Zhevraine snatched the rolling head, still armor-clad, and lifted it to her face, tilting her head as she inspected it. I walked past her, heading for the command station. Most of the demon guards were dead, and I had to mind the floor or else I would trip over their bodies.
Fire licked across my glove, illuminating my face as I traveled up the stairs. There were no guards in the hall. The command station door was unlocked, flashing green light on a keypad beside it.
I pushed it open.
Archdemon Naberius Uhnem sat on a rolling chair, feet elevated on a deactivated control panel, watching as my team thinned his herd on the deck below. He waved without turning around. “That was close.”
I took a few steps into the room and my cane hit something. I looked down. Lilith’s body lay in my path, a pool of congealing blood spanning around her head. “Fucking hell. Where’s your Aeon?”
“Somewhere on the ground.”
“Don’t leave it on the ground, you idiot. You want someone to find it?”
“I wouldn’t have left it.”
I found the device lying near the navigation desk and stomped it until the screen went dark. “Anyone see you kill her?”
“Of course not.” Naberius left the chair. We shook hands and he grinned at my armor. “Fitting.”
And then Zhevraine entered, still carrying the Primer’s head. Naberius looked at it, disturbed. She stared at our hands interlocked, then at Lilith’s body beside our feet. Although she didn’t outright say that she’d figured everything out, it was clear from her expression that she had. “I have to put ion cuffs on him,” she said, nodding to Naberius. “We need to make it look like we’re taking him into custody, or else Lucifer will know.”
Smart cookie.
Naberius held out his hands. “Fair enough, but not too tight. They burn.”
Despite his request, Zhevraine blurred behind him and kicked at his legs. He cried out in surprise and hit the ground. She cuffed him face down, a knee wedged between his shoulder blades. She made the ion cuffs exceptionally tight, and Naberius groaned.
As Zhevraine dragged him into the hall, he stammered, “Hell, she is exquisite. Can you imagine what she’s like in bed?”
I frowned. “There’s something very wrong with you, friend.”
XXI
GRAVITY
Lucifer Raith—;
THE AUDIENCE IN THE JUDAS OBSERVATORY was silent, watching the final minutes of the Azenou battle, their expressions all varying degrees of dread. We were able to watch remotely using Naberius’ and Lilith’s command ship holo-radar, and for a while it looked like they had all but won. Ezekiel’s shield had been deactivated first, with the angels nowhere near our command ship to retaliate.
Suddenly, the angels had rallied all their jets and breached our front lines, leaving Ezekiel practically defenseless. Yahweh’s gamble paid off in the end; our shield fell soon after. And then we saw nothing, as the command ship’s halo was destroyed. We were left stewing in our worst fear, surrounded by flickering static.
Samnaea paced behind my chair, speaking on her Aeon. After a moment she looked back at the screen, frowning sorrowfully. “The angels have taken Azenou.”
“The Primers?” inquired Praetor Delvori, leaning in the corner.
“Not sure,” said Samnaea. “But let’s assume they’re dead.”
Avarice looked away, her posture rigid with anger. She had never taken losses well. But then again, who would?
I was taking our defeat worse than anyone, but refused to show it. I reclined in the chair, sweeping a cool gaze across the blank panels. “Have you heard from the Archdemons, General Soran?”
“Lilith is dead. Naberius is unaccounted for.”
Interesting. “Let’s find out what happened to him, then. Dr. Jonarr, bring up the command ship holo-cameras.”
“Sir,” murmured Caelis, patching into the security feed.
Most of the footage was corrupted by the damaged halo charger, but he was able to salvage several minutes of footage on deck and in the corridors near the command station. In those few minutes we watched angels storm the ship, Justice Zhevraine Khrost hacking away at Primer Tor on deck, and then Belial Vakkar and the Justice hauling out Naberius in ion cuffs.
Reports stated that guards had found Lilith dead in the command station. Zhevraine and Belial were the only ones who’d ventured inside, which meant one of them had killed her. However Lilith would have never put up a fight against a member of the Jury if she was cornered. I couldn’t image them having any reason to shoot her.
