The Stars Like Gods

by G. S. Jennsen

  “Probably the ‘no limits’ part.” Nika gestured toward the heart of the celebration. “It’s all wonderful. You’ve done an amazing job.”

  “It was nothing. Five locations, seventeen d-gate pairs, one hundred ninety vendors, eighty-eight musicians and several tonnes’ worth of equipment, all organized in eighteen hours. A trifling matter.”

  “Clearly. Trifling or not, you’ve done a good thing here.”

  “I like to think of it as a statement to the galaxy—nay, to the entire universe. We are alive, and we will not cower in fear. We will, instead, party.”

  That earned a good laugh, but as Nika checked out the crowd, she spotted Delacrai standing off to one side. Two omnipresent guards stood a respectful two meters back, their stances alert and watchful.

  The former Guide took note of Nika and, with a dip of her chin, approached them. “Good evening. This is most…festive. A bit loud and disordered. Are all Asterion festivities so overwhelming? I admit I cannot recall.”

  Maris scoffed. “Of course they are—this is what festive means. The key is to relax and let the revelry flow through you.”

  Delacrai struggled over a pained expression. “I shall…consider this advice.”

  Dashiel shot Nika a meaningful look, then touched Maris’ elbow. “Let’s go refill our drinks. I’ll even buy yours.”

  For a split-second Maris appeared genuinely stunned, but she smoothly recovered. “Thank you, Dashiel. However, I believe it is I who should be buying.”

  “If you insist, I won’t argue.” He motioned to one of the many bars along the perimeter, and they walked off.

  Nika turned her attention to Delacrai. “How are you doing?”

  “I am…well. Well enough. Appreciative of my continued existence and the freedom I enjoy. At a minimum, I am doing better than my former colleagues. Those who still live.”

  “Luciene made his choice when he destroyed his own backups.”

  “And with them, the knowledge of ages.”

  “Tainted knowledge, skewed by flawed programming and a megalomaniac personality. It’s better for us to pursue our own knowledge, our own way.”

  A mysterious expression passed across the woman’s features. “Part of me mourns him, but I find I cannot disagree. On a related matter, Anavosa wishes me to convey her regards…and her regrets.”

  “How is she?”

  “Shamed. Humbled. Confused. Introspective. Skinny. I reintroduced her to chocolate, so I’m hopeful that state will improve.”

  Nika chuckled. The Asterion-rehabilitation of the Guides appeared to be succeeding, at least for some of them.

  “She worries you believe she betrayed you when she approved your psyche-wipe.”

  “I do, because she did. I don’t wish her ill, but some things are unforgivable.”

  As soon as the words crossed her lips, they felt wrong. She sounded like Joaquim, only he’d now returned ready to heal and move on. She sounded like Dashiel had not long ago, only in walking off at Maris’ side tonight, he’d taken his own first step toward forgiveness. Surely, she could do no less.

  “I’m sorry. That was wrong of me to say. No one is beyond redemption.”

  “I will convey your sentiments. And now, I will leave you to your…what did Advisor Debray call it? Revelry. Congratulations, for you deserve the celebration. You defeated our enemy.”

  “For now, though I fear this battle is only beginning.” She took in the crowd, the lights and music and dancing, and smiled. “But we’ve made it a good beginning.”

  Delacrai glided off, and Nika went to join Dashiel and Maris—

  You have done well.

  She froze mid-step, instantly recognizing the odd, invasive sensation of a Sogain—or the Sogain—speaking into her mind. Her eyes scanned the area around her for swirling lights, but the entire party was nothing but swirling lights.

  Thank you.

  You have won a victory, but this is not the end of the fight. It is the beginning. You will need help to defeat your foe, as others will need your help in turn.

  Hadn’t she just said that very thing? I know. Will you help? Will you fight alongside us?

  A laden pause imposed silence on her mind, but the alien presence remained. She waited.

  It will interest you to know that the Anaden Empire of old has fallen. You may discover allies among the new one which has risen to take its place.

