The Fallen

by Paul B Spence

  Ana turned away with a shudder. It was one of the creatures out of the darkest legends of her people.

  "It seems Tebrey was right about the statue," Bauval said quietly. "That thing looks just like it."

  "Indeed, Doctor. We found it under the base of the statue in the central plaza." Mandor had fought more than one Theta, and so was less affected than the others by what he saw. "What do you think of it, Drake?"

  "It is interesting," he said. "I can understand why you might be afraid of something like this. It is very old, and has much power."

  "It has been in stasis for almost twelve thousand years," said Kainoa.

  "I wouldn't say stasis," Drake replied. "Suspended animation is more accurate."

  "What's the difference?" asked Mason.

  "Stasis implies that it isn't aware of the passage of time."

  "Are you saying that it is awake in there?" said Kainoa. "That's preposterous!"

  "Maybe not awake," Drake conceded, "but not in stasis, either. It is more of a deathless slumber. It could awaken quite easily. I can sense its hunger from here."

  "That is your imagination," Kainoa said dismissively. "There is a powerful psionic dampening field in effect here. You couldn't possibly sense it."

  "You presume too much, Doctor," Drake said with a glare.

  "Gentlemen, please. The point of this installation is to try to learn about the enemy."

  "What about them?" Drake asked.

  "Well," Mandor replied, "we still don't know what they actually are."

  "Really? It should be obvious."

  "What do you mean?" Kainoa demanded.

  "It's human," said Drake.

  "No, no." Kainoa waved his hands animatedly as he talked. "Just because it looks a bit like the Jaernalith, don't be fooled. This is something completely different."

  "Do not make the mistake of calling me a fool again. I am a tolerant man, but I have my limits. Yes, it is different from the Jaernalith," said Drake. "Maybe I should have said that it had been human."

  "Would you care to explain that?" Mandor asked.

  Drake sighed. "How much do you understand about evolution?"

  "I'm a biologist," Bauval interjected. "I think I understand it fairly well."

  "You know, then, that an organism evolves into ever more complex forms unless it hits a niche where it stagnates? Right?"

  "A simplistic way of stating it, but essentially correct. Where is this going?"

  "Would you say that humans have found their niche?"

  Bauval shook his head. "Humans are generalists. We're good at adapting, but little else."

  "You are suggesting that humans are still evolving, yes?" Kainoa said.

  "Yes and no," said Drake. "In some ways, you reached your physical peak many thousands of years ago. It is more of a mental and spiritual evolution now."

  "Spiritual?" Kainoa said. "Do we need to listen to this?" he asked, turning to Mandor.

  "We should hear him out, Doctor. I'll explain to you why later."

  "You have a lot to explain," Kainoa muttered.

  "What do you think happens when you die?" asked Drake.

  "Many of us have different feelings about that subject," Bauval said. "I was raised Catholic, but I've never been sure if I could believe what I was taught."

  "I am Catholic. I believe in heaven and hell," replied Mason. "I know that we have souls that live on after we die."

  "Ana?" Drake asked.

  "I'm not sure what I believe," she said. "I try not to think about it."

  "Dr. Kainoa feels it is all nonsense, I'm sure," said Drake. "How about you, Admiral?"

  "I believe in the soul," Mandor said. "I was raised Christo-Buddhist. The Rhyrhans have told me that it is a matter of reincarnation. They seemed quite adamant."

  "Hmm. They may be closest to the truth, as they see it," said Drake. "There is a soul, and it evolves. At some point, it no longer needs the physical flesh to sustain it."

  "You're talking about enlightenment," Mandor said.

  "In a way. Ascendance is closer to the truth."

  "Ascendance?"

  "Enlightenment presumes that some kind of universal knowledge is going to pour into your mind. It doesn't work that way. Ascendance is the point in the evolution of an individual or species where it no longer depends on the physical form. It becomes a wholly spiritual being."

  "That thing in there is no Buddha!" said Mandor.

