Kovar scowled. “Tanik Gurhain is dead. I felt his presence fade during the battle for Ouroboros twenty years ago.”
“He said he faked his death in order to escape the Augur’s influence,” Darius replied.
“Did he now?” Kovar replied. “Assuming that’s true, why would he abandon a fight that he started? And how did he open a wormhole? The Augur was the last Revenant who could do that, and he died the same time Tanik did.”
“Tanik said he wasn’t strong enough to open a traversable portal.”
“And yet he disappeared without a trace from one of your ships. Not even I can do such a thing. You’re telling me that a lowly Advocate somehow managed to do something that a Luminary cannot?”
“I don’t know,” Darius admitted.
Kovar sneered. “I’ll find out. In the meantime, you have a choice to make: join me, and help me clean up the mess that you’ve created, or die.”
All seven of the Revenants on the bridge began glowing in the light of ZPF shields, and their swords became wreathed in shimmering light.
Darius glanced at the Marines standing to either side of him, then back to Kovar, and he gave a slow smile. “I have a counter proposal—you release my crew and agree not to interfere with my fleet, or I’ll hunt you down and kill you myself.”
Chapter 3
Kovar laughed in Darius’s face. He flourished his glowing swords and grinned. “Goodbye, Darius.”
The entire Bridge crew began advancing on Darius at once. The two Marines standing to either side of him were just a few paces away, nearly close enough for their swords to reach him without even taking another step.
Darius took a deep breath and drew on the ZPF. As he let out that breath, he released a shock wave of energy. Everyone went flying into the holo panels around the edges of the bridge—all except for Kovar, who deflected the assault.
“Impressive,” he said.
Darius cast outward, reaching for the minds of each of the crew. He pushed against Kovar, forcing the Luminary’s presence out of the ship and into space.
Admiral Ventaris started, then blinked. His eyes were no longer glazed. “What...” Realization dawned. “The Revenants found us.”
“Yes,” Darius replied, nodding.
“We have to retreat. We’re not prepared to face Revenants,” Admiral Ventaris said.
“Kovar is weak,” Darius said.
“Is he?” Ventaris demanded. “He just took control of me and my bridge! You don’t know how to defend us against psychic attacks. He could turn our own ships against us! For all we know, he already has. Comms!” Ventaris whirled around.
“Sir?” The comms officer, along with the rest of the bridge crew, were just now strapping back in at their stations after Darius had tossed them into the holo panels to buy himself time to break Kovar’s hold on them.
“Give the order to retreat,” Ventaris ordered.
“Yes, sir,” the comms officer replied.
“Wait,” Darius said. “We still have a chance. Their fleet is on the far side of the planet. Our fighters are already inbound. If we destroy Hagrol now, we might be able to take out their fleet with it. Tell me how to defend us from him. I can do it.”
Admiral Ventaris turned to regard him once more. “If we lose our fleet now, the war will be over, and this will all have been for nothing.”
“And if we win here, even the other Revenants will be afraid of us,” Darius said. “Give me a chance.”
“Very well. Close your eyes and cast your mind outward.”
Darius did so, and stars swirled around him.
“Find our fleet and all of our crews. Focus on them.”
Thousands of bright and shining silhouettes appeared through the hulls of their ships. “Now what?” Darius murmured.
“Fill their minds with your own. Imagine that they have all become a part of you, each of them like a finger or a toe, an extension of yourself that you can feel and move around at will.”
Darius tried that, and whispering voices echoed through his mind in an unintelligible roar. Thousands of different scenes flickered before him. Countless sensations and emotions colored his perception in a confusing swirl. He had become the hub for a kind of hive mind, a collective entity of enormous power, but it made him feel stretched thin, like an overinflated balloon about to pop. But along with that sense of tenuousness came euphoria that swelled inside of him, making him feel invincible. He had become a god. He could feel every one of the Revenants in the fleet as if they were a part of him. With the slightest whisper of a thought, he could compel any one of them to do whatever he wanted.
