"You're next." Mahikos gestured to the farthest pod.
"I lead the council. I will go last."
Immune to compulsion, his father had not shielded against it. Like a feint in swordplay, Pietas tapped the area where it resided.
"What are you trying to pull, Pietas? That old trick won't work on me."
Pietas tossed a cloak of Chaos over the man's thoughts, clouding them.
"I know what you're up to." He appeared to have cast off the effect, but then he frowned. "You-- You're planning--" He jerked his arm toward the pod. "Get in."
"What will Mother say when she hears we argued? She hates it when we argue."
"You're not getting away with that. I know what you're doing."
"Do you?" He layered Chaos with mental distortion. "Explain it to me."
"You will get us all killed! Enter the pod, Pietas."
He leaned in close, the proximity of his pheromones strengthening the Chaos. "Helia is right. I shouldn't argue with my son."
"I-- I shouldn't--" Mahikos rubbed his brow.
"I shouldn't argue. Helia doesn't like it." Pietas added the illusion of his mother's voice and presence. "Oh, Mahikos. It's not good to argue."
The man smiled, looking down and to the right, as if at Helia. "Helia, my love."
"Come with me. You look tired. You need rest."
"I am tired. I can't win against that boy. He won't listen!"
"He's a good boy, Mahikos. Give Pietas a chance."
The man smiled down where his wife would be. "I try to reason with him, but he won't listen!" He pressed the back of his fingers against where Helia's cheek would have been. "Talk to him. Make him see how important this is."
"I'll talk to him. I promise. You go and rest. Let me handle our son."
Pietas added the sound of alarms, claxons blaring a warning.
"The air!" Helia clutched her throat. "They're taking-- air--"
Mahikos picked her up and carried her to her pod. He placed her inside and closed it. "You're safe now, my love. You're safe!" He turned toward the pod reserved for Pietas. "Close it, Son! Close it!"
Pietas allowed the image to change, showing his father the pod shutting his son inside.
The man hurried to his own. Without pause, Mahikos climbed inside and pulled down the top. In the silence, the sighing closure of his father's pod sounded like the dying breath of a great dragon.
Pietas ended the illusion.
Mahikos had not so much as twitched since Helia's pod had closed. His resistance, his awareness he was being played, his refusal, all of it was one illusion. Held fast by its power, his father would remember their argument as if every word and every movement were real.
The humans watching by camera would have seen two men stare at one another and then one of them enter a pod.
The leaders of his people gathered in sleep around him, sealed inside their curved, steel stasis tubes. Above him, humans waited for Pietas to enter the last one.
He folded his arms.
"Feast your eyes, vultures." He lifted his chin. "You think to imprison me? You think to bring me down like a hunted animal?" He spread his hands outward, indicating the pods. "I will not cower before you. I will not bow. I will not kneel. I will not serve. I will never submit. Humans were made to be ruled, not by my people, but by me."
The silhouettes of humans above him contrasted with the bright light behind them. One by one, they slipped away, until a single silhouette remained.
"Fighting us accomplishes nothing." The disembodied voice echoed in the chamber. "You won't leave that room until you're in stasis. Enter the pod or we'll siphon the air and let you die."
"I've died countless times. I do not fear death. Death fears me."
"So be it. Since you're so set on dying, have it your way. I told you if you didn't cooperate, I would detonate the bombs within the hostages you took aboard your ship. See for yourself."
On the opposite wall, an image of the Uurahkal sparkled into life and a bloom of light filled the screen. A mass of debris shot in all directions.
"Your crew has ceased to exist."
"That image is a farce. You would not dare to destroy the council's flagship and you will not destroy the council. You are cowards. You lock us away in a barren room and threaten our people. This is why humans do not deserve freedom. You are worthless, miserable liars."
"Believe me, your crew is quite dead. The universe is a safer place for it."
"It will never be safe. Not for you." His fists ached from clenching them. "I will hunt you down and make you pay to the last generation of your bloodline."