“Dr. Jonarr, can you determine when the shields went down?”
After a calculated moment, Caelis reported, “They went down five minutes before the angel transporter rammed the hull.” Before I could respond, he added, “Someone breached the ship’s navigation controls.”
All eyes were on him. He stared at the screen as it scrolled lines of script, biting his lip in fierce concentration. “According to the ship’s system control commands, someone turned off the shields right before the angels attacked.”
“Someone?”
“Someone with navigator permissions.”
“Can you tell me where that command took place?”
Caelis shook his head. “The network is centralized to the halo-core. It doesn’t tell me from which system the command took place.”
“Show me the footage of Naberius again.”
We watched his arrest for a second time. This time I paid close attention to everyone’s faces. It proved unfruitful. Naberius looked like he was in pain, Belial was grinning, and Zhevraine wore an empty, vacant expression. Typical for her.
I leaned into a palm, tapping my temple as I studied the frozen picture. Samnaea could recognize my look anywhere. She leaned down, whispering, “What are you thinking? A mole?”
“Belial has a lot of friends. One of them could have been a navigator.”
She spun to Praetor Delvori. “Have your primers arrest any surviving navigators. I want them questioned in Orias.”
Praetor Delvori nodded, repeating that command over live feed.
There were other things to consider, too. Executing Lilith yet sparing Naberius. It was no secret that Archdemon Uhnem had once been close with Archdemon Vakkar. He’d sworn allegiance to us, but that meant nothing.
Samnaea seemed to have tapped the same vein. “Dr. Jonarr, please show us footage of the deck again.”
He did. Both of our eyes moved to the same area of the feed: the command station observatory window, just before the shields went down. We couldn’t see much, considering the shadows, firelight and everything else happening outside, but then there was a spark from behind the glass. Three sparks.
“Roll that again,” said Samnaea.
Shots fired. Unmistakably.
“Someone could have been in there with them,” offered the Praetor, having caught our drift by now.
That was true, but unlikely. “If there was someone else intent on breaching the ship’s commands, they would have shot Lilith and Naberius. The only way Naberius could have avoided that fate is if he was the perpetrator, or at least in on the plan.”
Ava said nothing, knowing I was right. “What now, then?”
“I’m going to have Mastema send a third of her army into the Lohr-Tehlor borderlands. Whatever Naberius may be planning, we’ll nip it at the bud. Occupy Golheim and seize the capital before the remainder of Naberius’ troops can revolt.”
Samnaea rushed out of the observatory to initiate that charge. The Praetor took her place behind me, squeezing the back of my chair. I could hear the metal almost bend beneath her fingers. “This means nothing,” she said, offering assurance. “Those were my lowest-ranking men. We’ll give those god killers hell when they catch up to us.”
“Sir,” interjected Caelis, “you should see this.”
The panels switched to aerial feeds of jets that had flown over Ezekiel during the battle. At first I couldn’t discern what Caelis wanted me to s
ee amid the chaos and shaky footage, but then he froze the screen with a clear view of Ezekiel’s port.
Corpses clad in demon armor were strewn everywhere, but then I realized that they had been arranged.
Standing in the center of the fallen soldiers was a man in blood-stained, low ranking Archaean armor. He was anything but an angel, scythes gleaming at his sides. Beneath him lay Primer Korna, his armor dented, mangled and oozing blood. The white-plated soldier rested his boot on the dead Primer’s head. He stood still with his chin slightly raised, looking at the sky. Clearly he knew someone would record this. It was a taunt. To me.
Caelis offered the same footage from several angles, and the symbol that these bodies shaped was made clear:
ELTRUAN.
My cool demeanor shattered like a rock through a window.
“Fuck!” I slammed my fist on the control board, and the panels shook.
Everyone jumped. It was the first time I’d ever cursed aloud. It was also the first time I’d ever shown fury in front of my subordinates. The only person unaffected by my outburst was Ava.
