by Matt Larkin
In an instant, she wavered, covering her breasts with her webbed fingers. “I … I’m sorry. I didn’t know you would come down here … I didn’t. Um …” She scurried over to her discarded clothes.
“It’s all right, lass. We … we’ve been swimming together before.”
“You … you want to swim?”
“Couldn’t take the pressure down here.” Which was putting it mildly.
“Right. Right.” She slipped into her clothes, so at last, he turned to look at her directly. Water streamed from her dark hair. A hint of a smile played on her lips, but she still looked embarrassed.
No sense in that. David stepped to her side and embraced her. “Good to see you, lass.”
“Yeah.”
“I missed you, Leah. I’m glad you’re coming back to the Sephirot. Rachel and I are going to stay the night here, but we’ll have to go in the morning.”
Leah nodded. “Um, okay. How about if you come to my house for dinner? Both of you, I mean.”
“Aye, okay.” Her sisters did make some fine shrimp. And maybe Rachel wouldn’t object if he got a massage after all. “I’ll meet you back there at sunset, then.”
He trod back toward the lift, then hunted down Rachel. She had checked into the Fairbreeze Hotel by the beach. It was a good choice. He’d stayed there once before. All the rooms had a great view.
When he entered their room, Rachel was on the line with Phoebe.
“You want me to patch the transmission down to you?” Phoebe asked.
“Sure,” Rachel said. “Did she say what was up?”
“Nope. Seemed stressed though. How’s the planet? Hot as all void, I’ll bet.”
“Yeah, you’d hate it. Knight might enjoy it, though.”
Phoebe snorted. “You think I’d send him down to a beach filled with naked girls without me? Yup, totally sounds like a plan. A terrible plan. I’m patching you through.”
“Who is it?” David whispered to Rachel as he came to sit beside her on the bed. Maybe best not to mention how he’d found Leah.
“Degana O’Malley.”
David nodded. He appreciated Rachel’s friendship with the hori. It seemed to relax her, having a girlfriend to talk to, and that worked for David. Of course, now that O’Malley was working for the NER, she had less time for chitchat.
The hori’s call filled the screen. “Rachel. Thank God. I need you here as soon as you can.”
Rachel rose from the bed. “Why? What happened?”
“The angels have brought in multiple ships. They and their Sentinel allies are conquering the whole damn Milky Way. They’re going to shut down the Republic before we can even get off the ground.”
“Are you all right?” Rachel asked.
“Yes, for now. They haven’t come after Eden itself. But Rachel, outlying systems are falling fast.”
Bloody void. David had known the peace with the angels was too good to last. Rachel turned to look at him, pleading in her eyes. David nodded. It seemed they were going to miss dinner.
3
“Behold, in the darkness between the stars, lurks the stalking predator, the Beast of the Adversary, which claims all prey.”
The Codex, Book of Azrael
REHOBATH SYSTEM, ANDROMEDA
Rachel stood before the door to Raziel’s quarters, running her arguments through her mind. Then the door opened, even before she buzzed it. Of course.
The angel sat on a stool in front of his Mazzaroth screen, though he had turned to face her. He waved her inside and indicated for her to sit on the couch against the wall. Probably never even used it himself. It must have been awkward with those wings.
Rachel slunk down on the couch and let her head fall into her hands.
“I don’t know,” the angel said.
“What?”
“You wanted to ask me what we can do to stop the Ark and other angel ships. I don’t know. I must go to them, try pleading the case in person. Perhaps they will hear me then, listen to my version of how humanity has changed. I might be able to still their anger if I look into their eyes. But they are very angry, Rachel.”
Rachel rubbed her temples. She’d grown used to having Raziel on board. He was cryptic, annoyingly vague, and sometimes obstinate … but he was a fount of knowledge she could turn to when the universe seemed too mired in confusion. And if he left … if he went to his brethren and they did not side with him …
“I do not believe they would harm me, Rachel.”
She cleared her throat. “Do you mind? I mean, if we have both sides of this conversation aloud? Just to humor me.”
