Last week was the 8-year anniversary of the conclusion of one of my old stories,
Ship of State! I can't believe it's been so long since I wrote it, and almost as long since I've written anything in the Darwin's Soldiers universe. But f-22 and I have partnered up to bring you a direct sequel to
Ship of State, set about 15 years later and including every single surviving character (plus reappearances of some characters from elsewhere in the Darwin's Soldiers canon!)
If you haven't read
Ship of State,
this Wiki page will explain the plot up to now. You'll probably also want to read the page on
Card of Ten, the story that preceded
Ship of State.This story will be updating once a day until its completion. Enjoy!
Next of Kin
Written by LettuceBacon&Tomato
Story by f-22 "raptor" ace and LettuceBacon&Tomato
It was a warm evening like any other when Werner and his team finally finished digging the aqueduct. “Whew,” Werner panted, throwing the final shovelful of dirt to the side. “There we go!”
The men cheered. Menken, Werner's second-in-command, clapped Werner on the back. “Still not sure how this thing’s supposed to work, but I’m glad to be done digging!” He nodded approvingly at their handiwork.
“Now we’re going to make concrete out of crushed rock and ash,” Werner explained. “We coat this channel, and it will bring us water from the mountain range after the next storm.”
Werner was the leader of a small colony of settlers eking out a living on a remote moon. It was a tough life, but he and his father Hans were slowly working their way through eras of technology, and with their guidance the standards of living were improving every day.
Menken shook his head and smiled. “The details are still lost on me, I’m afraid, but I’ve got your back.”
“You always do,” Werner nodded, wiping the sweat from his brow. “Trust me, you’re going to love how much water we’ll have.”
“It’ll be nice to put those damn storms to use,” Menken nodded. The colony had long abandoned the plains that filled 90% of the moon’s surface, and were holed out at the base of a range of mountains.
“Oh, they’ll be doing more than that soon,” Werner promised as the men began the hike back to town. “Hans’ wind turbines are getting stronger with every generation. He’s already got a prototype for a model that can handle hurricane force. If it works, we can charge the shuttlecraft power cell overnight instead of over months.”
“You planning another expedition?” Menken asked. Every time they charged the shuttlecraft, Werner took it out to search unexplored areas of the moon. So far he hadn’t found anywhere nicer than the mountains in which they now resided, but it helped for cartography and collection of new plants and exotic resources.
“Not yet, but soon,” Werner replied, as they reached the outskirts of Vurna, their small but respectable collection of thatch and adobe huts. Half of the colony lived under the open sky, the rest preferred to stay in the mountain caves.
“Awesome. You better take me on the next one, I won’t have a sore throat this time,” Menken teased, but suddenly he broke off when two young figures came sprinting towards him. “Oh! Hey, kids!” he exclaimed, surprised to see a pair of tiny figures sprinting towards him.
“Daddy!” both cheered, and the son leapt into his arms.
“What are you two doing out of class already?” Menken looked at the older one, the daughter, for explanation.
“It closed early. Sophie smoked the building out!” she laughed.
Werner sighed as every adult in the group looked at him. “Oh no...”
* * *
“Werner, you know I have the utmost respect for you and your family,” The schoolmaster shook his head in frustration. “But I’m at my wit’s end! How am I supposed to teach with your daughter’s constant troublemaking?”
“I’ll talk with her, don’t worry,” Werner assured. “She’s inside?”
The schoolmaster nodded. The two were standing next to the school hut, which still had wisps of tea-scented smoke wafting out of it. “Whatever she did this time, it left a residue all over the walls and ceiling. The kids’ eyes were watering from the smoke when we evacuated, what will their parents think?”
“I’ll handle it,” Werner repeated, walking into the school hut. His daughter briefly looked up, but returned to scrubbing the wall with a damp cloth and bucket when she saw who it was. “Hey Sophie,” Werner coughed; the tea-scented smoke was still a bit thick. “Uh, what happened?”
“I dunno,” Sophie shrugged. She had his auburn hair and her mother’s dark brown eyes. Unlike Werner, who was already feeling lightheaded from the smoke, she didn’t seem affected.
Werner took his work rag from around his neck and helped scrub. “What is this stuff?” he asked, scraping his finger along the milky film.
“It’s burnt sallowroot,” Sophie admitted. “I was...experimenting with it.”
“Experimenting?” Sallowroot was one of the more common plants growing on the moon, though it wasn’t native to the mountains and most of their supply came from expeditions.
“Yeah, I was...brewing tea.”