She stood still behind me, calmer than ever. The Praetor’s visor was lifted and her eyes glittered with reprisal, never leaving the screen.
“He’s alive,” she breathed, overjoyed. “… How?”
XXII
HINDSIGHT, RETROSPECT
Naberius Uhnem—;
“WELCOME ABOARD EZEKIEL,” greeted Argent Commander Yahweh Telei, and even though I’d seen him on Crylle PB and at House forums a thousand times before, his youthful appearance still always managed to startle me.
His greeting was transparent. I was fairly certain he wasn’t as happy to see me as his words relayed. The first clue was that I was sitting in an interrogation room. The second was his frown, and third was the guards stationed outside the sealed door. So much for gratitude.
“Thank you,” I said, looking around. “A lot less cozy than I imagined.”
“Perhaps if I knew you were coming, I might have had time to prepare a more formal welcome,” said Yahweh, folding his arms.
“Belial thought it best to keep things under wraps,” I explained, offering a meek smile. “We were playing a very serious game; one that could have gotten me hanged if anyone found out.”
He tilted his head, gaze introspective. “And why the risk at all, Naberius Uhnem?”
I glanced away, frowning coldly. “I’m the Archdemon of a crumbling layer, Commander. I was given a better offer. Self-preservation is quite a motivator, let me tell you.”
Yahweh said nothing for a moment, leaning back in his seat. His eyes never left me, but in the passing seconds the suspicion behind them turned to ire. “A lot can be said about the integrity of a man who reneges on his fealty.”
“Yet Belial Vakkar is heading your sniper team.”
“He was set to hang by an unlawful charge. His circumstances are different than yours.”
“There is an army waiting to fight for you in Lohr. My army. That will give you another four thousand soldiers and nine hundred fighter jets. It’s not much, but I’m betting you need all the help you can get.” There was no sense battling morals with the young Commander; might as well cut right to bribery.
That was too good of a deal, even for him. “Are there any more enemy forces lying between Azenou and Lohr?”
“Not before I defected, but I can’t tell you what Lucifer has planned now. The sooner we move, the better. The Obsidian Court was suspicious of me from the get-go because Belial and I were friends before he… well, did whatever he did. They might figure out our deception if they do a little digging, and if they do, Lohr will be a hot zone.”
“We’re stuck here for a while, I’m afraid. Hopefully your act was convincing enough to bide us some time.” Yahweh rose from the seat, nodding once. “I’ll have someone organize your living arrangements. A guard will come to get you in a few minutes. Thank you for your patronage, unexpected as it was.”
***
Qaira Eltruan—;
My boots slid forward as I kept a fallen beam elevated ninety degrees over the hull. A group of soldiers were tying cables around the base and hooking it to their crane. The beam weighed in at 600 lbs, and for once the angels seemed happy to have me around.
Adrial was doing the same at the port. Ezekiel was stuck in Azenou until we could repair the ship, and the damage was severe. Yahweh predicted it would be a day and a half before engineers could repair the shield and its network systems. We were also waiting on reinforcements from Crylle reserves to move into Avernai, so the soldiers that currently occupied the city could catch up to us.
We still had enough power to ascend out of enemy reach, but the threat of an attack any time soon was slight. The demon army had already fallen back into Lochai—where they would go from there was anyone’s guess. The only enemies still around were the ones hauling their dead off the field, piling them into transporters to ship them off for burial or cremation. Proper honorary conduct declared that both sides were allowed to collect their dead after a battle. I could barely see any grass, only dead angels and demons, giving the illusion of rocky terrain. The small pockets of plain still visible were stained red with blood. Soldiers kept the field guarded from birds of prey and wild dogs looking to scavenge carrion.
Demons and angels only turned to salt if they died on alien worlds; here their bodies were left to rot. The salt phenomenon had something to do with that psi-essence trigger technology they’d used, but I didn’t know how nor did I care enough to ask.
