Ulyssa

The Search for Ulyssa (Roran Curse #5)

Chapter 1. Corizen Bound

“It’s not too late to change your mind.”

 Kendra stared at the arched gateway, looming like a yawning mouth waiting to swallow her.

Quit being so melodramatic. It’s not looming, and it doesn’t look anything like a mouth!

Not helpful, Dina, Kendra retorted mentally as she turned back to her family.

“I’m serious, Kendra,” her mother said, twisting her hands. “You don’t have to do this. Corizen isn’t the safest planet right now.”

Kendra swallowed her fear and smiled brightly.

“Of course I have to go,” she said. “Grandfather Forrest has already paid for my trip. How ungrateful would I have to be to back out now?”

Her father rolled his eyes. “Your grandfather has more money than Verity Vanderbilt. He can afford to write off this whole crazy idea. He’d prefer your safety too; I still can’t believe you talked all of us into this.”

“She can stay home, and I’ll go. I wouldn’t mind pretending to be Kendra if it got me to Corizen!” Erik winked, but the longing in his voice was distinct.

“You’ll get your turn,” Kendra said. “Give it a few years.”

“Over my dead body,” muttered her father.

Or Erik’s, added Dina. If your brother survives the next few years, it will be a miracle.

“Last call for passengers of the Beaumaris,” the sterile port voice announced. Kendra jumped and hurried forward to give everyone a final hug. She came to her mother last. Her mother squeezed her tightly, and then whispered, “Stay out of the spotlight, Kendra. No . . . incidents . . . with Dina. Stay safe.”

Sometimes it takes an “incident” to stay safe, Dina said in a not-so-innocent tone.

Her mother’s eyes tightened. Of course she couldn’t hear Dina’s commentary—it was in Kendra’s head, after all—but sometimes Kendra was sure her mother knew exactly what Dina was saying anyway.

“Tell Berry I love her and I’ll send a comm every time I get a chance,” Kendra said, changing the subject. Her younger sister’s social anxiety made it impossible for her to make the trip to see Kendra off with the rest of the family.

“Miss?” the gate attendant called. “If you are going on the Beaumaris, you need to head to the prep lounge now.”

Kendra started to back down the aisle to the gateway. “I love you all! I’ll miss you every day!” she called, throwing one last kiss at everyone. Erik was already leaving the gate, probably heading for the windows where he could watch the shuttles take off. Her mother wrapped her arms around her father’s waist, almost as if she couldn’t stand alone. Then Kendra turned and walked calmly through the gateway, refusing to let her fear take control of her legs.

This trip could fix everything—if they survived it.

***

Kendra hurried down the tunnel that led to the separate building where passengers traveling off-planet would board the shuttles to the space station. The tunnel was empty ahead of her—she had waited until the very last second to leave her family behind. She kept her eyes on the blinking light strip on the floor; the gate attendant had informed her the red strip would take her to the right prep lounge. She tried to think of this as a new adventure, but Kendra could feel her anxiety building with every second.

You are going to be fine when we go through the deep space gate, Dina said. I don’t know what you are worrying about.

You know I’m not worrying about me.

I’m not worrying about me either, Dina said.

Someone needs to.

She could feel Dina’s excitement and anticipation. Not even the slightest twinge of fear. Kendra’s gut twisted. Dina was an isithunzi, a being made out of qualian energy. She was invisible to the humans all around her, and as far as Kendra knew, the only isithunzi living who could communicate with a human. Dina had been shadowing Kendra’s mother and followed her through a local interdimensional gate, not too different from the one that would very shortly send them across the galaxy to Corizen. During that gate travel somehow Dina bonded to the tiny new life Jenna Forrest carried.

Trapped. Forever stuck with a human.

I’m not trapped, Dina contradicted. Kendra smothered a sigh.

You can’t go where you want to. You can’t stay among your own kind. That sounds like trapped to me.

Staying with your own kind is overrated. They don’t want me anyway. But Dina was still bubbling with excitement. Kendra knew, even without Dina putting it into words, that a part of her was hoping that travel through the interstellar gate would break the bond. Even if Dina insisted she didn’t want her freedom, Kendra knew that wasn’t completely true. But Kendra had never known life without Dina’s companionship. It was hard to share Dina’s excitement, even if it fixed Kendra’s life too. She would be able to go back home and live in Tarentino Bay with her family. She wouldn’t have to constantly watch herself to make sure she never showed a sign of the unusual things she could do, because she would be completely normal.

