Equilibrium of Terror: Part 2

by Eddie R. Hicks

  Exit stage left indeed.

  The two ran and leaped through what remained of the window, their MRF kicked in reducing their mass and allowing them to glide through the air while looking down to see how far a drop they’d have. What they saw instead was Veinea rematerialize from a teleport, her arms began to glow orange as tiny purple orbs of plasma started to form in the palms of her hands. Aimed directly at Cooper.

  “Psionic in play!” Rana shouted as she aimed the barrel of her rifle down toward Veinea and began to fire.

  Cooper ran and dove, dodging the blast from Veinea’s attack. The explosion triggered chaos and panic in the streets, sending civilians running in all directions, thus preventing Cooper from getting a clear shot, as Veinea’s body levitated upward. Rana was expecting the typical psionic treatment, crazy powers, jump porting to evade attacks and so she allowed her body to continue to glide above the streets with the aid of her jump jets, while her rifle erupted.

  The orange glow in Veinea’s arms ceased as the cybernetics on her upper body started to shimmer blue like earlier, and she teleported away. Rana suspected her combined weapons fire with Stepanovich’s sniper shots, made Veinea rethink her plan of attack. Nobody was complaining of course. Yes, she got away, but an all-out firefight with a psionic in the crowded streets was less than an ideal situation to be in.

  Rana and Gomez regrouped with Cooper amongst the fleeing civilians, then performed a lengthy jump jet and wall scale up onto the nearby apartment Stepanovich was perched up on. Another reason Rana suspected why Veinea gave up, all four of them had MRF and the power to freely reduce their mass to perform these stunts. Stunts no psionic, Radiance or Hashmedai were trained to counter.

  Upon their arrival to the roof tops, Gomez communicated with the Abyssal Sword in orbit. “Gengei please tell me one of your psionics was monitoring this side of the city.”

  “Indeed, there was some psionic activity followed by a teleport, we can trace,” Gengei transmitted back.

  “That was Veinea any idea where she went?”

  “Standby.”

  Gomez stood at the edge gazing at the brothel they just made a mess off. Rangers could be seen exiting the building, all armed and moving with level of urgency and caution, looking for the four human suspects. “Well Cooper, I don’t think we’ll be welcomed back any time soon, sorry bro.”

  “Gomez,” Gengei said. “They have boarded a transport in the jungles outside of the city.”

  “Shit, don’t let me them get away!”

  “We are tracking them. I am sending a psionic to teleport you back up.”

  “Much appreciated.”

  Abyssal Sword, Lejorania Sanctum orbit, Alpha Centauri system

  Rana along with the rest of her team entered the bridge. She frowned upon seeing they were still in orbit, meaning either they weren’t in pursuit or the transport was shot down during the time it took them to teleport back up.

  Gengei was directing his crew to the duties, all shouting various words back and forth in the Radiance language. Whatever they were saying it sounded serious. Guess that rules out the transport being shot down.

  Gengei got up from his captain’s chair and stepped over to the four humans awaiting their next move. “The transport appears to be heading toward Dark Lejorania,” Gengei said.

  Gomez sighed. “I’d rather your people not get involved with this but.”

  “I will, contact my people as this ship was assigned for defense of this world.”

  “Thanks,” Rana said. “What are the chances a transport ship like that could make it to its detestation?”

  “They will likely run out of fuel,” Gengei said. “Unless there is another ship waiting for them.”

  “Not outside of the realm of possibility,” Cooper said. “Lots of people from the Celestial Order in that system, right?”

  “I hope your people get back to you soon,” Rana said. “It’s a five-month journey to get there, and they have a head start.”

  Chapter Twelve

  Crimson Arrow, Derkurio, Morutrin System

  “Hey you still alive?”

  Phylarlie’s eye lids slowly opened. She saw the lights pulsing from the equipment on the ceiling of the Crimson Arrow’s cockpit and feeling the side effects of the painkillers her medical system injected into her. She rubbed the side of her head as she felt something touching her there, but found no signs of it. She sat up from the chair she sat in, and nearly fell over on top of the flight controls.

