Backlash Rising

by Brandon Ellis

  She turned to the previous page and squished her eyebrows together. This image baffled her the most, always holding her attention longer than any other Rose painting.

  “A knight holding a sword.” Diana lightly brushed her fingers over the knight’s face. “A Space Templar.” She traced the sword with her finger, noting the purple haze around the blade’s edge.

  She leaned in with the magnifying glass. Robert had written Sol in the purple haze, again too small for the naked eye to notice.

  A brisk rap on her door gave her a start.

  She placed the holopad in her drawer and locked it. She slid the key into her pocket. “Yes?”

  “It’s Sleuth.”

  She turned on her desk’s holoscreen, and waved her hand over an application, bringing up the holocams outside her quarters.

  Sleuth paced back and forth, much like she had fifteen minutes ago. He pinched the back of his neck, his head down. Diana didn’t need to be a photon scientist to figure out something bothered him.

  She stood. “Open.”

  Sleuth stopped pacing and stared blankly through the doorway. His large glasses were close to the end of his nose. He peered above the frames and kept his chin low.

  Diana crossed her arms. “You look like you just saw a ghost.”

  “Ali left with Daf. ” He shook his head and put his arms out. “Maybe twenty-five or thirty hours ago?” He pushed his hands in his pockets.

  Diana stepped toward the door. “I know. We already went over this.”

  “Throw Wrench in the brig, Captain.”

  Diana shook her head. “I’ve interrogated him. He thought he was carrying out my orders. He was aloof to it all. I’ve told him another major screw up, and he’s demoted.”

  For as long as Diana captained this ship, Wrench stood by her side through thick and thin. Loyalty was his backbone, his integrity absolute, not only for her but for every crew member on the ship. She overlooked his mistake because no other person made her feel loved and accepted like Wrench.

  Sleuth massaged his temples, his face reddening. “I’m sorry, Captain, but it’s time.”

  She eyed him, knowing exactly what he meant. Her face went pale. She hated meetings with Enlil. “They’re here? Why didn’t Enlil message me?”

  “They’re almost here, and I don’t have the faintest clue why they are arriving without contact first.” He fidgeted with his badge attached above his shirt pocket. “Maybe because you didn’t finish the deal.”

  She didn’t kill Ali. A “to-do” high on Enlil’s wish list and Diana failed. An order that had come shortly after Enlil tracked Ali to Starship Sirona.

  Enlil probably figured it would be a simple job, and quick. Even though Diana despised Ali, the idea of pulling the trigger on Ali spun circles in her stomach faster than a pulsar. It made her nauseous thinking about it. She didn’t know why. Maybe fake daughters, let alone real daughters, did this to a mother? Somehow through the years, Diana had developed a kind of love for Ali. Diana couldn’t figure out why Enlil wanted Ali dead so badly, but questioning the Monarch never sat well.

  She eyed Sleuth. “Wait outside my office. I need a moment.”

  The office door closed, and Diana pulled the key from her pocket. She rounded her desk and unlocked the drawer again.

  She plopped the holopad filled with Robert Rose’s book down and paged through until she came to the supernova. She stared at it for several minutes and let out an uneasy breath.

  She flipped the page to a painting of a palace next to a lake, a place she knew little about. She wondered if that would change this very evening.

  Enlil had promised to show her Eos Two someday, a habitable area on the other side of the planet. Whether it be an award for her participation in throwing her race under a hover-train or where he’d execute her if she broke or failed the contract she had signed, either way, she’d see it.

  She eyed the page more closely. Near the middle of the lake sat two small islands with tall buildings on them. The structures rose high into the air, like spikes thrusting upward from the islands’ crust. A city stood around the lake with nice-sized trees, grasses, and a rolling hill landscape like nothing Diana had witnessed on this side of Eos.

  She put the holopad back in its place and locked the drawer. She patted her captain’s uniform, unholstered her gun, and placed it on her desk. New orders came through yesterday, and anyone near Enlil with a gun faced execution.

  Perspiration formed on her upper lip and she bit her cheek. “Why is he coming?” It didn’t matter. He was on his way, regardless, but whether for a meeting or to kill her, she’d at least see Eos Two.

