Harbinger

by Charles R Case

  “I agree,” Grimms said, leaning on his elbow as he stared at the Elif battlecruiser from his seat.

  The Raven bumped gently against the airlock of Xanadu station, Ensign Connors making the move so smoothly that the only indication they had made contact were the green lights indicating a good seal.

  Grimms sent out the leave rotation from his ever-present tablet, as Sara requested over the comm that Boon, Gonders, and Baxter meet them in her ready room.

  She and Grimms entered the small room off the bridge, and Sara immediately began preparing five coffees. She had gotten to know each of them so well that she knew how they liked their coffee without asking.

  Grimms and Baxter, if asked, would say black, but that was just posturing. In reality, they liked it with a touch of cream and sugar. Gonders, on the other hand, actually did like it black, and strong. And of course Boon, sweet Boon, liked her cream and sugar with just a splash of coffee.

  Sara had yet to decide how she liked her own coffee. She had been drinking it for twenty years, and would change it up regularly depending on her situation.

  Right now, she liked it black; not because she actually liked it black, but because she felt like she was wasting time if she tried anything else. It was probably a byproduct of her not knowing what she would have to do next, or how long she had to do it.

  She passed out the steaming cups as each member of her crew entered. The room was small, but there was a bench along one wall, and two chairs in front of the small desk, along with her own chair behind it. Everyone found a seat and sipped quietly on their coffee while Sara organized her thoughts. Alister and Silva had both climbed into Baxter’s lap as soon as he sat down, seeing as he had the largest lap of the bunch.

  Finally, after what felt like forever, she spoke. “We have five days, and a lot to get done in that time. Cora, I am sending Boon and Gonders down to get you a familiar. You need to get on our level if we are going to come out of this war alive.”

  “Find me something cute. I don’t want my familiar to be a badger or something,” Cora said lightheartedly.

  The statement made Sara cock her head in confusion before she remembered that non-War Mages didn’t know that familiars were actually pixies in animal form.

  “Don’t worry, I’m sure whoever it is will be adorable,” Sara said, rolling her eyes. “Grimms, we are going to need to transfer that robot we picked up to the science division. Make arrangements, and be sure that they know to report their findings back to us, in addition to the UHFC. We are still tasked with finding the other humans out there, so it shouldn’t be a problem to get the info to us.”

  Grimms gave a nod. “I’ve already drafted my report to the science team. I’ll be sure to reiterate the need to get us the info.”

  “Baxter,” Sara said, moving on. “I have something a little different for you. I need to know more about what life is like in the Teifen and Elif empires far from the centers of power. What do the common people think of the war, and where do they fall, allegiance-wise, when the shit hits the fan? I have a feeling that things are not as black and white as they may seem. Use whatever resources you need, but if it were me, I would start with the Elif researchers we picked up on Colony Seven-Eighty-Eight. A lot of them are still on Xanadu, working with the UHF to get the tank systems up and running.”

  He nodded, taking a sip of coffee. “I’ll see what I can find out. Is there a particular angle you’re looking for?”

  “No, just the truth. Try and cut through the nationalism and get the meat of it,” Sara said.

  She took a gulp of the black brew and set her mug down, looking at each of them in turn. ” ‘Something is rotten in the state of Denmark’, as the bard once said. I want to know what it is. If this whole war is nothing more than the political maneuvering of two empires who have nothing better to do than fight amongst themselves, I want to know.”

  Grimms cleared his throat. “Ma’am, while I appreciate the idea of us not being in the dark, I don’t know that we are in a position to do much about it. The UHFC would need to reconsider their position before we can change direction.”

  Sara pursed her lips. “The UHFC will be in the loop, but they are slow to react, like any government organization. I cannot stand by and watch human lives get thrown into the fires of war because one empire says so. I have a duty to protect my people, whatever the cost.”

  “You’re not a law unto yourself,” Cora said, concern in her voice.

  “No, I am not,” Sara lied.

