He was aware of the communication methods used by the Conclave and knew that he only had to use one language for them all to understand him. He felt it appropriate to use the human language as it would be the last thing Kalian Gaines ever heard, that and the sound of his own skull crushing within his hands.
“You have the sympathies of the entire Conclave, your loss is unimaginable.” The Highclave Novaarian had introduced herself as Elondrasa as well as her fellow counsellors.
To the far left was Brokk, the councillor from Arakesh, representing the Raalak. Next to him was Lordina, a female Laronian from Vallara. Elondrasa occupied the central seat with Ch’lac next to her. The stubby alien was from Ch’ket, representing the Ch’kara. There was no way Kalian was going to remember all those particular names. On the far right sat Nu-marn, the councillor from Shandar, representing the Shay.
Kalian tried to commit them to memory, knowing these were the five most powerful people in the galaxy. He bowed his head in acknowledgement.
“We have sent out a signal on all bandwidths, if there are any more of your kind out there they will come here.” Brokk gave them this hopeful news.
Kalian looked at Li’ara expecting to see some elation. She continued to stare at the Laronian councillor, Lordina. He recognised that look now; she was suspicious of the Laronians. Since she made no attempt to respond he assumed he would be doing the talking, for now.
“Thank you councillors, we are unsure of how many survived the attacks. But we do know of a terraforming expedition that is still alive. We call it-”
Lordina cut him off with a raised hand. “It does not matter what you call it human. That planet is Laronian. You had no right to claim it as your own.” Her voice had an almost seductive quality to it.
“How were we supposed to know that?” Now Li’ara spoke. “The last we heard you sent a warship to investigate. I demand to know what you’ve done with our people.”
Kalian couldn’t help but wince at her tone.
“That ship has already arrived. There were some casualties with the confusion often resulting from first contact.” The Laronian councillor paused looking at Elondrasa.
Kalian could see what was going on. The Laronians were pissed that the Novaarians had kept the humans a secret.
“The subsequent population has been brought here, though their fate has yet to be decided by this council.”
“Their fate?” Li’ara’s fists clenched. “You will release them immediately!”
“You are in no such position to make demands; you are not even a member of the Conclave,” Lordina retorted.
“That has not been decided by the Highclave either, yet.” It was Nu-marn who had spoken up.
His voice was unnaturally croaky as if he was unable to produce saliva; Kalian then wondered if that was indeed the case. Lordina’s head whipped around at the Shay who appeared unaffected by her steely gaze.
“The ship in question has only just returned. I am certain the Laronians will give their full cooperation to Conclave security as they handle the matter.” It was Highclave Brokk that perhaps saw some sense in Li’ara’s claim.
Lordina sat back in her chair never taking her eyes off Li’ara. “Of course we will...”
“What of Naveen?” Kalian wasn’t sure he heard the Ch’kara right as he said it so quickly.
There was a murmur from the vast audience as though they were one organism reacting to the same thing. Elondrasa sat forward with both pairs of hands resting on the podium.
“Do you deny that your kind has ever visited Naveen?” she asked.
They had obviously gone through the information provided by Telarrek, and seen that humanity did not possess the technology to have visited the distant moon so long ago.
“I have studied the history of my kind dating back to our origins and I can assure you, we have never ventured further than fourteen light years.” Kalian knew that probes had actually travelled further than that in humanity’s search for celestial answers, but no person had ever gone further.
Ch’lac responded, “Then how do you explain this?”
He reached for something out of sight and the space between them was filled with a floating image of a sand-coloured wall with a single handprint resting in the middle. Underneath were a series of hieroglyphs that made no sense, with a karyogram in the middle of the text. It was astonishing to see, knowing it was a real human handprint on an alien moon. How had it got there?
“I can’t explain it. It’s as much a mystery to me as it is to you.”
There was silence after that. The councillors looked at one another with silent questions. The masses of people around them were all conferring with each other, deciding whether he was telling the truth.
“What about those who attacked us, can you explain that?” Li’ara was still in attack mode.
“That sounds like an accusation,” Lordina spat.
Elondrasa raised her upper hand to calm both their tones. “I am afraid that too is a mystery, Li’ara Ducarté. We are looking into the matter at great depth with High Charge Uthor. Our preliminary examination would suggest they are of alien origin and not part of the Conclave.”
This again set the audience off with a wave of whispering and conspiracy theories, not to mention the idea of yet another alien race besides the humans.
“There is also the matter of Kalian Gaines,” Nu-marn said.
Kalian was beginning to get the idea of how this worked. They could ask all the questions they liked but the Highclave would steer the topic to one they wanted to discuss. No doubt they had already conferred on most of the matters he and Li’ara had brought up.
“Yes.” Lordina was smiling again. “According to Charge Telarrek’s findings, you possess unique DNA to that of your race, one that matches The Wall.”
Kalian didn’t know what to say to that. He had a thousand questions on the matter as well but could offer no answers. He certainly wasn’t going to show them what he had been practising on the Valoran with Li’ara. Before either of them could speak the Nix stepped away from its position at the side. Its chevron head tilted to the side moments before an alarm could be heard all over the tower.
