Backlash Rising

by Brandon Ellis

  Diana’s eyebrows rose. “Ali almost killed you?”

  “Yes, but that’s for a different time and a different place because I’m not pleased with you. You’ve become a splinter in my skin because she’s become a splinter in my skin. Ending her miserable life was the last task I gave you before handing you riches beyond belief, Diana.”

  “When do we get those riches?”

  The riches referred to the moon he promised. Houses, breathable oxygen, great temperatures, infrastructures such as roads, government buildings, skyscrapers, and much more. She’d be the first leader there, the one who kept her race alive, and they’d start anew. Her people would revere her, laud her as a queen, the heroine.

  He didn’t respond.

  She raised her voice. “Is the moon ready?”

  Enlil rubbed his chin, exhaling softly, almost as if he didn’t want to talk about the gifts he promised to give her and her crew, who knew nothing about the treasures he’d promised, and that Diana signed off to receive. Without their knowledge, Diana sold her crew out to the highest bidder. “It’s ready,” he said. “But you’re not going there yet. I still have plans for you.”

  Diana’s lips pressed together in a slight grimace. She loosened them, not wanting to irritate the Monarch, especially without weapons at her side.

  He leaned toward her, resting his elbow on the chair’s armrest. “You don’t trust me, do you?”

  She thought she could trust him, but the more she came to know the man, the more that trust slowly withered.

  “I trust you,” she lied again.

  He sat straight, looking away. “I haven't destroyed your ship, as we had agreed upon several months back.” He placed his hands together like a prayer, resting his chin on his fingertips. “Me keeping you alive should warrant at least some trust, shouldn’t it?”

  She dipped her head. “Like I said, I trust you.”

  He looked off. “You’re holding something from me.” Enlil faced her, wincing in pain. Whatever Ali did to him had definitely created a heap of agony for the giant. “What are you pushing down that you aren’t telling me?” He puffed out his lower lip, his eyes narrowed. “I don’t like it when someone holds back.”

  Diana glared out of the window, watching a blade of yellow grass growing through a crack in a long, thin ebb rock. The grass blew in the breeze. She eyed an Eos Two lake in the distance, something her eyes had never witnessed before. She wanted to see the mountains flowing with trees, and the cities filled with tall buildings. She figured they’d need to travel further east.

  She continued to stare at the grass. “Many of my friends died during the initial attack. Your race killed hundreds of thousands of my people. I didn’t know there would be so many fatalities.”

  She could hear Enlil shift in his seat. “This saddens you?”

  Diana turned. “Imagine your race being annihilated right before your eyes and you were a major player in the conspiracy. That is what I am. I’m a traitor. I helped attempt to kill my race, even though I wasn’t expecting a kill count so high. So, yes, this saddens me.”

  It didn’t just sadden her. It ripped her heart apart, and every day the ache grew stronger. It burned a hole in her soul. She signed up to help this Monarch, but the devastation went above and beyond what she ever imagined.

  Enlil frowned. “My race dying before my eyes wouldn’t sadden me. It would anger me, but no, I wouldn’t be sad.” He put his finger up as if about to give her an important lesson. “Your people and my people are different emotional Beings. I don't feel sadness for anything my race does or doesn't do. Most times, fire erupts in my belly when I deal with my race, especially with my family.” He cupped his hands and placed them over his stomach, leaning back and looking at the cockpit. “I have tried to kill my brother many times. I dislike him more than anyone will ever know. My father sends a rage through me when I think of him.” He laughed. “But that’s how I am, and I’ve observed that many in my race are similar.” He brought both hands to his heart. “Our agreement is right here in my heart.” His brows drew downward. “Please don't disrespect me by thinking me a liar.”

  “I don't think you're a liar. I was just not ready for what—”

  Enlil slammed his fist on his armrest again. “You would have stopped my plans if you knew them fully, so I couldn't risk telling you the entire truth, Diana.”

  Diana shrank in her chair, feigning calm, though her heart sped faster than a starfighter evading a missile. She looked out the window a second time, not able to look him in the eyes. “I would have gone with your plans, regardless. I value the prize you’ll give my crew and me.”

