Past the commotion, to the far end of the depot, where it would rest right up against the stone fence, Ogho led them to a small depression in the ground. He waved over one of the engineers, and they exchanged info via their tablets. The engineer then walked back over to the wall and swiped down with his hand. Where the wall once was, a screen misted into sight. Hosha blinked.
“That’s some incredible stealth hologram shit there,” Hosha said, looking back at Allo.
“Never heard of the Dominion having anything like that,” the more technically inclined camera man replied.
“Maybe it’s not Dominion,” Hosha pointed out.
The engineer typed onto the screen, and underneath them, the floor began to sink. Hosha reached out to maintain his balance, and ended up holding on to Ogho by the waist. He laughed when he realized what he had done. Ogho didn’t react, or maybe hadn’t even felt him.
The floor descended into an underground level, which opened up into another large area, far longer and wider than the one above. Several lights dimly lit a few areas here and there, but for the most part, only the headlamps of the engineer mechs was all the light there was. Ogho flipped his on, and was followed by the rest of his men. Hosha wondered for a moment why all twenty had come with them, but it didn’t matter.
“What is this place?”
“Welcome to the mysteries of the Dominar,” Ogho said.
“Wait. Like the secret vaults?”
Ogho nodded. “This was the only one we were able to get to and hold on to. The rest they destroyed before we were able to take them. In time, we might be able to dig them out.”
“What have you found here?”
“I don’t know. It’s not what I am tasked with.”
“Ok,” Hosha said, rushing after the soldier who had taken off at a brisk pace down into the vault. “What are you here for? For that matter, why am I here?”
One of the soldiers ran past and with one swing of his mech arm, grabbed Hosha by the belt and swung him onto his shoulder. Allo followed suit on another mech, and the two rode this way, like a pet bird on their master’s shoulder.
“We are here to provide security for a new discovery,” Ogho said, “You are here because the Queen requested it.”
“What?” Hosha’s voice trembled with childish excitement, but he didn’t even care. “She asked for me? Is she here?”
Ogho didn’t reply, and the reporter felt insulted until he realized that the super soldier was talking to someone else within his comm systems.
“Move to shaft twenty three. We are going down to sub-level one thirty. It’s gonna be a long ride.”
They arrived at one of these shafts, a circular platform that functioned as a free form elevator. Once on board, the soldiers set the two smaller men down, and they held on to the mechs as the platform descended into blackness. It floated off away, and Hosha watched as the already limited light above him vanished into nothing.
“Uhm,” Allo uttered out loud.
“Are we dead? Is this hell?” Hosha tried joking.
The mech headlamp’s beams cut a swath of light into the great darkness, but still hit nothing. Every once in a while, Hosha swore he saw a light, out there somewhere, but otherwise, all he could see was the platform, and that only when the mechs shown their light on it. For ten minutes, they continued to descend on the platform.
“Ogho,” Hosha pleaded, “You have to let me know what’s going on.”
There were over a thousand such vaults, Ogho explained, hidden away in this incredibly large underground complex. They were hidden away by not only the utter darkness, but by some scan dampening fog the chamber was filled with. For months now, First engineers had been scouring each vault, one by one, as they found them, just trying to see what they held. Whatever records of what was down here had been erased by the fleeing Dominion forces, or there simply were no more records.
“The first month, they simply were not able to find anything at all. Then she came.”
The Queen had found a way to get through the fog, and with each new vault, the discoveries were hauled back up to the surface and taken away to where they could be catalogued.
“Of course she figured out a way,” Hosha said.
Finally, in the darkness, Hosha saw a prick of light, and they drifted towards it. He light grew brighter as they neared it, until the platform stopped right in front of a small doorway. The light shined from within the door, so there was no way of telling there was any kind of wall there until the mech’s shined their lights on it. It was quite unnerving.
Once inside, he followed the soldiers down a hallway. It was better lit than the warehouse far above them, but cold, and damp. A chilled mist swathed the floor as they walked down the hallway. It sloped downwards until it reached a T intersection. A soldier standing at the intersection pointed to the right as they approached, and the troupe followed down that hallway. As they continued walking, a series of large windows came upon on their left, allowing sight into a large room. Hundreds of small cylinders filled the room, and some soldiers and techs were walking in among them.
That was when he caught sight of the Queen. For a brief moment, he saw a flash of silver hair. The hallway doubled down then turned left again, and the windows stopped there. At the end, a door emptied them out into the room. The soldiers fanned out, but Hosha and Allo stuck to Ogho. He continued walking over towards the Queen. When she turned to face them, Hosha nearly laughed.
He always knew that she was just a woman. Enhanced, sure, just like all of the upper echelon of the Dominion, but just a woman. He knew full well of the power of myth and legend. He had helped create many such legends. Still, in the back of his mind, he had half believed many of her myths. He had seen her ‘magic’ and certainly had witnessed her technology. But there, standing before her, in all seven feet of myth and legend, was the face of a young woman.