  "No, but the word that you chose to call it, Andhakaara, is used in some contexts as an anti-Buddha. An intelligent, hungering darkness that lives only to consume."

  "Holy Mother of God," Mason said, genuflecting. "So that thing really is a demon?"

  "It is probably the origin of your myths of such things," Drake replied, smiling enigmatically.

  "The most important question to me is what to do about them," said Mandor.

  "Wrong," Drake replied, shaking his head. "The most important question for you should be, where are all the angels?"

  Chapter Sixty-One

  A meeting of the Circle wasn't so much physical as it was mental.

  Each member of the Circle was mindlinked to each of the others. Each was also bonded to a Mo'Ceri, the Seconds, and all of the Mo'Ceri were mindlinked to one another. It gave the members of the Circle access to almost unlimited power.

  Is there any pressing business we should attend to before we discuss the issue that has brought us here? Lyra thought.

  That 'observer' from the United Worlds has been sniffing around again, thought Ryan. He wants direct access to this 'council,' as he called us.

  There were mental chuckles from several of the Circle. Ambassador Lawrence Tindal had been trying to find out more about the Circle since his arrival on Aurora from the United Worlds of the Terran Confederacy two months before. The Auroran Prime Minister and the Senate had stalled him in his attempts, and he was not happy about it.

  Tindal could be quite a problem, Brennen thought. It would be better if we kicked him out of our space completely. He could uncover things we don't want getting out.

  I concur, David replied. It might even be best if he had an accident.

  We could not condone that course of action, came the combined thoughts of the Mo'Ceri. It would be rash, and lead to other unpleasantness.

  So we ignore him for now, thought Ryan. Nothing new there.

  About this other issue, Brennen began. I think we should kill Tebrey now, while we still can. I don't like the feeling I get from him. He's trouble. He'll cause disruption.

  I agree, Hawk added. He is most disturbing.

  I cannot agree to any course of action that would result in his death, Lyra replied. He is a charming and confused young man whom I feel could be a great asset to us. I think that he should be considered for membership.

  That caused a storm of confused and frightened thoughts.

  We do not agree, the Mo'Ceri mass-mind replied.

  But not all of us disagree, thought Emerald. Caution is certainly needed, but he is a good man.

  You're biased, Hawk replied. He saved your life.

  Yes, he did, Emerald thought. And he didn't have to. Surely that should weigh in his favor.

  Do the Mo'Ceri really think that killing him is the best course of action? Leander asked. They all sensed the distaste in his mental tone.

  There was hesitation. We feel we should be cautious with him, they amended. Especially in light of the genetic code Leander discovered. Those code sequences could only have come from one source. Should we trust someone who carries them?

  David? Lyra asked. You have the most intimate knowledge of our enemy. What do you think of the young man?

  I think we should not make any rash decisions. Mistakes get made that way. To attack and kill a man who is not harming us may force him to choose a path we don't want him to take. Can any of you guarantee that he would not be able to ascend or fall, no matter what we did to him?

  No one replied.

  I thought not.
>
  I know that I rarely speak here, came Sondra's powerful thought, but I feel that it would be unwise to kill him or help him. Perhaps the best course of action would be to wait and watch. See what manner of man he is.

  You're a good one for that, Ryan said. Not all of us will live forever, you know.

  Wordless disapproval was all the reply he got.

  Sapphire and I also feel that the man should be trained, Snow added. Those code sequences are present in Mo'Ceri as well as the enemy. Have we forgotten our own origins? Have we forgotten where all things began?

  The mood of the Circle was disharmonious. Primes and Seconds rarely disagreed about anything, and yet they strongly disagreed with each other that day. The emotions of the group were chaotic.

  Observe him, the Mo'Ceri thought. Nothing more.

  Okay, so we'll keep him under observation for now, said David. If nothing changes, we'll reconvene in a few weeks to discuss what to do then.

  Daeren Drake suddenly went very still.

