by J. K. Mabrey
"Hey!" Brax said over the intercom. "I can still hear you, you know."
"I know," Charra said.
"Status report, Brax," Zavik said.
"Well, I didn't see anything leaving Balex," Brax said. "That ship must be long gone by now. They could have lightdrives."
"They'd have to get out into space to use them," Zavik said, "but they did have a nice head start on us."
"If that thing is so valuable, why didn't he come back for it?" Brax asked.
"Maybe it's not the only one," Dani said.
Zavik glanced at the crystal still sitting on the console. If there were more out there, then there might be more like Traval. How much of Varin's forces would be able to do what Traval did? He didn't even want to think about that.
"If it was the only one, he would have fought harder to get it back," Charra said. "It looked more like he just cut his losses and ran. Typical Chokmnd."
"Yes, we typically survey the situation and take precautions," Brax replied, "instead of going in, guns blazing and reckless, like Rovun. That's how we stay alive."
"No honor," Charra said.
"That's it, I'm coming down," Brax said. His voice trailed off the intercom and Zavik could hear it echoing through the Rinada's hull.
"I'll show you honor, you savage," Brax said.
"All right, all right," Zavik said. "Let's all play nice."
"Tell him to play nice," Brax said.
"Tell him that if it weren't for his race, we wouldn't be having this conversation," Charra said. "It's a Chokmnd we're after now, it's always a Chokmnd."
"That's not true," Zavik said pointing a finger at Charra. "There was the Sequoia revolt a few years ago. I know a thing or two about that."
"I wasn't involved," Charra said.
"But you can't ignore it," Zavik said.
"The Rovun have done plenty of nasty things before," Brax said. "They invaded Chrosis without cause and started a war with the Durthian.
"That was thousands of years ago!" Charra said.
"Yes, well, in a thousand years we'll be saying the same thing about us."
"I'll be dead in a thousand years, I only care about right now, and right now we're constantly fighting Chokmnd."
"It's not my fault," Brax said. "All races have their bad pieces. Ours just happen to be better at turning them into intergalactic conflicts."
"We can debate the better race later," Dani said.
"She's right," Zavik said, "We have more pressing issues. We have to assume there are more of these crystals out there. Any idea what these are? Or how he used them to fly and attack us?"
"I've never seen anything like it before," Charra said.
Brax looked at the crystal and moved to pick it up.
Charra grabbed his wrist and said, "Careful, it makes you want things you didn't even know you wanted. Makes you feel like you can solve all your problems if you just used it for yourself."
"What did it make you want?" Brax asked.
"To see my family," Charra said, his voice quivering at the end.
Charra had never mentioned his family before. None of them really did before Brax. Families were all in the past. Some long gone, others just too far away. The Galaxy was too big and demanding for you to keep up with them. It was easy to get lost in your own time and your own world. Zavik could hardly remember the last time he talked to his mother. Probably shortly after he was court-martialed. She seemed more worried about the shame he'd brought to the family than the lives he'd saved. He wasn't surprised Charra never mentioned his family, but he was surprised the crystal made him want to see them.
"What about you?" Brax asked, looking at Zavik.
"To kill Varin, save the Galaxy, and get rich," Zavik said.
"Those don't sound so bad," Brax said.
"It's not the actions," Zavik said, "so much as the methods it shows you. You realize you'd be willing to do almost anything to get what you want. Kill innocents, steal, whatever it takes."
"It made me fell like you were the problem," Charra said. "That I should get rid of you and take the ship for myself. Then I could go see my family."
"In that case, I think I'll pass on touching it," Brax said.
They looked at it for a moment as it just sat there glowing at them, goading them into picking it up. Begging to be used.
The Rinada was in Cedona space, but Dani had no direction to take them. They were going to need to find another supply of farm equipment for Garos, but she had no idea where to start.
"I think I know what it is," she said. "Or at least, what it's similar to. It looks an awful lot like one of the stones used in the portals."
