Hallowed Nebula

by Eddie R. Hicks

  Saressea found Foster in the cargo bay, making preparations to leave, and ask for directions she figured. They still needed to know where to go to find the doctor that could help Chevallier, and possibly seek approval to venture deeper into Radiance space if needed. Coming to the Luminous system was one thing as it was still linked to the UNE wormhole network. Traveling beyond it? That required a permission-slip if you had a ship full of aliens, like humans.

  She made a quick climb down the ladder, joining Foster as she stood to wait for the entry ramp to open and lower, providing them access to the bustling city they landed in.

  “Captain,” Saressea called out, snapping Foster’s attention to her. “Heading out now?”

  Foster nodded. “Yeah, and—”

  “Mind if I tag along?” Saressea cut in. “I need to check in with the council with a few things, might as well do it in person, ya know?”

  “That’s the thing, they requested you join us.”

  “Perfect.”

  “Not really, I’d rather you stay with the Kepler and hold the fort,” Foster said. “Williams is still recovering from his gunshot wounds.”

  “Oh,” Saressea said slowly, her thinking triggering her tail to sway slowly left to right. “So that leaves . . .”

  Foster smirked. “Doctor Pierce in command.”

  They both shuddered at the thought.

  “My ears are burning.” It was Pierce.

  Saressea looked up to the catwalks up top. Pierce stood leaning against the railing from the deck above, looking down into the cargo bay at the two. Saressea wondered how loud the Gods were laughing.

  Foster looked up at him. “Pierce, you have the bridge.”

  He quickly pushed away from the railing. “What?!”

  “Saressea and I are stepping out, Williams is in sickbay,” Foster said with reluctance. “You’re in command; take care of things . . . and my babies.”

  “Oh, boy,” Pierce said, moving to the bridge across the catwalk.

  “You got a good deal today, huh?” Saressea snorted at him.

  “Well, this is unexpected . . .” Pierce said.

  “Try not to get the ship into any trouble,” Foster added.

  Pierced stopped before the door. “You have to promise me the same thing, Captain!”

  Foster smiled at him, waving goodbye. “We ain’t gonna be long.”

  “I take it you don’t know where this doctor for Chevallier is?” Saressea asked her from behind.

  “Nope,” Foster said, shaking her head. “Turns out there ain’t much about him on the Radiance knowledge network. Plan B was to ask for directions, now the council wants to speak with us in person.”

  The entry ramp continued to slowly lower, and white light began to beam in. “What the hell happened?” Saressea asked.

  Foster grimaced. “Someone tried to assassinate them.”

  Saressea’s tail grew stiff as with her ears. “You’re shitting me? Right?”

  “I shit you not.”

  “Leavin’ without me, eh?” Miles called out to the two.

  Saressea and Foster faced him, turning their backs to the expanding bright light entering the cargo bay from the lowering entry ramp. Miles approached them, geared up with light UNEMC combat gear on and with his pistol holstered to his side.

  Saressea smiled at the Marine. “Something wrong with that, human?”

  “Aye,” Miles said. “Ther’ was an attack, these streets ain’t safe. You two need some backup.”

  Saressea went to exit when the ramp had finally lowered. “We’ll be fine.”

  “Eh, come along, Miles,” Foster said to him as she joined Saressea. “I’m the alien visitor here, be nice to have another—”

  Saressea heard Foster gasp loudly as she stepped onto the ramp, Miles too, though his was more of a loud grunt.

  “Oi, my fuckin’ eyes!” Miles roared.

  Saressea faced the two humans, shielding their eyes with their arms, turning away from the white and bright sunlight beaming in. It took Saressea a few seconds to realize what was up as her eyes rapidly adjusted to the increased levels of light around her.

  “Oh, I almost forgot,” Saressea said, and swiftly ran back into the cargo bay. When she returned to the two staggering humans, she offered them a pair of sunglasses each taken from a storage lock up. “You’ll need these on, human eyes aren’t evolved enough to handle this much sunlight.”

