by Jacob Holo
The infinite storm burned around them. A battle raged far above, lost in the fiery mists. What few Outcast warships remained had gathered around the Glorious Destiny. Alliance frigates and dreadnoughts passed through the Lunatic Gate in a long line with several seraphs escorting them.
Multiple explosions wracked the Glorious Destiny. The ship wouldn’t last much longer.
“Leave it,” Veketon wheezed. “Head for the Gate.”
Quennin knew he was right, but the ship was also the closest thing to a home she’d had in years. She hesitated for a moment, then turned away, spun up her halo-wings, and powered towards the Gate chamber’s giant brass eye.
Seth finished cutting through the second Ziggurat doorway and climbed after her.
Above her, Knight Squadron brought their weapons to bear. Beams and kinetic bolts showered down on her. She powered up through the intense rain, her barrier flashing darkly with each hit.
An Aktenai dreadnought broke through the Gate, shuddering as its drives counteracted the local gravity, then corrected its course. Torpedoes fired from its bow and beams lanced out from its centerline weaponry. Plasma blasted against her barrier. She ignored it and flew on, straight and true.
Quennin cleared the dreadnought and slammed into the Gate without slowing. It bowed back, swallowing her, and she emerged within the Gate itself, never stopping. Harshly cut stone stretch out before her in a long tunnel between the two ends of the Lunatic Gate. She was not even halfway through the Gate’s internal corridor when Seth appeared behind her with Knight Squadron in tow.
She ignored them and dove into the opposite Gate. It buckled inward unnaturally before it engulfed her throne.
Quennin appeared deep within the Earth, back in her own universe again.
She looked up through the tall thousand-kilometer tunnel. Its white stone hexagons gleamed with unnatural light. Ships and seraphs choked the way back into Earth orbit, but Quennin shot straight up past dreadnoughts and frigates and startled seraphs.
Seth and Knight Squadron exited the Gate and ascended after her. He must have taken command, because the Alliance forces began to reorganize. They no longer headed straight for the Gate, but instead held their positions and trained their weapons on her. Dozens of fusion cannons from both directions opened fire. Her barrier shrugged off the first several hits, but shot after shot after shot pounded into her. Her defenses began to weaken.
She ignored it and powered straight up. Seth came in behind her, closing at a slow but consistent rate. Even more seraphs gathered behind him.
It was then that Quennin noticed an alert pulsing in her mind. The area was not clear of negator fields! Several Alliance warships had her pinned down, too many and too dispersed for her to destroy on her own. Without Zu’Rashik and the Eleven, the Outcast fleets were confused and disorganized. The various Nations spent their ships in haphazard and isolated ways, while the Alliance forces continued to act as one body.
Quennin passed the lip of the tunnel and cut through Earth’s atmosphere. But even when she cleared the Earth’s gravity well, what could she do? She couldn’t activate her fold engine with the negator fields online, and she couldn’t stand and fight.
“Veketon, we’re not going to make it!”
He coughed sickly. “Use the lance…”
“What are you talking about?” she snapped.
“The lance can create small Gates, remember? Use it to get us out of here…”
“How? I don’t know how to use it!” she spat, angry and frightened all at once. But then she realized something she’d missed in the intensity of battle. She could feel a connection with the lance, something far more than a simple power coupling. Data passed through the bond, filling a small pearl of consciousness within her mind.
She opened it.
Quennin perceived the dimensional subtleties of the Gate below her. Nearby seraphs felt like tiny divots in the dimensional fabric. There was a strange sense of continuity and understanding, as if the lance could somehow grasp the whole fabric of this universe.
Quennin was running out of time. She mentally searched for some trigger within the lance, something to make it start working. But there was no trigger. Instead, the lance recognized her needs and filled her mind with what to do. She held the lance before her, and energy crackled across its length. A point of black light appeared at its tip, no larger than a grain of sand.
