Disciple of the Dead (Seraphim Revival Book 3)

by Jacob Holo

  “Hey, Jack, you okay?” Tesset asked. “You seem kind of distracted today.”

  “Seth and I have just been busy trying to make sense of Veketon’s movements, that’s all. I’m out.”

  “Fellerossi forces continue to amass on the edge of Disciple space,” Seth said. “I have our exodrone flights prowling that region. Maybe we’ll get lucky. I’m out.”

  “Tesset?” Jared asked.

  “I’m out.” She kept her sense focused on Jack. Even through the indecipherable twists of his aura, she knew he was making excuses. Something else troubled him.

  “Yonu?”

  “I’ll exchange one card and stay in.”

  “Is that so?” Jared theatrically licked his lip. “Well, I think I’ll stay in also and raise you fifty Earth Nation marks.”

  “You are so bluffing.”

  “You think so?”

  “Yeah, I do. I’ll see your five worthless plastic discs.” Yonu contemptibly tossed the discs into the ante pile. “And I’ll raise you another five.”

  “One hundred marks, eh? Well, I’ll see that and raise you another hundred.”

  “You’re bluffing, Jared. I know you are. Here, I’ve got a whole stack of red discs, and I’ll throw in a stack of green ones too. Because, one, I know you’re bluffing, and two, I don’t care.”

  Jared counted out Yonu’s raise. Tesset could feel the doubt growing in him.

  “Okay, then. I’ll see that.” He added almost all of his discs. “Show me what you’ve got.”

  Jared and Yonu placed their cards face-up.

  “Yes!” Jared shoveled the chips towards his pile and started sorting and organizing them.

  “Oh, curse it,” Yonu sighed. “I lost a whole pile of worthless discs.”

  “Somehow, I don’t think you’re into the spirit of this game,” Jared said.

  “You think?”

  “It’s really not that bad, Yonu.”

  “Then explain this to me. How come the woman card is worth less than that old man card? If anything, she should be equal.”

  “Or ranked higher,” Tesset said.

  “Uhh…” Jared said. “Jack, help me out here.”

  “Sorry, but I’m not stepping in that one. You’re on your own.”

  “I’m waiting,” Yonu said.

  “Umm.” Jared paused thoughtfully. Tesset watched the inner workings of his mind as it fired spits of lightning within his cloudlike aura.

  “Historical precedent?” he said.

  “Really?” Yonu asked, unimpressed.

  “Hey dealer,” Jack said. “Another hand, please?”

  “Gladly.” Jared shuffled the deck and dealt the cards.

  Jack picked up his cards and sorted them in his hand. “You know, Jared, I’m actually surprised. I didn’t think you’d propose to Yonu. What changed your mind?”

  “It was the Vigilant Sentinel.” Jared shrugged bashfully. “Now, I don’t want to be a downer, but we’re all at risk out here. That last one was a close call, and it helped wake me up. Like, if I don’t do it now, I might never get the chance.”

  “I’m still confused with how this changes our relationship,” Yonu said.

  “I’ll explain later,” Jared said. “By the way, you’re wearing it on the wrong finger.”

  Yonu looked down at the ring. “Which finger is it supposed to go on?”

  “Your ring finger.”

  “What are you talking about? They’re all valid ring fingers!”

  “No, you see, it’s really quite simple.”

  “Jared, you’re not making any sense again!”

  Tesset sighed as Jared tried to explain the strange rules of his culture again. She leaned back and let her sense wander.

  Jack muttered something under his breath, though she couldn’t make it out. Something Jared said had sent Jack’s mind whirling with activity, but the convoluted nature of his aura made exactly what difficult to figure out.

  Now that’s odd. It’s like he’s just made an important decision, like he’s going to do something he’s been building up the courage for… but what could that be?

  The group played several more games before they called it a night, but Tesset couldn’t stop thinking about the stirring activity in Jack’s aura.