Werner could tell she was lying. “At school?”
“It was lunch break.”
“So...where’s your kettle?” Sophie didn’t answer. “Sophie, you know you can be honest with me.”
Sophie sighed. “Promise you won’t tell Mom?”
“Promise.”
“Okay. Well, Aron bought some flint from Jesyca and offered to set the sallowroot on fire. He said you could see hallucinations if you breathe in the fumes.”
Werner was silent for a second. “Did Jesyca get the flint from the bakery? Kixoo told me somebody stole it.”
“I don’t know,” Sophie answered a little too quickly.
“Okay. Well, could you ask her not to do that again? And don’t smoke things. It’s bad for you.”
“It only happened the once. Promise.” Sophie sighed. “How do you even know it’s bad for you?”
“I just do.” Werner soaked his rag in the bucket. “And I’ll have to talk to Kixoo about keeping a closer eye on his supplies. I’m sorry, but I can’t have people shoplifting, even if they’re your friends.”
“Jesyca’s not my friend,” Sophie finished her portion of the wall and scooted further away from Werner. “Nobody is.”
“Aron sounds like a good friend.”
“Yeah, cause everyone hates him too.”
“People don’t hate you. Do they?” Sophie didn’t answer. “Look,” Werner patted her on the back. “I wasn’t the most popular kid in school either. And if anyone’s bullying you, please let me know. But it’s okay to only have a few friends.”
“Okay dad.” Sophie spared him a glance. “How long are you going to be here? I don’t need your help.”
* * *
“Girls will be girls,” Seska assured her husband. “Don’t worry yourself. She’ll grow out of it.” The two were eating dinner in their hut. Sophie hadn’t come home yet.
“She’s smoking!” Werner threw his hands in the air. “I didn’t even know there was anything to smoke on this moon! What else could she be getting up to?”
“I’ve told you before, I think that Sapaar boy is a bad influence on her.” Seska grabbed another helping of berries.
“Don’t call him that.” Werner slid his plate over so she’d refill his portion as well. “And on the contrary, I think her friendship with Aron is one of the best things that could happen for this colony. Very few people are seriously trying to merge our two cultures, and she gives that cause exposure.”
Seska sighed. “I’m sure that’s great for you as the colony leader, but as her father, do you really want your daughter to live as a social outcast?”
“She’s not an outcast. She has us.” They were both done with their dinner, so Werner took their plates to the wash basin.
“I suppose.” Seska stood up. “But a young girl needs more than--” She abruptly cut herself off, grabbing the table to steady herself.
“Seska?” Werner asked, looking over.
“I’m...okay.” she assured, locking her knees. “I just…” She trailed off, blinking confusedly. “...Uh…”
Without further ado, she collapsed unconscious back into her chair.
* * *
“You seriously told your dad I taught you how to smoke?” Aron exclaimed. “Thanks for nothing!”
“Relax, he promised not to tell anyone.” Sophie took another long drag on the root, which was crushed to bits and rolled up in leaves dried into rolls.
“There’s nobody else to tell, he runs Vurna!” Aron took the root for his own hit. “If he wanted to, he could kill me, or exile me, or build a jail and put me there forever!”
“You know he’s not going to do any of that.” Sophie sighed and admired the brilliant display of colors lighting up her vision. The two were on the roof of Aron’s hut. Like most Sapaar, he and his mother lived in the caves, preferring the comfort of a rocky roof to having the sky overhead. “Guess we can’t light up at lunch any more.”
“No, we can, you just have to not spill all over your desk and create a giant uncontrollable smoke cloud.” Aron grinned teasingly. His mother ran the brewery and always worked late, so they could count on having the hut to themselves. “Just let me do the lighting.”
Sophie grumbled. “The other kids will tell on us if we don’t have enough to share.” The colors were fading, so she grabbed the blunt back and took another puff. “And now dad’s keeping an eye on the sallowroot supply.”
“Oh, great,” Aron sighed. “Guess it’s back to me getting beat up by the Gaman kids, if I can’t bribe ‘em.”
“Nobody’s going to beat you up again,” Sophie assured. “Not with me around.”
“I don’t want your protection!” Aron pushed her. “But even if I did, what would you even do? Punch them?”
Sophie stuck her tongue out. “Maybe I’d tell Dad they hooked me on sallowroot so he’d have them killed.” Aron rolled his eyes. “And you know they’re not exactly friendly to me either,” she continued. “You think I like the way everyone treats me? The way they look at me?”
