by M. R. Forbes
“Outworlds,” Bastion said. “About four hundred light years away from Drune. We dropped out of FTL to do some easy repairs and get our shit together.”
“You said three hours?”
“Yup.”
“Ruby, have you tried to contact Captain Mann?”
“Not yet, Queenie.”
“Queenie,” Bastion said. “The Brimstone was in orbit when we bailed.”
“And you outmaneuvered it?” Abbey said, surprised and impressed.
“I wish. It had a torpedo lock on us. Then the craziest thing happened. The shot went low.”
“What?”
“It missed and hit the other enemy battleship, the one we saw off Orunel, instead. Blew the fragger right up.”
Abbey stared at Bastion, trying to make sense of it. “How can that be possible?”
“It shouldn’t be. I don’t know.”
“I guess we don’t know where it went after that?”
“No. Back to Thraven, I guess.”
“Okay,” Abbey said. “Jester, you’re right about being back to square one.”
“I told you so.”
“Shut up and deal with it. No more shit about letting Mann kill you. I need you to come up with another way to track down the ships and Thraven. You can only die when I do.”
Benhil looked like he was going to argue, but he decided against it. “Yes, ma’am.”
“Ruby, get Captain Mann on the line. I need to discuss this with him.”
“Yes, Queenie.”
“Fury, you’re about my size. Where’s your hellsuit?”
“In our quarters,” Fury replied. “But it’s coded to me.”
“You’ll have to suit me up for now, then. Meet me up there in five. I’m going to get cleaned up first.” She whirled on Bastion as his mouth started moving. “That’s three.”
“I didn’t even say anything,” Bastion said.
“You were about to.”
“You don’t know what I was going to say.”
“Stow it and get a course plotted for the nearest planet that isn’t a nearly deserted, waterless shithole. Preferably closer to the Fringe.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“What should I do?” Pik asked.
“Go take inventory of the armory. I want to know what we’ve used and what we have left.”
“Okay.”
Abbey turned and headed back to the ladder, grabbing it to climb to the top level of the ship.
“Queenie,” Bastion said as she gained the first rung.
“What?” Abbey replied.
“It’s good to have you back.”
3
“Nephilim?” Captain Olus Mann said, his mouth barely able to move. How was she holding him like this? He tried to shift his arms and failed. “Like fallen angels?”
“Time has a way of disorganizing facts,” Emily replied. “History would have you believe that the Seraphim were some kind of mystical beings. That’s what human legend turned us into, but that isn’t what we were.”
“Then what were you?”
“The first intelligent species. The crew of a starship, believe it or not.”
“I don’t believe it.”
“I don’t care. I don’t need you to believe the truth to know it is the truth. I’ve seen the Covenant. Look at the cover again, Olus. Do you think that’s paper?”
Olus found his head was suddenly free. He turned it to look at the projection again. “It looks like paper to me.”
“The discoloration is from data loss. My version is a copy, of course, a duplicate of the original carried from this part of the galaxy nearly ten-thousand years ago.”
“That’s a long time.”
“It is. Sadly, the original was damaged, too, or none of this subterfuge would be necessary. A casualty of war. Do you believe there were intelligent races that long ago? Do you believe there were starships?”
“Does it matter?”
“No. Is your mind that small that you can’t believe? And Gloritant Thraven speaks of you with such respect. You should be honored by his caution.”
“For all the good it’s done me. How did you know I was here?”
“I could smell you.”
“I saw your lifestream. I know what you were doing in there.”
“Did you enjoy it? Mars is old, but her body is in good condition.”
“Why do you drink her blood?”
“I enjoy it.”
“You enjoy it? That’s all?”
“It’s a long story, going all the way back to the origin of the Nephilim. I’m sorry, Olus. I don’t have time to tell it to you.”
She moved to him, leaning past and reaching to where he had placed the extender. She pulled it off, dropping it onto his lap. She smiled as she grabbed his helmet and lifted it off his head, throwing it into the corner of the room. Then she ran her hands over the terminal’s controls.
“Gloritant Thraven,” she said. She glanced at Olus. “Let us see if the Gloritant has the same idea of what to do with you as I do.”
“I can’t wait,” Olus said.
It took a few uncomfortable minutes of silence for Thraven to respond, his form projecting into the empty space ahead of the desk. He was resplendent in a crisp black uniform, handsome in a way that Olus couldn't quite put a finger on. He smiled as soon as he saw the prisoner. To Olus, it was the smile of a snake.
“Captain Mann,” Thraven said. His attention turned to Emily. “Venerant Alloran. I assume you have a good reason for this?”
Olus was surprised. Thraven didn’t sound happy.
“Gloritant,” Emily said. “I caught Captain Mann searching through my secured terminal. He knows about the Fire and the Brimstone, and about my involvement.”
“I told you to be cautious,” Thraven snapped. Emily reacted immediately, falling forward on her knees, choking. “Is this your idea of cautious? There are reasons I’ve allowed Captain Mann his freedom so far, despite the damage he’s managed to do. Or do you think I’m incapable?”
