Broken Worlds_Civil War

by Jasper T. Scott

“Vermin! Overlooked!” Buddy drew himself up on his hind legs and bared his teeth in a snarl.

  Tanik watched him with a curling smile.

  “Settle down, Furball,” Trista said, and scooped him up in her arms. Buddy hissed at Tanik when they came to eye level with each other. “He wasn’t calling you vermin, right Tanik?”

  “Of course not,” he replied, shaking his head.

  “And the important thing is, everything is going according to plan,” Trista went on.

  “Yes.”

  “So my part’s done?” Trista asked, with eyebrows raised. “I can go?”

  “You can leave immediately if you like.”

  Trista’s eyes narrowed in thought, as if she were considering the idea.

  People like her were the real vermin, scurrying away from danger, hiding in the shadows, and profiteering from illegal enterprises—not to mention being a royal pain in Tanik’s backside. He hoped she would decide to stick around so that he’d have the chance to kill her for all the trouble she’d given him, but if not, he would put out a warrant for her capture later—after he became emperor in Darius’s stead.

  Tanik smiled and stood up from the acceleration couch where he was sitting. “Well, I’ll take my leave of you now,” he said. “Thank you for your help.”

  “Yeah? And where are you going, Scarface?” Trista asked, her eyes pinching into slits.

  Tanik regarded her with eyebrows innocently raised, as if he couldn’t imagine why she would be suspicious of him. “Elsewhere. I assumed you would be leaving soon, but I have to stay to make sure everything goes as planned.”

  “Right. Well, good luck with that,” Trista said.

  “Thank you,” Tanik replied, smiling thinly at her as he turned to leave. Now all he had to do was find a cryo lab where he could convince the technicians to freeze him until just before the ceremony began. That would stop the timers of the nanites in his blood, which relied on his metabolism to supply their power.

  As Tanik exited the rear airlock of Trista’s transport and started across the landing pad, he saw a rosy glow cresting over the top of the surrounding spaceport. It was dawn already. That meant he had about twelve hours before the ceremony began. More than enough time to freeze himself, wake up, and then make his way to the courtyard to confront Darius. He needed to save a few hours so that he could find a way to extract or disable the nanites in his blood. It wouldn’t take twelve whole hours to kill Darius. Maybe one or two, but it was nice to have the extra time just in case.

  Tanik smiled at the thought of the confrontation. Darius had no idea what was coming for him. Tanik had planned it all out meticulously. Not only would Darius pay, but so would the Keth—with the exception of Feyra, of course. He would make sure he saved her.

  Tanik’s smile grew into a twisted grin. They had all underestimated him. They were blinded by their arrogance. Perhaps Darius was the more powerful Revenant, but Tanik was the smarter one, and he’d take savvy over raw strength any day.

  Chapter 42

  —TWELVE HOURS LATER—

  Cassandra stood at the back of the podium, watching as her father went out to greet the massive crowd in the courtyard below the palace steps. There were tens of thousands gathered there. More than half of them were Revenants, who had no choice but to attend. The others were probably local Tarsians, and maybe a few interstellar travelers who’d come from other planets to be a part of history. Ultimately, it all made her father look a lot more popular than he probably was, but it was an impressive display all the same.

  Cassandra glanced to one side, her eyes tracking down below the front steps of the palace, to the alley where she’d stashed her oxygen tank. She’d decided to wear a complete suit of power armor to the ceremony. She figured that if her father had asked about it, she could always say she was guarding against possible assassination attempts. But the oxygen tank was harder to explain, so she’d smuggled it into an alley beside the podium. It hadn’t been hard. Everyone in the palace had been so busy preparing for the inauguration that they hadn’t even seemed to notice her. She kept expecting one of the soldiers she’d met last night to tell her father about her illegal entry to the Data Center. If they had, he hadn’t paid any attention to them, because he’d never confronted her about any of it. In fact, she’d barely seen him all day.

