NADIR TO ZENITH

 

Lives depend on my repairs. What if I miss something? Hexes! Aurora mulled over her inadequacy, as the wind blew a wisp of hair in her face. She sensed Tatum was getting restless as they both stared at the open squid vessel’s belly. She was fond of the massive beasts. The one she was working on hung vertically in the repair hanger and the last bio-scan showed it was still not fixed. It felt hugely disconcerting to locate the infection, and all she could do was stare at the mass of arteries bloating out from the external access panel of the belly. Maybe, if the air wasn’t so biting cold, I’d be working faster. No matter, scanning one last time.

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Tatum’s tall alien body shadowed Aurora in the afternoon light entering the portal doors. A storm was brewing in the distance, and the platform she and Tatum stood on, quivered with each gust. Tatum always spoke to her through the shared mind. Aurora, you have an aptitude. You must not doubt yourself, but a foreign body is affecting the squid vessel in one of the subcutaneous arteries. They are all connected and it is time sensitive.
 

Working on it! Aurora responded through the shared mind, but his remark made her feel more inadequate. She was used to Tatum hearing her thoughts, but she wished for just one moment of privacy. She blamed the Torquinox brain implants, for never having a second to herself in his presence. Fortunately, the shared mind was dictated by proximity of at least 15 meters near another, and often she used it to her advantage.

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Your strength comes from within, not through my perception of you, Tatum shared. We must discuss beginning of actual flight training. You have completed enough squid vessel simulations. 

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One thing at a time, Tatum! I am trying to fix this damage. Aurora had started out riveted by the new repair training under Tatum’s supervision, but after a few hours with him, she was fatigued and her fingers were cold from the frigid air. A storm felt closer as the wind swept up to the platform, ten meters from the ground. She was distracted by the grumbling in her stomach but buoyed by the buzz of the docking station as the massive squid vessels came and went out of the open portal. After each squid vessel docked, both human and Torquinox pilots intermingled below, speaking through the shared mind. Through rigorous practice, she had learned the skill of ‘selectivity’ from the flood of voices among the shared mind. It was the one Torquinox skill she was most proud of, but sometimes she didn’t have the mental strength to keep it in order.

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Not going to slip away from me this time! She rubbed her cold hands on her pants and reached her whole arm into the exposed artery casing; it felt warm and gooey inside. Her cheek rested on the edge of the hard exoskeleton. The squid’s inner tissue tightened on her arm as she dug inside the cavity for the exact large artery and yanked it hard towards her, exposing it to the cold air. There! She was sure this was the one she needed to repair.

 

Correct, Tatum responded, watching her intently. His skin was a calm shade of mauve taupe.

 

Aurora sighed with relief. It was exhausting constantly trying to prove to Tatum she was more than capable of handling the job on her own, and quickly got the biomatter out of her repair kit. For once he was letting her do the work and she was glad of it. Working swiftly with strokes of her palm, she covered the exposed artery, hoping the foreign body had not traveled into other areas. Then she scanned it with a tissue fuse gun to complete the binding of the different tissue. Be healed my beast! She ordered. The artery gently curled back into the cavity.

 

Excellent work, Aurora. Tatum’s shared thoughts had little nuance. I want to let you know about affairs coming to our planet. You must be prepared for the near future.

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Uh huh. Aurora did not look up at him as she began the procedure to cover the open panel; the membrane needed to be flapped back down and sealed on the edges with the cellular heat gun. Otherwise, she was eager to discuss the flight training. She was tired of the squid simulators and was looking forward to more of a challenge. She was thinking of flying her first beast into space before turning 17. She tried to imagine flying the huge elephant size squid vessel into the vastness of space. Most of all, it would be a huge accomplishment after such a short time of training simulation. Aurora already knew, she only wanted Harvey as her co-pilot, and just maybe Tatum would let her choose.

