Every time we destroyed a dead one, an explosion came, followed by a release of green mist. We need to blow the hell out of this place, I hissed in mindspeech at Kooper.
Gavin, who'd rushed a few of the dead to decapitate them, discovered that even headless, the bodies still moved forward. Several were now sliced to ribbons, thanks to his swift claws, but the flesh continued to wriggle in a horrifically fascinating way, as if it were still attempting to accomplish the mission.
Agreed, Kooper's mindspeech answered mine. Frankly, he added, we need to destroy the entire planet. The whole thing could be hiding more of these abominations.
I'm here, Lissa sent as she dropped at my side. Kooper, get the others off this planet. I'll take care of this.
I'm staying with you, I insisted. Maybe she hadn't noticed the new development in her normal condition, but I had. We'd discuss that later, after this world was less than space dust.
Fine, she turned blue eyes on me and frowned. Kooper, make sure everybody is disinfected and cleaned with power. We don't need this shit landing anywhere else.
On it, Kooper agreed and folded the others away.
"Just you and me, baby," I grinned at Lissa, who wrinkled her nose at me before lifting a hand and gathering power.
BlackWing X
Sabrina
I have no idea what the red-winged men were doing, but power shone brightly about them as they moved in tandem around me.
"They're clearing away any contamination you may have picked up from Cord'ilus," Quin, the red-winged Avii Queen, informed me.
"Contamination?" I squeaked. I didn't want contamination. I wanted out of my clothes and boots immediately, because my skin suddenly felt as if it were crawling with some infestation.
"Relax, I think the medallion protected you, but we have to make sure," one of the red-winged males reassured me.
My shoulders sagged in relief. "I think that was a trap," I managed to mumble as they continued their trip around me.
"We're pretty sure you're right," one of them agreed. "That green mist—whatever it was inside the dead ones—that's a new twist and would have infected those without power and shields in place."
"Cord'ilus has been destroyed," Kooper said as he and the others arrived and surrounded me.
"Is she clean?" Travis demanded, jerking his head in my direction.
"We can't find any contamination," the red-winged men stood back.
"Good." Travis strode forward. What happened next I'd never have guessed. I was in his arms, my legs wrapped around his waist as he held me and kissed me repeatedly, while Trent stood behind me, rubbing my back and neck.
"Well, this calls for a bit of shuffling in the rankings," Kooper spoke dryly. I ignored him. Finally—fucking finally—I was where I wanted to be.
Randl
I could only watch Travis, Trent and Sabrina for a short time before slipping away to my quarters.
I wanted what they were getting, and it would never come to me. Pulling my comp-vid from my pocket with a sigh, I began writing my report. Director Griff would want one from all of us; I'd learned that from my vid studies.
Every ASD agent filed a report after every incident. It was a standard rule and better not left until later, when details could be lost or confused with the passage of time.
Regarding Cord'illus' destruction, Kooper's mindspeech came, We have vid images and an official, logical explanation for its destruction, which will be transferred to your comp-vid. Please include that in your reports, he added.
I set a reminder on my comp-vid to notify me when the information and images were transferred, then forced my mind back to writing the report.
Lee'Qee, Pyrik
Varok
The Prophet was angry. More than angry. I was grateful he wasn't destructive toward us in his anger. We'd obeyed his commands and everything had been set up according to his wishes.
We hadn't expected what happened.
Neither had he, and that was far from the fault of the Ke'Leru pirates under my command.
The trap was laid as instructed. The first thing to go wrong was the escape of the woman. The Prophet had a new purpose for her after using her as bait to lure in unsuspecting ASD troops. Initially he'd wanted her dead, but after two failed attempts, he revised his plan.
The ASD troops who'd arrived on Cord'ilus should be under our control, now, and their weapons, codes and ships in our possession. The woman would have been forced to work for us, designing weapons to protect us and further our cause.
