He glanced at her. “Sorry, I feel…”
“Good,” she finished for him. “I can tell. That’s just great, and I’m glad for you. But I don’t.”
He slowed his pace. She waited for him to speak but he appeared deep in thought, gazing around him, eyes filled with wonder.
“Tell me,” she said.
He waved his hands around the landscape. “The planet’s not just a planet.”
“I don’t understand.”
“We thought some alien species might have landed here at one point. Left something behind when they went. But that’s not what happened.”
Impatience gnawed at her. “So are you going to tell me what did happen?”
“The alien came but never left. As far as I can tell, they’re immortal. The physical body couldn’t sustain itself—it faded, but the consciousness remained behind, absorbed into the very structure of the planet. It’s sentient. Maybe not how we define sentient. But it communicated with me. It showed me.”
“Showed you what?” Though from his reaction, it wasn’t anything too bad, and she tried to force down her unease.
“It’s reproducing.”
Shock brought her to a standstill and she turned to face him. “What?”
“We always thought what happened to us was a mere coincidence. That we’d stumbled across Meridian, and it was just chance that it reacted that way with us. But this is how it reproduces, or at least, one of the ways. It was no accident. This life form has the ability to combine its DNA or the equivalent of DNA, with other species. We didn’t stumble upon it—I think it drew us in, probably from a long way off. It was lonely and it was no chance that brought us to the Trakis system, after all.”
Her unease returned with a vengeance. She’d liked the stumbling and the chance theory much better. She hated the thought of being controlled, manipulated.
“So are there more of these things?”
“Not here. At least I don’t think so. It came here a long time ago, thousands of years. I got the impression it was lost and couldn’t find its way home.”
“But you don’t know where it came from?”
He stared into space for a moment. “It came through the black hole at Trakis One.”
“I can’t believe there’s life on the other side of that thing.”
“I saw it in my head. It came through by accident and couldn’t get back, probably injured on the way through.”
“Well, I can believe that. I’ve been there. I’ve stared into that black hole.” She walked in silence for a moment as she thought of what this meant. Glancing down at her feet, she studied the ground. Was it thinking?
“They can fly through space,” Callum said. “I was with them—in its memories—flying above their home planet. It was beautiful.” He flexed his wings as though imagining what that would be like. “It’s lonely. Where it comes from, there are others and they can communicate across space. Here it’s so alone. For so long.”
“Aw, and now it’s got you.”
“And you soon. Come on.”
She drove herself onward. Each step was painful now. Each breath an effort that was almost too much. And all the time this new knowledge tumbled through her mind. But the effort of thinking and moving was too much, and she pushed the thoughts aside and concentrated on putting one foot in front of the other.
Finally, Callum came to a halt in front of a tunnel that led underground.
“Not much farther now.”
“How long?”
“Half an hour, that’s all. Are you going to be all right?”
“I’ll make it.”
The tunnel led down steeply. She stumbled, and Callum picked her up in his arms and carried her. She wanted to protest, but she was beyond that. Instead, she relaxed against him. His strong arms felt good around her, and she rested her cheek against his chest. She had a flashback to the last time she had been held like this, when Rico had carried her on to El Cazador and the start of a new life. Well, this was the start of a new life as well. Would Callum be part of that life? Or would he go back to ruling the universe and forget all about her? But something told her he wouldn’t. Whatever his failings, she believed he was coming to care for her, and strangely, to care for the rest of the crew as well. He wouldn’t abandon them lightly.
Maybe he wouldn’t return to his old life at all. Maybe he would stay with them on El Cazador. Though it was getting pretty crowded on board—perhaps they should consider upgrading to a bigger ship. She had money now she no longer had to save for the treatment, and Rico was loaded. So was Jon for that matter—he’d been very successful in his time as an assassin. They could all chip in. Get a new, improved El Cazador 2. She smiled at the thought, then a spasm of nausea racked her, and she clutched at Callum’s shoulders.
With his free hand, he stroked her hair. “You’ll be fine as soon as you get the treatment.”