Ascension by Ken Lozito

Author:Ken Lozito [Lozito, Ken]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Acoustical Books LLC
Published: 2019-01-26T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Seventeen

After the Athena jumped away, Kladomaor had been ordered to figure out where it’d gone and how the ship had escaped virtually unnoticed. There were many Boxans who had difficulty accepting that the Humans were as primitive as they'd originally thought. They had proven to be ingenious but on occasion a bit too idealistic. Human idealism was infectious, and Kladomaor had noticed how his own species seemed to absorb it with an increasing fervor akin to that of a star's gravitational pull—slow at first, but building in intensity until they found themselves hungering to live instead of merely surviving. The potential of the Human species blazed brighter than anything he'd ever experienced. They had the capacity to become as ruthless as the Xiiginns had proven to be, but they were also passionate in their idealism. They dreamed of what they could be and chased that dream almost as if they were afraid it would slip away. Kladomaor had seen that same passion become almost completely extinguished in the Boxans, and now that they had raised their heads from the dreariest time in Boxan history, Kladomaor found that he would fight harder than he ever had before to ensure the Boxans’ future.

The main holoscreen on the bridge of the Boxan heavy cruiser showed real-time sensor feeds. They'd traveled to the outer system of planets in the Nerva star system, away from the Alliance fleet. He glanced over at Kaylan, who was speaking with the Athena crew near the communications station. She'd grown beyond the mission commander who'd been thrust into the commander's chair, and the longer he knew her, the more she reminded him of Ma'jasalax. Knowing Ma'jasalax as he did made him wonder whether he was jumping at shadows. Or had Kaylan grown into a shrewd leader, capable of traversing the dangerous circles of the Mardoxian Sect? She'd seemed quite surprised when the Athena left the Nerva star system.

Ma'jasalax entered the bridge and joined him. The Mardoxian priestess looked at the Athena crew for a moment before turning toward Kladomaor.

"Has the student become the teacher then?" Kladomaor asked.

Ma'jasalax seemed unperturbed by his intentional jab. "Kaylan cannot remain a student forever."

"No, she can't, but I still wonder at how events have unfolded," Kladomaor replied.

"You mean, did Kaylan purposefully set these events into motion?"

"I know they didn't want to give up their ship, and who could blame them? But in the end, what else could they have done?" Kladomaor said.

"I believe Kaylan really would have shared anything she learned from the Drar data repositories on the Athena, but once they return to Earth it probably wouldn't have been up to her. She realizes this, and she also knows you couldn’t guarantee that the High Council wouldn't put forth considerable effort to take the Athena away from them," Ma'jasalax said. She spoke softly so that the Boxans around them couldn't overhear their conversation. "You've often pointed out how Kaylan is a bit of an optimist, but the actions she's taken are logical and are more aligned with a realist’s philosophy.

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