“To what end?” Ven asked, curious at the man’s point of view.
“To create this.” Hamesly pointed at the high ceiling, where a solar system was painted in intricate detail.
“I don’t follow.”
“The Ugna wanted numbers. They want power, and by taking children, forcing them to grow addicted to the drug, they control their people. Do you not see? They’ve managed to convince the Concord to allow them their own planet, which means they’re now officially their own race.”
Ven considered this but still didn’t see what was so wrong with it. The children they brought in were special, heavy with the Talent, and if they were left to their own devices, they were a danger to themselves, their families, and others around them.
“I can see you don’t agree with me but, Ven, you’re in a position to change something. Be a voice to the Ugna, show them that you can break free,” Father Hamesly said, his fingers resting on Ven’s shoulder.
“What would you have me do?” Ven asked.
“Abdicate. I can already tell you’re not taking En’or; that is the first step,” the man told him.
Ven listened carefully, unsure of what his response would be. “How can you be certain?”
“Your eyes. You’ve already gone through the Vastness, haven’t you?”
Ven blinked, recalling the patterns of light behind his eyelids. “I have.”
“Then you know you can do this. Free yourself from the clutches and ambivalence of the Ugna cult, and…”
Ven rose, his limits reached. “And what? Join your new one? Just what is the Temple of Sol?”
“It’s not mine, Ven. It’s an ancient human religion, one that morphed to align with our Vastness belief system under my tutelage. You can join, break away from the Elder’s poison, and stop this.”
“Stop what?” Ven asked, giving the man one last chance.
Hamesly looked every year of his advanced age as he spoke. “The colony world, Ven. Don’t allow them the power. It will only solidify their foothold and give them further reach on the Concord’s children.”
Ven’s boots echoed around the open temple room as he moved for the exit. “I’ll meditate on it.” He would, but nothing the man could say would make Ven believe his people were evil.
____________
“And do you trust her?” Treena asked, blinking away the rays from the rising sun.
“Are you kidding? Not in the least, but…” Brax stopped.
“But what?”
“There was a desperation in her voice, a spark in her eyes,” Brax said, hoping he didn’t sound too foolish for saying so.
He’d never seen Treena outside of her uniform, sporting a pair of blue pants and a bright green shirt. She carried a bag around her shoulder, as was the style on Earon, and he was confident there was a PL-30 tucked inside. Her hair was loose, hanging over her shoulders, and he could almost mistake her for a tourist.
His own gun was strapped to his hip – he was unwilling to go unarmed – but he was in a pair of shorts, comfortable shoes, and a button-up shirt, undone at the top to keep the already hot morning at bay. Beads of sweat were already forming on his head, and he wiped them away as they walked down the sidewalk near the beach.
“We’re late,” Treena said.
“I know. I didn’t have the best night’s sleep,” he said.
“Dormitory life.” She laughed, and wasn’t wrong. Things were louder around the campus than Brax remembered, and the opposite of the peaceful, silent sleeps on Constantine.
“There it is.” He pointed to the patio overhanging the ocean. The water broke against a rocky barrier, sending drops of water misting in the air just outside the restaurant.
The girl was leaning against the railing of the open-air establishment, right near the water’s edge, her legs crossed as she stared toward the horizon. When she saw Treena, she frowned.
“It’s okay. She’s with me,” Brax said, but the words did little to ease her mood.
“I wasn’t expecting you to come with anyone.” Madie walked away, heading for the road.
“What? I thought we were eating,” Brax called after her, his stomach grumbling at the sight of patrons consuming their food.
The entire area was full of resort-style hotels. Floating hover boats tethered to a drifting pier a hundred meters away, and already the tourists were flocking to the beach and breakfast joints.
Treena followed the girl, and Brax jogged to catch up.
“You know where they are?” Treena asked the girl.
Madie shook her head without looking back. “Were. I know where they were.”
Treena glanced to Brax, who shrugged, following Madie across the street, where they waited for a public transport to arrive. Madie was watching everyone around them with distrust, and she stepped from side to side, rubbing her hands together as the vehicle neared.
“Are you okay?” Brax asked her quietly.
She met his gaze, and her eyes welled with tears. “No. My brother is with them.”
“With the Assembly?” Treena asked the moment the doors to the transport opened, but she didn’t receive her answer. The hovering bus was empty, and they sat at the front, Madie refusing to speak until they exited ten minutes later.
The sun was a little higher by then, and Brax’s shirt clung to his back as they walked onto a quiet street. It was far less appealing here, the buildings older and in disrepair. A man leaned against a wall, grinning at them as they walked by, and Brax made sure to keep his hand near his weapon, glancing behind to see that the guy was gone.
“I don’t like this,” Treena whispered to him.
“It’s our only lead.”
Madie turned down an alley, and Brax stopped. “Hold on.”
“It’s this way. Trust me. I need your help,” she said.
“I don’t think so. I’ll go first. Treena, keep an eye on her, would you?” Brax grabbed his gun, more confident with the metal in his grip.
