“Dean, glad to be going home?” Suma asked, sneaking up beside me.
I put my arm around her and hugged her close. “Yes, Suma, I am. How about you?”
She looked up at me, and then at my baby girl. “Home will be a welcome destination. I look forward to seeing my father.”
“Sarlun must be at his wits’ end, wondering what happened to you. I hope he doesn’t kill me,” I said.
Suma squawked a laugh. “You stopped the universe from being eaten by the Unwinding. I think that awards you a little slack.”
I looked down at my newborn and said grimly, “Not from the love of a father, it doesn’t.”
“Did you name her yet?” Suma asked, and I shook my head. Mary was sleeping, and our schedules hadn’t allowed for a lot of alone time. I knew we’d come to a decision soon.
We stood watching the lava ocean seethe red and hot in the distance, and soon we were lifting into space. From there, I saw the fleet Magnus had mentioned. Four massive ships hung there, and for a second, I had a flash of the Kraski vessels. I closed my eyes to forget the sight, but saw the Kraski with the scar across its face from my capture. What had a Kraski been doing with Lom of Pleva’s robot army?
These vessels were large but rounded, like the landers and other vessels that had come to the surface, yellow and orange over pale gray. Massive thrusters clung to the sides, making them look like disks with two cylinders strapped to them.
“Come on, we need to have a good long talk with the powers that be,” I said, knowing ultimately that title always fell back on my shoulders. That was going to change now. Mary and I had been through enough. It was time for a break.
The ships we were in entered the fleet vessel’s hangar, and we passed through the containment barrier before touching down on the floor inside.
“See you out there,” I said to Suma, and went down the halls to find the crew quarters. Inside, Mary was awake, and already dressed.
“There are my two favorite beings in the universe,” she said, coming over to take the baby from my arms.
“We need to name her. I can’t keep thinking of her as ‘baby’,” I said.
“I know. I was thinking about Jules. It was my grandmother’s name, and well, kind of fitting, don’t you think?” Mary looked down at our baby girl, who was sleeping softly in her arms. She ran a hand over Jules’ small head, which had a few whispers of thin dark hair flattened on it.
“I love it, Mary.” I moved beside them. “Hello, Jules. I’m your dad.” She didn’t seem to care right now. “We’re inside one of the fleet ships. We can finally learn what happened while we were gone. I’m curious to see how it all transpired.”
Mary didn’t look up from Jules. “I’m glad they found us, and that she’s okay.” She looked exhausted. It had been a long six months, accentuated by an extremely stressful birth.
We left the quarters. We had no possessions, so it was empty, save the few tattered clothes we’d had on our backs when we were found. Everything stayed behind. It was time to leave that part of our lives, and to get home.
SEVEN
The “war room” was half empty. We sat around the large table. Alien art adorned the walls, and everything felt so… unfamiliar. It was Rulo’s people’s art, and they liked clean lines and simplicity, with a flash of color.
Magnus sat across from me, looking casual in shorts and a button-down short-sleeved shirt. It was off-putting, seeing him wearing it in this setting. Leslie and Terrance were together, as ever, beside him, and they both smiled at Mary and me. One of Rulo’s people was there, though he was more gray than black, and older, somehow more dangerous-looking.
Slate sat at the end of the table, his head bandaged, but otherwise bright-eyed. He winked at me, making me laugh. Suma was at the other end, her snout twitching uneasily.
“Guys, this is Yope, Admiral of the Keppe. You’ve met Rulo. They’re the reason we were able to get here. Without them, things would have turned out much differently,” Leslie said, motioning toward the gray being.
“It’s an honor to meet you, Admiral Yope. Thank you for your assistance.” I stopped, unsure what else to say. A translator on the table echoed my words, but he remained silent, choosing not to reply to me.
“Yes, thanks for coming to get us,” Mary said. Jules let out a small cry.
“It wasn’t easy,” Magnus said, and now I saw the bags under his eyes, and the newly-formed wrinkles.
“What happened?” I asked him.