Raziel spread his hands.
“So … since you’re being so forthcoming today … what’s with the wings, anyway? They seem to interfere with you sitting or lounging or probably even sleeping.”
“The wings are retractable using molecular compression technology. Angels keep them visible in front of humans as a means of distinguishing ourselves from you. Assuming that is what we desire. Were I to walk this ship without them, your kind would be confused.”
The damn wings actually folded up inside an angel. Which meant it was even easier for them to pass for human than she’d realized. Could she have met other angels and not even known it? Could they be out there now, in the general population, spying on mankind?
Raziel folded his arms. Bastard was waiting for her to ask the question aloud.
Stay out of my mind.
“It is so inviting. Forgive me. I do not believe there are many of us in hiding, but yes, there may be others.”
Rachel ran a hand through her hair. So. Angels were likely out there, watching humanity all this time. Seeing them slowly turn away from the Covenant but doing nothing. “You said some of the angels were fallen, that they had betrayed you. That they served the Adversary. What is the Adversary, then?”
Raziel shut his eyes and shook his head. “Sin. Nightmare.”
“That’s not an answer. Tell me the truth about your history, Raziel. What are you so afraid of? Aren’t we in this together now?”
The angel stood, knocking over the stool. “I am not afraid, Dr. Jordan. I am prudent. I have spent billions of years planning, working to thwart the Adversary.”
“Billions?”
Raziel nodded. “Searching for a way to overcome the Beast. Do not presume to know my mind.”
The Beast? The Codex said something about that. The stalking predator, the Beast of the Adversary. A weapon of destruction, she had always thought.
She raised her hands, hoping to soothe Raziel. He was obviously agitated, but she doubted he’d harm her. Still, any chance to get answers was an opportunity she couldn’t afford to miss. “Tell me about the Beast, then.”
Raziel sighed, shaking his head. “Curiosity can be a sin, Rachel. Incessant curiosity is pride … the pride of thinking you are ready for any truths that might lurk out there. The reality is, there are always truths you are not prepared for. Once you open the door, it cannot be shut again.”
“Sin or not, curiosity is human nature. God made us this way. Did he not?”
The angel looked away, staring at the ceiling.
“Can you blame us for the way God made us?”
“I do not know the mind of God.”
“But you’ve … really spoken to Him?”
Raziel chuckled, his voice dry and hollow. “Pride was our sin, as well. We were trying to protect you. To offer you reality in terms you could understand. And in so doing, we … it is one of those sins we find so easy to repeat, is it not, Rachel?”
Deep down, she had known all long. “You were never sent by God.”
At last he turned to her, looking her straight in the eyes. The angel grabbed her shoulders, then, and Rachel jerked at his sudden speed. Raziel’s grip was like steel. His fingers dug into her shoulders until she had to fight the urge to gasp.
“Listen to me, Rachel. I know you have a fascination with Asherah and their breaches of the Covenant. You want to doubt. You
look at our sins, the sins we angels committed, and you think if such imperfect beings made these rules, why should we be bound by them?”
“No shit. You try to tell us what we can and can’t do with our own bodies—”
“Do not put cybernetics into your body, Rachel,” he said, voice low. “Not ever.”
“Why the void not?” One rule for the angels, one rule for humanity. They claimed God sent them. But she’d seen the look on his face. Raziel had never spoken to God. Maybe the angel wasn’t even sure there was a God. He was an alien who had come and made up laws to bind humans. “You did.”
“We can no longer live without them. And so we live in continuous torment, at war with ourselves, trembling before the passage of the Beast. And some of us fell.”
Rachel shook in his arms, and he released her. “What does that mean? You fell. Fine. So what, the fallen …?”
The Adversary ship that attacked Eden looked like the Ark … because it was piloted by angels. It was an angel ship. Some of them were in service to the Adversary and its Beast. Out of fear? Raziel said they were at war with themselves. A civil war among angels.