But Kendra wasn’t sure she wanted to be normal. Not if it meant losing Dina.

The walk seemed endless, but eventually the tunnel ended with hallways branching to the right and left. The red light strip turned to the right, but before she followed it she glanced at the yellow and blue lights veering away to the left. The blue strip led to an open doorway about halfway down the hall, while the yellow branched around another corner. Still no other passengers or attendants in sight, though. Kendra took a deep breath and turned to the right, moving as fast as she could without flat out running.

I’m not too late, am I?

They know you’re coming, Dina reminded. They are not going to leave without you.

The red light strip led around another corner to a wide open doorway. Kendra hurried through the opening, half convinced by this point that she was the only passenger getting on the Beaumaris. But as soon as she entered the room, she stopped short. The large lounge was full of people. There were about a dozen different chairs and sofas, and other passengers had already claimed every one. There were terminal screens on the walls streaming different feeds, and a few knots of people stood watching each one. A couple of muted conversations were taking place among some of the travelers.

Kendra tried to slow her breathing, silently laughing at her own panic. Obviously I am not the only one traveling to Corizen. She scanned the room, noting a double set of sliding doors on the far side. Those probably lead to the prep room, she guessed.

Nothing to eat or drink anywhere, Dina lamented.

Kendra’s stomach lurched at the thought of putting anything in her mouth. Thank goodness! Besides, we’re going to be put in stasis for the deep space jaunt. I don’t want a full stomach for that. Dina didn’t care. Taste was one of her favorite things to experience vicariously through Kendra. Sometimes it became a battle between them; Kendra had no desire to eat just for the taste of things.

I wonder if any of the others are going to the International University too, she said, hoping to distract Dina from her grousing about food. Zenith was the only planet other than Nubia that had a deep space gate leading to Corizen. Since Nubia’s population consisted almost solely of Denicorizens exiled after the revolution on Corizen ten years earlier, it was almost certain that any of the other off-planet students would be transferring at Zenith. Some of the students could have chosen to break their travel with a trip to the planet’s surface before continuing on the Beaumaris.

I would say that chances are good, Dina said as Kendra’s gaze surveyed the lounge. Only a quarter of the passengers in the room looked to be over twenty-five. Three of the older passengers were Denicorizen, immediately obvious because of their blue-tinted skin. She wondered if they were tourists returning home, or maybe business agents. They were unlikely to be traders or diplomats—both of those usually had their own deep space ships and bypassed the space station, heading straight to the gate. Another couple of the older Citizens sounded like they might be tourists. They were eagerly discussing the different sights they planned to see when they reached Corizen. Kendra turned her gaze to the younger passengers, trying to guess which ones looked like students. She edged closer to the small group nearest her. They were animatedly discussing the latest solar sailing race, debating which planet had the fastest ship and the best crew. Kendra was about to introduce herself and ask if they would be attending the university too when the door on the far side of the room slid open.

Every face in the room turned toward the medtech who looked at his tablet and called, “Presta Roman.” One of the older men who had been sitting in a chair lumbered to his feet and headed for the door.

He looks as nervous as I feel, Kendra said, noting his sickly white face. The medtech scanned the man’s boarding bracelet, confirming his identity, and waved him through the door. The door slid shut, but not before Kendra got a glimpse of a row of empty medical capsules. Each passenger would be placed in stasis in a capsule before being loaded like just another piece of luggage onto the shuttle. The shuttle would make the trip to a space station orbiting the planet before transferring its human cargo to the Beaumaris.

I hate when you’re in stasis, Dina grumbled. You sleep like the dead, and everything I try to say to you ends up part of some garbled dream.

Don’t remind me. She shivered. The only time Kendra had ever been in stasis before was when she had been abducted at seven years old. The kidnappers had kept Kendra in a medical capsule. She couldn’t remember her time in the capsule at all, but the thought of putting herself completely at the mercy of someone else was not a pleasant one.

I’ll protect you. I did before, Dina said. Kendra took a deep breath and put the worry out of her mind. This was the price she would have to pay to give Dina what she so desperately needed. Besides, people traveled to other planets all the time. She’d never heard of anyone’s capsule accidentally shipped to say, Allisin, instead of Corizen.