"Good-bye, Pietas." The silhouette moved from the window and all the lights went out.
In the darkness, the pod indicator lights showed. The green pinpricks of light cast eerie shadows. High up, tiny points of blue revealed the presence of cameras and projectors embedded within the walls. They were watching, even in the dark. No doubt recording him to show his people and humans that he'd failed.
He'd make them watch his escape before he slaughtered them. Then he'd broadcast it to humans across the galaxy. Let them see their doom coming for them. He would kill them all for this.
A low hissing sound signaled air leaving the room.
Pietas could hold his breath longer than ten humans combined, but he pretended to stumble. He braced himself against his mother's pod. His chest ached, not from lack of air, but from the love he held for her. He would make them pay for every affront.
Clutching a hand over his heart, he acted as if unable to breathe. He sucked in the escaping air, saturating his blood with oxygen. He shook as if unable to catch his breath and hurried toward the isolated pod. He put himself on the far side, away from the door, between the wall and the tube and let himself fall against it. He grappled with the opening and then slid to the floor. As hidden from the entry and the cameras as he could make himself, Pietas curled into a tight ball before going limp.
He conserved his strength and waited for the loathsome humans to enter.
Chapter Six
Seen from the control room of Enderium Six, the show put on by Pietas looked convincing.
"I think he's dead. Or is he?" Ahjdaya turned to the advisor who'd been assigned to the tech station. The one Ultra who'd been deemed trustworthy--if there were such a thing among their kind. "Is he dead or is he faking? Or did he die and come back? How do you tell? It's confusing."
"He's not dead, and yes, he's faking. If he does die in there, he'll revive." The Ultra stood with hands in his pants pockets. "But if he was going to fake it, he picked an ideal spot. From here, we can't see him behind the stasis pod. Impossible to tell." He spoke as if he were discussing the latest weather report, not a fellow immortal he'd watched suffocate. "Hiding there was effective. I'd expect that from him."
"I guess they'll have to pick him up and put him in the pod."
"He didn't enter when he had the chance. Jettison the room and terminate them. You have the authority."
"No, sir, I don't have authorization."
"This is not the time to waver, Ahjdaya. Do it."
His supervisor buzzed Ahjdaya's headset and he listened. "Yes, sir." He put the device on mute. "He says we aren't going to terminate them."
"Who is telling you that?"
"I can't reveal names."
"Ahjdaya, you had clearance to jettison. Someone took it away. Considering how long I've worked with you, I deserve an explanation."
"I can't tell you anything, except that we can't jettison."
"I watched the test unit blow up. The system works."
"I can't do anything without clearance."
"Ahjdaya." The Ultra pressed three fingers against a temple. He wore contact lenses that turned his eyes solid brown, as dark as his skin. In this lighting, they glinted like marble. "Your people asked me for advice. Use it."
"We did use it. We built this system to your specs. It's perfect. It worked. We trapped them. Now, they'll put him in his pod, l
oad them aboard the ship and send them all to Sempervia."
"You can't expect me to believe a million Ultras have already surrendered. They told him for every hundred thousand who surrendered they'd let one live."
"Oh, that! We always intended to let them live. We needed him to get in the pod. They figured if Pietas thought the stakes were high enough, he'd do it."
"You bluffed Pietas. You bluffed..." He heaved a great sigh. "You people are out of your minds. Jettison the room. Kill them. Do what you said you'd do."
"We're going to show them the mercy they never showed humans."
"Mercy? Exiling Pietas to an undeveloped planet is not merciful. Assuming you even get him into the pod, which I doubt, one day he'll find a way off that planet and come back for you. If not in your lifetime, your children's. If not in theirs, your grandchildren's. Time won't matter to him. He'll kill your great-great-however-many-generations-later grandchildren if he has to, but he'll get his revenge. Put him out of your misery. Trust me."