  Her drowsy body sat back down, standing would have to wait for later when she remembered how to do it correctly. She spun the chair around instead slowly; there was someone behind her, who was this? His face was blurry, over time it cleared up. Prince Akeia? No it was Danyal, yes, she remembered now.

  He was the one that tapped her on the side her head too, it makes sense now.

  “Ugh,” she said. “Been awhile since I had a high dose of painkillers from my suit.”

  “Your suit?” he said, while placing the data pad he was holding on top of a computer terminal.

  “My armor provides built in medical treatment.”

  Danyal pointed toward her outfit that resembled a skirt and crop top. “That counts as armor out here?”

  She understood fully well why he would be confused, most assassins attrite looked like something you’d wear to a party rather than combat. He knew nothing about the nanofibers it was made up of combined with the shield generator, thin ablative plating and cybernetics linked with her psionic powers. “It’s a lighter version for extra mobility and to keep the user cool on hot worlds.”

  She sat for a few minutes longer to allow her body to return to somewhat of a normal state. Now for the real test, she thought and stood. She didn’t fall over, good. She returned to the forward controls of the Crimson Arrow, “Give me as sec,” she said as she activated its main flight systems.

  “Try not to take too long, you were out for a few hours.”

  “I was? Great; I must have been an interesting conversation partner.”

  “Actually I was ignoring you,” he said, and waved the data pad he had toward her. “Was reading the diary entries of my cell mate’s daughter, Rana Farhadi.”

  “Cell mate,” she said as she sat back down. Mild pain had flared up in her legs, she still had a few more minutes of healing to go. “So the humans had you captive?”

  “I’m not a nice person believe it or not,” Danyal said. “Me dealing with this journey to find her is probably the nicest thing I’ve done. But enough reading for now.”

  Phylarlie returned to her task of piloting the Crimson Arrow. She held the seldom used flight stick in her hands, engaged the main thrusters, and guided the Crimson Arrow to the skies. The clouds were made up of toxic gases that brushed across the windshield of the ship as the yellow hazy skies grew darker and darker, transforming into the blackness and stars of space.

  “So you’re a pilot as well?” He asked her after five minutes of silence.

  “I used to have my own ship, a scout class,” Phylarlie said. “The controls for this aren’t that much different.” She pivoted her head from left to right and examined at how the cockpit looked, the Crimson Arrow had computers much more advanced than a typical transport or scout ship. Their bodies became weightless as they moved further away from the gravitational pull of Derkurio and her eyes began to glow red-orange due to reduced level of light shining in through the windshield. “I see my sister had a lot of good things given to her.”

  “That’s right, you two are related.”

  “How well did you know her?”

  “Just a few months,” he said. “Got me off Earth, introduced me to my grandmother who hates me and apparently is the empress of some empire—”

  “What?” she said cutting him off and spun her chair around to face him.

  “Yeah my dad was the prince.”

  She launched herself toward him by kicking of the chair. She needed a closer look of him. She held onto him as s
he floated toward him and stared at him up and down to examine his human Hashmedai hybrid face as if he was a valuable product to be bought.

  “You do look somewhat like him . . .” she said. “Similar age too, it’s like he came back from the dead in the form of a half-breed.”

  “This going to be a problem?”

  “Yes, because from what I’ve gathered my sister has been influenced by the order.” She frowned and considered her next words to say. “And you’re part of her crew.”

  “She had Parcisei who was a member, but that’s it. She insisted she wasn’t a member, just helping with some stuff. I don’t know, all this shit is new to me.”

  The light from the star of Morutrin started to shine toward the windshield of the Crimson Arrow, they were veering off course. Phylarlie returned to her seat up front and guided the Crimson Arrow back toward Derkurio and entered a stable orbit as her eye glow subsided due to the light.

  “Pretty sure there are cameras up in this ship, right?” Danyal said. “Just review the logs or something to get a better idea.”