Madie suddenly appeared much younger than her twenty or so years. “He’s gone. They’re all gone, and I need you to find them.”
Brax started forward, and the others had no choice but to follow. The alley was narrow between two beige stone-walled structures, each with glowing energy barriers over their glass windows. The roadway was grimy here, the entire area smelling off, and Brax stepped over a bag of garbage.
“It’s over there,” Madie said from behind him, pointing to a metal-framed doorway alongside a boxy white two-story building. Brax glanced around and saw an old woman watching them from a window on the fourth floor across the alley. She didn’t break her gaze when Brax caught her.
“Madie, if this is a trap…” Treena started.
“It’s not. They left, but I thought you might be able to help…”
“When was this?” Brax asked.
“Two months ago. He didn’t even say goodbye.” Madie started for the doorway, and Treena set a hand on Brax’s chest, stopping him from following.
“I’ll go in. At least I’ll be safe,” she said quietly, but Madie looked at her inquisitively. There was no way the young woman could see Treena wasn’t really human.
“No. It’s my role. Stay with her.” Brax made sure they were staying outside, and he stepped into the building.
The room was dark, and he pulled a LightBot from his pocket; the tiny drone hovered above them, illuminating the area. The place was a mess: wires hung from the walls and ceiling; consoles were left behind, smashed; and in the next room, twenty single-person bunks were lined up, reminding Brax of his time enslaved to the Statu. He pressed the memory from his mind and kept walking, searching for anything.
When he found nothing of use, he returned outside. “I hate to break it to you, Madie,” Brax said.
“Break what?” the girl asked, her freckles bunching as she frowned.
“Two months matches our timeline. If your brother was with the Assembly, he’s either dead or he’s currently in prison.”
She only stared at him, posture slumped, hope vanished.
____________
Doctor Nee followed Vicci DeLarose through her facility on the twentieth floor of R-emergence. The place was gorgeous, immaculately kept and brightly lit. If there was one thing Doctor Nee appreciated, it was sterile environments.
“This is all quite the feat, Vicci. Did you ever think you’d be heading teams like this?” he asked her.
Vicci was slightly older than him, her dark hair cut short, her eyes as intense and focused as ever. She held a tablet at her side and grinned at his comment. “And you aboard Constantine? A Kwant? Talk about breaking down borders.”
Nee glanced at his gloved hands and smiled. “I never intended to be a voice of my people. I only wanted to work on a cruise ship and do my part.”
“From the files you sent, it seems you’ve managed to do more than heal sick people, Nee.” She tapped her tablet and showed a set of graphs to him. “What you’ve done with this” – she looked at Tarlen and kept talking – “Bacal girl is amazing. If what you’re telling me is true, I think I have the solution.”
“You do?” Tarlen blurted.
“Yes, Tarlen. I think I can help fix your sister’s pathways. You see, we do things a little differently here. We’re dealing with creating AIs from memories, much like the Constantine you see on your vessel. It’s a very complicated process, and it took us several decades to perfect.
“Then we’ve also managed to create hosts, like the one your Commander Starling uses. This opens up a lot of opportunities for people around the Concord with disabilities or illness. Of course, at this time, Treena is one of two using the technology.”
“One of two?” Nee asked, curious. “Who’s the other?”
Vicci smiled again, and waved a finger in the air. “That’s confidential, Nee. You wouldn’t expect me to share that, would you?”
“I suppose not.”
Tarlen stopped near a window, where three lab assistants were surrounding a robotic arm as its hand rotated. “But you can help Belna?”
“As I said, we’re doing things differently, but from what I can tell, all you need is a neural link to be installed,” Vicci said.
“Installed?” Tarlen asked.
“Perhaps that’s a poor choice of words. We’ll do a minor surgery on your sister that will connect her brain to her nervous system. The scans suggest that link had been fried by whatever these Statu do to their captives,” Vicci told them.
Doctor Nee had been hoping for something along these lines, and he couldn’t hold in his excitement. He grabbed Vicci, giving her a quick hug, and let her go a second later. “When can we do the surgery?”
Vicci stared at Tarlen. “Why, we can do it now, if you’d like.”
____________
The Savior was bustling with activity as Ina was led through the corridors. She could sense a change in the Adepts over the last few days, but she was doing her best to work with them. Already, at least half of her Group had been taken, either at their morning duties or while they slept. She wondered if they were being brought to a higher purpose, and if she and the ones remaining were lacking something the Adepts wanted in their army.
The cloaked Adept stopped and waved her forward. He spoke quickly, his mandibles clicking away in earnest. “Ina, we see great things in you. You are stronger than most.”
“I am?” she asked, using their language.
“Yes, we’ve watched you for some time.”
“You have?” She slapped a hand over her mouth, feeling foolish for asking such simple questions.
The warship shook and vibrated as it lifted from the surface near their city entrance. “We have something to show you. You will not want to witness it, but you need to understand.”
Her heart raced as he took her hand, his long fingers cold, his eyes black and lifeless. They stopped at a doorway. A large Adept guarded the passage. He stepped aside at the sight of the other Adept, and Ina followed him into the space.
