He, like the rest, was terribly curious to find out.
In his fervent speculation he was reminded of his own rebellious generals to the south, right here on this very soil. Absently he imagined the fighting still going on far away, there in Venatres lands. That “coup” was getting nowhere fast, especially in the wake of the new alliance, those few generals holding to the old ways losing ground. Soon they would be swept to heel by Venatres forces and the loyalist Dominion among them that still followed Yamoto and the chain of command.
He inhaled deeply; let it out slowly, hands clasped behind his back as he looked around the large, well-appointed conference hall at the important faces gathering, still engaged mostly in introductions and small talk. Almost like a mixer in those early minutes as people arrived, a networking event with attendees either getting to know each other or reaffirming old acquaintances. Only these were the top leaders of the world. For the occasion Yamoto had opted to wear his black uniform, his general’s uniform with full regalia, marking him clearly as the top Dominion official in the room. The assembly took place in the heart of a sprawling mountain complex, a facility Dominion intelligence knew of but for which they had little information. Yamoto found himself impressed with what he’d seen so far.
Then the lead scientist, Nani—the one running this initial meeting—was getting everyone’s attention. She waited until the voices died to a mumble and, at length, silence. All eyes on her. Then she waited a few seconds more, past what seemed to be total silence, until the room was so quiet it felt as if everyone was straining for what might come next.
“If everyone would follow me,” she said then and, without further explanation or comment, left the room. The younger girl, the one from Earth—who seemed to be acting as her assistant—went with her but no one else moved. Yamoto waited with the rest, expecting someone to take the lead. He glanced to the Venatres president, then to their intelligence chief, Lindin. Neither had any idea.
Finally someone moved, then a few others, and soon all were filing out, going along to see what the young scientist had in mind. Yamoto waited until his own group was underway, all the Dominion in black, the Venatres in brown, straightened his coat and followed out the open door. Horus watched as he walked by, then took up pace beside him, the last to leave. The Kazerai shut the door in their wake.
Briskly the group filed down wide halls, making their way to a set of stairs and angling down below. Yamoto watched the loose crowd of heads bobbing up and down before him as they went, some chit-chat returning, the multitude of footfalls echoing up and down the polished halls. He turned to Horus, who walked beside and just a little behind.
“Good to see you,” he said. As top general in the Dominion, not so long ago, Yamoto had worked with all the Kazerai, the Hands of God, and Horus had always been his favorite.
“Good to see you, general,” Horus agreed, using Yamoto’s old title.
Then he spotted something up ahead and walked faster, heading to the front where the group had slowed. As they bunched to a halt Yamoto stepped around and craned to see, spotting the girl scientist, Nani, standing at a massive vault-like door, facing down a pair of guards. So far no Venatres leader had stepped forward to assist and it looked as if they would not. In fact it looked as if they were about to shut her down and turn the entire group around.
Then Horus walked up on the scene.
Yamoto watched the brief standoff, unable to hear much, the guards shooting awkward glances around Horus to their bosses, wondering what to do. Yamoto was sure Horus could just rip the door off the hinges if it came to it. Nani seemed absolutely adamant about going through; Horus, in turn, seemed absolutely adamant about helping her do it.
This was a standoff the Venatres could not win.
Whether through some unspoken signal or the guards’ own realization they had no choice, they at last stepped back and opened the heavy door. It swung aside and the procession began again. Bodies accordioned out, and as the movement reached Yamoto and he started walking he heard gasps coming from up front, inside the room beyond. He picked up his pace, curious, reaching and hurrying across the threshold to the room beyond.
Once inside he realized, only after he’d been standing slack-jawed a minute, that he’d stopped moving. Everyone else had as well.
It was the starship.
Now a few people in the front, those that entered the giant room first, began stepping forward slowly, fanning out across the massive floor, a few cautious steps at a time, gawking, looking up, staring in awe at the beast dominating the space.
Yamoto looked over at Horus, who was watching all the stunned stares. Even some of the Venatres themselves had apparently not yet seen the giant machine up close.
Yamoto could not stop gaping. Every time he closed his mouth it fell open again. He’d seen it broadcast on video, of course, but …
He looked again at Horus. Wondering how they controlled him. The Venatres had never managed to steal the Dominion technology, not the Raza nor the Kazerai process itself. Which meant they had to rely solely on Horuses’ good intentions.
Nani walked to a spot further out on the floor and turned to face them, the giant, black alien craft providing a dramatic backdrop for her delivery.
“Not everyone has seen this in person,” she said. “I will answer questions after,” she held up a hand as stunned voices began to speak. “This is no longer a State secret,” she noted. Yamoto noticed her glance pointedly at Lindin and a small group of Venatres gathered around him. Lindin was frowning very sternly. Quite disappointed, Yamoto could see, with this turn of events.
Yamoto smiled to himself.
“It can’t be,” said Nani. “Not now.