"A getrino stone?" Brax asked.
"Yes," she said.
"What's that?" Charra asked.
Zavik shrugged his shoulders.
"Didn't they teach you anything about the portals in school or the military?" Dani asked.
"No," Zavik said. "We don't care how it works, just that it does."
"Wonderful," she said. "Getrino stones are what power the portals. They're a special element. Their mass is easily converted into pure energy." She glanced over her shoulder at the stone and said, "They're very dangerous, if not properly contained. Like a nuclear bomb times a million. The Chokmnd found a way to control the conversion and used the power to open a spacetime connection between two points. It's how the races found each other."
Brax smirked and stuck out his chest a little.
"Don't look so smug," Charra said. "It wasn't you that figured it out. It was over fifty thousand years ago."
"Still, you're welcome," Brax said.
"You think that is one of those stones?" Zavik asked.
"Well, I've only ever seen them in pictures," Dani said. "They're very valuable, and only mined on a few planets. The Council keeps a very tight record on the stones. They can be very dangerous if not handled properly."
"How dangerous?" Charra asked.
"If you touch a raw stone, it can destroy your body," she said. "It eats away at the molecular level.
"So maybe we just leave it sitting there," Brax said.
"What if it destroys the ship?" Zavik asked.
"It's fine," she said. "You both touched it and nothing happened. Whatever it is that's containing it is keeping it safe. It's what made it safe for Traval to use."
"I didn't realize these could be turned into weapons," Zavik said. "Why doesn't the Council use these?"
"That's a question for someone else," she said.
"Should we take it to the Council?" Charra asked.
"We're already here," Brax said.
"And tell them what?" Zavik asked. "That we were attacked by some agent of Varin who used this stone to fly. Sound like we're nuts."
"This coming from the guy who thought Varin was out to conquer the Galaxy from the Dark Sector," Charra said.
"Seems your hunch was right," Brax said.
Zavik was silent. It was, but that was no comfort. All along he knew it wasn't over. Varin would never go away so quietly.
"Must feel good," Brax added.
Zavik's head snapped to look at him. "Nothing about this feels good. I didn't want to believe it, I just couldn't shake the feeling. Now, knowing that Traval and Varin are planning something, I feel angry that I didn't push harder."
"There was nothing more you could have done," Charra said. "We all blindly ignored the possibilities, pretended we were safe. That'll be on us."
"There's still time to warn them," Dani said.
"Of what?" Charra asked. "We don't know what they're plan is."
"An invasion," Zavik said.
"Can't be," Brax said. "That would be impossible. He would need more than what was left of Red Moon's fleet to make any kinds of gains. The Council fleet would crush him."
"Not if their positions weakened," Zavik said. "He's already taken out strategic points as we know. And now Soltin has been lost. It's not an anomaly or phenomenon. Varin already controls the planet and shu
t the portals down."
"That's a hell of a leap," Brax said.
"It is," Zavik said, "but if it's right, they need to know who and what they're dealing with." He looked at the stone. "I'm taking this to the Councilor. You with me?"
Charra snarled. "Whatever gets me another shot at that flying freak. He made it personal."
"Varin always does," Dani said. "He has to be stopped."
"I'm sure Rudy would feel the same way," Brax said. "Assuming, of course, that he could actually feel that blade go into his arm. Do you even think she'll see us again?"
Chapter 18
Zavik sat in the Councilor's office, feeling like he was back in grade school being berated by the Principal. She had agreed to see them for five minutes between lunch and a meeting with a Savin official over a trade dispute with Earth. A small famine hit Eris and caused a spike in prices of Sardinian grains. The Savins didn't feel that the current price Earth was paying was adequate, and they wanted to raise it substantially. Unfortunately for them, the contract set the price for the next year. They were going to be required to provide the goods at that price, or risk having their exporter's license revoked by the Council, a threat she was ready to backup.