Never forget, we have other abandoned worlds, ripe for implementation of the same plan, we merely have to construct another trap, the Prophet informed me earlier. He was quite well-spoken when angry, unlike most others around me.
I knew better than to tell the Prophet that he'd misread this, somehow. His talent was too reliable, otherwise. Besides, saying anything of the sort could result in a very nasty death for me, as he was also quite powerful. I wished to avoid that at all cost.
BlackWing X
Randl
Sabrina had been reclassified before Kooper ever left the ship. She was now employed as a Special Liaison and not subject to the rules of relationships with superior officers.
The knot between my shoulders tightened as Travis and Trent joined her for breakfast in the galley the following morning.
"Feeling left out?" David set his tray on the other side of my table.
"And how are you, this fine day?" I snapped at him. "Sorry. I'm just," I didn't finish the sentence.
"Feeling left out," David reiterated. "Look, be patient. Nobody knows how this will turn out."
"Remember who you're talking to?" I frowned at him.
"Oh. Sure. That. Sorry."
"Right."
"Did you shoot anybody yesterday?"
"Some. A few were dead already, so that was a waste of time. One of Queen Lissa's vampire mates sliced some of the dead into tiny pieces. Those pieces still tried to move."
"That's unnerving," David swiped butter across his toast and crunched into it.
"I don't understand how it was accomplished," I admitted. "Not that I truly want to, but we need the information in order to combat the anomaly."
"You're calling it an anomaly? I consider it a fucked-up evil, myself." David finished his toast and turned to the scrambled eggs on his plate.
"You, sir, are a distinguished and well-spoken diplomat of the highest order," I lifted my teacup in a salute to him.
"It's about time somebody recognized my importance," David grinned and waved his fork in a regal gesture.
Queen's Palace, Le-Ath Veronis
Lissa
Winkler stood behind me, Karzac at my side as we studied the strips of flesh I'd removed from Cord'ilus before destroying the planet.
"They're moving like caterpillars," Winkler breathed against my ear as his arms went around me.
"It's gross," I pointed out.
"Feeling queasy?" Winkler rubbed my belly with his left hand while holding onto me with his right.
"How did you know?" I asked. I wanted to snort, too, but I didn't.
"I know I'm being selfish, but I hope this one's mine," he kissed my temple.
"Another month along and I'd have locked her inside her suite and sent someone else to handle that mess," Karzac snapped.
"Geez, does everybody know?" I tried to move away from Winkler, who wasn't having any of it. He just pulled me tighter against him, instead.
"Everybody knows—in your Inner Circle," Karzac informed me. "When did you know?"
"When I almost lost my lunch after seeing that shit," I jerked my head toward the small, shielded cage that held crawling strips of human flesh. I knew Karzac would want to observe how long the spell lasted, because we knew when the bodies had been taken to produce the grisliest army I'd ever encountered. Therefore, I'd shipped some back and placed them in the shielded clear cage Karzac had hurriedly constructed for me.
At least these dead hadn't appe
ared hungry in any way, likely due to the stasis spell we'd discussed before. That was a definite plus, because the word zombies pissed me off in ways I couldn't describe.
"Necromancy." Karzac voiced the term Randl had employed first.
"We've never had anything like that, in the whole history of the Alliances," he added. "This falls outside all parameters."
"Just what we need—a new kind of enemy, who can do that to unsuspecting dead people," I pointed at the crawling bits inside the clear cage.
"Are dead people capable of being unsuspecting?" Winkler asked.
"Stop splitting hairs," I grumped.
"Come on, let's go to the kitchen," Winkler said. "This is making me hungry."
"Oh, my God," I breathed before finally losing my lunch. I didn't care that some of it spattered his boots, either.
Chapter 13
BlackWing X, Orbiting Pyrik
Sabrina
"We have to assume that there may be more crumbling cities on other uninhabited worlds that are filling up with the enemy," Travis said during our after-breakfast staff meeting.
