Equilibrium of Terror: Part 1 (Splintered Galaxy Book 3)

by Eddie R. Hicks

  “Sir, we have them,” the commander said as Onatiasha and Zhinbryo were forced onto the snow-covered lawn with their arms and legs bound together.

  “Just these two, Commander?” the admiral asked.

  “Yes, Onatiasha Ladyknight and Zhinbryo Braver both transferred here just a few days ago.”

  “Good job,” the admiral said then directed his attention to Noylarlie and Di’aria. “Kill them.”

  The commander’s mood turned sour while the two psionics started to power their orange glowing arms. “What? Sir let us finish our interrogation at least.”

  “I wasn’t referring to Zhinbryo and Onatiasha,” the admiral said.

  A rippling purple dome manifested over Onatiasha and Zhinbryo then a series of bright flashes and screams were heard. The snow vaporized instantly, as the grass below it started to burn. An inferno created by the rain of white fireballs turned everything that was outside of the purple barrier protecting them into fire and ashes.

  The explosions stopped, Onatiasha lifted her head from the ground, looking to see what remained of the front garden of the manor. Just flames and smoke. Noylarlie and Di’aria were hovering high above, the admiral protected by a purple barrier just like the one that shielded Zhinbryo and Onatiasha from the blast.

  “That felt pleasurable didn’t it Noylarlie?” the admiral said to her.

  “It...”

  “Those men were no different than the ones that took you and your mother away. You must have been waiting and fantasizing for years at the chance to kill them without punishment.” He addressed Di’aria. “Take our new guests back.”

  “As you wish,” Di’aria said, then lowered her body toward Zhinbryo and Onatiasha in preparation for a teleport.

  … … …

  ►► Celestial Order bunker, Taxah

  ► Uelcovis system

  Onatiasha, Zhinbryo and Di’aria appeared inside of a dark metallic square shaped room. There was a single exit to the room, one that Di’aria stood directly in front of as she snapped her fingers, causing Onatiasha and Zhinbryo’s bindings to deactivate and fall to the floor.

  Onatiasha clenched her fists and shouted. “Di’aria!”

  Before she could charge toward her, Onatiasha became numb, paralyzed by Di’aria’s mind. Zhinbryo suffered the same effect. Di’aria, with her hands behind her back, walked circles around the paralyzed duo, sizing them up with her red eyes.

  “Everything will be explained in time,” Di’aria said.

  “You have us here bound like beasts, why not just tell us now?” said Zhinbryo.

  “She’s working with the Celestial Order, that part is clear,” said Onatiasha

  “No,” Di’aria said then stopped and stood between them. “The order is working for me.”

  … … …

  ►► Muro, Taxah

  ► Uelcovis system

  Noylarlie stepped over the body of a slain gardener while she and Yominv toured the manor. She paused the tour briefly, and stopped to point toward a bedroom on the upper level. “This used to be my room,” she said then pointed to the room across the hall. “Phylarlie’s was over here.”

  Yominv gleamed toward the door she pointed her finger at. “Show me,” he said, and she did just that.

  The room wasn’t exactly how she remembered it, which was to be expected. Some other servant moved in years after Phylarlie had vanished. “I still don’t know how she was discovered,” said Noylarlie. “She was here one day, went out and we never saw her again. Then some sources close to the empire revealed her psionic potential was discovered and that she was sent in for training.”

  “I won’t lie to you,” Yominv said. “I regret not being a proper father to your sister.”

  “At least you’re here. I still don’t know what became of my father.”

  “And Phylarlie doesn’t know what’s become of me.”

  The tour continued, stepping past more bodies, members of the strike force that went in after Onatiasha and Zhinbryo. Eventually their travels led them into Hasiv’s room still full of dead bodies and a sea of blood making the carpets red and mushy. Hasiv’s corpse put a brimming smile on Noylarlie face.

  “They should have cut off his cock while they were at it,” she said. “I don’t want to know what he used to do with mother in these rooms while we slept.”

  “It pains me to know your mother’s last days alive were here before being taken away to be executed by Y’lin.”

  “She was trying to protect us from having to go to that awful and poorly managed training facility.”

  “She was trying to do much more than that,” he said, stepping toward the window. “She was not only our strongest psionic within the order, but she was trying to bring the change needed to end the cycle of chaos that has plagued the galaxy for far too long.”

  “What chaos? The war between the Union and the Empire?”

  “The order, as you may have discovered, are no friends to the Union and Empire. But at the same time is proof that peace and co-existence can be achieved with our people. We just needed to open our minds to the true word of the gods. Words that have been labeled as heresy to the union and words that are straight up forbidden in the empire. A change in leadership in both governments could force that, a change that would bring in leaders loyal to the order.”

  “You must be talking about another person,” said Noylarlie. As she recalled her mother spoke of the goddess when she encountered her in Aether space.

  “I am not. Your mother concocted a plan to take the throne alongside the late emperor. Had things gone according to plan he’d still be alive and she would be the empress. The emperor would have been converted to our cause, and you and Phylarlie would have been princesses.” Yominv turned away from the window to look at Noylarlie. “Yes, just think about it, you as royalty, that was the plan.”

