“Perhaps that is why domestic unrest is so prevalent on this planet,” the Envoy offered. “War is impossible when the words ‘how are you?’ need not be asked. We feel how our actions, words, emotions impact our others so, as a unit, we strive for domestic harmony.”
Because it felt like fuck-all to hurt someone whose brain telegraphed the pain directly into yours, Mike knew. Their pain became your pain, which was something a thinking person worked hard to avoid.
“Huh,” said High Commander. He spent a moment in thought before he nodded to the Doctor David. “Continue.”
“Our first thought,” David resumed, “was how this issue would cause the project to fail. However, our concerns were negated with the arrival of the volunteers themselves. Even before we began the testing, a tiny number of volunteers demonstrated an awareness of the mind-link as it occurred among the cabal.”
High Commander’s eyes widened with surprise. “This happened before any authorized immersion steps were conducted?”
Mike felt the weight of a room full of amused glances gather atop his head. ::It was just a kiss, damn it!::
David coughed into his fist. “That we’re aware of.”
Meaning, there could have been other explorative intimacies between his people and Liam’s, other than his well-known one. No one had stepped up to admit it, though. If they’d acted on a feral impulse, they’d thus far managed to keep the memories locked away. He’d been the only dillrod to act out publicly, as well as get recorded doing it.
David dropped his gaze to the palm unit and moved his index finger along the screen again. “Well…”
Everyone waited, but the doctor appeared engrossed in his distraction.
“Speak your mind, Doctor. I won’t be happy to reach for it from this distance.”
David winced and nearly dropped his data unit onto the table.
“Yes, sir. I merely paused as a thought caught me.”
“And that thought was…”
“There is a high level of adaptability as well as intuitiveness among these people. They call it ‘emotional awareness’ or ‘a gut feeling.’ It’s possible they haven’t yet turned on the gene, in a collective sense. It could be resting in the DNA, needing nothing but an evolutionary prompt.”
High Commander stood and thought for a span of moments, then said, “Work on that. See about identifying and switching on that gene. Keep me posted.”
“Yes, sir.”
Doctor David stepped back, his attention even now dropping to his data pad. Mike squirmed inside his skin as he pondered the idea that his sexual pheromones had somehow triggered a change in Liam.
Just perfect, he groaned to himself.
The plumy tones of the Envoy drifted into his mind. ::That means it was more than ‘just a kiss,’ wasn’t it?::
In lieu of a reply, Mike bit the inside of his cheek. However, the Envoy never gave up without a fight when he had a point to make. He made sure it was heard.
::I’m confident it will be a beautiful blend.::
::Fucking hell…::
The cabal’s commander switched his attention back to Mike.
“Speaking of the liquid teams—”
He reached and gave Steve a mental prod .::You’re up, bro.:: His pod-kin refocused on the conversation.
“There’s a critical problem happening at the atolls of Kiribati,”
High Commander continued. “The nation has been at a heavy risk since our landing, but things have taken a critical turn in the past…” He glanced to his left. “What are they called?”
“Weeks, sir,” answered a disembodied voice.
“Weeks, yes.” High Commander returned his attention to the inter-ship communication.
“In their time of 2008, the residents concluded the ocean’s full incursion over their lands was inevitable. They anticipated total loss of their land territory by purchasing lands for the evacuation of their people from another island nation in their time 2012. But, as I said, things have changed and not for the better.”
The intensity in the room amplified. The hair along Mike’s arms stirred. The enemy was coming. He could feel it.
::We’re ready to go beneath the waves,:: Steve vowed.
Of course they were, Mike thought to himself. They were of his cabal. But he asked the question on everyone’s mind anyway. “The Targolt?”
Everyone in the room was privy to High Commander’s ravenous hunger for Targolt blood. In fact, they shared it.
“The bloom of an aggressive dead zone in that area leads us to conclude, yes, it is our enemy,” he said. “It has spread from New Zealand and reached to the Line Islands, all in a matter of weeks.
Floods and high water threaten the communities. Already vulnerable, Kiribati faces immediate ruin.
“Their cabal, called United Nations, has reached out to us. They note how a huge number of lives will be lost on those atolls, of all species, unless the Urilqii take action. We were asked to focus our efforts on the immediate crisis in that hemisphere.” High Commander stopped and swept a forceful gaze around the room.
“Of course we will take action,” he said, his tones a ringing call to arms. “It’s what we’ve been waiting for.”
The room rang with the E’ssennet battle cry.
::When do we deploy?:: If Steve had been in the room, he’d probably be bouncing in his boots. ::When do we deploy?::
::Shaddup and let me hear.::
Steve went silent. Mike refocused on the conversation in time to catch the commander’s instructions.
“…your pod-kin and have him evaluate his teams. We’ll lend half to the Unduk cabal and bring it hard to the Targolt. The rest, the best, keep here.”
What?
“Sir, you don’t want to deploy our best to assist with the reclamation of Kiribati?” That didn’t sound good.
“Just so.” High Commander nodded from his ship. “Since your cabal is close to a dead zone, and since your liquid teams will be halved, I expect you will need the remaining water work done by teams that, effectively, can do double the work.”
“Ah.”
Command decisions that made a grunt’s work all the harder.
Typical. His expression must have betrayed him because High Commander frowned.
“I’m confident cabal E’ssennet has the skills and the soldiers ready to do the job on both
