Ray clenched his fists. “That’s mine.”
“Ah, this?” Joe asked, opening the pendant. He moved to face Ray. “I believe I’ll keep this,” he said, looking at Elaine’s picture. “There’s some quality material here to appraise.” He kissed Elaine’s photo.
That was all the excuse Ray needed. He swung a punch that broke the man’s nose and landed a kick on Joe’s kneecap before the snake-tongued man fell to the ground. Ray’s voice became hoarse from screaming but he didn’t care, he just kept kicking, ignoring his injuries.
From the corner of his eye Ray saw Sarah taking advantage of the chaos. The two thugs looked for a clear shot at Ray as he and Joe struggled. Before they could react, Sarah put two rounds in their chests.
Ga’an’s rival was clear the moment they faced their opponents. Jake moved toward the tall man, the stupid smile on his face making him look like a twisted, fluffy toy animal, especially with his swollen eye.
“Now, I kill you,” he pointed at Ga’an.
“You are a shame to your own race,” Ga’an said but his real reply was catching the man’s hand with a quick move and breaking the huge thug’s index finger. Jake howled in agony, and swung his other fist, landing a heavy punch on Ga’an’s cheek.
Jake broke free of Ga’an’s grasp as the alien stumbled and fell hard on his back. Without letting him stand up, Jack jumped on him like a wild beast hunting its prey and smashed Ga’an’s face with a powerful kick.
The warrior looked beaten but he rolled to his right when Jake tried to kick him again. The goon’s unbalanced swing dropped him near Ga’an and the tall alien hit the stupid goon with his left elbow as hard as he could, breaking the man’s windpipe.
Ray and Joe were still clenched to one another, punching and cursing. One second they were rolling on the floor, and the next, they were back on their feet, swinging punches. The fight seemed square until Joe head-butted Ray, who stumbled and hit his head on the stone floor. Ray’s vision dimmed for a moment and all he heard were birds tweeting in his ears and an irritating bell chime like the one back on Bunari. I hate that bell. He saw Joe pulling a knife from his shirt. Was it the evening bell, or the morning one?
“I have you now—” a voice hissed, but was cut short by a thick thump sound.
Joe’s eyes rolled back and he fell next to Ray. Brother Cavil stood with a frying pan in his hand. “I really do not like rude people!”
“Where did you get that?” Ray gave a faint laugh and accepted the old man’s hand pulling him back on his feet. His vision was returning to normal but the bell insistently kept ringing in his head.
“It was sitting near the crates. How are you, son?”
Ray ignored the pain and crouched over Joe’s body. He pulled the locket from the man’s neck and cleaned the dirt and blood from the pendant. “Now I’m good. Let’s get out of here.”
“Guys.” Sarah’s voice stopped them, “I’m guessing he’s not one of your friends.”
Ray and the old man raised their heads to look where Sarah pointed. A man in a dark coat, stood between them and the ships, cracking his knuckles and staring at them with eyes like death itself.
Agent Caius.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
FIGHT FIRE WITH FIRE
“Run!” Ray barked, jumping to his right by instinct. “Hide behind the crates!” he shouted, still staring at the black smoke rising from where he’d stood a moment ago.
Brother Cavil clumsily covered his head, running—more like rolling, Ray realized, hoping the old man would make it in one piece—toward one of the big boxes, shouting something about the Light and guidance, and some rather creative comments about the agent’s parenting and the importance of raising a respectful child. Ray saw the priest make it safely behind the crates and gave a sigh of relief.
“Dammit, he’s fast!” Sarah shouted, pulling her pistol. She couldn’t hit the augmented man with all his augmentations turned on. By the time she fixed her aim, the assassin had already changed spot with his artificially-enhanced reflexes. Sarah cursed and headed for cover to reload.
“He’s augmented!” Ray looked for a weapon or a safeguard to use against the angel of death before them. “Stop shooting, Sarah, he’s too fast!” His eyes stopped on the painting of a fox on the hull of a nearby gunship. He dashed toward the Fox but stumbled on a power cable. His curses flashed into silent prayers when another shot buzzed over his head, denting one of the crates. He reached to check the statuette, still in his pack. Ray looked up to saw Caius’ sharp glance—the agent knew he had the Arinar.