The door opened again, and the medtech called two names. The older tourist couple rose from their couch and headed toward the door. Kendra darted forward, hoping to claim a spot on the couch. She reached it just as a boy about her age dropped into it on the other side. He was dressed all in white, and his hair was bleached white as well. His dark eyebrows stood out like slashes across his face. He scowled at her when she took the other side of the couch.

Friendly one, that guy. Why is he dressed in a sheet? Dina asked.

I have no idea. Maybe it’s normal where he’s from?

Well, go to it. Get some answers.

“Hi, I’m Kendra,” she said aloud, smiling hopefully at him.

He stared at her for a moment, then finally spoke. “Hugo Serageldin.”

“Are you going to the International University on Corizen too?”

He nodded, smoothing his hands down his flowing white tunic. He seemed unwilling to say anything more though. She wondered if he was nervous about the trip. Perhaps he was just shy.

“Where are you from?” she asked, trying to draw him out.

“Ankar.” His eyes shifted to the door, where the medtech was calling out another name. Kendra watched as one of the younger passengers standing in front of a terminal screen left the waiting room. Then she turned her attention back to Hugo.

“I’m afraid I’m not familiar with Ankar. What planet is it on?”

His face swiveled back to hers, his eyes widening in disbelief. “Terra, of course. You honestly have not heard of Ankar before?”

She shrugged and smiled apologetically. “I’m from Zenith.”

His mouth turned down. “Ah. A frontier rube. I should have known.” He abruptly stood and rejoined the group that he had left earlier. He spoke to the others, too low for Kendra to hear, and then almost as one, all five briefly turned in her direction. Kendra smiled and waved at them. All she got in return were several looks of disgust, and then the whole group returned to their discussion, ignoring her completely.

Kendra tried not to shrink back into her couch. I don’t think much of Terran manners so far.

All Terrans can’t be like that. Your father wasn’t.

The door opened again, and the medtech’s voice rang out. “Kendra Forrest!”

Kendra forgot all about snotty Terrans. Her stomach lurched nervously as she pushed herself off the couch and headed out of the waiting lounge.

Before she entered the prep room, the medtech scanned the bracelet that had been snapped to her wrist when she checked in back in the shuttleport. The tablet beeped, presumably in confirmation that she was the right person, and the medtech waved her through into the room.

She stepped through the door and noticed that they had three stations. At the center one, the man who had gone in before her sat in a chair, already dressed in the thin tank and shorts he would wear while in stasis. At the one on the far right, the older tourist lady was already lying inside a medical capsule, her eyes closed while the capsule filled with a clear, viscous liquid. Kendra swallowed nervously. She knew that her body would essentially be in a coma so deep that she wouldn’t even be breathing, but the thought of that liquid covering her face was making her panicky.

The medtech must have noticed her anxiety. “Do you need a sedative? Many people are anxious about being put into stasis. I can give you something for the nerves.”

“No,” Kendra said, taking a deep breath. “I’m fine.” The medtech nodded and handed her a folded pile of clothing, as well as a small bag. “The changing room is over there.” She waved a hand toward the right. “Put all your personal belongings into the bag.”

Kendra walked over to the door helpfully labeled “Changing Room” and pressed her thumb to the pad. It slid open; inside she discovered it was barely bigger than a closet. There was a bench in case she needed to sit, as well as a mirror.

What, do I really need to see what I look like in stasis clothes?

Maybe some people can’t tell if they’re naked without a mirror, Dina said. Humans wear so much clothing.

Ha ha. Very funny.

Kendra stripped out of her clothes quickly and donned the very thin tank and shorts. The tank fit fine, but the shorts were a bit loose. She looked at the mirror in despair. The shorts gapped all around her waist.

These things might float right off. I should have actually measured myself when I filled out the passenger profile, rather than just guessing.

Dina stifled a laugh, but Kendra caught her amusement anyway.

Go see if the medtech can help. I’m sure she’s seen clothes that don’t fit because passengers couldn’t bother to be accurate with their profiles.

The medtech was able to help. She pinned the waistband of the shorts so that it fit more snugly.

“You don’t have an allergy to any metals, do you?” she asked as she tried to adjust the pin so it wouldn’t rub against Kendra’s skin.

“No.”