  Sensor scans alerted Phylarlie to the presence of the Dark Star, adrift in orbit around Derkurio. She flew in closer to take a look and saw burn marks along its hull. Several sections of the old ship were exposed to space. Danyal took noticed and hovered next to Phylarlie to watch the major damage that was done to the Dark Star as she circled it.

  “Looks like your pirate friends got a piece of them,” she said to him.

  “They weren’t my friends, I was just there for the ride,” Danyal said, defending himself. “Parcisei wanted me to help him with stuff, getting into the good books of the order.”

  “Do me a favor, don’t.”

  “I just want some way to make a living out here and chill out. I can’t go back to Earth, I’m a wanted man, and the empire doesn’t want to see my face.”

  Phylarlie attempted to communicate with the Dark Star as she feared there was no reply. The only way to find out if Trin and the rest had survived the attack was to board it. She piloted the Crimson Arrow toward the Dark Star’s airlock, latching it onto it.

  “So this is the Dark Star, right?” Danyal asked, Phylarlie nodded as she got up and used the side handle bars to pull her body toward the airlock. “Parcisei was going nuts looking for it, something about a gem that he had to get back.”

  Avearan’s gem . . . “Well it’s gone now.”

  The Crimson Arrow’s doors slid open giving the two access to the interior of the Dark Star. Those opened up with ease surprisingly, she thought as she entered and saw why. The side control panel was hotwired, the pirates boarded the ship.

  The decks of the Dark Star were a mess, more so than she remembered when she was last aboard. Bullet holes, floating spent bullets, burn marks, and bits of charred debris floating about were common sight. Sparks flared out from one computer terminal they passed, it caused Danyal to filch and scream as it erupted suddenly. The two searched every section of the ship, well every section which wasn’t exposed to space and the results weren’t good.

  “Pirates must have boarded and took everyone,” Phylarlie said as they entered the main cockpit. “As well as all the loot from the surface.”

  “I’m sorry for all this.”

  “You didn’t do this,” she said as she examined the burnt flight controls and navigation terminals.

  “But I was with them, and in some way part of the team.”

  She fiddled with what systems were working for three minutes. “Looks like it can still someone what move,” Phylarlie said, then activated a flashing screen to display the status of the Dark Star. “Surprising not that much damage was done; just the engines took a hit.”

  “Well it makes sense with what we’ve seen inside, or lack of.”

  “No, I think they wanted the entire ship as well, just didn’t have the power to tow it back to their base.”

  “That means they’ll be back.”

  She interacted with the controls of the Dark Star and began to fly it with the Crimson Arrow still latched onto it. Sub light speeds weren’t an option due to the damage to the engines and controls upfront. Maneuvering thrusters only, thus making them stuck in the sector unless they took the Crimson Arrow.

  Phylarlie guided the Dark Star to a closer orbit with Derkurio. An orbit that would put the ship behind the planet if someone from the asteroid belt were to be scanning and searching for the Dark Star, in particular the region of the asteroid belt where pirates were known to lurk as they attacked unsuspecting rivals, transports, and salvagers. As long as the pirates kept to their known routes, Derkurio should block out their long-range sensor scans.

  Buried Linl ship, Derkurio, Morutrin System

  “I have concluded they intend to leave us behind,” Eicelea said, looking at the walls and ceilings of the vault where she Vynei and Odelea remained in for the last several hours.

  It was a scenario Odelea feared, having to choose between dying a slow inside the vault with no food or water. Or taking their chances in the halls only to get ripped apart by the wraith and become one of them should their wounds allow it. “That thought crossed my mind,” Odelea said to her.

  “Then why did you allow them to leave!”

  “Calculated risk. Besides there was nothing stopping the assassin from leaving.”

  Eicelea sat on the floor with her tiny arms crossed. “The Hashmedai made their escape, we too now must plan or means of getting out.”

  Odelea smiled at her and asked. “Are any of you psionic?”

  Eicelea winced. “No . . .”

  “Then we’re trapped, unless Vynei is an excellent marksman.”