“What is happening?” Brokk’s deep voice echoed across the stadium.
The Nix made Kalian’s skin shiver as he heard the scuttling under its robe. “Display.” In response to its robotic voice, the centre of the large chamber was taken up by a three-sixty holo-image of a giant rectangular ship hurtling towards them.
Kalian felt his spine tingle and his hands became hot to the touch.
“They are here.” It was Telarrek standing behind him, totally ensnared by the image of the titanic ship.
“What are they doing?” Uthor had drawn closer as well.
The giant ship was clearly heading straight for the Conclave security ship that lay in its path. Compared to it the massive warship looked like a blemish against its black surface. The chain of events was hard to follow after that as the humongous ship rammed into the red vessel. The entire image was filled with white light as the Starrillium detonated, causing a miniature supernova.
“Activate the defence grid immediately.” The Shay Councillor had stood up from his chair.
Uthor responded appropriately by barking orders into his bracer. The star was minute in comparison to a normal sun, but Kalian had a horrible feeling its shock wave would still reach them.
“It’s too late, brace for impact!” Uthor shouted it to the whole stadium with a bellowing roar.
His last words were drowned out by screams as the whole tower shook violently. Glass could be heard shattering from every level; thankfully the spiralling tower above was still in one piece. The holo-image faltered for a moment before showing them the aftermath of the collision. Kalian looked as shocked as Li’ara; the enormous ship was still coming with no sign of damage. He noticed the attention of most people was on High Charge Uthor, who couldn’t seem to get the words out. Telarrek stepped forward.
“Get the Highclave to safety at all costs. Manoeuvre any ships left to fire on it, use heavy munitions only. World breakers if they must. If any missile leaves that ship it must have a priority intercept, regardless of its direction.” The other security personnel looked from him to Uthor, unsure of the person giving them orders. “Now!” Telarrek’s roar could not be denied.
It was too late.
They heard the glass shatter above before any shards hit the ground. Like gods falling from the sky, four armoured beings in black impacted against the floor around the stadium. Two of them crushed multiple people as they landed on their chairs while the other two landed in the central triangle. The floor beneath them cracked under their bulky mass. The resulting shockwave had knocked most of them over with only Uthor and Ilyseal still standing. Kalian couldn’t believe his eyes. Standing in front of the podium was the towering goliath from the Icarus station. Its armour was still covered in the same dents and scratches from previous battles. Its breathing could be heard like a caged beast through its skull-like helmet.
The two in the distance stood as statues, making no move to attack anyone, though the crowd had begun to scatter away from them in every direction. The figure standing before Kalian was much smaller than the goliath, from his prone position he guessed it to be around his own height. Its appearance was the same as the goliath with almost identical armour. Its chest was bulky with plating upon plating of dark armour descending its arms and legs. The light reflected several sections in-between the armour that was copper in colour. The eyes were concave, two black holes looking down on him. The helmet covered the entire head like the goliaths but the lattice work across the faceplate was different with more intricate patterns.
Kalian was surprised at his own emotions. Instead of looking up in fear as he once would, he now only saw the bastard responsible for the death of his world. Li’ara was the first to react with a sweeping attack from the ground, attempting to take out the looming figure’s legs. Before she could make contact the armoured figure threw out its hand in Li’ara’s direction, without even looking at her. The resulting action defied physics as she was flung across the floor by seeming invisible strings. Except Kalian knew very well there were no strings involved. Her momentum only stopped when she crashed into the wall with a bone-breaking sound.
The figure crouched down and picked Kalian up with one hand bringing him to eye level. Kalian desperately wrestled with the metallic grip, gasping for precious air. His peripheral vision caught Uthor charging at them as he lunged to take down the armoured figure. The entire stadium gasped as Uthor changed direction in mid-air and was instead pulled towards the goliath. He landed on his knees at the foot of the monster before it reached down and gripped his shoulder. The sound of rock being crushed was just audible below Uthor’s cry of pain. The goliath made no further move, simply pinning the High Charge on his knees.
As one the surrounding guards on their high walkway aimed at both aggressors. Kalian didn’t even have time to contemplate the fact that he was most certainly about to die. The triangle was filled with blue flashes and the smell of ozone as dozens of shots impacted at once. Kalian instinctively closed his eyes, not that it would save him from plasma burns. It took him several seconds before realising he was still alive. He was amazed at seeing every shot dissipate like fireworks all around him. Most of the shots hit the figure gripping him but didn’t so much as singe the armour. Whatever it was doing, it was mostly protecting him from the stray shots. Looking over he could see the same was happening to the goliath and Uthor.
Over the sound of the gunfire, Kalian was sure he could hear laughter coming from inside the helmet. This deranged thing was actually enjoying itself. The dark figure extended its free hand like it was gripping an invisible ball. Kalian heard a faint pulse burst from the hand as the epicentre sparked momentarily in the palm. At once all the weapons fire stopped, with their users looking puzzled at the malfunction. Still extended, it raised the same hand into the air and lifted the guards as it did. The display was undeniably an incredible feat of telekinesis. The guards thrashed around kicking their legs towards the floor as they floated above. Each of them looked shocked and terrified at the invisible hand lifting them. The stadium was silent at the extraordinary sight, only the hovering cameras could be heard as they recorded the action.