Her silver hair spilled over her black suit and coat. She wore military style boots and he instantly saw weapons under her coat. She was stunningly beautiful, but that he expected. What he didn’t expect were the eyes. Where a normal person had white, she had silver. But not just flat silver, but a swimming pool of swirling silver, spinning around those tiny pupils that were darker than anything he knew. He caught himself staring at her, and she watched him. When he realized what he was doing, he quickly looked away.
“Queen Magyo, this is the GNN press reporter, Hosha Yokido.”
Hosha looked up again, gingerly, then looked down.
“Your grace.”
Her laughter filled the air.
“We are going to have to find a better title. Grace just makes me feel queasy,” she said, looking over to the man standing next to her. Hosha recognized him as Clelin of Tora, a noble, one of the many who swore allegiance to her. He now served as one of her advisors. He had plenty of pictures of him and her together, but from quite a distance. Maybe, they were an item. One of the biggest talk items those days was a potential suitor for the Queen. She insisted that all nobles procreate the old fashion way, so it was only natural that she would follow suit.
Clelin was handsome, as of course, all nobles and their enhanced genetics were. He was about ten feet tall, black hair with a trimmed beard. What was most striking, was his age. He was an older noble, nearly a hundred years old, if Hosha remembered correctly. Most of the nobles that had turned to the Union were the young nobles, those who saw the corruption of the old Dominion and had a greater stake in their future.
“Perhaps we can have a grand committee to come up with such a title my Queen,” he suggested.
“You try so hard to insult me Clelin, but it all comes out as humor,” she said.
“I am glad I am of service then,” he said. Hosha looked for some kind of reaction from the advisor, but the man barely flinched.
The Queen turned to Hosha. “You are welcome to begin recording here if you wish.”
Hosha looked back once at Allo, but the camera man was already out in front of
it. His camera was on his shoulder and he was already adjusting the settings on his visor.
“Begging your forgiveness, uh, my Queen, but, what am I here for?”
The Queen started to walk away, then stopped to look back. She tipped her head to her side, motioning him to follow her, and Hosha rushed after.
“You have garnered quite a bit of respect among my people. Although, I must say, perhaps not as much among your own.”
“Ratings, my Queen. Truly that’s all that matters at GNN,” Hosha said, planning every word he said carefully.
“True. I understand that. But you also are an honorable man. My First Tennant here has given you access to much sensitive information I would rather not have allowed out. You have respected his requests for privacy every time he has asked. Many others in the press would not honor him such.”
“My father instilled into me that honor and a man’s word was above all things, who each man was.”
“A good man he was, then,” she said, looking away wistfully for a moment.
“That he was. My Queen, what would you have me do?”
“Do what it is you do best.”
She walked over to one of the cylinders, and knelt down beside it.
“Much of what we have found here has filled me with horror. Or perhaps, it has filled me with relief that I have ended such a reign. But sometimes, among such negative discoveries, we find some that we can turn to hope.”
She wiped away a layer of frost with her hand. Hosha leaned in and looked beyond the glass on the cylinder. Inside was the body of a young boy. The reporter stood up and looked across the entire room. There were hundreds of these cylinders.
“Clones?” he asked.
“More than mere clones,” she said, reaching down and tapping on a panel on the cylinder. It came to life and she inputted a few codes. The container began to hum with life. “These are the clones of every Dominar that has ever lived, with the exception of the last one, who hasn’t reached adulthood.”
If there was ever a statement of conquest over the Dominion, this was it. In this very room was a record of history unlike any other.
“Each and every single one of these pods contains a man of great stature, both physically and mentally. Each one could be a challenge to my rule in this new world I have struggled to build. Right here, we see the end of the Dominion, and I need you to make sure the entire galaxy sees it.”
The container hissed, and the top slid to the side. A cold mist poured out over the edges. As Hosha studied the scene, he glanced up at the Queen, and thought for a moment that he saw her eyes glisten. She reached down into the chamber and gently lifted the boy out. She cradled the naked figure in her arms before gently settling him down onto her lap. Several cables were still attached to the back of the child and back into the chamber, like an umbilical cord. While holding the child in her left arm, she reached out to the cylinder and typed in a few more commands. The boy began to breathe, and color entered his skin. As Allo recorded everything, the boy opened his eyes and looked up at the Queen.
“We should kill them all my Queen,” Clelin spoke, standing behind her.
“We should. But we won’t. I have come to bring freedom to all men.”
“They are just clones. Not worth the time and effort. They’re not even alive.”
Magyo looked down at the boy, who was looking up at her, confusion in his eyes.
“Tell me, dear advisor, do we not abhor the killing of an unborn child? Do we not have laws that protect mankind from the moment of conception?”
“My Queen,” Clelin protested. He eyed the cameras, clearly not happy that the interaction was being recorded. “Anti-abortion laws protect our expansion. Every man and woman born to the Domi, err, the Union, are needed to expand the empire. In this universe of unlimited land and space, an unwanted child is unheard of.”
The advisor walked over to another cylinder and pointed at it.
“This child in here is unwanted and unneeded. They were all bred for war and conquest. It is in their genes.”