  "What is it?" Mandor asked.

  "I think I know where my son has been taken," said Drake. "I can sense him, far away, and he is in danger. I've been sending tendrils through the rifts in spacetime I detected at Prism. One of them finally led me to my son. I need to go now."

  Mandor didn't have a clue what the man was talking about.

  "Go!" Ana cried. "Find him. Bring him back to me."

  Drake nodded, and then vanished with a small thunderclap of displaced air.

  Dr. Kainoa cried out, no doubt frantically checking his datalink to make sure the psionic dampening field was still in effect.

  "What happened?" Mason demanded.

  Mandor shook his head in admiration. "He apported."

  "That's impossible," Dr. Kainoa said. "The dampening field is at full power."

  "Then how do explain what just happened, Doctor?"

  "I can't."

  "Occam's Razor," said Bauval, nodding.

  "Indeed, Doctor. The simplest explanation is that he apported out through a field that can easily stop the most powerful Theta entity we've ever encountered. What does that suggest to you?"

  "That he is something else," Mason whispered, crossing herself again.

  "I, for one, would very much like to know what," said Mandor. "Let me tell you all about the other evening..."

  "Tebrey," Lyra said urgently, "wake up."

  Tebrey sat up in his bed and scrubbed at his face with one hand. "What's going on?'

  "It's no longer safe for you here," she said.

  "What do you mean?" he asked, getting out of bed to find his clothes. He noticed Lyra trying hard not to be distracted by his nakedness; he never could understand nudity taboos.

  "Not everyone here feels that you belong, or that we can trust you. Some of them are moving against you, against the Circle. It's never happened before. We have to move."

  "Okay," Tebrey said as he finished buttoning his shirt. Hunter moved close to him in the dark room. "Where are we going?"

  "We go to the lake first," Lyra said quietly. "We'll meet a few others and go someplace safe from there."

  There was that strange disorientation, and then they were at the lake where Tebrey had first met Lyra. Emerald, Leander, and two others were waiting for them.

  "We can't linger here," Leander said. "I can only shield us from detection for so long."

  "What's going on?" Tebrey asked again.

  "Tebrey, you need to think of a safe place where we can all go."

  "You mean in my universe?" It felt strange just to be asking such a question.

  "Yes, hurry," Lyra urged.

  Thoughts from his childhood of a park in the Lincoln Dome on Valhalla suddenly came into his mind. His mother had taken him there only a few days before they boarded the ship on which she had died. There had been a lake there, too.

  "Lyra –" he started.

  "I've got it."

  The disorientation was greater this time. It lasted for only a few seconds, but Tebrey cried out and stumbled when they reached their destination. He felt synthetic grass under his hands and looked around. They were in the park he had played in as a child. It was, dusty, untended, and it was very dark.

  "It must be after midnight, local time," he said, standing up. He still felt shaky, but it was good to be back home, so to speak.

  "Damn it!" Brennen cursed, kicking over the bed.

  Brennen and Hawk had arrived just a few minutes too late to catch Tebrey. The bed was still warm.

  "Where did he go?" he asked.

  "I don't know," replied Hawk. "Somehow, he is no longer on Aurora. Either someone is aiding him, or we have been deceived."

  Brennen clenched his jaw in anger. Tebrey could not have left the planet without assistance; he had to have received help from one of the others. It pained Brennen that his own second, Onyx, wasn't with him. Onyx was shielding his thoughts from him, too, which meant he’d sided against him. They'd had a strong disagreement about going against the will of the Circle, but Brennen hadn't thought Onyx would betray him to Lyra or the others. The Circle simply hadn't understood the danger that Tebrey represented, and if they didn't have the nerve to act, then he, Brennen, would have to.

  A shift in air pressure signaled someone apporting in, and Brennen turned, but it wasn't Onyx or even one of the others of the Circle who stood there. The man before him was tall and dressed in black clothes that seemed to melt into the shadows of the room. There was too little light to make many details of his pale features, but Brennen didn't know him.

