Queen of Demons (Chaos of the Covenant Book 7)

by M. R. Forbes

  “You’ll fry the whole place. Life support, everything.”

  “That’s why you need to do it and then abandon ship. Get everyone out of there.”

  “These people are injured. Weak. The Gift was ripped from them, too.”

  “Do your best, Olus,” Abbey said.

  “Roger. I’m on it. How much time do I have?”

  “Let’s say two minutes,” Gant said.

  “Two?” Olus replied. “Frag.”

  “Stop talking, start walking,” Bastion said.

  Olus disconnected.

  “I suppose we get the hard job,” Abbey said.

  “What job is that?” Bastion asked.

  “Distracting Thraven.”

  “I was afraid you were going to say that.”

  Abbey followed Bastion and Ruby to the Faust’s cockpit. She stared out of the canopy toward the Gate. The entire center was dark, and it was beginning to expand backward, creating a tunnel through space and time and dimensions.

  “Just remember,” Abbey said. “That asshole killed me.”

  “Roger,” Bastion said. He hit the thrusters, sending the Faust forward. “I hope you have some mojo left.”

  “A little,” Abbey said, feeling a strain of the Shard’s Light within her. It was still weak, but it would have to do.

  “Here we go.”

  The Faust dove toward Thraven. He still didn’t seem to notice them, continuing to face toward the Gate, his hands held wide.

  “Fire,” Abbey said.

  Ruby triggered the cannons, sending projectiles into Thraven’s back. The attack surprised him enough that the force pushed him in space, blood ejecting from fresh holes in his rear. He recovered quickly, spinning and tracking the Faust as it vectored past, ready to make another run.

  “Cage.”

  Abbey heard his voice in her mind, still speaking to her through the naniates. It was a rough connection. Filtered.

  “We aren’t done yet,” she replied.

  “You think the Shard can save you? Any of you? He couldn’t even save himself.”

  Thraven lifted his hand and fire belched away from it, stretching toward them in a tight line. Abbey breathed out, feeling the Shard’s Light expand to meet it, a wave of cold energy that caused the fire to dissipate before it hit them.

  She felt dizzy, and she gripped the side of the pilot’s seat to keep from falling over.

  “I can’t do this for long.”

  “Gant,” Olus said. “Gravity Control is ready for you.”

  “You need to evacuate,” Gant said.

  “We’re trying, but don’t wait for us.”

  “Pudding,” Gant said. “Send the commands. Queenie, keep him from noticing the link, or we’re fragged.”

  “Of course,” Phlenel said in Keeper’s voice.

  The tendril link between the Covenant and the Gate began to pulse with blue energy, stretching out to the Gate.

  The Faust came around again on the opposite side of it, firing on Thraven. The rounds vanished into the darkness of the naniates, and Thraven reached out for them. The Faust shuddered and slowed, caught in a web.

  Abbey slammed her fist onto the seat, a light expanding from the cockpit ahead of them, the Shard’s Light cutting through the darkness and freeing them. They shot way, Bastion keeping them on the other side of the link.

  “Gant. Anything?” Abbey asked.

  “I’m adjusting pulses,” Gant said. “Not yet.”

  “Hurry.”

  “Roger.”

  The Faust swung around again. They were fortunate Thraven needed so much of his power to keep the Gate resonating, or they would have been crushed already.

  They made a third pass, Ruby firing the cannons on the Faust while Bastion kept them in a tight pattern that drew Thraven’s attention from the pulsing of the link. The Gloritant wiggled his fingers, and small beads of blackness expanded into their path. Each time one hit the Faust, the armor was disintegrated.

  “Oh crap,” Bastion said, trying to guide the ship through the sudden minefield.

  Abbey reached out with the Light, countering as many of the beads as she could. Her head started to spin, and she wound up falling into Ruby’s lap.

  “I’ve got you, Queenie,” Ruby said, holding onto her.

  “I think I’ve got it,” Gant said.

  Abbey tried to focus on the Gate. She could see the vibration of it in space. She could see it was starting to shake harder.