“You first!” Magnus was upset. “I mean, the last thing we knew, you were going to see Garo Alnod; the next, Bazarn Five is under attack, and you’re telling us you’re right on our tail.”
“Look, I know it was messed up, but it was what I needed to do.” I didn’t feel like I had to explain myself, but for Magnus, I would. “I found the Theos.”
Magnus’ eyes went wide. I glanced to Leslie, who wore a great poker face. “You what?”
“They gave me the power to carry some of them, like Mary was carrying the Iskios. It was the only way I could fight them. It worked too, but when we extracted the Iskios from her, we had to put them into the portal stone, where the Theos inside could fight them. In the process, the stone became useless, trapping us.”
It was actually a fairly simple explanation. Magnus’ expression told me otherwise. “That is… I don’t even know what to say.”
“Magnus. We’re all safe. Without Suma and Slate coming here, the battle was lost. I used the Shifter, a device Rivo’s father was only too happy to part with.”
Yope leaned forward, his snake eyes blinking slowly. His smooth words translated for us. “What is a Shifter?”
I didn’t know this man, or his people, but he’d gone out on a limb and fought Lom of Pleva’s troops to help save us, so I felt I should be able to trust him. Magnus clearly did. “Garo Alnod created a device meant to shift people, or even a planet, to another dimension, only he hadn’t intended it to be used as a weapon. Lom of Pleva did, and he wanted it. That was the reason Rivo was taken by those pirates in the first place.”
Magnus leaned back and rubbed his face with a meaty paw. “And the attack on Bazarn?”
“Lom, coming for it. I offered to take it in exchange for meeting Regnig, an ancient bird man who only speaks telepathically.”
Magnus let out a deep chuckle. I laughed with him, hearing how ridiculous it all sounded. “I know, it sounds insane, but I swear it’s true. Without him, I wouldn’t have found Karo.”
“Where is this device?” Yope asked plainly.
“Gone,” I said, and Yope went rigid. “You might notice the Unwinding is gone too.”
“You threw the Unwinding into another dimension?” Terrance asked, speaking for the first time. He looked impressed.
Suma joined in. “Dean was so brave. We didn’t think he was coming back.”
“Is that so? Suicide mission to stop the Unwinding. Just when I thought I’d seen it all, Dean Parker impresses me once again,” Magnus said. He looked over to Mary uneasily. “I’m glad you did make it back. Not that I doubted your ability to remain unscathed when danger calls.”
Mary met Magnus’ gaze. “How are Nat and the kids?”
The question broke the formality. “They were great when we left. I’ve been able to keep in touch with them using the communication devices Dean had when he and Leonard went to the Bhlat homeworld.”
“Now that’s something I could have used,” I said under my breath. I’d been so hell-bent on getting to Mary, I’d been short-sighted on a few things. Maybe a lot of things.
“Oh, Leonard’s staying at your house, Mary.” Magnus smirked at this.
“He is?” she asked.
“It needed someone to take care of it, and he was complaining about the apartment he was in, so I offered him the job. I hope you don’t mind,” Magnus said.
“Not at all,” I answered. “How are the dogs?” I missed Carey and Maggie, and even little Charlie. I knew they’d feel like I’d ab
andoned them yet again.
“They’re great, Dean. Leonard’s taking care of all the younger ones for a while, since Nat has her hands full. Carey’s by her side night and day, though.” Magnus lowered his voice. “That dog’s been with us through it all. He loves those kids so much.”
“Good. Glad to hear it.” Part of me wished I could turn it all back and never leave chasing after Mae. That Mary and I could have stayed and kept Carey with us, a small pseudo-family brought together in the chaos of the Event. But I knew Carey was happy with the way things worked out, and sitting beside my beautiful wife and healthy baby girl, I couldn’t help but feel grateful for our eventual path.
“Can we get back to the subject at hand?” Yope asked, clearly annoyed at our personal discussions. “So this Shifter is gone?”
“That’s what I said. Eaten up as it transferred the vortex into some unsuspecting alternate reality.” I watched Yope; if I didn’t know better, he looked relieved.