  The thought of that made her ponder a reality that never was. And one she wished did come true. Mother would be alive, she and Phylarlie would still be together, and they could have skipped out on attending the psionic training, and be of imperial family with all its benefits.

  “Not a damn thing that we can do to change that,” she said.

  “Oh, but there is,” he said, stroking her soft blue skin on her neck. Angrily she jerked away from him, and resisted the urge to burn him alive where he stood. “Look at you, you are as beautiful, powerful and ambitious as your mother, and aid us in the order.”

  “I’m not part of the order!”

  “You will be. The gods sent you to us for a reason. You are here to finish your mother’s work.” Noylarlie rolled her eyes at the mention of the word ‘gods.’ “Think about it, look at what you have become, how far you’ve gotten. You are going to become the next empress.”

  “How am I supposed to do that? Just walk up and demand it? Right?”

  “Our associates are pushing for the idea of a forced bonding between Kroshka and her guardian. When it happens, we’ll have a new emperor,” he said. “It would be a shame if he were to lose his mate. He’ll have to find a new one.” Noylarlie grimaced. “I’ll leave it all to you. Like your mother, I’m sure you’ll come up with the rest. I saw the look in your eyes at the thought of being a part of the imperial family.”

  “Even if you were to succeed, what about the humans? They could become the next threat against your order controlled union and empire.”

  “That’s why I’ve been pushing for this war. It’s not just to secure more test subjects for the celestial ascension project, but because humans, historically, have a way of surviving everything. They will run into the arms of Radiance once again, this time becoming the sixth member, something that was supposed to happen with our original invasion. Radiance will see to it this time as they issued their ultimatum to the humans, join them or fend for themselves. This war will prove they cannot live without the protection of the Radiance fleet.”

  Noylarlie started to process in her head the new information, then summed it up ve
rbally. “Order controlled throne and council, humans’ part of Radiance—”

  “Is all we need to achieve galactic peace, every soul worshiping the true word of the gods, following the one true path. You see now why it’s important for you to work with us? Why I was willing to work with you despite you consistently refusing to accept the word of the gods. You are the key part of this.”

  Noylarlie concluded seconds later that Yominv and the rest of the Celestial Order were insane. Just as insane as the visions and dreams she had, the very same ones that brought her ultimately to this point in her life. Then there was her mother, she was member of the order, yet spoke about goddess not gods during her vision of her not long ago. She also wanted the empire to stand tall over the union and humans, while Yominv and the rest of the order want unity via total warship of their doctrine. Mother, she must have discovered something while in Aether space, something the order didn’t know about, it was the only logical explanation.

  She gazed down at her gem that hovered between her breasts, and pondered if she could get more answers from it in regard to the celestial ascension and all the details regarding the order’s involvement on Earth. If the order played a key role in forcing the war between Earth and the empire, did they play a role in Akeia’s death?

  As she recalled it was his death on Earth that sparked the conflict. If the order played a role in it.

  Then people were going to die by her hands.

  And it would be bloody.

  CHAPTER 16

  ►► Courelia slums district, Rasi

  ► Barnard’s Star system

  The glass sliding doors to the only working tram in the slums of Courelia opened, allowing Jazz and Vaishea to board and take a seat. Since leaving the inn where they had been staying, Vaishea didn’t do much in terms of communicating with Jazz in regard to their game plan. She just kept walking, holding onto Jazz’s hand dragging him along for the ride. Whatever she planned, Jazz hoped it wasn’t some kind of ambush and she’d been leading him on this whole time. She was a cute woman, like a younger version of Chloe, slightly timid, possibly an introvert. The perfect honey trap.

  As the tram departed from the platform, Jazz saw out the window, scores of homeless Radiance races, begging for credits or hustling. Quite possibly a pimp or two collecting payments from some girls on a street corner as it vanished out of his sight. As much as Radiance loved to push the idea that their nation was the best one, it was just as flawed as the empire, just like Morutrin and most certainly just like Earth.

  A colony like Rasi cost several billion credits to build. An arcology to house all the cities from the freezing cold and unbreathable air on the outside and a small fleet of transport hauler ships full of food and water delivering it to the surface until the farms here started to produce their own goods. Then there was power. Who the hell knew how much power was needed just to keep the place up and running with life support systems? Not to mention you got to pay people to perform their duties. The end result? High rent and taxes to cover the cost of Radiance’s most ambitious colony ever built. Credits these folks didn’t have.

  “So where exactly we headin’?” Jazz asked for first time since boarding the tram, and the ninth time since they left the inn.

  “Shh, keep your voice down. Not everyone here is used to your language,” Vaishea said. “And... I don’t know.”

  An answer at last. And she herself didn’t know. Perfect. Staying mobile is probably better and safer at this point.

  Forty minutes later, the tram came to a stop at the edge of the slums. Jazz saw Vaishea look as the doors opened to let people on and off then without warning got up from her chair grabbing Jazz’s wrist as she exited with him. No heads up, no sign whatsoever that she wanted to get off at this stop, it was almost as if she was just traveling at random.

