Star Brigade: Ascendant (SB4)

by C. C. Ekeke

  “Another time,” she interrupted, gentle yet final.

  The Korvenite took the hint and moved on. “One more question.”

  Sam chuckled, rubbing the Korvenite’s shoulders. “Just one, kid?”

  “Ooookay.” Tharyn steeled herself with a deep breath. “Things were beyond wonderful between you and Habraum before and during the Cantalese trip. But things got weird halfway through. Then after we got back, you guys were always fighting.” Tharyn’s alabaster features were the epitome of sorrow. “Now you’re not together. Again.”

  Sam suppressed a cringe. “What’s the question?” she replied stiffly.

  “What happened on Cantalese?”

  Anyone else, Sam would’ve deflected, dissuaded, or told them to fuck off. But Tharyn had a right to know. She was family. “Remember that night Habraum and I went to Ioko beach? A few days after we sailed the Golden Sea?”

  Tharyn nodded happily. Sam continued, “Someone from my past tracked me down on Cantalese. A Kedri named Norad whom I had…complicated history with.” Norad Gour, who Sam had once loved. Thinking of him now, not so much.

  “What kind of comp—OH!” Tharyn recoiled, catching on. “That kind of complicated?”

  “Norad ambushed Habraum. Almost killed him,” Sam continued in a hoarse monotone, as if the story had happened to someone else. “Saw Habraum as a rival for my affection.”

  Tharyn slapped a hand over her shocked mouth. “Sweet Korvan!”

  “Kedri get very archaic in their courting habits,” Sam scoffed. “I talked Norad down, sent him away.

  “Habraum was fine after a little medical treatment.” The incident replayed scene by scene in Sam’s head, no less painful and scary than the first time. “You and Jerm were asleep when we got back. Habraum was understandably livid. Our argument got ugly and I stormed out to go cool off.”

  Tharyn snorted. “A pyrokinetic cooling off?”

  “Just caught that. Hush, you!” Sam waved off Tharyn’s mocking laugh. “I tracked down Norad to try salvaging things. He meant a lot to me.” Correction, Norad used to mean something to her.

  Tharyn raised her eyebrows in anticipation. “The talk went badly.”

  Sam nodded, gusts of winds whipping her hair around. “He threatened to locate where we were staying— where you kids were—and fight Habraum to the death for me.” Her fear in that moment had been only for Habraum, Jeremy, and Tharydane.

  “Sounds like a Far Side of the Galaxy plot,” the Korvenite said, no longer laughing. “What happened?”

  “I burned him alive, then destroyed all evidence of his presence on Cantalese.” Sam sensed a chill between her and Tharyn that wasn’t weather-related. She still remembered Norad’s hideous screams, still smelled his boiling flesh. Back then, she’d felt no remorse. Currently, Sam still didn’t. Norad had signed his own death warrant.

  Sam looked her frightened daughter in the eyes, her features empty of emotion. “Nobody fucks with my family,” she declared, her low voice flat and inflexible. “Not. Ever.”

  Sam looked away to the expanse of rocky cityscape. Anywhere but Tharydane’s face. Feeling so raw, she couldn’t handle Tharyn seeing her as the monster she’d been before Star Brigade.

  However, Tharyn slipped an arm across Sam’s shoulders and rested her head against her adoptive mother’s.

  Warmth flooded Sam’s soul, leaving her woozy and light. Relieved beyond words, she squeezed Tharyn’s hand tightly.

  “Habraum doesn’t know about that last part,” she added after a lingering moment. “Even if he did, I doubt anything will change.” Her voice caught on that last sentence.

  “You don’t know that, Sam,” Tharyn disputed comfortingly.

  I do know that, because I know Habraum, Sam almost said, but was too emotionally wiped. Instead, Sam kept quiet and pulled Tharyn into a firm side hug.

  Another half orv passed before mother and daughter finally took their leave, with Sam promising many return trips to Yven Threya.

  Chapter 54

  One day had passed since the Phaeton departed for Hollus Maddrone, hurtling through the endless radiant streams of hyperspace.

  Within Phaeton’s medcenter, Liliana was dressed in burgundy scrubs and hovering around the oval-shaped hyperbaric chamber holding Tyris. The temperature within the translucent, deep blue-lit chamber was set to the below sub-zero of his homeworld Titanoa. She constantly checked the consoles displaying Tyris’s bio readings and the environment settings, making small adjustments when needed. Focusing on patient care kept Lily from thinking about that dreadful mission.

