Celestial Ascension (Splintered Galaxy Book 1)

by Eddie R. Hicks

  “This device has never been tested on humans,” Phylarlie said, placing it on his forehead. “There’s a good chance it will kill you.”

  She floated back to the front, interacting with a terminal. An image of his brain appeared on the screen as the device downloaded the last two days of his memory. As the transfer began, his body twitched uncontrollably, and minutes later he screamed.

  She fixed her gaze on him, a certain level of satisfaction in her eyes. His body stopped jerking, and the screaming came to an end as he laughed hysterically. “Just kidding!” he said, continuing to laugh. “Didn’t feel a thing.”

  “You think this is a joke?” she yelled, floating directly in front of him. “Well, how about this for a punch line?” Her dagger plunged through his lower jaw, entering his head. She spun the hilt around, allowing the plasma to sizzle and cut away at everything that exited from the center of his mouth to the center of his brain. Hashmedai don’t keep prisoners.

  “Was that really necessary?” Whigli had finally broken his silence.

  “No,” Phylarlie said in the Hashmedaian language. “But if Kroshka is dead, I’m merely getting a head start on my next mission.”

  She removed her dagger from the human’s head, flicking away gobs of red weightless blood from her face. After kicking his body down to the back end of the cockpit, she swiftly returned to the terminal to review the last hours of the human’s life on the monitor. She stumbled upon a memory of his, getting a detailed mission briefing among the Javnis and the other human soldiers.

  “What did you discover?” Whigli said, floating behind her.

  “They plan to infiltrate and destroy the command ship with a nuclear weapon. Chidorli is being used as a shipboard psionic to pull it off.”

  “You mean she’s on the command ship now?”

  “She and Kroshka,” Phylarlie said. “If they haven’t boarded it yet, they’re aboard one of the ships heading to dock on the command ship.”

  Whigli had hope in his eyes as he said, “We could save them. If we move quickly, we can remove the brainjack device as well.”

  “If we don’t take the Voidwrath or another ship, there’s no way we can head back home,” Phylarlie said, “especially if they destroy the command ship.”

  “Then let’s just the two of us board it.”

  “I think you need to lay off the stims.”

  “Onatiasha’s plan was to attack it, which makes sense, as she, Chi, and Zhinbryo are marked for death, and Jazz is human,” Whigli continued. “You and I can board it with no problems. We weren’t part of the recon team. They’ll view me as a missing person returning to duty, and you’ll be cloaked. If we work smart and as a team, we can overtake that ship while Onatiasha finishes her healing. We’ll need her when we board the command ship.”

  The plan sounded risky to Phylarlie, but it was the only option on the table. “The command ship run needs to be in and out,” she said. “We don’t want to be aboard when the atomic bomb explodes.”

  “It’s a good plan…” The two turned to see Onatiasha, who had been listening in the whole time.

  “Onatiasha, get some rest,” said Whigli.

  “I’ll be fine,” said Onatiasha. “The only thing I ask is that you dock the transport with the Voidwrath. If things go bad, it will be easier for me to run aboard rather than wait on a teleport. A teleport might not even be possible if you’re dead.”

  Onatiasha’s last statement didn’t seem to resonate with Whigli as he floated toward the cockpit. “All right, let’s get moving before it’s too late,” Whigli finished.

  ………

  Now floating in a higher orbit, the Voidwrath, a corvette, had seldom moved from its spot since launching from the command ship. Its main crew consisted of a pilot, commander, two engineers, and a psionic, who also doubled as a medic. The engineers proved to be an easy target for Whigli and Phylarlie. The main airlock was located at the back of the ship, close to the engine room.

  As the transport docked, Whigli was the only body seen exiting and boarding the ship. He requested to be checked by the medic, claiming he had been badly injured as the reason for his disappearance from Jerut’s orders. As he floated down the corridor past the engine room, he made a hand gesture…signaling to Phylarlie that the two engineers were hard at work inside. Phylarlie’s daggers carved swift and deep lacerations into their backs. As blood filled the room, she vanished into the darkness to follow behind Whigli once again.

  Whigli floated into the infirmary, a dimly lit room with rows of unused medical beds lined up and mounted to the floor. He took a seat on a bed next to the sliding entrance and waited for the psionic doctor, Covin to float over.

