by Mick Fraser
“Who?”
Before she could answer, the pool below erupted like a volcano, blasting a column of seething, hissing liquid upwards with such force it splashed against the stalactites where it began to fizz and sizzle. She heard her commlink buzz in her ear, heard Drenno’s voice on other end, but couldn’t make out the words. She pressed her finger against the earpiece but froze, thoughts of conversation forgotten, as from within the whirlwind of steam a monstrosity rose. A huge segmented body curled from within the pool, dripping globs of hot slime that leaped and hissed, churning the filthy, noxious pool into a bubbling riot of spitting poison. Two long, clawed arms dragged the worm-like body from the water, and more pairs, spaced evenly along its glistening length, helped propel it onto dry ground. It knew where Angela was, either by scent or by sight, for it rolled its great black body around to skitter up the far wall, scratching chunks of rock and shale to the ground. It was colossal, the length of two buses, and its incredible weight caused its claws to tear boulder-sized holes from the wall as it came. Two others emerged from the water behind it, smaller, faster.
“Rukwyrm!” Winston hissed. “They won’t stop now they have your scent. We have to go.”
“Angela!” Drenno’s voice echoed through the commlink. “Do you read me? We’re above the cave entrance. We got your signal but we can’t get in; the whole fucking area is going nuts with rukwyrm! Get to the surf—!”
She stepped back from the ledge. Her breath felt hot in her breather, cloying, short, but she couldn’t take it off, not in here. She pushed the jewel on her right palm, uncoiling the Braid. It was still blue, and she swished it twice to get the feel of it. The rukwyrm was almost upon her, facing towards her so that she could see its face. It was just a mouth, a gaping mouth lined with three rows of teeth as long as her arm. She hesitated; it was either back down the stairs or across the pool. She was fucked either way. She looked down at the Braid. It wasn’t long enough to reach the nearest column, and she doubted she could jump it. She’d have to arc, then swing, then arc again, and judge the landing right.
She was terrified, but it was buried under layers of something else. She cracked her neck, took a step back, snatched her Saint Anthony from within the collar of her hypersuit and brushed its cold silver face. The rukwyrm was level with her, darting towards her with impossible speed. She charged forward, felt the energy well within her and burst out like a blooming flower. She arced, leaving a trail of golden light that the great beast swallowed in a single gulp, its dripping jaws closing on empty air. She flashed out of the arc in mid-air, but gravity was no one’s bitch and it took her instantly, dragging her down even as she flew forwards. She yelped, whipping the Braid upwards, her body jolting painfully is the blue coil took hold of a stalactite and dragged her on, the momentum of her jump causing her to swing in a wide arc high above the surface of the churning pool. She shook the Braid as she reached the highest point and it went slack, allowing her to arc again, this time aiming vaguely downwards towards the doorway through which they had originally entered. She burst out of the arc in a pop of golden light, tumbling along the rocky ground directly towards the gaping maw of one of the smaller rukwyrm. Working on instinct she hit the left-hand jewel and the Braid blazed with orange light as she dragged it across the monster’s face. The ribbon of energy tore cleanly through the black flesh and the beast recoiled, squealing like a tortured hog, its body convulsing and twisting unnaturally.
The others changed direction immediately, rocketing towards her. Winston weaved between the stalactites, and as he reached her she grabbed him, arcing up the narrow corridor with the chomping beasts behind her. She came out of the arc weak, her strength ebbing. The rukwyrm weren’t giving up, and they tore the tight walkway to shreds as they barrelled towards her. Gritting her teeth she arced again, bashing against the craggy wall, then again, forcing herself to sprint the last twenty yards to the cave entrance.
She leapt out into blinding sunlight, and hit the ground hard to see the Shadowstar above her and a writhing mess of rukwyrm before her. She tried to arc but her strength was spent and she fell forwards, her knees barking against the gravely sand. The starship swung, its belly-guns roaring, cutting the nearest rukwyrm apart in a flurry of meat and milky blue innards. Angela forced herself up, releasing Winston, as Dizzy spun the Shadowstar to show Angela the cargo ramp where Drenno stood with Illith, one hand each outstretched. The cave erupted behind her and the adult rukwyrm appeared in a shower of rock and sand.
