“Indeed it did,” Falcon said, smiling back at her. “And it just proves my old rule.”
“What’s that?”
“Never get on the bad side of a Raven.”
All three of them laughed.
“How about you two?” Raven asked a moment later. “How did you get out of the Below?”
Falcon frowned at that question and cast a meaningful glance at Hawk.
“We’re…um… not quite sure about that,” Hawk said, turning his gaze downward.
“Hawk touched the door, bare-handed, and it lit up and opened,” Falcon stated.
“Really?” Raven gave Hawk a look of surprise. “Why do you suppose that happened?”
“We don’t know that was exactly why it opened,” Hawk pointed out, somewhat annoyed. “There could have been some other reason.”
“Maybe so,” Falcon answered after a moment—but he didn’t sound terribly convinced. “I think there’s more to be learned on that score. One of these days.”
Hawk didn’t reply and the others mercifully let it go. The three of them sat there for a while longer in silence, occasionally looking up at the night sky.
“The sword,” Hawk said suddenly. “I have…fragments…of memories—Eagle made it disappear, the first time we were here…” He frowned deeply, trying to recall something from a dim past that scarcely even belonged to him. “And then, today, he said something—some words I couldn’t understand—and it came back.”
Falcon chuckled softly. “That was one of Agrippa’s oldest tricks.” His good eye met Hawk’s gaze and there was a twinkle in it. “Nobody ever fully understood that sword. It was passed down to Eagle by the Machine, at the very beginning, but before that—” He shrugged his massive shoulders. “Who knows?”
“So he could make it turn invisible? With a phrase?”
“Invisible, yes,” Falcon replied, “or else shunt it into a pocket dimension, waiting safely for him, or else…” He shrugged again. “As I said—who knows? It was supposedly the sword of a god, once. There’s no telling what it can do.”
“The Adversary said it could slice through the walls separating dimensions,” Raven chimed in. “So—if Eagle can find it, he can escape.”
“Perhaps,” Falcon muttered, his voice filled with ambivalence. “But he’ll have to find it first. It could have gone anywhere.”
“It’s a pity he couldn’t simply have carried the sword through with him,” Raven noted.
“If you’d seen what happened when I tossed it in after him,” Hawk said, “you’d know you wouldn’t have wanted to be holding it then.”
“I saw enough,” Raven said, shaking her head, thinking of the explosions that had brought the palace crashing down just behind her.
They sat there a bit longer, each of them feeling introspective, and the fire burned low.
“My ship should be here soon,” Hawk noted, breaking the silence. He chuckled. “At least it had enough sense to get away from Condor’s ship before it was destroyed.”
“Mine, too,” Raven said. “And I can’t wait to get off this rock.” She gestured toward the dark outline of the ruined palace that obscured the view behind them. “This whole place seems…haunted, somehow. As if the people of this planet simply abandoned it.”
“They did abandon it,” Falcon explained. “It’s off limits to the general population, according to the local area network I accessed inside it.”
“That explains why the underground chamber we were in didn’t seem to have been touched in centuries,” Hawk said.
“That’s right. After the incident a thousand years ago—the governor being killed, the strange psychic manifestations, and then subsequent actions by the Hands after the original Hawk died and Eagle vanished—the bodies were removed and it was all sealed up and left alone.”
Thinking about the palace led Hawk back to wondering aloud about Eagle again.
“Do you think he’ll find the sword? Can he truly cut his way out of the Below?”
“Will the Adversary be able to take control of him again, down there,” Raven added, “and use him somehow, to free himself?”
“He wanted to go,” Hawk stated flatly. “He thought that was for the best.”
“As punishment?” Raven wondered.
“Maybe,” Hawk replied. “Mainly, though, I think he felt there was a better chance of keeping the Adversary away from our universe if he were there with him, guarding him.” He shrugged. “We have to trust he knew what he was doing.”
“And maybe he’ll find some other way to restrain the Adversary down there, permanently,” Falcon said, “and he’ll be able to come back.”
“I hope so,” Raven said in a soft voice. “Despite everything—I do hope so.”
Hawk nodded.
“Eh. Enough,” Falcon grumbled. I don’t even want to think about it.” He shook his head. “About what Eagle did to us in the past, and about what he’s going through now, trapped for eternity in the lower depths of the multiverse, with only that crazy guy and a bunch of demons for company.” He closed his human eye and shuddered.
“The Adversary claimed to be a god, in essence,” Hawk said. “Goraddon. A former acolyte of Vorthan.” He scratched at his chin, feeling the stubble there. “I have access to only a few memories that mention those names, and there’s very little of substance available.”
“Vorthan is an old name,” Raven said, “from thousands of years ago. He was supposedly a god—a being from the Above, with great powers—who turned bad and ultimately was defeated.”
“The Adversary said he fell,” Hawk noted.
Raven nodded. “The story goes that another god battled him and eventually destroyed him—but at the cost of sacrificing himself, as well.”