  Fallen? What the hells did ‘fallen’ mean?

  Can you be more specific? How has it fallen? Who rules it now? What allies should I seek?

  A more fulsome silence answered. The Sogain was gone, leaving an echoing emptiness in her mind in its wake. Maddening creature!

  With a groan she forced herself to shake off the Sogain’s spell. She would not let the enigmatic alien ruin her night. She’d think about its portentous words tomorrow, but tonight, she was going to celebrate.

  Off to the left, she caught sight of Perrin dragging an obviously mortified Adlai toward one of the dance spheres. Did Dashiel dance? He had the natural grace for it, so…she grinned and set off to find out.

  57

  * * *

  NIKA’S FLAT

  Dashiel collapsed onto a couch and threw an arm over his forehead. Getting Ridani Enterprises back on track after his lengthy absence, footing the bill for all the virutox-infested augments and stripping its entire kyoseil supply for the KA bombs was enough work to fill a long string of eighteen-hour days. Then there were his heightened responsibilities as an Advisor while their ad-hoc government attempted to transform itself into a real government. Then there were the dozen new initiatives centered around preparing themselves for the inevitable arrival of a new, larger and angrier Rasu armada.

  Winning had never felt so exhausting.

  Something nudged his legs out of the way, and he opened his eyes to see Nika settling onto the couch beside him. He sat up, and she handed him a glass of wine.

  “Long day?”

  “She asks innocently. The longest. But no disasters, so it’s all good.”

  She took a sip of wine and let her gaze fall to the glass. After a minute, she set it on the table and took his hand in hers, an inscrutable expression on her face

  Dread pooled in his gut, and flashes of the night she’d told him about her true past screamed a warning in his mind. “What is it? Did you uncover another life-altering secret you’d been keeping from yourself?”

  “What? No!” She huffed a breath. “No. But…I need to take a trip.”

  “Where to?”

  “Home.”

  He frowned, glancing around the living room. “But you’re already…” a weighty realization dawned “…you mean the Milky Way, don’t you?”

  She shrugged. “It’s literally burned into my skin. I suppose I’ve always been destined to go back, though I doubt this is quite how or why I imagined I would.”

  “But, Nika, it’s been 700,000 years. The Anadens could have gone extinct, or evolved into a form we’d no longer recognize, or…become as evil as the Rasu.”

  “I’ve considered all those possibilities and a dozen others. Truthfully, I’ve been thinking about making the trip ever since we learned of the Rasu. But the other night at the celebration, the Sogain contacted me.”

  “What? How?”

  She tapped a nail to her temple. “Just like the night of the Rasu simex, at the club, they were suddenly talking to me in my head. They congratulated me on our destruction of the stronghold and warned me the battle was only beginning. Then they told me the Anaden Empire of old had fallen and suggested I could find allies among, and I quote, ‘the new one which has risen to take its place.’”

  “Fallen? What does that mean? How do they even know the Anaden Empire has fallen?”

  “Excellent questions, but the Sogain pulled a vanishing act rather than answer them. The important thing is, it sounds as if there’s someone in the Milky Way we can make contact with.”

  He dropped his head onto the couch cushion.
“So, you’re planning to venture there and ask whomever you find for their help in the fight against the Rasu?”

  “I’m planning to warn them. Whether sooner or later, the Rasu will come for them, too. Their path might lead through us, or a branch of the Rasu might be at the Milky Way’s doorstep right now. Regardless, I want to give them as much warning as possible. More warning than we had. And who knows? Perhaps we can help each other.”

  “Ever the diplomat.” He nodded thoughtfully. “Okay. I’ll talk to Vance about filling in for me a while longer and—”

  She squeezed his hand firmly, cutting him off. “I want you to come with me—you have no idea how much I want it—but I need you to stay here.”

  He sat straight up. “No. Absolutely not. Why?”

  “Because someone has to make sure the government doesn’t fall to pieces the first time Katherine pitches a fit. More than that, someone has to spearhead these new initiatives. Keep them focused. Keep them driving forward. Keep them producing results.