Angela forced herself on, taking the opposite rise in six steps and leaping, arcing, and slamming against the cargo ramp with enough force to blast the air from her lungs almost choke her. Drenno and Illith pulled her up by her aching arms, and the Silsir slapped the ramp controls as Dizzy angled the Shadowstar for a rapid ascent into the clouds above.
CHAPTER 26
~VISIONS~
IN THE DREAM she was a child again, but the emerald field in which she leaped and laughed wasn’t like anything from her childhood. The sky above was cobalt blue, strikingly clear, and great red and yellow birds wheeled and dived in the light of the amber sun.
She heard the crash of waves and turned, breaking away from the group of frolicking children to run wildly to the top of a nearby hill. On the far side lay a glittering ocean, and the waves breaking on the golden shore exploded with sparkling sprays of surf.
There was no fear in her now, no uncertainty. Her child’s mind could take in only the sun and sea, only the cool grass between her toes and the gentle breeze upon her face. Problems were for other people to fret over; all that mattered here was the freedom of the meadow, the golden sand of the beach, the endless beauty of the crystalline sea.
With a playful bellow, a huge beast galloped by, its body like a great pale lion, its colossal wings outstretched like an eagle in flight. She spun as it passed as though caught in the wind of its movement, but her arms were out wide and she was smiling as she turned. The other children had broken from the group, too, and now whooped and cheered all around her. A line of parents stood some way distant, waving and laughing, chatting and lounging in the grass. The problems of the war seemed so far away.
War? What war? Where had that come from? The news. She’d seen it on the news. Sceros was gone, the man had said. Destroyed in a single day. But how could that be possible? You couldn’t destroy a whole world, not in a hundred days, let alone just one. She couldn’t imagine Nix being destroyed like that. It was too big, too beautiful.
She heard a woman calling her name as she twirled. She couldn’t hear the name clearly but she knew it was hers. It was her mother calling; it was time to go.
No. That’s not what she was shouting. She sounded frightened. What was there to be frightened of out here in the meadow? Hramas were friendly, she was far from the sea. Her mother shouted again, and she opened her eyes. Her twirling slowed to a stop as the shadow loomed above them all, like someone had put a lid over the sun.
She saw her mother’s face, contorted, horrified, and she turned slowly, morbid fascination overruling her fear. She saw the starship above her, an almighty disc so big it blocked out the sky. She had seen it on the news, but her father had told her it would never come here. Nix was peaceful, he said. Nix was neutral. The Hexen had no business here, no reason to mean them harm. But father had been wrong.
From the centre of the massive ship, a single beam of light plummeted down into the calm water. The animals on the field took flight or ran, galloping through the staring parents, barging them out of the way. The beam of light flared suddenly, brighter than the sun had been, and the ocean changed. A gigantic wave burst up where the light hit the water, but it wasn’t shining white surf; it was solid black crystal. A mighty wind exploded towards the meadow, knocking the little girl to her knees. She scrambled up, running to her mother who was running to her, arms stretching out, desperately reaching.
But the black crystal wave overtook her. It swallowed a hrama in one go, the huge beast howling and squealing and thrash
ing as it became as solid as stone. The girl’s legs felt icy cold, and she stumbled forward but didn’t fall – couldn’t fall, for the crystal held her fast. It flowed around her, encasing her, crushing the air from her lungs. Her mother reached her, their fingers touching as the cold, dark wave burst around them, swallowing them both and consuming everything beyond them—
—Angela sat up, a scream bursting from her throat as she batted at her legs and arms, trying to dislodge the black crystal that clung there. She felt Gaelan’s touch and panicked, kicking away so that she almost fell from the gurney. She looked down: no crystal, just her own bare legs. She clutched a blanket in one hand, and pulled it around her, panting.
“You alright, kid?” Drenno asked her.
