“It was more like it found us. The planet’s a strange place, as you’ll see when we land. I never returned after that first time, but even after five hundred years, I can remember it clearly. I took a team out to explore.” He closed his eyes as if he was remembering. “It was as though something was calling to us. I found myself in a sort of cave. No light but the place glowed violet. Eerie.” He opened his eyes and stared at her. Violet. Inhuman.
“There were these growths, like tentacles, hundreds of them, emerging from out of the walls. I touched one, and it reacted almost as if it was alive, wrapped itself around my arm and needles cut into my skin. I’ve never felt such pain, like fire through my blood. I blacked out. When I came to, the rest of my team was unconscious on the ground around the chamber. The thing that had attacked me had shriveled to nothing. And there were others the same next to each of the crew members.” Callum jumped to his feet and started pacing the confines of the bridge. “They awoke shortly after me, and it was immediately obvious that we were changed. We could read each other’s thoughts.”
“And the rest,” Tannis said.
“Well, we didn’t know about the immortality then or the fact that we could repair just about any damage to our bodies. Though the damage thing we found out early. One of the six, Tyler, was injured in a fall. We thought he was dead, it should have killed him but it didn’t, and he recovered quickly—far too quickly to be normal—but we’d already left the planet by then.”
“Why did you leave? Didn’t you want to stay and explore?”
“No. You’ll understand when we reach Trakis Seven. The place has an unfriendly feel. But it was more than that. The rest of the crew, and the Chosen Ones we’d woken from cryo, began to get sick. Then the first one died, and we knew we had to leave.”
“I thought it took two years to die from the radiation poisoning.”
“The planet can kill you quick, or it can kill you slow but it always kills you unless you undergo the treatment. But we didn’t realize we were immune at first. Not until we got clear of the planet, and then it took a long time for us to understand. While the six of us felt immediately better as soon as we were away, the others only got worse. We took the ship to Trakis Five and settled there. Within two years, all those who’d been on the planet’s surface were dead. Worse than that, even the ones who had been in cryo became sick and eventually died.”
“And you were all fine?”
“We never got sick. As the years passed, we didn’t age.” He shrugged. “The rest is history. That’s enough storytelling. Why don’t you go get some rest? It’s a big day tomorrow.”
“What about you?”
“I’m fine. Another side effect—we don’t need much sleep.”
“Okay. I’ll go find somewhere to lie down—enjoy sleeping while I still can.”
He grabbed her hand as she went past and tugged her toward him. She didn’t try to pull away, just looked down into his eyes.
“Are you absolutely sure this is what you want?” he asked.
Tannis frowned at the question, unsure why he was asking her at this point.
“Once we’re on the planet,” he continued, “there is no more choice. You take the Meridian, or you die.”
“I know. And I want it. I’ve always wanted it. Why ask now?”
He shook his head. “Telling how it happened has brought it all back. And I suppose Aiden’s suicide affected me more than I thought. Then the way the Council members are behaving…I just want you to be sure.”
“I’m sure.”
“Good. Go sleep.” He raised her hand to his lips, kissed her palm, and then released her. Tannis closed her fist around the kiss and stepped back. For a minute, she hovered, not sure whether she wanted to go or stay. In the end, she whirled around and left the bridge.
…
Tannis stumbled as she stepped off the ramp and onto the planet’s surface. Callum reached for her, but she shook her head.
“I’m fine.” Breathing in deeply, she blinked a couple of times. “I think.” She swayed and then righted herself.
“You can stay in the ship,” Callum said. “I’ll come back for you after we’ve been to the chamber.”
“No, I want to come.”
He studied her for a moment, then nodded. The planet affected people differently. Some were almost incapable of functioning without antinausea drugs. Strangely, and unhappily for them if they had been brought here to work the “mines,” they were the ones who lasted the longest. The people who reacted the least to the planet, tended to die the quickest. Venna had done a detailed study of the subject. He remembered reading her report, but it had meant nothing to him—merely numbers. Now, he couldn’t help but think of the vast amounts of suffering reflected in those statistics. When had he become this person who didn’t care? He shook his head. Now was not the time to contemplate his past inadequacies as a human being.
Tannis had gone pale and a fine sheen of sweat coated her face, but she appeared perfectly capable of functioning. It was just as well she was getting the treatment, because she wouldn’t last long.