by M. R. Forbes
He grabbed a pair of underwear and an undershirt. The material was ridiculously soft, and when he pulled it on it was as if he was supported but still naked. He was glad to finally be more modest and less subject to such bare observation.
He scanned the clothes, choosing a purple robe with a hood. He pulled it on, cinching the cord around his waist. It was warmer than it should have been.
“The threads conduct heat?” he asked.
“It will keep your temperature perfectly regulated,” Lia replied.
“How do I look?”
“May I speak honestly?”
“Always.”
“You are not a very pretty Inahri.”
Caleb laughed. It was the first time Lia had shown any sign of a personality. “No, I wouldn’t imagine I would be.” He was much broader and muscular. “But the fit feels pretty good.”
“Yes.”
“How long do I have to get settled before the meeting with Arluthu?”
“Your timing is perfect, Sergeant,” Sergeant Harai said from the entrance to the closet.
Caleb glanced over at him, eyes narrowing, while Lia shuddered and shrank back a step.
“Interesting way to treat a prisoner of war,” Caleb said.
“I told you we aren’t monsters, Caleb.”
“And then you proceeded to kill everyone in the Free Inahri compound, including the children. You said you wouldn’t harm the innocent.”
“Exactly. None of them were innocent. They refused Arluthu. That made them traitors.”
Caleb was disgusted by the logic. “Where does that leave me?”
Harai smiled. “You’re like a child as well. But you aren’t from this world. You can’t be blamed for your ignorance. Not until you know better. The Earthers will be integrated into Arluthu’s world, Caleb. There is nothing you can do to stop it. The sooner you recognize that, the sooner you can be a positive force in Arluthu’s Might. Your life can be so much more than you ever imagined. The honor. The respect.”
“I’m a Marine,” Caleb said. “I have a mission. No good man would give up on it before it was finished.”
“I respect you for that, which is why you’re here in my Shing, in a place of honor among my squad. Your mission is to protect your people, is it not?”
“It is.”
“Soon enough, there will be nothing left for you to protect, and then you can operate of your own free will. Your warrior, Washington, gave you much honor in disrupting the operation of the Seeker. Courageous, but only a delay of the inevitable.”
“You’re healing him too. Will he be a member of the Shing?”
“No. He will be Unclaimed. He will have to earn his place in a Shing through the Kuu.”
“What is the Kuu?”
Harai smiled. “You will see. Right now, we have the honor of a personal meeting with Arluthu. It is my first as well, Sergeant. Do not dishonor me, or all of this can be taken away as easily as it was given. Understood?”
“Yes, Sergeant,” Caleb replied.
“Good. Lia, prepare my cell. And tell Ishai I require her tonight.”
“Yes, Sergeant,” Lia said, bowing her head.
“You look like a true Inahri, Caleb,” Harai said. “Come with me. Being late is not an option.”
Chapter 18
Sergeant Harai led Caleb out of his cell, back through the corridor to the harem and out to the antechamber. The breeders fell onto their faces when Harai entered the room, paying him homage though he didn’t pay them any mind. Novai and Kilai stood and bowed to him as well. He ignored them too.
“Sergeant Harai,” Caleb said. “You said you’ve never met Arluthu in person before?”
“That’s correct,” Harai replied. “Only the highest ranking Inahri officers meet directly with Arluthu, and even that is rare. Most of the time, we liaison with Relyeh officers like General Ogg. The fact that Arluthu has decided to meet you in person shows how valuable he believes the Earthers to be. Your mission is to protect them. You may be able to help some if you can bring yourself into Arluthu’s favor.”
“And not coincidentally bring you into his favor,” Caleb said.
“Yes.”
“Your Advocate made me kill Sheriff Dante, not to mention dozens of innocent, unarmed Inahri. I’m not feeling all that willing to do anything that might help any of you.”
“An understandable attitude,” Harai replied. “But not particularly useful. The Advocates are valuable for what they provide. I would be dead if not for Ishek, killed by your hand. But orders are orders. You can choose to shrink back from them, or you can choose to delight in them. The long-term effects of either are easy to guess.”
