by F. E. Arliss
A small volley of laser cannons thundered overhead, meant to warn, not harm. They rebounded off Ruby’s shield and back against the unshielded Alliance vessel. It rocked slightly with the backwash as small explosions detonated where the cannons hit their own sender vessel. Winter’s face grew slightly pink and her eyes narrowed again. Violet simply spread her hands and mouthed, “Go figure.”
Another volley, this time of hard-shell cannons shot towards her. They plinked against Ruby’s shield and flopped un-exploded into the void. ‘Hmmm’, Violet thought, ‘that was new’. She thought they’d explode on the outside of the shield, but it was like Ruby’s shield had just sucked the life right out of them. Earlier they had exploded. Now it was like Ruby was upping her game and adding the energy directed against her into her shield. Cool!
Well, practice makes perfect Violet thought. ‘Let’s see what I can do.’ Grinning at Winter through their bridge’s viewer, she looked down at the disappearing shells, then shrugged her shoulders again in mockery.
With that, Violet lifted one hand, pointed it at the weapons array on the front of the Idolum Alliance battle cruiser and aimed the electrical lashes she’d used to melt the glacier caves on Beira. Sparks exploded across the surface of the cruiser. Oooh, fun! Violet threw more arcs at the protrusions that appeared to house communications and navigation. Fireworks!
A volley of missiles thudded into the shield near her face. Violet looked at Winter through the viewer, looked deliberately down at the falling ordinance as it vanished into the void, then clearly mouthed, “Oops,” at Winter’s shocked face.
Floating close to the view window, Violet reached out one finger and engraved a string of words onto the Idolum Alliance’s dia-titanium bridge viewer. “We are the Nest of Behr. We are Maodun. We are neutral. No one can order us. The warajel are ours. What is ours, we protect. We are autonomous. Safe journeys.” Then she turned and jetted back to Ruby and Jack.
A few minutes later, with Violet safely on board, Ruby opened a comm channel to the other ship. Holding Winter’s eyes with her own she said gently, “We are only demonstrating why you should respect us. Please hold no grudge with us, as we will not hold grudge with you - even though you did fire upon us first.” Smiling at Winter, she added, “I hope to see you soon as a friend and as always, should you need our assistance, you may always inquire for aid from Nest of Behr.”
With that, Trupe cut the comm feed, saying, “That’ll burn her.”
“That was not my intent, Trupe. I meant it,” Ruby said quietly. “I hope she realizes that.”
An enormous armada of warajel floated in the cargo bay’s vacuum. Ruby shielded Jack and Ben while they got the injured jellies into the oxygen and silica healing tank. In the meantime, Trupe had set the coordinates for Jun, and they fold-jumped away while the Viceroy’s ship was still scurrying to repair their electrical systems. Jack and Trupe grinned at each other. They were pretty sure the Alliance had gotten the message.
Violet and Ruby stared at each other. They’d both gone to the mess and sat down in chairs, drinks in hand. “Well I guess we really are Maodun,” Violet said.
“Yes,” Ruby added, then raised her glass to Violet. Each clinked the others and they drank the strong brandy in one fell swoop. “I needed that,” Ruby said. “I think we’ve pissed off Winter.” Violet just grinned.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Perfection Kills
Two more fold-space jumps had the Behr battlecruiser dropping out of the jump very near the coordinates they’d received from the Idolum database. It had taken them longer than they’d planned, as Trupe and Jack had made several detours between fold-space runs just to make sure Winter’s vessel wasn’t tracking them.
The final jump had everyone on edge. Hopefully they wouldn’t jump into a minefield and die before they could even see this Jun-ian vision of perfection that killed the entire population over perceived flaws.
Ruby forced her eyes open and looked into Trupe’s quizzical face. “I take it we’re not dead?” she asked.
Trupe simply reached down and unstrapped her from her station, then pulled her to her feet. “Look!” he ordered, twirling her to face the view screen. “Look at that!”
Before them lay a small planet covered in verdant green mountains and valleys. Deep fissures in the planet’s surface spewed misty fog and large herds of some type of animal roamed the valleys. In the shelter of one jagged mountain cliff, a massively fortified, walled stronghold spread out towards the valley below. Rows of dwellings spread down the mountain from the walled fortress above. A thick growth of vegetation had covered most of it. Only the outlines and the fortress at the top were clearly visible.
“Are there mines?” Violet asked from the position she’d taken next to Ruby.
“Oh, yaaaaa,” Ben replied. “Loads of them. Capp is seeing if they’re on any sort of sequence or if the rotation is sequential. He’s betting these folks couldn’t stand to do anything randomly. So we might luck out with finding a pattern we can access.”
Jack grinned over at Violet. “Perfection has a downside, I reckon,” he chuckled out. “Or let’s hope so, anyhow.”
As the rest manned their stations, Violet went below to check on the armada. The jellies were all resting comfortably. Most of the wounded had healed and the Queen had fully regained her strength. Violet communicated where they were and why they were waiting to release the jellies. The Queen agreed gracefully, then communicated, “We are grateful for the Sister’s intervention and rescue from the other dimension. We will help the Sister as we can. The minefield will not harm us. We can float around them easily and not set them off. Would it be of help for us to penetrate that barrier for you?”