Ahjdaya made notes. "I appreciate what you're saying, but we can't do that. They'll have no way off the planet. They're not getting tech. Some farming equipment and seeds. Shelters. The usual colonization package, but without tech, transportation, or communication. They'll be stuck."
"Mankind reached the stars. These Ultras will have the advantage of knowing how to build starships. There won't be any trial and error. They'll gain their freedom within a human generation, unless you terminate their leaders. Most Ultras are warriors. The council members are warrior-scientists. They're the most dangerous."
A signal came in on Ahjdaya's headset and his supervisor told him what to say. "We appreciate your help, but your part's over. You can go. They're about to enter."
The Ultra darted to the screen.
On it, a group of four armed men dressed in spacesuits entered an airlock.
"Stop them!" "The first thing he'll do is rip off their air supply and take a deep breath. Then he'll take their guns and kill them."
"There's no air. It's been several minutes. He's already dead."
"What is it you don't understand about 'revives after death?' This man will not stay dead. He will come back as many times as you kill him. To terminate Pietas, you must immolate him, freeze him solid and shatter him, or put him through a bone shredder."
"But there's no air in the room."
"Stop them!" He jerked a hand toward the screen. "Now!"
Ahjdaya pressed a button. "Abort. Stay outside the room. Again I say, abort."
"Copy that. Abort. Abort acknowledged."
His supervisor buzzed, but Ahjdaya ignored him.
The Ultra stepped in close and leaned down toward him. "Ahjdaya. You've listened to me this far. Jettison the room while there's still time. Destroy them."
"I-- Hold on. Yes, sir?" Ahjdaya touched his earpiece. The voice on the other end told him what to say. "Giving him a second chance is what makes us human."
"It makes you a fool. Whoever that is you're listening to is either an idiot or trying to get you killed. If you send humans in there, you're as good as dead."
Ahjdaya set down his notes. "What would you do? Other than jettison them, because no matter what we said we'd do, I can tell you, we're not going to do that."
"Pietas is right. You humans don't keep your word." The Ultra paced away, paused and came back. "If you insist on putting him in the pod, send in androids. They have no emotions and they don't breathe air. Enter through the airlock and remove any air before opening the door. He'll fight, but he'll weaken. He needs air to keep going. If you can wear him out, you might stand a chance. But go in unarmed."
"Unarmed! How are we supposed to fight him without weapons?"
"If your fighters aren't good enough, jettison the room."
Ahjdaya ran a hand through his hair. "We were so sure he'd get in the pod." He chewed his lower lip and then shot the advisor a sharp look. "You didn't think he'd do it, did you? You knew he'd refuse."
"I counted on it."
"That's why you're dead set on us jettisoning. You want us to terminate him. If you hate him that much, why didn't you kill him yourself?"
"It has nothing to do with hate. Pietas is more dangerous than you can imagine."
"Who is he, anyway? I mean, I know he's the head of the Ultra Council, and everyone freaked when they heard he was coming here, but… What has he done?"
"He's killed more humans than any known Ultra. He doesn't negotiate, and he doesn't show mercy. You've heard of the Rroglyn?"
"Cat people from the edge of the galaxy. Striped fur and huge claws. They eat humans. Who hasn't?" He shuddered.
"He created them. He designed other races of non-humans. You haven't heard about them because they haven't come here yet, but they will. Pietas will use them for war, and they'll swarm like insects once he sets them free. His parents are both scientists. His father created the Fire-Eyes. Heard of them? Warriors who kill by looking at a person? Mahikos enhanced Pietas and his sister before they were born and then added more enhancements for years after. Pietas is more lethal than whole armies. Dessy is a tactician unlike any the galaxy has ever seen. Their mother is a scientist who single-handedly made it possible to terraform entire planets. That history lesson should suffice. Do not free this man."
"I've seen war all my life. His entire family is a threat, not just him."
"As long as the ap Lorectic family is alive, humans will not be safe, but Pietas is the worst. Kill them while you have the chance."
"I can't do anything without clearance."