  “I need you haggling with Grant over standardized ship specs and arguing with Lance over hardiness versus agility considerations. I need you vetting all of Parc’s crazy ideas to figure out which ones are actually feasible and will do more good than harm. This operation is like a thousand assembly lines—”

  “Metaphorically.”

  “No, actually. I need you designing and building the assembly lines that will manufacture a fleet of warships to defend us. I can’t take off halfway across this corner of the universe with a clear conscience unless I know I’ve left the Dominion in trustworthy, capable hands. I need you to hold the world together for me while I’m gone.”

  His mind raced in search of reasons to refuse her. “There are a number of people who can do all those things you listed.”

  “Yes, but none can do them as well as you can. None of them have earned my trust the way you have. You understand what’s at stake, you understand what we must do, and you understand how to make it happen.”

  He grumbled, resisting to the end. “No. I don’t like it.”

  “I won’t be gone long. Two months, maybe? Or three? It’ll depend on what I find, but I promise I won’t dally.”

  “What are you talking about? It took us almost two hundred years to reach the Gennisi galaxy when we left the Milky Way.”

  “I’m having a Sukasu Gate installed on the Wayfarer. Once I can punch holes in space that dynamically open their own exit points, centuries will become weeks.”

  “It’s still a prototype device. It’s never been used on a trip of this magnitude.”

  “A few weeks ago, a Taiyok cloaking module had never been used on an Asterion vessel. I’m not afraid to try new things.”

  “But it hasn’t been fully tested. It could explode and destroy you and the ship, or quit working and leave you stranded in the void.”

  She smiled sadly with a tilt of her head. “Dashiel.”

  “I don’t want you to go. Not alone. Not without me.”

  “I will miss you madly, but I won’t be more than a ping away.”

  “Closer than a ping.” He splayed his right palm in the air, then drew it to his chest, because they no longer required physical contact to connect. He sensed her thoughts, sensed her dancing through the edges of his mind.

  “Yes. Closer.”

  “But not this close.” He reached out and drew her into his arms, tangling a hand in her hair and breathing her in.

  Her lips found his, and she whispered words upon them. “You’re making this so hard, dammit.”

  “Good.” He deliberately drew back. “Of course, you’ve lived thousands of millennia. I suppose two months is nothing but a blink of an eye to you.”

  “Don’t do that. I will feel every second of your absence, and you know it.”

  He took her hand in his once more, drawing patterns on her palm with a fingertip. “Fine. I concede there is a certain amount of wisdom in your plan. I don’t care for it in the slightest, but I can’t rightfully argue with you.” His gaze rose to meet hers. “When?”

  She swallowed. “The Sukasu Gate won’t be installed until next week, so…next week.”

  He grabbed her and hugged her tight against him. “I can’t help but feel as if I just got you back, and now you’re leaving again.”

  “Don’t be silly, darling. You’ve always had me.”

  58

  * * *

  WAYFARER

  Intergalactic space

  Nika exited the wormhole and scanned the immediate area for threats.

  Like nearly every other stop on the trip so far, however, this was the deep void between galaxies. Beyond the occasional rogue star lost and adrift, nothing lived in the void.

  But she had to check, and more vigilantly so with each stop. She’d officially reached the Milky Way’s Local Galactic Group two stops ago. In the far distance, twinkling like a single star, lay the Tyche galaxy. Not too far past it on a cosmic scale was the far larger Andromeda galaxy; then only a few dwarf galaxies waited before the Milky Way.

  From here on out, she had to account for the possibility that in the many intervening millennia the Anaden Empire had expanded this far…before ‘falling.’ The Sogain had never returned to expand upon its enigmatic message, so she had no better sense of what she should expect than when she’d departed two and a half weeks earlier.

  When the vicinity scan displayed nominal results, she activated a plethora of longer-range scans and settled in to wait on their findings.

  She’d filled most of these hours with her journals, because she finally had the time, mental bandwidth and privacy to truly absorb the information they contained. To ruminate on who she’d been and all that person had seen and done.

