He licked his lips. “Hi, Rivkah.”
Rivkah pointed the Ion Pulse Rifle, IPR-8, at the man. He was thick, almost a foot and a half taller than her, a scar across his cheek. “Who are you?”
He put his hands up, slowly walking closer. “Put that down, Rivkah.”
“Step any closer and your head turns into a bloody mess. You’ll be dead before you hit the mother fucking ground.” She stepped forward, tightness in her eyes. “Or, keep coming. I don’t care.” She aimed at his head.
He knew she wasn’t joking. This was Rivkah. She didn’t know what a joke was. He stopped. “Well?” He cocked his head toward the titanium suit. “Aren’t you going to apologize?”
She glanced at the suit then back at the man. “SA Nick Cole?”
“You guessed it. You really screwed up my suit, Riv. You owe me an apology”
Screw that. Rivkah Ravenwood apologized to no one. “How did you get on this ship?”
He tapped his temple. “My helmet was un-fazed, so I was able to track Slade on Grenada and convince him to take me along for the ride. Then we came after you and that traitor Jaxx. You see, I’m quite handy.” He dropped his hands and leaned back against the table. “I was like a gift dropped straight from heaven for our Slade pal.” He grinned. “And, sorry about your head.”
She went to touch the back of her head, still slightly throbbing. He did this? No. It was Slade. She saw his face before she blacked out. Or, maybe it wasn’t; just a figment of her imagination. It didn’t matter. “Where is the launch bay?”
“Why? You planning on running again? Flying your ass out of here?”
Rivkah didn’t respond.
Cole laughed. “The same old Rivkah. When you’re not doing so well, you quit and run. Run to your little Jaxx boyfriend?” He mimicked running with his index finger and middle finger. “Is that what your daddy told you to do when he learned you joined the military? To run away if you get in any trouble? He didn’t want your sweet ass to get a scratch, to burn like you did?”
Whooshpa!
Rivkah pulled the trigger, the ion pulse sizzling past his head.
Cole instinctively ducked, though the shot was wide on purpose.
He stood, turning, staring at the singe mark in the thick, metallic wall. “You didn’t like that, did you?” He straightened and turned, giving her sarcastically innocent eyes. “Daddy issues?”
Her heart hardened and she bit her cheek. Blood trickled into her mouth. “Either tell me where the launch bay is or you’re a sizzling pile of human flesh in a matter of milliseconds.”
He leaned back against the table again, slipping a tool in his hand. He shook his head. “Rivkah, you’re so violent. Why? How about –” He threw the tool at her, his reflexes faster than most. She barely saw it coming. It hit her leg and she pulled the trigger, Cole already ducking out of the way and rushing toward her.
She shot again and Cole rolled, sweeping Rivkah’s legs out from under her. She lost grip of her IPR and flipped onto her back. The IPR flew out of her hand, clanged loudly against the floor, slid across the room and hit the wall.
He came down with a crashing fist, aiming at her throat. A kill punch. She caught it and squeezed, then kicked him backward. With her powers, she was able to hang onto his fist like a hook in a fish, even after he jerked back from her foot’s contact to his stomach. She pulled him down as she leaped up, connecting her head against his chin.
He crashed against the table, his titanium suit tumbling against the ground. Metal against metal echoed in the room and Rivkah ran over to the IPR, taking aim but he was gone, hiding.
The table was on its side and that was the only place he could be. She held her rifle out, rounding the table slowly, keeping her distance. She’d just put a few pulses in his chest and be on her way.
“Don’t shoot, Rivkah. Please. I’ll tell you where the Launch Bay is.”
Yes, he was behind the table.
“What deck?” She knew he wouldn’t tell her. He was the type of soldier that would rather die than divulge anything to an enemy, even if the enemy only needed to know where the toilet paper was.
She came around and he was resting his back against the table, blood oozing out of his mouth. He held a few teeth in his hand. “Nice, Rivkah. I respect a woman who can kick some ass.”
She pointed the rifle at him. “Why aren’t you on Star Warden? I’m sure Slade would have let you leave this ship and find your back up Admiral Gentry’s ass.”
