The Wild Ba’Neesh Chapter Six ©2019 Fay Thompson All Rights Reserved

Perisee was first to break free of the tree, followed almost immediately by Lemista. They ignored the pleas of the scattered operatives and walked from man to Soek sniffing and discussing the physical attributes of each. Jordy would have found it funny in other circumstances when he wasn’t one of the pinned butterflies, because that was what it felt like, he was on display and couldn’t do a damn thing about it until the Ba’Neesh were done having their fun with him.

He did learn something though, in general they paid little attention to human males. The exception was Eric Felsen. They sniffed him twice and then sniffed again, whispering in Neesh to each other. Eric, like the rest of the men, could do nothing but stand inches from them, their horns and antlers easily lethal should they desire to blood them. He’d never been this close to a free Ba’Neesh, one not tranked out. It was terrifying. He was also certain they guessed his secret, though they did not say it aloud, at least in an understandable language. He hoped Arjan, who was in an indirect line of sight to him, would interpret their interest as nothing more than facing a top Tule Soc agent.

“Perisee?” Jordy had ceased trying to gain her attention after it became clear she and Lemista were in the midst of fun. Their measure of priority started with fun. Things like duty or responsibility were near the bottom. He had to wait for them to become bored. That took an additional hour before she wandered over to stand facing him.

“Jordy?” She asked, as if nothing were amiss.

“Could you free us, please?” Jordy knew she knew how to do so because she was free and he wasn’t. The kid had known too. This was a Ba’Neesh thing. Why hadn’t his Ba’Neesh recognized it earlier?

“No. The tree isn’t done yet.” She answered.

Jordy blinked. “What do you mean, exactly please.”

“The tree is completing a bargain, a trade, a valued exchange. It is cycling your energy and Vrill and until it enters the release cycle, you will stay still, held, captive, controlled, in use, conduit.” She smiled, her upper fangs clearly visible.

“The tree released you.” Jordy observed. “The boy Soek is escaping in our floater after damaging the other floaters and drones nearby. We need to accelerate this process; don’t you think?”

“The Ba’Neesh and trees have a long and deep relationship. We had forgotten this exchange promise, Lemista and I. It would be an error to violate the promise. We can wait. A chase is good so it will be good sooner or later even though we will be more hungry by then.”

Jordy snapped his mouth closed to prevent himself from saying what he wanted to say. Likely, escape required the Ba’Neesh in some way. Pissing them off would not be helpful. He sucked in a deep breath, thankful that whatever kept him in place had not stolen his ability to breathe. His mind centered on a piece of what she’d said.

“This is a Ba’Neesh weapon?” He asked.

She and Lemista were back to whispering together, she turned to him slowly. “Weapon? No injuries have occurred. We merely share, feed, encourage with the trees, bushes, plants. Are you injured, Jordy?”

Jordy blinked. He knew all of the Tule Soc operatives were listening, as were his own. Everyone’s memories would require adjustment. That included the Tule Soc operatives who appeared to be held up only by whatever force was controlling their bodies. How would he manage that adjustment? He looked from man to man within range of his vision. He had a device in his eye that captured visuals as snapshots. He knew DireSec Tech Ops was listening in on his throat com and had been since the rush toward the target. They knew he was frozen and they knew Elias was in the small floater. They knew Elias had the target. He needed to make sure they had the idents on all of the Tule Soc operatives so they could send Seekers out of the Citadel to adjust the men’s molcoms. He knew his own operatives and he could guess they were being adjusted as he watched because several got blank expressions and looked around in confusion. Likely they were being implanted with instructions to ignore the visuals and audios of the two Ba’Neesh while the Ba’Neesh looked and sounded like Ba’Neesh.

“I am not injured, Perisee. How long should I share my energy with the tree?” He asked.

“It is pleased with the size of the donation and has agreed to release as early as possible. Roughly just before sunset. Trees measure time by sun movement.”