  The Tanoeen sat in the chamber’s center, cross-legged amid swirls of angry flurries. His eyes remained closed while he meditated.

  Still as a statue. Lily smiled and looked away quickly. She only took occasional glances into the chamber where Tyris recovered. Anything longer and Liliana found herself back on Titanoa, surrounded by never-ending white, freezing to death.

  Liliana wanted privacy in the Medcenter to monitor Tyris and finish other projects. Instead she got V’Korram and Khrome taking up space, one with his looming presence and the other with his big mouth.

  Khrome’s constant chattering, usually amusing, currently felt inappropriate.

  “Fixed Ty’s temperature regulator,” the Thulican declared. His burly armored flesh gleamed under the Medcenter’s halolights. “The damage definitely occurred during the Akkabe Plateau battle.”

  He smirked at the chamber holding Tyris. “Word of advice, Popsicle. Geysers and singularities don’t mix well.”

  Lily stiffened in disgust. That was his third obnoxious joke in the past ten macroms. Thankfully Tyris can’t hear him. She remained focused on Tyris’s readings.

  V’Korram ignored Khrome, hands on hips. “How long will Tyris need to recover?”

  “A full day in this chamber,” Lily replied, arms folded over her chest. “Then after reinstalling his temperature regulator, another orv or two inside here to correctly sync the temperature.”

  “You ask me?” Khrome added, smirking at his own imminent joke. “We keep him in there until he promises not to be so stupidly stubborn again.”

  Lily had heard enough. She whirled around, boiling. “Khromulus. Shut. UP!”

  Khrome and V’Korram stared at her in surprise.

  The doctor marched up to the Thulican, roughly three inches taller. “He almost died! And you keep making stupid ass jokes!”

  It took Khrome a few moments to swallow his shock. “Sorry.” He raised his hands in peace. “I’m just lightening the mood.”

  “No, you’re making things worse.” Lily pointed toward the exit. “Please leave.”

  Khrome’s round yellow eyes contracted. Instead of protesting, he nodded and lowered his hands. “Alright,” the Thulican said softly, departing the Medcenter with a noticeable slump in his posture. No one was more shocked than Lily by that. But right now, the doctor couldn’t stomach his insensitivity. She turned to Tyris’s chamber, feeling V’Korram’s surly eyes on her back.

  “What?” the doctor barked.

  The Kintarian reached her side in two noiseless strides. “Can’t believe I’m defending him,” he began in more of a purr than his usual growl. “You know Tyris and Khrome are best friends. Of course he’s worried. Joking is his inane way of coping.”

  Heat pooled in Lily’s cheeks. “I know that.” Now she felt awful. “I know…”

  The Kintarian drew closer, leaving a thin sliver of space between them. “Maybe talk to someone when we return to Hollus. About what happened?”

  Lily was nodding in agreement, until the weirdness of this conversation and V’Korram’s proximity landed on her. She gazed up the length of V’Korram’s six-foot-nine frame, meeting his eyes. “Why are you being so nice to me?”

  V’Korram pulled back, looking surly. “I’m not,” he growled.

  Lily scowled. Liar. “Yeah, you were.”

  The Kintarian’s ears flattened in annoyance. “No. I’m. Not,” he
denied through bared teeth.

  Lily was done with this absurd argument. “Whatever.” She waved him off dismissively.

  “I’m leaving,” V’Korram snarled, his mouth closing with a snap.

  “Fine! Adios!” Moments later, Liliana was alone in the Medcenter with Tyris.

  After rechecking Tyris’s readings, she slid down to a seat in front of his chamber, running shaky fingers through her pixie-cut hair. The doctor closed her eyes, embracing the solitude.

  That didn’t last long before the memories poured in again.

  The terror of getting sucked into Ghuj’aega’s wormhole…

  The hopelessness of almost drowning on Titanoa…

  Powerless and nearly getting eaten by the Farooqua Okka…

  Accidentally killing Byzlar...

  Fucking time travel…

  And her mysterious savior on Titanoa, claiming to know her…kissing her….

  So much had happened, too much to process. The doctor squeezed her eyes shut to block the memories. Yet they kept skipping through her mindscape like stones across a pond.

  Lily placed her head in both hands as the tears began and the sobs shuddered through her slim frame.