He started to stand, then Rivkah shot an ion pulse at his feet.
He stood anyway, wiping the blood from his lips. “It’s DAWD.” DAWD was a Secret Space Program term for “Dead as a White Dwarf.”
She jerked back, shocked to hear that a Star Carrier, let alone Star Warden, had been blown out of the cosmos.
Cole saw his moment of chance. She let down her guard for a nano-second and snatched up his titanium suit and bull rushed Rivkah.
Rivkah jumped back, firing several shots, the ion’s electrical output sending shocks through Cole’s hands and down his wrists. He held on, pushing forward, pummeling Rivkah, smashing her between the suit and the wall.
All the emotions trickled from her heart and through her body. She failed again and she was so damn tired of failing, being on the losing end of every stick. She crouched and lunged into the suit. “Enough!”
Cole was thrown back into the table, the titanium suit hitting against the ceiling and then the floor.
Rivkah fixed him in her sight, the IPR against her shoulder, her finger on the trigger. She switched it from stun to kill. “Bye, bye, Cole.” She pulled the trigger and spackled the walls with ground Cole.
12
J-Quadrant, Solar System
Callisto
“Please, sit.” Morning Star gestured to a seat next to his pilot’s chair. “We’ll be heading to Flood of Dawn’s Temple Gardens in a moment. Do you have any objections?”
Bogle took a seat, her arms folded across her belly, squeezing her stomach to keep as little of herself exposed to this guy as possible. She didn’t know why squeezing her belly would do the trick and keep her safe but she’d done it most of her life, probably to keep her womb shielded from all the young men who looked at her as a beauty prize, someone to show off in front of their friends, rather than the treasure her mom always told her she was.
She shook her head, keeping her mouth sealed. She didn’t have any objections because she didn’t know what objections she should have. By now, everyone on Star Warden was dead. This guy, demon or not, saved her with his ship, Telu Ignis. She owed him her gratitude, not her fear. Nonetheless, her fear crept in. And what if she had objections? Then what? Push her out of the garbage shoot and back out into the big, black void?
“I will not harm you.” He dipped his head as if reading her mind, slowly closing his eyes like a purring cat, then opening them to stare directly at Bogle. “I hope you come to understand this fact.” He sat in the pilot’s chair and a holographic display popped up in front of him. He tapped in coordinates and strange letters appeared on the screen. “Hold on.”
His ship veered right and dipped into the Callisto atmosphere. The ship was engulfed in flames, as if a fire-breathing dragon were at its rudder, but in seconds the re-entry fire had died down and the Telu Ignis leveled out. A majestic city immediately came into view. Either the ship was extremely fast or the distance between the ground and Callisto’s atmosphere was short. Looking up, Bogle could see it had nothing to do with distance. The Telu Ignis had speed. They approached the city, skimming over pyramids, domes, and obelisks. Farms dotted the horizon, large and flat, full of corn, sunflowers, and lush ground cover. A hazy energy surrounded the farms, possibly bringing more light and heat to the plants.
Morning Star pointed to a translucent, glass-like dome that covered a crater. Trees, smaller domes, rivers, and a lake were set deep inside. It was a small Earth.
A square door in the glass dome opened, big enough for a Nebula
Class Star Cruiser to cross through.
Morning Star pressed holographic buttons and Telu Ignis made a sharp descent, following a small craft slipping through the opening.
“We’ll be meeting the Master soon after we dock at the Temple Gardens,” said Morning Star.
That sounded ominous. Bogle shifted in her seat. “The Master?”
“She is our Empress. At least, that’s how you’d classify her, in your vocabulary. We have no such designation. We call her ‘Master.’ She is wise beyond years, beyond galaxies. She has led us for thousands of years.”
“Excuse me?” Bogle raised her eyebrows, tapping the crystal on her chest. “I think this device is frizzling out. Did you say, ‘thousands of years.’”
His lips tightened, turning down at the ends. “Yes, thousands of your Earth years.”
She tapped her crystal again. There was no doubt it was shorting out.