Pleased with the size of the donation. Jordy swallowed hard. If he calmed himself, he could feel Vrill flowing from the crown of his head down his spine and out his legs into the ground. With focus and sufficient time, he could guess he would be able to feel the tree absorbing his Vrill, processing it and returning it in some way? It was like an entire system hiding in plain view. Why had he never heard of an energy exchange with plants? He knew the answer. Ba’Neesh guarded their secrets. What had Perisee said, she and Lemista had forgotten this exchange. What Ba’Neesh had not forgotten, had set this trap, had somehow worked with the Soek boy to spring the trap on he and his men?

“I didn’t see a Ba’Neesh, Perisee.” He said quietly.

“Neither did we.” Lemista answered. “It’s very exciting, isn’t it? I am here and I was stilled and I am surrounded in mystery. The only thing missing is a bit of blood.” She turned to jab Perisee in the shoulder with her antlers suiting desire to action. Perisee squealed as blood flowed.

Jordy groaned, hoping they wouldn’t feel so excited they killed each other.

The playful battle ended with three or four good sized gores and numerous scratches, all being well licked, each on the other along with purring, and moaning sounds of pleasure. Jordy expected it. The non-Soek humans were standing rigid. His operatives who could no longer see the Ba’Neesh were oblivious and only Eric Felsen watched with wary captivated interest tinged with horror. Arjan had a look of tightly contained fear leaving Jordy to believe the man would kill either of the Ba’Neesh given the first opportunity.

Mick was busy searching the cabin of the floater for food and drinks. He found both as the craft was well stocked including ample proteins and even some red drinks with specially marked caps. He didn’t touch them, guessing correctly they were for the strange ones. He went through the options, selected a preserved sandwich and energy drink and sat back to eat and stare at the older man who was watching him carefully.

“So, how are you thinking to trick me?” Mick asked, enjoying the food far more than he expected.

“What do you mean?” Elias asked carefully. He was observing the boy’s frayed appearance, the clear stains of blood on his t-shirt, dirt on his knees and twigs and leaves in his hair. He was clearly the boy that had run.

“You are an unwilling companion. That means you will pretend to go along with me until you can overcome me, take back your devices and weapons and return me to whatever ill fate all of those security and military people seem to want for me.” It was a good summation of Elias’ thinking.

“What’s your plan?” Mick asked again.

Elias wanted to lie, he wanted to lie badly but the damn compulsive word continued to cling to his neural pathways, he could feel it. He was bound to assist the boy until the compulsion wore off.

“My best option would be to marginally go along with the compulsion while laying an underlying secondary strategy that will place my team in a position to regain control.” Elias heard the words out of his mouth and cursed.

“Is your team listening to us in here?” Mick sensed the man was being forced to be truthful. He knew that force himself. It had a time limit. He didn’t know how long so he felt he should ask questions fast.

“Yes. They have that capability.” Elias answered.

“Disconnect that potential.” Mick ordered.

Elias complied. He was experiencing a growing curiosity. The craft could easily be flown by nearly anyone but the boy made no effort to kill him and take control. That would have been Elias’ first choice were their roles reversed, unless there were hidden factors.

Kiena spoke inside Mick’s hearing asking about a different device. Mick ended up having Elias describe the function of each device. Most of them were disconnected. He learned that one of them was a Vrill multiplier, the device literally acted like a generator of some kind. Vrill. That word again. Hearing it coming from the man’s mouth sobered Mick. Kiena told him to ask about the hidden Channel inside the multiplier.

“Tell me about the Channel inside the multiplier.” Mick asked.

Elias was feeling slightly less compelled but they had long since crossed into Soek territory. The boy had both seen and spoken to Ba’Neesh. There was no functional reason to lie about what the boy clearly knew was present.

“It is strong which is why we are using it in this device.” Elias answered.

Mick didn’t know what it was. Kiena knew well enough, she wanted to see how the device operated. She told Mick to tell the man to activate it.

Elias reached over and pressed the button. It was set for a relatively high output in order to power his main system, it’s interface now resting next to the boy, too far for Elias to reach.

Kiena materialized to lean over the device.

Elias gasped and tried to lunge for the nearest weapon.