“So you don’t feel any remorse over killing your own kind for Arluthu?”
“No. They are traitors. Arluthu saved us from the Axon, and yet they dishonor him by refusing to serve?”
“Slavery for slavery.”
“Every Inahri male begins his life as unclaimed. The genetically weak are assigned to lesser work from infancy. The strong are raised as soldiers and earn their place in a Shing through the Kuu. Every Inahri born has a chance to become something great. I fought my way to the head of Dojo Shing. I earned every right I am given. Is that slavery?”
“Can you come and go from the Citadel as you please?” Caleb asked.
“I have duties here, but otherwise yes.”
“What about the Inahri women?”
“They have duties as well.”
“So they could leave, but there just isn’t enough time?”
“I know what you’re trying to infer, Caleb. Compared to how the Axon treated us, we are definitely free.”
“But you don’t want to go back to your homeworld? You don’t want to be part of your origin society?”
“To what end? The Inahri will fall to the Hunger, the same as all the rest. But we will survive. We will see the end of the Relyeh conquest if there is such a thing. You won’t be able to say the same unless you swear your allegiance to Arluthu.”
“So you’re willing to leave your people to die? For the Relyeh to send the uluth to overwhelm them and destroy their civilization?”
“You left your people to die,” Harai said. “Your ship fled Earth, did it not?”
“I had orders. I wanted to stay behind. I wanted to keep fighting.”
“I’m certain you did. Fate leaves no place for choice for soldiers like us, Sergeant Caleb. We are always followers. But Earth is no more. How can it not be most preferable to follow a god instead?”
“That’s the second time you called Arluthu a god.”
“That’s what he is. Immortal. All powerful. All-knowing. Infinite in wisdom. Merciful in obedience. A protector and savior.”
“If you say so. But when I kill him, I’ll prove he isn’t a god.”
“That won’t happen,” Harai said.
“Why so sure?”
“Because sooner or later, we will meet in the Kuu. After I win, you will be even more at my mercy than you are now.”
“How so?”
“I will request an Advocate to adorn your arm. It will keep you in line.”
“You aren’t going to win,” Caleb said.
“How can you be so sure?” Harai asked.
“Because I already kicked your ass once. I have no problem doing it again.”
“You don’t have a powered arm to help you anymore.”
“I survived two years on Earth against the trife without a powered arm. I don’t need it to take you down.”
Harai laughed. “I love your spirit, Sergeant Caleb. It’s a breath of fresh air to me.”
They reached the Arshugg tunnel, the only two waiting for the creature to arrive.
“Where’s Valentine, anyway?” Caleb asked, changing the subject.
“Why does it matter to you?” Harai replied.
“If there’s anyone I want to meet in the Kuu, whatever the hell the Kuu is, it’s her.”
Harai laughed again. “Under
stood. She is traveling to Arluthu with Colonel Ae. It is not my place to say what Arluthu might decide where she is concerned.”
“He isn’t going to give her what she wants.”
“He’ll give her what she needs, whether she knows it or not. That’s Arluthu’s way.”
The Arshugg entered the tunnel, coming to a stop in front of them. Harai and Caleb boarded the carriage, finding it empty. Caleb heard a high-pitched warbling coming from beneath Harai’s robes.
“Ishek has told the Arshugg that our route is direct. Arluthu makes his home at the base of the Citadel, where it is warmest and most moist. We will pass through the Relyeh city on the way. Pay attention, Earther. It is a sight to behold.”
“The Relyeh city? They have an entire planet, and they still all live holed up in here?”
“It’s a process,” Harai replied. “It isn’t safe for them while the traitorous Inahri still occupy the planet.”
“But they have you to defend them.”
“You’re thinking in terms of your lifetime. The Relyeh have moved throughout the galaxy for millions of years. What you consider a long time is a blink of an eye for them. I understand. I too made the same false assumptions when I was unclaimed.”