  A quick walk through several dark allies eventually led them into an establishment with crimson lights beaming down from the ceiling, rough looking aliens drinking their problems away, and weird music playing. Jazz’s best guess was it was a night club of some sort, though there wasn’t much dancing going on. They received several odd glares as they made their way past the patrons many of them were too drunk to move out of the way fast enough.

  “Now what?” Jazz asked as she finally let go of his wrist. Vaishea however, ignored him as she walked toward the booths, almost in a trance. “Vaishea!” he said. “Are you okay?”

  She stopped as a Javnis bouncer or at least that what he looked like to Jazz, stopped her from walking further. She started speaking to him in the Radiance language, in which he replied angrily. Several more heated words were exchanged. The only thing Jazz got out of it was that Vaishea for whatever reason had to be allowed to enter the back booths.

  Oh fuck, he thought when the bouncer armed himself with a magnetic pistol aiming it at Vaishea. She froze with her hands up, then fired off a series of grabs and kicks, resulting in the bouncer’s pistol in her hands, and the bouncer on the floor, holding his balls moaning, assuming Javnis men even had balls to start with, Jazz was by no means a xenobiologist.

  Jazz stepped toward her, impressed at her stunt. He heard the voice of another man from inside speaking to them as he approached her. The tone of his voice was more relaxed, then another figure stepped over, a Vorcambreum male who waved his tiny hands in a come on in motion to them. Part of Jazz wanted to play it safe and leave, the bouncer made it clear no one was to come back, was armed, then disarmed. Whoever these people were, they weren’t fucking around. If things went bad he’d be at a disadvantage with no weapon or armor, at least Vaishea had one of the two.

  Inside the booth they were offered seats on a wide leather like couch. No doubt about it, this was a VIP area, by Earth’s standards at least. In addition to the Vorcambreum, there were three other men inside, two of them Linl the other Aryile, both were armed much like the bouncer outside. Upfront in some kind of massive leather chair almost shaped like a throne was a Linl male psionic. As with all psionics, his upper body was exposed, showing the complex wiring of his cybernetic implants. There were two young, petite and provocatively dressed Rabuabin women damn near sitting on his lap. They ran their hands up and down his chest and cybernetics while their tails wagged back and forth slowly like cats.

  Vaishea and the psionic man started to speak in their language. It was somewhat of a long conversation that left Jazz in the dark, he had to speak up. “Okay, I really need a translation here.”

  The Linl psionic nodded to one of the armed men inside. One of them interacted with a hologram interface causing a sound proof barrier to form around the booth. All of the music and sounds from the club stopped instantly, as if everyone packed up and went home.

  “How about we speak your language, does that sound better?” said the Linl psionic.

  “Much better,” Jazz said. “Where are we?”

  “I’m still not sure myself,” said Vaishea.

  “Then why did you bring us here?”

  “She was programmed to,” the Linl psionic said.

  “What?”

  “She knew this exact location and the pass code to speak if you want access here,” he said. “Your friend here is a Whisper sleeper agent.”

  “I assure you, intelligence operations are the last thing you want me to participate in,” Vaishea said. “I can’t even remember where I put my data pad on some nights.”

  “Character traits programmed within your fabricated memories to make your cover seem realistic. However, there are certain actions in your head that will compel you to do certain things that your real and suppressed memories would know. Like disarming an armed guard and knowing the location to this safe house.”

  “You call this a safe house?” Jazz said. “Any motherfucker could walk in those front doors and shoot up the place.”

  “And you are?”

  “Just call me Jazz. You?”

  “Heurol.”

  Heurol, Jazz thought. That’s not a traditional Radiance
name. An exile? Must be.

  “But in any case, they won’t,” Heurol said. “Those that are looking for us are looking through the hard to get to places, underground bunkers and the likes.”

  “Hiding in plain sight,” said Jazz.

  “The human catches on fast,” Heurol said “Telan was right to target you for information.”

  “Really?”

  “You spent quite a bit of time trying to gain intel on the Celestial Order’s movements within the Morutrin system. You did a better job of it than other Whisper agents there.”

  “So rather than do your own investigation you jacked my discoveries?”

  “Like I said. The human catches on fast.” Heurol reclined on his chair while his two Rabuabin companions kissed both sides of his neck and continue to stroke his body. He returned the favor by stroking their backs, causing their ears to twitch.

  “If you are all agents, why are you all loafing around here? Or is this part of your cover?” Jazz asked.

  “Oh.” Heurol sat back up. “I never said I was with The Whisper. This is just a safe house for them.” He pointed to the armed men standing in the booth with them. “Those people over there? They are with the true Whisper members. I just work with them part-time.”

  “Then who are you?” Vaishea asked.

  “We are the exiled in this system.”

  “Exiled and Whisper,” Vaishea said. “They do not work together I thought?”

  “Things have changed in the last few months,” Heurol said. “Most of The Whisper has been compromised by the Celestial Order. As a result, agents didn’t know who to trust. A few of them ended up making small alliances with exiled groups across the galaxy for protection and intel. Then there was that fuck up at Earth two months ago.”

  “Do tell,” Jazz said. “I was there, but I had no idea what the fuck was goin’ on toward the end, outside of the stuff I had to take care of.”