“Now tune out all of the voices and the sensations, but don’t allow your awareness to shrink,” Admiral Ventaris directed. “Keep your mind open to all of the others.”
As Darius followed those instructions, the whispering voices and flickering images disappeared.
“Now, open your eyes,” Admiral Ventaris said.
“Wow...” Darius breathed as the bridge snapped back into focus around him. “That’s—”
“What it means to be a Luminary,” Ventaris said. “Can you still feel everyone?”
“Yes.” Darius nodded. He didn’t even have to check. It was like knowing whether you still have all of your fingers and toes. No one has to tell you to check, you just know. You can feel the blood pulsing through them.
“Good,” Ventaris said. “Now if Kovar tries to take control of one of us again, you’ll feel it instantly and be able to stop him. Did you find the fighter pilots headed for the planet?”
Darius blinked. “No, I—”
“Find them,” Ventaris snapped.
Darius bristled at the order and narrowed his eyes at the Admiral, but did as he was told. Closing his eyes once more, he cast his mind back into space and searched for the three squadrons of Vulture fighters that they’d sent to Hagrol...
But he couldn’t find them. Darius opened his eyes once more. “Flight Ops!” he bellowed. “Have our fighters jumped into the system yet?”
“Yes, sir, but I can’t find them anywhere.”
“We’re too late,” Ventaris whispered.
“What do you mean you can’t find them?” Darius demanded. He stalked up behind Lieutenant Hanson’s station and leaned over his shoulder to look. The man’s screens were all blank.
Hanson began shaking his head and pointed to his sensor display. “Sensors logged a gamma radiation burst consistent with a ZPF warhead exploding five minutes ago. All three squadrons disintegrated in the blast.”
“Kovar must have made them fire on each other,” Ventaris said.
“Kak!” Darius roared.
Admiral Ventaris shook his head. “We have to retreat. It would take too long to set up another attack run.”
“We can worry about destroying Hagrol later,” Darius said. “Right now we have a more important target. If we kill Kovar, I can take over his fleet and add it to ours.”
“That’s an ambitious plan,” Ventaris said. “But between the Cygnian fleet and Kovar’s fleet, we’re outnumbered. We need to get out of here while we still can.”
Darius nodded. “Go ahead. Give me four squadrons of Vultures, and I’ll come back with Kovar’s head.”
Ventaris frowned. “If you get yourself killed, the outcome is the same as if our fleet is destroyed. None of us can resist the influence of a Luminary on our own. After he kills you, Kovar will hunt us down, and take control of us, adding our fleet to his.”
“I’m not asking for permission,” Darius replied. “I’m leading from the front like any good commander should.”
“There’s a time and a place for that, and it’s not here or now,” Ventaris said. “You seem to have forgotten that I outrank you.”
Darius smiled thinly at him. “Maybe it’s time we did something about that. Lieutenant Hanson! Have our Vulture pilots ready and waiting in their cockpits. Tell them to bring their swords. We’re boarding the enemy flagship.”
“Belay th
at order!” Admiral Ventaris replied.
“Yes, sir.”
“Major Becker!” Admiral Ventaris directed his gaze to the ranking Marine of the pair seated to either side of the bridge doors.
“Sir?”
“Take the commander to the brig.”
“Yes, sir...” The major released his acceleration harness and rose from his chair.
It took a supreme effort for Darius to control the black tide of rage that surged inside of him. They couldn’t arrest him! Who did Admiral Ventaris think he was?
Darius rounded on Major Becker as he approached. The man’s eyes glazed over and his stride faltered, as if he’d suddenly forgotten what he was supposed to be doing. Darius experienced a brief flash of guilt at overriding the man’s will, but this wasn’t the same as what he’d done the last time. He wasn’t making anyone sacrifice their lives. In fact, removing an inept leader like Ventaris from command would likely save lives.
“Admiral Ventaris is no longer fit to command this fleet,” Darius said. “Take him to the brig.”
