My eyes lingered on Yahweh, the guilt growing heavier. He turned and smiled, and I looked away.
“Has it begun?” asked Raith.
“Soon,” I said. “I just wanted to make sure you have everything you need.”
“I do, thank you.”
“Is Leid not here?” asked Yahweh.
I shook my head. “She has class, sadly.”
The kid tilted his head. “I thought your schools would have closed for this.”
“You and me both, but it’s a weekday and she has tenure.”
When Leid had told me that she wouldn’t be able to make it to the peace ceremony, I didn’t press the matter. It was better that she wasn’t here; made everything a lot easier.
“Pity,” he mumbled, stalking off.
I backed for the door, nodding at Raith. “I’m going to prepare for my speech. Good luck to you.”
“Break a leg, Qaira.”
I frowned, acknowledging the double-meaning behind that, and he smiled. Without another word I headed for the rehearsal room across the hall. Once there, I messaged Kada over Aeon that the detonator should be set for an hour. I wanted it to happen as Lucifer gave his speech, ensuring he was right in the middle of it all.
I looked at the mirror, sighing as Tae’s grotesque, re-animated corpse stared back at me.
In only an hour, I would be free.
***
The ceremony opened with a double-act. Twelve Nehelians and angels moved together across the stage, trading batons and swords on fire. The angels sang a hymn of Moritoria while the Nehel danced aggressively to the rhythm of the war-song, and then the angels broke into a dance of quicker form.
Their bodies moved to a strange, thunderous beat, creating shapes and lines, their limbs like rubber. The music was even stranger—digitized, mechanical sounds with a melodic, sad cadence—but nonetheless impressive. Even I was drawn to watch the act from backstage. Wings Of black and white coalesced in flashing spotlights as the crowd screamed their approval. The choreographic training for this had been a nightmare.
I gave my speech after that, spouting culture and diplomacy, peppered with Archaean phrases which won me points with the angels. They clapped every time. I spoke highly of Commander Raith and our alliance, stomaching the disgust that threatened to crush my charming, calm façade. But I survived all twenty minutes of it, and had done an excellent job, too. I vacated the stage to screaming applause from both domains.
Another act prepared as the curtains drew. An angel poetry performance. I’d pass on watching that.
Raith would be up after, so it was time to gather my things.
Luckily the protestors had started throwing bottles and other garbage, injuring guards and inducing a riot. I didn’t even have to order Ara outside, as he and more of his men were forced to stave them back through force. Had I been devout, I’d have said Maghir was on my side today.
In the rehearsal room again, I checked my watch. The countdown was at twenty-five minutes. In ten minutes I would greet the media, tactfully placing myself outside Yema, remaining in public view. The demolition would go off while I was speaking to Sanctum PB. No one would suspect a thing on my part. Maybe I’d up the dramatics a bit and scream for my men to save Commander Raith on live television. Yes, that would do.
I called Kada in order to verify everything was in order, because I’d noticed that he hadn’t sent me a message back yet. The call looped in pending, and after a minute of no one answering, my heart began to sink.
I tried again, but still nothing.
I called the Research Science private line, hoping he’d placed his portable Aeon somewhere out of ear’s reach. But no one answered that, either.
The sinking feeling transcended to full-blown panic.
Now I’d have to figure a way out of Yema unseen and fly to Eroqam. I had to find out what had happened. The private port wasn’t accessible to the public, but there would be guards, and they would see me. If I left, that would leave me open for suspicion once (if) the demolition went off. My plan was falling apart, but desperation waved the danger.
The private port it was.
O
THWART
Ara Eltruan—;
I WATCHED FROM A HOVER CRAFT AS MY soldiers tasered the frenzied mob bordering Yema, ducking bottles and flaming garbage. Some of Sanctum PB had gathered behind the gate to film the protestors, spinning a great story of rebellion. While I was slightly heartened by the sight of our people showing their allegiance to our family, speaking out against Tae’s murder and Qaira’s transparent want of continued peace, I was also beginning to fear for the safety of Yema’s audience.
