by C. Gockel
“They sure cut that one fine,” Captain Malesis commented dryly. Wake agreed, knowing if they had lingered a moment longer, everyone on the ship would have been lost forever in the folds of space-time.
“Ideas?” Captain Malesis asked, sounding angry. “I don't think we can ju—” but whatever he had been about to say was cut off as the human ship launched a volley of tungsten slugs towards the Entho ship. Each round’s ionic tracer glowed either blue or green as they streaked through the blackness. “Damn Ashamine should burn in the hottest fires of the dark star,” Captain Malesis fumed.
Wake was at a loss for what to do. Their ship was far too small to engage in the battle. One round from the huge ship would turn them into particles. Lacking anything else to do, everyone aboard the Ashamine's Bane watched the conflict unfold, hoping the Enthos might somehow escape. Wake held no special love of the alien species, but he supposed the foe of his foe was his friend. Considering the Enthos’ prowess, that isn't much of an alliance.
The Ashamine ship and its tungsten rain bore down on the bi-pyramid. Wake thought the Enthos lost, knowing they had no weaponry. It will be a short battle. Then, something unfathomable happened.
To Wake, it looked like a massive, invisible blade sheered the Ashamine ship in two. One moment, it was bearing down on the bi-pyramid, and the next it was separating, explosions and venting atmosphere sending pieces off on erratic trajectories. It was impossible to see what caused the damage, but its aftermath was clear.
There is no way the Tarton class ship will recover, Wake thought, a sense of terrible awe nearly overwhelming him. Those on board were coming to the same conclusion, because escape vehicles jettisoned away from it. Some vehicles were obviously damaged and Wake wondered how long they would be able to survive. He shuddered at the thought of being in the void again, no air, lungs spasming to draw breath.
“Move it, move it, move it,” Ralen chanted. It was as if the Enthos had heard him and finally realized their danger, slowly exiting the threatened area. They didn't act fast enough though.
The tungsten slugs were unforgiving, punching huge holes into and through the bi-pyramidal ship. It began to lurch and jitter as atmosphere vented into the void. Thankfully, their momentum helped them avoid most of the Ashamine ship debris. They might survive this after all.
Many of the Ashamine escape vessels were on course to smash into the large bi-pyramid. Wake could see small winks of light as they tried to maneuver around the larger ship, their efforts in vain.
Realizing he had a terminal in front of him, Wake started scanning the oncoming debris for anything large enough to threaten the Entho ship. After a moment, the terminal returned its results. A huge piece of the Tarton class' hull was heading straight for the bi-pyramid. “Fires of the dark star,” he muttered. The fragment looked like a jagged, enormous battering ram. They can’t get out of the way.
“Good gods...” Captain Malesis muttered, eyes wide as the bi-pyramid collided with the hull fragment. The piece drove through the Entho ship, transfixing it. There were no dramatic explosions, simply a catastrophic union.
Wake knew thousands were already dead on both sides, more dying at that very moment. And all we can do is watch. Wake mourned the useless loss of life. His surrounding crew mates were silent. The fact there was one less Ashamine ship prowling the galaxy didn't seem to comfort anyone. It certainly wasn't a trade I would have chosen.
32 - Felar
Getting into the APC felt like arriving home after a long journey, even though it had only been a standard day since Felar had left it. She breathed a deep sigh as the engine powered up and they began the journey back to AF Command.
“Make sure you latch your seat restraint,” she told Lothis, feeling the same strange protectiveness that had sprung up the first time she’d seen the boy. He looked at the straps like he’d never used them before, but quickly figured out how they functioned.
I’ve never wanted children, so why a mothering instinct now? She found it deeply puzzling. Since they were safe, at least for the moment, Felar needed to think about the information she had retrieved. It's dangerous to keep the data square. Lothis seemed happy in silence, so Felar spent the long drive back thinking about what she’d learned down in the horrific research station.