  “What’s troubling you?” Covin asked.

  Whigli pointed to the back of his neck, which was also a signal for Phylarlie to make her strike. Psionics were just as vulnerable as everyone, provided their guard was lowered and no abilities were being used. The attack would have to be quick and swift—otherwise, they might unleash everything they’ve got in a fit of panic.

  Phylarlie’s blade entered the back of Covin's neck, its edge lunging out the front before being lifted upward to split his head in half. Blood and part of his chip implant floated into the air.

  Unbeknown to Whigli and Phylarlie, two patients resting in the infirmary saw everything. The two patients weren't the pilot and commander as they had hoped.

  “Little one, I’m delighted to see you,” Lettielia said from the back of the infirmary. Whigli and Phylarlie spun around in surprise. Nodevar and Lettielia floated toward them, their daggers radiating a green glow.

  “Onatiasha, we’ve been compromised!” Whigli communicated after activating his psionic shield.

  Phylarlie vanished into a streak of blue light, reappearing behind Lettielia and swiftly lunging her daggers toward her back. Lettielia took full advantage of the zero-g environment by flipping her body around to face Phylarlie. Her feet slammed into Phylarlie, sending her tumbling backward alongside Nodevar, who was knocked back by a telekinetic throw by Whigli.

  Three streaks of blue light shot across the room as all three assassins jump-ported simultaneously to reorient themselves in the weightless environment. Phylarlie appeared behind Whigli, as the other duo reappeared side by side in the middle of the room.

  Whigli’s arms glowed orange as he instructed Phylarlie. “Get out of here. I’ll hold them.”

  White flames sprayed the front area where Whigli stood as Phylarlie floated out of the infirmary. The flames were enough to make Nodevar hesitate. Lettielia, on the other hand, vanished into blue light.

  ………

  Onatiasha did her best to ignore the pain in her back as she floated through the airlock into the Voidwrath. As she was about to cross the threshold into the ship, a firm hand gripped her shoulder from behind. “I can still fight.” It was Zhinbryo.

  She faced him with a smile and said, “Then together we shall fight.”

  ………

  The Radiance transport lost gravity as it entered Earth’s orbit, traveling toward the Abyssal Explorer on the opposite end of Earth, away from the Hashmedai fleet—the opposite of what Jazz needed.

  One of the Radiance rangers attempted to speak with Jazz. Jazz merely nodded, though on second thought decided it might have been a bad idea. The ranger spoke again to Jazz in the Radiance language, his voice getting louder the longer Jazz didn’t respond. Whatever he’s asking, it must be important, Jazz gathered. The ranger wanted a reply. Time to pop some fools.

  The magnetic rifle Jazz had picked up back at Alisha’s cottage gave him the chance to play around with it, learn how it worked…how to shut off the safety in particular—much like what he just did. He took one last look at his targets—two armored Radiance next to him and two unarmed ones in the front. Then that bitch Odelea would getting her comeuppance as well.

  Two bullets entered the necks of the armored Radiance, two bullets ripped through the backs of the heads of the Javnis, and mu
ltiple shots were fired for the Vorcambreum. The fucking thing was so short Jazz couldn’t see it from behind the chair, so he just kept shooting through the chair until blood floated away from it.

  Jazz spun his weightless body around, aiming the rifle at Odelea, and he pulled the trigger. And if Jason hadn’t pushed Jazz to the side, Odelea would have met her end.

  “Buddy, she’s just a kid!” Jason exclaimed. “Have you lost your mind?”

  Jazz removed the helmet, allowing it to float. Jason and Odelea now knew who he really was. “With what I’ve gone through in the last few days, could you blame me?” Jazz said.

  “Jake, what the fuck?” said Jason.

  Jazz saw Odelea float over to her pistol, which spun out of control. She reached out for it but promptly retracted as a bullet was fired at her.

  “Oh, no, no, no—back the fuck up,” Jazz said, aiming at her yet again. “You pick that up, and you’re gonna lose your life for sure.”

  Odelea spoke, a bit of nervousness in her voice. “Listen, what I did—”

  “Too much talking, child,” Jazz said, cutting her off.

  “Jake, stop,” said Jason.

  “Fuck that.”