  ***

  Later, Habraum stood at the front of Phaeton’s helm facing his combat team, dressed in a peach henley and dark brown cargos. Except for Tyris in the Medcenter, all of CT-1 was present. V’Korram and Marguliese stood up front while Khal and Khrome lounged at their workstations. Solrao remained at her helm seat with her eyes on Habraum. Lily remained in the back, anxious for this meeting to end before it even began. All wore casual attire, or scrubs in Lily’s case, awaiting his words.

  The Cerc saw on the expressions and postures how deeply this mission had affected everyone. He felt the same, deep in his soul. Faroor had revealed much, some of which he’d rather forget. Habraum planned to speak with each CT-1 member, beyond a standard debriefing. For now, the Cerc felt it best to address the whole CT.

  “We can all admit that this mission came with unexpected challenges,” he began. “Many of them happening within my absence.”

  He paced, his eyes locked on CT-1. “But you all persevered and rose to the occasion. I’m sorry for leaving you. That was never my intention. However,” he looked purposely at Cortes, “I can’t apologize for my reasoning.” The doctor blushed and immediately looked down.

  “That being said.” Habraum’s eyes took in all of CT-1 with purposeful sweeps. “Congratulations on getting the job done. I know for a few of us, this mission doesn’t feel like a victory. We got beaten down, pushed to our breaking points. But CT-1, all of us, neutralized an extinction-level threat with abilities beyond our understanding.” The group digested those words. Marguliese was a statue, watching him with unblinking azure eyes. Solrao looked hollowed out, hearing but not listening. At least the Ibrisian had shaken off the booze bender from several orvs ago. But the question still lingered in Habraum’s mind. Where did the Zenith Point send her? Was she in another universe or time? Medical scans had revealed nothing, and Solrao couldn’t remember anything during the Phaeton’s disappearance. They’d have to address this memory gap after returning to Hollus Maddrone.

  Lily looked miserable, as if wanting the wall she leaned against to absorb her.

  The Cerc forced himself to look past their pain. “Take the win,” he encouraged. “Reflect what worked and what went wrong. And on our next mission, we do better.”

  The group seemed to accept his words and began murmuring among themselves.

  “One last thing.” Habraum raised a finger to silence the prattle. “Check on your loved ones and friends. Make sure everything is as you remember.”

  Khrome’s round yellow eyes widened. “To make sure the timeline hasn’t been altered?”

  Habraum nodded. “Correct.” He had already checked his own friends and family. Thank the Sacred Gemini nothing had changed. “Even the littlest shift, document and tell me. Dismissed.”

  CT-1’s dejected state lingered with Habraum during the Admiral Hollienurax debriefing. The Cerc stood at attention in his ready room, watching and waiting as the TriTran holo of his superior officer finished the Cerc’s thorough debriefing on the Faroor mission. He’d revealed all that had happened to him and CT-1, except the revelation from the Beridaas Massacre. I’ll tell him face-to-face. Given their attackers’ true identity, the Cerc distrusted subspace comms to convey such sensitive data. As contained as he appeared externally, inside, the Cerc was all over the place. His panicky heart pounded like a drum.

  When the Galdorian finally finished, Hollienurax’s beaked mouth hung open. His amber eyes atop those six-inch stalks were bulging.

  Habraum nodded understandingly. “I know.”

  “Nwosu…” he gave a wispy croak. “There had been reports. But this…”

  “Yeah.” If Habraum himself hadn’t experienced all this firsthand, he’d be skeptical also. Time travel, alternate universes, and elder races. Just recalling all that made the Cerc’s eyes glaze over.

  The Galdorian finally recovered his composure and looked Habraum over, eyestalks splayed out. “Who else besides CT-1 knows about the Zenith Point?”

  Habraum narrowed his eyes and started listing in his head. “Several members of the UComm military. A few of Faroor’s ruling Family. Most of the Farooqua.” The Cerc almost stopped there, until another group popped into his head. “All those beings who disappeared and then reappeared—”

  Hollienurax dismissed that with a webbed hand chop. “They can be handled.”

  Habraum frowned at the cryptic reply. “Meaning?”

  “Not your concern,” the admiral stated, unusually curt. He shook his head, still digesting Habraum’s debriefing. “By the Maker. This will bring a lot of attention onto you and Star Brigade. Officials are already asking why Star Brigade didn’t stop an entity as powerful as the Zenith Point from departing.”

