Nexus by Robert Boyczuk (best large ebook reader txt) 📕

Josua’s recovery-if it could be called that-continued slowly. Although he never spoke, more and more frequently he seemed aware, his eyes focussing whenever anyone entered the room; then his attention would wander and he’d lapse back into a distracted state. Several times Sav stood quietly in the corner of the room listening as Liis patiently explained to Josua everything that had happened that day, repeating verbatim all the things he’d just told her. Only while she spoke, Josua would stare intently at her face; but whether he understood her words or not was problematic. For all he knew, Josua was simply drawn to her voice and the fantastic scars on her face that writhed like living creatures as she talked. At least during these periods of apparent lucidity Josua managed to chew and swallow the tiny morsels of food Liis placed between his lips.

Sav was disturbed by Liis’ growing preoccupation with Josua’s recovery. He started avoiding the sickroom. But Liis seemed oblivious or uncaring; all her energies were directed towards Josua’s well-being. She had set up a pallet for herself at the foot of Josua’s cot, piling her few possessions on a shelf next to it. The only time she’d leave the sickroom would be to hike down to the lake where they had found the remnants of the solar array. She had set herself the task of restoring as much of the array as possible. Using the chemical scrubs Sav had retrieved, she would methodically clean away the scale and fungi on the visible panels; she also rewired the panels whose cables had been corroded or severed. In a few days she’d managed to increase the average power yield of the array by about ten percent, restoring light on the level where they kept Josua. Yesterday she’d restored power to the front doors, no longer making it necessary to crawl through the opening they’d cut.

In a way, it was a relief that Hebuiza and Liis were so intent on their own purposes; Sav had found it increasingly difficult to be around either of them. Liis and her obsessive care of Josua was wearing on his nerves, like the glum silences and barbed comments of the Facilitator. Dealing with them drained Sav; his head ached constantly. Often in their presence, he would become aware his entire body was tensed, his jaw clamped shut tightly, his shoulders hunched and fists clenched, like he were readying himself for a blow-or to lash out.

Even aboard the Ea, in the solitude of his berth, he found no relief. Each night in his dreams, dark, formless crowds pressed around him, arms extended, demanding in incomprehensible languages things he couldn’t understand. He’d be filled with frustration, and a directionless rage would constrict his chest, squeezing the breath from his lungs and leaving him gasping for air as he clawed his way back to reality, his damp webbing twisted around him like ropes.

Day 7

“Sav?” Josua’s voice was dry, almost a whisper. His watery, blue eyes blinked.

Standing inside the sickroom, Sav nodded curtly, his heart thudding in his chest, his breath still ragged. He’d been outside the facility, working on the uplink antenna, patching it in to the transponder relays he’d set up throughout the facility so their suit transceivers could be used from any level. But the first thing he’d heard when he’d opened the link was Liis’ shout, “Come quick!”

Hurrying inside, he’d made his way down to Josua’s room, expecting the worst. Yesterday Josua had lapsed into a coma-like state, the only sign of life a tenuous rising and falling of his chest. His vital signs all flattened. Sav had made a point of staying close, fearing the worst. He watched as Liis stared for hours in grim silence at Josua, moving no more than her patient did, then, in a paroxysm of sudden energy, working maniacally on something pointless, until she collapsed in exhaustion.

But now Josua sat upright, Liis sitting next to him on an overturned crate, an arm around his thin shoulders, supporting his weight. She beamed. “It wasn’t the plague.” She grinned idiotically.

Sav moved closer. The floor was a mess, littered with discarded wrappers and plastic bags, the accumulated debris of Josua’s care. Sav picked his way through it, until he stood next to the cot.

Josua’s eyes, yellow and rheumy, were focussed, tracking Sav’s movements. His once ruddy face had become gaunt, his cheekbones prominent, rivalling Hebuiza’s for thinness. “We thought you were going to die.” It wasn’t what Sav had intended to say.

Josua’s face was a blank; then the corners of his mouth turned upwards in a small, misshapen smile. In a raspy whisper he said, “I…I changed my mind.”

“He came back,” Liis said again, looking at Josua like he was a sick child. “He came back for me.”

Sav was astounded. How could Josua have told Liis something so ridiculous? He stared at Josua who gazed back unflinchingly. With an effort, Josua raised a hand and ran the back of his pale fingers lightly down her cheek as a lover might. Clearly exhausted by the effort, he let his hand drop back onto the sheet where it lay half-curled, like the claw of a dead bird.

“Yes,” Josua said, looking away, “For you, Liis. For all of us.” Liis’s face flushed, her scars rippling across her cheeks.

“Well,” Sav said, trying to hide his discomfort. “Welcome back.” He thought he had known the Josua-at least a little. But this was a stranger sitting here. Why would he tell such an obvious lie? And flaunt it? Unless to test the limits of his influence. Control, Sav thought. It’s all about control over Liis. And he wants me to understand she’ll do anything he says. “Perhaps we should let Josua rest. I could use your help-”

“No!” Josua went rigid. His face was a red mask, and his jaw began working soundlessly, strings of spittle stretched between his lips. He balled his hands into fists and his arms shook like they were palsied. It appeared he was going to suffer a seizure; then his entire body shuddered and he collapsed into Liis’s embrace.