  6

  Boon lounged in the shuttle’s co-pilot seat, one leg thrown over the armrest, as she watched Gonders pilot the craft toward the Azores. She smiled at the look of determined concentration on her bonded guard, and full-time lover’s, face.

  “Why are you staring at me, weirdo?” Isabella said with a false irritation that made Boon grin even more.

  “Because I want to make sure you’re not just a figment of my imagination,” she replied, tucking a strand of blonde hair behind her ear.

  Isabella looked over at her, and smiled a bright white smile of her own. “Fair enough. I tend to do the same thing, but I have the common courtesy to do it while you’re asleep.”

  Boon laughed. “Who’s the weirdo, again?”

  The island of São Miguel came over the horizon, green and vibrant against the deep blue of the surrounding Atlantic Ocean. As they circled the island, Silva climbed onto the dashboard and watched through the windshield, chattering excitedly when the small forest that held the pixie city of Atlantis came into view.

  “That’s odd,” Gonders commented, looking at the shuttle’s scanner.

  “What?” Boon asked, craning her neck, looking for anything out of the ordinary.

  “There’s a shuttle in the meadow beside the forest. It’s UHF, but it doesn’t have a ship designation. Probably one of the unmarked ones from Command.”

  A spike of fear ran up Boon’s neck. “Why would someone from Command be here? They shouldn’t even be able to get past the pixie wards around the area.”

  “I don’t know, but I’m guessing we’re about to find out. I’m going to put us down right beside it,” Gonders said, working the control stick and bringing the shuttle around in a tight circle before dropping altitude.

  Baxter stepped into the bar from the main promenade on Xanadu Station. He had been stopping in at every establishment along the way, looking for a very particular set of people. Looking over the heads of the patrons seated at tables and bellied up to the long, wooden bar, he was about to step back out and continue on to the next establishment when he saw what he was looking for.

  At the back of the small place was a table dimly lit, with a group of Elif packed around it, sitting on high stools. Stepping closer, he thought he even recognized one of them as the medical doctor from Colony 788.

  Dr. Lister, if I remember correctly.

  Baxter moved through the crowd, trying not to get too pushy, but having to move a few people to squeeze through. A few gave him hard looks, which surprised him, until he remembered he was out of uniform, and his jeans and black tee shirt were not exactly screaming Sergeant Major. He gave them nods, and pushed on past, relying on his superior size and friendly face to keep him out of trouble.

  The sea of people finally parted, and he found himself standing next to the group of Elif huddled close around their table. They seemed comfortable enough, just in quiet conversation. At least, as quiet as the music blaring over the sound system allowed.

  Baxter reached out and put a hand on the doctor’s shoulder, making her turn to face him. “Hello, doctor. I saw you from across the bar, and thought I would stop over and say hello. How have you been?” he asked, his voice raising to compensate for the background noise.

  It took a few beats, but then recognition flooded the doctor’s face. “Sergeant Major Baxter, I never expected to see you here. Please, join us,” she invited, her pretty face splitting into a grin as the rest of the Elif shuffled around to make room for hi
m at their table.

  “Thank you,” he said, puling an empty stool over and crowding into the tight group.

  When everyone leaned in, the sounds of the bar fell away somewhat, making conversation less of a shouting match. The number of beautiful faces present was a little intimidating to those not used to the Elif’s natural looks, but luckily, Baxter was well-versed.

  “I’m surprised you’re still on the station. I would have thought you would have shipped off when we got back from Colony Seven-Eighty-Eight,” he admitted.

  The doctor tugged on her long, pointed ear—a habit a lot of Elif had—before saying, “We would have, but the UHFC offered us an opportunity to study the tank systems, and how they interact with the cores we’ve found. They wanted a medical team to supervise the candidates, and they thought my team and I would be perfect,” she said, indicating the half-dozen Elif with them.

  “Where did you get a core to test with?” Baxter asked, surprised they had access to one, considering there were only three in the known universe. Well, four counting the one on the dreadnought, but the UHFC didn’t even know about the ship.