  He rested a heavy hand on her forearm. “I don’t think you would have gone through with my plans. Diana, don't think of me as a bad man because I can see in your eyes that you do. I do for my people what you would do for yours. Only the circumstances are different. Our intellect is far superior to even the most genius of your race. We created you so you’d be inferior to us, but intelligent enough to perform the tasks we wanted. Even if you could have stopped the attack, we would have outwitted you no matter how many left turns we had to take.”

  A drudge, a cross between a medium-sized dog and squirrel, ran across the ebb terrain and disappeared under the craft they sat in. She wished she could disappear like the drudge. “So, when can I leave this planet with my crew?” If she could get to the moon and give her crew a peaceful place to live for the rest of their lives, she’d at least have given something to humanity.

  He stroked his chin. “Trust me.” He held out five fingers. “Five days starting tomorrow. Until then, we will leave you alone.” He paused, a small grin growing on his lips. “However, I think there are a few more training sessions with our infantry, so Starship Sirona might feel more bumps and shakes, but nothing too harmful.”

  Diana nodded. Sirona could take a beating, and unless they were sending massive cannons her way, the starship’s armor would hold. “And the moon?”

  Enlil squeezed his eyes shut as if her relentless moon question scraped him like a rat scraping to get out of a cage. He massaged his temples. “I do not want to repeat anything I’ve already said.”

  “I know. I just want to know, is it beautiful?” She eyed Eos’s landscape. “Or, like Eos?”

  “Yes, it’s much more habitable than this planet but smaller. It's a moon, mind you, but the temperature is fair, and the resources are plentiful. You should have no trouble creating a happy life there.”

  “I wonder what my crew will say when we get there.”

  Enlil swatted at the air. “Please, little lady. You saved them. You gave them continued life, and in that, you’ve allowed the human population to prolong its gene pool. If they find out you set up your people, kill the disgruntled ones, and let those who remain alive honor you. Be fierce and lay down the law if they show no gratitude.”

  The drudge ran out from under the craft and in full view. “I would also like—”

  Enlil cleared his throat, cutting her off. “You humans want a lot, don’t you?” He didn’t wait for a reply and flicked his gaze upward. “I will not go any further with this meeting.” He eyed the cockpit, his focus on the Anunnaki pilot. “Our meeting is over. Please take the nice captain home.”

  The pilot nodded and started the ship's engines. The craft vibrated and lifted into the air.

  Diana gazed forward, looking at Enlil out of the corner of her eye. He held a fist, resting it on his armrest. She wanted to point a gun at him and pull the trigger, blowing his brains against the side windows and wall for making her do horrible acts. Had he really made her, or was she a willing victim?

  She wanted to start her life over and be a good human. Right now, misery clouded her soul. She had done the worst—helped Enlil kill hundreds of thousands of her race, maybe more.

  The starjumper turned one-hundred and eighty degrees. Its boosters initiated and her body drew into the seat, gravity pushing against her as the ship flew toward Starship Sirona
.

  “And, Diana,” said Enlil. “A group landed here recently. If you happen upon them, kill them. Every. Single. One.”

  Diana touched the base of her neck. He needed to explain more. “What group?”

  “They’ll introduce themselves as the Space Templars.”

  6

  Eden

  Starship Sirona, Eos

  Eden followed a balding man who wore overly large bifocals, his name Sleuth. They walked down a Starship Sirona corridor toward Captain Diana Johnson’s quarters. Eden didn’t trust Sleuth, and sure as hell didn’t trust Diana, a traitor to her own race. Eden’s stomach tightened when the image of Diana came to mind.

  A few nights prior, as Eden and her Space Templar friends approached Starship Sirona, they caught sight of Diana leaving and entering an Anunnaki ship. Eden and the Templars waited a day before arriving at Starship Sirona. The crew invited them inside, and they’d been here ever since.