"Kooper is in the process of compiling a list of likely candidates, most of them outside the Alliances. A few inside one or the other," Trent took up the topic. "Regular troops will be forbidden from checking those worlds, which leaves the BlackWing fleet in charge of that."
"As of now, no demands have been received, no taunts or factions claiming responsibility for any of this. We're fighting a phantom, in other words, and he could take any form and attack in any way, and we'd be none the wiser," Travis said.
Trent nodded at his brother's words before saying, "By not declaring themselves, they can take any form and strike anywhere. Yes, we still expect a strike on Pyrik when the Conclave resumes, but if they intend to bring in an army from elsewhere, half or more of which could be dead already, then we could be in deep excrement."
"How will they arrive?" David asked. "Will they be transported by ship or with power?"
"No idea," Travis said. "They flew a ship away from Jaledis, and then were taken off it with power later, to leave a trap for us. Kooper has already pulled in scout ships and has most of the sat-bots in the area tuned to tracking ships traveling in or out of Pyrik's orbit. All manifests, crew and passengers are being scrutinized."
"You know it will be a mess when the world leaders begin to arrive for the Conclave again," Jayna pointed out.
"Kooper is working on that. He'd like to assign arrival times for all of them, but that will only make them more suspicious than they already are."
"Are any of them refusing to come back—for safety reasons?" Randl asked.
"A few are grumbling, but so far, nobody has filed a petition to stay at home," Trent shook his head. "Looks like they still want to party."
"They already have the outfit—what else should they do?" David asked. "Voting from home is just boring."
"Will Director Griff let us know if any of those abandoned worlds need investigating?" Randl asked.
"That's what he wants. I have a preliminary list; we're just waiting on better drone scouting before going in," Travis said. "All the BlackWing ships have been redirected for this task."
"And if we find anything?" Terrett spoke, this time.
"Then we get the hell out and call for assistance," Travis said. "Like last time. I think we have a few volunteers to handle the destruction."
"I worry that the enemy may spread his resources," Randl sighed. "After all, how many of the enemy present on a world will warrant the destruction of the planet?"
Travis frowned for a moment as if considering that. "Good point," he said after a moment's consideration. "I'll send your observations to Kooper."
Queen's Palace, Le-Ath Veronis
Winkler
"He has a point," I said. "We could end up with a lot of obliterated planets, if he's right. What will you do when they invade an inhabited one? You can't go around destroying everything and you know it."
Kooper paced inside my suite, fairly bristling with contained anger. Occasionally, Kooper's face bore a momentary resemblance to the scales of his lion snake. Randl had pointed out the flaw in Kooper's plan, and Kooper was now looking for a solution to that problem. It didn't mean he couldn't be pissed at the same time.
"I'll have Quin and Randl look at the drone images collected, then proceed." Kooper's shoulders sagged and much of the anger drained out of him. "Maybe they can tell me something the drones can't."
"You understand that we didn't get advance notice that anyone was there on Cord'ilus, until Quin sensed Sabrina there," I said.
"I know. Do you have a better idea?" Kooper turned slitted eyes in my direction. The snake still threatened to make an appearance, looked like.
"Not at the moment," I held up both hands. "Reel in the snake, man. Let's go find Teeg, Ildevar and Jett Riffler, so we can sort this thing out."
Founder's Palace, Campiaa City
Garwin Wyatt San Gerxon
"The Campiaan Alliance doesn't have High Demons. You do," I told Kooper Griff. "In my estimation, I'd add at least two to each ship you send out."
Dad was content to sit back in his desk chair and let me handle the meeting between him, Ildevar Wyyld, both Directors for the respective Alliance Security Details and a few extras, including Winkler, Dragon and Edward.
"I'll add my ships to yours, but I don't have access to as many power wielders as you do," Jett nodded in Kooper's direction.