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Aurora glanced out the docking station doors. The Domina sky was sprinkled with silver formations of at least 100 squid vessels floating mid-air as they made their way from space back into the planet’s atmosphere. The squid vessels swirled and undulated from space, the clouds excreting them like new flower buds. It was mesmerizing how the beasts’ skins refracted and bounced prisms of light in every direction, circumventing all feeling in her body. Their reflective shimmer was an opulence so comforting, yet threatening since they could destroy objects with their pulsars. The thought of being outside the planet’s atmosphere in her first flight, looking down from within the squid vessel, made her nervous and excited at the same time.

 

Aurora, stay on task, Tatum directed her. She felt Tatum’s mood had turned unusually somber, his skin beginning to glimmer with shades of pale rose and a slight phosphorescence.

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All right...back on track. He had caught her daydreaming. She returned to work on sealing the flap with the cellular heat gun. Tatum, you mentioned preparing for the future…

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Yes…The Kean vessels have been on the periphery of our system, taunting our pilots, and putting us at odds with our friends the Zunic. He paused and began again with some attempt at emphasis. Yesterday, they fired upon our food sources on the Apricus moon. We cannot trust the Kean any longer when they have broken the interspecies alliance; We must be prepared for anything, Aurora. 

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She stopped working and looked up at him. “What?” She said out loud in shock. Using her voice always made her feel more human. “Is the alliance so easily ended? I thought the interspecies alliance with the Kean, the Zunic, and your species had been drawn ages ago and was solid.” The platform seemed to sway more under her feet, and her fingertips felt numb. She tried to read his face, but his dark eyes gave away nothing. She stared at him and waited anxiously for more information. Tatum’s skills at blocking her out of his mind were impressive.

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It is complicated. And yes, the alliance is shattering. What is more, they have attacked our food sources in several locations. As you know, critical to the Torquinox and to the humans. Tatum was anxious, she could see it. His skin turned a slightly phosphorescent sheen and the unique discolored mark which wrapped around his neck was a deeper shade of mauve taupe.

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It seems extraordinary they have attacked the Apricus moon base! Aurora felt the urgency of the situation sink in, and her mood turned gloomy just thinking of it. She worried about what this meant for her.

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We are the salvus on our planet, as we have a shield for our AerHexagonal home base and of course, the squid vessels have proper shields once in flight, not to mention the pulsar weapons. Tatum reassured her.  

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Salvus? Aurora was not convinced. She rubbed her hands together to warm them up.  She was going to question Tatum till she got to the bottom of this, and she felt the burden of ignoring the inert squid vessel splayed open and vulnerable. Tatum, the Kean scare me, from what you told me of their history. I feel we are not prepared for a confrontation. I expect the Zunic with those massive ships to join the fight with your species. Right?

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Tatum sighed, an unusual gesture for his species. He turned away from her and faced the open portal of the docking station at the edge of the platform. Aurora could see his skin pulsed from rose to mauve, through his fibrous clothes that layered his upper torso. His silence was drawn-out as he stared at the barren landscape of Domina. I am telling you this before the announcement at the high council. Our species is prepared to do anything to save your species. He turned around to face Aurora, towering over her petite frame by two feet. His dark eyes scanned her face, and he blinked gently. You must believe this, Aurora. You have the skills needed to pilot a squid vessel. I see how you have improved in a short time of simulation training.

 

You really think so?

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Tatum nodded and continued, you will begin flight training at the next star cycle. There is danger coming to our planet and I want you to be prepared for anything.

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Aurora did not feel prepared for anything. Of course, she wanted the flight training to begin in a real squid vessel, but not for the purposes of fighting alien wars. She wanted to scream at him in frustration for not answering her questions, but it was not possible with the shared mind communication. Through the shared mind everything was so evenly communicated, lacking expression; and she felt half muffled.

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I know the shared mind is frustrating but you must admit it is efficient, Tatum responded to her thoughts.

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“Ughhhh!” She vocalized her frustration, rolling her eyes and throwing her hands in the air. The more he imploring her to appreciate the gifts the Torquinox had given her and the others, the more she despised them.