Uprising of the Exiled (Splintered Galaxy Book 2)

by Eddie R. Hicks

  “As for that half-breed,” Y’lin said.

  “He will stay out of your sight,” Noylarlie assured. “I could use another crew member aboard my ship.”

  Y’lin nodded. “Very well,” she said and then addressed her daughter. “Kroshka, I’m proud of you. I thought for a moment you cared only about humans and would support anything they do.”

  Noylarlie grinned in a devious manner. She knew Kroshka was in a Celestial Order temple along with her guardian. Whether they liked it or not, that made the two of them allies. Neither of them was going to share what they were doing prior to saving Paryo or that they had tapped into power the order knew about and greatly valued.

  Two hours later, Kroshka sent out a request for Eeladen and Noylarlie to meet her in her room. Kroshka was once again dressed like a Hashmedai imperial princess, a long white gown with a tiara bearing the gold-plated image of the Hashmedai flag. She faced away from the window toward the two requested guests, her long platinum hair reflecting back on the glass.

  “We need to address what happened at the temple,” Kroshka said.

  “My lips, as you ordered, are sealed,” said Eeladen.

  Noylarlie watched as Kroshka struggled in her mind to compose what she wanted to say next. The young princess stepped closer while fidgeting with the sparkling bracelets around her skinny wrists. “The Hashmedai sect of the Celestial Order operates out of there,” Kroshka finally spoke. “I went there to follow up on a lead, but now I do not feel it is safe to return there. We cannot expose them as there is no doubt in my mind they are the ones that funded the attack on the palace days ago.”

  “They may strike again in anger,” he said.

  “This means my mother cannot know as she’ll have them all killed.”

  “And us,” Noylarlie said with her arms crossed.

  “We need to appear as allies, appear as if we are open to the idea of their beliefs,” said Kroshka. “Make them think they have us in their pockets, and then when they reveal a weakness, strike them.”

  “If that’s the case,” Eeladen said, “I volunteer to go and act as a representative. I will feed them whatever false information you require.”

  “Very well.” Kroshka faced Noylarlie. “And you?”

  “I’m an Archmage; I don’t report directly to you,” Noylarlie retorted. “But you have my word—no one will know of this.”

  “That is what worries me—whom do you serve? The empire? Or the order?”

  Noylarlie’s face curled into a grin upon hearing her question. She wasn’t quite sure herself. Noylarlie’s mother’s wishes clearly were on the side of the order, especially regarding things happening behind the scenes that the order themselves didn’t even know, like the goddess. Noylarlie’s arsenal now consisted of the half-breed and disgraced prince to the throne, connections in the order, and a secret that could have Kroshka in a lot of trouble.

  And most important of all.

  She was now officially the strongest psionic in the known galaxy.

  Perhaps this was why her mother had revealed all that information, helped her gain this power, and worked with Hannah to guide her to Danyal; she was giving Noylarlie a gift from beyond, the keys to galactic domination, with her in command.

  “I have my own problems to deal with, and I don’t pray,” Noylarlie answered. “Figure the rest out for yourself.”

  Noylarlie was now back in as an Archmage and had a newfound bond with this mysterious gem, and people within the order were willing to support her. As she left the throne room, her mind began to weave together a plot. A plot that would make her mother proud, a plot that would change the direction of the Hashmedai Empire forever.

  … … …

  ►► Unknown Transport Ship

  ► Interstellar Space

  Fahia’s face manifested on a small screen connected via an aether space communicator, capable of sending messages across the cosmos instantly. Kasidey sat in the cockpit of their transport, alone at last, and began to speak. “What’s your status?”

  “The atomic missiles have been redirected,” Fahia said.

  “Good, this should put Kroshka and Noylarlie in the empress’s good books.”

  “Next time you do something like that, have the audacity to tell me beforehand,” Fahia said. “Is Fiesei with you?”

  “Don’t worry, he’s not coming. He was a tool anyway, and he had no true loyalty to the order. He and his exiled followers served their purpose.”

  “What about the Earth president?”

  “I have no new data about that; Jazz was a poor choice.”