She sat them down and started yelling almost immediately. Most of the five minutes had been used up already. Every time Zavik tried to talk she would ignore him, cut him off, and keep on yelling.
She was mad about Garos. She knew Garos didn't have the farm equipment, she would have received word of its arrival, and if they were sitting in her office, they clearly weren't getting the supplies for Garos. She yelled about how important Garos is to Earth's stability. That the two planets can work together in a more cooperative role than any other systems can with Earth to ensure each other’s survival and sustainability. She told them that they were putting Garos's survival in jeopardy for their own selfish reasons. She reminded them about how they hacked into their systems, and how angry she was about that. And one more thing, she didn't really like them right now, and half-wished she wouldn't have lobbied for them to get the job. Zavik was too reckless, she said, and she should have seen this coming.
She finally paused to catch her breath. The time was pushing close to five minutes, and he hadn't gotten much more than, "Hi," out of his mouth. He saw an opportunity and pulled out the stone. A blue ocean of light lay in his hand. It filled the room, mixing with the slight yellow of her overhead lights to cast a pale green tint on their faces. Zavik looked at the Councilor and remarked to himself how much she looked like an Iriquios just then. Her eyes were fixated on the stone. Her mouth hung open. She started to reach for it but jerked back her hands.
"What is that?" she asked.
"This is why we're here," Zavik said, "mostly."
"I think it is a getrino stone," Dani said.
The Councilor continued to look at it, but her expression turned from fascination to worry.
"It does resemble one," she said. "I've only ever seen large stones, and never in person. That is very dangerous."
"We know," Brax said. "A Chokmnd used it to attack us."
"What do you mean he used it to attack you?" she asked. "These stones are dangerous, but they're not exactly weapons."
"We don't know how he used it," Zavik said, "but he had...powers."
"Powers?" Her face wrinkled and she lifted her eyes from the stone finally, resting them on Zavik. She cocked her head to the side and said, "What do you mean, powers?"
"He could fly, and move things without touching them," Zavik said.
"Oh, and he could deflect our blasters," Charra added. "That was a particularly annoying trick."
"Are you joking?" she asked. "If you couldn't tell, I'm not in the mood."
"No, no," Dani said. "This isn't a joke. It was a Chokmnd named Traval. We know he used to work for Varin in Red Moon. He wore the Red Moon insignia, and we both remember his name from when Varin tortured us on Theros."
The Councilor put a hand out and touched Dani's forearm as if the recollection of that story caused her personal pain. She made no such gesture towards Zavik. "Oh, my dear, I'm so sorry you had to relive that."
"He's still working with Varin," Zavik said, slightly annoyed at the lack of sympathy he was receiving.
"Excuse me?" she said.
"Traval is still working with Varin," he said. "They're planning something big, he said so."
"Varin is in the Dark Sector, Zavik. I thought we had discussed this."
"And I didn't think Chokmnd could fly any more than pigs can," Zavik said.
"He just compared Chokmnd to pigs," Charra laughed in Brax's ear.
"You don't even know what a pig is," Brax said.
Charra stopped laughing and said, "It's like a rat, right. We have rats on Tunertha. I mean they're like rats. Except they have spikes down their backs. Don't try and step on them."
"You need to put more security around Garos," Zavik continued. "It's in the Outer Spiral, and I think that's where Varin will invade first."
"You think he's moving to invade?" she asked. "Somehow, someway?"
"I think it's obvious," Zavik said. He was growing tired of no one believing him. At this point, he almost wished he would forget about it all and just let Varin invade. Then they'd see. Then they'd realize how right he was, how if they would've just listened to him from the beginning, things would be different. Who knows how much damage Varin would do before they'd finally realize what was really going on? Let the Council fail, then he could use the stone to stop Vain himself. "Look at what he attacked and destroyed with his ships. It crippled the Council Fleet, we both know it. When we were leaving Cedona last time, there were an awful lot of capital ships stationed around the planet, even more were here when we just arrived. Did the Council pull back some of the fleet? Are you trying to protect Cedona at the risk of the Outer Systems?"
