Aberrant

Chapter 33

Kaplan strode out into the dusk-lit atrium of Sky Landing's conference centre, glad to have been dismissed for the day. The ear by his implanted tech rang like a grenade had gone off next to it. His psi senses whined, hypersensitised. Reporting back for the late afternoon session with the investigation committee had been a risk. Loaded with painkillers and relying on a nasal spray to prevent nosebleeds, he'd got through another couple of hours of grim reports and planning, but was now right on his limit.

Slipping through pockets of people finalising business and making plans for the evening, he headed for a quiet space near the atrium's multi-storey viewing window. Seven levels of meeting rooms and offices rose up on the west and south walls, their occupants adding to the space's overwhelming psionics. General business had wound down for the day, but with the influx of data from the returned gate ship and the teams who'd boarded the abandoned Xykeree barge, many people would work through the night on analysis.

He wouldn't be rejoining them in the morning.

Stopping before the window, Kaplan breathed past the knot in his chest. After his one-on-one with Shau that evening, the Rha Si Original would insist he stay on board the Silver Dawn to undergo his medical. Within the next twenty-four hours, he and everyone else would know the extent of his destabilisation.

He eyed the view, trying to tune out his pain and other people's fragmented thoughts. The evening light coloured the port's pale structures, turning metal and plex golden. In the haze, hundreds of shuttles and other atmospheric-entry–capable vessels slipped in and out of arrival and departure lines. Sun would be on one, heading back from the Dawn. She'd gone up for her med check and to see the family he'd so far avoided.

Kaplan grimaced. Dodging his mother's lunch invitation hadn't been his finest act. But Professor Dayne Gupta, Rha Si trainer, mid-grade empath, was a human lie detector when it came to her children and students. The second she saw him in person...

He shook his head, recalling his brief vid-call with her. She'd looked worn and pale. Too many months spent watching her eldest child fade. Saul was still unresponsive, hooked up to multiple machines.

Doing his duty. Allowing himself to be studied in the hope it would save others.

Kaplan watched another shuttle blast into the sky, watched it vanish into the void.

He didn't want his last act in life to be a slow, well-monitored death. He didn't want to feel his parents' desperation as he lost his grip on his abilities. Given the choice, he'd be out with the fleet, tracking down the rogue Xykeree and getting answers while he still could.

On that score, he knew how a certain aberrant port officer felt.

He looked toward the main shuttle terminal. Layer upon layer of landing platforms, swarming with small craft. Not all of Jinx's friends would be among the arriving survivors. She'd soon head back into the void—alone.

She'd make sure of that.

Clamping down on a curse, Kaplan eased out a breath. The woman had good reasons to reject his offer: his detainment of her; Shau's threats. But they weren't why she'd refused his help, why she'd taken that pointed step back.

A ripple of strong psionics. Another twinge of pain.

Kaplan turned to find a familiar figure striding toward him. Lieutenant Commander John "Atlas" Bergfalk, a second-gen telepath who looked like he could bench press a shuttle. Still in his combat gear, the Rha Si moved through the sea of suits and uniforms like the Grim Reaper. Shrapnel had nailed his black Zex armour. Bloody nicks and burns marred his square face and crop of dun brown hair. Eight hours ago, he'd led the Special Infiltration Unit that had boarded the abandoned Xykeree barge. He'd returned with the gate ship and gone straight into meetings. Kaplan had listened to the man's report with interest.