Beyond the Shroud of the Universe

by Chris Kennedy

  “One last thing,” the admiral said. “We never had this conversation.”

  “How could we?” the janitor asked. He turned around, a black man again. “I was never here.”

  Lieutenant Salo’s Room, Bachelor Officer’s Quarters, NAS Oceana, October 8, 2021

  “Is that really the Fleet Commander’s signature?” Bucket asked.

  Yokaze nodded.

  “How did you get it?”

  “Ninjas are experienced in the art of disguise,” Yokaze said. “I disguised myself and walked into his office.”

  “And no one noticed you?” Jamming asked.

  “I was very good at disguise before I met the Aesir,” replied Yokaze. “When I saw the things Reeve Farhome could do, I knew having those abilities would come in handy, so I asked him to teach me. I can’t do everything he can, and I used up most of the nanobots he gave me visiting the admiral, but it worked. Now I just have to figure out how to get to the Aesir home world so I can get more nanobots.”

  “He trained you as an Eco Warrior?” Night asked.

  “No, he said the training takes 150 years. Sadly, I do not think I will have the time available to complete the program. He did, however, teach me how to control nanobots and showed me how to get them to do a few basic things.”

  Night looked at his watch. “Okay,” he said; “time to go. Remember, we have two objectives tonight. Kill Arges and find something that incriminates him. Killing him frees our planet; getting the evidence gives us back our lives. Without it, no one from the Vella Gulf can ever come home again.”

  “Hai!” Yokaze said. “We will find what we need, and we will kill Arges. Honor will not be satisfied with less.”

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Medical, TSS Vella Gulf, Epsilon Eridani System, October 23, 2021

  “Nightsong got away,” Captain Sheppard said to the assembled group. Since Calvin wasn’t up to attending a meeting in the conference room, Captain Sheppard had moved the meeting to medical, against the wishes of the senior medibot, who had stood watching, metal foot tapping, until ordered to leave.

  “I thought you said the Domans had a cruiser guarding the stargate,” Calvin noted. “What happened to it?”

  “They did,” Captain Sheppard replied; “unfortunately, they didn’t have any experience in cross-universe operations. When they saw the ship appear, they left their position to intercept it. When Nightsong started dropping things from orbit onto the planet, they assumed he was bombing their home world and sped up to intercept him sooner. Once he had them established on a track toward the planet, he jumped back into the Jinn Universe and accelerated toward the stargate. When he jumped back to our universe, he was already past the cruiser and made it to the stargate before they could turn around and go after him.”

  “And the Gulf never got a shot at him either?”

  “Sadly, no,” Captain Sheppard replied. “He knows all our weapons ranges and stayed outside of them while he was in the same universe we were. The problem we have is he knows everything about us while we really don’t know anything about him.”

  “True,” Calvin agreed.

  “We were hoping you’d be able to shed a little light on his plans,” Captain Sheppard said. “Did he tell you anything about where he’s going or what he and Arges intend to do?”

  “Very little,” Calvin replied. “He gave me some generalities, but he didn’t want to share any of the specifics.” He was silent for a moment while he tried to remember everything Nightsong had said.

  “Before I tell you what I know or can guess about Nightsong’s intentions,” Calvin continued, “there is a faulty assumption in your last question. Nightsong and Arges are not in this together. Arges caught Nightsong a long time ago…thousands of years, actually…and has been controlling his actions ever since. During that time, Nightsong has been developing a plan of his own, not only to get free from Arges, but also to get revenge for events that happened in his childhood. What we are seeing now is the culmination of these plans.”

  “So, they aren’t working together?” Lieutenant O’Leary asked. “That would explain some of the…randomness…and why things don’t seem to fit together.”

  “Exactly. In many cases, I think Nightsong actually was working against Arges, just to spite him, but Nightsong had to be careful. He couldn’t give himself away too early and risk having Arges turn him in.” Calvin paused, then added, “Of course, by this point, their paths are so intertwined that Arges really couldn’t throw Nightsong under the bus without throwing himself there too.”