***
The implemented targeting computer attached to his eyes beeped, identifying the object Harris dropped as the mission-critical item. Revan marked each member of the group, his augmented vision seeing through the crates. He ignored the priest. Captain Harris had Revan’s prize in his possession but the man’s injuries left him far from threatening. That left two primary targets. He was content with the odds.
Revan smiled, and with his enhanced legs jumped to one of the ship’s wings and then the mezzanine. The mission report said Sarah Davis was a security officer, and Revan had his concerns with her training and the firearm. She was good but nowhere near a match for him. Revan recognized the armament; an ordinary, old-school gun favored by smugglers in the far reaches where it was fairly easy to get hold of one. Revan counted her shots. She’d already used two-thirds of her clip. That left the tall man, seemingly undaunted by the agent’s presence, the unknown in this equation.
His mission profile had no mention of this figure and he couldn’t find any records of him in the database. Revan had been curious about the man when he’d first appeared at the gates with Sarah Davis, but curiosity had escalated into extreme interest when he’d realized the mysterious figure could actually spot him all the way from the other side of the canyon.
Revan jumped to a service rail and positioned himself over the tall figure, standing like a sheep, unaware of the stalking wolf. He pulled out his wrist-blade and jumped.
It almost cost him his life. Just as Revan’s blade was about to connect with the tall man’s neck, the presumably unsuspecting man changed his posture and caught the agent’s wrist, breaking his hand with a forceful twist and slamming him to the ground with tremendous speed. Before Revan knew what happened, he was howling in pain and gasping for air.
Only Revan’s survival instincts, sharpened with years of field training, let him avoid the next blow, rolling to his left. Even with the healing system integrated into his body, his right hand still hurt like hell, damaged beyond the abilities of his nano-augmentations to repair. He heard a blustering sound right behind his ears, cracking the rocks where he’d lain a moment ago.
***
Ga’an tried to stomp the assassin’s head with his foot but the man evaded his attack, rolling quickly to his feet. Ga’an snarled and jumped on the injured man. The next thing he saw was the ceiling. The dark figure had kicked him in the stomach. “A wounded khisrak fights harder,” he remembered his teachings.
The agent pulled out his gun and fired. Ga’an closed his eyes and waited for his true death, knowing a precision shot from this close was his end. Instead, he felt a puncturing wound in his leg. Ga’an gritted his teeth and raised his stare. The assassin stood before him, eyes lowered to Ga’an’s leg, bleeding a deep, dark blue. Stupid, Ga’an snorted. If he were in the agent’s position, he would surely take the second shot.
“Put down your weapon!” Ray’s voice boomed inside the cavern. A loud, mechanical clicking echoed in the cave—what sounded like an automated gun—and all attention turned to the parked gunship. Ga’an watched the smuggler ship’s forward turret spin lazily, lowering its sights at the agent.
***
Revan’s eyes locked on Captain Harris behind the cockpit glass. He is gloating, I am certain. He’d underestimated Harris. Revan considered his options: he was hurt and it was slowing him down. If Harris locked the guns on him—any intelligent man would do so
—it would be very hard to run from the high-speed projectiles. The tall man was already back on his feet, close enough to react if Revan did anything sudden, and beside him, the woman pointed her gun. Revan looked back to Ray and smiled, nodding in respect like one general saluting another.
The agent activated his cloak, risking draining out his bionic charge, and blended into the night, leaving the shocked group behind. The tall man, however, watched his every move even after he engaged his cloak.
Blue blood. Eyes that see behind my cloak. Interesting. He needed to report this mysterious figure to his master.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
THE OTHER CAVIL
The rest of the night was much less eventful. Ray and Sarah piloted the Fox. Brother Cavil sat with Ga’an in the ship’s lounge. No one dared break the silence until they were clear of Tarra and sure they were not followed.