  Cassandra took a deep breath, and listened to it whistling in through the air intakes in the back of her suit. Right now those vents were open, but as soon as she saw her father or the crowds reacting to the virus, she’d shut the intakes and run down to grab her oxygen tank. She could hold her breath for a few minutes, and there would still be some air inside her suit. She hoped she’d have enough time to retrieve the tank and connect it to her suit. If not, she’d get infected along with everyone else. That wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. She wasn’t planning to be the last Revenant in the Galaxy. She’d expose herself to the virus willingly when the time came. But if something went wrong, she might need her powers to escape.

  Cassandra frowned as a new set of worries crowded her thoughts. There was no way to know if her dad had actually been infected last night. And if not, this would all be for nothing. Her dad would find some way to defeat the virus and then re-infect the Revenants with Sprites. She pushed those negative thoughts from her head and directed her attention back to her father and the cheering crowds.

  He had his hands raised for attention. “Welcome, everyone!” he said. “This day we come together with one heart and one mind to celebrate the end of the Cygnians’ rule over us. They are defeated, and they are never coming back!”

  The crowd went crazy, screaming and roaring with delight. It went on and on, and...

  Cassandra’s brow furrowed as she realized what was really happening. The crowd wasn’t screaming with delight, they were screaming in pain. The virus had already been activated. People were dropping by the hundreds, others scattering and running in confused circles.

  Cassandra drew in a deep breath and sealed the air intakes of her suit. Peripherally, she saw her father sink to his knees, but she didn’t have time to check on him. She raced across the podium and down the steps to reach her air tank. Finding it right where she’d left it in the alley, Cassandra snapped it into place along the magnetic docking plates on her back. Using her ESC, she mentally opened the tank’s valve and re-opened the intakes for her suit, which would now be sucking in air from the tank rather than outside.

  By the time she finally let out the breath she was holding, her lungs were burning, and her brain was buzzing with the urgent need to breathe!

  Gasping for air, she turned and hurried back up the steps to check on her father. She kept a hand on the hilt of the sword sheathed at her hip—just in case. She found him collapsed and spasming on the podium at the base of the lectern. He had a helmet on, and she noticed what looked like a suit of power armor lurking beneath his robes. She blinked in shock, realizing that he’d somehow known this was coming. He must have had a vision. But that vision hadn’t been enough to warn him about the virus she’d smuggled into his bathroom.

  “It’s okay, Dad,” she said, standing over him. “It will be over soon.”

  He glared up at her, his eyes full of rage and pain, but said nothing. As she watched, his back spasmed, arching and lifting him off the ground. His teeth flashed white in a rictus of agony.

  Worry burst like fireworks in Cassandra’s head. Apprehension swirled. She looked up to see that the crowds in the courtyard weren’t faring any better. There were still a few people running around screaming and swatting at the nanites like they were bugs, but for the most part, everyone had already collapsed and fallen eerily silent.

  Cassandra looked back to her father just in time to see his eyes roll up in his head. “Dad?” She dropped to her knees beside him and shook him by his shoulders. “Dad! Answer me!” But he showed no signs of a response. His breathing was shallow and irregular.

  Cassandra looked up in horror and checked the courtyard once m
ore. Even the ones who’d been running around in crazed circles had all collapsed now. This wasn’t at all what she’d been expecting. She’d expected them to get sick, but not for them to all fall into a coma! “What have I done?!” she cried. “Tanik!” she screamed. “Tanik! You lied to me!”

  In that same instant, she saw a shimmering portal open up at the foot of the stairs. More than a dozen people came walking out, all of them wearing exosuits, and all of them shielded with the muted white glow of the ZPF. They were brandishing glowing swords. She caught a glimpse of their glowing eyes and translucent white skins. They were Keth.

  Cassandra stood up and drew her own sword, determined to protect her father from them.

  “Stay back!” she said, summoning a shield of her own and pointing her sword at the invading aliens.

  They stopped at the foot of the steps. “Where is the one called Gatticus?” one of them asked.

  “I’m not telling you anything!” Cassandra replied in a trembling voice, even as she wondered how they knew about the android. But she figured it out a split second later. Tanik had told them. Of course he had. Why else would they be here now, and how else would they have known to prepare for the threat of infection by wearing exosuits?