Caleb fell silent, staring out of the open windows of the carriage as the Arshugg moved through the Citadel. It didn’t stop at any of the stations, bypassing the mostly Inahri women waiting to board.
“We just passed the sanctorium,” Harai said a few minutes later. “You have not been this deep before.”
Caleb could tell. The robes seemed to be keeping his body temperature regulated, but the air in his throat was warmer, wetter, and heavier, and the stations were becoming more barren and basic, returning to rough-hewn stone.
They continued for another few minutes before the Arshugg broke out of the tunnel and into a massive space. Caleb nearly leaned out the window to get a better look at it.
There were spires everywhere, stone towers rising across a dark landscape, the ground pitted and wet everywhere he looked. Tendrils of rock reached across the towers, connecting them at multiple points throughout their elevation, a dense and confusing array of steps, bridges, and structures that reminded him of an M. C. Escher drawing.
There was more.
The stone was broken only by holograms, hundreds of holograms in a different set of symbols he still couldn’t read. They were plastered to the buildings, floating across damp, hazed and misty air, even scrolling on the uneven floor. They painted the entire colossal space in a palette of deep reds and browns, offering an eerie light to the whole place.
It was incredible the way a feeding frenzy of sharks was incredible. Or a cave covered in millions of occupied spider webs was incredible.
There was more.
He saw Relyeh, or what he assumed were Relyeh. Not only large, tentacle-mouthed humanoids like General Ogg, but other creatures closer to the Advocates or the Arshugg, only larger and composed of different levels of mottled carapaces or leathery skin. There were other things too, the stuff of nightmares and campfire horror stories, a range of living organisms birthed from the darkest minds, each so unique it was impossible to get a good look at them before they vanished from sight.
There was more.
The Relyeh didn’t move across the city following any laws of physics he was familiar with. Like the layout reminded Caleb of Escher, so did the movements of its occupants. They moved both vertically and horizontally, traveling in three dimensions as though gravity was more of a suggestion than a real force of nature. He watched as two Relyeh crossed paths, their heads less than a meter apart as one walked across a bridge upside-down, the other properly upright. He saw another bridge where two creatures were crossing one on top, the other on the bottom.
“How?” he said softly.
Harai laughed. “Relyeh tech. They haven’t only mastered genetics. They’ve mastered gravity, engineering, construction, nanotechnology. So many fields and areas of science, I can’t even begin to understand half of them.”
“But they live like…” Caleb paused. He didn’t know how to describe it. They reminded him of Earth’s ocean life. Of coral. Maybe in a deep trench somewhere.
“Contained. Warm and wet and hard,” Harai said for him. “It’s temporary. All of the planet will look like this one day. So will Earth.”
Caleb turned back to the sergeant. “Terraforming?”
“Yes. This is only the beginning, for Arluthu’s World and probably for yours too.”
“The Axon Intellect said there were still people on Earth. They’re still fighting back.”
“Then they’re simply delaying the outcome. Full sovereignty of the Hunger. The domination of Arluthu. Earth will be his world too. They all fall in time.”
Caleb returned his gaze to the city, staring out into it for the remainder of the time it took the Arshugg to cross through.
Not all. Not the Deliverance.
He would do whatever it took.
Chapter 19
The Arshugg took Caleb and Sergeant Harai past the Relyeh city and even further into the Citadel, finally coming to a stop nearly twenty minutes after departing. The air in this part of the Citadel was so damp and heavy Caleb felt the strain in his lungs as he tried to get enough air to breathe. He could tell Harai was having the same problem. The Inahri soldier’s face was covered in sweat, his mouth open in a dog-like pant.
A Relyeh was waiting for them as they climbed out of the carriage. More humanoid than many of the creatures Caleb had seen in the city, it was close to two meters tall, with leathery flesh and a large head, its mouth prominent on a short, sloped snout. It reminded him of a lizard or a frog, and when its tongue slid out casually across the expanse he nearly laughed.