“All right, to the lounge,” Ray engaged the autopilot, putting Fox on a loose flight path away from Tarra and Bunari. “We have to decide what to do before Caius comes back.”
“Caius?” Sarah asked.
“The agent.” Ray winced. “This is the third time he’s tried to kill me and Brother Cavil.”
“Right.” Sarah nodded and followed Ray into the lounge.
The two passed through the main corridor tying the cockpit to the rest of the ship. It wasn’t Canaar, but Ray realized he was rather fond of the construction. The Fox was a smuggler gunship, retrofitted from an earlier military model. The ship had two decks; crew quarters and the mess hall were on the upper deck and the engine room and the restroom were down in the lower level, connecting to the cargo bay. Ray hadn’t had a chance to inspect the ship in the turmoil, but many of the systems were thoroughly customized, upgraded with cutting-edge components. One thing was certain; it felt good to be on board a ship again. Ray knew a new chapter had begun in his life. He smiled, touching the wall panels, feeling the humming of twin Tyson engines.
When they entered the lounge, they found Brother Cavil and Ga’an engaged in a deep dialogue.
“…By the Light, there are so many questions in my mind; I cannot even think where to begin!”
“Ask your questions, priest,” Ga’an answered, trying to sound as polite as possible with his edgy pronunciation on the consonants. “I do not know if I have all the answers,” his deep voice boomed.
“What are you two up to?” Sarah asked and took a seat near Ga’an.
“This is incredible!” Brother Cavil spoke ecstatically, focusing his attention on Ga’an. “This is a history-defining moment!”
Ray patted the old man’s shoulder and joined them at the table. “Brother, calm down.”
Brother Cavil faced him. “Raymond, this gentleman here is an Ancient!”
“Ancient?” Sarah was taking small bites of a candy bar she’d found in one of the Fox’s closets. “What is that?”
“Ancient as in Ancients,” the old man said impatiently. “Like the ones in the scriptures! The Nucteel!”
Ray turned to Ga’an, “Ancients?”
Sarah shrugged, “I mean, I know he’s not from around these parts, that’s obvious with the looks and the blue stuff coming out—how are you feeling, by the way?”
Ga’an nodded gently. “It will heal, Sarah Davis.” Sarah had patched him up in no time.
“How in nine hells did an Ancient end up on Tarra?” Ray asked. “I thought they were extinct, just left us stones and trinkets from millennia ago.”
Ga’an raised an eyebrow but Brother Cavil spoke first. “Tell him about the Baeal!”
“Baeal?” Sarah asked curiously.
“Some Bunarian ancient story to frighten the children,” Ray snorted.
“You sponge-brained idiot!” Brother Cavil snorted but Ray raised his hands apologetically.
Ga’an sighed, as if collecting his thoughts, ignoring the exchange. “About forty cycles ago, an unknown alien structure appeared at the outskirts of the Empire.”
“Cycles?” Sarah asked.
“Think of it as years, a cycle is a bit longer than a year from what we could decipher in the scriptures,” Brother Cavil answered.
“How’s that possible? The Ancients were long gone by the time we learned about their existence. And by long gone, I mean long gone,” Sarah objected.
“Just listen to the man’s story, young lady.”
“At first, the enemy appeared in small numbers and disappeared as fast as they had come. But in time, their forces increased and we lost more and more space to their invincible armada.”
Ray licked his lips. “Who were the aliens?”
“I do not know. We named them after the First Evil mentioned in our beliefs. Baeal. They came out of their gates. We tried to shut them and succeeded for a while but they overwhelmed us in numbers in time. Whenever we destroyed a gate, three more would appear hidden deep in nebulas or storms. We tried to send envoys through their gates. Probes and scouts. Battleships even. None returned, none reported back.”
“So, how did you end up here?” Sarah took another bite of her candy bar. “I found you on Tarra. Though I admit, that ship of yours looked huge and like no design I’ve seen before.”