  “Oh,” her voice tinkled with laughter, “we don’t have a core. Most of our data is coming from the readouts from Captain Sonders’ tank. We are still going over the data from the tests that were performed right before the battle with the Teifen governor.”

  Baxter wondered if Sara and Cora knew that their information was being scrutinized this closely. He shook his head and pushed forward, despite wanting to know more.

  “Where are you from, Dr. Lister? Originally,” he asked, raising a hand to a waitress and gesturing that he would like a round for the table.

  “Oh, thank you, Sergeant,” Dr. Lister said, acknowledging Baxter’s generosity, then she pointed to a pair of male Elif on the other side of the table. “Chezzi, Gran, and myself all come from the same planet: Kister. It’s a little out of the way, closer to the Rim. It was actually by chance that we met at university on Suttri while getting our medical and spell training.”

  Baxter raised an eyebrow. “The Rim? What was that like?” he asked, as the waitress passed out the new round of drinks.

  Dr. Lister smiled in a far off way, “Very different than life in the core. Much slower paced,” she said, nodding to the waitress as she set down a fresh round of drinks. “A lot less political,” she continued.

  Baxter laughed, “Sounds great. I feel like we can all use a little less politics from time to time. Why did you leave?”

  Dr. Lister shrugged, “Suttri has the best medical school in the galaxy,” she gave an ironic smile, “It also has compulsory civil service attached to it.”

  Boon stepped down from the shuttle’s ramp as soon as it hit the grass, Gonders right on her heels. They had decided to wear hiking-appropriate clothes for the trip to Atlantis. Boon had warned Isabella that it would take a while to make it through the forest to the city proper, so Gonders printed them up some athletic tights and zip-up performance shirts, along with hiking boots.

  They either looked like a pair of experienced hikers, or a pair of young, rich girls who had never hiked a day in their lives.

  Boon checked out Gonders’ ass as she passed by to check on the other shuttle. “Hey! Did you make my pants tighter than yours?” she said, twisting at the waist to try and check out her own ass.

  Gonders turned her face Boon’s way and flashed her a bright white smile. “I would never do such a thing.” Her denial was dripping with sarcasm.

  “You bitch!” Boon said, her mouth open in disbelief at the thought of Gonders trying to show off her girlfriend’s ass.

  Gonders slapped her own muscled butt cheek, and winked. “Sorry babe. I just thought you would want to look your best.”

  “Oh, my god, you are the worst! We’re on an important mission here, and you’re thinking about how my ass looks?” Boon said, ignoring the irony of that statement.

  Gonders turned back to the shuttle as she approached the open ramp, but the smile was obvious in her voice. “Oh, babe, I’m always thinking about how your ass looks.”

  Boon flushed, and couldn’t help but smile. “Well, as long as you’re consistent, I guess.”

  When Gonders spoke, her voice told Boon that the flirting was over for now. “It’s empty. Looks like they got here maybe half an hour ago, if the matted down grass is any indication. I’d say we have some company.”

  Silva began to chatter, and circled Boon’s neck so that she was looking behind them, toward the forest. Boon turned and saw several small figures in Aetheric armor stepping form the woods, their small coil rifles over their shoulders.

  “Izz, we have company,” Boon announced, getting Gonders’ attention.

  The soldiers spread out, letting a female figure in robes step past them. She pulled her hood down, and Boon recognized her from her previous visit as Nyx, the Keeper of the Records.

  The two women approached one another, and when they were a few meters away, Nyx gave them a polite bow from the waist. “War Mage, it is good to see you once again. Are you here to see your brothers?”

  “Holy shit,” Gonders mumbled beside Boon, making her turn in surprise at the uncharacteristic behavior.

  Gonders’ mouth was open, and her eyes were opened wide enough to see white all around her irises.

  “Oh, that’s right. You’ve never seen a pixie before.” She glanced at Silva sitting on her shoulder. “Well, not in their true form, anyway.” Boon gave a bow to the pixies, “Nyx, it is good to see you, as well. This is my bonded guard, Isabella Gonders. Izz, this is Nyx Morenna, Keeper of the Records.”