“Yeah yeah, I know.” Aron striked the flint against a square of steel to relight the root. “Sucks to be the hero’s kid, or so you claim. You gotta admit, though, it must be cool having three of your classmates named after you.”
“No, it really isn’t.” Both gradually became aware of someone calling Sophie's name.
“Sophie? Sophie!” Menken’s son spotted her when she peeked over the side of the hut. “There you are! Everyone’s looking for you. Your mom’s fallen asleep and won’t wake up!”
* * *
Hans frowned as he checked Seska’s pulse. “This is the darnedest thing. She seems completely healthy.”
“Is it an illness?” Werner asked nervously. “Do we have to worry about everyone else in the colony?”
Hans glanced at him. “I’m more concerned with your wife at the moment. It’s like she slipped into a coma. She didn’t hit her head or anything?”
“No. One second she was standing up, the next she was passed out on the table.”
“Hmm. Maybe she stood up too fast?” Hans wafted smelling salts from his medkit under her nose, to no effect. “I admit her reaction is a bit severe for that.”
“There aren’t really any tests we can run, are there?” Werner wringed his hands in agitation. “Out here on this moon, we don’t even have a lab.”
Hans dabbed her face with a wet cloth. “You store everything collected from expeditions in this hut. Perhaps Seska was exposed to something you brought home. We could draw a blood sample using my old empty morphine syringe. I can look for signs of any contaminants.”
“Let’s do it,” Werner agreed. “Can you start tonight?”
“Of course,” Hans nodded. “We have no time to waste.”
Hans readied his medkit while Werner crossed to his daughter standing awkwardly on the far side of the room. “Sophie, don’t worry. Me and your grandfather are doing everything we can. Mom will be fine.”
Sophie glanced at Seska. “Yeah, whatever.”
“‘Whatever’?” Werner repeated incredulously.
“Yeah.” Sophie glanced outside. “Can I leave?”
“No!” Werner shook his head in frustration. He didn’t have time for this. “Just...keep an eye on your mom. We’ll be back soon.”
As soon as Werner had left, Sophie headed to the storage room in the back and swiped two pocketfuls of sallowroot.
* * *
“Don’t worry about Sophie,” Hans assured his son. “Everyone experiences grief in different ways.”
Werner didn’t answer. Hans changed the subject. “I don’t see anything in Seska’s blood,” he murmured, peering through a microscope cobbled together out of tubes, shuttlecraft pieces and eyeglass lenses. “Wish we had some real equipment.”
“Especially for a coma…” Werner agreed. “That would require something like a brain scan.”
“Yeah.” Hans adjusted the width of between the tubes to focus the magnification. “I’m sorry, but it’s almost impossible to learn anything at this resolution. This isn’t exactly hospital-grade equipment.”
“What about these?” Werner noticed a number of pill bottles in Hans’ medkit. “Will any of them help?”
Hans looked. “Everything useful ran out years ago…” he muttered, checking them one by one. “Well...I guess there’s a slim possibility prinophalyne might tell us something, but I doubt it--”
He broke off when he squeezed a drop into Seska’s blood sample and it turned murky white. “Impossible!” he exclaimed.
“What’s prinophalyne?” Werner asked, looking at the unlabeled bottle.
“The terrorist leader passed it out to his lieutenants before we invaded Pelvanida,” Hans replied. “It can detect someone tainted by anti-matter. We were supposed to use it to confirm Lockdown’s identity since we needed him to power the Einstein-Rosen bridge.”
“Anti-matter… Hans, you and I were turned into anti-matter by the bridge! Are we infecting everyone in the colony?”
“Let’s find out. Ayla, dear, are you awake?” Hans called.
Hans’ wife arrived curiously. The two explained the situation and took her blood sample, but the prinophalyne didn’t react.
“Hmm...so contact with us isn’t enough.” Hans furrowed his brow. “When would Seska have encountered anti-matter?”
“Hans, wait!” Werner burst out as the lightbulb went off. “Remember during our escape from Gaman? We knew not to use the Einstein-Rosen bridge because Seska tried and it rejected her!”
Hans’ eyes widened. “That must be it! Whatever happened to her, this gate must have caused it.”
Werner nodded. “Okay. So now that we know where it came from...what now? We have to save her!”
Hans accepted a cup of tea from Ayla. “Not just her,” he replied gravely. He tested his own blood and it came up positive. “You and I have jumped through that gate too. We need to enact precautions in case we won’t be here to lead this colony for much longer.”