  Thraven noticed, too. He spun in position, turning to face the link.

  “Not so fast, mother fragger,” Bastion said.

  He cut a new vector, triggering the cannons himself. Rounds poured into Thraven, severing an arm and a leg and pushing him off course.

  The limbs were pulled back to the body and reattached, and Thraven reached out with the Gift once more, throwing a spear of darkness at the Faust.

  Abbey pushed herself to her feet on shaking hands, then clapped them together, the Light of the Shard spreading out from them and catching the spear, holding in place as Bastion rolled the ship around it, catching Thraven from the side.

  “Surprise,” he said, blasting him again. The rounds ripped Thraven’s head off, blowing it into a mutilated pulp.

  Blood poured out of the wound, and the naniates spread to collect it, working to bring the head back to the body and repair it. While they did, the Gate’s resonance continued to gain in intensity, shaking so hard that pieces of it began to float away.

  A transport detached from a docking arm, thrusters flaring and carrying it from the Gate. A second followed.

  “Queenie, better get clear,” Gant said.

  “Imp, get us out of here,” Abbey said.

  “Aye, Queenie,” Bastion replied.

  She fell back into Ruby’s lap as the Faust turned and shot away. Behind them, the naniates reconstructed Thraven, regaining their host once more.

  “Caaaaagggeeee,” they shouted, though the anger barely registered through the Light.

  The Gate exploded.

  It wasn’t a fiery detonation, but a silent one. It expanded and shattered, the hole within it shattering as well, trillions of tiny pieces as the resonance caused the naniates to shut down and lose cohesion in a blast like a rain storm. It swept across Thraven, knocking the naniates within him offline as well, their granular forms pulling him apart atom by atom and reducing him to nothing.

  The wave of debris and naniates flowed outward in a sphere, spreading as it went. The Covenant was close to the Gate, and it took the brunt of the force, the outer hull buckling under the trauma, gun batteries and towers torn apart. Some of Lucifer’s Nephilim had remained, and they too were caught by the explosion, their ships shredded in the storm.

  The transports raced behind the Faust, staying ahead of the blast, altering course to take cover on the safe side of the Covenant. The dead naniates spread around them, vanishing into the black.

  Abbey sat on Ruby’s lap, struggling to keep her head up. Bastion was looking at her, grinning from ear-to-ear. Gant was on the comm, chittering like he was psychotic.

  “Hell, yeah,” Pik roared, his voice echoing inside the cockpit. “Reee-jects!”

  Abbey closed her eyes, letting herself take a relaxed breath, the first of what she hoped would be many to come.

  “Hell, yeah,” she said.

  61

  A FEW WEEKS LATER….

  “I bet they’re going to give us medals,” Pik said. “Big shiny ones. I think we deserve that.”

  “We deserve a hell of a lot more than that,” Bastion said. “We saved the entire galaxy. That should at least be worth a planet or two. A city at a minimum.”

  “What am I going to do with a planet?” Pik said. “I don’t need that kind of aggravation. I think Earth is a perfect example of that.”

  “You mean the cleanup?” Benhil said. “I’m sure they’ll get it all straightened out now that Thraven’s former cronies have all vanished.”

  “They’re stil
l out there,” Abbey said, wishing it wasn’t true. “They’re hiding for now, but that won’t last forever.”

  “Not my problem,” Pik said. “I’m done with killing things.”

  “But you’re so good at it,” Benhil said.

  “It doesn’t matter. I don’t like it anymore. I’m going back to Tro to claim a wife, and then I’m going to have a few little Piks and then I’m going to eat and drink and have sex until I die.”

  “I thought you didn’t want a Trover wife?”

  Pik shrugged. “I think I’m tough enough to handle one now.”

  “What are you going to do, Queenie?” Jequn asked, smiling.

  Like with Olus, the loss of the Gift seemed to have been a benefit to the Ophanim, rather than a loss. At least now she would get to live a hopefully long and full life.

  Unfortunately, Trinity wouldn’t. Nerd wouldn’t either. And there were so many more. Herschel, Dak, and Sylvan Kett to name a few.

