, he saw that of a middle-aged man, one completely unlike those of the other colonists. His hair was long, blonde and shaggy, falling about and far below his shoulders. His blonde beard, with a bit of grey mixed in with age, was long and bushy, hanging down to his chest. He was a large man, as tall and as powerful as the captain himself, but with a crazed, energetic look within his eyes.
Right now the man's eyes were bloodshot, and he wore a sleeping outfit, one of dark black and purple colors, something that fit his persona, the image he projected of himself. And though he was tired, there was an intensity to him, as those eyes stared into the camera aboard his own ship, to the screen where the mental image of the captain stared back at him.
This man he faced looked like everything the Cardinal Embassy feared, everything they fought against in their culture. He was beyond their control, uncontrollable, a free spirit. He was a brave man, a moral man, tough as leather, a survivor. He was a man that Captain McKnight trusted, especially for those missions that needed to be off the books, completely beyond the Song, beyond the Grid.
"Hello Marcus," Captain McKnight addressed his old friend.
"Hey there, Captain," Marcus' voice was deep and gruff. "What can I do for you? It must be important for you to be contacting me in the middle of the night. Not that there really is night out here in space, but you get my meaning."
"I have a job for you, Sargent," the captain addressed Marcus using his old rank, not that he had been an official part of the military for many years, having refused the integration of the tech.
The captain continued. "Do you think you could keep someone alive, someone who seems determined to get herself killed?"
The person on the other side of the video feed grimaced, and a deep growl slipped into his voice.
"Someone like yerself, then," Marcus declared. "Fill me in, Captain. What do I need to break? Tell me there is something to break, and I'll take the job."
Captain McKnight smiled. To bring Marcus in, he could find something that needed breaking.
"I feel like I am being watched everywhere I go. I'm always in range of the patrols, of the machines when we survey the valley."
Matthew put down the equipment he had removed from the rover, placing it in a stack of other hardware. They had gotten back from another survey mission, this one closer to the rim on the eastern side of the valley. He turned to his friend, half amused by her inability to control her wanderlust, half worried that she would cause more trouble.
"That's because you *are* always being watched," the young man said. "I don't want to remind you, because I don't want to fight, but you were caught away from base, and the higher-ups probably think you are going to do it again."
"I *AM* going to go out alone again, as soon as I get the chance."
"That chance may not come for a while."
"You are with me a lot. Have *you* been asked to watch me, to keep me in line? To report on me?"
Matthew sighed deeply.
"Yes, Lieutenant Kylis asked me to keep an eye on you, and to report if you disappeared right away."
"So, the reason you are being so friendly these past couple of weeks is that you are spying on me?!"
Kendra's face tightened with anger. *She is a very emotional young lady*, he thought to himself. *And... beautiful.* She was beautiful when happy, sad, and angry. The anger gave her a certain, unpredictable fire. He suppressed the thought, knowing it would just get him in trouble if spoken.
Matthew tried a weak smile.
"Better me than Sarah - she obeys the rules more than we do. Besides..." the man approached Kendra and put his hands on her shoulders, "I enjoy keeping an eye on you."
Kendra tilted her head and looked at her friend quizzically.
"Are... you trying to flirt with me? If so, you're not very good at it." Her eyebrows were lowered as though angry, but the corner of her mouth curled up into a smile.
Matthew laughed. "Not good at it? Obviously not. I'm always flirting with you, and this is the first time you noticed?"
It was Kendra's turn to laugh, something that Matthew had not heard much lately. She smiled up at her big friend, flicking her head and sending her long, dark dancing about her shoulders.
"Okay, why would you want to flirt with me? We're just friends. No one thinks of me more than that. The base thinks I'm both a worthless non-Hybrid, and a troublemaker. Most people just pity me."
"They are right about being a troublemaker," the man goaded, "But, I don't have any tech, other than that location and health stuff, in me either. Unfortunately, they know where we are at all times. That's just what being human means."
"Not necessarily," Kendra said, lowering her voice conspiratorily.
"What do you mean?" Matthew asked, unsure that he wanted to know the answer.
"I might not hear their 'Song'," this she said with distain in her voice, "but I do hear people talking aloud sometimes. Beyond the rim the electronics stop working. Out there, they can't see us. They can't watch us! It is why the colonists stay in the valley. If you and I left the valley, we can do what we want, and they wouldn't know."
Matthew had heard the of the reports as well, how, on this beautiful new planet, the colonists were *trapped* in the valley, with no use of their technology beyond it.
Still, Matthew wasn't convinced.
"And we would be completely unprotected... transport doesn't work, weapons don't work. Our scanners couldn't tell us if anything was coming. The last time you went out, something happened to you, and I had to drag you back..."
Matthew was interrupted, and bewildered. The woman stepped forward, and wrapped her arms around his neck. He looked uncertain, placing his hands on her hips, and squeezing lightly.
Kendra leaned in, looking up at her friend, and brushed his lips with her own. She then pressed her lips against his, kissing him warmly. He reponded in kind, kissing her back. There they stood, half a minute, maybe more.
Then Kendra stepped back, and smiled.
"I know you care about me Matt. I'm sorry to tease you about flirting. Thank you for coming to find me when I couldn't make it back."
"You don't need to thank me," Matthew said, conflicting emotions running over his face.
"What's wrong?" Kendra asked.
"We're... not allowed," he answered. "Non-hybrids, I mean. There are sensors, cameras, everywhere. The sensors inside us will give something away too," Matthew answered, blushing.
Kendra's smile brightened.
"Come, explore with me! This planet is so beautiful. This valley is just the start. There is so much more! And when we are beyond the rim, they cannot see us."
Kendra and Matthew turned. Watching them, from ten feet away, was Sarah. She had a disapproving... no, an angry look on her face. More than that, when she spoke, she appeared to be suppressing rage.
"You ... two. I cannot believe this. You're not allowed... we're not allowed. What are you doing!?"
"Nothing. We're doing nothing," Matthew muttered under his breath.
Sarah wasn't convinced.
"That kiss wasn't nothing, Matt! Just..." Sarah paused, struggling to find the right words.
Kendra didn't understand right away, but when Sarah huffed and put her hands on her hips, the other woman began to get the idea. She looked between Sarah and Matthew, and back again. Sarah... was jealous.
Sarah's blonde hair tossed as the woman turned away. She walked out of the bay without another word, her footsteps echoing behind her.
"What was that about?" Matthew asked.
Kendra's determination grew. She was under a microscope here. It was stifling.