Gaelan reached up, brushing a braid of hair out of Angela’s face and peering into one eye. “She was just dreaming,” the Avellian answered for her. “She’s okay now. Angela? How do you feel?”
Taking a deep breath for calm, she slid back across the gurney to perch on the edge. “You called me Angela,” she said. “That might be the first time.” She looked around. They were in the medical lab, and once again she was connected to the flatscreen monitor. Shimmer was at the console, checking her vital signs; Six-Tails was behind the gurney, examining something in a sealed box through some kind of viewing apparatus.
“Winston said you were pretty extraordinary,” Drenno said, half-smiling. “I’m sorry we had to leave you, but we couldn’t get through. We sent the bot after you and went looking for another way in. Looks like you found another way out instead. Rathe would have been proud.”
She smiled back groggily. Her head felt like it was full of big, padded balls knocking against each other. “I found another chamber,” she told him. “It had the... Wait, where’s the Braid?”
“Don’t worry, it won’t work for anyone else. Tails is giving it the once over. He’s gotta thing for Founder tech.”
“It’s incredible,” the Endrani said excitedly, not looking up from his examinations. “The stones in the palm straps aren’t really stones. They’re organic. The right one is a housing for a tiny reactor. It’s the size of a thumbnail, but as powerful as a Phase-drive.” He looked around, beaming. The teeth and mane made it very disconcerting. “The other stone is paired with it and uses the wearer’s body as a conduit. Never seen anything like it. Shimmer’s dying to get a look.” He straightened up, wandering over to the bed. “Sorry,” he said sheepishly. “I get excited sometimes. I examined you while you were unconscious. You’ll be fine. Cuts and bruises are almost gone already. You had a fractured rib; that will take a little longer to mend. But you also had a pretty close brush with your own mortality. That one will sink in when it’s good and ready.”
She brushed him off. “I’m fine. Just hungry.”
“Aye. That’s the arcing. It drains your body’s fuel supplies.”
She focused on Gaelan, whose skin was indigo. “That’s concern,” she said. “You’re worried about me.”
Gaelan immediately flushed red all over. “Rathe sacrificed himself to keep you alive,” she snapped. “If you die now, then it was for nothing.” She turned for the door, but briefly paused. “And don’t try to read my colours. You don’t know me well enough.”
As she left, Drenno chuckled. “Avellians. They wear it all on the surface and have no idea how to process any of it. You okay?”
She stared at him for a while, mulling over what to say next. She glanced at Six-Tails, who had gone back to examining the Gauntlet; Shimmer was still preoccupied with data. Angela took a deep breath. “I... saw her, in the cave. She came to me somehow. I don’t really know how, but she was there.”
“Slow down. Who?”
Six-Tails must have heard, for now he was facing her.
Angela watched Drenno’s ebony eyes as she answered. “Evayne. She was there.”
“Hell she was. You hit your head.”
She bridled. “I’ve had concussion before. It was real. She was there. She said she was contacting me through the Amp. Something about Resonance.”
Six-Tails, now fully invested, moved to the other side of her as Shimmer joined them. “Resonance,” the Endrani explained to Drenno and Angela, “is what the Founders called the energy that connected them. All Founder tech is powered either by resonance or radiance. They used to generate it somehow, almost like... magic. It leaves behind a residue that could potentially build up, become concentrated. An Iniiran shrine would do that.”
Drenno looked unconvinced. “And how would Evayne access it?”
Shimmer interjected. “She had access to a lot of Founder technology. Certainly she would be in possession of a device able to communicate long-distance with the Founders. If it was never deactivated prior to their demise, it may still be functional now.”
The Captain crossed his arms. “Okay. Since the Science Twins are willing, I’ll bite. What did she want?”
“Me and the Heart. She told me if I just waited for her, she’d let the rest of you go. She said Rathe’s death wasn’t her intention.”
“Yeah? What did you tell her?”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Take a guess.”
“What could I tell her? You barely loop me in. She said she punished Varo. She doesn’t want any more deaths.”
He turned away, angry, but glanced back. “What else did she tell you?”