  1

  Ali

  Eos—Mount Gabriel

  Ali let out a heavy breath. She walked down the path to a city inside Mount Gabriel, a city that had been under her nose the entire time she mined on Eos. She couldn’t make this up even if she wanted to.

  She took a step forward and kicked away a pebble. Her hand slid across the damp rock on the side of the walkway beneath a glowing lantern attached to the wall.

  She glanced at her father, who walked by her side. Her insides contracted as she held down a smile. She was doing her best not to look like a fool in front of Star Guild’s Fleet Admiral, Shae Lutz, her dad.

  This is insane, she thought.

  She’d just been on the adventure of her life, dodging starfighters while in a mining mech, making it to Starship Sirona, only to escape her fake mother, Captain Diana Johnson, and finally arriving here, inside the mountain. Furthering the insanity, she skipped the portal hop to her homeworld, Earth, only to see Shae in the mountainous cavern staring back at her.

  Ali and Shae followed a hobbling Daf and a strange but kind Anunnaki fellow named Chan-Ru. Several mumbling small men from a race known as the Bawn lined the front of the pack, leading the way. They traveled down a spiraling path, heading for Dirn Garum, the city in the mountain.

  Ali shook her head and looked at what she clasped in her hand, almost rolling her eyes and laughing. Again, she couldn’t make this up. Her fingers wrapped around a sword’s hilt, a sword named Sol, Sword of Light.

  A bloodline flowed through her and her father, allowing only them to wield the sword. Mixed blood didn’t make much sense. She was part human and part Anunnaki? If so, she didn’t stand ten or twelve feet tall and twice as wide as a human like the Anunnaki, so she figured the amount of Anunnaki blood in her was minuscule.

  Shae rested his arm around Ali’s shoulders. “How are you doing?”

  “Good.” Ali inhaled a gob of breath. Damp air carried through the deep mountain tunnel, the temperature cooler the farther they followed the descending trail. “I’m a little nervous.” She looked down, her voice soft. “I can’t stop thinking about getting back to Sirona.” She had people to save.

  S, the woman she met on a Tech Quarter’s HDC, Holographic Display Console, explained to Ali that a weapon of mass destruction was on its way to blow Sirona to Guild and back, and she had two days to get these Bawn people to help her.

  If they could save Sirona’s people, she and her dad could then enter the sarcophagus in a cave off the upper mountain tunnel. They’d then jump into the portal and see the woman Ali wanted to see for so long, her real mom, Helen.

  She swallowed hard. She could tell that getting these Bawn people to join her mission to save Sirona would be a hard sell.

  “They apparently have advanced technology,” said Ali. She glanced at Shae. “I wonder if the Bawn has ships and military vehicles.”

  “What makes you think they can help us?” Shae dipped his head in the other direction. “My starjumper sits just outside. We can get in there, head to Sirona, and warn them.”

  Ali shook her head. “Captain Diana Johnson isn’t on our side. She tried to kill me.”

  Shae’s eyebrows raised. “She tried to—” He cut himself off. His fingers curled into a fist, his teeth gritted. “Does she know about the weapon you mentioned heading their way?”<
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  “I think she does.”

  “But you’re not sure.”

  Ali shook her head. “No.”

  Shae halted, motioning with a flick of his head. “Then we get into my starjumper and do what I said. We warn them.”

  It’s not that easy, thought Ali. There had to be a reason S wanted Ali to get the Bawn on her side. Perhaps they could help aid her in fighting Diana and whoever else stood at her fake mother’s side while Ali notified the starship’s crew they were in danger.

  Ali stopped and prompted Shae to do the same. “What you say makes more sense than what I’m about to say. It’s just that I have this strange feeling that I must somehow get the Bawn to help me. I think you’ll have to trust me on this.” She squeezed Sol’s hilt, and the sword’s plasma flame lit up around the edges. She relaxed and the plasma blaze died down. She continued forward.

  Shae walked with her. His expression tightened. “Are you sure?”

  “I am.”

  “The moment I see Diana, I’m throwing her in the brig. I don’t give a rat’s butt if it’s not standard protocol.”