“Good. Stow your bag in the bottom compartment of the capsule and then have a seat in the chair.” Kendra tucked her bag into the open compartment and snapped the door shut. Then she climbed into the reclining chair and glanced over to the side. The man in the middle was now lying in his still-open capsule, and at the far end, the tourist woman’s capsule was beeping. Another medtech moved to check it, scanning a barcode on the side of the capsule, and then a little hatch hissed open in the wall at the head of the capsule. Kendra craned her neck, watching the capsule slide into the wall. After it disappeared, the hatch slid shut again, and a robotic arm lifted a med capsule from a waiting stack and placed in on the empty holder.

“Where do the capsules go?” she asked with a wince as the medtech pricked her with the probe that would monitor her vitals.

“Straight into the shuttle. Then the shuttle will dock with the Beaumaris at the space station and everyone will be transferred into the passenger hold,” the medtech said cheerfully. “Not a fancy place, but you’ll be asleep through the whole trip, so you’ll never see it. Rest assured, though, your capsule will be secure and well protected.”

Well, I’ll see it, Dina said.

I thought you couldn’t see without me. My eyes will be closed. Kendra was in desperate need of distraction. Any minute now she was going to sink into stasis and potentially never hear Dina again.

It’s a different kind of seeing. More like I’ll sense the different magnetic resonances around us. It gives me a picture, even if it’s much different than the one from your human eyes.

Kendra looked over at the man in the center station. His capsule was now sealed and filling with liquid. The other medtech checked the capsule and tapped his tablet before moving to the door to call the next passenger.

“Well, your vitals look good,” said the medtech cheerfully. “It’s time to climb into the capsule.” Kendra swung her legs over the side of her chair and into the capsule, then froze as her chest tightened. It was as if a vise gripped her lungs. She couldn’t get a full breath.

“Miss Forrest?” the medtech asked. “Are you all right?”

Kendra?

Kendra couldn’t bring herself to answer either the medtech or Dina.

“Miss Forrest? Do you need that sedative now?”

Kendra shook her head, though she was still finding it impossible to speak.

Kendra, we can call it off, Dina said worriedly. We can stay here on Zenith. If you can’t do this. . . .

I can do this, Kendra managed. If we don’t go to Corizen, you’ll never be able to find your twinspark.

It doesn’t matter, I don’t need her, I don’t want to do this to you.

Don’t lie. You do need her.

Kendra found her courage and pushed herself fully into the capsule, stretching out. The medtech smiled at her and patted her arm. “It will all be over in no time at all,” she reassured. “Just lie back, close your eyes, and start to breathe deeply.”

Kendra tried to follow her instructions, though when she heard the capsule door slide into place, her eyes popped open. Through the quickly fogging glass, she caught a glimpse of the medtech bending to check the panel on the side of the capsule. She took a deep breath and immediately felt her brain start to swim. Her eyes drifted closed again, her thoughts growing fuzzy.

Dina . . . I need to tell you something . . . you need to know . . . But the words slipped right through her grasp. She couldn’t remember what was so important. She was growing too sleepy. When Dina spoke, her words seemed like they were coming from the far end of a long tunnel. She wasn’t even sure that it really was Dina or just phantom words floating in her dreams.

Sleep well, my Kendra. I’ll keep you safe. I need you most of all.

***

When Kendra’s eyes creaked open, they felt gummy. She raised a hand to wipe the gloop away and found it a very challenging task. Her hand shook with the effort. Her thoughts felt gummy too—sticky and slow. Had something gone wrong? Why was she still sitting in the prep room? The capsule around her was slick with the residue of the stasis liquid, and the capsule lid was open.

“Welcome to Corizen!” A round blue head loomed over her, and she squeaked involuntarily.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you!” The man grinned at her, flashing very white, even teeth. “My name is Taeth, and I’m your recovery medtech. Let’s get you sitting up, and when you feel ready, I’ll help you out of the capsule.”

Kendra’s thoughts clicked into place as the man put an arm around her shoulders and lifted her up. She looked around a very different room from the one she remembered just a few moments ago. There was a row of ten capsules, with half a dozen medtechs scattered among them. At least three of the medtechs, including her own, were Denicorizen. She obviously had made the interplanetary trip without any problems at all. But what about . . . .

Dina! she shouted.

Yeesh, Kendra, I’m right here. You don’t have to shout.

A wave of relief nearly swamped Kendra, and she grabbed the sides of the medical capsule to steady herself. Tears pricked at her eyes.

“Just take your time,” the medtech said. “The reanimation process can sometimes be difficult.”

I told you there was nothing to worry about, Dina said.

You’re OK?