If it got any worse, we would have to cancel the ceremony. And I really hoped that happened, because—;
My Aeon chimed, and I looked down at it with trepidation.
Too late; it had already started.
Go ahead.
Commandant, said one of my men charged with guarding the private port, the Regent just left the ceremony. Do you know anything about this?
He was ordered back by a CA to take a call from the Plexus. He will return shortly.
An extremely weak lie, but my soldier bought it.
Swallowing the lump in my throat, I dialed Leid’s frequency. My brother’s abrupt departure didn’t entail Communications or the Plexus, but I knew exactly where he was heading.
Leid had been right all along, and it broke my heart.
Yes?
Qaira left, I said. He’s heading your way.
Thank you.
She severed the call, saying nothing else. Leid had wanted to be wrong, too.
“Take me to Eroqam,” I ordered my pilot. He gave me a confused look, but nodded, obeying my charge.
I was about to betray my brother. Not many things in life were more painful.
But I was relieved that Leid’s plan to draw him out had worked, as the issue didn’t need any publicity. We would handle the matter privately, and if things got bad—worse—then I could spin a tale to the city. What tale, I had no idea yet, but it was clear that Qaira was all but gone and no one needed to know—;
Especially Commander Raith.
As we flew over Upper Sanctum, now only three minutes out, I reminisced about our childhood, our years at school, and then about my stint as Lieutenant in Qaira’s Enforcers. I used to look up to him, idolize him, yearn to be him, but time and experience had shed some light on who he really was. My brother had always been temperamental, reckless even; but never, never, would he have murdered thousands of our own people. Not in his right mind, anyway.
Our sister’s death had broken him. We’d known it, yet ignored it. This was as much our fault as it was his. And now we had to fix him, somehow. Hopefully Leid had an idea, because I couldn’t fathom how to mend a mind capable of genocide.
I still loved him, even knowing of his plan. He was my brother, and blood ran thicker than anything, especially ours. I couldn’t be too judgmental, either—I might have been just as damaged by seeing what he had.
If Qaira needed to be thrown in a psychiatric hospital for a decade, then so be it, but I could never think of executing him, even though such a crime warranted that. If the people found out, they would demand his head staked on Perula’s Peak. His handsome smile and pretty words wouldn’t get him out of this one.
No one could know.
No one.
XVIII
IT ALL COMES DOWN TO ONE
MY CRAFT SKIDDED INTO EROQAM’S PORT, missing the pillar by an inch. I threw open the door and lunged down the dock in full sprint.
Past the Commons and northern wing, both long-abandoned, I exploded into the science/tech wing that, albeit not abandoned, was sparsely manned. I looked at my watch, grimacing. Ten minutes.
Ten minutes until my window was lost forever.
The research science laboratory appeared at the end of the hall, its light bleeding through the door and into the shadowy corridor. Someone was in there.
I froze at the entrance, unable to see through its frosted glass window, curling my fingers around the handle. For the first time since I’d left Yema, I entertained the idea that someone had found out and diffused Kada’s team before they could activate the demolition.
But who? Ara was at Yema, and—;
The confusion wilted away. Something in my mind clicked, and I felt my lip curl with indignation. In the seconds that had passed, fear was smothered by dark revelation. There was only one person I couldn’t account for—one person smart enough to figure everything out.
I opened the door and stepped inside, bracing myself.
The research lab was quiet and inactive, save for the slow, steady hum of a generator at the back of the room. The floor was decorated with bodies of engineers, some with their necks twisted. Their lifeless eyes surveyed my entrance, laying stomach down.
A lonesome computer screen was illuminated by the image of the demolition countdown timer. It wasn’t set. Beside it was Kada, knees curled to his chest, hands on his head.
Beside him, Leid stood with a gun against his temple. She stared at me, stoic.