“Yes, Commander,” Major Becker replied.
“Not Commander—Admiral,” Darius said. He turned back the other way to find Ventaris staring at him in shock. He held out his hand. “Your rank insignia, please.”
“You don’t want to do this, Darius. You need my experience to command this fleet.”
A murmur of agreement rose from the bridge crew. “You Luminaries are all the same,” one of them said. It was the comms officer—Lieutenant Grifton, if Darius remembered correctly. “All you want is power, and to hell with the people you have to hurt to get it.”
Darius pointed at the man, and Grifton’s hand hovered up beside his cheek. The man stared at it in bemusement, and Darius made Grifton slap himself with an echoing smack.
“Would anyone else like to comment?” Darius asked, his eyes flashing around the bridge. A brittle silence answered him. “Good. I’d rather not have to compel your cooperation.”
Major Becker reached Admiral Ventaris and bound his hands with stun cuffs.
“Who’s going to be in command while I’m in the brig and you’re boarding the enemy fleet?” Ventaris asked.
“I’m in command,” Darius replied. “But you’re right, someone needs to be on the bridge to relay my commands. Lieutenant Hanson!”
“Sir?”
“I’m awarding you the brevet rank of Commander,” Darius said. “You’ll be in command of the Harbinger when I’m not on deck, and you’ll see that my orders are properly relayed to the Captains of the other ships.”
“Yes, sir.”
“This is a mistake,” Admiral Ventaris said again.
“Major Becker, stun the admiral.”
The major’s sidearm discharged with a flash of blue light, and Ventaris’s eyes rolled up in his head.
“Much better,” Darius said. “Now, as I was saying—Hanson, have our pilots waiting in their cockpits. We have a Luminary to kill.”
“Yes, sir.”
Darius turned in a quick circle to address the rest of the crew. He noticed Admiral Ventaris floating along as Major Becker dragged him by his arm toward the bridge doors. “Hang on, Major.” Darius crossed over to them and snatched the rank insignia from Ventaris’s upper left sleeve. He removed his own insignia and went back to the Flight Ops station to give it to Lieutenant Hanson. “Just so there’s no confusion about who’s in charge,” Darius explained, as he clipped the admiral’s insignia to the magnetic plate on his upper left sleeve—a gleaming golden triangle with two stars at the top.
Lieutenant Hanson nodded uncertainly as he clipped the commander’s insignia to his own sleeve.
The bridge doors swished open, and Major Becker dragged Ventaris off the bridge. Darius could feel the crew’s outrage pulsing off them in waves as they watched.
They’ll get over it. “Mark my words, by the time I return, there will be twice as many ships in our fleet, and Hagrol will be nothing but a cloud of dust. For the Union!” Darius cried. But no one took up his rallying cry. Darius gritted his teeth. “I must be hard of hearing. What did you say?”
“For the Union,” the crew mumbled.
“We’ll work on it.” Darius snorted and shook his head as he strode toward the bridge doors. Someone cleared their throat. “Admiral...” It was Hanson.
Darius hesitated at the doors, but didn’t turn around. “Yes, Commander?”
“What should we do while you’re boarding the enemy flagship, sir?”
“Engage the Cygnian fleet. Pin them between you and the planet, but don’t get too close yourselves. I don’t want to lose any of our ships when we take out the planet.”
“Yes, sir,” Hanson replied. “Good luck, sir.”
Darius smirked. “Thank you, but I won’t need luck.”
Chapter 4
Tanik watched petals of sunlight dance over Feyra’s face as the wind waved the tree branched outside their bedroom window. He smiled and brushed her sparkling white cheek with the back of one hand. Sprites milled through her veins, glowing visibly through her transparent skin. Removing his hand from her cheek, he stretched quietly beside her, being careful not to disturb her sleep. She needed to rest after last night.
They’d spent the past four months here on Ouroboros together, basking in the success of their plot to get the Union to tear itself apart in a civil war. Even after four months it still felt like they were on their honeymoon—not that the Keth observed such customs.