  A flicker of movement drew Cassandra’s gaze to one side, and she saw someone else come striding into the courtyard from an adjoining alley. This person was also wearing a suit, and his presence was all too familiar. It was Tanik. Somehow he’d managed to neutralize the virus that they’d infected him with. This had all been a setup.

  “Tanik!” Cassandra screamed. “What have you done?!”

  The Keth turned, waiting for him to arrive at the foot of the stairs. Tanik walked steadily through the courtyard, heedless of all the people he was stepping on along the way.

  In the next instant, Cassandra felt firm hands land on her shoulders, and one of the Keth cried out in alarm. Twisting around to look, Cassandra saw her father, back on his feet, and smiling coldly at her.

  “Hello, Cassy,” he said.

  Chapter 43

  “Dad! You’re okay!” Cassandra said.

  “No thanks to you,” Darius replied. It was all he could do not to kill her right then and there, but he had more pressing concerns right now. He hadn’t predicted that Tanik would bring the Keth to Tarsus. He never should have allowed his own wormhole to collapse. He’d been so focused on giving a good show to draw Tanik out of hiding, that he’d forgotten about the risk of dropping his defenses—even momentarily.

  Darius released Cassandra’s shoulders and took a long step sideways to get out from behind her. Drawing his sword and summoning a shield, he stood gazing down on Tanik and the Keth.

  “It’s a trap!” one of the Keth said.

  “Yes,” Tanik replied. “But not for us.”

  “Are you certain of that?” Darius asked.

  “You said he would be infected with the others,” the tallest of the Keth said. “You lied!”

  “I didn’t lie. Obviously, that part of the plan failed, but look around you! All of the others are dead. Darius is alone!”

  “Dead?” Cassandra exclaimed. “What do you mean they’re dead?”

  Darius saw her backing away from the courtyard, shaking her head in denial. Clearly Tanik hadn’t told her everything about his plot. He’d taken advantage of her naiveté again. A small part of him was relieved. She hadn’t actually been plotting to murder her own father. Perhaps he wouldn’t have to kill her, after all. Darius returned his gaze to the foot of the stairs.

  “Your arrogance blinded you!” Tanik said, stepping in front of his people. “You foresaw all of this, and you let it happen anyway because the other Revenants were a threat to you. But what you failed to consider is that you might need their help. Now you’re all alone to face fourteen Keth warriors, and me. With the Revenants gone and fewer people than ever sharing the same power source, we’re far more formidable than we were the last time you fought us.”

  “Then so am I,” Darius replied.

  “It’s still fifteen against one.”

  “Fifteen against two!” Cassandra said.

  Darius turned to her with eyebrows raised, and nodded approvingly. She’d made a mistake by siding with Tanik against him, but at least she was on the right side now. “Cassandra, run!”

  She gave a shallow nod, and together they ran back inside the palace, as much to get away from whatever lingering contagion might remain in the courtyard as to escape the Keth.

  * * *

  “Is it true?” Cassandra asked once they were inside the palace.

  “Is what true?”

  “That you knew about the virus.”

  “This is not the time or place to discuss anything,” Darius replied.

  That wasn’t a denial. Cassandra stared at her father in shock. He stood barring the entrance of the palace, watching as the Keth came striding up the stairs with Tanik in the lead.

  Cassandra had a bad feeling that Tanik had been telling the truth. How else would her father have known to prepare? He’d had a helmet within easy reach, and he was wearing a suit of power armor under his robes. “Did you know the virus would kill them?” Cassandra pressed.

  Her father’s helmet turned. “No.”

  Cassandra searched his glowing green eyes and reached out through the ZPF to test his thoughts. He wasn’t lying, but she could tell that he wasn’t upset that the Revenants were dead. He was just glad to have them out of the way.

  “You need to make up your mind, Cass,” Darius growled, and stabbed his finger into her chest. “Are you with me, or are you against me?”

  Cassandra backed away from him, shaking her head. “I’m neither.”