  The three exited the ship, stepping onto the landing platform. There were no further complaints about sore eyes from the two humans behind Saressea, now donning shades.

  “Now I know why your people love to have bright lights on in yer ships,” Miles said.

  Saressea led the way, embracing the high heat levels that made her olive skin moisten, and the smell of fresh air that blew through her caramel hair. “Bright light and high heat from a big ass sun. That’s the way the Aryile like it,” Saressea said.

  The three made their way into the city. Foster and Miles couldn’t get over the fact that they were in a massive metropolis that floated in the skies above a vast ocean. They were typical human responses. To those in Radiance, cities like this weren’t a big deal. At least a third of all colonies in the Union had floating cities built by the early Aryile explorers.

  A rapid transit train carried them through its flawlessly clear glass tube tunnels. It gave the two humans a view of nearby office towers with a number of holographic advertisements flashing or updated news feeds from across the Union. The recent attacks on the council were the dominant headlines. Saressea was glad neither of them asked her to translate, bad enough they wanted to know what all the holo signs on the train said.

  Miles peered out the window facing the towering buildings moving past. “What a view, eh?”

  Foster stood next to him, taking in the same sights through her shades. “Ever been to Dubai?”

  Miles shook his head. “Naw.”

  “This place reminds me of it,” Foster said. “Only it floats in the skies, and ain’t built by human hands.”

  Miles’ shaded eyes faced Saressea. “Are all cities like this in the Union?”

  “Just Aryile built ones,” she replied. “This isn’t just the capital of the Union, but the homeworld of their race. So, every city is floating in the skies. Makes it easy to tell the demographics of a Radiance colony, if all or most of the cities are floating, it’s a predominately Aryile colony.”

  “Flying cities,” he said, returning to look out the window. “Fuck me.”

  “This isn’t anything new either,” Saressea added. “The Aryile have been building cities like this here and on their colonies for centuries.”

  “Centuries ago, us humans didn’t know how to split the atom,” Foster said, looking toward the windows on the opposite side of the train. “Let alone build this . . .”

  “Helps put things in perspective, eh?” Miles said to her.

  Foster nodded in agreement. “Yep.”

  “When my people were uplifted by Union,” Saressea said. “We were amazed at what the Aryile were able to do on their own.”

  “I thought the Rabuabin were the third race to join?” Foster asked her.

  “We were, but the Javnis, like us, were uplifted. All the tech in the Union was built by the Aryile, gifts handed to them by the Gods. It’s why we sometimes call the Aryile, the founders.”

  It was hard to tell if the silence that followed was the two humans getting uneasy about the mention of the three Gods as if it was fact, or because they had nothing more to say, the shades and their focus on the sights outside were quite good at hiding things. Saressea assumed it was the former, based on past experience.

  Every time she found herself explaining to a human that the Gods were the ones that allowed the Aryile to become the founders of the Union, they went silent, opting to change the subject. While her faith in the Gods was unwavering, it was by no means the pivotal point of her life. Oh no, beer and horror holo movies filled that role.

&
nbsp; Living and working among humans probably was the reason for that, whereas those that spent their lives living in the Union practically made the Aryile race a demigod-like figure. They were the founders, they were the ones the Gods came to first, and they were the ones that went to share the gifts the Gods gave them to the rest of the galaxy. There’s a reason why nobody complains when an Aryile demands the temperature to be raised on a ship and the light levels to be bright.

  The train arrived at the platform, and its transparent sliding doors slithered open to conduct an exchange of bodies to and from the train. Foster had to jab Miles after they exited. His eyes behind his shades were fixed on a pair of young Aryile and Linl women wearing the latest fashion trends the city had to offer.

  “Eyes forward, Marine!” Foster heckled at him.

  “I just found my new planet for shore leave,” Miles said with a smirk, his face still fixed on the women before the train’s doors shut. “Fuckin’ gorgeous ladies out here, eh?”