  “Good.” Ali glanced ahead. “Chan?”

  Chan-Ru walked in front of her, strolling too close to the path’s edge for Ali’s liking. Nothing but a black, infinite abyss dropped past the edge.

  “Yes, Ali?”

  “I mentioned S to you before, but you’ve never heard of this person?”

  Chan folded his hands into his robe sleeves, crossing his arms over his stomach. “I can't say I have. Is this person meaningful to you?”

  “I don't know.” Deep down and on a soul level, this person felt meaningful, but she didn’t want to give it away, especially since she didn’t know Chan from Adam. She frowned. Adam? Probably an expression she learned during her life on Earth.

  Chan glanced over his shoulder. “Is there anything you can tell me about this S?”

  Ali shrugged. Giving him a little information wouldn’t hurt. “S told me to come to Mount Gabriel and that my destiny awaited here. She said these people would help me.”

  Chan continued to walk, Daf hobbling by his side. “That's quite a statement. It sounds like this S person pointed you in the right direction. Now that you know you and your father are both Chosen Ones, that has to be a great feeling.”

  A great feeling? For Ali, not in the slightest.

  Daf limped as she walked, her hand pressed against the rock wall to help keep her upright. “I was there. We communicated over an HDC, and she told Ali a lot of stuff that made little sense to me.”

  Ali eyed the back of Chan’s head, noting he reached ten feet tall or more and was twice her width. She imagined S stood the same height since S shared the same race. “I’m not seeking anybody. I just want the truth. I want to know if I’m in the right place and if these people will help me.”

  Chan nodded as if in understanding. “These people are a stubborn lot, but they will help…eventually.” He stopped and raised his arm, pointing. “Here we are.”

  Ali shifted her eyes, and her mouth gaped open. She looked at Shae and then Daf. “Do you see what I’m seeing?”

  Daf stopped and gasped. “Oh, my word.”

  Shae let out a laugh. “Who would have thought, and all the way down here?”

  In front of them stood an enormous, ornate door, with animals etched into the steel, and landscape all around. Artistic and gorgeous, a sun crested above a mountain, rays beaming down upon animals in a lake, some creatures ferocious, and some calm. A dragon flew to the left of the mountain, and a winged horse hovered to the mountain’s right.

  Thun, the nicest of the Bawn, bowed in front of Daf, Shae, and Ali. He extended his arm. “The door to Dirn Garum, my home, my heart. I hope you feel as welcome as I always have.”

  Harak, Thun’s brother—one Ali dubbed a pissy soul—elbowed Thun out of the way. His thick beard shook as he laughed, his bushy brows lifting when he rolled his eyes.

  He spat on the ground and grabbed his family jewels. “Surface dwellers. Let’s see how welcome you’ll be, shall we?” He glared at Ali, and then the door, and back at Ali. “You like the door art, eh?” He spat again. “You don’t know what that is, do you? Of course not. You and,” he motioned toward Daf and Shae, “they know nothing.”

  “I beg to differ, brother.” Thun pushed his brother out of the way, grunting loudly. “These surface dwellers come from the same planet we originate.”

  Daf shot Ali a look. “What are they saying?”

  Ali ignored her, remembering Daf couldn’t understand anything the Bawn said, though somehow Ali and Shae could. She didn’t want to miss anything jabbering out of their mouths, not now, not ever. Everything might be important.

  Thun lifted his hands, his voice echoing through the cavern. “Burakin.”

  The door creaked loudly and slowly opened, moving by wheels on a metal track mounted to the rock wall.

  Light spilled outward, and Ali put her forearm in front of her face to shield it. She slowly dropped her arm by her side. “What the…”

  Her eyes widened, and her jaw nearly hit her chest.

  2

  Koda

  Starbase Matrona

  “This is a little creepy,” said Devon. He glanced at a gigantic clock hanging at the far end of the station. “It's before supper, and on this station, it’s usually a madhouse at this time.”

  Sphere Nine’s Prime Overseer Koda Lutz and I.T. Specialist Devon Gray stood in Sphere Six’s hovertrain station.

