by John Walker
“If that’s what you think I’m doing,” Cirilla turned, “then I’ll walk away. This will be for me, not you.”
“Stop.” He grabbed her arm, tightly enough to make her muscles tense. “You don’t ever turn away from us. Understand?”
Cirilla glared at his covered face. “Oh, I will. And you’ll find out I’m not easy to toy with. You want to game with someone, find another. I have done as you’ve asked. I even have information, but you’re too intent on insults and degradations.” She tilted her head. “Why is that, anyway?”
“Because…” He mastered himself, letting her go. “That’s not important. Does he trust you?”
“He does.”
“And what did you discover then?”
“First, I received a promotion. I’m in charge of all admin for high command.”
“What’s that do for us?”
“I no longer have a supervisor. I can maneuver as I need to. If I have to leave the office, no one will question it. And I can speak to the Lord Marshal whenever he’s not in a meeting. So I’m in a proper position to build on what we’ve started. Without the sexual things you’re so intrigued by.”
“I see. And you were with him last night?”
“I stayed at his home, yes. And discovered a few things while there. What do you know about the Prophet?”
“Not as much as we’d like.”
“The Lord Marshal is looking for a proposal on how to deal with him. He hasn’t decided what agency to use yet. Though I suspect there must’ve been a few attempts already. They must’ve failed. Now he’s going through regular channels. It may be an opportunity to ingratiate yourselves as intelligence if you come up with something good.”
“Really.” He turned away, bowing his head. “Find the Prophet? Is that what he cares about?”
“Dealing with the Prophet. I don’t believe the idea is to necessarily bring him to justice though the Lord Marshal wants to know what’s going to happen before it does. You understand, of course. This is a delicate matter.”
“My people may be able to find something.”
“I recommend swiftness. He wants to begin immediately.”
“What else?” He turned on her. “What else did you discover?”
“That’s not enough? You have the resources to pursue multiple avenues of acquiring favor? I’m guessing you’re most interested in having his ear again. Which is why you’re talking to me instead of going straight to him. At some point, you were all cut off. Am I correct? Or have I fallen well short of the mark?”
“There was a time the Lord Marshal hung onto the words of our division.” He shook his head. “The years after he took power, we worked closely together. And then… practically overnight, he simply stopped. None of us knows why. We’ve been unable to uncover the truth. So we’ve turned to other means.”
“Extortion?”
“Coercion,” he replied. “A very different notion. And one that’s benefitting you, it seems.”
“Only because I have ambition.” Cirilla turned away again. “I’m leaving now. If you want me to put forth a proposal or get you time on the schedule, let me know in advance. I’ll be sure to clear however much you need. But make it good. I promise you this much, you will not get more than a single shot.”
“What makes you so sure?”
“You lost his ear once,” Cirilla glanced back at him, “how can I believe you’ll hold on to him a second time?”
He didn’t stop her as she walked away. Cirilla held it together until she rounded the corner back to the walkway. There, she began to tremble. Despite the heat, regardless of the dry air, she shook from pent up terror. I don’t have any idea how I pulled that off. A swell of pride filled her gut. I hope that worked.
They would know soon enough. Cirilla took a long gulp of her juice. The flavor fell dead on her tongue. She tossed the cup at the end of the block. The rest of the day promised to be hard. Severan would want the story she had to tell. Before intelligence came banging at the door.
Until she could speak freely, she needed to get back to work. And ignore the eyes of the envious.
I earned their ire today, Cirilla thought. And I’ll bask in it. That was hard. And I can do this. I know I can.
Epilogue
Griel winced when he saw the Triton take a blow to their unshielded bottom. The other Prytin vessels swept upon the enemy ship like the wrath of the gods. Their coordinated fire made short work of their defenses, even as the Kahl blasted back.
The enemy tossed their escape module in the front. It veered hard around making for open space as the rear section of the vessel exploded. Whoever remained on the ground would get a spectacular view of the destruction before a shower of pieces burned up in the atmosphere.
“Authen,” Griel said, “don’t let that bastard escape. Get after him. Now.”
Authen brought the Brekka to bear, taking them up on the rear of the craft. As they approached, the weapons discharged. The escape craft tilted, avoiding the blow before turning abruptly toward them. The act made Griel twitch, tilting his head.
“What exactly are they doing?” Griel asked. “Authen… shoot them, please.”
“Working on it!” Authen fired again. The target narrowly avoided another direct hit, their engines firing as they approached the Brekka.
“Evasive maneuvers!” Griel shouted. “Get us away from that maniac!”
Thrusters kicked on, tossing them upward even as the escape vessel skimmed them. Authen brought them around again, taking another shot. Molush freaked out, shouting something about hull damage. Griel focused on the act of taking their opponent out before he caused any more harm.