“The boy is going up to the Founder's Hammer,” Felar's commanding officer said. “He will be debriefed and taken care of.” Felar, who'd normally be fine with that decision, was skeptical about what was really going to happen.
Loyal, patriotic Felar vanished when I read that terminal screen inside the research facility. She hadn't dared access the information she’d transferred onto the data square. Felar worried there was some kind of alert tied to the files, that AF Security would know she had confidential information she wasn't cleared for.
“Request permission to escort the boy back to the Hammer,” Felar replied, hoping it would buy time to figure out how to rescue him from the Ashamine.
“Negative, Enlightened, the boy has an escort inbound.”
“Request permission to see the boy. I feel talking to him would be useful for a tactical debriefing.” She thought no such thing, but she needed an acceptable reason. Her heart would break if she didn't see him soon. Careful, Felar, she told herself, you'll lose your edge if you journey further down this path. You’re risking everything you’ve worked for.
“Permission denied. The boy is in isolation until his escort arrives.”
Felar had to disconnect her emotions from Lothis. He would be off world soon and Command would issue her new orders. She couldn't quit thinking about him though, no matter how hard she tried. She kept seeing his face in her mind and then the information from the facility would flash through her consciousness. The agony was like watching an asteroid fly towards your home planet: slow, inexorable, and in the end, deadly. The boy had been rescued from what amounted to living in the fires of the dark star, had been saved from the ravages of those monstrous creatures Director Kasol had created, had been taken back to a civilized and ordered culture. Now he was to be returned to his creators, enslaved once again to the will of the Ashamine.
When they had arrived back at the AF base, security had quarantined and searched Felar. She’d barely kept the data square hidden. They would bring out the Clothing of the Iconoclast for what you did. The search was not standard post-mission procedure, but it made sense given what she knew about the facility's purpose. Good thing the square was durable enough to swallow.
The files Felar had uploaded onto the device contained the kind of information that turned loyal citizens into rebels. Simply put—and that was hard to do, considering the amount of content she had skimmed—Lothis was the original Founder’s clone. Felar had a hard time wrapping her head around that fact, but it did make sense when she noticed the boy had the fabled orange eyes, the same color of the leader. The Ashamine citizens were provided continuous news about the present Founder's son. It appeared those stories were complete fabrications.
This also wasn’t the first time a clone had been made. She’d downloaded information about all the Founders and their origins, and from what she could remember, all of them were clones of the first. What was different about Lothis were the new protocols implemented in his upbringing. Further reading informed her he was being kept at the installation for what was euphemistically referred to as “raising”. Really, they were programming him, she thought, feeling disgusted.
Felar had also found data that hinted at some type of experimental therapy Kasol was performing on the child, but she hadn't had time to read them. I wish I could open up the square on a terminal, understand what they were doing to him.
There was also information about what Director Kasol had been up to in his other labs as well. Felar had no desire to relive her experience in that dark place, so she doubted she would ever read those. Having seen the creatures and Kasol himself was enough to convince her the man was evil and maniacal.
One of the files she’d skimmed d
own in the facility was unrelated to both Lothis and the monstrosities. It contained information about some form of military technology Kasol was developing. The information was vague and full of code-names, but it seemed he was creating some form of super soldier nano-tech. It was nearing its final stages. The file indicated the experiment had been moved out of the facility and was now on Bloodsport. Felar hoped to learn more once she opened the square. If it was successful, the program would change how the entire AF operated.
Felar lay awake that night, unable to sleep. She couldn't allow the boy to fall back under the Ashamine handlers’ control. Her superior officers wouldn't let her escort him, eliminating any possibility of spiriting the boy off and hiding him en route. Felar tried desperately to figure out a way to help Lothis escape, but she didn't even know where they were holding him. She fell into a fitful sleep, her dreams an endless loop of running from misshapen forms in the dark.
The next day, Felar’s commanding officer summoned her. She felt heavy as she entered his office, knowing she would never see Lothis again. I wonder if he’s dispatching me to lead a new group of Inits, she thought, thinking about her next assignment.