After meeting with all the surviving officers, where in which Yahweh welcomed Naberius to our team and discussed army alliances in our near future, we were all relieved to either rest or help with repairs. When I confronted him about our deal, he agreed to talk after some sleep. Yahweh had been on full steam for thirty-six hours, as had most of his men.
Once the halo-charger infrastructure was re-cabled, I moved on to help with jet repairs. The engineers had marveled at my knowledge of mechanics, but physics was an all-encompassing field within the scope of mechanics and electrical engineering, like the root of every language. It wasn’t long before I was helping them rewire fried system controls, motherboards and recharging damaged battery cells.
After several hours of that, I found Adrial, Belial and Zhevraine at the port. A few soldiers were handing out hot drinks and food to those working on repairs. I grabbed a mug and plate, joining my group for lunch on the platform rail. We ate quietly, observing the field below. The gruesome scenery didn’t ruin our appetites.
Belial finished first and set the plate aside, chewing his final bite with a grimace. “One thing I don’t miss about being an angel is the food. It all tastes like glue.”
I smirked in silent agreement, while Adrial and Zhevraine ignored him. Belial was wearing a new crest on his duster, one that relayed an upper-officer rank. Yahweh must have promoted him. Vakkar wasn’t being escorted around by guards anymore, either. It was fact that he was the only reason Ezekiel was still in the air. That clever stunt had gained him respect, and fear.
“Where’s your friend?” asked Zhevraine, perched on the rail. That question had sounded more suspicious than curious.
“Nowhere nearby,” said Belial. “They’re keeping him contained until we can get this bird moving. Don’t want a satellite bot snapping a shot of him walking freely on deck.”
He pulled a package of malay cigarettes from his pocket, immediately offering one to Adrial. I declined, as did Zhevraine. As they smoked, Zhev left without warning, disappearing into central headquarters. It was normal for her to ditch a scene without saying goodbye. The others didn’t even seem to notice.
“You’re awfully quiet, Qaira,” said Adrial, shooting me a look.
I wasn’t here to chat or make friends, and half the things people said hardly made any sense to me. Since my return it felt like I was trapped behind a window, on the outside looking in. I was only here to hold up my part of the bargain, and oftentimes my m
outh got me into trouble. Better to say nothing.
“I’m tired,” I muttered, finishing my drink. “Think I’ll head in.”
“Do you even have a room?” Adrial called as I retreated from the rail.
With all of the excitement, neither Yahweh nor I had thought about my living arrangements yet. “I’ll figure something out.”
I didn’t have to think too much of it, as the moment I stepped off the elevator in the fork between central headquarters and the residential sector, I spotted Leid standing in the hall. Just standing there, staring at me with this knowing, somber look. Once it was clear that I’d received the message, she started down the hall toward her room.
And I followed.
*
I awoke when Leid sat up, throwing the covers from her body. Curling her knees to her chest she massaged her forehead, sighing into her hands.
I lay on my stomach, watching her over the slope of my arm. Rays of thinning light from the window played across her naked form, catching the scripture along her tiny bicep. My eyes followed them, rereading our marriage vows. I reached over and brushed my hand against Leid’s thigh, letting her know I was awake.
Judging by the light, it was late afternoon. Neither of us had slept more than several hours, having spent the majority of our free time fucking with abandon.
You wouldn’t have known she was sick then. She’d had enough strength to pin me to the bed and straddle me until my eyes were crossed. It was exactly how I’d remembered, albeit less physically taxing because now I was strong like her. She came twice; the first was hard and quick, the second strong yet slow, leaving her whimpering and shivering beneath me. There were scratches and bite marks all across my back, neck, chest and biceps, yet their pain was pleasant. And relieving. Leid hadn’t changed as much as I’d feared. We’d had a lot of time to make up for.
She caught my hand and squeezed it gently, looking down at me with reverence in her eyes. I didn’t move, still wading through post-sleep haze, and she headed to the washroom to clean herself up. Behind the door I heard Leid cough violently. She was retching.
The Antithesis- The Complete Pentalogy Page 77