“Lom of Pleva is not a man you want to anger, but clearly the Alnods have. The accident at the mine left Lom dead, or so we all thought,” Yope said. His words flowed like melted butter in his native tongue.
“That was no accident,” I said.
“How do you mean?” Magnus asked.
“Garo set it up. Things weren’t good between the two of them. Ever since Garo swiped the purchase of some hyperdrive tech company from under his nose, Lom has had it out for Garo. They’re two rich titans out for blood. If my perspective is accurate, which I think it is, Lom’s on the wrong side of the fence,” I said. It was hard to tell sometimes. For all I knew, Garo’s lines to me were cold and calculated to have me side with him, while Lom was innocent.
“I knew it,” Yope said, slamming a fist on the table. “When I saw his ships and the markings on the artificial army, I’d hoped it was just someone from his corporation stepping in to take control. If Lom of Pleva lives, and his sights are targeted on you, then be afraid.”
“You seemed to take care of them pretty easily,” I suggested.
“And shifted the target to my back in the process,” Yope said.
“Dean, the admiral didn’t have to help us, but he did,” Leslie said.
“What exactly transpired to get us here?” Mary asked the group.
Suma leaned forward, and I glanced to Slate, who was sitting there like a silent soldier, assessing the entire conversation. I looked forward to discussing it with him later.
Leslie started. “We knew where you went, and we left your friend with Natalia. He’s safely on New Spero.”
Karo was on New Spero. That surprised me. I’d been worried about him being left to his own devices on Haven. Who knew what kind of trouble he might get in with a slip of his tongue? “Who else is here?” I asked, knowing Nick was. “Clare?”
“Just us, and Nick. He wanted to come… for Mary,” Magnus said.
“Anyway,” Leslie continued, “we knew where you went, and told Slate and Suma when they arrived. I thought you might be mad about that, but knew they’d be able to help if you needed it.”
“We wouldn’t be here without them,” Mary said, shooting Suma a smile.
“When Magnus showed up, bringing the fury of hell with him, we had no choice but to tell him what we knew,” Leslie added.
“We tried to access the portal here, but the icon was gone. Vanished. We knew that happened to the crystal world when you brought Leonard through with a visiting Iskios, so we assumed there was trouble,” Magnus said. “We waited, Dean. We waited for a week, hoping you’d find a way to come to us, or to New Spero, but nothing. Then we got word from the Bhlat.”
I sat up straight. “What about them? What did they want?”
“They won’t tell us,” Magnus said. “The Empress claims it’s for your ears only. Her emissaries weren’t pleased when we told them you were incapacitated at the moment. At first they thought we were trying to keep you from them, but eventually, I corresponded with the Empress herself. Thank God she remembered me, because otherwise, we might be screwed.”
“What happened?” Mary asked.
“She told me our time was up. That they needed the planet we promised as part of our deal with them,” Magnus said.
“What did you do?” I asked, nervous for the answer.
“I gave them a planet.”
“Do you have that authority?” Slate asked, getting a dirty look from Magnus.
“Listen, pup, I make the authority when I need to, and I handed the ice world over,” Magnus said. “With Sarlun’s blessing, of course.”
Slate let out a light laugh. “Of course,” he added.
The Bhlat were looking for me, and Magnus had given them the ice world where we’d found the first sign left behind by the Iskios. At the time, we’d thought they were the real Theos, guiding us to salvation. “That was the right move,” I said.
“It was. But the Empress was still adamant she speak with you. It wasn’t a suggestion,” Magnus said.
Leslie took over. “A week passed with no word from you, so we had to start the mission.”
“Which was?” Mary asked.
“Finding you at all costs. We knew where the planet was, but we had no way to quickly access it. The portal was down, but most of them are still functional,” Leslie answered.
I thought about the Theos life energy faintly thrumming inside the remaining portals. I felt the urge to close them all, releasing the Theos for all eternity. “How did you get here, then?”
