The Deep Link (The Ascendancy Trilogy Book 1) by Veronica Sicoe Page A
Authors: Veronica Sicoe
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fucked up?"
"You crashed the Transiter into the alien ship
'cause you had fire ants up your ass."
"I made contact ," I snap. "My job .
What would you have done—wait for the stars to align?"
"You got us captured."
"I got myself captured, Bray. You escaped. Quit
whining."
"Listen, you little—" He stops. Breathes. Looms
closer. "I don't care what excuses you come up with, but this time it's my call to make."
"I'm not flying back out there, Bray." My throat
is dry. "The aliens aren't interested in negotiating relations
anyway."
"What do you know about it?" His eyes narrow.
"What happened out there?"
"Doesn't matter. They're gone now. It's over."
He tilts his head, scrutinizing me. "Gone?" I
nod. "They just took off," he says. "Flew away, just like
that?"
"Yes, damn it."
"And they said nothing about coming back?"
"It's not like we had friendly chats over a cup of
tea, Bray. He didn't tell me anything, okay?"
" He ?"
"They! Whatever ." My heart is racing.
"There's no point in going out there anymore. You can tell Preston I
confirmed that. Satisfied?"
He folds his arms across his chest. "Yes."
"Perfect."
His gaze flits up and down my face a few more times, to
make sure I'm sticking to my word. Then he turns on his heel and leaves.
8
The MD discharged me from the medbay soon after Bray left,
and escorted me back to my room. I spent three hours in the sterilizer shower,
scrubbing off the sensation of other people's hands until my skin went raw.
Didn't make me feel any better. Now I sit on my bed, wearing an oversized khaki
jumpsuit, chewing on a protein bar.
There's only one way out of this mess. I have to break the link to Amharr.
But how? I don't know how it works; I'm not even sure what
it is: some sort of spying mechanism? Is he out there, watching me, watching through me, hovering around the station in his sinister ship?
Emranti inquire into the neural landscape of their targets
to find out what their true motives are. It circumvents lengthy negotiations
and eliminates deceit. But it's one-sided; the targets can't control the
exchange, and the Emranti aren't forthcoming. Our exchange was definitely not a
typical one.
Gary said no dominated species has ever disrupted an
inquiry before. But the link between us isn't just the side effect of an
inquiry gone wrong, either. I entered Amharr's mind just like he entered mine,
and whatever I stirred up in there carried over. Or back. I don't know.
Maybe it'll fade away if we never meet again. If we're far
enough apart. Just like he hopes.
I hope so too. But I doubt it.
I wrap myself in a blanket, and try to focus on my body to
ground myself. As the hours melt away, my intercom chimes repeatedly and
knuckles rap against my door. I ignore them all. If whoever's trying to reach
me can't override my lock, they don't need answering.
I close my eyes and sigh into my blanket. In the darkness
behind my eyelids something starts to writhe and coil and grow. My eyes fly
back open. I take a deep breath and pull the blanket tighter around me.
A pile of clothes and underwear lays sprawled on the
table. It looks like a strange creature crouching on the tabletop, a bit
smaller than a Dorylini nymph.
I haven't seen one of those since I was little. I used to
sneak out between the yurts and tents of the scientists' families, and flee
down the tunnels burrowing deep into the hive. I used to live for the thrill of
playing with those magnificent, eight-legged creatures. Sometimes I even rode
one of their simple-minded Protectors to the upper levels until my muscles gave
in and my lungs hurt from breathing their air.
The Dorylinae always took care of me whenever I was too
weak to get back to camp. After my parents realized where I was going they
tried to ground me, then put me under observation, then locked me in their
tent. But all to no avail. So they decided to put my adventurousness to good
use.
From there on out I wore recording devices on my trips.
Grown-ups, even robots,
"You crashed the Transiter into the alien ship
'cause you had fire ants up your ass."
"I made contact ," I snap. "My job .
What would you have done—wait for the stars to align?"
"You got us captured."
"I got myself captured, Bray. You escaped. Quit
whining."
"Listen, you little—" He stops. Breathes. Looms
closer. "I don't care what excuses you come up with, but this time it's my call to make."
"I'm not flying back out there, Bray." My throat
is dry. "The aliens aren't interested in negotiating relations
anyway."
"What do you know about it?" His eyes narrow.
"What happened out there?"
"Doesn't matter. They're gone now. It's over."
He tilts his head, scrutinizing me. "Gone?" I
nod. "They just took off," he says. "Flew away, just like
that?"
"Yes, damn it."
"And they said nothing about coming back?"
"It's not like we had friendly chats over a cup of
tea, Bray. He didn't tell me anything, okay?"
" He ?"
"They! Whatever ." My heart is racing.
"There's no point in going out there anymore. You can tell Preston I
confirmed that. Satisfied?"
He folds his arms across his chest. "Yes."
"Perfect."
His gaze flits up and down my face a few more times, to
make sure I'm sticking to my word. Then he turns on his heel and leaves.
8
The MD discharged me from the medbay soon after Bray left,
and escorted me back to my room. I spent three hours in the sterilizer shower,
scrubbing off the sensation of other people's hands until my skin went raw.
Didn't make me feel any better. Now I sit on my bed, wearing an oversized khaki
jumpsuit, chewing on a protein bar.
There's only one way out of this mess. I have to break the link to Amharr.
But how? I don't know how it works; I'm not even sure what
it is: some sort of spying mechanism? Is he out there, watching me, watching through me, hovering around the station in his sinister ship?
Emranti inquire into the neural landscape of their targets
to find out what their true motives are. It circumvents lengthy negotiations
and eliminates deceit. But it's one-sided; the targets can't control the
exchange, and the Emranti aren't forthcoming. Our exchange was definitely not a
typical one.
Gary said no dominated species has ever disrupted an
inquiry before. But the link between us isn't just the side effect of an
inquiry gone wrong, either. I entered Amharr's mind just like he entered mine,
and whatever I stirred up in there carried over. Or back. I don't know.
Maybe it'll fade away if we never meet again. If we're far
enough apart. Just like he hopes.
I hope so too. But I doubt it.
I wrap myself in a blanket, and try to focus on my body to
ground myself. As the hours melt away, my intercom chimes repeatedly and
knuckles rap against my door. I ignore them all. If whoever's trying to reach
me can't override my lock, they don't need answering.
I close my eyes and sigh into my blanket. In the darkness
behind my eyelids something starts to writhe and coil and grow. My eyes fly
back open. I take a deep breath and pull the blanket tighter around me.
A pile of clothes and underwear lays sprawled on the
table. It looks like a strange creature crouching on the tabletop, a bit
smaller than a Dorylini nymph.
I haven't seen one of those since I was little. I used to
sneak out between the yurts and tents of the scientists' families, and flee
down the tunnels burrowing deep into the hive. I used to live for the thrill of
playing with those magnificent, eight-legged creatures. Sometimes I even rode
one of their simple-minded Protectors to the upper levels until my muscles gave
in and my lungs hurt from breathing their air.
The Dorylinae always took care of me whenever I was too
weak to get back to camp. After my parents realized where I was going they
tried to ground me, then put me under observation, then locked me in their
tent. But all to no avail. So they decided to put my adventurousness to good
use.
From there on out I wore recording devices on my trips.
Grown-ups, even robots,
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