There were at least twenty people gathered there, each of them fearful and panicking. “Ina, you have to help me!” Carl shouted, and she grimaced as one of the guards jabbed the end of their gun into his stomach. He fell over with a grunt, and it took all of Ina’s inner strength not to rush to his aid.
“These people don’t have your vision, your compliance to our cause. You are one of the chosen we’re going to trust with an important task during our upcoming battle with the Concord,” the Adept said. He motioned for the guard to grab Carl, and Ina went with them to the next room. There was a bizarre device in the center of the space, and they shoved Carl into the metal pod.
“Ina, help me. Don’t let them do this!” he shouted before the lights flared in the pod. Carl tensed, letting out a slight muffled scream, before the tendons on his arms returned to normal.
“As you see, some serve their own purpose,” the Adept said as Carl turned to face them. His eyes were no longer brown; only white remained, and Ina stepped away from her old friend.
The ship shook again, and the Adept gently took her hand, walking with her past the remaining captives. They were still crying and fearful, but after seeing Carl attacked, they’d quieted. Ina was ashamed at herself for not meeting any of their stares, but those people had brought this on themselves. If they were good and obeyed the Adepts like she did, they wouldn’t be in there.
“Welcome to the next step.” The Adept pressed a keypad on the rough wall, a secret door sliding open. He walked with her toward the edge of the Savior’s highest arm, where clouds floated directly overhead. They were so high, the air was hard to breathe. “Not that… look below.”
She glanced toward the ground, a wave of vertigo hitting her. She clutched at the Adept, and he only chittered away, his mandibles moving excitedly. An army was lined up, endless masses of figures stood in rows, and she noticed the Adepts floating around on hovering platforms.
“What is this, Adept?” she asked.
“This is the beginning of our victory, and you’re going to help us achieve it. You may call me by my name, Adept Feerez.”
He let go of her hand, and she wiped it on her pants, unable to remove the coldness from her fingertips.
Fourteen
Reeve had never been more ready for something in her life. While everyone else was on Earon enjoying themselves, she was fifty thousand kilometers away, in the Ugna vessel Yephion and Zolin had been escorted in.
The ship was almost as sophisticated as Constantine, but everything was a little too dull for her tastes. The Ugna were a subdued people and strictly utilitarian in their design concepts.
Harry slid his helmet on, and Reeve helped make sure it was sealed tightly. It beeped, and she put hers on while Yephion did the same. “Are you sure you won’t join us, Zolin?”
He smiled, the sight awkward as his scarred face bunched up. “One of us needs to remain here.”
“Suit yourself.” Reeve entered the modified cruiser. Originally, they’d planned to use a shuttle, but the sheer mass of the machine made it twice the shuttle’s size, so they opted for the much larger cruiser, a Concord model from a decade earlier. It had the most space inside the cargo hold and would easily fit their needs.
“This is quite the device.” Harry ran a gloved hand over the generator, and Yephion clicked his agreement.
Reeve still had reservations about working with the Statu on the project, but she was confident he was on their side and had been from the start. He’d been nothing but a pleasure to work with, and the entire team on Leria adored him, according to Zolin.
They said goodbye to Zolin and sealed their ship tight. This test was going to decide whether the war was about to occur or not. Everyone was counting on this working, and Reeve was only too happy to go down in the history records as being the sole Tekol on the development team.
“This is going to change everything,” Harry said as she powered up the device.
Lieutenant Basker’s voice carried through the in
tercom. She’d conscripted the fighter pilot to fly their cruiser for the important mission, and he was glad to assist in any way he could. “We’re leaving Intonation now.”
The generator hummed, and a soft blue light glowed around the circular disks that had begun spinning. The system was over ten feet tall, twice as long, and protruded from the rear of their cruiser.
Reeve pressed the communicator. “Basker, notify us when we’re safely away from the Ugna. We need a hundred thousand kilometers to be safe.” The true calculation was eighty-four thousand, but she’d decided to round up.
Yephion was busy at work, doing his part, and Reeve ran through the calculations on her console near the exit. The numbers were right; they had to be. Everything was telling her this was going to succeed, but they were also trusting that the engineering had been completed to perfect specifications. She trusted Zolin and his team, though, and she was sure they’d done it correctly.
Her nerves were almost on fire when Basker advised them they were far enough out. She checked the viewer on her console and saw nothing on their radar for quite some way. They were alone in Earon’s system, and it was time to test the wormhole generator.
The inside of the device was lined with Greblok ore, the material that had brought them into the Concord’s attention in the first place.
It was only a matter of time before the warships and their evil leaders found a way to return to Concord space, so Reeve and her people needed to win the sprint. Perhaps they’d manage to surprise the warships and Statu. That would be ideal.
“I wish we were testing this for the real Statu system,” Harry said.
They’d discussed this in earnest, but once they used it on their final destination, they needed to be ready for the assault, and they weren’t yet. Instead, they set their objective for somewhere outside the Denetron system, the future home of the Ugna colony, which was on Driun F49, a Class Zero Nine planet.
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