"Hey, good job!" Venus said brightly. "I honestly thought there was like a one in one hundred chance that you would make it through that alive. So kudos!" Callum frowned. She still looked like Catriona and she was still wearing that barely opaque dress. This time she was seated at a small table, sipping a cup of tea. "Sit, sit." The small table and the chairs were the only objects in the now familiar mist.
Callum cautiously did so. "There are chairs here now?"
Venus shrugged. "This is your mindscape. The reason it was so empty before is because you don't have a very prolific imagination. But now I'm here and I can make things at least a little more comfortable."
"I see," Callum said, though he certainly did not. He picked up the other up on the table and peered into it. The liquid was brown and steaming hot. Kind of gross. It smelled nice though. "Can I try this?" Venus nodded. Callum took a sip. The temperature was fine, just cool enough to tolerate, but the drink itself was disgusting. He swallowed with an effort, his upbringing not allowing him to spit it out, and gasped, "That is so gross! What are you drinking?"
"Tea?" Venus answered. She took a sip. "Honestly, it is one of the only worthwhile things to come from Earth. I thought you would enjoy it."
Callum took a sip and blanched. "It's so bitter!"
Venus clicked her tongue. "I suppose next time I'll put out some juice for the baby." She frowned. "And don't you think you should be thanking me?"
"Oh, um, thank you," Callum said politely.
Venus closed her eyes and touched a hand to her brow. "Do you even know what you are thanking me for?" Callum shook his head. Venus seemed mad for a moment and then, abruptly, she started laughing. "I think I'm starting to like you, Callum." He didn't have anything to say to that. He was a bit hurt, though. She didn't like me before? "What you should be thanking me for is having the power to rescue your sister and your friend."
Callum frowned. "I didn't actually have to. I borrowed this mech that belongs to a...person?...named Russell Jones. Or Cosmic Leo...Leo Cosmic? Do you know him?" Russell seemed to think everybody knew him so he figured it was worth asking.
"I do," Venus said, with a nod. She didn't elaborate, though. "Those mechs only operate if you are able to channel ether from a being such as myself, however."
That caught Callum's attention. "Really?" Now that he thought about it, the power had never left him while he was fighting in the mech. 'And it opened just when I was about to use Venus's power to try and force open the hatch.' "So that's it...What about Valencia? Was she using the power, too?"
"No," Venus said, taking a sip of her tea. "It only takes one person to power one of those contraptions. They were designed that way, after all. Your friend has many talents but communing with me is not one of them. It's uncommon for humans to be able to interact with the higher dimensions. Why do you think I was so interested in you? You are rare for the potential you have. Once in a generation."
Callum leaned forward. "Can the carcha all use this power? Is that why their empire is on top?"
"No." Venus scowled. "Those bastards were just among the first to figure out exactly how it all works. Percentage wise, it is about the same as humanity. The difference is that they find every single one with the potential and draft them. Humans who figured this stuff out were always too secretive and selfish with the power."
"Huh." Callum leaned back. He was feeling a little overwhelmed after all that information. He'd kind of had it in the back of his mind that he could recruit his friends to pilot those other mechs at the carcha's compound to help him defend Ragrun. What Russell had said was right. The carcha would never leave them alone now. 'Particularly after we slaughtered so many of them.' He shook his head, trying to dispel the image of the carcha corpses littering the ground outside of the compound. "Are there others on Ragrun? Others like me?"
"Nobody quite like you, no," Venus said with a laugh. "But there are others who can use my power, yes. Nita, for one, is an old friend." Callum's eyes widened but he wasn't that surprised. Nita seemed like the type. "Your friend...what's his name...with the bangs. I can sense him, barely. He might have some power. Not nearly so much as you but it should be enough to pilot if he works at it." 'Riley, too!' That was two more mechs at least. "A few others scattered across the moon." Her eyes glittered. "One in particular that might be worthwhile."
Callum peered down into his tea. A vague plan was forming. He felt like he had all the pieces but was having trouble putting them together. 'I need to talk to Riley.' He had a way of knowing exactly where Callum was trying to get even when Callum could barely explain it. "Can I wake up now?" he asked.
Venus laughed again. "Not quite yet. You do need some sleep. I should let you get to it." She smiled again. "Come see me again soon." She started to go fuzzy and then dissolved, leaving Callum floating in blackness.
Callum woke fitfully. He felt like he was floating and wondered for a moment if he was still in Venus's realm. It was so warm, though. And wet. Callum snapped open his eyes. He was underwater! He flailed in a panic, meeting solid resistance in every direction. 'What the hell?!' He looked around desperately and found Valencia, seated a few meters away, staring at him in shock. He opened his mouth to shout at her without thinking. It was then that he realized he could breathe just fine. It hit him suddenly and he felt like a complete idiot. 'I must be in the same liquid that the cockpit of Angra Mainyu has.' Callum settled and took in his surroundings. Valencia was the only person in the room besides himself. It was a small room full of blinking lights and monitors he didn't understand. 'How strange.'