“For cycles we fought and retreated. Worlds went dark before their power and soon after, we had no power to defend our space. By the orders of the Emperor, we made our final stance. I met the enemy with full force but their mother ship was too powerful for us. I ordered an evacuation and set the ship to self-destruct. However, my ship was pulled into the enemy gate and it exploded within the whirling black pool.”
“So, you ended up exploding inside a black hole.” Ray shook his head. “Where was this again?”
Ga’an knit his brows. “I do not know how to tell you.”
“Why?”
“I do not know where I am.”
Ray and Sarah looked at each other and shrugged. Brother Cavil was simply amazed at meeting an Ancient.
“So, what did they want?” Sarah asked. “This Baeal, I mean.”
“We never saw one, except their insectoid looking ships.”
“That still doesn’t explain how you ended up here,” Ray intervened. “Yes, you exploded inside a black hole. Where’s your home world anyway?”
“You have a map of the stars?”
“The navigation computer should have one. Just a sec.” Sarah reached for the controls near the table and linked the projector to the cockpit computer with a few commands. “There.” She pressed a button and the lights dimmed, a holographic projection of the galaxy appearing before them, spinning slowly.
Ga’an inspected the map, turning it left and right, thinking. He finally pointed his finger to one of the central stars, “There. That is Nahil.”
Sarah smiled meaningfully.
“Buddy, you got it all wrong. That’s where Earth is.” Ray frowned, feeling the weight of recent events on his shoulders. “Who are you really?”
“Ga’an,” the tall man answered. “There,” he pointed again, “Nahil.” He indicated the Sol system.
Ray touched the swirling star and the vision zoomed in, focusing on Earth. Ga’an touched Earth.
“This is where I was born.”
“How could this be?” Sarah asked. “Humans lived on Earth for generations.”
“Perhaps you’re from a different plane like the Baeal?” Ray asked.
“Or perhaps from another time,” Brother Cavil said softly. All the attention in the room shifted from the statuette to him. “When I was a kid, Reverend Marcus told me stories about the Ancients. According to the scriptures, they were the inhabitants of our worlds before us. The old civilizations on Earth like the Mayans, the Harappan Civilization had notes and drawings about an advanced race predating them. Perhaps Ga’an’s people were our ancestors.”
“So you’re telling me Ga’an is from Earth?” Sarah asked. “Well,” she pursed her lips, “it would at least explain the look-alike.”
“Not the Earth we know, but yes,” Broth
er Cavil agreed, “probably the same planet. And the Nucteel may very well be a pre-human species that evolved into us in time.”
“The Light supports evolution?” Ray smirked.
“The Light supports intellectual thought and acknowledges the spiritual need of guidance.” Brother Cavil’s jaw tensed.
“Yeah? How come your people abandoned the teachings about the Ancients then?”
“The Light also supports a big wooden stick and showing respect to elders, boy!” Brother Cavil flared and Ray raised his hands apologetically.
Ga’an blinked at the exchange, but Sarah gestured him to continue. He counted the planets and moons around the Sun, naming them one after another in his own tongue. “Gn’naeth, Simburu.”
“Jupiter, Saturn,” Sarah said, looking where Ga’an pointed.
Ray didn’t believe the mysterious alien. Not that he thought the visitor was lying; Ga’an was probably confused with everything alien around him. Ray took the backpack, cradled like a baby in Brother Cavil’s arms, and turned off the display. “All right, what do you know of this?” He tossed the bag to Ga’an. Let’s see if you will remember your own trinket.
The moment Ga’an removed the piece of clothing covering the Arinar, his eyes widened. He pulled the artifact out and placed it on the table with great care.
“Where did you get this?” His voice was both fearful and surprised.
“It’s a long story.” Ray folded his arms.
“Where did you get it!” Ga’an stood up, knocking over his chair. His stare was violent, feral.
In a heartbeat, Sarah jumped to her feet, reaching for her gun.
“I said it’s a long story.”
“Ga’an, perhaps you should tell us what you know first.” Brother Cavil’s voice trembled. He reached for the alien slowly, with a gesture of peace and calm.
Shadows Bear No Names (The Blackened Prophecy Book 1) Page 19