Perfectly fine. Still stuck with you, though.

As long as Dina hadn’t dissolved into nothingness, that was all that mattered to Kendra.

I’ve been bored out of my mind, actually. It was a long trip, and going through the gate wasn’t interesting at all. Just a few moments of feeling like I was being ripped apart and scattered to the stars . . .

What?!

I’m kidding! Kidding.

Not funny.

“Ready to climb out?” the medtech asked. Kendra nodded, and he lifted her up and over the side of the capsule. “Best if you walk. The more you move, the quicker your body will readjust.” She took a few cautious steps, looking down at her legs. Her tank and shorts were plastered to her body, the slimy stasis liquid making her look like she had been sprayed with yellow dye.

Ugh, this is the worst.

Hey, it looks better than the last time. Last time you ended up yellow and covered in mud from that hike through the jungle to Kip’s.

“When do I get to take a shower?” she asked the medtech.

“As soon as you show me that you can walk across the room without any issues.”

She started forward, a bit wobbly at first, feeling like she’d had the flu or something and stayed in bed for a very long time. But quickly her energy started to return, and she easily made her way down the row of capsules. Some of them were still closed, with liquid draining away. She caught a glimpse of several faces she recognized from the waiting lounge back at Zenith. A few others were open, with medtechs hovering over passengers who had just woken up. She turned at the end of the room and made her way back to Taeth.

“Am I the first one awake?” she asked, as he opened the storage compartment on her capsule and pulled out her bag.

“Yes. You’re listed as a priority passenger,” he said cheerfully. He waved her forward. “Follow me to the showers.”

***

Ten minutes later, Kendra felt nine hundred percent better. She had scrubbed all the stasis residue from her skin and hair and dressed in her clothes from the bag. Rebraiding her hair, she stared at the mirror. Her skin still looked slightly yellow.

Do Denicorizens come out of stasis looking green? she wondered idly.

You should ask Taeth.

Um, no. The last thing I want to do is offend the man who is going to medically clear me to leave the shuttleport!

Taeth was waiting for her when she left the dressing room.

“All you have left is your final clearance, and then I’ll send you into the arrivals lounge,” he said with a warm smile. Kendra returned it and followed him back into the recovery room. There were others up and walking around the room now. Kendra recognized the boy named Hugo from before. He scowled as he marched across the room, and she noted that he looked very different without his billowing white robes. His stasis clothes hung loosely on his thin shoulders, and his bleached white hair was lemon yellow.

He looks like a yellow string bean, Dina said. Kendra smothered a giggle.

Taeth waved her into a chair behind a partition and then pricked her with a probe again. He also drew a small blood sample, which he fed into the squat silver machine hooked to the probe.

After a few minutes his tablet beeped. He looked at it and frowned. “I’m getting a misreading on your genetic panel,” he said. Kendra shrugged, trying to look innocent. They’d had this problem at her medical screen preboarding as well. Something about Dina had messed with her genetics. Every genetic panel she’d ever had came back with an error. But obviously it didn’t affect her physically, and no one had ever been able to explain it.

“I’ll run it one more time,” he said, drawing another blood sample. Kendra tried to look bored instead of worried. What if, after all this, they decided not to let her stay on the planet? A few minutes later the panel beeped again, giving Taeth the same error message. By now there were two other passengers who had finished with their showers and were waiting for their medical screenings. This part should be moving quickly; because everyone was screened before going into stasis at the beginning of the trip, it was usually just a formality. Taeth commed a supervisor, and by the time she arrived, the waiting line of passengers had grown even longer. She studied the tablet’s readout, looked Kendra up and down, and then glanced at the impatiently muttering people waiting in line.

Her voice dropped, but Kendra could still hear her whisper to Taeth, “She’s a priority passenger?”

“Yes, the Union ambassador’s niece.”

There was a moment of silence, and then the supervisor shrugged. “She’s disease-free and her vitals look good. Clear her and send her on. Mark it down as a machine error and schedule the profiler for diagnostics after we get this load processed.”

She left the cubicle, and Taeth smiled nervously at Kendra. “Well, Miss Forrest, it seems everything is fine. Let’s get you off to the arrivals lounge to meet your family, shall we?”

We got lucky again, Kendra said as she followed Taeth from the room. I don’t know why everyone always decides to let my weird genetic results go, but thank goodness they do!

Mmmhmm, Dina said noncommittally.