by Dana Kelly
Within April’s vision of Orin, blinding light engulfed him. Power flooded Casey’s body and like a breaking dam, it surged through into April’s mind. Their eyes went wide, and they choked on their breath. April and Casey opened their mouths to scream, but only columns of starfire poured out.
Solar light crackled along the sandy ground, coursing up through Mike’s, Shona’s, Torsha’s, and Malmoradan’s feet. They cried out as brilliant fissures formed over the nearest cave and cracked the firmament. Light shattered the horizon, and their whole world violently shook.
◆◆◆
Nimbus stood up as the diamond began to vibrate. It clattered and bounced, glowing brightly from within. Oh no! she thought. It’s going to explode!
She bolted for the parking garage, diving behind the attendant’s stand as the diamond shattered in a burst of fire and light. Getting to her feet, Nimbus cautiously emerged. The fountain’s scorched debris littered the area, and a bent pipe gushed water off to the side.
Nimbus approached and found her friends unconscious, scattered about the footpath. She sent photos to Orin.
◆◆◆
“I’ll be right back,” said Orin, and he rose from the moss-covered bench. “I’ve got some aches and pains to walk off. Ellylle, you’re lucky you don’t feel pain.”
[I feel pain,] said Ellylle. [As do all beocranns. We simply experience it differently than you do.] Her blooms turned rosy, her leaves whispered in the breeze, and her branches bowed. [Who are you going to meet in such a tired state?]
Orin paused. “A friend, and I’m not that tired.”
[All your friends are trapped within my nightmare seed.]
“Not all of them,” said Orin.
Ellylle twisted to face the sky. [You’ve shed some of your power, though I don’t know how or even what you used it on. I wonder if you have enough of your power left to stop them all. Do you have enough left to stop even one of them?]
“You know more than you let on,” said Orin.
[I’m beginning to think we may never be allies,] said Ellylle.
“Giving up on us so soon?” asked Orin. “We haven’t even finished our second date.”
[If I decided to attack you right here and now, would you use your powers to defend against me, knowing it would mean the destruction of Earth? Yet, if I killed you, Earth would be doomed all the same. Your friends in the field will never erect that satellite dish in time, by the way. I made sure of that by accelerating the spheres’ arrival. But judging by how fast your heart started beating a few minutes ago—right after you ended your call with Eridani—I expect you already know that to be true.]
Orin frowned. “She warned me you had good hearing.”
[I hear nothing. I feel everything!]
“What’s the point of this?” demanded Orin. “After those spheres hit the surface, the dust cloud will be so thick it’ll blot out the sun! You’ll need to be hooked up to UV lights just to survive. And with so much debris in the air, there won’t be any way to get off planet!”
[The dust cloud will never reach me,] said Ellylle, and she glanced at her world seed. [Everything that was, will be no more. Everything that follows will be by my design!]
“If you were planning to destroy the planet, why send the spheres to Earth?”
[How else could I command the galaxy’s attention? Tell me how else I could make certain that everyone in the galaxy would be watching as the United Planets’ very seat of government is unmade!]
“Turn them away,” said Orin, and blue fire surged around him.
[Now, this is getting exciting,] said Ellylle, and she raised her branches, animating every nearby tree. Moving as one, they uprooted themselves and stomped toward Orin. [Defend yourself, my champion, and you may live to see Earth receive her resurrection!]
Orin glanced at the approaching arboreal warriors. Clenching his fists, he looked at the stars and back to Ellylle. “Damn you,” he hissed, and he ran, dodging and weaving his way through swinging branches and entangling vines. He bolted for the bridge, but a buried root surged from below. It seized Orin by the chest and started to squeeze.
Tears filled his eyes as he cried out, and his flames intensified.
“Save the pyrotechnics for the professionals,” said Lafuega, and she stepped into view. With a focused column of flame, she scorched the root to its core, and it released Orin. “I got your message.”
“Thank you,” said Orin, and his fires subsided. “I can’t thank you enough! Lafuega, I need to conserve my energy long enough to stop the spheres, but Ellylle’s trying to kill me!” He pointed across the way. “She’s right over there!”
“Not for long,” said Lafuega, and a fiery crown formed over her head. Wherever she stepped, the soil burned, turning grass and roots to cinders.