“I'm sending you and a new squad of Inits out to recon what the Enthos are doing,” her CO said after she sat down. “Satellite data shows they landed a ship on a remote patch of desert. We have no idea what they are up to. Orbital recon shows they went down into a cave.”
“Yes, that seems very important,” she said, failing to muster her old enthusiasm.
A chime sounded from the CO's terminal. He was silent for a moment, reading. “Well, you can rescind that assignment,” he said finally, sounding puzzled. “I just received orders from AF Command that you are to escort the boy up to the Hammer.” He poked the terminal a few times, then turned to look at her. “You're transferred to escort detail, effective immediately. You are to be the boy's personal protection. Prep for ship-out in a standard hour. Someone will come get you when the shuttle is ready to leave.”
Felar was puzzled at the last minute shift in orders. The Ashamine Forces didn't operate that way, but she supposed anomalous things happened in an entity as large as the AF. Even under the strange circumstances, she was ecstatic her assignment had shifted. It would be nearly impossible to steal the boy from the rest of the escort party, but she would try as best she could. She cared too much to do otherwise.
Felar returned to her quarters, packed her few belongings, and was ready well before the aide came to escort her to the shuttle. After entering the small craft, she saw Lothis was already on board. His blank expression momentarily brightened in what was probably supposed to be a smile. It looked more akin to a grimace. Felar smiled back. Seeing Lothis again strengthened her resolve.
The contingent of soldiers on board the shuttle had packed it to capacity. As the shuttle left the planet’s surface, Felar watched several fighters and a heavy gunship fall in as escort. Both the soldiers and the intense air support disclosed just how valuable Lothis was to the Ashamine. Perhaps this will be harder than I thought, Felar lamented. One thing her instructors forcibly instilled while going through the rigorous FC training was that you had to be lucky to pull through tough situations. And the definition of luck? Preparedness meeting opportunity. She set about forming numerous plans in her head, knowing it was vital to be ready when the chance came.
Even though the cabin was packed, Felar outranked all other personnel. Her seniority made it easy to get the seat next to Lothis, displacing a hulking soldier who vaguely reminded her of Initiate Alexhion from back on Ashamine-4. She wondered momentarily what had happened to Alexhion and a feeling of revulsion came over her. Then the shuttle took off and everything else was quickly forgotten.
The ride was short and easy. Lothis remained silent, looking intimidated. Felar could understand. Going from no human contact to a ship packed full of sweaty, smelly soldiers had to be frightening. Actually, now that she thought of it, he was doing quite well.
Every so often, Felar would hear him speak an isolated word or phrase, but when she turned to look, Lothis was just silently staring off into space. Nobody around them noticed, so Felar decided it was just nerves and began ignoring the fragments.
When they were finally outside Haak-ah-tar's atmosphere, she caught her first glimpse of the ASN Founder's Hammer. At first, it seemed like the ship was in low orbit. As time passed and it continued growing larger and larger, Felar realized the extreme size of the ship made it appear closer than it actually was. That has to be the largest ship I’ve ever seen. That realization drove home, viscerally, just how badly the Ashamine, and probably more directly, the Founder, wanted this boy. A wave of despair washed over her, but she rallied after looking at Lothis and seeing the need in his eyes. She was amazed at how quickly the boy was picking up on his surroundings. He must be every bit as intelligent as the files said.
Once the shuttle docked inside the massive vessel, a staff officer showed Felar and Lothis to their quarters. The other escorting soldiers were stationed in a ring around them. This would pose a bit of a problem for some of her plans, but Felar hoped it would only be a minor setback. Preparedness meets opportunity, she kept chanting.