  They had taken time to remember and mourn the fallen Rejects after the battle was over. Even so, the losses were still fresh, the wounds still raw. At least they had died as heroes, for whatever that was worth.

  Abbey forced herself off their memory and back to Jequn’s question.

  What was she going to do now?

  The power of the Shard had faded somewhat after Thraven and the Gate were destroyed. She only felt it in one place now - the Hell brand on her neck. The Shard had warned her it would happen, and she had made a promise.

  One she was going to keep.

  “I swore I would protect the galaxy,” she said. “That’s what I’m going to do.”

  “Aren’t you tired of it?” Bastion asked.

  “Yes. I’m very tired of it. But somebody has to do it, remember?”

  “Maybe you can take a vacation at least? We can go to the beaches of Maravan, assuming Maravan wasn’t blown to shit by the Nephilim.”

  “It’s a nice thought, Bastion, but Ruby, the Faust, and I are going to Koosa once we’re done with the council. The Koosian doctors haven’t been able to restore Hayley’s sight, even with mechanical augmentation. They don’t understand it. I’m hoping the Light of the Shard can help.”

  “What about her memories? Have they come back at all?”

  “Thankfully, no. She doesn’t remember what Thraven did to her. She doesn’t even remember being taken. It’s as good as I could have hoped for. She’s just a kid. She doesn’t need to have that trauma.”

  “Being blind is enough,” Benhil agreed.

  “After that, I’m taking Hayley and the Covenant back to Azure. I figure that’s as good of a home base as any.”

  “You’re really going to hunt down the Nephilim?”

  “I’m going to keep an eye on things. I’ve got Gant and Keeper to help me.”

  “Where is the little rodent?” Bastion asked.

  “He didn’t want to come,” Abbey said. “He doesn’t want a medal or a planet.”

  “His loss,” Pik said.

  The Faust shook slightly as Ruby touched it down at the makeshift spaceport not far from the temporary New Republic Council building.

  “We’re here,” Bastion said.

  “I heard the New Republic Council has opened a dialog with the Outworld Governance, thanks to Governess Ott,” Benhil said. “It looks like at least one good thing might come of all of this.”

  “An end to the bullshit would be nice,” Abbey agreed. “Hopefully they can come to an agreement.”

  “They’d be idiots not to,” Pik said.

  “Politicians aren’t known for being smart,” Bastion said.

  “So you’re planning to go into politics?” Benhil asked.

  “Funny.”

  Pik laughed. “I thought so.”

  “Shut up.”

  The Faust’s hatch opened as Ruby joined them. Abbey went out first, trailed by the rest of the Rejects.

  “Abigail,” Olus said, waiting on the ground.

  He was flanked by a New Republic Armed Services Officer on either side. A General and an Admiral in full uniform.

  “Captain,” Abbey replied. “Or is it Colonel now?”

  Olus smiled. “Actually, it’s neither. I decided to reject the position. I just wanted you to see a familiar face when you arrived.”

  “Why?”

  “I’m moving into the private sector. I’m getting too old for bureaucracy. ”

  “Good choice,” Pik said.

  The Rejects reached the ground. The officers still didn’t move or speak. They stood stoically on either side of Olus.

  “Lieutenant Abigail Cage,” Abbey said, saluting them. “Highly Specialized Operational Combatant.”

  “We know who you are,” the Admiral said. “We know who all of you are.”

  “You’ve done a great service to the Republic,” the General said. “And we thank you for it.”

  Abbey felt a tickle at the base of her neck. She didn’t like the way the General said that.

  “But?” she said, eyes shifting, looking past the officers. There were other ships on the tarmac, but where were the other civilians?

  “We have a small problem, Abigail,” the Admiral said.

  He didn’t use her rank. Maybe it was a formality? Technically, she wasn’t still a member of the armed services.

  Technically, she was a convict.

  They all were.

  She noticed motion from the line of ships ahead of them. Soldiers were moving out onto the landing field. They were dressed in battlesuits, armed and ready for war.