“They serve the Adversary now. I have to go, Rachel. I will try to do what I can for your people.” At that, he turned and strode from the room.
4
“This just in: Sources in the outer spiral of the Milky Way report the angels have occupied another two hundred systems in the past four days. The angels have placed the occupied planets under Redeemer jurisdiction. In related news, reports of khapiru accusations have risen 10,000 percent.”
Suzanna Wallach, Mazzaroth News Network
PEGASUS DWARF GALAXY
Caleb woke screaming. Cold sweat streamed down his face and neck. Rebekah, lying by his side, wiped it away, and he let himself fall into her lap. He felt like weeping, but he couldn’t allow himself such weakness. Not in front of her. She needed him to be strong.
They had escaped the Sons of Cain on a Jericho transport ship, the Balaam. A few loyal mercenaries had helped him take it and get away. And since then, the Sons had pursued him. From the moment he turned on Apollo. From the moment he realized what that bastard was doing.
Every night, the same torment. Even on waking, he felt that alien presence in his mind. The whispering, the threatening, the pleading, the demanding. It was cold and on fire.
A burning ache searing down to his soul.
On Apollo’s orders he had destroyed four angel stations. And with each one, the presence had grown stronger. Until at last, in a fit of revelation, he’d known.
He’d known the unspeakable truth.
Apollo was in communion with the Adversary. The angel stations …
God, Caleb had thought to weaken the angels.
They were his enemies, after all. They were hunting down cyborgs—Caleb’s own kind, thanks to Apollo—and slaughtering every last one of them. So any power he denied them was a victory. He was fighting to save the universe from oppression. Except the Adversary was real. And those angel stations had been holding it back, keeping it at bay. And with each he destroyed, the true foe of humanity grew in power.
He had been wrong about everything. Wrong to ever trust Apollo. Wrong to destroy the angel stations, though they too were his enemies. And he had damned Rebekah down this same path. He wrapped his arms around her waist and held her close.
“What’s wrong, love?” she asked.
Everything.
Everything was wrong. In fear for his life and family, he’d followed a madman into hell. And though he would like to blame mere self-preservation and his love of Ayelet and their children for his sins, Caleb had started down the path willingly. For power and greed and fame and the chance to fuck pretty little things like Rebekah.
God, he’d tried to warn Rachel Jordan. He once tried to sway her to his point of view, and in so doing might well have damned her too. And when he tried to tell her his folly—that was when the Sons of Cain found out about him. They’d broken in and stopped the transmission. If he hadn’t had a few mercenaries nearby …
The truth was, he doubted Ezra Dana had any idea about the truth of who he was working for. As one of the Sons of Cain, he was a pirate serving Apollo for easy money. But the icie had given Caleb no chance to explain. And who would believe such off-rotation nonsense in any event?
He pulled himself up to face Rebekah. She was naked, but he had no energy to take her now. He should. If only for a moment’s reprieve. There were too many voices in his mind. Not just Apollo, not anymore. Others … calling his name. Clawing at his mind and soul. He had no peace except when he was buried inside Rebekah. Somehow, she stilled the voices, if only for a moment.
As if she could sense what he needed, she kissed him. Her tongue massaged his, and the pain began to recede. For a heartbeat, he had clarity of thought.
It was the Great Attractor. That’s when things first became so bad. Out there, looking into the void …
Rebekah’s hands ran down his chest and over his abdomen. He felt himself harden. She caressed his whole body, and the tension fled. She was his little heaven. His redemption.
Rebekah was … was not Ayelet. His mate was …
His assistant lowered herself onto him, and thought fled. Her fiery hair brushed across his face. That’s right, she was heaven.
He kissed her again and again, and they made love. Then at last he fell back, spent, and at peace. It wouldn’t last. It never did.
Apollo had to know Caleb had betrayed him. He would make good on his threat. God, why hadn’t Caleb acted sooner? Why hadn’t he …?
Rebekah brushed his cheek, and her face filled his mind. Ayelet was fine. James and Miriam were fine. No one would …
No! They were his life. He had to be sure.