  “That would explain why the Efreet on anti-Earth weren’t ready for us,” O’Leary mused. “They had a huge warehouse, but it was empty. They had a walled outpost, but didn’t have the weapons to defend it from anyone except maybe the Sila.”

  “Yeah, Nightsong jumped the gun,” Calvin replied. “I heard his radio call right after he captured me. The Efreeti/Iranian alliance wasn’t ready and had to adjust its plans when our troops showed up on anti-Earth. They were pissed off but had to start the war even though they weren’t ready.”

  “In that case,” Captain Sheppard said, “he actually helped us. That let us hit them before they were ready. Well, aside from the Iranians nuking Tashkent, anyway.”

  “What?” Calvin asked. “The Iranians nuked Tashkent? What the hell for?”

  “Apparently, when Nightsong jumped the gun, that was the closest target they could hit that wouldn’t send radiation back into Iran,” Captain Sheppard replied. “The Iranians tried to take over the world government, but your platoon went to anti-Earth and destroyed their facilities, restoring the Republic government.”

  “Awesome!” Calvin exclaimed. “You guys are heroes!”

  “Well, it really wasn’t that much of an operation,” O’Leary said. “We put together a whole big attack plan, but they didn’t have the defenses in place to stop us, and we rolled right over them. Unfortunately, on the way back we stopped to pay a visit to Arges, and that cost us any accolades we might have won on the mission.”

  “You already said that didn’t go well.”

  “No, not in the slightest,” O’Leary replied. “He was ready for us and trapped Captain Train. The little bastard thought he killed him too, but we broke in just before Captain Train died and saved him. Part of Captain Train’s combat gear included a 10-minute respirator, which he used to keep from being poisoned by Arges. We realized something would have to be done about the little piece of shit, so Captain Train stayed behind with Yokaze and a shuttle crew to take him out.”

  “Umm…isn’t killing civilians kind of illegal?”

  “Killing Terran civilians is definitely illegal,” O’Leary replied. “However, killing alien civilians is more of a gray area. We looked; Arges never got citizenship anywhere on Terra. Countries just let him stay within their borders because he is a huge celebrity, and he pays a phenomenal amount of taxes, so they turn a blind eye to his nationality. Besides, if we don’t take him out, who will? He controls all the information gathering and disseminating services, and he can turn public opinion against anyone in a very short time. If Arges thought we were still after him, he would have all the law enforcement agencies dropping what they were doing to find us, just to get him off their asses. The only way we had a chance to get him was if Captain Train stayed “dead,” and it looked like we all fled. Hopefully, his guard will be low enough that they will be able to get into his castle and terminate him. If we don’t kill him, everyone on Terra will always be under his thumb. And, since he is immortal, I do mean always.”

  “I see,” Calvin said. “I wish them the best, although two people against the best security force money can buy seems somewhat…inadequate, even if one is a ninja and the other’s Night. Still, you tried the direct approach, and that didn’t work, so I can see why you went with something a little more discreet.” He sighed. “Nothing we can do about it now, anyway. Hopefully, they’ll be successful; I’d like to go home again sometime.” Calvin shrugged.
“So, where does that leave us?”

  “Now that we know for sure Nightsong is in the courier ship, we need to run him to ground,” Captain Sheppard said. “I have a lot of questions for him, and he is the only person who can corroborate the story against Arges.” He paused then added, “And even with what you’ve told us about Nightsong working for Arges, I still don’t think we know everything that’s going on.”

  “Why’s that, Skipper?” the Gulf’s XO asked.

  “Well, there’s the technology gap for one thing,” Captain Sheppard replied. “It just doesn’t sit right with me. How can the Efreet have such crappy technology in some places, yet have sophisticated weapons like their time bombs in others?”

  “They can’t,” Calvin said. “And they don’t.”

  “What do you mean?” Captain Sheppard asked.

  “The one thing I got from Nightsong is the Efreet don’t have time bombs. When I asked who had them, he just said, ‘someone else.’ He wouldn’t tell me who, but he made it very clear there is another race out there. The war with the Efreet is a bunch of bullshit, sir. The Efreet are rubes, and the war with them is nothing more than a red herring, something to distract us while the real danger draws closer and closer.”