It was wearing metal armor on its lithe frame, clawed feet and hands exposed. It was holding a staff glowing in soft blue light, showing it was in some way electrified. It spoke in a heavy, slow cadence. It had to be Relyeh, because while Caleb didn’t understand a word of it, Harai did thanks to Ishek.
“Colonel Ae and Doctor Valentine have already arrived,” Harai said. “But Arluthu thinks you recovered faster than most.”
Caleb looked at the creature. This couldn’t be Arluthu. He must have a direct comm to his guards.
The Relyeh lifted its staff, turning and jabbing it toward the wall. The stone slid open, revealing a short passage beyond. It said something else to Harai, who bowed his head with respect.
Caleb did the same. There was no sense in dishonoring the frog-man. Then Harai led him past the guard and into the passage.
The corridor was dark and uneven, more like being in a cave than the domain of an advanced race set on conquering the universe. They followed it a hundred meters or so to another stone block that moved away as they neared.
It was like walking out of a cave and back onto pre-trife Earth as if he and Harai were stepping off a movie set and into the middle of an impossible scene.
They were high off the ground, in a large, open lounge surrounded by floor to ceiling windows. An unblemished New York City spread out below them, filled with the hustle and bustle that Caleb had only experienced on a brief visit before he joined the Marines. Airplanes crossed the sky, a window-washer was in the south corner, and soft music filled the room.
“What the hell?” Caleb said.
His eyes tracked across the interior until they landed on Riley and Colonel Ae, standing at a bar a few dozen meters away. They were in matching navy blue robes, finer than the one he had been provided. Did that mean Valentine was already accepted at the top of the Inahri food chain? They each had a drink in hand as they chatted back and forth.
Colonel Ae noticed Harai and Caleb first, cutting off mid-sentence and turning to face them. Harai led Caleb to them, bowing deeply to both. Caleb bowed to Ae and then nodded to Valentine.
“See Card,” she said. “You’re back where you belong. Serving your betters.”
Caleb held back his retort. Getting
a look at how much more of her skin had darkened and grown harder since he had last seen her would have to be enough. Her face was beginning to lose its humanity. Not only had the skin grown worse, her cheekbones seemed to be growing, her jaw extending out into a monstrous form.
“Sergeant Caleb,” Colonel Ae said. “Let me see your sanctification.”
Caleb turned and lifted his arms so the robe fell away.
“Whole again,” Riley commented. “That makes one of us.”
She was clearly unhappy to see him like that while she was still mutating. Good.
“You are a special case, Doctor Riley,” Colonel Ae said. “You are honored to have Lord Arluthu handle you personally.”
“If you say so.”
“Colonel, if you don’t mind,” Caleb said. “What is this place?”
“Earth,” Ae replied. “As it was in the days before the uluth were dispatched.”
“This is a hologram?” Caleb asked.
“Of course it’s a hologram,” Riley replied. “Did you think you got teleported back to twenty-first century Earth?”
Caleb clenched his jaw. “But even the drinks are being projected. Are you really holding anything?”
“The drinks are real,” Ae said. “A Relyeh nectar called grogsh.” Ae snapped his fingers, and a pair of tuxedoed waiters hurried to him. “Get Sergeant Caleb a drink. Harai?”
“No thank you, sir,” Harai replied.
The waiters hurried away.
“It’s more impressive than the other holograms I’ve seen here,” Caleb remarked.
“The Inahri took it from the Axon. Arluthu gained it from us.”
“But how does he know what New York City looked like?”
“The Relyeh transfer knowledge to one another through a shared experience you might think of as a semi-omnipotence,” Ae said. “It occurs naturally, allowing all Relyeh to know almost everything any Relyeh knows.”
“Like the internet?” Caleb asked.
“Seriously Card?” Riley replied.
“Give me a better human analogy,” Caleb challenged. Riley didn’t try.
“Yes,” a new voice said from the back of the room. “Like the internet. Only not as immediate. It takes time for the knowledge to make its way across the expanse of the universe. The Hunger is quite large. Hundreds of thousands of light years across. But it has its advantages.”