He took a deep breath, let it all out. "All right." He rubbed his brow and turned away. "Send in more than four people. At least twice that many. They won't land one blow. He's fast. No human has ever hit him. When they open that door, they'll be facing Death. I don't mean the risk of death. I mean Death incarnate. He'll confuse them by using emotion against them. He can take the fear of one and broadcast it to the others. He's a strong empath. They don't call him Bringer of Chaos for nothing. And one more thing. He can project illusions. Don't turn off the cameras. Cameras don't lie. Believe the cameras before you believe your eyes. He doesn't have much air, but he might try illusions."
"We'll do that. Thank you." Ahjdaya's earpiece buzzed and he listened a moment. "You'll be happy to know, they're sending in a team from Ghost Division."
"You can't be serious. You're sending in recycled ops soldiers. Ahjdaya, they're dead people."
"They're not dead. Special ops soldiers who die are reanimated for short-term missions. Ghosts are better than cyborgs. They can go without air for a time, like Ultras. Sure, they have a short life but their sole objective is to kill. People are terrified of them."
"People, yes. Pietas will laugh. He's sent in spies to learn how you make ghosts, so he'll be excited to fight them. You can't send ghosts against him. He'll take them apart with his bare hands."
"Not this team. They've been reanimated before and they've been on the front lines. They've fought Ultras. They're the best fighters we have."
"Had."
"Excuse me?"
"Might as well start using the past tense. They're going to be dead. Again."
The voice in Ahjdaya's ear prompted him and he repeated what he was told to say. "These guys are good. You'll see."
"What you'll see is slaughter. You're sending in dead humans to fight the strongest Ultra in the galaxy. He will--literally--eat them."
Ahjdaya tapped his earpiece, listened, and relayed the message. "They want to know if you have any other advice."
"Not for dead people. If they were alive, I'd tell them to say their prayers." The Ultra said nothing more.
Ahjdaya tapped the earpiece. "Good to go."
The Ultra started to walk away, but then turned back. "One more thing."
"Yes?"
"Don't send in reinforcements. You'd have to open the door. That'll give him air. He's going to make you want to do that."
"How?"
With those glis
tening, solid-colored eyes, his smile looked like a mask on a demon's face. "By killing everyone you send in."
Chapter Seven
The stasis pod Pietas hid behind rested on the floor and came up to mid-thigh. It hid him, but allowed no view of the door. A sudden change of light told him soldiers had entered. Grunts, they wore beams on their chests to light their way. The idiots had left them on, which let him calculate the level of brightness. At least six.
That was all he warranted? He hardly knew whether to be amused, or insulted.
He waited for a stirring of emotion, but felt none. Smart. They'd sent either androids or ghosts with those new anti-emo chips. The latter would be fun to fight. When he killed them, would they experience a human death, or did they have to be terminated like an Ultra? How well did the chips work?
He'd find out in a minute.
A tiny trickle of fear leaked. That meant three things.
One: ghosts. Two: anti-emo chips? Worthless. Three: even the dead feared him.
More fear leaked and then frustration. The ghosts were fighting the effect of the chip. They were afraid of being afraid. Typical. Humans underestimated the power of death. They thought dying and coming back to life meant you'd overcome the fear of dying. He had died thousands of times, yet he still avoided it. Their anti-emo chips had given them no edge whatsoever.
Excellent. He could use that.
Another hint of fear surfaced. It zinged over Pietas's skin like a cool breeze, good as a waft of air. How interesting! Emotion from the reanimated energized more than emotion from the living. He drew the aetheric fear into himself, gathering strength.
The silence meant no air had entered the room. He'd miss his favorite sound: bones breaking in his enemies.
Remaining on his side, Pietas let them get all the way inside the room.
Crowded as the space was between his pod and the wall, two ghosts crept into it. Six spots of light showed on the other side. Eight ghosts then. That would be a much better fight. One nudged him with a foot.
Bringer of Chaos- The Origin of Pietas Page 4