Shortly after settling in, Felar and Lothis were summoned to a meeting with the commander of the ship, Ascended Talnavis. Talnavis was an older man, understandable for the leader of such an exalted vessel. His eyes had a fire in them, but whether it was a burning of devotion or madness, Felar couldn't tell. After a salute to Felar and a smile to the non- responsive Lothis, the commander addressed them. “Welcome to the Founder's Hammer,” he said, voice hoarse, probably from a lifetime yelling orders. “We're honored to have you on board.”
Felar gathered from his welcome and ingratiating manner that he knew Lothis was the Founder's child, but she doubted he had any knowledge of the manner in which the boy had been conceived. “Thank you for your service to the Founder and the Ashamine,” Felar said, trying to summon a likeness of her old patriotism. “You have quite a ship, you must be very proud to command her.”
“Indeed, indeed,” the commander rasped. “The Hammer is an amazing vessel. There is no other ship that can best her in combat, perhaps no two ships paired together could equal her prowess. She may not be indestructible, but she is damn near close.”
“Well if her size is any indication,” Felar said, faking enthusiasm, “she very well might be.” This sentiment encouraged the old commander, and he began telling Felar and Lothis all the technical details of the ship and its systems. Felar tuned the man out, still nodding and expressing the same fake enthusiasm in all the right places. Lothis said nothing.
“So you see,” Talnavis continued, “the ship is perfectly designed to exterminate Enthos.” The mention of the Enthos brought Felar back to the conversation and she began listening closer. “We caught several of their ships around Haak-ah-tar and drilled them with tungsten slugs.”
The look in his eyes had definitely swung to the side of madness. But no, that isn't quite right. Felar decided it was probably more like devoted madness. Big difference, she thought, as the man recounted the destruction of the Entho ships. He obviously enjoyed the slaughter of an innocent species. Felar herself felt the war with the peaceful aliens had been a poor decision on the part of the Ashamine. When she saw men like this, it made her wonder how the government could keep from destroying itself. Government propaganda had whipped the Ashamine populace into a frenzy against the Enthos, but the troops knew better, at least most did. Apparently, Talnavis wasn't one of them. Felar wished she could support the war, but the way the government was handling its lack of resources by stealing the Entho home-worlds made it hard. And what they did to Lothis is more than I can forgive.
It took quite some time for Talnavis to finish his monologue, but once he was done, Felar and Lothis returned to their quarters. The fact Lothis had said almost nothing since they left Haak-ah-tar frightened her. The boy had to have a fragile psyche and all this turmoil couldn't be he
lping. The Hammer offered much in the way of recreation, but Lothis was content to stay in quarters, so they sat in their assigned rooms. Felar didn't mind. Lately, the more she saw of the Ashamine, the angrier she got.
Just as she was settling back to relax in her bunk—good soldiers knew to rest whenever an opportunity presented itself—Lothis startled her. “I can feel him… Them… All...” The boy's voice sounded eerie in Felar's ears. She looked at him and his normally vacant expression had a rapturous quality.
“Lothis,” she said tentatively, realizing these were the first words she’d said to him all day. The boy turned to look, but she realized he wasn't really seeing her. His expression gave her chills, not because it was frightening, but because he looked so elated. He also seemed gone somehow.
“They have her on their ship. She is lovely. She will save them, but he must save her first.”
Upon hearing this, Felar felt a crawling pit open at the bottom of her stomach. What is he talking about? Before either of them could say anything else, a loud alarm blared.
After a few moments of ear-splitting volume, the alarm dropped a few decibels and Talnavis’ voice came over the address system. “Attention all crew. We've detected an Entho bi-pyramid and are in pursuit. Assume ready stations. We will destroy the enemy craft and resume our primary mission.” The rough voice ended and, thankfully, the alarm remained at its lower volume.
If Felar had to put Ashcreds on it, she would wager this was not an approved diversion. The commander was simply fulfilling his desire to kill. He would say something like, “That's what this ship was made for, how can I deny its use?” In war, killing the enemy was certainly desirable, but doing it while you had the heir to the Ashamine supreme leader on board was foolish.