“Gloritant?” Emily said, barely able to breathe. “No. I’m sorry. I thought-”
“That was your first mistake, Alloran. I give you orders. You follow them. You don’t think for yourself.”
“Should I have let him take the data?” she asked.
The furor in Thraven’s eyes cooled, and Emily was able to get back to her feet.
“You should have anticipated that he would try to retrieve it and taken greater care to remove the evidence. You were careless. You’ve created another complication. Be thankful I still have need of you.” His eyes shifted back to Olus. “You’ve created a complication of your own.”
“Glad I could help,” Olus said.
Thraven smiled. “Lieutenant Cage is quite a handful, isn’t she? Did you know she killed my best assassin? I knew you were brilliant, Captain. You outdid yourself with her.”
“If your tool Lurin hadn’t been such an idiot, I might not have even known she was valuable,” Olus replied.
“That is why Lurin is dead,” Thraven replied. “Of course, you already know the prison was cleansed.”
“Who are you,” Olus asked. “What is it you’re after?”
“Only what was promised many, many years before you existed.”
“An ancient spacefaring race,” Olus said. “I got that part of the story already.”
“More than spacefaring, Captain. More than ancient. You have no idea.”
“Care to fill me in?”
“I have more important matters to deal with.”
“Like Cage?”
Thraven’s smile vanished. “I would prefer that you were still in play, Captain. As long as you were investigating the disappearance of the ships, the Republic was willing to sit on the sidelines and wait for your reports, to give you time to handle the matter quietly.”
“With the help of your plants on the Committee, I’m sure. Like Omsala.”
“I’m not quite ready to go to war with
the Republic just yet. The Fire and the Brimstone are powerful, but even they wouldn’t survive a joint assault by multiple fleets.”
Olus felt a chill as he realized what Thraven was suggesting. “You’re building more of them.”
The smile returned. “Many more,” he said. “We didn’t have the resources for all of the research and development that went into the prototypes. The specifications were damaged, and time also erased portions of the data. Now that the technologies have been reintroduced and reintegrated, it is simply a matter of time before we fulfill the promise of the Covenant and make our Great Return.”
“Return to where? Earth?”
“No,” Thraven said. “Though the path leads through Earth, through the worlds of your charted universe, and through the beings of the one you call God. We intend to return home, Captain. Our true home. We intend to finish what we started here and free our brothers and sisters from the yoke of control they’ve been under for countless ages. We killed one Shard of God, and we will not rest until we’ve killed them all, along with the Source.”
Olus continued to feel the cold chill wash over his body. He had no doubt about Thraven’s seriousness, even if he wasn’t quite sure of his sanity. Then again, the fact that he was being held paralyzed by nothing at all did lend weight to the man’s statement, as outlandish as it seemed. In the end, it didn’t matter if what Thraven believed was true or not. The Gloritant still wanted to do harm to the Republic, and that meant he had a responsibility to do everything in his power to stop him.
Which wasn’t looking like very much at the moment.
“Gloritant,” Emily said. “What do you want me to do with him?”
Thraven stared at Olus for a minute, still and silent. Olus stared back at the man, trying to get a look at the backdrop behind him. The comm projection blurred it intentionally to keep focus on the subject, but maybe he could spot something that would give him an idea where he was preparing his assault.
“I need time, Venerant. Time to finish preparing the fleet. I will inform General Omsala of Captain Mann’s condition, but I expect we’ll need more than that to convince the rest of the Republic Council that the Director is part of the problem and not part of the solution.”
“You want to frame me?” Olus said.
“I can’t simply kill you,” Thraven replied. “Or I would have beforehand. Your position and reputation require a more delicate touch. Venerant Alloran, you are personally responsible for Captain Mann.”
“What do you want me to do with him? I had thought to convert him.”
“In time, perhaps. For now, ensure that he does not escape Feru.”
Olus stared at the image. There was nothing there he could use. The background seemed to be a transparency of some kind, with a flat plain spread behind it. He could make out the shape of starships there, confirming Thraven’s statement that he had a fleet in production. So what? They could have been on any one of hundreds of planets.
“That’s all?” Emily said. “You want me to hold him prisoner?”
“Yes. That’s all.”
The link was broken, the projection vanishing. Olus looked into the empty space for a few more seconds. He knew exactly what Thraven intended.
Even worse?
He had created the conditions for him to do it.
4
Abbey watched the dried blood fall off her, the cleanser pulling it away as it rained down from overhead. Slightly thicker than water, the gel captured dirt and grime and dead skin, sloughing it off as it fell to the floor, sinking into a tube where it would be carried to recycling and treated for another use. It only took a minute for it to get her completely clean, and she stepped out of the stall and grabbed the robe the medical bot had given her, wearing it as she crossed the short open space to the quarters she shared with Airi.
Airi was already waiting there, having placed her hellsuit on Abbey’s mattress in anticipation of her return. She was sitting on her own bed, legs folded and head straight, eyes closed.
Abbey removed the robe and picked up the hellsuit. The feeling of the Gift beneath her skin had only intensified as the blood washed away, and she found that she was hungry again. She began pulling the suit on, thankful that Airi was close enough to her size that it would stretch to fit her.