Caleb sat up roughly. “I need you to do something for me. I need you to go to Sepharvaim and get my family. I can’t go; he’d be watching for me.”
Rebekah frowned. “You don’t want me to leave your side again, Caleb.”
Of course he didn’t. The thought of losing even the brief peace she offered him … the thought he would spend every waking moment in torment and every minute of sleep visited with horrors he never quite recalled on waking … it left his insides cold. But his family … he could not sacrifice them for his own sake.
“Please. You’re the only one I can trust.”
“We should just go back to him, then,” Rebekah said. “Explain we made a mistake. It’s the best way to keep them safe. You don’t want me to leave.”
They could go back to Apollo. He might accept them back. Punishment might follow later, but his family would be safe.
Caleb chewed his thumb for a moment, indulging in the self-delusion. They wouldn’t be safe. Even if Apollo didn’t have them killed, they would never be safe. Not in the universe Caleb had helped to create. Not in a universe overrun with the unfathomable hatred and darkness the Adversary represented.
“Go to Sepharvaim. Please, Rebekah. Get them, and bring them to me.”
She folded her arms and snorted, then hopped out of the bed.
The instant she left, the pressure in his mind returned.
5
“Are you, who now reads these words, human? In our efforts to guide the evolution of humanity, we both dared to hope and feared, in equal measure, that one day, you might be truly human. And one day after, perhaps, something more.”
Sefer Raziel, translated by Dr. Rachel Jordan
FEBRUARY 12, 3097 EY — MILKY WAY GALAXY
Jeremiah had come to her wedding, and it had meant the world to Rachel. For so long, they had been on opposite sides—ideologically and then militarily. But he had come to see her marry, and she’d never forget that. Jeremiah hadn’t complained when he was escorted back to the brig afterward. He was charged with assault and murder of Sentinels, and, if the universe were not in such chaos, would likely have already been sentenced to a world such as Horesh.
The one reason to be grateful for the ongoing w
ar against the angels. Her brother was still in the brig, and Rachel tried to visit him at least once every few days. He wouldn’t see things her way, but after meeting Raziel, he had at least become less hostile. Maybe she could even get something useful out of Jeremiah.
Now the angels were back and working with the Redeemers. And, if rumors held true, they had dangerous allies.
Rachel paced in front of her brother’s cell. “Is it true the Gogmagog have signed on with the Redeemers?”
Jeremiah sat on his cot, leaning against the wall, legs folded beneath him.
“Miah? Are you working with those creatures?”
The angels’ secret police were the first tradition to be shed following the Days of Glory. Even Redeemers didn’t—or hadn’t—supported the spies.
“It’s not our place to question the angels.”
“They question themselves!”
Raziel was gone. Shame—if the angel were here, maybe he could talk some sense into Jeremiah. “They’ve been engaged in some kind of civil war for God-only-knows how long.”
“What are you talking about?”
“The Adversary is fallen angels, those who turned against their own kind.”
“No.”
Rachel shook her head and paused in her pacing. “It’s the truth, Miah. Raziel told me, flat out. He tried to tell you, too, but you heard what you wanted to hear. Who do you think he meant, when he said their war reached Eden? He meant the war between angels, brother.” She could feel Jeremiah’s uncertainty, his doubts, wafting off him and clogging the air. Rachel had to remind herself they were his fears, not hers. She had more than enough of her own.
“The universe is not as simple as either of us once believed, brother. The angels are more than the oppressors I once took them for … and far, far less than the divine saviors you worship them as.”
Jeremiah let his head fall into his hands, saying nothing. If she told him what Raziel had recently shared with her, it might break him completely. He had built the foundation of his life on faith. And when that crumbled away, maybe he would be lost. But she had to believe the truth was the best road. For thousands of years, angels had lied to mankind while telling themselves they did it for humanity’s own good. But such deceptions twisted and writhed over time, taking on insidious lives of their own. Until men like her brother became zealots for causes as ephemeral as dark energy.