  “Phylarlie was supposed to be sent. She would have had it done already.” Fahia let out a sigh. “We will research another way if the president still lives.”

  “There’s no need,” Kasidey revealed. “Why do you think I had the missiles fired in the first place?”

  “Not sure, explain.”

  Kasidey’s chair reclined as she folded her hands together. “What do you think Y’lin will do in response? She still believes it was humans who launched them.”

  “Clever.”

  “The spark that will ignite the fire that will make humans run into the arms of Radiance will happen; it is only a matter of time.”

  Fahia’s image nodded then said, “May the gods’ light shine upon you.”

  The screen went black; the transmission ended as indicated by text within an alien language that populated there afterward.

  Kasidey’s hands reached back behind her head as her feet perched on top of the dashboard. “May the goddess’s darkness shroud you,” she said and began to recap the last few years. Traveling to Earth, assuming the form of an EISS agent, using her newly acquired contacts to connect with Fiesei…and now this.

  … … …

  ►► Silver Raven, Geneva, Earth

  ► Sol System

  “Punch it, Vel!” Jazz exclaimed to her as he, Destiny, and Eupiar climbed aboard.

  “Is it done?” Veloshira asked Jazz as he took a seat upfront in the cockpit. “Where’s the head?”

  “I was attacked before I could cut it off,” he said, spinning his web of lies. “She is dead; let’s leave it as that.”

  Blue skies of Earth quickly became black and star filled, and the Silver Raven shot out into sublight speeds. Away from vengeful UNE fighters, the Winston Churchill and a debris field that seemed to have replaced the Radiance fleet that was orbiting Earth.

  “Now we just have the soldier,” Veloshira said a few minutes later.

  “We need to flee the system. There is no way we can find him under these conditions,” Jazz said. There was, however, no reply from Veloshira. Whatever, he thought and floated out of his seat to address their two new crew members about their empty victory.

  “Well, at least we know she isn’t dead,” Jazz said to Destiny. “Someone wanted her out of there more than we did.”

  “What do we do now?” Destiny asked, brushing her floating ginger hair backward.

  “Ironically, this is the exact spot I found myself in twenty-two years ago,” said Jazz. “On a Hashmedai ship, forced to leave Earth behind since it wasn’t safe to be there, and Hannah went missing.”

  “We’re going to the empire?” Eupiar asked.

  “Not quite, the Morutrin system, but close enough,” he said. “You two might like it there, if you don’t mind the instant weight gain from its gravity.”

  Thirty minutes had passed. Jazz returned to his seat, monitoring the situation within the solar system, namely the last known locations of the UNE fleet. A few ships had been redirected toward a single UNE ship just outside Jupiter’s orbit in a hurry. Something must be going on over there, he thought.

  “Jazz,” Veloshira said to him. “What do you make of that?”

  She pointed toward a holographic projection that showed some newly acquired sensor data coming from the UNE ship at Jupiter, namely a strange ship leaving it. “What is that?” he asked.

  “I thought it was a
human ship, but…the designs and power emissions aren’t consistent with one,” Veloshira said.

  “Hey, Destiny,” Jazz shouted toward the lounge where she and Eupiar had been resting. Destiny floated over behind Jazz, and he pointed toward Veloshira’s display. “Ever seen anything like this?”

  “Nope,” Destiny said, shaking her head.

  “It’s gone,” Veloshira cut in.

  “What?”

  “Not on scanners at all. It’s like it slipped into a hole in space,” Veloshira reported from her screen.

  “Let’s take a peek,” Jazz said.

  A new holographic window loaded, displaying three red dots on an intercept course with the single red dot outside Jupiter. “There’s a human battleship close by, with more on the way.”

  “Quick flyby, nothing more,” Jazz pleaded. “Then we leave the system.”

  … … …

  ►► Silver Raven, En Route to ESV John F. Kennedy, Outside Jupiter Orbit

  ► Sol System

  The Silver Raven made slight course correction, taking them toward Jupiter. Several minutes later, they arrived, dropping out of sublight speeds. A UNE battleship bearing the name John F. Kennedy was adrift, with its hangar bay doors wide open and no signs of activity, despite the Silver Raven being so close to it.