  “The citizens of Tashkent wouldn’t consider them unimportant,” the XO commented.

  “No, they wouldn’t,” Calvin admitted. “And I guess it’s also possible Nightsong was lying about them. Lord knows, he lied about everything else…however, this actually makes sense. I think there is another race out there Nightsong didn’t want us to know about, so he gave us the Efreet as an unwilling adversary. We haven’t seen an Efreeti presence yet that was a worthwhile opponent; hell, the Sila were about to try to overthrow them on their own on anti-Keppler-22, and they barely had any weapons. The Efreeti weapons are crap, their ships are crap and their technology’s crap. The only thing they have that’s worth a shit is their electromagnetic pulse bomb, which is designed to do away with technology. They have engines that can jump across the shroud of the universe, and they have a good robot, but I’ll bet neither were invented by them. Some other race is supplying the Efreet with equipment; that is who the Jotunn are allied with.”

  “So who is that?” Captain Sheppard asked.

  “I have no idea,” Calvin replied. “The only other race we’ve heard mentioned is the Shaitan, but whether it’s the Shaitan or someone else, I have no idea.”

  “Basically, you’re telling me we need to catch Nightsong and beat it out of him before the next threat gets here and we’re unprepared for them,” Captain Sheppard said.

  “Pretty much,” Calvin replied. “And I think I know where he’s going.”

  Cargo Bay, Shuttle 529, 100,000 Feet Above Switzerland, Terra, October 9, 2021

  “Two and a half minutes to jump!” Jamming said.

  “Understood,” Night said, walking to the end of the ramp and sitting down.

  Yokaze walked out and sat down next to him, with nothing to see but the blackness of space. He wondered why Night had wanted to know exactly 2.5 minutes prior to the drop, but he hadn’t wanted to ask. He looked over at Night but couldn’t see anything through the captain’s polarized face mask. He watched the officer for the next two minutes, but Night didn’t move. As a yellow light began flashing, indicating 30 seconds to jump, Yokaze caught a glimpse of Night’s face. His eyes were closed, but his lips were moving. Trained in lip reading, Yokaze watched him say, “…have him win, the Green Beret.”

  Night’s eyes snapped open, and he nodded his head once. Yokaze saw a moment of something…sentimental?...pass through his eyes, then it was gone. Night was once again the harbinger of death Yokaze had always known.

  “May I ask?”

  “My father used to sing the “Ballad of the Green Berets” to me when I was young,” Night said, still staring into the black. “It’s very focusing.” He turned to look at Yokaze. “Are you ready?”

  “Hai!” replied Yokaze.

  Night snapped a hook to Yokaze, tethering them together.

  “Here we go!” Night said. He pushed off, and the two men began the long journey down.

  Medical, TSS Vella Gulf, Epsilon Eridani System, October 23, 2021

  “You know where he’s going?” Captain Sheppard asked.

  “Well, I don’t think there’s anything you can know that’s 100% with Nightsong,” Calvin said. “I think he’s a psychopath and a pathological liar. I’m not even sure he knows all the times he’s lied. He did, however, relate a story about how, at least in his mind, he is the legitimate ruler of the Aesir. He also has some plot for getting back at the Jotunn for killing his twin sister when they were kids.”

  “What’s his plan?” Lieutenant O’Leary asked. “Better yet, how do we stop it? No, better yet, how do I get my hands on him so I can kick his scrawny ass?”

  “Be careful what you ask for,” Calvin said. “Not only is he an experienced Eco Warrior with fire, he’s also very good with life-based nanobots. That’s how he has been able to move around in our society so much; he can appear to be anyone he wants. There’s no telling if he can do earth and air and water as well, but I wouldn’t bet against it. He’s had a lot of time on his own to practice, and Arges’ nearly unlimited funding to get him what he needs. We may not have seen all of his abilities.”

  “Okay, how do we get our hands on him so I can carefully kick his scrawny ass?”