The point grew, larger and larger, forming into a widening black disc in front of her. Even though Quennin was speeding up through the atmosphere, the disc stayed perfectly still relative to her throne. It widened large enough for her and Veketon to pass through, and then fell in towards her.
The lance sunk into it, followed by her outstretched hand and arm. One meter at a time, the two thrones vanished from the solar system. Quennin had no idea where the portal led.
But then, anywhere is better than here, she thought.
The black disc passed completely over her throne. For a moment, only the opposite end of the portal lance remained visible, slowly sinking in. Finally, it was gone.
The disc shrank back to a grain of sand and vanished.
Chapter 23
The Second Long Hunt
Seth pulled around the Keeper’s Judgment. The new seraph carrier had been built in the last month to his and Jack’s specifications. Its sleek body caught the sun’s light, and its reflective hull gleamed. From the outside, the Keeper’s Judgment looked very much like an Outcast warship. But beneath the reflective plate armor was an Aktenai mnemonic hull of the highest quality.
The Keeper’s Judgment was a long-range strike carrier, designed for prolonged independent operation within enemy territory. The outer façade could change its silhouette with reflective plates riding on a mnemonic superstructure. This outer façade could even be jettisoned entirely, leaving the Keeper’s Judgment almost completely invisible to all but the most sophisticated active scanners.
“Jack, where are you?” Seth asked via hypercast.
“Already onboard the Judgment. I’ll meet you in the seraph bay when you land.”
“Good. We’ll leave as soon as I’m onboard. No point in giving Veketon a bigger head start than he already has.”
“I wouldn’t be too concerned,” Jack said. “We’re almost certain he’s fled to the Felleross nation, so I know where to start. I’ve been to that part of the galaxy before, remember?”
Seth pulled in underneath the strike carrier and glanced across Earth, Aktenzek, and Zu’Rashik.
The Alliance had recalled Aktenzek to Earth orbit, though there seemed little need at this point. With the Eleven gone and the Dead Fleet crushed, the Outcast Nations had returned to their deep-seeded feuds. It seemed the Eleven and Zu’Rashik had been the only things holding them together. Outcast forces fought on, but disjointedly, and the Alliance continued to push them back on all fronts. There were even reports of Outcast fleets firing on each other.
The Lunatic Gate remained within Earth, but Seth had sealed it against further trespassers. He was a Keeper now, and the Gates were his responsibility, not the Choir’s. As long as Veketon lived, he was a threat to the Gates and to the Homeland. A Keeper’s duty in this matter was clear.
Seth looped around to the Judgment’s seraph bays.
One month ago, Quennin and Veketon had vanished without a trace. Even their fold point had left no clues to their heading, but movements by the Fellerossi warships made it clear they remained loyal to the Eleven’s goals. Their worlds were the logical place to start looking.
Veketon won’t give up. He’s been defeated, but he won’t stop. He’ll try to raise another fleet or perhaps focus on manufacturing more thrones or some other scheme. Whatever it is, we will not wait idly by. We will hunt him down, find him, and kill him.
That was the mission of the Keeper’s Judgment and its two pilots: to hunt down the last of the Eleven and (as Jack put it) kill him deader than dead.
The mission could well take years, even decade
s as they searched the Outcast Territories. Going alone would be dangerous, but Seth refused to ask his comrades to come along. Partly because they were no match against Veketon, but also because he feared they’d say yes.
“Oh, Seth, about our first destination.”
“Yeah? What about it?”
“There’s an alternate planet I’ve been thinking about for our first stop. The risks are higher, but it could save us some time in tracking down Vek.”
“We’ll be in transit for at least two months before we even reach the Outcast Territories. There’s plenty of time to think it over. Let’s just focus on getting underway.”
“Yeah, you’re right,” Jack said, then added slyly, “By the way, I have a surprise for you when you get on board.”
Seth grimaced. “What surprise?”
“Well, if I told you, it wouldn’t be much of a surprise, now would it?”
“I hate surprises. You know that.”
“Yeah, I remember the victory party.”