  Habraum eyed his much shorter commanding officer in disbelief and anger. “All due respect, we couldn’t have contained the Zenith Point, or defeated Aut’ala without its change in allegiances. By the Twins, before we even arrived, unmarked starships were trying to pilfer the Zenith Point’s power—”

  “I mostly agree with you, Captain,” Hollienurax interjected, his croaking voice steady. “This Zenith Point was too powerful to be trusted in even the Galactic Union’s custody. And clearly these outside forces knew of its capabilities. But the optics of ceding control to a pair of youngsters looks thoughtless.” He scratched the top of his beaked mouth. Shorter height notwithstanding, the Galdorian’s presence radiated from his deportment. “Add in the assassination of Senator Praece by the Ghebrekh, the Union citizens still missing on Faroor and Union’s severe sanctions against the Ttaunz for their military misconduct only made matters more sensitive.”

  Habraum frowned. “I heard the Union Bicameral authorized UComm to redirect a third of the Orthambra Trade Route traffic from Faroor to Jhoda as part of those sanctions.”

  Hollienurax nodded wearily. “A homeworld security nightmare for Jhoda, but a smart move. And let’s not even start on all the bizarre animals that showed up on Faroor because of the Zenith Point, creatures not found anywhere before on Faroor, Union Space or this galaxy.”

  Habraum breathed deeply and relaxed. Hollienurax was correct to some degree. The Cerc was taking a boots-on-the-ground perspective, whereas Hollienurax took the sixty-thousand-foot view. “As stated in my debriefing, Taorr and Mhir’ujiid are the right fit to shepherd this being. They were instrumental in swaying the Zenith Point to our side.” The Cerc stood by that account, no matter the scrutiny.

  “And if the Zenith Point is swayed again and returns to wreak further havoc?”

  Habraum fought down a wince. “I’ll have my side make contingency plans.” The answer tasted hollow. He had no clue what weapon could take out a celestial force of nature like the Zenith Point.

  But Hollienurax appeared satisfied. “I will connect you with the Aerospace
War Institute and UComm Applied Technologies within the week.”

  Habraum nodded. “Understood, sir.”

  “One last thing.” The Galdorian pointed a webbed finger, his eyestalks stick-straight in urgency. “Make a second debrief and remove any data of time travel or alternate universes.”

  Habraum stared at him. “Sir?”

  “Your mission brief will pass by a lot of eyes,” Hollienurax explained, “a fraction of which have the clearance to know about something this monumental. I need to discuss with my commanding officers, see how they want to handle this. The second briefing is a safeguard. Hand-deliver that when we meet face-to-face in a few days.”

  “Understood,” Habraum said, reminded of his duplicity regarding what Marguliese was. After exchanging military salutes, Hollienurax’s holo vanished. Habraum knew his commanding officer to be trustworthy. But with the attackers on Beridaas revealed, could he trust Hollienurax fully? Who knows? Regardless. He couldn’t keep this to himself.

  The Cerc made a quick call via the ship’s internal coms. “Meet me in my ready room.”

  A chirp signaled someone outside. “Come.” The door slid open. When his guest entered, Habraum wasn’t remotely surprised.

  “Habraum.” Marguliese cut a slender, statuesque figure in her charcoal-grey catsuit with the circular Star Brigade logo on both shoulders. Her fiery red hair was parted left and pulled into a tight knot at the nape of her neck. “May I be candid?”

  Habraum looked her over, no longer feeling that knee-jerk cringe. “Go on, then.”

  The Cybernarr’s right eye flashed bright, jagged blue as she spoke. “Since returning from your temporal displacement, there has been distance between us. Has an aspect in my performance been unsatisfactory?”

  “Absolutely not, Maggie.” To Marguliese’s confusion, Habraum laughed. “I was about to call you and explain. We’re just needing one more guest.”

  The ready room chirped again. The Cerc smiled. “Perfect timing. C’mon in.”

  Khrome strutted into the room all burly and cheerful, his metal flesh gleaming. “Hello, oh fearless leader—” One look at Marguliese and his smile vanished. “Huh.” The Thulican looked from the Cybernarr to Habraum, eyes narrowed into yellow slits. “Is this about what I think it’s about?” Six months ago, Khrome could barely stand being in the same room as her. So Habraum considered this progress.