"Send what you have, then," Kooper said. "Don't send regular troops—they'll be in too much danger. Besides, we don't need them added to the enemy's numbers, and that's what will happen if they're exposed to this virus or whatever it is they've concocted."
"Here's my thought on that matter," I said. "Why haven't they sent those infected with that filth running through the streets of major cities to affect anyone and everyone? Why target ASD and CSD troops and leaders? Don't tell me they haven't targeted you," I frowned at Jett. "Because they have."
Kooper and Jett exchanged glances for a moment before turning back to me. "What do you think?" Kooper asked.
"I think they want ships, supplies, weapons and equipment," I said. "What better way to get the best both Alliances have to offer, and infect troops to fight for them at the same time?"
"That's a frightening concept," Jett rumbled.
"What do they intend to do with all that?" Kooper whispered.
"You have to ask yourself who'd want it and why," I went on. "Who'd benefit from adding ships to their fleet?"
"You're assuming they have a fleet to start with," Kooper's voice trailed off.
"They have to have pilots and captains ready to go—there's no way they'll leave those positions to newly-infected agents. They already have those things, in my estimation. You know as well as I do that there are dozens of small-time pirating factions that strike only now and then, before disappearing for an extended period. We know about the larger pirate fleets—they have ships all over the place. Those are the ones the BlackWing ships usually investigate. The smaller operations are like ghosts—you can't track what doesn't show up on a regular basis."
"They're so small and the attacks are infrequent," Kooper began before pinching the bridge of his nose between a thumb and forefinger. "Fuck," he breathed. "BlackWing has instructions to ignore those most of the time."
"If they're behind this, then we know much less than we should," I said. "Because we've never actively investigated their crimes. Add some kind of powerful entity to their operation, and you have the makings of an epidemic and a takeover."
"I was much happier when I walked into this meeting," Jett observed dryly. "I wasn't particularly happy then."
"I'll present this to Quin and Randl," Kooper said. "Is there anything else before I switch ASD gears and get the ball rolling on a new investigation?"
"No, that's what I have for now, and trust me, I've given this a lot of thought," I told him.
"How would you like to travel with the
crew of BlackWing X?" Kooper lifted an eyebrow.
"That's fine with me. I've enjoyed working with Travis and Trent in the past."
"Good. I'll send two High Demons, too. You may have to squeeze in, but I'd like you to help with this. Run your theory past Randl, too, if you wouldn't mind. He has a way of poking holes in the best of plans."
"When do you want me to join the crew?" I asked.
"Yesterday," Kooper said and disappeared.
BlackWing X, Orbiting Pyrik
Travis
I'm on my way, Wyatt informed me. Has Kooper told you about the High Demons, yet?
We have two on the way, I returned. I think I can give them the larger cabin so they'll room together. You'll have the smaller, private one.
Thanks, man.
Wyatt appeared in front of me, but I was expecting him. He held a bulging duffle in each hand and had a shoulder bag hanging at his side. He'd brought his own comp-vid and equipment, it appeared.
"Where's my bunk?" he grinned at me.
"Nice to have you aboard, Ambassador," I slapped him on his free shoulder. It didn't make him move an inch. He had too much of his vampire father and grandfather in him to do otherwise.
"When I'm settled in, I need to talk to Randl," he said. "Kooper's orders. You and Trent can be there if you want."
"Probably so. I'll set it up an hour from now. Come on, you'll be down the same passage, near Sabrina and Jayna. The High Demons will be next to Randl; those were the two cabins I had left."
"Good enough."
I led the way, he followed.
Wyatt
I hadn't been in so small a room since I'd hidden in a broom closet at home when I was younger. The bed took up most of the space, with a tiny, bedside table at one end and a chest at the other. Between that and the door was a closet, which no self-respecting skeleton would inhabit.
See this? I recorded an image of the narrow closet and sent it to my brother Bel Erland.
Is that where you keep your sword?
Funny, bro.
MindSighted: BlackWing Pirates, Book 1 Page 18