Seth shook his head. His wings quivered. “I’m still wondering why Jared doused me with that foam. What was it from again?”
“A champagne bottle he shook up.”
“Yes, that. What kind of culture teaches people to behave like that?”
“Mine, I guess. But this is a good surprise. Trust me.”
“I can tell you’re serious about this.”
“You know it.”
Seth sighed. “Oh, very well. I’m coming in. At least make it quick.”
“No promises.”
Seth ascended into the Keeper’s Judgment. Clamps latched onto his wings and locked him in place. He segregated his mind from the seraph and opened his eyes from within the cockpit.
The hatch swung down, meeting the extending gangplank. Seth pushed out of the alcove and walked across.
Originally, the Keeper’s Judgment could hold two full squadrons of seraphs in two side-by-side bay rows, matching the normal Aktenai carrier template. Seth had the space converted into exodrone, aerodrone, and flyer storage. Those extra seraph bays wouldn’t be needed.
Seth opened a channel with his neural link. “Jack, I thought you were going to meet me in the bay.”
“I’m at the far end. Why don’t you come join me?”
Seth grimaced. “Is this part of the surprise?”
“And what surprise might that be?”
Seth grimaced even more profoundly. “Oh, very well. Keep your secrets.” He headed for the lift.
“Ah, now hold on a minute. You might want to walk here through the intervening bays.”
“The lift is faster.”
“Ahh, true. Very true. But still, I recommend taking the long route.”
“Your surprise again?”
“Why do you keep saying that? Honestly, I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
Seth shook his head. Sometimes, he just didn’t understand these Earthers. With a deep sigh, he began walking. The first bay held Jack’s seraph, fully restored from its recent battles. A cool air permeated the bay despite the thick walls of transparent insulation. Flexible lines pumped coolant into the seraph, taming the often violent beast.
Seth walked swiftly past it.
In the next bay, he’d expected to see a full rack of exodrones with ordnance loaders and servicing robotics. Instead, he saw Tesset’s sleek green seraph. Tesset leaned up against the wall near the emergency airlock, positioned so Seth couldn’t see her until he’d entered the bay.
His first reaction was to utter something like “What are you doing here?” or “Why aren’t you back on Aktenzek?” or “Don’t you know we’re about to leave?”
Instead he caught himself, raised an eyebrow, and said “Yes?”
“Well… I know you and Jack are leaving.” Tesset wrung her hands nervously. “But you aren’t going to be in any danger for at a while… so, I just… well, I just wanted to see you two off. Is that so wrong?”
Seth smiled warmly. “No, of course not.”
Tesset handed a folded d-scroll to him. It was a slim, gold rectangle that fit in his palm, bearing the seal of Aktenzek.
“A message from my father,” she said. “I’m sure it’s nothing important. Probably just farewells and good wishes.”
Seth pocketed the d-scroll. “Come on. I still need to see Jack. Apparently he has some sort of surprise in store for me.”
“Okay!” she said brightly.
They walked into the next bay. Again, he found it surprisingly empty of drones and full of seraph. Jared waited on the other side of the emergency airlock.
Seth wasn’t in the mood for subtleties this time.
“Jared, what have you done with my aerodrone squadron?”
“Well, I know you and Jack, uhh…” Jared cleared his throat before continuing. He had the tone of a bad actor reading from a script. “I mean, you and Jack are leaving. But, still, you guys are going to be in danger for… no, wait, I mean aren’t going to be in danger for a while. So, hmm… what was it again? Oh, yeah. I just thought I’d tag along for a little bit. You okay with that?”
Seth raised an unimpressed eyebrow.
Jared rubbed the back of his neck. “Look, this wasn’t my idea.”
Seth turned to Tesset, who gave him an innocent smile and shrugged her shoulders. He turned back to Jared.
“You still haven’t answered my question.”
“Well…” Jared muttered, out of script.
“Come along, then. We’ll discuss this with Jack.”