“Assist, Soek.” Kiena repeated, throwing the word at him again.

The word slammed into Elias’ mind. He sat back stiffly, staring at her. “What are you?” He asked.

“I am Kiena. You are another stupid Soek.” She said.

Mick half shrugged at Elias in commiseration.

“I take it you are the other stupid Soek?” Elias asked Mick directly.

Mick nodded.

“Maximize this device.” Kiena ordered.

Elias adjusted the controls as high as he’d ever dared operate the machine. When he did her manifestation solidified into an almost opaque presentation. She was clearly Ba’Neesh and clearly not like any Ba’Neesh Elias had ever seen and he’d seen more than a thousand. Mick didn’t know any better, she just looked like Kiena more solid to him.

As quickly as she had appeared, she vanished. Elias looked around, wary. A new type of fear blossomed to life in his chest. He had a single answer to many mysteries and it was named Kiena.

“Does the Vrill empty or discharge from the device.” Her voice came out of the air.

Elias now understood why Mick was sitting quietly on the seat and doing nothing. He discovered he was now doing exactly the same. She was with them. He had no doubt now where that arc of Vrill had come from, nor who had disrupted an entire city’s grid. It wasn’t the kid. How the kid related to the situation remained unclear.

“It is sustainable for up to twenty-four hours before the Channel requires time to recharge. It is then down for around six of our hours, sometimes less.”

“Depending on Vrill nearby?” Kiena asked.

“Yes.” Elias nodded although he didn’t know where she was or really what she was. Ba’Neesh were not blue-lit apparitions that moved in and out of existence, sometimes transparent, sometimes solid. Teleportation? He couldn’t guess. Somehow she seemed to be moving with the boy. A link? What was their relationship? That bone dust, her bones? Did the boy have Ba’Neesh bones? That would make him a mule for a Channel.

“Act to protect our escape from detection, Soek.” Her voice slammed into him far more powerfully than before and that had been bad enough. It was clear she could access the machine’s Vrill to augment her delivery. Elias gasped. Then he spun around, his fingers flying across the manual overrides of the floater, removing it from every possible detectable trace he could. He knew he needed to get the floater underground, deep enough to totally block detection. He turned to Mick.

“Punch up large, isolated, underground structures within 500 kilometers with an opening large enough for this floater to fit.”

Mick gaped and then fiddled with the weirdest slate he’d ever handled. It looked old and cheap. It wasn’t. He was quickly enthralled by its speed and connectivity. It made Mick’s home system seem like a baby toy. It was an odd request but he found the query sent the system into complex geological data revealing there were underground structures everywhere, hidden both close to the surface and deep. He’d never known the planet was this well mapped. He called out the six top suggestions.

The pressure was easing up on Elias, not fading exactly but not making him feel like his mind was enslaved. He could think. He didn’t see an easy way out, not with something capable of using Speech on him at will. His best plan seemed to be to stop resisting and go along until he had a better grasp of the fullness of this entity’s capabilities.

“I’m Elias.” He said over his shoulder.

“Mick Huxley.” Mick answered, seeing no reason to lie. “She’s Kiena.”

Her name again. Elias could guess it wasn’t her true name. It sounded modern. She didn’t feel modern to him even if she did seem to understand electronics well enough. Elias hoped for more, some indication of traceable knowledge. Something he could research.

“Yeah.” Mick answered. “Elias, what’s a Soek? She calls me a stupid Soek all the time. I don’t like it.”

Elias had the floater programed to fly a circuitous path toward a target destination. He pivoted the pilot’s chair. The kid didn’t know what a Soek was?

“Have you asked her?” He countered. He was not fully compelled to answer the boy although he didn’t know how far the ‘assist’ compulsion would act on his brain. He probably shouldn’t lie.

“She isn’t forthcoming.” Mick said, trying not to look around to see if she was going to wink in and get him. He needed info. This guy knew more than he did. He was at least temporarily compelled. Use it. That’s what Mick’s gaming skills told him was the best thing to do. Milk the guy for info while he had the chance. He had to remember the guy was an enemy, only temporarily helping.