The Telu Ignis hovered above the paradise. Bogle leaned forward to get a better view, eyeing a tree fort. No, it wasn’t a tree fort. It was too big. It had to be a home. It was connected to another home by a wooden suspension bridge. That home was connected to another by the same means. Hundreds of homes were spread throughout the forest tops, all of them connected by these spindly, rickety bridges. Then the tree forts were gone, replaced by high-rise towers of shimmering crystal and an avalanche of lily-like umbrella houses, all jostling and tittering on the breeze. Each time Bogle thought her mind had been turned inside out, there was another marvel to take her breath away. She didn’t want to be charmed. She wanted to hang on to her rage. She closed her eyes and sat out the remainder of the flight.
Morning Star lowered the ship. Bogle’s seat bounced when the craft connected to the landing pad. Bogle opened her eyes. A parade of people in Greek garb were assembled all around the craft.
“This is for you, Captain Katherine Bogle. My people come to greet you. We have waited a long time.”
Katherine Bogle, former acting XO of the Star Warden, stepped out of the ship that had rescued her from certain death and into a sea of admirers.
Morning Star had to gently pry away admiring fingers and steer Bogle through the crowd.
∞
The Master stood as Bogle approached, Morning Star by her side. The Master had on a long, white dress, a metallic four-petaled rose clasped on her shoulder. She had blond hair and piercing blue eyes, her body toned and powerful. There wasn’t a wrinkle on her, confirming Bogle’s suspicions that the crystallo fabrica on her chest had frizzled out and translated Morning Star incorrectly when he said the Master was thousands of years old.
Heck, if the crystallo fabrica had indeed fried out, then what else had it mistranslated?
The Master stood by a simple table, her face fixed in what Bogle believed was the most welcoming smile she’d ever seen.
Bogle remembered her Hamlet, “One may smile and smile and be a villain.”
Rosemary mixed with lavender fragranced the air. An ornate tea pot and cups were set on the table, steam rising from the fresh-brewed jasmine and ginger tea.
“Welcome,” the Master bowed. “My name is Salasha Libertanius. In your language, I’m Liberty Speidel.” She raised one brow and smiled anew. “Call me Liberty.”
Bogle, not knowing the correct protocol, followed Morning Star’s lead and bowed with him.
Morning Star spoke, “Thank you, Master. Would you like me to stay or leave?”
“Sit and take tea, Morning Star. Your service is appreciated.”
Morning Star pulled out a seat, gesturing for Bogle to take it. “Wow, a gentleman. You don’t see too many of those on Star Ward –” Her voice cracked. She had to turn her face from her rescuer and host to hide the tears. The lush surroundings had almost lulled her into a false sense of security. But she could not let her guard down with these people. Her entire bridge team, her crew, and her ship were gone – dead. And, it was because of these people. She was dealing with the enemy, the evil-ones who killed her people. They were devils.
Liberty took a seat, her eyes on Bogle. “We only attacked because we do not want to be used as chattel or our land as a bargaining chip. Our intent was not to kill. Our intent was to keep peace within our society.”
Bogle kept her eyes trained to the floor. Her words came out as a whisper, anger rising from her belly. “Then why did you kill if that wasn’t your intent?”
“We ceased fire the moment your Admiral decided to retreat. We re-opened fire when he wanted to end all life on our portion of Atlantis Alta, Flood of Dawn.” She spoke matter of factually, her face calm and serene, a hint of melancholy in her voice.
Morning Star took a sip of tea, but remained quiet.
Bogle wiped away a tear and spoke through gritted teeth. “I tried to stop the Admiral.”
Liberty pressed her cup to her lips, glancing over at Bogle, then pushed a cup of tea toward her. “We know. Our heart is with you.” She put her cup down, clasping her hands together. “You must understand that a nuclear explosion would lay waste not only to our people here in Flood of Dawn, but to the millions in other areas east, west, north, and south of us. We weren’t willing to suffer another people’s nuclear misdeed.”
Bogle stiffened. This wasn’t the only city on Callisto? There must be more pyramids, obelisks, farms, domes, biospheres, and coliseums all over the moon. How could the Secret Space Program have missed them for all these years?