  “Don’t forget to pull out,” Foster snorted as they made their way out the station. “No need to have half human runts makin’ a ruckus.”

  “Ha!”

  “He doesn’t need to,” Saressea interjected. “Everyone here is born sterilized.”

  The two faced Saressea and said in unison. “The fuck?”

  “Overpopulation. Remember, the Union is made up of the populations of five different species,” Saressea explained.

  Foster’s shade-covered face went to process the numbers. “Eh.”

  “Put it this way,” Saressea said to her. “What was the population of Earth before the Imperial invasion?”

  “About seven point four billion.”

  “Now take that number, times it by five, toss in advanced medical technology, eliminate most wars, and factor in centuries of population growth afterward.”

  She winced. “I see.”

  “If you want kids, you have to apply for a license, be living on a planet that hasn’t hit its population cap, then provide your DNA along with your spouse’s to a hatchery, where they will create a child for you.”

  “Guess gene therapy only made the situation worse for y’all,” Foster said. “Wait so. you’s tellin’ me you, Odelea, Tolukei are?—”

  “Test tube babies? Yes, we are,” Saressea finished for her. “There hasn’t been a natural birth among the five races in the Union for eons. Unless you’re a descendant of the exiles before that law was enforced.”

  “I’ll be sure not to marry anyone here,” Foster said drily.

  “It’s not so bad,” Saressea said as she patted her belly playfully with both hands. “I’m two-hundred and thirty-five years old, and never had my period. And never will.”

  The three arrived at the top floor of the central and tallest tower in the city, housing the council delegation chambers. Being indoors gave Foster and Miles the chance to lift their shades to the top of their sweat-covered heads. Foster grumbled something about the lack of air-conditioning, despite this being a government building. Saressea had to remind her that this was still an Aryile planet. Blazing hot weather was comfortable to them, and the Javnis to a certain degree. Everyone else had to endure the conditions, and that included human visitors.

  The devastation the delegation chambers was in made the three stop and take a concerned glance. The walls had been shattered, letting in the bright sunlight from outside. Foster and Miles had to lower their shades before they pushed further inside. Saressea was amazed that only the attacking rangers had been killed as they stepped over the rubble that was once pillars, walls, and sections of the ceiling.

  The five species council members stood up from their damaged table, having brought whatever they had been talking about to a quick close when the three approached. Saressea moved her arm in greeting, offering the data crystal she pulled out from her grey jumpsuit.

  “So, get this,” Saressea said to them in the Radiance language. “The Empire has a colony near Omega Cen—”

  “Karklosea,” Iey’liwea called out to a Templar standing idle near the door. “Please place Saressea under arrest.”

  Saressea could no longer feel the sweat that had been drenching her body, just the blood draining from her face as she roared. “What?!”

  The Templar, a blonde Linl woman, apparently named Karklosea approached her from behind, grabbing the data crystal from her, binding her hands in electrical cuffs.

  Foster and Miles may not have understood the exchange of words that followed in the Radiance language. But knew enough by the tone of their voice and the fact that the Templar was pulling Saressea away to know things weren’t going according to plan.

  “What in the hell?” Foster yelled. “You get your hands off my engineer!”

  The council said nothing, and it wasn’t because they didn’t speak English. They were quite fluent with it, in fact, as with Hashmedai. Saressea wasn’t able to see what happened next, the Templar’s armored glove hold on her arms was strong and painful while she continued to drag Saressea out of the chambers back into the hall.

  What Saressea was able to pick up were the sounds behind, her Rabuabin sharp sense of hearing played a role in that. She heard what sounded like a weapon being drawn, and then powered on with its familiar hum. It was a PHC2-1 if she wasn’t mistaken, human weapons made sounds that were much different from Radiance made ones. As she recalled, the Marine, Miles, had brought one with him.

  “Careful human,” Iey’liwea’s fading voice from behind snickered. “Don’t risk an incident with us, like Saressea has with your people.”

