Page 8 of Blightfall

“We can’t hyperjump anymore without filing for permission first,” I said, “so as not to anger the delvers.” We definitely didn’t want to do that—the delvers were godlike artificial intelligences that lived in the nowhere. The nowhere was somehow connected to all parts of our dimension at once, so a cytonic could enter and bounce back out anywhere in the galaxy. But doing so annoyed the delvers, and sometimes provoked them to attack us, so we now had regulations to ensure that our frequency of hyperjumps stayed below delver-accepted levels. “Do we even need to file an application if we’re in a remote part of the galaxy? Shouldn’t we be far enough away from other cytonics that it won’t be a problem?”

“It doesn’t matter how many powers are being used in your area,” Jorgen said. “The delvers are in the center of a dimension that transcends space-time. They experience all hyperjumps through their realm cumulatively.”

That…was unfortunate. “So we’re not allowed to hyperjump if we can’t file paperwork to request one?” If we couldn’t jump to the planet itself, that might not be much of an issue, but I’d prefer to have an escape route if things went south.

“You can,” Jorgen said. “Your hyperslugs can request their jumps by communicating with Bob, who will be their official commanding officer for this mission.” He indicated the purple-and-orange taynix beside Boomslug.

“Bob!” the taynix chirped. He arched his back, and his spines flopped over the front of his head like bangs.

“That commslug is Naga’s commanding officer,” I repeated. “He decides when we can hyperjump.”

“Bob will communicate with the delvers to secure permission to hyperjump,” Jorgen clarified. “The hyperslugs can jump by themselves anytime they want, because they have the means to camouflage themselves in the nowhere and avoid bothering the delvers. But if they want to hyperjump with passengers, they need to consult with Bob, and Bob will put in a request to the delvers.”

“What about Alanik?” I asked. While the taynix had only one cytonic power each, full cytonics like Jorgen and Alanik had access to all cytonic powers, including the ability to hyperjump, though Jorgen hadn’t quite mastered it yet.

“Alanik also answers to Bob,” Jorgen said.

Stars, I bet she would love that.

“The delay between your request and permission to jump depends on galactic traffic,” Jorgen said. “Sometimes you might get permission within a few minutes, but it may take up to thirty, and you can’t teleport until you receive it.”

“What if lives are in danger?”

Jorgen’s expression grew grim. “The hyperjump treaty is between the taynix and the delvers,” he said. “The taynix have agreed that protecting our realm from the destruction of the delvers is more important than the life of any individual person.”

“Individual person!” Bob agreed from the corner of the desk.

“If a cytonic breaks the treaty and hyperjumps without permission,” Jorgen said, “they’ll have to answer to the alliance. We haven’t finalized the consequences for such a breach, but they could face isolation and lose the use of their powers. So for now, please make sure the members of your flight follow the rules.”

We shared a look across the desk. Jorgen knew as well as I did that I couldn’t control what Alanik did with her powers, even when she was technically under my command, so I hoped she bought into the importance of this alliance. Personally, I felt a lot less safe jetting around the galaxy knowing I couldn’t pull my people out in a hurry if I needed to.

“The taynix research department has been working on some resources that might prove useful to you,” Jorgen said. “Your flight is invited to a send-off dinner tonight, where you can meet the teams who will accompany you.”

I’d heard about those dinners, though I hadn’t attended one yet. Now that we weren’t being summoned by sirens to fight at all hours of the day and night, the DDF was trying something new to improve morale.

“FM plans to attend,” Jorgen said, “and she’ll show you those resources herself.”

FM used to be a member of our flight, though now she managed the DDF’s diplomatic corps. “Why is FM showing off slug research?” I asked. “Doesn’t she have other things to do?”

Jorgen smiled. “She’s very excited about this one.”

Fair enough. I stared at the image of the planet on the holoprojector. The mission sounded simple enough, but there were a lot of unknowns. A lot could go wrong. That was why Jorgen was sending us—his old team, the people he trusted to get the job done even when he couldn’t predict every skill or resource that would be needed.

“We won’t let you down,” I said.

I intended to make good on that promise.

Three

Sadie

I had the enemy Krell ship in my sights. My finger hovered over my destructor button as the ship wove ahead of me. Gilaf kept it engaged so I could stay entirely focused on lining up my shot, while Alanik watched my six so I didn’t have to worry about other ships taking out my shields.

“I will roast your entrails over an open flame,” I said to the ship.

“I don’t think a drone has entrails, Sadie,” Alanik said, “since it doesn’t have a pilot.”

She had a point. The drone was about the same size as my own ship, but while mine had a sleek fuselage and triangular wings, the enemy was shaped more like a jellyfish with tentacles flailing out behind.