Ellylle turned on her vocoder and cackled. “Is this the friend you were going to see?”
“That’s right,” said Orin, and Lafuega lobbed fireballs into the trees. They cracked and crumbled as they burned. “It’s over, Ellylle! Call off the spheres, and we’ll let you live!”
With a dismissive sneer, Ellylle vanished into the earth.
“Where’d she go?” asked Lafuega.
“I don’t know,” said Orin. “Give me a minute to see if I can sense her.” He closed his eyes and searched for the connection he shared with Ellylle. Suddenly, his eye sprang open. “She’s right under us!”
“Oh, shit,” said Lafuega. The soil beneath her exploded, and Ellylle drove one of her branches up through Lafuega’s chin. Curling twigs out through Lafuega’s nose, she clamped her jaw shut as she mutely cried out.
Slowly, Ellylle emerged from underground, holding her trophy high as Lafuega grasped and kicked. Blood flowed over her lips and down her neck. “Join me,” said Ellylle. “Join me, and I’ll let her live.”
◆◆◆
The fleet of spheres raced toward Earth. Radiant beams sliced through the starscape, emitted from every defending warship, except for the beocranns. They fell back, refusing to engage as countless volleys of missiles streaked across the void.
Continuous explosions formed garlands around each of the spheres. With a burst of speed, they smashed into the vanguard. Dozens of starships vanished in fire and wreckage. Hundreds of frontline warships scattered ahead of the spheres’ advance
Standing across from Imperium’s viewscreen, Eridani fought a wave of nausea as she watched the battle unfold. “Come on,” she whispered, and her hand hovered over the command console. “Come on, Grostonk. Please hurry.”
Grostonk spoke through the comm. “Captain, it’s ready.”
“Great work,” said Eridani. “Brady, there should be a new channel on your display. Use it to hail the spheres!”
“Aye-aye, Captain,” said Brady, and he sent a standard greeting. The viewscreen darkened, and with stilled breath, everyone on the bridge waited.
Brady grinned. “Captain, we have a response!”
“Excellent,” said Eridani. “Put it through!”
A corporate logo appeared onscreen above a ring filled with hundreds of ancient symbols. Persephone’s voice filled the air. “Greetings, Ellylle Fenmore. On behalf of Porrima Industrium, we thank you for your business, and we hope you’re satisfied with our services. All our offices are currently closed, but this automated system offers several commands to customize the content and destination of your delivery. If you wish to continue, please say yes, or press ihāke on the interface array.”
“Yes!” said Eridani.
The system trilled. “Voice print not recognized. Please try again, or you may enter your contract code at any time.”
She pushed the mute button and looked at Eleski. “This is your moment. This is how you save Earth!”
“Explain?”
“Ellylle’s a public figure,” said Eridani. “Find samples of her voice you can imitate.”
Afshin ran a search for Ellylle’s speeches and other appearances. “Here,” he said, and he stood u
p to offer his station.
“I am grateful,” said Eleski, but she pursed her lips. “Eridani, I…” Gentle illumination brightened her cheeks. “I have never successfully duplicated the voice of a beocrann.”
“You only need to match her vocoder,” said Eridani. “When it comes to mimicry, there’s no one in the galaxy that’s better than you! You can do this.” She looked deep into Eleski’s eyes. “I believe in you.”
“Your unwavering support is appreciated,” said Eleski. Steeling herself, she took Ellylle’s form and listened to snippets of her voice. Slowly, she assembled a vocoder and rehearsed. At last, she nodded and looked at Eridani. “I’m ready.” She sounded just like Ellylle. “What shall I say?”
Eridani smiled. “Just say yes,” and she took her finger off the mute button.
“Yes,” said Eleski, and the voice system trilled.
The recording continued. “Please listen closely to the following options, as our menus have changed…”
Proceeding as fast as she could through the available choices on screen, Eridani switched the language to English and paused at the cargo manifest. As the list scrolled by, her mouth fell slightly open. “They’ve listed people as their cargo! Grostonk, run a block of those names against public records.”
