Hallowed Nebula

by Eddie R. Hicks

  “For your own safety, please don’t poke around with it,” Rivera asked her.

  “Now, why is that?”

  “We need to get going,” Rivera said, dodging the question. “I suppose you also happened to book a chair next to mine?”

  “We can be traveling partners.”

  “That’s fantastic; you can tell me why you’re following me.”

  “I need to get aboard the Kepler.”

  Penelope’s body language was cold and mysterious and borderline emotionless, only smiling for a second before she tried to force it away. Rivera couldn’t read her at all. “You want me to put in a good word for you or something?”

  “I need to get a hold of them quickly and can’t use the QEC to do so,” Penelope said.

  “Why not?” Rivera asked.

  “The same reason why I can’t reach the Rezeki’s Rage,” Penelope said. “There are some naughty people monitoring my transmissions.”

  “Terrans?”

  “Worse than that I’m afraid.”

  25 Foster

  XSV Johannes Kepler

  En route to Eiri Spaceport, Luminous System

  November 2, 2118, 10:54 SST (Sol Standard Time)

  When Foster got word from the Radiance council that the Kepler was allowed to leave orbit, she yelled loud enough for those passing by the entrance to her quarters to hear. She instructed the bridge to leave and set a course to Eiri, the next leg in their time in the system.

  During the voyage, she fired up a qmail message to Rivera, hoping she’d get back to her. After the message was sent, she went to sleep but didn’t get much of it. She woke up the next morning, went to brew a cup of coffee, and then stood looking out the observation windows in her quarters allowing the buzzing sound of her coffeemaker to soothe her mind. Blue light reflected upon the window, it grew in intensity with each second. She looked at her hands; the tattoos on it were glowing. They were reacting to something that wasn’t her tachyon rifle in the armory or the deactivated vortex key in engineering. This was something else, something that wasn’t in range moments ago.

  Her first thought was a vortex was opening nearby. And if that were the case, they, and the system, would be in trouble as it meant the Draconians were about to make a surprise attack. No attack came, not according to sensor scans and ESP when she contacted the bridge.

  She placed her hands on the smooth surface of the window and focused her mind. After a minute, she wasn’t in her mind, or on the ship, or in the system.

  Foster felt as if she was falling through space as if it had gravity to pull someone down. It wasn’t a pleasant thought as every sense in her body told her she was going to be killed when the fall ended. She had been falling for nearly five minutes.

  When the feeling of falling faded, Foster envisioned herself floating through pink and purple gasses with dozens of twinkling stars in the distance. She was in a nebula, though, which one, she had no idea. She remained adrift, floating through the nebula’s splendors, moving past a number of star systems, all of them full of young and developing planets. Before the vision ended, she saw a woman with long black hair and a mixture of Asian and European features. She wore an IESA uniform, an older one similar to the one Foster and her crew wore during their Sirius expedition.

  “Why didn’t you accept the offer?” the woman said to her. “She’d be alive now if you did!”

  Foster cursed, having nearly stumbled when she returned to her body. She was back in her quarters. She went for her coffee which should have finished brewing. It was cold as was the mug it was in. She’d left her body for a lot longer than she thought.

  She went to brew a new one, only she was out of coffee brewing disks. She ended up making her way to the mess hall, trying her best to forget about the experience. Chef Bailey always had a fresh batch of coffee ready during this time of the day. Except for today.

  Foster’s wide-eyed stare at the coffee container, which was lighter than she thought it would be, lingered until Odelea tapped her on her shoulder. “Captain,” she asked her. “Is there something wrong?”

  Foster put the empty coffee container back onto the countertop. “Just need my fix, and I really don’t feel like searching the cargo bay for coffee disks.”

  “Care to join us once we dock with the spaceport?” Odelea gestured to Pierce sitting alone, reading data on his holo pad. “There was a tea shop I wanted to show Doctor Pierce, they brew Aryile coffee too, perhaps you could get your fix there?”