“But I didn’t bring you here to show you this cool toy. I brought you here to make my point. This ship, impressive as it is, barely got us back alive.” And as she said this Yamoto began to notice battle scars along its hull, and found himself with a creeping sense of dread at what offensive force might’ve caused such damage. This thing should’ve been untouchable. Most of everyone there had reined in their attention and most eyes were on Nani, but heads pointed upward now and again, disbelieving of what they were seeing. The dark starship loomed above them all.
“The reason I brought you here is that there are fleets upon fleets of ships like this, many far bigger and more powerful, attacking a world just like ours as we speak. In fact they’ve overrun that world entirely, in a matter of days.” Now she had everyone’s attention. She leveled her gaze at them.
“We’re next.”
Then she proceeded to outline a plan, a plan that sounded more like a demand at times, pacing before the large group, gesturing, even pounding her fist on occasion to make a point. It was like a rally and Yamoto found himself now and again in a state of rapture as she spoke, mesmerized by her tangled blonde hair and softly beautiful intensity, enthralled with the passion of her delivery. She really believed in the importance of what she was saying, and as she went on Yamoto found, remarkably, he did too. She told them of their sister world, Earth, the world from which the Emperor came. Not Heaven, and as she talked Yamoto felt pieces of the puzzle falling into place. She talked on of how Anitra was next on the march of the Kel, the alien race that had built the starship sitting right there before them.
A thousand years ago.
And so deeper the tale spun. How the Kel and human worlds under their control had fallen into chaos at that time, how this ship was left sitting in this very mountain so long ago, only to be found by the Venatres and brought back to life. How the Icon was a relic from that ancient race—the Icon, the “Holy Relic”, in fact a piece of technology—how the war to steal it was, in fact, driven by the Venatres’ desire to make a connection between it and the ship.
Everything suddenly began to make sense.
She told them how the Kel managed to rise on their homeworld once more, to recreate their past glory though they’d lost all touch with the other worlds of their past. Now they’d f
ound one, Earth, and were bent on finding the next.
Anitra.
But Nani had a plan. And that was why they were here. That was why they’d been summoned with great haste, assembling in the secret halls of the people who were their avowed enemies just weeks before, now being given a plan that would require their full resources, the full cooperation of both Dominion and Venatres.
War was at hand.
And so she told them. How they could take the war to the Kel. To defeat them with unconventional tactics before the Kel could come to them, to thwart them on increasingly larger scales with lightning strikes until the humans could stand against them utterly. They would employ the Astake and the Venatres’ own Skull Boys, using thousands of manufactured versions of the very Holy Relic, dropping legions of Anitran powered armor on their sister world, Earth, overrunning it with a counter-surge. She told them the stakes, outlined the full measure of Kel forces on Earth, facts and information she had in full. She made it clear the overwhelming odds against them. Clear the consequences if they didn’t proceed.
And so, man by man, she won them over. Enough, at least, such that the tide turned in her favor and Yamoto marked the moment. He’d been behind her early on, but as the moment passed he realized it was time to speak. Time for the leader of the Dominion to throw his weight behind this.
Time to commit.
Time to stop resisting and start doing.
**
Bianca was so in love with Nani right then. She walked beside her as they left the last of the group behind, finished the last conversation and were off to their rooms for some rest. It had been many tense hours but Nani came through big.
Bianca stared at her from the side as they walked. Nani looked almost as satisfied as Bianca felt, though Bianca felt like she was walking on air. Her friend was tired, though, having pulled together so much strength, so much determination to do what she did, so much beyond her normally shy character … so much beyond … Bianca could see it was finally taking it’s toll. Nani had been slapping big wigs around since they got back and was starting to look a little worn for all the effort. Relieved, but worn.
“You did it!” Bianca enthused quietly, wanting to pump her up. Wanting to keep her friend positive. Wanting to give her all the happiness she deserved.
“I did it.” Nani agreed. “I really did it.” She turned to her. “Thank you. For believing in me.” In her eyes was a heartfelt intensity greater than Bianca would’ve expected, even for that moment. “You’ve meant everything during this.”
Bianca smiled wide, grinning so stupidly it started to hurt her cheeks. She didn’t care. She felt herself springing even lighter on the balls of her feet.
Nani smiled back; her wonderful smile.
But it faded. “There’s a lot more to be done,” she said. “This is only just beginning. You know that.”
“I know.”
“I feel like I’m taking a page out of Jessica’s book.” Nani shook her head, hardly believing any of it. “No one should be listening to me. Not about this. But I know I’m right. I know I’m right. And I’m not taking No for an answer.” She looked over at Bianca as they walked. “Jess would push them the same way.”
Bianca nodded her agreement. “Definitely.”
Then Nani’s tone dropped and she turned away. “I’m sending our world to war.”
“Don’t start doubting yourself.”
“I’m not.”
On impulse Bianca took Nani’s hand and squeezed. Nani looked down at their clasped palms, at first unsure what to do.
Then squeezed back.
Bianca smiled. “Come on,” she said. “Let’s take a break from all this deep, important stuff.” Not letting go she turned her attention ahead, down the hall. “I don’t know about you but I’m starving. Let’s get something to eat.”