Even though I had anticipated seeing her, knives still raked my heart at the thought of her knowing. I couldn’t hold her gaze for more than several seconds, and cast my attention at the ground.
But Leid said nothing still, only continued to stare, a thin film of crimson tears brimming her eyes. Evidently she didn’t even know what to say. I understood.
I understood because, on the outside, my plan seemed evil and psychotic. But she didn’t know the truth behind it. She couldn’t.
Activity from behind made me turn. My brother emerged through the door with four armed guards, rifles drawn. This I had not anticipated.
“On your knees,” said Ara. It was a command, to me.
I looked back at Leid, shaking my head. “I…I didn’t want to do this.”
The sound of my voice pushed her over the edge and she let out a sob, covering her mouth.
“On your knees, Regent!” Ara shouted. “I won’t tell you again!”
I met my brother’s eyes, snarling. “I won’t bend my knee to you. You’ll have to shoot me first.”
But I knew Ara wouldn’t kill me; his look said it all.
“Come quietly,” he pressed. “No one knows what you’ve done yet. No one might have to if you just come quietly.”
“I can’t.”
I pulled out my gun, and the guards stepped back, realizing their range. Just one thought and they would all be dead. My brother didn’t flinch, knowing I could never kill him, either.
He couldn’t kill me and I couldn’t kill him. We were caught in a net.
“Tell me why you did it.”
“Lucifer has to die, Ara.”
“And the cost is ten thousand Nehelians? For someone who supposedly hates him, you sure place a high value on Raith’s head.”
I wanted to explain it to him—to make him understand exactly why—but all those words had escaped me. What I said wouldn’t have mattered, anyway. They thought I was insane. Maybe I was.
Massaging my head, I staggered back, feigning weakness. I dropped my gun and knelt for the ground in submission. “I’ll come quietly.”
Ara nodded, relieved. He ordered the guards to apprehend me. As two of them reached for my arms, another two standing at my back, I closed my eyes and their heads erupted all at once, sending blood, brain matter and skull fragments across the room.
My stagger had cleared enough distance between my brother and I, unbeknownst to him, and now he was manless, weaponless. He opened his mouth to shout something as I leapt backward, snatching an object off the blueprints table.
The killswitch.
Leid had moved to stop me, but her body whirred to a halt when she saw what was in my hand. They hadn’t known it was here, but I’d seen it the moment I stepped inside the room. Although demolition was set with a timer, a killswitch was always instated as a failsafe in case of malfunction. The code was already set; all I had to do was push that shiny red button.
“Qaira, no,” she begged, her voice nothing more than a whisper.
I didn’t respond, mesmerized by the switch.
Ara only stood there, panicked, hands on his head.
“Look at me,” she said. “Look at me.”
I did. She was only several feet away, her face soft and serene.
“You don’t want to do this.”
“I don’t,” I said. “I don’t want to do this, please believe me.”
“Then give me that switch.” She reached for it, slowly, gingerly. I watched her arm extend, my own beginning to tremble. I wanted to give it to her, I really did, but then I caught a glimpse of Tae in the window pane, her face contorted in a silent scream as dozens of black, smoke-like hands pried at her.
No.
“No,” I gasped, recoiling. “Tae has to be avenged or her soul won’t rest! Honor is our only decree!”
My brother and wife were left silent, their surprise mutual. Never before had I recited anything remotely devout.
“Tae would never want this!” cried Leid, tears threatening to fall once again. “You’re not honoring your sister by committing genocide! You’re staining her name!”
“You know nothing,” I said through my teeth. “You know nothing of what I see, of what I know. She wants this. She told me.”
Crimson beads trickled down Leid’s face as she winced at those words. “Qaira, you’re sick. Whatever you’ve seen or heard isn’t your sister. It isn’t, I promise. Please, let us help you. Please.”