  Eicelea rubbed her gloved hands together and looked up toward her Rabuabin bodyguard. “Of course Vynei is! I only hire the best.”

  “I’m just one person, boss,” Vynei said to Eicelea.

  “And now you will become a one-man army that will riddle those monsters with holes.” Eicelea sat up and directed Vynei to the exit of the vault. “Come, come, you will be the sword that will lead us to freedom.”

  Odelea stepped between Eicelea and the vault door. “Let’s give them more time, perhaps they are planning something.”

  “Hashmedai planning to save Radiance? Have you gone mad?” Eicelea said.

  Odelea thought about her recent actions, about the voices that said things to her and forced her to do things she didn’t want to do. Yes, I think I have at times. Odelea thought as Eicelea reached up and pushed on Vynei’s buttocks, forcing him toward the door.

  Vynei grasped onto the vault door’s handle and stopped as a streak of blue light bolted into the room, it briefly illuminated it as Phylarlie had appeared from a jump port. Phylarlie rapidly shoved Vynei’s hand away from the door.

  “I stand corrected,” Eicelea said. “The Hashmedai have gone mad.”

  “Not in the mood to explain,” Phylarlie said to Odelea in the Hashmedai language. “Who wants to go first?”

  Phylarlie individually jumped ported them all back on the Crimson Arrow which was floating above the dig site. With everyone aboard she took the ship back up into space and remained in orbit. She moved the craft to a specific location on the opposite end of the planet.

  Odelea found the environment of the Crimson Arrow to be freezing to say the least. She still wore her environment suit however and activated its heating to bring her body temperature up to more conformable levels. At one point she considered putting the helmet back on to keep her face warm as well. She looked and saw Eicelea and Vynei ended up doing a similar thing during their journey aboard the Crimson Arrow. Hashmedai and their love for the cold, she thought.

  Phylarlie began to speak to Odelea and informed her of their current situation and her desire to remain aboard the Dark Star. Odelea translated what Phylarlie said to both Eicelea and Vynei, then asked Phylarlie. “If the pirates plan to come back for the Dark Star, why are we staying aboard?”

  “They didn’t hit the food stores, probably because they had th
eir hands full with all the hardware from the surface. There’s not much to eat here on the Crimson Arrow, while there’s plenty of food for a crew on the Dark Star.”

  The mention of food reminded Odelea how empty her belly became during the recent events. Her body desired a meal, there was just one problem. “Hashmedai food I assume?”

  “There are nutrient bars which should be safe for you and the Vorcambreum. Rabuabin are omnivores, they can eat our food,” Phylarlie said. “Besides, I’m going after the pirates; I doubt you all want to be aboard the Crimson Arrow when that happens.”

  “A bold move.”

  “As I said, they plan to come back, let’s make sure they can’t. And, if we stand any chance on curing this thing I think we’re going to need access to computer hardware we had salvaged from the Linl ship.”

  Odelea had not considered what the Linl researchers might have uncovered. The Lyonria, wraith, the gods, they were all connected. “They were studying the Lyonria,” Odelea mumbled to herself.

  “Maybe they found something out the rest of us doesn’t know?”

  “It’s possible, this was a major discovery at the time, and all the knowledge was lost during the accident. The wormhole generator is proof of that.”

  Odelea addressed Eicelea and Vynei and explained to them what she and Phylarlie talked about.

  “Ha! I wish her the best, but picking a fight with pirates never ends well,” Eicelea said to Odelea. “We know this too well from experience, this whole system used to be our playground for discovery.”

  The Dark Star came into view from the forward windshield. The Crimson Arrow flew over to it to latch into its airlock. Odelea, Eicelea and Vynei floated toward the airlock entrance, its doors opened and Odelea saw the devastation inside, and realized that she would be alone with the two. She took several deep breaths to keep calm, and prevent her hands from shaking. It was going to be up to her to find a cure and a counter to the wraith before they bought about a fate in the galaxy she’d rather not see happen, she needed to stay calm and focused.