“On it,” said Grostonk, and he transferred a page worth of data into the search field. “They’re corporate citizens, all of them. Taranis Arms, mostly, but they come from all over. New Tortuga, Myconidian, Arsenal Bay—they’re all from countdown planets.”
“What is going on?” muttered Eridani.
Moving quickly, she continued navigating Porrima’s menu. She soon reached a header labeled, “Delivery Options,” and Eridani paled as she studied the settings. “Ellylle overrode all the safety measures. She was planning to ruin Earth all along!”
At the button of the page, she found a red button that promised to reschedule the active delivery. “This better work,” said Eridani, and she pressed it. The system prompted her for a date, and she chose the one furthest out—two weeks from that moment.
Imperium’s communications console lit up. Volleyed rapidly back and forth, captains from the surviving starships cheered. “They’ve stopped!” cried one of the captains. “It’s a miracle,” crooned another. Most were unintelligible in their exultation and exuberance.
Eridani plopped down in her chair. Leaning back, she let out a resounding cheer of her own. Her bridge crew shouted and laughed.
◆◆◆
Orin’s commlink crackled. “Eridani has been trying to reach you,” said Nimbus. “She wanted you to know that the spheres have halted their advance, approximately ten thousand kilometers from impact. They no longer pose a threat to Earth.”
“Roger that,” said Orin, and he thrust forth his arms, engulfed in a blue inferno. Cosmic power poured from his hands, and he severed Ellylle’s branch with a flick of his index finger, leaving it in place to staunch Lafuega’s bleeding. Deftly, he moved Lafuega to the footpath near the bridge, and with a dramatic upward gesture, he lobbed the rest of the animated trees into the East River.
“Yes!” said Ellylle. “Now this is more like it! I knew there was a warrior in you. Now, stand with me as we remake this world!”
“Not on your life,” said Orin.
She tilted her head. “You’d rather die fighting me?”
Seizing the tidal forces of a pulsar, Orin pulled her branches straight, and her phone tumbled to the ground. Making a fist, he crushed it into a marble. “Tonight, your schemes come to an end. Earth will live, and the Forest of Worlds will fade even further into obscurity, disgraced by their own Vanam. You’re done, Ellylle! You’re done!”
“Is that what you think?” She smiled wickedly, and the vines surrounding her trunk unwound. Cradled within, Earth’s world seed glowed brightly. “This is Nyx. Good luck crushing her,” said Ellylle, and the diamond dropped to the ground. “Gaia sleeps, her final slumber. Come forth, Nyx, tear Earth asunder!”
The seed oscillated with swiftly growing intensity. The wrought iron bench creaked, bowing forward as the moss coating leapt free, hurtling toward Nyx. Lights flickered, and electricity crackled in the air. A roaring howl grew ever louder, and at last Orin sensed the world seed’s nature.
“It’s a living rift,” he breathed. Pulled down into the world seed’s abyss, he beheld a nightmare planet, and he shuddered as he felt Nyx’s hunger. She longed to devour Earth, to vomit forth her own matter in its place.
Breaking free from Nyx’s spell, Orin sent the world seed high into the air, speeding toward the ionosphere where he could move it no further. Drawing upon his deep reserves of power, he held the seed at bay. “Ellylle, that’s enough!”
Freed from Orin’s grip, her branches curled back into place, and she slowly approached. “You foolish boy—we could’ve enlightened the galaxy together, but now you’ll be nothing more than fuel for my conquest.” She extended wooden spikes toward Orin’s eyes, but an aura of starlight surrounded him, and his nightmare body surfaced instantly. Ellylle’s barbed points scraped harmlessly against immovable membranes, where the whites of his eyes had been. “Remarkable. Truly remarkable. I wonder how long you can keep this up?”
“It’s over, Ellylle. My sister stopped the spheres, and I’ve stopped Nyx! You can’t hurt me. We’re endless and as powerful as the stars, remember? You said it yourself!”
“But the same isn’t true for your fiery friend,” said Ellylle. “Surely I can hurt her. Would you wear her death upon your shoulders after all? I know how your powers work, Orinoco. You can’t stop me without releasing my world seed.”
“Perhaps I can’t stop you, but I know they can.” Orin nodded toward the bridge.