“Queenie,” Airi said, opening her eyes, noticing her movement. She turned her head, her expression changing slightly before she caught herself. “Let me help you.” She moved in front of Abbey, reaching under the edges of the hellsuit and pulling it together. “There you are.”
“Thank you,” Abbey replied, feeling comforted by the pressure of the material against her skin, though slightly discomforted by the way Airi had looked at her half-dressed body. She knew why the former Master Chief had been sent to Hell. Other than that, she didn’t know much about her at all. “I’ll see if I can figure out how to clear the security settings later, or maybe getting a new suit from somewhere. I hope you don’t mind helping me gear up until then?”
“Not at all,” Airi said.
“I noticed the way you were looking at me,” Abbey said, deciding to be blunt.
Airi’s pale skin started to redden, and she looked at the ground. “My apologies. I was staring. I’m sorry. Please don’t get the wrong idea. It’s just, you healed from critical injuries, and there’s no sign of any scarring.”
Abbey felt relieved and embarrassed. “Oh. Right. Now I feel like an idiot. I thought you were checking me out.”
Airi laughed. “You have a very nice body. I would have to be blind not to see that. But I wasn’t looking at you that way.” She paused, letting the smile fade before speaking again. “Do you know why I was in Hell?”
“You murdered your commanding officer. Cut his throat while he was sleeping. Premeditated.”
“Yes. But the Republic doesn’t care about reasons. They care about outcomes. My commander was an asshole, and he was a worse criminal than me by far. You’re only a criminal when you get caught. Or when you don’t know the right people.”
“You tried to get off on an insanity plea.”
“And got sunk deeper into Hell when the psychologists told them I was unstable.”
“Are you unstable?”
“I think I can be. I think anyone would be if they had been treated the way I was treated. I couldn’t take it anymore, and I won’t take it anymore. Not from anybody. Pik thinks he can control me because he’s bigger? No. He can’t. He won’t.”
“I’ll handle Pik,” Abbey said. “We’re all crazy in our own way, aren’t we?”
“Bastion told me you think you were set up.”
“I know I was set up. That doesn’t make me not crazy. Not now. I’ve got something inside me that’s still changing me. And I don’t want it.”
“I do.”
“No, you don’t,” Abbey said again. “I know you’re angry. I know you’re hurt. I think if you had this so-called Gift, it would destroy you.”
“Maybe. Maybe not. I’d like to see for myself.”
“Even if I knew how to share it, I wouldn’t. My job is to get us out of this alive and intact, as best I can.”
“Understood,” Airi said.
“You can help me, though. I got lucky with the sword. I still don’t know what I’m doing. It seems like it might be a handy tool to have on my belt, especially if we run into more assholes with the Gift, considering they can stop bullets.”
“And deflect lasers,” Airi said. “You didn’t see the one that came off the shuttle. He took the blue-haired woman’s head.”
“Just her head?” Abbey asked.
Airi nodded.
“What the hell for?”
“I don’t know. He took it and ran away.”
“I don’t know if I like the sound of that.”
“I can teach you,” Airi said. “I recovered the sword from Drune, but we don’t have another.”
“Maybe Captain Mann can get me one.”
“Yes.”
&nb
sp; Abbey put her hand on the hellsuit. “Thank you again for this. I’m going to go eat. I can’t believe how hungry I feel.”
“I’m sure you used a lot of energy recovering from your wounds.”
“That’s probably it, but I don’t know. Something about it doesn’t feel natural.” She shrugged. “There’s nothing I can do about that now. We already have enough to deal with.”
“Queenie,” Ruby said, her voice filling the room through the ship’s loudspeakers. “Can you please come to the CIC immediately? We have a situation.”
“Another one?” Abbey said, looking at Airi. “We have a CIC?”
“That’s what Ruby has started to call the common area behind the cockpit,” Airi said.
“I guess that’s as good a label as any.” The speakers were unidirectional, and she hadn’t replaced her lost ear communicator yet. She would have to head down to see what the latest problem was, though her stomach was begging her to let her wait a minute.
“I can get a few food bars for you,” Airi said.
“Okay. Thank you.”
Airi bowed slightly as Abbey fled the room, heading down the ladder into the common area. Ruby was there with Bastion.
“Queenie,” Ruby said. “I’m picking up an emergency beacon from Captain Mann.”
“A beacon?” Abbey said. “From where.”
“Feru,” Ruby replied.
“Inside Republic space,” Bastion said.
“I know where Feru is,” Abbey said. “I assume the beacon means he’s in trouble. Who else might be receiving?”
“This isn’t a standard military beacon. This one is keyed directly to me.”
“So, nobody else.”
Airi slipped down the ladder, carrying a handful of food bars. She handed them toward Abbey, who took one and tore it open.
“Hungry?” Bastion asked.
“Starving.”
“What about Captain Mann?” Ruby asked.
“What about him?” Bastion said. “He got himself in trouble; he’ll get himself out.”
“Ruby, set a new course for Feru,” Abbey said between bites.
“What?” Bastion said. “Queenie, I know you got beat up a bit, but I’m hoping you still have some small measure of sanity left. We can’t go to Feru.”