I watched her cry, feeling my heart shatter into a million pieces. I thought about how it had all come to this, and knew that even if I gave her the switch, we would never be the same. Nothing would ever be the same again. I had always been a man of my word, and I had promised Tae her retribution. My lips trembled as I spoke:
“I… I’m sorry.”
My thumb mashed the trigger.
The tremors of the demolition were felt beneath our feet, even from miles away. Leid sank to her knees, gripping my pantleg, encumbered by sobs. Ara was furious, screaming profanely, but I could barely hear anything in the room. It had all become a drone of slow motion as honor and shame coalesced. My conscience screamed its confusion, manifesting knives inside my head.
When it all roared back, Ara was shouting orders into his radio, and Leid was still at my feet. She wasn’t crying anymore—now still and silent, head hung, face hidden by her hair. I looked back at the window.
Tae was gone, the pane revealing only the dark pillar of smoke over Yema.
Suddenly, Leid was on her feet.
Head still hung, she aimed her gun behind us and fired, nailing Ara right between the eyes. He fell instantly, the radio rolling from his hand as blood pooled around the back of his head.
I watched the blood expand, stunned.
Leid looked up at me, her hair sliding away. Black eyes, wicked smile.
“If lives are so expendable, Regent, allow me to relieve them from you. Starting with yours.” Her voice was hollow, metallic. Fear twisted in my chest as the sound of it penetrated my senses.
She dropped the gun, and her hand exploded into a cloud of gore. A black, pincer-like scythe emerged from the severed appendage. Leid snarled, her elongated canines gleaming in the flickering lights.
Namah had called them monsters.
I was staring at the true form of a Vel’Haru, and now I knew that despite everything, Leid had never been a woman. She was a thing. A terrifying thing.
I bolted for the door, but she whirred in front of it and I ran right into her fist. The force of the blow sent me into a cluster of desks. My lower back tingled and the coppery taste of blood invaded my mouth. I couldn’t move.
Leid clutched my boot and pulled me from the wreckage while I clawed at anything within reach. As she dragged me through Ara’s pool of blood on the way to the door, I caught the doorframe, but she yanked me hard enough to dislocate m
y shoulders and tear several nails from their beds.
The last thing I saw was Kada, still curled on the floor beside the computer. His eyes were filled with horror.
***
I was dragged through the Commons by my foot, eyes glazing under each fluorescent light we passed.
I had no idea where she was taking me, nor did I inquire. Leid hummed a catchy tune as we went, all but skipping down the hall, like a peasant child dragging a gigantic sack of potatoes through a bustling market, excited by the prospect of a meal.
All the while I thought about Ara and the way he’d looked, lying there on the floor next to his men. In a fraction of a second he had gone from living to casualty, and the subsequent events hadn’t given me any time to process that.
My entire family was dead.
Hot tears brimmed my eyes and I couldn’t wipe them away. Instead I closed them and turned my head, but the floor tiles skinned the side of my face and I was forced to look upright again.
We were at the port.
Leid pulled me by our crafts, to the external hangar, and then pressed the lock disengage button. The thick sheet of steel rose painfully slow as cold wind and wailing sirens flooded in.
She stopped at the edge of the docking spire and held me on my knees by a fistful of hair. Behind us the orange glow of Yema’s fire illuminated the night, and I could see its reflection in her eyes. Wind slapped my face and I squinted as she all but dangled me over an eighty-five story drop.
“You are a bastard, Qaira Eltruan,” she said. “A bastard who doesn’t deserve the power or world he was given. But you have my eternal gratitude.” She smiled. “Without you, I might never have been free again.”
“L-Leid…”
“Leid is not here anymore, sweet bastard; but don’t worry, I’ll take good care of you.”
And with that, Calenus’ warning returned.
It feeds on weakness, eating little pieces of her at a time. Soon Leid won’t be able to keep it down and it will take over completely. And then you’ll die. And then your world will die. Everything it touches will die, until the Multiverse is gone.
The Antithesis- The Complete Pentalogy Page 59