“One of the portals opens to Keppe. They weren’t the closest race to Sterona,” Leslie said, using the name we’d discovered for the vacant world, “but Terrance and I knew of them from the odd visitor to Haven. We went there with Magnus and Sarlun, and pleaded our case for help.”
I saw Yope shift uncomfortably in his seat. “And they gave it so easily?” I inquired.
Leslie was careful with her words, glancing over at Magnus. “They accepted our terms.”
I decided now wasn’t a good time to find out what those terms were.
“They have a powerful fleet, a widespread system of colonized planets. Dean, the Keppe are someone we need on our side. Their ships got us here in two months, and when we arrived, we couldn’t believe there were ships already in orbit. Once we realized they were here for you as well, it didn’t take long to remove the threat.” Magnus said the last after a slight hesitation.
There was something Magnus was leaving out of the conversation. It was written all over his tired face, and his body language was rigid, pretending to be calm. It was off-putting. I made eye contact with him, and the frown he was wearing softened slightly.
Once again, he’d been dragged across the universe, through a few portals, and, after bargaining with the Keppe, onto another alien fleet. He missed his kids, his wife, his life.
“Now that we’re all caught up, can we go home? We have Mary, the Iskios are gone, the Unwinding isn’t here any longer, and you found us. Let’s leave Sterona behind and go home. What I wouldn’t give to sleep in my own bed for a while,” I said.
“I miss my father,” Suma said, no doubt wishing he’d come on the trip to rescue her.
“If there’s not anything else, I say we let everyone go and get on our way.” Magnus started to get up, but I raised a hand.
I didn’t want to say the words out loud, because it would only make them truer. Maybe if I kept it to myself, it could be like it hadn’t happened. When I closed my eyes for a second, I saw hordes of Kraski back on the mother ship, vomiting green before collapsing to their deaths.
“When you rescued me, I was being interrogated by someone,” I said, catching everyone’s attention.
“You were? I assumed you were just being held by them until Lom of Pleva arrived,” Magnus said.
I shook my head. “I don’t think he was coming here personally. He sent someone in his stead.”
Mary set a hand on mine. “Who was it?”
“It was a Kraski.”
EIGHT
“A Kraski?” Magnus asked loudly. “Are you sure?”
“I am. It was hiding in the room’s shadows, asking me questions about my guilt or my decisions. It was going to try me for my crimes against them, I think. I only saw its face when I was being pulled out of the room after you rescued me.”
“Then you could be wrong,” Mary said.
“No. I’ll never forget their faces. Never.” I motioned a finger horizontally across my cheeks. “This one was scarred.”
“I thought we destroyed all of them.” Magnus shared the guilt of our task with me. It bonded us, but also affected us in a way most people wouldn’t understand. We thought we’d committed genocide against an entire race, but we’d come to terms with that as best we could. Now, knowing there were more out there, I felt relieved in a small way, but with that relief came the worry of vengeance.
“It all makes sense if you think about it,” Mary said. She adjusted a sleeping Jules in her arms and looked around the table. “What do we know? Lom of Pleva created the hybrid technology.”
Leslie and Terrance shifted in their seats, and Yope glanced their way, a look of distaste on his face. I saw him and Rulo lock eyes, sharing something between them. It worried me.
Mary continued. “The Bhlat were coming for the Kraski and their system, and when they knew they’d lose the inevitable battle, they fled, taking their Deltra slaves and their hybrid army. Where did they get the hybrids?”
Magnus answered, “Lom of Pleva.”
“Right. He sold them to the Kraski,” I said. “What did Sergo say on Volim? There’s profit to be made in times of chaos. That’s the mentality someone like Lom of Pleva would live or die by.”
“So they have a relationship. Now the Kraski are using his assets to find the one that destroyed their people. Dean Parker,” Admiral Yope said. “I’ve heard of these Kraski. They were once a feared opponent, before the Bhlat grew so powerful. It seems you’ve made an ally with one of the universe’s most deadly races, Dean. How is that so?”
The Survivors Box Set Page 112