  Gonders gave a wide-eyed wave. “Hello.”

  Boon smiled at her girlfriend’s brain overload, and turned back to Nyx. “You said something about meeting our brothers? Is that who came in the other shuttle?”

  Nyx gave a nod. “Yes. I assumed you had come to meet with them. Is this not the case?”

  Boon shook her head, sending her blonde ponytail dancing. “I had no idea they would be here. Actually, we’ve never met them. This should be interesting.”

  Nyx motioned to the path she had just come down. “Then we should make our way to the city.”

  Boon laced her fingers through Gonders’, and with a smile, pulled her along behind the retreating pixies. “Pretty cool, huh?”

  “Amazing,” Gonders replied, looking at the small, white ferret on Boon’s shoulders as if for the first time.

  Silva gave Isabelle a wink before turning to watch the path ahead.

  “Holy shit,” she reiterated.

  7

  With a hiss, the top of Cora’s tank split, and each side hinged open until the still surface of the light blue liquid was revealed, still as glass. Sara sat cross-legged on the small platform around the top of the tank, wearing a battlesuit, and wringing her hands nervously.

  “Calm down, Sara. This is a normal procedure, and it’s going to be much easier now that the core is installed. The mechanical systems of the tank will take care of my extraction; no coughing up blue liquid this time,” Cora assured her through the speakers.

  Dr. Green and Dr. Teichek were monitoring the various systems around the tank, and Green said, “We’re all ready on our end, Cora. You’re up.”

  “Thanks, Caroline. See you in a second. I’m going offline now,” Cora said. Her voice was calm, a sharp contrast to the knots forming in Sara’s belly.

  “Be careful,” Sara said, trying and failing to keep her voice from cracking.

  There was no response. Instead, Sara could see a small circle open in the floor of the tank, and a segmented, metal, tentacle-like appendage snaked out, probing the tank until it touched Cora’s foot. As soon as it made contact, it followed the contours of her body, up to her face.

  Sara was doing everything she could not to use her magic to rip the tentacle to shreds, knowing it was just her fear of the unknown messing with her. Still, her heart would not stop racing.

  I haven’t seen Cora in the flesh
in a couple of months. God, it seems way longer than that since we were living in the dorm together.

  The end of the appendage suddenly folded open, like the gaping mouth of some sea monster, and latched itself onto Cora’s face, covering her nose and mouth.

  Sara jumped, calling up a force spell from Alister, who was sitting beside her. He provided the requested spell, but also sent her a feeling of calm that took the edge off her panic. She didn’t power the spell.

  There was a pregnant moment of silence as everyone stared at Cora’s still form. Finally, a series of bubbles came from under the tentacle mask, and Cora’s body shuddered. Then a spasm sent her drifting toward the edge of the tank, but the gravity supporters pulled her back to center. Another spasm sent her up toward the surface, and Sara reached out for her sister, but Cora sank back to center. Another series of bubbles flowed from the mask, then another. Soon, the bubbles were coming at what Sara judged to be normal breathing intervals, and she relaxed a little.

  Cora’s eyes popped open, as she jerked to consciousness. She looked around in confusion for a few seconds, before making eye contact with Sara through the blue haze of the Aetherically-sensitive liquid. Sara saw Cora’s cheeks rise, turning her green eyes to slits as she smiled under the mask, and Cora raised up a hand for Sara to grab.

  Sara didn’t hesitate, and reached into the liquid, holding onto a railing to keep her balance, and grabbed her twin’s wrist while Cora did the same. With a grunt, Sara pulled Cora up until she came out of the gravity field and floated up to the surface. As soon as her head broke the surface, the tentacle mask detached and retreated into its hole, closing the opening behind it.

  Sara and Cora stared at one another for a few seconds.

  Eventually, Sara quietly asked, “Are you okay?”