“So was I,” she said. “I was bred for much more as well. I would like to think I have overcome that. Were you not bred for the same? And yet you stand here with me.”
Clelin bowed his head. “Forgive me my Queen. I meant no offense.”
Magyo smiled gently and reached out for him. He took her hand and helped her up, the child still in her arm. “Dear advisor. You offend me by think I would take offense. I need your words of wisdom, even if I may not always agree.”
A medical unit came rushing up to the Queen and took the child from her. The boy kept his eyes on her the entire time until he left the room.
“These are all but children, but they will have their freedom as well. They weren’t bred for war and conquest, but for greatness. Our old empire just believed that war and conquests were the only paths for greatness. But these children here will grow up to become great men in their own right. They will discover new technologies and breakthrough medicines. Some will compose music that will frighten your soul while others will put on feats of strength and agility that will delight. Some might even become conquerors, when needed. But each and every one will have that choice made on their own accord, not by others, and certainly not by some code set in blood.”
She walked to the next cylinder and knelt next to it. She looked back at Hosha.
“And I will be here to wake every single one of them. I want you to let the worlds know that.”
For four days straight, Hosha spent nearly every waking hour tagging along with various teams throughout the Dominar vault. He was allowed to record anything he wanted, and he certainly did, but he wasn’t allowed to send anything back to GNN until the final product was reviewed by some media advisor to the Queen. Hosha didn’t care, this was THE story of his life, and once he let his director back on Mars know what was going on, he was officially removed from all other schedules so that he could dedicate himself solely to this venture. Already, the footage of the clones and their subsequent awakening was amazing, and once he worked his editing magic, that segment would be a hit in every system is was aired or downloaded.
Hosha was at an all-time high. Everything was going right for him, and he knew it. Somewhere, in the back of his mind, he was even contemplating retiring once he went back to Mars. He could write a hundred different books and just live off the royalties of his reports. No more danger, no more backwater planets, no more wars or conflicts. Or maybe he would try to work his way up the GNN corporate ladder. He could become a senior editor, or be in charge of a whole department. The goal of those with huge egos was to be an anchor, but Hosha didn’t have the stomach, nor the looks, for that.
Jainka joined them that following day, since Hosha needed his equipment on the ship. She tagged along and acted as a second camera; Hosha wanted as much footage as possible. At night, he survived on just a few hours of sleep, spending most of his time editing footage while eating the bare minimum. He knew his pilot would make sure he ate enough, so he didn’t think about it. As independent contractors, his two partners didn’t have a future in GNN, but they would certainly have more than enough wealth to do whatever they wanted. They were his partners and whatever monetary success he enjoyed, he made sure they got a fair share.
On the third day, they came across a vault that held millions of old Earth era weapons. Ballistic rifles and guns, that while still effective, were antiques at best. The techs at hand thought that these were weapons most likely brought along with the first colonizers of Coran. Why a Dominar would want to stash these away, no one knew, although Hosha’s theory was that these were the weapons confiscated from the first Dominar’s enemies.
Several other clone repositories were discovered as well. The vast majority of the bodies were found severely undeveloped, and unsalvageable. The few that could be revived and were mature enough, had zero records, either written or genetically. Who these clones belonged for, or what their purpose was, no one knew. True to her word,
the Queen would protect them and provide for them up unto a point where these individuals could lead their own lives.
Those weren’t the only clones found though. In one chamber, several hundred were found there, frozen like the others. They were mature bodies, men and women both, again, with no records of who they were or belonged to. Upon trying to wake one though, there was nothing. A quick check of the body by the medical team discovered that these were, as the Queen put it, blanks. Bodies, generally used for organ transplant for a specific person. The merciful thing would have been to disconnect them all, but the Queen was against that. Instead, she had them all removed, one by one, and ordered up to the Harmoa. No one understood why, but no one questioned her either.
Every evening, right before sundown, Jainka would run Hosha out of the ship, insisting he got some ‘fresh air’ and ‘exercise’. It wasn’t that he needed it since he got enough running around all day, but it was her way of making him unwind a bit. He wasn’t able to go very far, since the majority of the temple was still a pile of rubble waiting to get cleared out, and therefore off limits. So instead, he spent a lot of time just talking to the soldiers of the First. These were men who didn’t have families or backgrounds. They didn’t have a home planet or favorite gladiator, the Dominion’s only true sport. They only had each other, and Hosha enjoyed listening to them.
The Queen was among them as well. Other than the first day, he hadn’t talked to her again, but he continually saw her among the men. She was one of them, genetically enhanced, but still, she was apart. She was just as much a warrior as the soldiers, and just as much a genius as the techs. She had just as much way with words as her advisors, and yet, Hosha sensed that she had a lonely aura about her. He would have loved to just sit down and do an honest to goodness interview with her, but that wasn’t happening. She may say she wasn’t like the old Dominars, but she was in a stratosphere far above everyone else. He wasn’t getting anywhere near her unless she wanted it. That, and her Doomguard were always around her.
Ghost of an Empire (Sentinel Series Book 3) Page 12