“That she knows where we’re going and she’ll get there first.”
“She can’t know. The coordinates were on the Heart. She can’t know unless she’s able to track us. But then she’d still have to follow us anyway. She’s playing you.”
“Seems to be a trend...” The moment she said the words she regretted them.
“Am I supposed to appreciate that tone?”
“Why did you bring me here? You could have left me safely on Earth.”
“You know why: the Exethan.”
She shook her head. “You could have shot them down and let me be. You said the window was timed, Evayne couldn’t have gotten to me after you left.”
“How could I take the chance that she wouldn’t find a way?” he growled “You don’t know her!”
“I don’t know you, either. You brought me here because you thought my name meant weapon and I might be able to help you kill Evayne.”
“Enough!” He slammed his fist down on the table beside him, and Angela straightened defiantly. “You want to know if I want her dead? Yeah, I do. It’s been a long time, I know, and now and then I feel like I might even be ready to live with it. Then I look at Gaelan and I remember, and it fucking hurts. And I brought you on board for that. Because for the first time in a decade we’ve got the high ground – with you. You give us that. Do I feel bad? Kinda. Do I regret it? Not a fucking heartbeat of it. I’d do it all again just the same.”
“And in the meantime I’m stuck out here? Forever? Trapped with no way back. There are people who need me back home, people who miss me. Do you even care?”
“What the hell do you want from me? Galaxy gives me choices, I make a choice. Sometimes it’s good, sometimes it’s not. A few days ago, you were the choice. I could have left you and I chose not to. Now we’ll deal with it, because that’s what we do.” He fell silent and she sat back, dejected. He was right, and she knew it. She had told Evayne as much herself.
“I’m sorry,” she said quietly. “It’s been a trying few weeks.”
For a moment he looked like he would argue further, but then his face softened. “Evayne will try to manipulate you at every turn. That’s what she does. But we’re in this together, Angela. I promise you.”
Shimmer reached over and lightly touched Drenno’s arm. “We need some advice, Ellys, and Angela needs some guidance. We have to get our bearings and take stock before we follow these coordinates further. Our next destination is a world called Seth, but Wishbone is on the way. We should go to Oraclus: we need to see Seraph Guin.”
He nodded, glancing at Six-Tail
s for approval. The Endrani grunted. “Shim’s right. We need some solid ground underfoot.”
Drenno clicked his commlink. “Dizzy? Set us up for Wishbone. We’re going to see Guin.”
“Aye. It’s about time, boss.”
The Captain looked at Angela. “You need to eat, rest, recuperate. The Wishbone system is a good day away, and Illith’s going to want to put that time to good use.”
She sighed. “Right...”
Drenno paused in the doorway. “I know it’s hard to trust us up here, but believe me: if we wished you harm, you’d be harmed by now. Go get yourself ready and rested. We’ve got work to do.”
CHAPTER 27
~THE BRAID~
THE NEXT MORNING, Angela found Illith in her sancto, pacing like a trapped tiger. She looked agitated, which seemed strange. She always seemed so controlled. Openly hostile, maybe, but controlled nonetheless. She watched her from the doorway for a moment, unsure whether to enter or not. After a moment Illith stopped pacing and turned to face her.
“You can come in, mystraal. My ire is not for you.”
Angela stepped across the threshold. “So what’s wrong?”
“Nothing that concerns you.” She sighed, testily. “It bothers me that we now head to Oraclus and relative safety while Rathe’s killer continues unmolested.”
“What’s at Oraclus?” Angela asked, attempting to steer the conversation.
“Nothing good.”
“Shimmer thinks otherwise.”
Illith glowered. “Well Shimmer has her reasons.”
Okay, Angela thought. There wasn’t much point pushing this, so she changed the subject. “So, what’s for today?”
On firmer ground, Illith perked up. Well perked up was stretching it, but she certainly seemed to straighten up a little. “Did you bring the new weapon?”
Angela raised the Gauntlet. “As requested.”
“Put on your hypersuit and strap on the Braid. Let’s see what you’ve remembered, and what else we can beat into you.”