Valencia stood and said something but he couldn't hear her. She said something else and then frowned, evidently realizing he couldn't hear her. She glanced up and her mouth moved again. A noise under his feet made him look down. A drain had opened. The liquid slowly leaked out of the tank he was in. Once it was all gone, the tank whirred a door open. Callum blinked and stepped out. He felt wet and sticky but otherwise he was fine. Better than fine. He couldn't remember feeling so refreshed in his life. All the exhaustion that had been plaguing him, all the burns and bruises from the carcha attack, even the aches in his shoulders and back from his years mining; it was all gone.
"Callum!" Valencia cried. She sprinted across the short distance that separated them and flew into an embrace. Callum caught her and spun her around laughing. "I'm so glad you're alright," she said when he set her down. "I was so worried."
"Is this some kind of carcha healing talk?" he asked. "It's amazing."
She nodded. "It is. It really is incredible. Catriona and Riley are already walking around as if nothing ever happened." Callum was delighted to hear that, though he was a bit surprised Riley had healed faster than him. 'He seemed half-dead...I guess I pushed myself harder than I thought.'
"That's incredible. Where are they?" He wanted to see Cat so bad. He'd only had a few seconds with her before he'd passed out.
"Hang on." Valencia stepped back. She smiled cheekily. "I'll go get you a towel. And a robe."
"Ah. Thank you." Valencia spun and jogged from the room. Callum hadn't thought about the fact that he was nude before she mentioned it. He didn't feel particularly embarrassed though. She'd seen it now. A lot. He didn't have anything to hide anymore. She returned a moment later with a robe for him. It wasn't the same as the one Nita had stripped off the dead carcha, for which he was grateful, but it was of the same soft and luxurious make. Callum thanked her again as he swung it on.
"No problem!" She waved him to follow with a grin. "Come on. I think the others are probably having lunch right now." At the mention of food, his stomach rumbled loudly. He hadn't eaten since...supper of the night of the Odontas' visit? 'That can't be right, can it?' He followed her out of the small room and across the compound. He realized as they walked that the horribly oppressive air of the compound was no longer the same and asked about it. Valencia nodded. "Cosmos has control of everything now. She changed it so it was better suited for humans." 'Thank goodness for that.' As they walked on, Callum began to smell fish cooking and his hunger became almost crippling.
When Valencia led him into a large room dominated by a huge table, there was a collective gasp and everybody in the room jumped up to greet him.
"Callum the Killer!" Russell crowed. "Hero of the hour!" 'Let's not make that my nickname.'
"Cal!" Catronia said, touching him gently on the arm. "You're alright?" He nodded.
"'Course he is," Riley said, punching lightly in the chest. "That orange goop of the carcha is incredible, ain't it?"
Nita didn't rush over like the other two. She smiled at him and said, "Welcome back."
"Thanks, everybody," he said. His heart was full to bursting. His stomach, however, felt cavernous. "Can I have something to eat?"
"Of course!" his sister cried. "I've been cooking extra in case you woke up." Callum grinned. She would do that. The food she served him was mind-blowing. He'd had fish most days over the last several years but this was different. The flavors were exploding in his mouth. Flavors he didn't know were possible. The bread was insanely soft. Even the vegetables seemed to be brighter and crunchier. The water was unbelievably cold.
"What-what is this?" he said, in between mouthfuls.
"Pretty good, eh?" Riley said. "This comes from the carchas' own stock."
"They have foods I've never seen," Catriona added. "As well as ways to cook them that I never would have imagined. Nita taught me what all powders and pastes were."
"Condiments and spices," Nita said, leaning back. "Not all that uncommon in places that are not Ragrun. Still, I don't think many would have adapted to their use as quickly as you, Catriona. You have a chef's palette." Catriona blushed and shook her head at the compliment. Callum was happy for her, even if he didn't exactly understand what Nita was talking about. 'What is a 'palette?''
Callum munched happily through the rest of the food on the table. When it was all gone, Callum wasn't exactly sated but he was full enough and didn't want to make his sister cook more. 'Maybe I can hunt down a snack later.' "It's good that you woke up now," Riley said. "We were discussing what we should do next."
Callum nodded, thoughts of a snack evaporating. "Yeah," he said. "I've been thinking about that a little as well." He wasn't sure if he should bring up Venus. 'I need to bring it up with Riley in either case so maybe…'
"Russell thinks that the carcha will send an investigation any day now," Riley said.