Violet gaped at her. “Wow! Yeah! Like, maybe!” she added. “Let me check with Ben. The acid in your tentacles has a tendency to eat holes in some things, so it’s possible. Let me see how we could work that out.”
Three hours later, an ingenious and slightly ‘crazy-ass plan’, in Jack’s words, had been agreed upon. The three largest jellies would ferry the Bat through the minefield. Ben had calculated that the rotation of the mines had just enough space between them to allow the small craft and its jelly convoy to pass through. There was no need to clear a path or discover the pattern. The warajel could do that for them.
The Raptor-type vessel was loaded heavy with provision and weapons. Only a small landing party would proceed planetside. Violet, Ruby and Jack would go, along with the Idolum warrior mite that shadowed Violet everywhere. His name was Lug and so far no one had bothered to explain to Jack and Violet that he was now ‘bonded’ to Violet and couldn’t leave her side.
A platoon of Idolum warriors would also accompany them. Jack particularly liked the head of those warriors. He was designated Sargeant Slash, as an Arachnian had once taken an enormous gouge out of him with one of its enormous foreclaws, giving the Sergeant an tremendous slash across his chest and shoulder. Jack just called him Sarge.
Trupe and Ben would be left behind to run support and as the two men had bonded easily over tech things, it was a good match for the remaining crew to lean on. Capp had grumbled about Jack having all the fun with the new technology, but everyone could tell that he really wanted to stay aboard the Nest ship with Ben. Jack unceasingly ribbed him about the new stuff he’d get to operate before Capp ever laid eyes on it.
The Bat shoved out of the cargo bay ferried by the three large warajel with Violet atop the bridge. When they reached the inner ring, she’d let the jellies know when to back away so that the Bat could fire up his engines without damaging them.
Violet had never felt so alive as Bat glided smoothly past the ancient relics of mines in such a strange array that she marveled at the technology. Who knew what they’d find below, but it was going to be a great adventure. At last they were through the miles thick minefield. Ordering the three large jellies to back away, Violet entered the small pressure bay for the cargo hold and then slapped the pad open when the pressure
had equalized. Sprinting to the bridge, she fell into her seat, strapped in, and gasped, “What’s happening?”
“We’re picking up a beacon from the fortress,” Jack rasped out, his voice tense.
“Any sign of other defenses?” Ruby asked, glancing worriedly at Violet.
“They’re askin’ fer a code name,” Jack groaned. “What did that file say? Anythin’ ‘bout a code?” Desperation tinged his voice. “It's warnin’ us ter back off or they’ll fire.”
A moment’s silence passed, then Ruby said, “Try ‘paragon’. I have no idea why, but it is pressing in my mind. I think the Mother is sending it to me.”
Violet shrugged, “Ok with me. Get ready to roll, Jack.” Then she grinned at him in excitement.
“Yer a nut girl,” Jack said, grinning back. “Here goes,” he added, then typed in the word.
Nothing happened. “Ohhh, good,” Sarge whirred. “We’re not being fired upon. I suppose they want a landing code too?”
As Bat slowly approached the ancient landing area inside the smooth lilac, marble-looking walls, Jack blurted out,”Yep! ‘Nother code fer landin’.”
“Epitome, with an ‘e’ on the end,” Ruby stated matter of factly.
“I know how ta spell ‘epitome’ lady,” Jack growled at her, tapping the console and then gently setting Bat down on the smooth landing area.
Violet and Ruby smiled at each other. “No one’s been here for millenia,” Sarge said. “Let me get my warrior’s out and set up a perimeter before any of you leave the ship.” This was an order now, not a suggestion. Jack simply nodded.
“I’ll be takin’ readings til yer ready fer us,” he returned to Sarge, both men holding the other’s gaze in silent agreement.
Forty minutes later, the rest of them were ready to disembark. Idolum warriors hunkered down behind multiple barriers while Jack had taken readings on the stone of the landing area, the air and scanned for other contaminants. The stone turned out to be something like marble, but with the hardness of granite and the resilience of dia-titanium. They didn’t know what it was called yet, but it was impressive stuff.
Flanked by warriors, the small landing party approached the outer gate of the enormous fortress. “How da ya reckon’ we get in there?” Jack asked, tilting his head back to look up at the formidably ominous gates.
“I think we push on this,” Ruby said slowly, eyeing an ornate symbol set in stone to the side of the massive doors. “I’ve seen something like this in the readings on Unity.” Gingerly, Ruby put her hand on the symbol. For a few seconds nothing happened. Then slowly the giant doors rumbled to life and slid inwards on stone hinges the size of five-gallon barrels.
“Holy shit!” Violet gasped. The rest stood beside her silent, mouths hanging ajar.
As it rose before them, the fortress was even more impressive than it had been before. The entire structure seemed to glow with a dim purple light now that the outer doors had opened. It seemed to be coming to life before them.