Ellylle tracked his stare and found Shona stooped over Lafuega, treating her wounds. “That’s impossible,” muttered Ellylle. “No one escapes! No one!”
“Hi,” said Casey from across the way. Mike and Torsha stood on one side of her, Nimbus and Malmoradan on the other.
“You all escaped?” snarled Ellylle.
Casey smiled wryly. “Yeah. Clearly we did.”
“I’ll have to make something a bit more lethal for you then,” said Ellylle, and she focused on Casey. Stars brightened within Orin’s arms and upper chest, and sparks flared from Ellylle’s limbs. “You’ve found a way to block me.”
“They’re protected,” said Orin. “As long as my power lingers within them, they’re anchored to this existence.” He looked at Casey. “Where’s April?”
I’ve been following along from far away, thought April. We’ll keep Ellylle busy while you dispose of her world seed.
I can’t do it, thought Orin. I can barely contain the thing!
We’ll figure something out, thought April. She turned her attention to Malmoradan. Be on your guard. She’s sending something through the soil.
Malmoradan pointed his lightning gun downward, just as a braid of roots ruptured the ground from below. Light flashed and thunder cracked. Chunks of root matter rained down all around him, and he pointed his weapon at Ellylle. “Get down on your knees with your hands behind your neck, then lay face down on the dirt. Do it now!”
Ellylle scoffed. “Arms? Knees? Neck? I’m a tree, you imbecile!”
“Do it now!” shouted Casey, and she drew her sidearm. A plasma round churned within the firing chamber.
“I don’t think so,” sneered Ellylle, and she thrust forth a thick vine, tipped with a razor-sharp bramble. It streaked through air, headed for Casey’s throat. Guided by April, Mike stepped in the way, catching the barb in his chest. It whipped against him and twisted around, slashing his shirt to ribbons.
Mike seized the vine and pulled, ripping it free from Ellylle’s trunk. “That was rude,” said Mike, and he wrapped the vine around his forearm. “My mom gave me that shirt.”
“Too bad she’s not around to mend it,” said Ellylle, and she blasted Mike with a fusillade of stinging nettles. They ripped through his jacket and what was
left of his shirt, but he remained unharmed. Ellylle snarled, and her branches snapped. “How are you resisting me? You’re no binary—I’d sense it if you were! You must be augmented.” She glared at Torsha. “No matter. I’ll move on to your friends.”
“Good luck with that,” said Torsha, and with insight from April, she sprang away from the roots and brambles erupting near her feet. Growling, Ellylle attacked relentlessly as Casey and Malmoradan opened fire, sending chunks of scorched wood and bark flying.
Nimbus ran to Orin’s side. “I can see that you’re struggling, despite inhabiting your nightmare form. Orin Webb, please allow me to assist you.”
“Hey Nimbus,” said Orin, and he glanced her way before closing his eyes and concentrating on the world seed. “Her name is Nyx, and she’s a living rift in spacetime. She’s as big as Earth, and she plans to trade places as soon as I let go.”
“Don’t let go,” said Nimbus. Quietly, she cleared her throat. “Please.”
Orin chuckled. “I wasn’t planning on it, but I can’t hold on forever. She’s fighting me, and she’s stronger than I am. It’s just a matter of time before I lose control of her.”
Nimbus looked to the heavens and spotted a bright dot near the horizon. “Venus approximates Earth’s mass. Perhaps Nyx isn’t a picky eater.”
“I appreciate your faith in me, but I can’t move an entire planet!”
“Of course not,” said Nimbus. “I meant for you to send Nyx to Venus.”
Orin briefly opened his eyes to regard her. “I’m open to suggestions.”
“Can you not project in this state?” asked Nimbus.
Orin nodded, and he smiled. “I suppose I can.” In a flash, he appeared in the upper atmosphere, taking Nyx into his hands. He paused to gaze upon the clouds and scars of light that traced Earth’s shores, that flowed across her continents. Come with me, he thought.
In an instant, he appeared in high orbit over Venus. Far below, her thick layers of endless storms raged above unseen continental masses. He held Nyx out, slowly releasing the world seed. Eat well, he thought, and Nyx raced down through the clouds. Slowly, the planet’s mass fell into her core, strained through the rift as the nightmare planet emerged.