  ***

  Jack paced back and forth in front of the door with slow deliberate steps. He’d come this close and yet, at the last moment, his courage had faltered. And so he paced and thought, trying to make up his mind.

  Man, I am such an idiot! I shouldn’t be doing this!

  He stopped in front of the door buzzer’s enticing glow. All he had to do was push it.

  Come on. It’s really easy to do. Just go up and hit it, you big idiot!

  Jack reached for the buzzer, but his hand stopped just above the green self-lit square. He pulled his hand away and resumed pacing. The pilot concourse was empty, but he checked in both directions just to make sure.

  Jack continued his pacing and thinking.

  The door opened on its own, and Tesset angrily stuck her head out.

  “Uhh… hi, Tesset.” He tried to keep his eyes focused on her face. She wore a loose, storm-gray shirt and shorts that more than hinted at her athletic curves.

  “Don’t ‘hi, Tesset’ me. I have a splitting headache thanks to all the thought noise you’re putting out.”

  “Really? Look, I’m sorry. I…”

  Tesset flashed him a smile. “Just teasing. Come on in. You clearly have something on your mind.”

  “Thanks.” Jack stepped inside.

  Like all the pilot quarters, Tesset’s room was laid out as a single continuous space merging areas most Earthers divided into discrete rooms. It was also very bright, which surprised Jack a little. He’d expected no illumination for the blind pilot, not tons of it.

  The wall screen opposite the entrance was inert, of course. Tesset couldn’t sense anything it displayed, making the scenic backgrounds most pilots enjoyed rather pointless. But what did surprise him were the plants. Tesset had several around her quarters, each growing out of a glass pot. The room had an earthy, slightly floral fragrance. He spotted a glass watering can next to her auto-kitchen.

  “So, what’s on your mind?” she asked.

  “Oh, a bunch of things,” Jack said. “How’s the new arm doing?”

  “Okay. My fingers feel a little uncoordinated, but they’re getting better.”

  “I’m glad to hear it.”

  “Yeah, though it’s nothing compared to what the rest of you have been through,” Tesset said. “Yonu told me this one time she had an injury that ran from the base of her neck all the way down and out her side, like this.” Tesset traced a line diagonally down her chest. “The burns were so bad, her charred flesh was flaking off the bone!”

  Jack gulped.

  “Yeah, I may have heard about that one,” he said.

  “Anyway, you can stop stalling.”

  “What, stalling? Me?”

  “Come on, Jack. Even with your crazy aura, I can still see how nervous you are. What’s bothering you?”

  “Oh, nothing…”

  “Come on. We’re friends, right? Just spit it out.”

  Jack closed his eyes and took a deep breath. When he opened them, he looked straight into Tesset’s blindfolded face.

  “Have you ever considered there might be, you know, someone else interested in you? Someone besides Seth, I mean. We’re just talking theoretically here, but how do you think you’d react?”

  “I don’t know.” Tesset tilted her head to one side. “I’ve never really thought about it. It’s just not done.”

  “Because you’re bonded with Seth.”

  “Well, yeah! It’s just— Partners are bonded to each other until their child comes of age. That’s how we Aktenai do it, and that goes double for pilots.”

  Jack looked away, hands on his hips. He’d come this far. Perhaps it was time to just get it over with. If he was going to make a fool of himself, might
as well be over with.

  “Tesset, what if… what if it was me who had these feelings?”

  “I wish you hadn’t said that.” Tesset lowered her head.

  “Well, I have.”

  Tesset turned her back to him and stepped away.

  “Look, so I have feelings for you,” Jack said. “I’m not the first idiot in this universe to want something I can’t have. And I think… look, am I just being an idiot? Am I seeing something that’s not there? Just answer me, and I’ll leave.”

  “It doesn’t matter.”

  “Of course it does.”

  “No.” Tesset shook her head, her back to him. “It’s wrong, and it doesn’t matter what I feel.”

  “Okay. All right, I see that this was a mistake. I’m just being an idiot, so I’ll make the best of a bad situation and go sulk in my quarters.”