  “What do you make of that?” Jazz asked, pointing his index finger toward a vortex above Jupiter.

  Veloshira’s glowing orange eyes squinted at the strange sight. “It looks like the hole in space I saw earlier.” Three short toot sounds emitted from the computer terminal, repeating every two seconds. “A beacon?” Veloshira asked.

  Jazz’s fingers interacted with his terminal. “It’s a distress signal,” he concluded and loaded a small hologram of a small circular object floating in space. “Looks like an escape pod.”

  “I’m leaving.”

  “No, let’s check it out; they might have seen what happened here,” Jazz said, cutting Veloshira off.

  “There are battleships closing in,” she reminded him.

  “Then we need to be quick with our recovery.”

  … … …

  The Silver Raven’s cargo bay doors swung open, and Veloshira carefully piloted the ship to swallow up the escape pod before slamming the doors. Once the all-clear was given, Jazz and Destiny floated their bodies down to the lower decks to check out their prize. A hissing noise was heard as white mist filled the room, escaping from the confines of the pod. It was nice and warm to Jazz’s face, unlike the cold environment of the cargo bay.

  Out from the mist of the escape floated a UNE pilot wearing a flight jumpsuit and helmet. The pilot’s hands quickly rose up to unlock and remove the helmet.

  “Are you fucking serious right now?” Jazz said as he laid eyes on the pilot.

  “Not what I had in mind for a rescue team.” It was Chloe; she faced Destiny and gave her a long hateful stare. “Especially you.” Her fist drove into Destiny’s face, hard. “You fucking cunt!”

  “Hey!” Jazz shouted as he attempted to break up the brawling weightless women exchanging punches, kicking, and even pulling hair. With the zero-g, it was quite easy to pull one’s hair. It was, however, a futile attempt, as a stray boot to the face tossed Jazz backward to the far end of the cargo hold. Maybe they’ll listen to this…Jazz fired two bolts of plasma from his pistol, missing both the brawling ladies by inches. “Enough!” he shouted. “Y’all can deal with ya beef later. I want some answers,” he said, looking at the blackened burn mark on the wall left by his pistol.

  Destiny kicked herself away from Chloe while Chloe spat blood from her lip and the inside of her mouth and said, “I guess I’m your prisoner now, huh?”

  “That depends on you and if you know anything about that strange ship,” Jazz said.

  “I was trying to chase it,” Chloe said to Jazz. “It went into that…void thingy.” Hesitantly, she added, “Hannah’s aboard that ship.”

  Jazz’s and Destiny’s eyes lit up. “How do you know that?” he asked.

  “She was smiling at me through the windshield.”

  “Jazz,” Veloshira shouted from the cockpit. “Human battleships are closing in. We need to leave now.”

  Jazz pulled and swam his body back into the cockpit while keeping his reply to himself. He knew Veloshira wasn’t going to like what he was going to propose. And he wasn’t going to like himself if he once again let Hannah slip away to be corrupted by the illuminati of the galaxy.

  “Take us through that rift,” Jazz finally said. “If we leave the system, they’ll chase us, and they might even catch up.”

  Veloshira said, “Had we just kept on course to the space bridge—”

  “Yeah, yeah, well don’t rub it in,” he said and motioned his head toward the wormhole. “That is our new path home now.” Wherever the fuck it goes, it’s better than here.

  Eupiar, Destiny, and Chloe all floated behind him into the cockpit. He gave them all an update of their current situation and game plan. Detour through the wormhole and track the strange ship, which apparently had Hannah aboard.

  As the Silver Raven propelled farther and farther away into the abyss of the unknown, Jazz activated a holographic screen, displaying everything directly behind their spacecraft. He looked at it heavily, for it would be the last time he’d see Earth. Which appeared as a pale blue dot within the mouth of the wormhole they had just crossed.

  Epilogue

  ►► ESV Winston Churchill, Earth Orbit

  ► Sol System

  “This is becoming a common thing between them,” Gavin said, watching Sarah and Chris recover in the infirmary beds.