“I still need her,” he said in a barely audible voice from within the confines of her arms. “We have to begin planning, you see….”

“Planning? For what?”

Josua’s eyes flickered momentarily; then the fire in them seemed to fade. “Retribution and forgiveness,” he said dully, as if he were repeating an obvious point. He no longer seemed interested in the conversation. His gaze grew distant, shifted listlessly back to Liis. “And love,” he said in an abstracted tone. “How foolish. I almost forgot love.”

Liis cradled his head with one arm while stroking his hair with her free hand. Slowly, Josua’s eyes closed. His chest rose and fell in a regular rhythm.

“Retribution and forgiveness?”

Josua didn’t reply. Instead, it was Liis who answered in a whisper: “He knows what to do.”

“What do you mean?”

“He’s had a dream.”

“A dream? he had a dream?”

Liis stiffened; her lips closed in a tight line. Lowering Josua’s head gently, she rose from the crate, towering over Sav. When she spoke, she sounded like she was fighting to restrain her anger. “Call it a vision-if you prefer.” She took a step towards Sav, forcing him to back up. “He says Nexus is responsible. He wants to punish them.”

“Shit,” Sav said. “A dream! And did his dream tell him how he was going to punish them?”

“He didn’t say.”

“No, of course he didn’t.”

Liis tried to cross her arms, but Sav grabbed her by the wrists. “Listen! It doesn’t take a genius to see the hand of Nexus in all of this. But even if we were certain they created the plague-and we’re not-what could we do?” Sav swore softly under his breath. “He wants to punish a culture millennia more advanced than us. A culture that may have created the very planet we stand on, that almost certainly seeded the known worlds. What nonsense!” He tightened his grip on Liis’ wrists. “The best we can hope for is to refuel the Ea and take our chances on another planet fall. Maybe find a non-affiliate where they don’t know about the plague. That’s my plan. Survival.”

Liis twisted her arms inward. Sav struggled to maintain his grip, but she broke his hold easily. “No,” she said. “Nexus didn’t create this planet-or any other. No more than we did. Nor is it likely they seeded it. That race, whoever they were, is long gone. And Nexus has never claimed otherwise. At best they may have descended from that race, but we can claim the same heritage. The men and women of the Polyarchy are flesh and blood like us. And like us, they can die.”

“Listen to yourself, Liis! You’re talking about killing people! Haven’t you had enough of death?”

“You may be ranking officer aboard the Ea, but Josua’s senior here. Hebuiza said so and you agreed. Now that he’s better, I intend to follow his orders-whatever they may be.”

“Even if he’s insane?”

“He’s not insane. He’s a bit feverish still, that’s all. When he’s gets a little better, we can discuss his plan….”

“Do what you want, but when the next longhaul ship gets here, I’m going to be ready to leave. If you and Josua have other plans, that’s your business.”

“He’s senior on the mission.”

“There is no mission, Liis. It ended when Bh’Haret died.”

Liis opened her mouth to answer, but a wheezing laughter cut her off. Sav looked at Josua, could see he hadn’t been asleep after all: his eyes were now open and fixed on them. “Commander Sav.” Josua chuckled again, as if at the absurdity of the image. Still smiling, he moved his head ever so slightly from side to side on his pillow, like he were trying to shake it.

“You’re in no shape-”

“-to command. I agree.” Josua paused, as if summoning up his strength. “We’ll discuss it again when I’m better.” He lay back on the bed, exhausted by the effort to get out those few words.

“You’d better go,” Liis said. “He needs his rest.” Josua had closed his eyes again. She returned to her crate, picked up a damp cloth and bathed Josua’s forehead.

“Sure,” Sav said, wanting nothing more than to out of the room, away from them. “Fine by me.” Turning, he walked into the hall, towards the dropshaft. Discuss it? _What the hell does Josua plan to do? Take a vote on who’s the captain of the Ea?_

And then Sav realized that’s exactly what Josua would do. Liis would support him. And Hebuiza would fall in with them if only to spite Sav. Revenge on Nexus. We’ll follow a madman to our deaths.

But it wasn’t only Josua’s state of mind that had Sav worried. It was Liis too. She had already been infected by his madness; as long as Josua continued to spoon feed her that garbage about love, she might do anything he asked of her. She appeared ready to defend anything Josua might propose, no matter how ridiculous-including vengence on Nexus. For now Josua and Liis wouldn’t be a problem: he was incapacitated and Liis’ energies were centred entirely on his recovery. But what would happen when he was better?

Sav didn’t like the possibilities. But he saw no other options. He’d have to go back to the Ea and talk to the Facilitator. Explain the situation to him. Ask him for his support should things get out of hand. The thought of requesting the Facilitator’s help repulsed Sav, made his