  Leaving the ship to head to a coffee shop, a Radiance one at that, seemed like a lot of effort for caffeine. So did searching the cargo bay. “All right, I’ll come along,” Foster said. “We still got another hour or so before Saressea’s replacement boards from the spaceport.”

  Odelea gave her a cute smile and then went to grab Pierce’s attention, tugging onto her hair with both hands as she spoke to him. Odelea did that a lot, especially when talking with Pierce, probably her way of dealing with sudden pressure. Foster’s guess was sexual pressure in this case since Odelea’s facial expression remained joyful with a smile that continued to stay on her face.

  The body of a young woman Odelea found herself in was forcing her to make a move on the smart and handsome middle-aged man.

  A Radiance made station could be seen moving out of sight from the mess hall’s windows. The further the Kepler moved from it, the dimmer Foster’s tattoo’s glow became.

  “Odelea,” Foster said to her, pointing at the station they were moving past. “That ain’t the spaceport, right?”

  “No, Captain,” Odelea replied. “That’s an ethereal refinery. We use it to harvest dark energy from aether space and use it as an energy source.”

  “How so?”

  “We built the refineries near fissures. They are hard to see with the eye, but just beyond that refinery is a very small rift that we use to pull unrefined dark energy.”

  And from what Foster experienced it pulled her thoughts into the middle of a nebula. She made a mental note to have Kostelecky examine her later. Her tattoos being used to access all things Draconian was one thing, but trippy dreams? That was new.

  Central Foyer

  Spaceport, Eiri Orbit, Luminous System

  November 2, 2118, 11:12 SST (Sol Standard Time)

  The XSV Johannes Kepler appeared in an empty pocket of space next to the circular-shaped spaceport. Various Radiance space ferries departed or docked with the spaceport which served as the Luminous system’s primary connection for out and inbound interstellar travel among Radiance people.

  If Foster were to compare it to Earth of her childhood, then the spaceport the Kepler arrived at was an airport in space, one that was made almost entirely of transparent material. If you looked closely enough, one could spot people boarding or exiting the airlocks from docked ships while others gathered in its central foyer waiting.

  With its FTL disengaged, the Kepler fired off a series of maneuvering thrusters to approach one of two dozen docking arms of the spaceport. By the time it neared, the arms extended out, clamping onto the side of the Kepler like a giant robotic hand, creating a passageway through its airlock, and delivering Foster, Odelea, and Pierce into the orbiting station.

  It was Foster’s first time walking to the airlock of the Kepler, let alone passing through it. She didn’t even realize there were decorative plants in the corridors next to it.

  The central foyer of the spaceport was buzzing with activity and holo signs only Odelea could read. She pointed out to Foster the arrival time of the ferry Rivera said she will be on. It was due to dock with the station within five minutes. Foster’s wrist terminal, however, remained silent, lacking with the follow-up messages she was hoping the council was going to send her in regard to Saressea’s replacement, the one thing preventing them from leaving the system.

  A Union liaison officer was a requirement for them to fly. The only reason the council allowed them to leave Aervounis was to pick up the replacement on the spaceport, and t
o protect Foster and the crew from eating the wrath of the SOM after it was brought to the council’s attention who had been responsible for the attack.

  Inside the tea shop, Odelea found a circular table for the three to sit at. They sampled various teas made by the Aryile people from the days when interstellar ships were a thing of science fiction. The teas were more on the fruity side, and at least two different ones Foster tried had an apple like taste to them. She understood why Odelea made the Kepler’s food inventory of apples shrink so fast.

  Foster got the coffee she was seeking, which had a strange nutty and chocolaty taste to it. It wasn’t something she could see herself having on a regular basis, but it did soothe her caffeine withdrawal migraine.

  The view of the planet Eiri moved into sight, visible by the spaceport’s transparent walls. The planet looked like a giant ball of green and blue. There was a dash of white here and there from the clouds, but green and blue were the dominant colors. The blue Foster could get, as the planet, like Earth and most habitable worlds, had luscious blue skies. The green was plant life, thing was, every large land mass was covered in it, even at the equators. There were no deserts or large mountain ranges.