  Eden huffed as they walked down the corridor, Sleuth stomping with every step he took. Maybe a walking defect, but she doubted it. It reminded her of her mom, the way she’d lead Eden as a child to a biosphere park, practically stomping her feet like a spoiled child as they’d go. “I do this for you, and I do that for you. Can’t you give me some time to myself?” Eden didn’t know how much more time she needed to give her mom. She barely spent five minutes a day with her. The woman was usually injecting a nasty substance in her arm with one of her many boyfriends. She’d daze off and lean back in bed minutes later.

  Sleuth turned down another corridor, his weasel-like eyes narrowed as if wanting to spill a secret he’d been hiding, though enjoying the idea that he knew something Eden didn’t.

  “Our second meeting.” He shook his head. “I thought one was enough.”

  The moment after Eden, Skye, and Nyx entered the ship, Skye wanted a meeting to point out the traitor—Captain Diana Johnson. The meeting lasted less than a minute, Diana coming up with an excuse to rush everyone out of her quarters.

  “There is a discovery in the engine rooms I need to attend to right away,” she had said.

  That occurred yesterday, and last night Eden and the Space Templar crew slept in the launch bay, awaiting their own sleeping quarters to be cleaned and ready. Of all things, and what the Star Guild and Starbase Matrona myths told everyone, you don’t mess with the Space Templars. She imagined Diana shook in her bones, knowing she couldn’t do much about the Templars on her ship.

  “Eden.” Skye approached her before this day’s meeting and shuffled her to a corner in the bay next to a parked Thunderbird starfighter. “Let me handle this. We have a change in tactic, a change in energy.”

  Eden scrunched her nose. “A change in energy?”

  “A subtle feeling that outing Diana wouldn’t be the best approach. To worm our way to the person calling the shots, we need Diana to show us this person’s exact location.”

  “You mean an Anunnaki. The real ones calling the shots.”

  “Yes, and the Anunnaki leader, Enlil. He moves from place to place. He’s near impossible to pin to a location. If we can get a way in without him knowing, then we can stop him with less of a fight. We defeat the head of the chain, the rest of the chain crumbles apart.”

  Eden nodded, though she didn’t approve. She wanted Diana in the brig, and now.

  Continuing down the hall, Nyx, Skye and Jantu walked behind her. They rounded a corner, and Eden instinctively rested her hand on her holstered pistol. A corridor light flickered as their boots thumped softly behind her.

  Sleuth stopped in front of the Captain’s Quarters. The door opened, and there sat Diana, diligently going over documents on her holomonitor. Diana turned it off quickly and stood. “Welcome.” She forced a smile and waved for everyone to enter.

  Eden’s hand fell off of her gun and to her side, her mouth going slack as she stepped inside, her friends in tow.

  Paintings in the dozens, all beautiful, all Robert Rose, were hanging on the walls. Plants in pots mounted on the walls, green with gorgeous flowers, grew toward grow-lights.

  Diana remained standing behind her desk, her hands behind her back. Sleuth stood off from her, holding a holopad in his hands.

  Skye made his way toward Diana’s desk and stopped in front of it, his hands behind his back. “You have a great eye for art, Captain.” He glanced around the room, his lips upturning. “I’m very impressed.”

  “Thank you, sir…” She extended her hand as if not remembering Skye’s name.

  Skye took her hand in his and slightly bowed, obviously sensing her confusion. “My name is Skye. I’m the Grand Master of the Space Templars.”

  Diana stiffened for a moment, and Eden brought her hand back to her pistol.

  Diana took her hand from Skye’s. “You’re the Grand Master?”

  “I am.”

  Diana looked at Sleuth. He dipped his head and typed something into his holopad.

  “I apologize for the last meeting. Things slithered their way to my attention. Now, about that traitor.” Her voice lowered. She flicked her head, and several Sirona Guards stepped through the doorway from another room attached to Diana’s quarters.

  Skye rubbed his chin, his lips curling downward. “What’s this?”

  Eden noticed Nyx and Jantu eyeing the handful of new men in the room. Nyx and Jantu brought their hands quickly to their holsters.

  “Just in case, Grand Master. I don’t know you too well, and I don’t know what to expect.” Diana touched her chest. “It’s for the captain’s safety.”