“Yes!” Nani agreed with sudden enthusiasm, as if having forgotten food existed and realizing all at once she desperately wanted some. Needed some. Bianca’s idea to go eat was suddenly the best idea ever. Nani swung their arms a little, excited. “I’m starved!”
Bianca laughed. And, hand in hand, they began to run.
**
Willet sat with Zac in a small break room, just the two of them. The hour was late. For the first time in a long time Willet felt mostly calm. Slowly, over the last days, he’d been coming out of his shell, getting past that dull, empty feeling; the one it seemed might never release him. Slowly getting a grip on the things that would likely not change. Slowly realizing that what was done was done, and that any other thing they might’ve done in the heat of that terrible moment would surely have failed.
Across from him Zac shifted, making the flimsy break room chair creak. Willet eyed it, waiting for one of the legs to snap. Zac had the strength of a thousand men compressed into the body of one, but that one man was still heavy. Bigger and heavier than what the chair was probably meant to support. He and Zac had found a moment here, in the break room, during a lull in activities, and had been sitting around commiserating over their losses, trying to make each other feel better. One thing Willet noticed was that neither he nor Zac were very good at giving this sort of advice. How to run a battle? Sure. How to win a fight? Of course. How to deal with lost love? Not so much. Still, they were both trying.
“It wasn’t our fault,” Willet said, thoughts lapsing briefly back to despair. Mostly he’d been keeping the deeper emotions at bay. “It wasn’t anyone’s fault. I just … I’m afraid—” he bit off his words as he got his composure, “I have a terrible feeling she’s alive, and that they’re hurting her. Does that make me heartless? That I almost wish she would be dead?”
“It doesn’t,” said Zac, creaking harder in the chair.
Of a sudden Willet leaned forward, earnest; wanting to say something though he knew the answer. Knew it could never be. An idea that had been rolling around his head, something bold just like the stunt Jessica pulled, the only thing that, honestly, had any shot of success. Only now it was different.
He said it anyway.
“Let’s take the starship. Get Nani, get Bianca, take it and go back. A lightning raid, right to their main flagship. That has to be where they have her. If she’s alive, if they didn’t kill her … They wouldn’t be keeping her anywhere else.” And again he paused, waiting so his voice wouldn’t crack. “You’re strong enough, you could do it. We get you aboard—” The sad, hopeless look in Zac’s eyes finally made him stop.
It was hopeless.
He would never see Satori again.
His intention wasn’t to drag Zac into his pit of misery but he knew Zac was already there. And in Zac’s case, with Jessica, there was even less to go on. At least with Satori, impossible as it might seem, they had a good idea where she was.
And as he locked eyes with Zac he thought again of how the Kazerai might’ve reacted if it had been Jess, not Satori, on the Kel fighter. Would he have jumped from the Reaver and gone for her? No matter how impossible? Told the others to go on without him and to hell with consequences?
He would’ve, Willet was convinced. Zac would’ve. Would’ve gone running to the downed fighter and fought everyone away, grabbed Jess and run off somewhere safe while the Reaver escaped without them. Willet tried not to feel bitter. The truth was, if Willet were Zac he would’ve reacted that way too. There were lines of devotion. There always were. And while Zac was devoted to Satori, in those rapid-fire moments where only one decision could be made, Zac’s devotion was not so high as to sacrifice them both. Willet understood that. With Jessica … Zac would’ve sacrificed himself for even the slightest chance to save her. Or die together. Willet had that devotion to Satori, but in his case there had been no choice. No way at all he could’ve saved her. Zac might’ve. Just maybe. But Satori wasn’t Zac’s everything.
Willet slumped.
“You know, I’ve never left a man behind,” he said. “Never.”
“We’re going to find them,” Zac’s voice lacked the sort of co
nviction it once held. “Both of them.” Willet saw the diligent effort on the part of the mighty Kazerai to maintain his belief. They both wanted to believe. Wanted to hold hope high, wanted to be sustained by it. That they might actually rescue—find and rescue—the ones they loved.
Then suddenly Zac stood. Quite unexpectedly, and the chair popped with the release of force. A look fell across his face as if he’d just been gripped by an epiphany. Willet leaned back as Zac was all at once looming tall before him.
“There might be another way.” The Kazerai stared down at him, fresh intensity in his gaze. Dark hair, dark beard; ice-blue eyes twinkling like a man possessed.
Willet was about to ask how.
But Zac was already in motion. “Follow me.”
CHAPTER 32: A LONG SHOT
Lorenzo was smiling, laughing; not his typical haughty, derisive laugh but, rather, a genuine laugh. Joy, of a sort Hansel had not seen from the Bok leader in quite some time. Mirth. Like a child on holiday. In fact it might’ve been pleasing to witness, or even heartening, if it had not been driven by the fruition of such evil intentions.
“So they’re really giving us the world?” one of his inner circle asked, disbelieving. The young Bok elite had been strutting around the Turkish mansion, high-fiving each other, laughing and drinking more even than usual. Many champagne bottles had already been popped, along with liquors and other things.
Star Angel: Rising (Star Angel Book 4) Page 35