  “Has Eiri caught your attention, Captain?” Pierce spoke up.

  “Just never seen a planet covered in so much green,” Foster said.

  Odelea’s eyes joined the two looking out the window. “That’s because we terraformed it to be like that.”

  “Remarkable.” Pierce’s eyes gawked at the sight. “So, the plant life wasn’t naturally occurring at all?”

  “No,” Odelea explained. “This planet is to my people what Mars is to humans. It was the first planet we set foot on when the Gods taught us how to build ships. Eiri was barely habitable when we first landed, so the Gods taught us how to terraform it, and use it to grow the crops our people were in a dire need of to survive. It was also what led to the exile of several members of the council when they were caught in a scandal that involved this world.”

  Foster winced. “Members that now make up the leadership of the Soldiers of Marduk.”

  Pierce looked lost in thought staring blankly at the terraformed planet. “Something caught your attention, Pierce?” Odelea asked him.

  “The Aryile constructed interstellar ships and then acquired technology to terraform a planet.”

  “Yeah, pretty sure Odelea just said that,” Foster said.

  “Were they really Gods though, Captain? If we, on the Kepler, right now were to travel to a planet with a primitive civilization on it, show off the psionic powers of Tolukei, Nereid, LeBoeuf, and Maxwell, teach them how to use our technology, what would they call us as time went on?”

  Foster shrugged. “Gods and Goddesses, I guess.”

  “And isn’t that what Marduk did to ancient Earth after Tiamat?”

  “Our Gods were real, however,” Odelea spoke up.

  Foster looked back at her, hoping she didn’t take offense at their talk. Then hoped none of the spaceport’s Templars heard. Questioning the existence of the Gods landed you in prison in the Radiance Union.

  “The people of ancient Earth thought Marduk and Tiamat to be real when they came to us,” Pierce said. “Turns out, Marduk was just a Javnis psionic, and Tiamat, if Foster’s vision from the monolith is correct, was Draconian ruler. Ancient human Gods and Goddesses were nothing but a bunch of aliens. No offense, Odelea, but you being a woman of knowledge and science, have you ever thought to consider that maybe your Gods are the same?”

  Foster was ready to facepalm. Pierce just about threw away his chance to get closer to Odelea, and maybe get laid. She looked about, searching for ears that shouldn’t be listening in to the conversation. Pierce being the human man of science was spitting words that might make Radiance folks dial 911, or whatever their equivalent to that was.

  “The Hashmedai proposed that our Gods might have been the Lyonria,” Odelea said. “It led to centuries of wars between the Union and the Empire as a result. So, no, Doctor Pierce, I haven’t, and never will—”

  “Excuse me,” a man said to the three, drawing all stares at him. Foster was surprised none of the three noticed him walk up.

  The man was an Aryile with dark bronze skin, golden hair, and emerald-colored scales on the sides of his neck and arms, as with most Aryile. His vertical iris eyes focused on Pierce then Odelea. “May I ask you two a question?”

  “You mean three?” Foster said, pointing out the fact that the three were a group.

  The Aryile man ignored her. “I overheard your conversation,” he said to Pierce and Odelea. “May I ask, are you a believer?”

  “Yes, I believe in the will of the Gods,” Odelea said, then looked to Pierce. “You must understand, however, that he is human and so—”

  “You’re not a believer?” the man asked him.

  “I’m a man of science; it’s very hard for me to accept the belief of a higher power without evidence and data.”

  “I see,” said the Aryile man. “I recommend you change that if you wish to live.”

  His words left little room for interpretation. It was a threat, but to what degree Foster didn’t know. He didn’t look like a Templar, perhaps an undercover Whisper agent? Whoever he was, she didn’t like the idea of someone walking up and threatening her crew members.

  “Excuse me!” she called out to him. “Wanna explain what that was about?”

  The Aryile man faced her with anger spreading across his face. “I have no obligation to speak to Tiamat’s devotee.”