"The reason those ships are here is classified," she said. "Besides, there are still plenty of ships in the Outer Sectors to protect them, and at a moments notice any number of the ships here can reach them."
"Unless the portals are knocked offline," Zavik said, "like at Soltin. Did you ever figure out what happened there?"
"Our fleet was scheduled to arrive there earlier today," she said. "With the nature of interstellar transmissions, it will take a few days before we get any word back. The portals give us near-instant communications, so hopefully they can bring them back online."
"And while you wait around, he makes moves to strengthen his invasion," Zavik said. "You need to send help to Garos. Varin hates humans. Even though Garos isn't strategically valuable to him, he'll still want to destroy our colony."
"You want me to order our military to send a battle fleet to Garos to stand guard over a possible invasion from a Chokmnd criminal everyone knows is trapped in the Dark Sector?"
"Yes," Zavik said. He didn't think it was such an odd request. How could she not see how obvious it was?
"I think you should leave," she said. She stood and pointed him to the door.
"What?" he asked, infuriated that she wasn't being reasonable. "You're kicking us out? Again?"
"Yes!" she said. "I'm done having this conversation. Now, go, finish your job for Garos before I decide to void your contract."
"Zavik," Dani said tugging at his shirt, "we should go. I'm sorry about this."
"I am too," Councilor Hains said.
Zavik quietly left the office, his fists clenched and his head throbbing. The others followed him out, Dani again apologizing to the Councilor. She slammed the door to her office behind them.
"We should just go," Dani said.
"No, wait," Zavik said.
"No, Zavik! We've waited long enough. We all agree that something's going on that the Councilor can't see, but it's not our job to show her anymore. Our job is to finish delivering the supplies for Garos, and I think we've put it off long enough."
"She's right," Brax said. "If they won't listen, it's their fault. We tried to show her, ther
e's nothing more we can do."
"You're wrong," Zavik said. "I know what we can do."
Zavik walked out of the reception area of the Councilor's office. Dani protested for him to stop, but he kept moving, ignoring her pleas. They lagged behind him as he stormed down the hallway of the Council Chambers.
The narrow hallway was empty, save for a guard posted at a few random doors. He turned right and continued down another hallway. Dani yelled for him to stop in as quiet a shouting voice as she could muster. He couldn't though. He had gotten an idea and now he needed to see it through to completion, no matter what the consequences would be.
He stopped at a door with a guard standing to its left. The title on the door read RIGENDAS EKRIDGE. He was the Chokmnd Councilor who replaced the Paquiko after Varin killed him. The Chokmnd were the leaders of the Council, no matter what the Iriquios, or Rovun, or any other race thought. The illusion of democracy between the races was all well and good for the public, but Zavik knew that what the Chokmnd wanted, more often than not, was what happened. If you could sway them to your side, you were golden. If you angered them, well, good luck getting that new colony approved, or getting help to clear out pirates that have settled down in your system.
Zavik knew he had to convince him that Varin was back. He looked down at his hand, still clutching the stone. It's blue light pierced through his fingers only slightly as he held it tight.
"I need to speak to Rigendas," he said to the ornately dressed Chokmnd standing guard. Dani, Brax and Charra caught up to him and froze at the sight of the guard.
"Do you have an appointment with the Councilor?" the Chokmnd guard asked.
"No, but-"
"Then I'm afraid you can not be permitted in," he said.
"I just need to show him something," Zavik said. The guard moved in front of the door. He noticed how distraught Zavik was and, doing his duty, he was positioning himself to protect the Councilor.
"What is that in your hand?" the guard asked.
"It's a getrino stone," Zavik said.
The guard didn't react to the name, he just asked, "What's it for?"
"I don't know," Zavik said, "that's what I have to ask him about."