Tanik got out of bed and walked down the hall to reach the kitchen. On his way there, he caught a glimpse of a human face staring at him from the mantle above the fireplace. Tanik frowned at the stuffed head—the Augur’s head. He understood why Feyra had kept it. There was something satisfying about staring into the wide and terrified eyes of the man who had butchered their people, and knowing that those eyes were now made of glass.
It had been a long time coming, but the former leader of the Revenants had paid in blood for all the Keth that he had killed.
Now that the Revenants had gone to deal with the civil war, the Keth had finally come out of hiding and returned to Ouroboros to rebuild. It would take a long time to return to their former glory, but thanks to Tanik they had all the time they could possibly need.
After the last Revenant ship had flown through the Eye, Tanik had used his abilities to shut the wormhole leaving them no way to return and threaten the Keth. The Augur had been the only Revenant powerful enough to open and shut wormholes, and his head was stuffed and hanging on Tanik’s wall.
Tanik smirked and looked away from the trophy. He went to the kitchen sink and filled a cup with water from the faucet. Gazing absently out the window as he drank, he spied pairs of Keth children sparring with glowing swords in a nearby field.
There were a few dozen children dueling out there. Tanik heard people cheering as one of the fights concluded. The parents of the victor ran in and congratulated their... son, Tanik decided, while the parents of the loser silently carried their daughter’s body off the field.
Almost any other species would say that the Keth’s system of training was barbaric, but the Keth weren’t like other species, whose only goal seemed to be flooding their worlds with their progeny. For the Keth, life was not a right, it had to be won. Children earned their place and proved their worth.
It made sense on a certain level. Why waste a limited pool of power by sharing it with the weak and unworthy? That was also why the Revenants had to die—besides the fact that they’d been the ones to start the war all those years ago.
Another cheer sounded as a second fight concluded. Tanik felt arms slide around his waist and glanced over his shoulder to see Feyra standing there behind him.
“Good morning, my love,” she said.
He turned to her and kissed her. “Good morning,” he mumbled against her lips. She pulled away, distracted by the children dueling in the field.
“They started the Letting ceremony already?” Feyra asked. Her e
yes skipped to his and tightened with accusation. “Why didn’t you wake me?”
“I’m sorry, darling,” Tanik replied. “I just noticed myself. We slept later than I’d thought.”
“We’d better go. We don’t want to miss any more of the ceremony than we have to.”
Feyra turned and strode for the door to their cabin. It blew open before she reached it, moved by unseen forces. Tanik ran out after her and caught up just as she emerged from the woods where their cabin lay and crossed the sunny field to reach the sparring children and their on looking parents. Feyra and Tanik reached them just as another fight came to an end. A young Keth girl cut her opponent’s sword arm off in a fiery burst of glowing embers. The injured boy stumbled away. To his credit, he didn’t scream or cry, but instead used his abilities to summon his fallen sword to his other hand, and backpedaled hurriedly to put distance between him and his opponent.
The girl made a horizontal leap of ten feet to close the gap between them. Her sword flashed down, and the boy blocked, but he must have been weak from the loss of his other arm, because she batted his sword away easily. His eyes widened in horror, and he said, “I choose ex—”
But the girl cut him in half before he could finish. Tanik frowned. Everyone here could fill in that blank. Exile. The coward’s way out. Just as well he hadn’t had enough time to bring that shame upon his parents.
The boy’s parents went to collect their son’s remains while the victor’s parents congratulated their daughter and led her off the field. For the losing family’s sake, no one said anything about their son’s cowardice.
“Tanik,” a familiar voice whispered.
He turned to see Master Vartok standing behind him. Vartok stood a head taller than the average Keth, and about three inches taller than Tanik himself. He was also thicker across the chest than most, with a more developed musculature. Where most Keth were thin and bony, Vartok was a veritable Colossus. His physical strength complemented his affinity for zero-point energy field, making him the strongest surviving Keth. By default that also made him the leader of their people.
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