The Kahl redirected, climbing toward the Triton.
“You have less than forty seconds,” Griel said, “because if they make contact—”
“I know!” Authen shouted, “don’t pressure me.”
“The situation is doing that,” Griel tried to keep his voice even, “just… do what you do.”
Authen opened fire, spinning the ship as he did. The resulting cone of attack caught their opponent finally. Two sides broke free. The ship tumbled. Without thrusters, it fell toward orbit, turning red as it burned up with the rest of the vessel.
They took it out with less than five thousand kilometers between the attacker and the Triton. Griel slumped, wiping sweat from his cheeks. He turned to Molush. “You were saying something?”
“We’ve got a hull breach,” Molush said. “Bad one near the reactor room. Power’s fine, but Engineering said it’ll take a while to fix.”
“How long?”
“A couple hours,” Molush replied, “and that’s not properly fixed, mind you. That’s sealed well enough to continue combat. It would be better to dry dock for a proper fix… but I know that’s not about to happen because we have the coordinates for the Flotilla.”
“What?” Griel stood. “Where? That doesn’t matter. How?”
“Niva sent them to you and me. There’s trouble, though. They’re going to need help fast.”
“Get Engineering to put a rush job on that.” Griel returned to his seat. “Brekka to Triton, can you guys hear me?”
“Sir,” Violet said, “this is a personal comm. We’re struggling to get our reactor online and functional.”
“Get me Captain Barnes.” Griel cursed under his breath. They took a worse beating than I thought.
“Thanks for stepping in,” Barnes said, “we appreciate it.”
“We’ve got a line on the Flotilla,” Griel replied. “We know where they are. Niva’s alive and told us where to go. How soon can you be ready?”
“Huxley’s saying a couple hours at the soonest.”
“Damn…” Griel sat on the edge of his seat, leaning forward. “I’ll speak to our people and see if we can’t get some help to hurry things up. Staying here is dangerous but we don’t exactly have a choice. Do what you can. I’ll send you the information as soon as possible… and we’ll get more people to he
lp with those repairs.”
“Sounds good.” Titus cut the connection.
“Alright.” Griel clapped his hands. “I have to take a reprimand for convincing everyone to fight. Get an update on the civilians. Find us help for repairs. Then convince everyone to pick up Niva. Any questions before I step into the office?”
“Hey.” Authen stood. “I’m sorry about—”
“Stop it.” Griel interrupted. “Right there, you just stop. I won’t accept an apology from the man who saved the Triton. Their pilot was wily to pull off that nonsense in an escape platform.”
“I just—”
“Ah!” Griel cut in. “Get back to work. You’re fine.” He patted the man on the shoulder. “Molush, push Engineering. It’s important we get out of here ASAP.” He stepped off the bridge, engaging the elevator. We’re coming, Niva. Sorry we weren’t waiting for the call, but we’ll be there soon enough.
He’d let her down by sending her off with the humans once. He wouldn’t make the same mistake again. I’ll make this up to you. No matter what it takes, I’ll make it right.
***
Haulda stepped out of the temple with his mate, Deilna. They turned their attention to the sky, watching as streaks of fire blazed across the deep blue. Neither of them spoke for some time, merely watching the splendor of the celestial event. They clasped hands, sharing the electric moment.
“So it begins,” Deilna intoned. “The signs have come to pass. They descend upon us like heralds of the life giver.”
“Indeed.” Haulda smiled, leaning close to her. “We must greet them. Make them welcome. Bring them to the fold. The Prophet will come soon. And our home, our purpose, will at last be fulfilled.”
“Hail to the Way,” Deilna whispered.
Haulda nodded. “Hail the Way.”
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Humanity has long explored mysteries of their past. From the theories of Atlantis to the fabled stories of Greek Gods, most had been dismissed as fantasy and legend. When humanity discovered ‘the Orb’, such fairy tales came a little closer to having some potential truth. Even scratching the surface of the knowledge contained within this ancient technology granted an understanding of faster than light travel and a wild number of other luxuries.
Employing this newfound knowledge, humanity built the Gnosis, a highly advanced starship capable of long range travel and self-sufficient exploration. They would visit other solar systems, departing as pioneers into the unknown. But as excitement built with the people of Earth and the journey drew near, an alien race arrived in Sol, intent on stealing the Orb.
Now, with a hostile first contact initiated, humanity is thrust into universal conflict, one where other beings vie for powerful artifacts spread throughout the galaxy. As they conduct their first interstellar battle, they find themselves drawn into an intrigue they do not understand but must engage for if they do not, they may well face an opponent they cannot defeat.
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