Elias wanted to find out how Mick encountered the entity but he instinctively felt the compulsion would find that unhelpful. Sometimes, straight forward was the best path.

“I’m a Soek. A Soek is a hominid. Do you know what a hominid is?”

“Yeah.” This was sounding like biology class to Mick, not his best subject.

“Humans are Homo Sapien Sapien. Soeks are Homo Soekenesis, a parallel species that is somewhat compatible to humans in a dominant way. Soek sense and use Vrill while humans do not or not at levels Soek consider important to measure or be concerned with.”

“Oh.” Mick answered flatly. There was a long pause before Mick continued. “What she does, that’s Vrill, isn’t it?”

“Yes.” Elias answered. “It appears so, although she escaped our Vrill detection devices. We would like to understand how she did that if she is wielding Vrill.”

Mick sat thinking. So far Kiena had been right. He didn’t like it. In fact, he really didn’t like it. But, she had told him he could be traced by his molcom. He didn’t want to be traced. “I want to shut down my molcom.” He said. “You can do that?”

The compulsion was fading. Elias tested his answer in his mouth. It felt like he could say it out loud. It would be a test of the now missing entity who hadn’t been seen or spoken for some time. He was speculating that her Vrill might be low. With the Vrill multiplier running he knew there was a big risk he was wrong. He couldn’t evaluate her behavior yet.

“I can’t shut it down. DireSec can though.” Elias answered, pleased to hear his tone come out even and solid.

Mick sat there saying nothing. DireSec. That must be this Elias’ security team name. They sounded like a gang or gaming team. Dire. That sounded mean and pretty solid. A good name for bad guys. If he were part of a gang like that he would lie about stuff out of hand, particularly to an opponent. Mick quantified himself and even Kiena as Elias’ opponents in this instance. Where was she? He couldn’t sense her nearby, not that he usually tried. Would this guy jump at him soon? He really didn’t know how to use the weapon sitting against his leg. He couldn’t just rely on Kiena, she didn’t feel stable like a well known gaming buddy.

He slid his right hand into his pant’s pocket to fiddle with his knife, thinking he knew how it worked well enough. He wasn’t physically trained but in close quarters a knife was better than knuckles. As his fingers groped around he felt a small round shape. The corpse finger. He frowned, unaware Elias was watching his facial expressions carefully. That frown halted Elias’ slow forward movement, his shift of weight intending to spring toward the kid when the moment was optimum.

Mick’s fingers closed around the bone instead of the knife. He squeezed. He looked over at how Elias looked different, more tense, watchful.

“You are lying to me.” Mick said, certainty growing. “You can shut down my molcom from here, Elias. Does that mean you don’t feel her grip on your brain right now? Do you feel safe?”

He was guessing, based on his own experience of Kiena. He was rewarded by Elias flinching just enough to tell him his words had scored.

Elias leaned back, his eyes flickering around the boy, trying to check for any sign of Kiena. He could see and feel nothing. He remembered the hole in the boy’s room. If he took the boy out, then what? What would she do? What could she do? For sure she could down the floater with likely no injury to herself as she seemed to have no physical body to injure.

Her laughter startled both of the Soek. It seemed to come from nowhere and everywhere at once.

Elias held out his hand for his slate. Mick waved Elias to sit next to him so he could watch the older man run the program. Elias couldn’t risk going for the boy with the entity obviously observing from hiding. It was a strange sensation, being watched by a force he believed was capable of killing him at any moment if he moved wrong. He shut down Mick’s molcom because he found the system could now locate it. He knew DireSec would see the blip of the computer turning off. As his own molcom was also shut down, it removed the last means DireSec would have to easily trace them unless Elias turned on some of the systems he had been forced to turn off earlier. He didn’t want to risk dying at the moment. He counseled himself that he should cultivate the boy, learn more, learn what this entity could really do and what it was doing, where were they going and why. It had chosen no direction, that was worrisome. Didn’t it care where they went?