It wasn’t.Where has the Mereta been taken?
“I suppose the moment for silence and subterfuge has arrived,” he sighed.“The All’s suspicions are well and truly roused.I hope I’ve gone far enough.”
He found a lovely park, one of many surrounding the capital, and set his shuttle down on the nearly deserted landing pad.It would be traced.He had to move quickly.
He went to the storage bin in the back.Normally, he kept nothing in it, so he’d had plenty of room to stow the Alneusian suit his neighbor had tossed in the collection bin a couple weeks prior.Mereta had no idea why it had been thrown out.Perhaps the seals or hoses keeping its aquatic occupant in her natural element had worn out or broken.In any event, it had become part of his escape plan the instant he’d laid eyes on it.Sneaking past his security guards to claim it had been a feat in itself, and Mereta had been forced to meditate for an extra half hour to calm the rush of adrenaline from his adventure.It took another fifteen minutes to settle the misplaced pride of succeeding.By the time he’d yanked the robotic innards from the outer casing that allowed an Alneusian to function like a bipedal humanoid, he’d been no more excited about the suit than he would have been over a glass of water.
Mereta stood at the hatch after pulling the exosuit on.The clear mask, which bubbled inches from his nose, betrayed it was no Alneusian floating in the suit.As long as he kept enough distance from others to avoid being looked at in the face, he should go undetected.He hoped.
Chief Engineer Lokmi appeared at his shoulder.He’d accompanied Piras to Mereta’s quarters, only unphasing for quick introductions.Piras had returned to the delivery bin to be taken back to the safehouse, leaving his Imdiko to accompany Mereta on a diversionary flight.“The exosuit isn’t a bad disguise.I wish I had one.”
“Phasing doesn’t matter when the Darks can see you.”
“Unfortunately, but we’ll do all we can to keep from being spotted.It’s clear out there, so if you’re ready, we can go.When you leave the shuttle, head straight into the trees.I spotted vessels on the other side of the park, including a zip flyer.We’ll try for it.”He disappeared again.
Mereta nodded and opened the hatch.He stepped out into the sunlight.The exosuit immediately began to warm up, but he’d cut a hole in the circulating tube connected to its neck to admit air.
Bowing his head slightly to discourage anyone he might encounter from looking too closely at him, he headed for the wooded area of the park fifty yards distant.
As far as he could tell, no one saw him.He entered the canopy of trees undetected, grateful for the cover and the shade.He was sweating profusely in the exosuit, the environs already excruciatingly hot.He panted despite the air he knew was available to him.He hadn’t realized he had a touch of claustrophobia.
When the tests to one’s serenity come, they come in bunches.He made himself chuckle quietly and concentrated on steadying his breathing.He wished Lokmi could accompany him unphased.The companionship would have been a welcome distraction.
Where are you?Have you departed from the Mereta?Answer!
He groaned and staggered.The All’s shout blasted through his skull.He felt his Dark stir in the recesses of his mind.He sent peace toward it, but it continued to wake, trying to extricate itself from the balm of pleasure it had become addicted to.
Lokmi appeared in front of Mereta, grabbing his arm to steady him.“Are you all right?”
“The All is searching for me...or rather, my Dark.It sounds angry.”Mereta blinked.“It referred to my rider as ‘you.’I’ve never heard it do so.It doesn’t admit separation.”
“We’ll worry about it later.Do I need to extract it?It’s growing more solid to my sight.”
Mereta was trying to soothe his parasite, but it was struggling to regain its senses.He wasn’t sure he could.
Then the All snarled again.Found you.Converge on the Mereta.It has somehow subdued our control.
A chorus of distant minds answered.
Mereta was gasping for breath again.“The All has located us.It’s sending Darks to capture me.I sense several are nearby.”
“The containment will cut this Dark off from the connection.”
Lokmi was a flurry of motion, but Mereta couldn’t watch.His attention was focused on his Dark, trying to settle it.For its part, it was caught between the urge to do its greater part’s bidding and to remain in Mereta’s blissful peace.It wavered amid the false sense of belonging to what its massive ego had always believed and being submerged in the ultimately real and good and fulfilling to those who’d found boundless grace.
Then it was slipping from him, receding into a monstrous aloneness.Mereta glimpsed it desperately reaching for him before it vanished, uttering a heartrending shriek.
He almost screamed in concert, rocked by its profound agony and the sudden shock of being alone in his mind.
“Got it.It’s unhappy, but they always are.”
Mereta gazed through tear-blurred eyes at the shimmering containment cube hovering in the air between him and Lokmi.An indistinct blob flattened itself against the side, banging on the side closest to him.It was trying to return to him.
“Are you okay now, sir?We need to get going if they’re coming for you.”
Mereta drew a shuddering breath and forced his gaze to Lokmi’s tense face.The engineer was looking around, his attitude that of a hunted animal.
Mereta forced calm onto himself.He could help no one, his Dark included, if he were captured.“I’m fine.Let’s continue quickly.”