  “I’m betting he is heading for the Aesir home world. I don’t know what he intends to do when he gets there, but I guarantee he has a plan…something that has been a long time in the making. What scares me most is he doesn’t seem to be worried we are following him.”

  “Why is that?” Lieutenant O’Leary asked.

  “Because he either thinks his plot is foolproof and can’t be stopped, or he has something nasty prepared he thinks will kill us. Regardless, he is extremely dangerous, and he’s probably even more unstable than he is dangerous. There is no telling what he has planned…”

  Above Chateau de Arges, Beckenried, Switzerland, October 9, 2021

  Night watched the radar altimeter on his wrist. As it counted down through 2,500 feet, the drogue chutes on their packs deployed, stabilizing their fall, and Night untethered himself from Yokaze. At 1,000 feet, the main paragliders deployed, braking their fall to 1.5 feet per second, while giving them a glide ratio of over 25:1. This let them fly nearly horizontally, and the two men steered their parachutes in from north of the castle.

  The defenders weren’t expecting an attack from above the sheer face of the cliff, and their attention was on the front and sides of the castle, not the rear. The four guards never knew what hit them as Night’s and Yokaze’s laser rifles silently reached out to kill them. The landing area secure, Night and Yokaze pulled up on their chutes, braking their forward momentum, and dropped silently onto the roof.

  Both men quickly took off their suits, and Night pulled out the two small boxes Cashman had given him. He pushed the blue button on the first box, and a green light illuminated after five seconds. “No monitors or transmitters up here,” whispered Night. He pushed the red button on the second box, and both men watched as the system analyzed its surroundings. After 14 seconds, the main light turned green and their comm systems came to life.

  “I think Manchester United is going to take Chelsea tomorrow.”

  “You’re out of your bloody mind if you think that’s going to happen, ya stupid wanker.”

  “You’re both out of your minds. If the boss catches you bullshitting on the comm net, he’ll have your asses.”

  “Better that than falling asleep from boredom. Then he’d really go bonkers.”

  “If you’re going to bullshit, do it over the radio and not the comm system.”

  Yokaze nodded; his comm system was synchronized with the security network. Both men silently searched the four bodies on the roof.

  “What do you think, Diederich?” asked a voice. Night looked down and saw it was coming from t
he earbuds of the man he was searching.

  There was no answer. Night looked down at the dead man’s name tag. It read, ‘Ehrlinger.’

  “You there, Diederich?”

  He quickly moved to the next body. The Aryan-looking man’s name tag read, ‘Diederich.’ Shit. He waved to Yokaze, who was already sprinting toward him, and pointed to the body at his feet. As Yokaze ran, his features turned into those of a Caucasian man with blond hair.

  “Dammit, Diederich, you moron. Can someone see if he’s sleeping?”

  “Naw, he’s awake,” a voice with a U.S. southern accent radioed. “I can see him. Just a sec.’”

  Yokaze arrived and touched the body’s throat while he touched Night’s throat with his other hand. Night felt a tickle as his voice box changed shape. Yokaze nodded.

  “Sorry,” Night said, talking into the dead guard’s radio. “I thought I saw something moving, but it was just a rabbit. As for the football match, who gives a shit, anyway? The Bundesliga is the only league that matters.”

  “Shut the fuck up, you idiots,” a voice full of authority interjected. “I’m not going to get busted by the boss for your stupidity. Just do your damned jobs and shut the hell up!”

  Night shook his head and blew out a deep breath. “That was close,” he said. “Thanks.”

  “No problem, suh,” replied Yokaze with a smile.

  Night looked at his watch. 0155. Five minutes until they changed the guard.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Bridge, Aesir Battle Station Cerberus, Gliese 221, October 24, 2021

  “Sir, we just had a momentary gate activation,” the Aesir sensor technician said.

  Fleet Admiral Valendil looked up from the report he was reading. “What do you mean, ‘a momentary activation?’ Did a ship enter or not?”

  “Well, yes sir, a ship entered, but then it disappeared.”