  "Who the hell are you?" Brennen asked.

  "I'm looking for Hrothgar Tebrey," the stranger said.

  "Get in line, buddy."

  "I don't know what you've done with him, but it will go ill for you if he has been harmed," the stranger said, but Brennen had stopped listening. He'd felt the forces emanating from the figure as he spoke. He was shocked that one of them dared come to Aurora, yet he knew what had to be done.

  Brennen drew his sword, and light from the window glittered along the length of the blade. With a shout, he took a half step forward and thrust, aiming for the stranger's heart.

  Chapter Sixty-Two

  Daeren Drake didn't know what the men were doing in the room to which he had tracked his son, but many millennia of experience had taught him that men with weapons standing in darkened rooms were rarely up to anything good, so he wasn't that surprised when the dark-haired man drew a sword and attacked him.

  He deflected the blade with casual contempt, ignoring the way it seared into the flesh of his left hand – there was power in that blade. Drake shifted his weight and stuck the man a blow in the chest that lifted him from his feet and knocked him through the wall of the house.

  The other figure in the room flickered through a complex transformation into something less, or more, than human and blasted at Drake with lightnings which deflected from the energy field of his armor. The arcs of energy tore at the contents of the room, never quite striking him. Drake moved through the wall to gain space to maneuver. The winged creature followed him, not letting up in the ineffectual attacks.

  The man Drake had knocked through the wall was getting to his feet, shaking his head. Drake was amazed that the man was still alive. Obviously, he was more than mortal, as well. Drake kicked him in the chest, lifting him off the ground and directly into the lightnings and the creature behind them. They went down together in a flailing pile of limbs. Drake still wanted his answers, and he would have them.

  Drake then drew his sword, and reality fled from the forces along its edge.

  The ground came up and slapped him, hard. Drake fell to one knee as he became aware of another attacker; the ground was cracked open all around that one. Two more apported in as he turned. Their eyes blazed green, and traceries of fire outlined their inhuman forms in the darkness. There was something familiar about the creatures. He knew that he encountered them in the past, maybe not even as enemies, but no matter. They had attacked first.
If it was to be war, then so be it.

  He was made for war.

  Drake enhanced the hemisphere of force around himself just as streams of fire and lightning blasted at him. More creatures were arriving, and Drake could feel the hatred and anger rolling off them like thick, acidic smoke. He smiled grimly. He could play their game just as well, maybe even better. The hemisphere of force became a blast wave of radiant fire, incinerating the grasses as it flared out in all directions. Those caught unprepared were badly burned and apported away. Impressively, most of the creatures were able to deflect the fire without harm to themselves. They were more powerful than he had guessed. He might even be outmatched, in mass, but that mattered little to him.

  Drake had never backed down from a fight in his life.

  He apported into close range with the closest and thrust his blade at it, but it apported away at the last second, avoiding death. Again and again, they managed to avoid being struck. Drake growled in frustration. They wouldn't engage with him at close range, and he didn't have time to summon a ranged weapon. He had to resort to the use of brute energy, which was crude but effective. He opened a hole in space-time and evacuated the air from the area, but they were shapeshifters, like himself, and capable of changing into forms that could survive.

  Still more creatures arrived, and Drake was unable to keep up with defending in so many direction at once. Fire blasted through his screens, burning him, causing pain only half-remembered. He let the air back in, staggering his opponents, and tried new and different tactics. He fought back harder, but they fought just as hard as he did, and more kept coming. He blasted them with lightning and fire. He created rifts in the fabric of the universe, and more kept coming.

  Drake preformed a desperate scan of the minds around him, but he couldn't detect Tebrey, and the combined forces arrayed against him were too great, too powerful. Individually, they were no match for him, but hundreds were now arrayed against him, and he could sense thousands more waiting to take their places. Each one he wounded was replaced almost instantly.