Hawk and Falcon considered that.
“Sounds familiar,” Falcon noted.
“Maybe that’s the only way to defeat a god,” Hawk mused. “By someone of equal stature sacrificing himself. I don’t know. But, if so, I hope we’ve seen the last of any so-called gods. We can’t afford to lose any more of our best people—not if the galaxy is to be put back in order again.” He frowned and looked back into the fire. “But, that being said, I’m not entirely convinced the Adversary is gone forever.”
“We’ll see,” Falcon said. “In the meantime, we will have to remain vigilant.”
Hawk looked at him, somewhat surprised.
“So—we’re going to continue as Hands, even though it’s just the three of us now?”
Falcon shrugged. “I am, anyway. There’s lots that needs doing.” He gazed up at the sparkling sky. “Even in a shattered galaxy. Especially in a shattered galaxy.” He pursed his lips as he looked back down at his companions. “And besides—whether it’s from some artificial compulsion conditioned into me, or programmed into my genetics, or just plain curiosity—I still want to know what’s become of our old boss. The Machine.”
“Yeah,” Hawk agreed. “I think it’s our duty as Hands to investigate it—to find out what really happened. And yes—I have to admit I’m more than a little bit curious about it, too.” He turned to Raven. “How about you?”
The dark-haired woman considered for a moment, then shrugged.
“Count me in. I definitely want to know. And I agree; I think we’re honor-bound, or duty-bound, or obligated in some way, to find out the truth. As Hands. And—Machine or no—that’s what we are.” She arched an eyebrow at the others. “Being a Hand is what I do. It’s what I am. I wouldn’t know what else to do.” She chuckled. “Or who else to be.”
Hawk’s eyes moved from Raven’s slender face to Falcon’s blocky, half-mechanical one. Then he smiled.
“Okay, then. Looks like it’s the three of us against the galaxy.” He stood and stretched. “Sounds very exciting, anyway.” He dusted himself off and nodded toward the palace complex. “For now, though, I think it’s time to find a comfortable spot to get some sleep. After all—tomorrow will be a big day.”
Raven and Falc
on exchanged puzzled glances.
“How’s that?” Falcon asked. “What’s tomorrow?”
Hawk gazed down at his two companions—the only other Hands left in the galaxy, as far as any of them knew—and he smiled.
“It’s the first day of the rest of our lives.”
The Forces of the Machine
in the years just before the Shattering
Hands of the Machine:
Command officers, by order of rank
Eagle (Agrippa) – Overall strategic command; single combat specialist
Condor (Cassius) – Tactical command; arms and armor
Cardinal (Regulus) – Morale/inspiration/inquisition
Falcon (Titus) – Demolitions; logistics; quartermaster
Crow (Justinian) – Counter-espionage
Shrike (Vorena) – Covert ops; infiltration
Hawk (Marcus) – Combat/patrol generalist
Outside the Chain of Command:
Raven (Niobe) – Internal affairs; stealth
Associated Officers, beneath command rank
(partial listing, alphabetical)
Aracari - Communications/translation officers
Auk - Marine assault specialists
Blackbird – Covert ops/surveillance specialists
Canary – Detection/sensor data analysis officers
Cormorant – Military transport specialists
Dove – Diplomatic specialists
Harrier – Close combat specialists
Ibis – Command craft pilots
Nightingale – Medical specialists
Osprey – mechanized assault officers
Owl – Intelligence/surveillance officers
Partridge – Electronics development/maintenance
Petrel – Attack craft pilots
Robin – Tactical support staff
Wren – Propaganda officers
Combat Divisions/Legions (partial listing, alphabetical)
Firewings – Air assault
Iron Raptors – Heavy armored cavalry
Sea Hawks – Marine infantry
Sky Lords – Airborne infantry
Storm Crows – Siege specialists
Thunder Birds – Airborne heavy ordnance
Wind Swords – Fast-attack armored cavalry
Thanks and appreciation this time around to:
Ami
Rowell & Atlantis Studios
Tommy Hancock & Sean Ali
Dan Abnett & Graham McNeill
Carla & the M&Ms
Bobby Politte, who was there at the very start.
And all my great friends & readers on Facebook
who “Liked” it as the book grew...
And grew...
And grew…!
About the Author
Van Allen Plexico writes and edits New Pulp, science fiction, fantasy, and nonfiction analysis and commentary for a variety of print and online publishers. He’s been nominated for numerous writing awards and won the 2012 PulpArk Award for “Best New Pulp Character.” His best-known works include Lucian, the Assembled! books, and the groundbreaking Sentinels series—the first ongoing, multi-volume cosmic superhero saga in prose form. In his spare time he serves as a professor of political science and history. He has lived in Atlanta, Singapore, Alabama, and Washington, DC, and now resides in the St. Louis area along with his wife, two daughters and assorted river otters.
Hawk: Hand of the Machine (Shattered Galaxy Book 1) Page 34