  At this point she’d daresay she almost had a solid grasp on the person who was Nika Kirumase. Who was her, in many ways she hadn’t fully appreciated until now. The legacy she’d inherited was complex, nuanced and far from perfect, but it was her own.

  A few days ago, she’d created a ceraff with Dashiel and not merely told him about her experience on the Rasu platform but shared it with him. There had been tears, virtual embraces that felt more real than the real thing and some philosophical musings about what it meant to be many who were together whole, to exist at multiple locations across parsecs while remaining one.

  Musings, but not answers.

  Nika was prepping the Sukasu Gate for another leap across spacetime when the air in the center of the cabin began to ripple.

  She grabbed her Glaser from its holster beside the cabinet, but her focus never left the increasing spatial agitation taking over the cabin. A Sogain? Live and in-ethereal-person this time?

  The undulating outline of a golden ring formed, and inside it she caught a glimpse of…somewhere else. But the scene was quickly blotted out by someone stepping through the ring—and directly into the Wayfarer’s cabin.

  Roughly Nika’s height, the woman had long, burgundy hair bound up in a messy knot atop her head. Blinding white irises glowed from within, and a pattern of matching-hued glyphs trailed down her skin from her hairline to the fingertips of her left hand. A winding onyx bracelet encircled her left forearm, and a tiny object dangled from it.

  In the blink of an eye, all the energy from the ring seemed to fall into the object. The golden ring vanished, but the woman remained.

  Nika considered the intruder from over the barrel of her Glaser. “Move, and you won’t be doing so again for quite some time. What are you doing on my ship?”

  The woman had raised her hands to chest level even as Nika barked the command, palms out in a show of surrender. The tiny object jingled against the metal of the bracelet as the woman nodded carefully. “I’m not here to hurt you. I come in peace. See, I don’t have any weapons.”

  Interesting. She’d hardly expected the intruder to understand her order, much less to reply in Communis. An odd dialect of it delivered in an unusual accent, but Communis nonetheless. “You materialized on my ship thr
ough a supradimensional portal. Forgive me if I’m not reassured by the absence of a gun-shaped device in your hand.”

  One corner of the woman’s lips curled up. “Fair enough. You’ll just have to take my word that I mean you no harm.”

  Nika jerked her head to the left. “Or, I could restrain you in the jump seat back here, and we could go from there.”

  The woman burst out laughing, then hurriedly cleared her throat. “Sorry. Memories. Believe me, I understand the inclination, but is there any chance we could not?”

  Nika studied the woman curiously. She displayed a casual, off-the-cuff demeanor unheard of in first contact scenarios and seemed utterly unconcerned by the Glaser pointed at her. In fact, she was acting as if she’d arrived for a sleepover. None of this meant she wasn’t dangerous, of course, but it was most unexpected. “Take off your bracelet and set it on the shelf beside you.”

  The woman sighed. “Okay, but I’m not letting it out of my sight. It’s very precious to me—and is also my ride home.” She slipped the onyx metal off and placed it on the shelf. “Feel better?”

  “A little.” Nika cautiously lowered the Glaser, though she kept it ready at her side. “Who are you, and why are you on my ship?”

  “My name is Alex. A friend of mine told me you were coming, and we decided it would be a good idea for me to be the first person to greet you.”

  “Excuse me? How could a friend of yours possibly know I was coming?”

  “Well, Mesme’s the nosy, meddling sort. Though in fairness, it wasn’t Mesme who did the nosing around. The whole lot of them are meddlesome, and this time Mesme was just the messenger.”

  Maybe this dialect of Communis had branched further from its roots than she’d first believed, because the string of words made scant sense. “None of that answers my question.”

  “Right.” The woman—Alex—chewed on her bottom lip. “Does the same ‘Sogain’ mean anything to you?”

  Dashiel’s question flashed in her mind. How do the Sogain even know the Anaden Empire has fallen? “Are you saying your friend is a Sogain?”