  After nearly dying by the hands of Payson, the rogue commander for Prime Director Zim Noki’s guard, and after Naveya, an undercover Space Templar stationed on Starbase Matrona, saved their butts, a quiet station didn’t seem all that bad to Koda.

  They were heading to Zim’s office in Sphere Eight to hack as much information from Zim’s holocomp as they could to keep Starbase Matrona and its people safe and informed. Devon could hack into anything, the best asset Koda could ask for in a time like this.

  Koda shifted on his feet and surveyed the station, his insides wanting to leap out of him and run. The last time he showed himself in public, gunfire nearly killed him.

  He barely escaped after jumping from Savanna Levens’ office with papers in his hand titled, The Kill-off. Devon accompanied him, leaping two stories to the ground by his side. He couldn’t be luckier than the young man with him.

  A snap by his ear brought him to the present. “Koda, you all right?” Devon waved his hand in Koda’s face.

  Koda eased Devon’s hand away. “Just lost in thought, buddy.”

  He made his way to a ticket booth. A loud sound echoed in the station, and Devon jumped back.

  Koda rubbed his back. “Easy there, man.” Koda’s heart raced as well, and his eyes darted around the room, looking for Payson or anyone else with a gun. A hoverstation attendant had merely dropped a holopad.

  Devon touched his forehead, wiping perspiration away. “I don’t know what’s gotten into me. I keep thinking I’ll be shot.”

  Koda nodded. He knew the feeling all too well. He reached the ticket booth and rested his hands on the counter. “Two tickets to Sphere Eight, please.”

  The hovertrain approached, its engines sending out a hum, and growing louder the closer it came. It moved quickly above a long rail, slowing when it reached the platform Koda and Devon stood upon. A few hovercars passed before the train stopped.

  “Get on the last car so we can keep our eyes on the passengers,” said Koda. “Just in case.”

  They hurried to the last car and stepped into the car’s cabin. Koda found a seat in the back and Devon scooted next to him, clearing his throat. “Only a few passengers. You have nothing to worry about, Koda.”

  “Next station, Sphere Eight,” said an automated voice through an intercom. “Closing doors now.”

  The doors hissed shut, and the hovertrain shuddered. It lifted into the air, and slowly moved forward, gaining speed meter by meter. Traveling from Sphere to Sphere usually took twe
nty minutes to an hour, sometimes longer, depending on the stops. During a non-stop ride, hovertrains reached speeds up to three-hundred miles per hour. Koda had purchased a non-stop ride.

  Like this hovertrain, trains wound through Spheres on a magnetic track three stories high, nearly hugging the windows that lined Starbase Matrona. It gave the occupants an incredible view of their place in the Eos system. At least, that's how it used to be. Today, and every day since the starbase had jumped into a new sector, a green planet blazed in full glory, its glow like an aura highlighting space around it.

  Devon leaned into Koda, catching a glimpse at the planet in the distance. “Look at that thing. I wonder if it holds an atmosphere.”

  Koda nudged him away to give more room. “We won't be in this sector of space for long, I don't think. So, don't get too attached.”

  “Wouldn't you like to explore it, though?”

  “Not at the moment. I have a starbase and its people to save.”

  Devon nodded.

  “Have you ever been in a craft?” asked Koda.

  Devon shook his head. “I’ve never been off Starbase Matrona. You?”

  “Oh, yes.” Memories of Star Guild Academy, its tough training, becoming a starfighter jock, and the recent surprise attack that took a chunk of the human population, slumped his shoulders forward. “I was a starfighter pilot once. If I hadn’t gotten into politics, I would still be in Star Guild and most likely space debris with my friends after the surprise attack.”

  “I guess you got lucky.”

  “I got injured.” He grasped his arm. “Wrestling injury in the Star Guild Academy Games. I was winning when it happened.”

  Devon ran his hand through his black, curly hair. “They sent you to the Suficell Pods for recovery, right? You could have still been in Star Guild.”

  Koda nodded. “That’s true, and I recovered quickly in the Suficell Pods, but I went after another calling—politics. I did so to help the people on Starbase Matrona. Now here I am, doing just that.”