  Skye dipped his head, his calmness nearly taking over the room. “Call me Skye. No need for formalities.”

  “And this traitor?” asked Diana, her lips flat. “You know who it is?”

  “Not exactly,” said Skye. “You have a traitor in your midst, and if you want our help, we can discover who this person is and root him or her out.”

  Diana tipped her head to the side, one eyebrow raised. “How do you know of this traitor?”

  Eden’s insides burned. She gripped her fingers around her gun’s grip. “We watched a craft pick this person up two nights ago. The craft hovered just above this starship.” Her nostrils flared. She hated knowing the word traitor was practically tattooed on Diana’s forehead, and yet, she couldn’t do a thing about it. All because Skye wanted to play it cool and figure out how to get to the top brass. “What do you know?”

  Diana gave Sleuth another look. He gave her a nod.

  Diana pursed her lips. “We suspected a traitor, but this is our investigation, and we did not invite the Space Templars. I don’t need any more screw-ups.”

  The guards stood behind her, their hands on their rifles, still as a statue.

  Eden took a step forward. “Why?”

  Skye shook his head. “Eden, they have it handled.”

  Eden raised her chin, keeping her focus on Diana. “Why, Captain? You have the most advanced warriors in the galaxy here to assist you, and you turn them down?”

  Diana crossed her arms, her lips pursed. “Since when does a major question a captain?”

  “Since a major became a captain herself. I’m a captain in the Space Templar fleet.” She pushed her chest out, her breaths shallow. She wanted to throw Diana on the ground and cuff her. Eden stood taller. “And I’m a person of the human race. I have every right to uncover the truth for my race, and I don’t care if you have—”

  A hand rested on Eden’s shoulder, interrupting her. Skye’s voice came gently. “Eden, we’re guests on this ship, and we’ll act like good guests.”

  Eden shrugged his hand off and glared at Diana.

  Diana sat, dropping her hands underneath her desk.

  Eden pulled out her pistol and aimed it at Diana’s chest. “Slowly put your hands on your desk.”

  The guards stepped forward, their rifles drawn. “Don’t do that, Miss,” said a guard.

  Diana gave Eden a blank look, shifting her eyes to Skye. “Is this how your Space Templars c
aptains act, Grand Master?” She scrunched her brows. “I’m lifting my arms. Stay your weapons.” She slowly raised her hands, showing empty palms.

  “I assure you it’s not.” Skye pulled Eden closer to him, his voice hushed and sharp. “Put that gun away.”

  Eden holstered her pistol, her face reddening. She let out an exhale and cupped her shaking hands in front of her, setting her gaze more deeply on Diana.

  Skye smiled and bowed. “My apologies.”

  Diana sighed. “I understand. I have insubordinates as well.”

  Eden blinked. Her throat was tight. “I’m sorry, Captain. I don’t know what came over me. I guess…the war and all.”

  Diana’s shoulder’s lowered, and she waved the guard off. They stood down.

  “Sleuth, do we have their rooms ready?” asked Diana.

  “Yes, Captain,” Sleuth replied.

  Diana clasped her hands and rested them on her desk. “Show them to their rooms. Unless you want to shoot me over something else that is bothering you, Eden?”

  Eden shook her head. “A misunderstanding. My apologies.”

  “Sure,” said Diana. “Grand Master, do you have any other members of your Space Templars who would like to end my life? I mean, tell me now, so I know who to avoid.”

  Skye put his hands together at his chest, touching his forehead against his fingertips. “I assure you we don’t.” His face firmed. “Unless you give us a reason. If I were you, I wouldn’t give us any reason.”

  He turned, his robe whipping around. The door opened, and he paced out of the room, Jantu and Nyx behind him.

  Nyx kissed her fingertips and slapped her fingers on the wall before exiting. “To remember me by.”

  Sleuth breezed by Eden, his face buried in his holopad. “Are you coming?”

  “Yes.” Eden dipped her head at Diana. “Good day, Captain.”

  Diana leaned back in her chair, folding her arms. “I’m allowing you all on this ship. I’m giving you one day of rest and relaxation. Day two, you all leave. Do you understand?”