  Jack turned to leave but stopped at the door.

  “Before I go, I have one last question for you.”

  “What is it, Jack?”

  “Has Seth ever said he loves you?”

  Tesset didn’t move for long, painful seconds. When she did, it was only a slow, sad shake of her head.

  “Do you know why?”

  Tesset shook her head again.

  “Because it’s not the truth. He’s still in love with Quennin.”

  “No… that’s…”

  “You know it’s true. Seth doesn’t lie. His pride couldn’t bear it.”

  “Jack, it doesn’t matter.”

  “Does it?”

  “No, it doesn’t.” Tesset turned around and faced him. “I know deep down that Seth doesn’t love me. It hurts. At times, it hurts a lot, but the choice wasn’t mine.”

  “You were forced to bond with him.” Jack walked slowly towards her.

  “I was given the honor of bonding with him.”

  “By a government that cares more about good breeding than your feelings.”

  “The Choir knows what’s best. It’s always been that way with pilots. Who am I to judge?”

  “Seth doesn’t love you. He feels an obligation to you. Nothing more.”

  Tesset turned her head away. She started chewing on a fingernail.

  “Well, if Seth won’t say it, I will.” Jack walked up to Tesset and held her at arm’s length. “Tesset, please listen to me. I’ve never felt this way before. I’ve never felt this… madness for anyone. Ever! I’ve felt other stuff before: attraction born out of loneliness or appearances or just plain stupidity. But I’ve never felt love until I met you.”

  Tesset bit hard into her fingernail.

  “I think I realized it when you were almost struck down by Veketon. I think then I finally understood what I had almost lost.”

  “Stop saying these things, Jack.”

  “Why? They’re all true.”

  “I don’t want to hear them anymore.”

  “That’s not good enough,” Jack said. “Tell me to go away. Tell me to leave this room and never come back. If you can say that, I’ll leave.”

  “I…”

  “You can’t, can you?”

  “No, it’s— I’m… I’m so confused…”

  “And I’m glad you are.”

  “Why’s that?”

  “If you didn’t feel something for me, the decision would be easy for you.”

  “I…”

  “You know it’s true. We both have the same flame inside. You just need to accept yours.”

  Jack put a hand to her cheek, turning her face up. He bent down, and their lips met, softly, slowly, and tenderly. Tesset didn’t struggle. She didn’t try to push him away, and eventually she put her arms around him and pulled him closer.

  They parted. Tesset’s breaths were quick excited gasps.

  “Would you like me to stay?” Jack asked.

  “I…”

  “Yes. Or no.”

  She pressed her forehead against his chest.

  “It’s all up to you,” he said.

  After a moment of hesitation, Tesset took hold of Jack’s collar and dragged him down to her height. She didn’t let go for over a minute.

  “I’ll take that as a yes,” he said after their lips parted the second time.

  “It was.”

  Jack smiled. He slowly guided her to the floor. She lay back on the soft carpeting, arms over her head, her chest still rising and falling with eager breaths. Jack put his hand underneath her blindfold and slowly pushed it over her face.

  “Don’t take that off,” she said.

  “Why not?”

  “Because it’s hideous under there.”

  “It’s never bothered you if I saw it before.”

  “Yeah, but this is different.”

  “You don’t have to hide your scars from me.” Jack pulled the blindfold off her head. “I can’t hide mine from you.”

  He bent down, and they kissed again, this time faster and harder. Tesset threw her arms around him as Jack pushed up her loose shirt.

  Within the depths of the Judgment’s core computer systems, a Choir program observed these events. If it were capable of emotion, it would have felt satisfaction. But still, it had much work to do, and it opened a set of encoded orders, analyzed them, and oversaw their immediate execution.

  Chapter 8

  Cathedral of Vayl

  Othaniel followed Riviel into the observational blister onboard the command ship Word of Vayl. The ceiling was a geodesic dome of polished white stone, each hexagonal or pentagonal section outlined in gold. One by one, the sections faded and vanished, revealing the blackness of space and the majesty of Cathedral.