  “Well this time, there’s some damage we can’t fix,” said Dr. Pike. “The bullets that hit them happened to hit their reproduction systems. They’re both going to be infertile after this.”

  Gavin turned away from the glass window and looked toward Dr. Pike. “You saying he got shot in the balls?”

  “She took a big hit in her uterus.”

  “Fiesei had this done on purpose,” Michei interjected. “To send a message: all of humanity will become like this if you fully embrace and become loyal to the Radiance Union.”

  “According to your report, isn’t that exactly what he wants anyway?” Gavin asked.

  “He wants your people in, just not to be part of the system,” Michei said. “A virus could enter one’s body, but it will never do anything good to your insides. His plan is to have humans become the virus that will topple the union.”

  … … …

  ►► Abyssal Explorer, Rasi Orbit

  ► Barnard’s Star System

  The crew aboard the Radiance cruiser Abyssal Explorer was finally released from their twelve-year cryostasis journey through space. Cap. Gab Ueyei sat in his captain’s chair, reminiscing about the last time he and his ship arrived at a world he’d never been to. As he recalled, that world was Earth.

  “The outpost sends their welcome, Captain,” said the Abyssal Explorer’s lead shipboard psionic, Ure Karklosea.

  “Inform them we’ll be in orbit within the next two hours,” Ueyei replied and then tilted the head on his four-foot-tall Vorcambreum body up—way up—to his new second-in-command. She was a Linl with short brown hair, green eyes, and an athletically toned body, which was hard to hide with the tight gray jumpsuit that everyone wore. “How does it feel to finally leave Lejorania?”

  “I’m speechless, Captain,” said Cdr. Ure Vaishea. “Been aboard ships my whole life, but to finally travel beyond Lejorania and Dark Lejorania and into unexplored space is amazing.”

  “Gengei would be proud to have you as his replacement,” Ueyei said.

  … … …

  Scholar Odelea floated in her lab in the science and research sections of the Abyssal Explorer. Her scale-clad Aryile hands keyed newly acquired research data into her data pad. A tiny bit of light from the nearby red dwarf star beamed its light into her lab, though it was barely noticeable. The lab was already brigh
tly lit to the liking of an Aryile like herself, and the star itself was quite dim. Even planets that orbited it got very little light from it. She often questioned why Radiance would build colonies in this system; it was better suited for Hashmedai.

  “Odelea, we will be arriving soon,” Ure Sinzihea called out to her from behind.

  “I’m almost done,” Odelea said.

  “You know, you could just assign someone else to tend to these samples,” Sinzihea said while removing a strand of her free-floating black hair from her face. “The research that awaits us will be far more important.”

  “I know.” Odelea continued to key in her report, never removing her reptilian eyes from the data pad.

  “Still, I don’t know why Telinei chose you to be his replacement,” Sinzihea said. “But who am I to question the gods? They willed it to happen, after all.”

  Odelea’s fingers ceased moving across the touch screen. Her work was finished, and she spun her young body around. Alisha entered moments later, the only human aboard the ship, and the first human to work for Radiance scientific development.

  “Alisha, I was hoping you’d stop by!” Odelea said happily.

  “Sorry to interrupt. I left my data pad here,” Alisha said.

  “Ah.” Odelea floated toward the back of her lab, and a stray data pad hovered in the corner. “Here it is,” she said and handed it back to Alisha. “By the way, congratulations to your assignment to this world. Your work with Radiance science and exploration will help bridge the gap between humans and our people.”

  “Thank you. Perhaps we’ll cross paths again?” Alisha asked.

  “Maybe—our research is more…secret, but the facility will be close to yours,” Odelea said. “We may see each other in the dining areas. Anything else?”

  Alisha’s head was fixated on the back of Sinzihea’s head as she did everything possible to not show her face to her. “No, I’m fine,” Alisha said after a long pause. Then she floated away.

  Sinzihea groaned upon hearing Alisha leave. “That was too close,” she said.

  “You two know each other?”

  “She knew me as Dianna Lee on Earth. Dianna Lee isn’t supposed to be on this ship...or this system. And now we’re going to working in the same research complex...this will be a problem if she sees me.”