  7 Foster

  Radiance Council Delegation Chambers

  Veromacon, Aervounis, Luminous System

  October 30, 2118, 16:48 SST (Sol Standard Time)

  “Careful human. Don’t risk an incident with us, like Saressea has with your people.”

  The Rabuabin representative, Iey’liwea’s, words were direct and cold, her thick Rabuabin accent only amplified it, spoken by a woman who knew she had power and four other people to back her up.

  Foster looked back at the door behind, watching through the lenses of her shades she had to put back on when the blinding sunlight returned through ruptured holes in the wall and ceiling. Saressea was being dragged into an elevator by an armored woman with long blonde hair tied into a prim and thick braid. The best words Foster could use to describe the woman was a knight, a space knight to be exact, that had a shield made purely of psionic energy and a high-tech sword at her side.

  Miles continued to stand his ground, aiming his pistol forward, unsure of what was going on. Foster would do the same if she brought a gun because, as it stood, they had walked into an ambush. The rangers creeping toward the two from the sides with their magnetic rifles drawn didn’t help the image.

  Foster had to put an end to it, while humanity and Radiance were still officially friends.

  “So y’all hauled us down here for this?” Foster asked, hoping her voice, less aggressive than the Rabuabin representative, would be enough to get everyone to relax.

  “Saressea has committed a number of actions we feel should be punished,” Iey’liwea explained. “Human lives were lost at her command in the Taxah sector.”

  Foster stepped closer to Iey’liwea and the council not giving a damn about the two rangers switching their aim to her. Not giving a damn that the volume of her voice had increased. “Saressea was acting in defense of the Kepler and me!”

  “There’s more to it than that,” Marchei said while his dwarflike body waddled closer.

  Foster crossed his arms. “Enlighten me.”

  Marchei waved his tiny hands in a go away motion. “I’d rather not waste my breath trying to explain it to a human, like you.”

  Now Foster’s hand rolled up into a ball at the Vorcambreum’s comment, pressing them against the side of her hips. “Excuse me, mister tiny?!”

  “So, what’s the word, Cap?” Miles asked still holding his weapon up. “We just gonna let ‘em get away wi
th this?”

  “Captain, please,” Zealoei, the Javnis representative, spoke. “Control your crew member.”

  “He ain’t just any member; he’s a big friendly Canadian!”

  Miles stood next to Foster and whispered. “Seriously?”

  She shrugged while the eyes that were on the two, especially the four eyes of Zealoei looked at them puzzling. “Work with me here, Miles.” Foster continued, lifting a defiant index finger at the council. “So, don’t piss him off. Takin’ Saressea away like that is a good way to unleash the Canadian beast here.”

  “Do you seriously expect us to believe that, Captain?” Iey’liwea said, shaking her head at her.

  “Yes! Miles, tell them that time.”

  “Eh, what time, Cap?”

  “Like, uh, when someone turned off a hockey game in progress.”

  “I, uh, don’t know—”

  “That’s right; you willed that man out of existence. We ain’t remember who he—” Foster faced the council and their disappointed looks. “Y’all ain’t buying this, are you?”

  “Don’t think they are,” Miles said to her.

  Foster threw her hands up in defeat. “Worth a shot.”

  She had Miles lower his pistol. The rangers taking aim at them did the same when Ienthei bellowed words to them in their language, probably to stand down. As much as Foster hated the situation they had ended up in, fighting wasn’t worth it. For starters, they’d probably be dead in seconds with the rangers around them.

  “Guess we ain’t got no choice now,” Foster said to the council. “I hope y’all know, without Saressea’s help, work on the vortex key can’t continue.”

  “We are confident you will find a way, Captain,” Iey’liwea said. “If not, then we were mistaken to agree to President Anderson’s proposal to give you command of the Kepler.”

  “After what she just did and said here?” Marchei said, laughing. “I’m already starting to question the great captain’s ability.”