Liberty straightened. “Because we wanted you to overlook our civilization. We wanted every Being to overlook our civilization. It wasn’t time to be seen yet. In fact, if we had it our way, we would have closed our doors forever and remained a closed society, happy in our solitude and glad of our own company. But, the soothsayer spoke.” Liberty looked out over the gardens. Her eyes had seen a thousand-thousand sunsets and for a moment, the weight of her duty swam into focus. She blinked it away, turning the full force of her benign presence towards Bogle. “We are here to fulfill our prophecies and wake up those in the Galaxy that have fallen into darkness.”
Bogle touched the crystallo fabrica on her chest. “Does this transmit my thoughts to you?”
Liberty tapped her head with her finger. “We are Atlantean, not Human. There is a difference. We can hear thoughts. I can turn my psychic dial down for you, if you’d like.”
Bogle combed her fingers through her hair. “Yeah, don’t just turn it down. Turn it off.” To Bogle, mind-reading, soothsayers, and prophesy were all part of the same demonic bundle: heresy. She couldn’t listen, but not head; hear, but not believe. They could talk all they liked, but she knew the word of the One True God and she planned to do right by Him.
For a moment, there was silence, and Bogle took a good look around. She was in a sanctuary of some type. Trees, much like blue atlas cedars, their needles hued differently with a tint of blue, pink and orange, reached toward the top of the dome, along with reddish, gold palm trees, bearing an orange fruit the size of watermelons.
A butterfly, about the size of an eagle, dropped from a branch and fluttered past her, its wings fanning Bogle’s face. She jerked back and stifled a soft yelp.
“We have many animals and insects here that are now extinct from where we came from.” Liberty reached inside her dress and pulled out a piece of what looked to be hard, white bread.
Liberty dropped the piece on the floor, then whistled. The bushes stirred and a cat – its body as big as a grizzly, fangs as long as her forearm – emerged. The creature padded up to Liberty and bumped its head against her outstretched hand, then gave her fingers a quick lick. A purr rose from the cat’s throat and it bent down, whisking the food into its mouth. It sat on its hind legs, sitting contently next to Liberty.
“Meet Dakin.”
Bogle leaned as far back in her chair as her spine would allow her to go, without snapping her in two. “I...uh...those are called saber tooth tigers.”
Liberty leaned forward, cupping her hands. “I see. I call her only ‘Dakin.’ You may pet
her, if it pleases you.”
“It does not please me. In fact, it would please me if she were further from me.”
Liberty nodded and Dakin ambled around the back of her chair and stretched out, licking her paws. “Now, to why I summoned you and why Morning Star saved you.” She gave Bogle a long, hard stare. “We’ve been waiting for you.”
Bogle didn’t know what to say, so she said nothing.
“According to our prophecies, you are here to help us. A great wrong is with us and it’s bleak, and it’s here now. The prophecy states: ‘A pure and clear Being, a phantom of the deep, dark cosmos will fall from the stars and will bring the key to Atlantis Alta's survival. Three lords, three seeds, three contrary intentions will follow with thunder, lightning, and blood in the year 261,746. Much blood will be spilled.
“We are in the year 261,746.” Liberty gestured toward Bogle. “And here you arrive. And, here they arrive.”
“Who are they?” asked Bogle.
“To our east and west, our lands, cities, and people have been ravaged. The Kelhoon have already landed.” Liberty shook her head. “Then your race, the humans, send a forward guard in the form of their ‘Secret Space Program’ to grab our land. If these three forces come down upon us, one after the other, we are doomed. Though, if you help us, Katherine Bogle, the prophesy indicates we have a chance.”
Bogle shook her head and scratched her jaw, wondering why Morning Star hadn’t spoken a word. She folded her arms across her chest. “We’re not in the year 261,746. We’re in 2018.” Even as she said it, she knew she sounded petulant and childish. Of course there were going to be different calendars in different planetary systems. It was just that this Liberty woman was off her rocker and she wanted to stop her talking. There were no modern prophets or invading forces or…Liberty’s words snagged in her brain. She was supposed to do something; save a people; make a difference. “Where is my name in that prophecy?”
Destination Atlantis (Ascendant Chronicles Book 2) Page 6