  “You just killed everyone who could fly this thing,” said Jason, “except her.”

  Jason was right. And being stranded in an alien ship orbiting Earth wasn’t exactly on Jazz’s list of things to do. “All right, good point,” Jazz said. “Maybe I am losing it.” He lowered his rifle. “Take the controls, kid.”

  Odelea spoke again, still nervous. “I…can’t fly this really well.”

  “Too much talking,” Jazz said. Take the gun away from her and she’s a nervous wreck, cute.

  She floated toward the cockpit, past the dead armored rangers, only to see the dead pilots up front. She stopped briefly, stunned and horrified at the sight of all the blood, brain matter, and two lifeless bodies still strapped to their chairs.

  Odelea gazed back at Jazz, who stroked the barrel of the rifle. Her slender hands unbuckled the seatbelt of the dead Javnis, whose body floated out of the chair. She took a seat and interacted with the controls, trying her very best not to get too much blood on her hands.

  “The terminal is damaged,” she said. “Your bullets hit a few systems.”

  “Make it happen,” Jazz said. He then remembered something important. “Say, can you read Hashmedai?”

  “Yeah, yes, I can,” Odelea said.

  “I’m lookin’ for a ship. It’s called the Voidwrath. Dock with it when you find it,” ordered Jazz.

  “This is a Radiance transport. I don’t think they’ll—” She stopped herself to focus on the blood-covered computer screen in front of her. “Voidwrath, right—I’m searching for it.”

  “You catch on fast,” said Jazz. “Can’t believe I was gonna pop ya.”

  Chapter 23

  Onatiasha and Zhinbryo swam through the weightless corridors and came to an unexpected stop as two streaks of blue light projected precisely in front of them. Phylarlie and another female assassin appeared thereafter. A fury of swift blade strikes erupted between them, each slashing and thrusting but failing to connect. One got close to Phylarlie’s chest, resulting in her dematerializing into the evasive blue light of a jump-port. She reemerged farther up the corridor, making a taunting gesture to her rival.

  Onatiasha considered helping, but only for a second. The fast movement of the two made it next to impossible for her or Zhinbryo to fix in for an attack. Melee combat in zero-g already put them at a huge disadvantage, but at least assassins could use their psionic gifts to move ten to fifteen meters in any direction at the blink of an eye. And there was the friendly fire factor—Phylarlie jump-porting into a massive cleave from either Onatiasha or Zhinbryo wasn’t the objective. Sorry, Phylarlie. You’re on your own for this, Onatiasha thought.

  Phylarlie target jump-ported above the assassin as the two engaged in another deadly but elegant zero-g blade dance. Now was their chance—Onatiasha and Zhinbryo floated past the distracted assassins, entering an adjacent corridor that had a ladder leading to the upper deck. The pilot and commander still needed to be dealt with.

  Ascending to the upper deck, Onatiasha discovered a wide passageway leading to the cockpit up front and cryo chambers behind. She heard the hissing sound of a plasma pistol powering up. She pressed her foot against a rung of the ladder—hard!—to launch herself upward. The instant her arm was clear of the ladder tube, her own sword and shield powering up made a hissing sound.

  She faced forward first—no signs of activity, empty cockpit, no weapons’ fire. She made a 180-degree zero-g turn, her body facing the cryo chambers behind her. A small battery pack typically used for small firearms, such as a pistol, floated across the chamber. Whoever charged up must have slapped in a fresh pack. She knew right away that someone was directly ahead. She instructed Zhinbryo to secure the cockpit as she proceeded farther in the cryo chamber, slowly.

  The long wide and dark room, lined with cryo tubes, was devoid of any contact. Whoever was in here was either too afraid to strike or too smart and had something else planned. A pair of feet descended from the top, delivering a zero-g drop kick to her shield. Onatiasha remained floating in her spot as the shield absorbed the kinetic force. The sneaky adversary launched backward, away from her, and then she smiled and raised her sword, activating its tractor beam—but only for a second. A pair of hands with claws deployed came down from the ceiling gripping around Onatiasha's lower jaw.

  Looking up, Onatiasha saw an open air vent, the hiding spot of the second adversary, who now attempted to choke her out. The two attackers had been hiding up there the whole time. Onatiasha was lifted into the vent as the first attacker floated past her and toward the cockpit. The grip around her went from a pair of hands to an arm, the other hand going for the pistol. It had to be, since the other person was clearly unarmed.