The three pilots headed into the next bay. Seth was no longer surprised to find a distinct lack of exodrones and a strange excess of seraph. Yonu nodded a greeting as he passed through the airlock. She opened her mouth to speak.
“Let me guess,” Seth said. “We’re leaving but won’t be in danger for a while. Then you ask if you can tag along. Does that about cover it?”
Yonu directed a severe look at Jared.
“I knew we shouldn’t have let you go second,” she said.
“It’s not my fault. He didn’t adhere to the script.”
Tesset started laughing.
Seth sighed. “Enough. Let’s get this over with, whatever it is.” The other pilots followed him into the next seraph bay. By the time Seth reached the far end of the Keeper’s Judgment, he had Tesset and all eight surviving members of Knight Squadron tagging along.
This time the emergency airlock was shut, and for a good reason. It was hard to hide that many people around the airlock’s edges. Seth recognized technicians and medics from the Resolute. Even the cook was present. Jack stood in the center, arms folded with a stupid grin on his face.
Seth walked up with his small congregation. “I find this all very suspicious.”
Jack glanced behind him and around the bay, as if searching for the subject of Seth’s ire. Tesset’s already weakened restraint finally broke loose, and she started laughing hysterically.
Finally, from all the Earth Nation crew members (and a few Aktenai) came a very loud “SURPRISE!!!”
“I do hope someone is going to explain all of this,” Seth said.
“Yeah, that’ll be me.” Jack stepped forward. “Seth, it’s like this. Back when I left for the Outcast Territories the first time, I made a very critical mistake. I left alone. Now, I had my reasons, but they were still the wrong ones. My mistake was that I never asked for help.” Jack gestured to the assembled pilots and crew members. “So, this time I asked. And you know what? Quite a few answered yes.”
“Jack, we’ve discussed this already. This is not something I can ask any of them to participate in. We don’t know how long we’ll be gone. The mission could take years. It could take decades. And we will be deep in unfriendly territory the entire time with nowhere to run or hide.”
“So what?” Jared blurted out. When a few EN heads turned his way, he added a belated, “sir.”
“Seth, we all feel the same way,” Tesset said. “And we’ve all agreed to it. We’re coming along. I
already cleared it with my father, and even the Choir didn’t complain.”
“Really?”
“Same here.” Jared stood straight and took up an officious air. “The Earth Nation Fleet Admiralty has granted special authority to Knight Squadron, and support staff, for autonomous activity in the Outcast Territories, charted and uncharted.”
Seth blinked. “And that means?”
“My bosses said yes.”
“Then why not just say so?”
“Seth, look at it this way,” Jack said. “You always seem to think you’re the only one who should ever be placed in danger. Now come on, admit it. If you could shoulder all the burden, you probably would.”
“There might be a small piece of truth to that.”
“But your comrades don’t see it like that. It’d be like abandoning one of their own, and they can’t do it.”
“Then there’s no stopping this.”
Jack shook his head with one of his stupid grins. “The seraphs are already docked, and we just folded. So, nope. There’s no stopping us. You might as well enjoy the party. We’re going to christen this voyage properly, Earth-style.”
Seth’s loathing was palpable. “Not another party.”
“Don’t worry. I’ve given Jared strict orders. The party’s up in the rec center. I had it modeled after the one on the Resolute without you knowing.”
“It seems I should have inspected the Judgment more often when it was being built.”
“Yeah.” Jack grinned wolfishly. “Probably should have.”
Seth found himself pulled along with the tide of bodies heading up to the rec center. The whole crew dined and drank and gamed the day away. Seth tried his best to participate, but he never really felt at home in such informal occasions, and he eventually disappeared from the party unnoticed.
Jack found him in the bay observational balcony, looking down at his black seraph. He joined Seth and leaned against the balcony’s transparent pane.
“You missed a good show. Jared got really drunk and said— Well, I’m not exactly sure what he said, but Yonu laid him out for it. She’s got a mean right hook.”