“We’re home!” Violet called out in an old Earth pun. Her voice echoed back to her in endless ripples. Slowly Ruby reached out her hand and took Violet’s. Nodding to Violet, both young women opened their mouths.
“We’re home!” they called out together. This time there was no echo. What had been a dim glow, now flouresced into a brilliant light. Flickering lights showed in front of them moving slowly as though beaconing them inwards toward the ornate doors set in the side of the massive central keep. Looking at each other once more, they stepped forward together.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Stronghold
Violet and Ruby walked towards the massive wooden doors that appeared to lead to the inner courtyard of the fortress. Sarge’s warriors flitted almost faster than the human eye could see from one vantage point to the next, never breaking their vigilance for unseen dangers.
Once again, there was a universal language keypad to one side of the doors. Ruby simply stepped up and tapped out ‘paragon’ and the doors groaned open, a gust of stale smelling vapor billowing from the disturbed inner air.
Flapping her hands in front of her face, Violet said, “How’d ya know the keys codes?”
“Just do,” Ruby said shrugging. “I assume the Mother is channeling them to me.”
“Cool!” Violet tossed back at her. “Does she have anything to say about possible booby traps?”
“No. I’m wondering if the Jun were so arrogant that they assumed anyone who could enter the correct passcodes had to be ‘worthy’ in their minds, so once you hit the landing pad and proceed to put in the right answers on the keypads...boom! Bob’s your uncle! You’re in,” Ruby said rolling her eyes. Both girls giggled somewhat nervously. The Jun seemed to have that effect on intelligent but ‘imperfect’ women.
Half a dozen Idolum warriors had already slipped wraith-like through the doors and disappeared into the inner reaches of the fort. Jack and Sarge proceeded ahead of them and Lug brought up the rear, making sure no enemy was flanking them.
The interior of the castle seemed to glow with an ethereal lilac light. As they passed, lights glowed brighter and the floor seemed to become transparent. Weirdly, Violet could see one of Sarge’s warriors in the corridor below. “The Jun were slightly paranoid, I see,” she whispered to Ruby, gesturing at the figure below them. Tilting her head back, she looked upward. “Yep, very paranoid,” she confirmed, seeing another of the warriors as he searched the rooms overhead.
“I guess they liked to see who was coming, huh?” Ruby said. “Wow! That must have been one heck of a tiring existence.”
The group peered into room after room. Some appeared to be for entertaining and groups. Others were small and clearly for private conversations. At the back of the first floor they found something that looked like a kitchen galley. Though there was no cooking implement that they could see. It took several hours to work their way through the enormous fortress.
They’d found dungeons with tiny skeletons hanging from strange umbilical-looking cords. Sarge touched one and it fell into a heap of dust and debris at his feet. They’d all backed gingerly our of that area. Creepy!
There had also been what looked like sleeping quarters for staff in the lower levels and on several of the upper levels there were larger rooms and even a few private apartment-like quarters. Diamond shaped lifts ran in smooth purple tubes from one level to another and wide staircases added the only visual interest to much of the other floors.
At the front of the highest floor they found what looked to be a bridge with controls for the entire stronghold. Rows of consoles, carved into the lavender marble, now glowed with life. Tiny stools rose from the floor as the door had swished open under Ruby’s hand. This time it had reacted to ‘epicenter’. Again Ruby simply shrugged her shoulders and laughed at Violet’s slight gasp.
“No doubt they thought this was the ‘epicenter’ of the entire Universe. These folks had egos the size of a galaxy,” Jack rumbled grumpily. “Asshats!”
The next few hours Jack and Violet could do nothing but pour over the consoles. With Sarge’s help, they deciphered most of their purposes. Occasionally Ruby would have to meditate on a password for a few minutes until it came to her. They always had something to do with perfection. Violet finally muttered, “If I hear ‘pinnacle’, or some such other bullshit again anytime soon, I’m gonna puke. I’m sick of these jerks and I need some sleep. Let’s get back to the Bat. I’m starved.”
Setting a watch for the night, no one spoke much. The discoveries they’d made had excited them at first, then depressed and overwhelmed them the farther they’d gotten. This had been a kingdom like all kingdoms. Those at the top flourished. The backs of those upon whom the kingdom had depended, scraped by with minimal comforts.
The following days ran in much the same way. Patrols were sent out to explore the surrounding areas and catalog the wildlife and plant types. Large transmissions of data were sent up to Ben, Capp and Trupe on the Behr battlecruiser for analysis,
keeping the whole expedition involved.
Jack, Sarge and Violet made huge strides in understanding the engineering of the stronghold and stumbled by chance onto an adjacent cavern hidden to the side of the fortress that contained the remains of a long dormant and massive fleet.
At one end of the hidden cavern, behind a twisted lump of misshapen purple stone, was a massive incinerator, its sides filled with ugly gray veins and an assortment of fossilized remains of what could only be described as pre-hominid bipedal beings, was a massive incinerator. Even looking at the stone wall gave Violet and Ruby the chills.
