I was overjoyed when someone came to get us. Apparently, everyone was ready to leave. Back in the hall there were 11 excited Veiletians, six grumpy councilors and a worried Elyek. “Are you going to be okay getting back? I hadn’t thought about how you would navigate back to the ship when I suggested you leave without me,” they said with noticeable concern.
“We will be fine, Elyek,” Ember said soothingly. “Shaun and I have near perfect recall now, anyway. So, don’t worry about it.”
“Yeah. We know everything,” I joked, trying to lighten the mood.
“No, you damn buffoon,” Ember interrupted. “We can remember anything we see, providing we store it correctly. Remember?” she explained, removing any levity.
“Yeah, Ember. I know.”
She shook her head, “It's going to be fine, Elyek. Our new crew members will be able to guide us if we get lost.”
“Yes. You are right of course. I was just suddenly concerned. I know you will be fine.”
“We’ll see you tomorrow, Elyek. Don't sweat it,” I said, clapping them on the shoulder. They seemed to relax a little before returning the goodbye.
After that we all set off out of the compound. To my surprise, all of our new members turned invisible when we reached the compound gates. Even though we had already been told that would happen, it still set my nerves a little on edge. Off we went for the transport tubes.
C11
Pain in the Arus
Traveling across the Arus habitation domes with 11 invisible strangers was a totally weird experience. I kept worrying that I would bump into one of them, which was a ridiculous concern because they were able to see fine. Not only that, but they could also somehow see each other. That bit didn't make any sense to me though. What good would invisibility be if everyone could still see you? If they were Veiletian anyway. I would have to ask Elyek next time I saw them. Although to be fair, I had just gained a load more Veiletians who were going to be part of our new family, so I could probably just ask one of them.
I snapped out of my daydreaming, ruing the fact that all this evolving hadn’t stopped my mind from occasionally going to the far end of a fart and back again. Looking around as we walked, I noticed that I did in fact recognize where we had passed through. I hadn’t felt like I’d taken in any more detail than I normally would have on the way here; and in general I would often get from one place to the next without noticing or remembering a damn thing about the journey. But this time it appeared that the information had been stored by my subconscious. “I can clearly recall these places we’ve passed. This is awesome, Ember. It’s going to make life a lot easier.”
“Yeah, it’s cool. The idea that I’ll never forget another thing fills me with a confidence I’ve not felt before, if you know what I mean.”
“I think I do know. It’s like finally feeling in control a little, not just blindly staggering through life, following impulses.”
“Wow, Shaun. You’ve pretty much nailed it. Finally, your intelligence is able to stretch its legs, huh?”
“No matter how much you’ve improved, you still love sticking the knife in,” I said back to her.
I noticed Calparr trying to ignore our exchange but failing. His facial expression indicated he must have thought we were both bonkers.
When we came up to the first commercial moon tube, I felt a pang of nerves. I didn’t know how this was going to work with our convoy. I mean, how was I even supposed to know if they were all aboard? Thankfully, the carriage we entered was pretty empty, so I dared a careful whisper, “Is everyone on board?”
A series of invisible hands touched my arm. I was freaked the fuck out by it, but also more than a little amazed that my now-more-mature subconscious was able to count those touches, and confirm everyone was present. I felt like I was about three different people some days. Stupid Shaun, evolved-alien Shaun and, when Havok was in my hand, gods-be-damned-berserker Shaun.
Ember was looking at me questioningly.
“Yeah. They’re all here, Ember,” I said, answering her unasked question.
“Good. This is really fucking odd.”
I nodded and smiled in answer.
Calparr remained stoic.
We got off the tube at the next stop and headed over to the next platform. A tube arrived within seconds. I continued to chat amiably to Ember, while trying to also engage Calparr, when a small whisper sounded in my ear, “We're being followed, Captain.”
I obviously didn’t know who said it, but replied with a quick, “Thanks.”
“You get that?” I asked my two visible companions.
Calparr gave a nod.
Ember shrugged and said, “Yup. Let’s just keep moving. There was always a chance someone would spot us and have a problem.”
Our conversation dropped off a little bit, but still no one confronted us as we swapped tubes yet again. It wasn’t until we reached the central hub, located where we were docked, that I really even became aware of our pursuers. We had a long-ish walk to the ship, and I saw the occasional person watching us suspiciously. It was not long before it came to a head. The next street corner we turned was quite empty, apart from a group of eight aliens in front of us. They wore moon base security uniforms. They were clearly hired for their thuggish demeanor. “Stop there,” snorted the leader. He reminded me strangely of Bebop, with small horns at the side of his mouth and a wide ungainly nose, or rather snout. The overall result when coupled with his size was that of a mutant warthog. His pals were no smaller.
“Why?” I asked, slowing but not stopping.
“Because you're under arrest,” he said,