  “What the frag is this?” she said, looking directly at Olus.

  “You were convicted of treason, and sentenced to life in Hell,” the General said. “All of you were.”

  “I wasn’t,” Jequn said.

  “I wasn’t either,” Ruby agreed.

  “Does this mean we don’t get a medal?” Pik asked.

  “This is bullshit,” Bastion said.

  “We can’t simply forget your past transgressions, regardless of your recent actions,” the Admiral said. “We are a nation of laws. Those of you who were convicted are expected to finish out your sentences, at which point you’ll be permitted to move on with your lives.”

  “It was a life sentence, asshole,” Benhil said.

  The Admiral smirked.

  “Olus, you son of a bitch,” Abbey said. “You knew about this?”

  Olus hesitated for a moment and then nodded. “I did. I’m sorry, Abigail.”

  “You piece of shit,” Pik yelled. “I’m going to crush your-”

  “Relax, Pik,” Olus said. “There’s a reason I rejected the New Republic’s offer.”

  He reached into a pocket, holding up a small device.

  “Is that what I think it is?” Abbey asked.

  Olus smiled. “It is.”

  “Captain?” the General said, seeing the device. “What is the meaning of this?”

  “You don’t frag with the Rejects, General. Remember that when you wake up.”

  Olus activated the device.

  The ships surrounding the Faust exploded.

  The detonations were shaped, the blast knocking the soldiers on their asses. Olus grabbed the General, pulling him down and slamming him hard in the temple with his fist.

  Abbey didn’t hesitate, reaching for the Admiral, punching him in the face, breaking his nose and knocking him down.

  “Let’s go Rejects,” she said.

  They piled back into the Faust. Bastion whooped as he hurried to the cockpit, dropping into the pilot’s seat and igniting the reactor.

  “I have to admit, I kind of like being a galaxy-saving outlaw.”

  “Are you sure you don’t want to be a politician?” Ruby asked.

  “Are you kidding? Those guys are assholes.”

  The Faust lifted into the air, rocketing away.

  “Humph. They aren’t even trying to chase us,” Bastion said.

  “That’s because the explosion also triggered a massive EM
P blast, which I know for a fact the Faust is shielded from,” Olus said.

  “Thanks for not turning us in,” Benhil said.

  “How could I? They’re employers. We’re family.”

  “Hell, yeah,” Pik said.

  “It looks like we’re sticking together, after all, Queenie,” Bastion said.

  “I wish the circumstances were different, but I’m happy to have you with me,” Abbey said. “Whether they know it or not, the galaxy needs us.”

  “Let’s go do some evil,” Benhil said.

  “So nobody else has to,” the rest of them replied.

  Hell, yeah.

  THE END… For now.

  AUTHOR’S NOTE

  Well frag me, it looks like we’ve reached the end of the Chaos of the Covenant series. Thank you, thank you, thank you for reading all the way through. I really hope you’ve enjoyed consuming the story as much as I loved producing it.

  It’s always a strange feeling to get to the end of a series. As an author, I feel connected to the characters, so saying goodbye to them is always a little bittersweet. It’s a little different in this case because there will be more Covenant adventures to come in the future, and you haven’t seen the last of Queenie and the Rejects.

  With that said, I hope you’ll come back for more when the time arrives, and I hope you’ll consider signing up for my mailing list so you’ll know when new Covenant books, and all of the other books that I’m writing become available (assuming you don’t think I’m a flaming turd of an author). You can do that here: mrforbes.com/notify.

  Since you’ve finished the series, I really, really, hope you’ll consider leaving a review for this one. If you have for any of the other books, I applaud you wildly, and thank you greatly. Social proof is still one of the main ways that authors are discovered and read, and every time you recommend one of my books, leave a review, or otherwise share your enjoyment of my words with others, you’re proving that I don’t suck, and I appreciate that.

  If you’d like to leave a review for Queen of Demons, you can do that here: mrforbes.com/queenofdemonsreview

  Thank you again.

  Cheers,

  Michael.