  At this range, the moon-sized artifact was a distant white pearl, its intricate lattice of layers gleaming.

  “It’s good to be back.” Othaniel watched Cathedral grow as they approached. It had been nearly a century since she’d seen the artificial moon, and she smiled privately as its features came into focus.

  Eight spires rose above the outer surface like massive spikes, each hundreds of kilometers tall and tapered at the end to a needle-sharp point. The outer surface was almost completely whole, its white stone geodesic pattern broken up by occasional missing segments. Below the outer layer was another incomplete lattice layer, and beyond that another and another, all of them surrounding a bright unseen core.

  Cathedral encompassed a negative gravity fissure. The closer any ship approached the core, the more intense gravity pushed it away from the core.

  “Do you think Veketon will accept the bait?” Othaniel asked.

  “What do your shared memories tell you?” Riviel asked.

  Othaniel closed her eyes and let her mind swim within the other’s thoughts. Images passed before her inner eyes: places she’d never been, people she’d never seen. A sharp emotion answered her request.

  “Of all the Eleven, Veketon was the only one Vierj actually feared.”

  Riviel crossed her arms. “I find it difficult to believe that creature feared anything.”

  “She’s dead, is she not, Sister? Perhaps her fears were well founded.”

  “That’s not a very comforting thought.”

  The Word of Vayl closed with Cathedral, approaching an open hexagon in the surface. Their ship glided smoothly into the interior, nothing more than a sliver of white against the gaping hole.

  They traveled close to one of the eight giant spires. Not only did it extend out hundreds of kilometers above the surface, but it also penetrated down through each of the inner layers. At this range, it formed a white wall to the side of the ship. Othaniel thought that, just barely, she could make out continuous flowing script carved into the surface, each letter as large as their vessel.

  “Did Zophiel ever discover who built this place?” Othaniel asked.

  “No. We eventually found one of the portal lances here, but besides that we know nothing of its origins. Zophiel still has a small army investigating unexplored sections of Cathedral, but they’ve never found anything useful.”

 
“And the glyphs on the spires?”

  “We’ve never deciphered them,” Riviel said, pointing. “The language is extremely complex, and we lack even a basic frame of reference to begin translating it.”

  “A pity. I wonder what they say.”

  A wide hexagonal opening gaped ahead. The Word of Vayl slid through, slowing. Disciples had built numerous bases and factories within Cathedral, often clustered around gaps in each layer, their structures like black boils on pure white skin. All of the buildings rose towards Cathedral’s center, held in place by the unusual gravity pushing outward.

  “You haven’t told me why,” Riviel said suddenly.

  Othaniel nodded. Her sister could only mean one thing.

  “Well, you haven’t asked.”

  “I suppose that’s fair. I realize it’s a sensitive topic, but I would like to know.”

  “So that you can point out how wrong I was?”

  Riviel shook her head. “No, I won’t do that. I want to make amends, not tear open old wounds.”

  “For Zophiel’s sake?”

  “Yes. For him.”

  Othaniel sighed. “There were two reasons I left. The first, I think you know.”

  “You grew tired of the killings?”

  “Yes…”

  “Zophiel needed an army to achieve his goals,” Riviel said. “And so we conquered one.”

  “I understand why. I just found the means distasteful.”

  “They were necessary,” Riviel said.

  “How many rebellions did we put down?” Othaniel asked. “How many insurrections rose against us? How many cities did we eventually purge?”

  “As I recall, you did your share of the killing.”

  “I’m not like that anymore.”

  “Then you should appreciate the changes we’ve made,” Riviel said with a sly grin. “The current generation doesn’t even know any of that happened. And even if they did, it wouldn’t matter. They’re fanatically loyal to us, almost to a fault.”

  “Outcasts are survivors,” Othaniel said. “And, ultimately, loyalty to Zophiel is a survival trait.”

  “Hmm, you make an insightful point. What was your second reason?”