  He stormed out before she could offer a rebuttal. Not because he moved fast. But because Foster’s head added a third possible reason as to whom the man was affiliated. The Soldiers of Marduk. They found her. They knew the Kepler was docked here. They had the power to leave the planet after all. Foster’s heart was trying to punch a hole in her chest.

  “Tiamat’s devotee,” Odelea muttered to herself.

  Foster stood up quickly. “We got to get out of here, now.”

  Pierce looked up as she left the table. “Captain?”

  “Let’s go now, we’s about to get a lickin’ if we stay.”

  Odelea and Pierce joined Foster on her retreat out from the shop. “What about Rivera?” Odelea asked. “Her ferry should have docked by now.”

  Foster stopped in the middle of the foyer. Her head was shifting from left to right, unsure of where to go, or what to do. She couldn’t hear the sounds of the buzzing open space around her, or Odelea telling her where to go to meet up with Rivera.

  Or the multiple explosions that ripped through the spaceport.

  Troves of Radiance civilians were sent scattering, running and screaming. Two more unexpected explosions made a third of those screaming voices silent for eternity.

  “Captain!” Pierce yelled, hands grabbing onto Foster’s shoulders.

  She shrugged him off. “Let’s get back to the Kepler!”

  The three ran past the carnage, keeping their heads low when gunfire echoed. Those that were unlucky had their bodies blown to pieces, blood and brains sprayed across the walls as if someone threw a bucket of red paint at it. Ruined shops were blazing with flames ignited by the explosions, bloody bodies were lying motionless in the debris and shrapnel-covered floors.

  It pained her to see so many innocent lives come to a sudden end in the quick strike that came out of nowhere. The SOM was after Foster, the people around her died because she stepped out for coffee. She was beyond furious, and if Foster couldn’t keep her head straight, she, Odelea, and Pierce might join those lying on the floor.

  Bursts of magnetic rifles roared, another set roared back in retaliation, there was a gunfight brewing. One of the halls the three ran through had the horrific display of a lone Radiance ranger dragging his fallen and bullet-covered partner back. Two men wearing long dark robes took aim with their magnetic rifles.

  Foster, at that point, continued to run down the halls to keep up with Pierce and Odelea when the bullets started to sp
ray. It didn’t sound like they hit a person with shields still active. The bloody thud of a body in armor hitting the floor also suggested the same.

  The airlock that led back to the Kepler came in sight. The three continued running despite its doors being shut. Foster put her wrist terminal to her face. “Foster to Kepler, open the starboard side airlock, now!”

  “Cap, what’s going on?” Chang’s voice transmitted back.

  “Just do it! Ain’t got no time to explain!”

  The doors needed to board and escape to freedom went through their unlocking procedure. It was taking too long, forcing the three to cower next to it, staring back at the halls they managed to run through without getting shot or killed in an unexpected blast.

  Yellow light flashed on the walls to the halls. Gunfire and battle cry screams roared. Someone was moving toward the three, killing all those that stood in their way. The footsteps of those armed with weapons grew louder as they neared, as with their blazing rifles in combat with another. The gunfight was set to spread to the airlock outside of the Kepler. If the doors took any longer to open, they were dead. And if they took just as long to shut, so was the crew when the gunmen stormed in.

  One of the gunmen, a Linl man, came into view and stepped toward the three with a smug look on his face. Like the other’s she saw, he was wearing a dark robe. As much as Foster didn’t want to see it, the robe was similar in design to the ones Tolukei wore. The realization of that helped take her mind off Odelea’s screaming when the gunmen took aim at the three, or Pierce’s repeated cursing when he put his hands up.

  Foster hoped she would be the first to go. And the only one.

  Bullets fired. It wasn’t at them. Someone from behind took aim and shot the gunman, making his head explode like someone stuffed a watermelon with an M80 firecracker. The airlock doors opened, she had no idea Pierce and Odelea were able to run so fast when access to the Kepler was made available.