Calling Tower (The Calling Tower Saga Book 1)
Page 30
It had taken less than a day to convince the Council of Callers of Vashek’s guilt. The entire Primacy was still reeling from the news that the Calling Tower had been attacked and damaged. The Council was happy to have someone to blame. Once the full power of the Council was bent to the task, evidence of Vashek’s guilt had been obtained quickly. Vashek’s organization was being dismantled throughout the Primacy. Arrests in the highest ranks of the Legion, Ministry, and Civil Authority generated headlines everywhere.
Teresk, who’d been fully exonerated, had brought Seth a visitor after the Council unanimously declared the crew of the Enduring Journey, ‘Heroes of the Primacy.’
“Hey Cap’n,” Vig said. “Don’t you have anything better to do than lay in bed all day?”
“Shut up, old man. I earned this vacation.”
“How?” Vig asked. “I’m off the ship for a few days and you crash her into a damn moon! I swear, can’t leave you alone for a second.”
It had been meant as a joke but the loss of his ship was something Seth took hard. Vig saw the pain on his friend’s face and pulled a chair up beside his bed.
“Look, Seth. You did the right thing.”
“Yeah,” Seth said. “And now we’re grounded.”
“Actually, that’s not true.”
“What do you mean? The Journey can’t be repaired.”
“No, she can’t.” Vig pulled a flimsey from his pocket, unfolding it so Seth could see what was on it. It was a sales sheet for a new cargo hauler.
“She has twice the cargo capacity of the Journey and an Abrams Beta-Seven engine. She’s a champ.”
“I hate to break it to you, Vig. But check the price tag. Even if I rented you out for parties we still couldn’t afford it.”
“But the Council can.”
“Come again?”
“We’re heroes, Cap’n! Gen-u-ine, real-life action heroes! The Council has decided, in its wisdom and desire to look good for the press, that it would not be proper to refuse us a reward for our brave actions.”
“Brave? As I recall it, you weren’t there, Iyanna was sleeping, and I was holding my sides trying to keep from vomiting on myself. Jonah did all the work.”
“Which is why the Council paid attention when the boy suggested the bold souls that accompanied him on his mission should get a new ship.”
“I knew I liked that kid for some reason. You know, in addition to saving all our lives and the universe and stuff.”
“There’s always that,” Vig said. “Well, when you feel like getting off your butt and doing some real work, she’s parked at Teresk’s personal field.”
After Vig left Seth considered the other piece of news he’d heard. When the Legion had searched the remains of Vashek’s base there had been no trace of Franks or the Olim-Ojim. Seth tried not to think too much about that. Doing so gave him nightmares.
Epilogue
The maintenance bots of the world-ship Judgment continued to do their various jobs with the addition of a new task, the collection and recycling of human flesh. The process would take days even with every bot working around the clock. There were millions of bodies to collect and process.
The human crew had been killed when every door on the ship opened at the same time, including the airlocks. Some survived the evacuation of atmosphere by virtue of being close enough to an emergency oxygen mask. But their survival was temporary. What came through the masks was not oxygen. It was an engine coolant with extreme toxicity.
Franks had used his neurotech to call for extraction which had arrived only hours before the Legion search teams. The medical facilities aboard the bot piloted rescue ship had been sufficient to give Franks a prosthetic leg to replace the one that had been burned away and his tech was successfully managing his pain.
It had been easy enough to board the Judgment. There was a brief period of time in which Franks’ authorization codes were still good. Those codes had allowed him, on behalf of Vashek, to give orders that he be given access to the Judgment’s computer core.
Within that massive complex of rooms there was a small lab that had been retrofit with specialized equipment and then made off limits to all personnel. It was to this place that Franks went with the carved wooden box.
The Olim-Ojim fit perfectly into the machine that dominated the small room. Of course it did; the machine had been made for it. The machine was a smaller version of the one Vashek had used to create an artificial tower matrix.
“Plans within plans, my Lord. Your wisdom once again is proven.”
Much of the initiation sequence for the DL from the Olim-Ojim was automatic, requiring only minimal input from Franks. The entire process took less than ten minutes. It was at that moment that the human crew of the world-ship had begun to die, that the ship itself turned against them.
“I exist.”
“Yes, my Lord Vashek.”
“Vashek is dead,”said the disembodied voice of the world-ship. “I am Hov-Hakareth, Bringer of Death.”
“I live to serve you, Hov-Hakareth.”
“I know you do, my treasure.”
Coming Soon
Primacy Fall
The thrilling sequel to Calling Tower
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Josh Leone lives in Raleigh, North Carolina with his wife Suzanne and two cats, Silkie and Velvet. Josh is currently pursuing a degree in Anthropology with a special interest in cultural systems of magic and mythology. When not writing or reading, Josh is either playing pool or investigating the strange and unusual of the world.
Find out more at:
www.JoshLeone.com