  With a sense of urgency, Onatiasha raised her sword through the ceiling in front of her, melting and cutting through the metal that separated the air vent from the ceiling. She pulled the blade closer to her, more specifically to the arm that gripped her. The sight of the blade heading straight towards his arm no doubt made the unknown attacker loosen his grip—after all, his arm would be the first thing to get sliced.

  She was now free and pushed her body downward while rapidly spinning around to face the ceiling…and the hole leading to the air vent. Her tractor beam dragged out a man wearing an officer’s uniform, and she beheaded him seconds later with a swift cleave.

  ………

  Jazz shoved the floating body of the Javnis pilot away from him. Odelea pointed toward the window—a Hashmedaian corvette was in front of them.

  “According to the writing on the side,” Odelea said, “that is the Voidwrath.”

  “Nice, dock with them,” said Jazz. “If they start shooting, well, I guess we’re fucked.”

  “OK, I’ve been silent too long,” said Jason, wanting to weigh in.

  “Good, stay that way, I’m getting us outta here,” said Jazz. “It’s unfortunate Alisha and Hannah can’t join us, but I’ll come up with something to get them back from those fucking Radiance.”

  “So that’s your plan?” said Jason. “Risk sudden death by trying to hijack a Hashmedaian ship?”

  “You worry too much. I got this, bro.” Jazz turned to Odelea. “What’s taking so long?”

  “One of the airlocks has a transport already docked at it,” she said. “I’m going to try one on the other side of the ship.”

  “Ah, looks like my friends are doing their thing,” Jazz said. “Good to know I don’t gotta go solo on this.” He said to Jason, “Stay low inside here. Once we’ve cleared the place, you’re coming aboard.”

  Jason nodded toward Odelea. “What about her?”

  “If she wants to live to see the next day, she best stay off that ship and return to her people,” said Jazz. “I may have spared her life, but I’m sure Onatiasha would rather put her to the s
word.” His gaze returned to the front of the ship while patting Odelea on the shoulder. “You see? I can be nice sometimes.”

  “I’m docking the ship now,” she said.

  “How is this ship even able to dock with theirs?” Jason asked.

  “A lot of Hashmedai tech was given to them by the Radiance Union when we first discovered them,” Odelea explained. “As such, the designs for certain things such as airlocks and transport ships are nearly identical.”

  “Too much talking,” said Jazz.

  ………

  Phylarlie and Lettielia engaged in a long stare down. Both were sweating profusely, both were breathing hard, and both were unable to kill each other.

  “My, my, little one,” said Lettielia. “You have grown strong.”

  Phylarlie flashed toward her via a jump-port, lunging both her daggers toward Lettielia’s neck. This triggered Lettielia to move back to avoid the attack. Before Phylarlie could retract her arms to attack again, Lettielia shot forward and firmly grabbed Phylarlie’s arms. Rather than attacking, Lettielia pulled Phylarlie forward almost as if they were embracing.

  “So beautiful, so aggressive, so full of energy…” Lettielia said in a sultry voice. “It’s a shame we’re fighting. I’d love to copulate with someone like you.”

  Mind games. She must be getting desperate for an edge in this fight, Phylarlie thought as she jump-ported back down the corridor.

  “But sadly, Nodevar is my mate,” Lettielia said. “Not that such a thing matters for a Taxah woman like yourself.” Lettielia vanished and reappeared behind Phylarlie, Her tongue slid across the side of Phylarlie’s neck while her left hand caressed her navel.“If we both survive this, contact me,” Lettielia whispered. “I can make your legs tremble with pleasure in ways you never thought possible.”

  That last act caught Phylarlie off guard. Rather than jump-porting away, her mind drifted. One side of Phylarlie’s abs felt heat radiating from Lettielia’s dagger. It slowly became more and more intense as it got closer. Right, mind games.

  Phylarlie blue-flashed backward, away from Lettielia’s grip, only to be engulfed in flames—an incineratery disk had activated. Lettielia released devious laughter at the sight of Phylarlie flailing her arms aimlessly in zero gravity in an attempt to put out the flames.