  Darius’s eyes flashed darkly. “Then get out of here while you still can!”

  Cassandra’s face screwed up in misery. “Fine!” she yelled back at him. “Get yourself killed, too—I don’t care anymore!” She turned and ran through the entrance hall of the palace, putting as much distance between herself and her father as she could. She didn’t even know where she was going. She just had to get away.

  It was over. The whole thing had been a setup from the start. Tanik had used her, and her father didn’t want her around, so why bother anymore? All she’d wanted was to save him, but he was clearly beyond saving.

  As Cassandra left the entrance hall, she heard the first rumblings of a powerful storm booming in the distance. But no, the skies were clear outside. This was more like an earthquake, or rubble crashing. Maybe Tanik and the Keth were tearing the palace down around Darius’s ears. Cassandra caught herself using his name in her thoughts, but somehow that felt right now. He wasn’t her father or her dad anymore. He was Emperor Drake.

  Another boom rumbled somewhere behind her, followed by crashing rubble sounds. Cassandra stopped running, but not because she was having second thoughts about leaving the emperor to fend for himself. Rather, she was wondering what her next move should be. Whoever won, she didn’t want to be around for it. She thought about Trista’s offer.

  Reaching out for the other woman’s mind, Cassandra found her still waiting at the spaceport. Wait. I’m coming, she said, speaking through Trista’s thoughts.

  Cass? Is that you? came Trista’s confused reply.

  Yes.

  Cassandra broke the connection, and turned in a quick circle to get her bearings. She was still on the first floor of the palace, halfway down the corridor leading from the entrance hall to the gardens at the back. She could slip out through the gardens easily enough and then make her way to the walls. She’d have to climb or jump over them, but that wouldn’t be a problem for her. Cassandra started running again, heading down the corridor to the gardens. A second later she skidded to a stop as something occurred to her.

  Gatticus. She couldn’t leave him behind. Darius would destroy him for his part in everything, and Tanik... she had no idea what he would do with the android if he won, but she didn’t trust him any more than her father at this point. They w
ere both mass murderers.

  Spotting a bank of elevators up ahead, Cassandra started running again. Once more she heard that booming sound, followed by more crashing noises. This time the whole palace shivered. Cassandra grimaced and glanced at the ceiling as concrete dust trickled down. Don’t cave in yet, she thought as she hammered the elevator call button with the heel of one hand.

  * * *

  “Darius!” Tanik yelled from the speaker’s podium outside. “If you’re planning to hide in there, I’d think twice about it.”

  Hide no, Darius thought, but at least in the entrance of the palace there was no easy way for the Keth to surround him. They could break in through windows on the second floor and circle around, but that would take time, and at least he would have some warning with the sound of breaking glass.

  Darius glared at his enemies through the metal lattice frames of two 12-foot glass doors. Tanik stood off about a dozen meters from the palace, with the Keth clustered behind him. They didn’t seem to be in a hurry to press their advantage. Darius flexed his hand on the hilt of his sword and smirked. They were probably hesitating because they were scared.

  Darius waved the doors open. “Come and get me!” he yelled, beckoning to them with his free hand.

  In lieu of a reply, Tanik raised his hands toward the palace. The building shivered, and bits of rubble rained down. Moments later, a titanic boom sounded, followed by the rumbling of settling debris. Darius reached out with his Awareness to find that Tanik had just torn down one of the palace’s four spires. It lay broken in the courtyard—a mountain of debris strewn over the masses of dead Revenants.

  In the next instant, Darius saw a giant boulder come sweeping toward the entrance of the palace. He reached out to stop it, but the debris had too much momentum, and there wasn’t enough time. He leapt out of the way just as a massive rock came crashing through the doors with an explosion of shattered glass and stone.

  Darius landed to one side of the rubble, blinking in shock, his ears ringing with the violence of the impact. He half expected to see the Keth come storming through in the wake of that attack. Instead, he heard and sensed boulders breaching different parts of the palace. Moments later, Darius sensed the Keth entering the building. They were going to surround him after all. It was just a matter of time.