"Damn right they will," Russell said. "We lucked out that they didn't send off any alarms but once the mineral shipments are late, they'll send somebody to check out why." Callum nodded. That made sense. "We might be able to survive whatever small-scale investigation they send the first time but if we dally here too long, they'll send a real, no shit extermination squad." Callum shivered.
"We have the ship of the carchas' but none of us know how to fly it obviously…" Riley said.
"What about Cosmos?" Callum asked.
Riley smirked. "That was my first thought as well. But according to her and the mini-man, her programming specifically forbids her from operating any kind of vehicle amongst other things. I guess the carcha had a bad experience with that or something."
"She might not be able to operate it but Cosmos can teach you! I can too! You just need to get some more crew for it," Russell said. "It is the only option." Callum worked at a piece of food stuck between his teeth with his tongue. 'That might work. I wonder if there are others who want to escape this moon.' Also, Venus had mentioned that there were a few more on the moon who could pilot mechs. That would be helpful.
"So, that is one option," Riley said. "Nita has another idea."
"Less of an idea and more of a prayer but…" Nita shrugged. "Here it is. Cosmos, can you bring up the jail?"
"Affirmative," Cosmos said. 'Is she in the compound the same way she was in Angra Mainyu?' A hologram of a planet appeared over the table. Callum recognized it instantly. He'd seen it nearly every day of his life, after all. 'Algnen.' The giant planet that Ragrun orbited. The hologram zoomed in and focused on the blue storm that moved along the center axis of the planet. It zoomed in further to a small, gray metal rectangle that was suspended in the center of the storm.
"So we all know Ragrun is a place where the carcha dump human "criminals" sometimes. That's how I ended up here, same with Valencia's parents and probably the ancestor of every human here. But there is another prison here, for, y'know, actual dangerous criminals."
"A prison at the heart of an enormous, never-ending storm," Russell said. "The fish do have a sense of the dramatic. I'll give them that."
"Cosmos, bring up prisoner number thirteen." At Nita's command, the mugshot of a woman overlaid the prison. She has bright pink skin and shimmering aquamarine hair that past her shoulders. Her eyes had two irises, one gold and one blue that bled into each other a little. Other than the coloration, her face was very human. A beautiful one at that, though her severe scowl detracted from it a bit. "This is Yemoramato," Nita continued. "A convicted terrorist with the Free Fie movement. She was one of Tsyirinsaku's top lieutenants before she was captured." Everyone in the room stared at her blankly, even Russell.
"What is this creature?!" Russell suddenly exploded. "So beautiful! How did I not know of these hot aliens before now?! My dream as a boy was to make it with a sexy alien but in reality, all I got were the fucking carcha!" He stomped his foot in frustration.
"Well, all that aside, she is a fie, like I said," Nita said. "Their planet is one of the most recent conquered by the carcha, which is probably why you never heard of them. Tsyirinsaku is the last princess of the royal line or some such. She escaped and has been leading a rebellion movement that has been a thorn in the side of the carcha for a while now."
"Sounds like my kind of woman," Russell said with a smile.
"Well, she's ruthless and highly intelligent. If we're serious about resisting the carcha, I think we could do a lot worse than to hook up with the Free Fie. If we can rescue Yemoramato from the storm prison, that could be our in…"
"Resisting the carcha…" Catriona said softly. "Sounds like madness…"
"We don't have much of a choice anymore," Nita countered. "We killed carcha. They're not just going to let us go back to the mines." Nita shook her head. "One way or another, we're in it. My vote is that we try and join a group with experience and means we clearly lack. Between the ship, the mechs and rescuing one of her lieutenants, we should have some value to Tsyirinsaku."
Russell snorted. "I don't know if I like the idea of Cosmic Leo and the God of Chaos under the command of an alien. Even if she is a hottie."
"I think we should join Princess Tsyirinsaku," Valencia said. "I agree with Nita. We need help. Besides, her cause sounds romantic, don't you think? The last princess of a conquered world!"
"Either way, we need to decide quickly," Riley said.
"Do you think they'll punish the others if we escape before the carcha arrive?" Catriona asked. "They'll probably want answers and someone to take their frustrations out on…" Her observation caused an uncomfortable silence.
Callum broke it. "Why don't we do both?" All eyes turned to him. "I think we should try and recruit anyone who wants to escape this moon. We should tell them honestly what might happen if they stay or they go and let them make the choice for themselves. At the same time, we should save this Yemo...yemayato...person and see if she can contact her friends to help us escape."
His friends glanced among each other and one by one nodded. "That sounds like the best plan," Riley said. "I guess even you can think sometimes," he added with a smirk.
"Diversify!" Russell shouted, hammering his fist into his palm. "The hallmark of smart planning."