Kalian felt like there was something obvious staring him in the face. Something he was missing because of the shock. He could feel it gnawing at him. Something out of place, something alien yet familiar.
The hand suddenly clenched into a fist and the floating guards were imploded midair. Their limbs shot into their bodies at awkward angles, with bone tearing through flesh and organs pouring out into a mess on the polished floor. Their screams had been momentary before they were all dead. Dropping the armoured hand the floating bodies dropped as well, crashing back into the walkway above. Blood flowed over the sides like droplets of rain.
The stadium erupted in terror as hundreds of people tried to fit through the passageways at once. The two statues made no move to stop them; they just continued to watch the one holding him. Kalian looked around and saw Li’ara trying to stand with what looked like a broken arm or a dislocated shoulder. Her pain filled him with an anger he hadn’t felt before, it consumed his every thought and feeling. Where his mind couldn’t find the words his body found the subsequent reaction.
His hand burnt red hot as he felt it pulling at something that wasn’t there. He looked down to see a swirling pattern of light quickly coalescing into a ball of molten light. The air crackled around his arm, becoming distorted like heat waves in a desert. The strange sight did nothing for his new found rage as he pushed out with his hand, firing the heated ball into his captor. The explosion was limited only to them as it flung them both in opposite directions. Kalian landed several metres away, closer to the door they came through. His vision doubled slightly as Telarrek and Ilyseal crouched over him.
He looked across to see the armoured figure had been thrown into the goliath smashing them both into the podium. Uthor was using his good arm to crawl away as thick golden blood seeped from five finger holes in his shoulder. Kalian’s attention shifted to the stabbing pain in his left hand. Inspecting it now he was dismayed to see the second degree burn across his palm and fingertips. The shock would wear off soon and the pain would increase dramatically.
Telarrek helped him up as Li’ara put her good arm around him and supported herself. Her eyes moved from his burnt hand to the smoking rubble at the base of the podium. “We’ll have to add that to the list...”
Telarrek and Ilyseal only appeared confused. Before either could explain an unexpected laughter erupted from the smoking pile.
“It’s been a long time since I’ve been hit by one of those.” The blackclad figure rose from the smoking crater, along with the hulking goliath.
The voice was altered as the helmet filtered the sound. That’s when Kalian realised what had been staring him in the face. The hand that had gripped him, the hand that had killed the guards...
They were human hands.
As if confirming his thoughts, the figure strode across the clearing with the helmet parting into various sections and becoming one with the armour.
A very human looking face stared back at them.
“Do you not recognise your own kin?” His voice was strong like a veteran commander with a hint of intelligence behind his pronunciation.
He walked over with his arms outstretched as if he posed no threat. His face was clean shaven, as was his head with the exception of two dark braids of hair that ran above his left ear and fell over his armour. He had a distinct red tattoo in the shape of a fang below his right eye, both of which were crystal blue. He had a strong jawline and perfect cheekbones; in fact, all of his features appeared perfectly formed and symmetrical. Back on Earth, he could have easily been a model or an actor. But his eyes had the look of a hunter with his prey in sight.
Distant screams an
d explosions broke the tension as more of his kind burst through the outer walls and into the tower above and below them. They were no doubt causing the same kind of damage they did to the human fleet around Century.
“You’ll have to forgive my brothers and sisters, we have travelled a great distance to find you, and your petty fleets didn’t provide them with much entertainment. The mind, like our muscles, needs its exercise, does it not?” He paced the triangular clearing like a beast taunting its food.
Kalian eyed the goliath behind, as it stood completely motionless.
“Don’t worry about him; he obeys my commands as though they were his own thoughts. I came here to end the last Terran life myself.” The armoured gauntlet covering his hand parted like the helmet retreating into the arm. He flexed his free hand as though it were the first time. “Know this Kalian Gaines; your death will have meaning. As I squeeze the life from you, the cycle of your kind will finally end.” For a moment he seemed to look beyond all of them, his eyes searching another world. In a mocking tone, he whispered, “We are forever...”
There was hatred in those words.
“Who are you?” Kalian asked.
“I am, Savrick.”
Everything had erupted into chaos around Roland. Thankfully the two, whatever they were, landed a few hundred metres away around the stadium. He saw the occupants of those seats become buried under the rubble of their impact. Not to mention the falling glass that cut several members of the audience to ribbons.
Amid the mad scramble of everyone trying to flee, he glimpsed another two drop from above and land in the central triangle. He felt everyone pushing him aside as they jumped over rows of seats taking no care as to whether they were occupied or not. At first, he wasn’t sure what the alarm meant, in fact, he hadn’t been sure what anything meant. From the conversation taking place below he had only understood what the two humans were saying. They had mentioned some kind of attack but were not referring to Alpha, although when they did, he wondered who they were to have clearance about such operations. As hard as it was to believe, he had come to the conclusion that these two individuals were not members of the terraforming expedition. But what attacks were they talking about? And how the hell did they get here?
The Terran Cycle Boxset Page 28
