Galaxy of Titans: An Epic Space Opera Series (The Augmented Book 3)

by Ben Hale

  “Seena?” Mora asked.

  “Do you need more horg?”

  Mora set the empty cup aside. “We die?”

  Siena smiled faintly. “Not if I can help it.”

  “What we do?”

  The emotion in the girl’s voice made Siena reach out to Mora. The young dakorian crossed the space and wrapped her bony arms around Siena’s back. For a long moment Siena just held her, willing herself to think of what to do.

  When they finally parted, Siena stood. “We might be here a while, Mora, so let’s make the best of it, shall we?”

  “How do that?”

  Siena motioned to the ship. “Remember your fort on the river island?”

  The girl nodded.

  “I think we should build one.”

  Mora’s face brightened. “We build fort?”

  Siena smiled. “We build fort.”

  Obviously delighted at the prospect, the girl jumped around as Siena used her holoview to guide her to the armory, a room near the center of the wreckage that offered the most protection. As the girl began dragging plates of seracrete out of the hallway and into the room, Siena opened the cortex node in the corner of the room and finished the scan.

  Between helping Mora build a makeshift home and exploring the ship, Siena took stock of their situation. Keeping life support was paramount, so she sealed the rooms that would be vented into open space and disengaged the emergency shields, conserving and consolidating emergency power. Room by room, she measured their supplies and weapons, and hunted for any way to send a beamcast. But for all the crates she opened, none contained spare parts for a vid relay.

  As the hours passed, she kept Mora focused despite the cold reality settling upon her shoulders. They were too far out to be found. While they had what they needed to sustain life, including enough food and water for decades, their lives were bound by the confines of half a ship.

  Mora slept in a fort she’d built out of scrap, Siena lay on her bed and closed her eyes. With her time augment she stepped into the fate cloud. Every other time she’d used it, stars had filled the expanse, with anyone in close physical proximity also close in the cloud. But it was just her and Mora, and their two stars were distant from any other. She did find Ero and Reklin, so she knew they were alive, but the sheer distance made it impossible to discern more than that. When she finally gathered the courage to push the time augment into the future, she only saw more of the same. The wreckage of the Kildor would be their home for a lot longer than a few weeks.

  The next day she worked to stabilize the ship and address the many warnings that demanded her attention. Mora, too young to understand, got quickly distracted, so Siena fashioned a sunderblade out of seracrete so the girl could practice.

  It was not until several days after the crash that Siena discovered a spark of real hope. She’d managed to stabilize the ship, to the degree that was possible, and spent more and more time training with Mora and delving into her time augment. Bit by bit she managed to push further and further into the future. One night she dared to push as far as she could, and a ship appeared.

  The glimpse scattered as quickly as it had come, and Siena stared at the dark wall, the elation sharp enough to draw tears. Mora, who was spinning her seracrete blade, noticed her and lowered the weapon.

  “Why Seena cry?”

  Siena smiled and motioned her over. “Because I know we will be rescued.”

  “Today?” Mora brightened.

  “No,” Siena said. “It will be many years, and I don’t know the exact moment, but someday a ship is going to find us.” Her throat tightened with emotion. “We’re going to see our friends and family again.”

  Mora merely smiled as only a child could. “Seena save us.”

  Siena grinned and picked up the seracrete blade she used to practice with Mora. “You think so?”

  “Seena mighty,” she said with a firm nod. “And one day, I be like Seena.”

  “Then we’d better keep training,” Siena said.

  The girl spun the shard of seracrete and attacked, and Siena parried. As they danced across the compartment that was quickly becoming home, Siena clung to the spark of light. In the fragments she’d seen through the time augment, she knew Dragorn now controlled Lumineia with Skorn at his side. But one day Ero would seek to reclaim the planet. And Siena would be there when he did.

  Chapter Forty-Eight

  Ero wiped the dirt from his face and patted Quis on the shoulder. “Finish this one and get started on the next.”

  “On it,” the boy said.

  Ero stepped out of the hole as the youth picked up a large chunk of wall and lifted it to his shoulder. Unperturbed by the weight, he carried it to the cliff where he dropped it over the ledge. Ero stood back and surveyed the humans and dakorians working to clear a section of worn buildings in order to build a more permanent settlement.

  Nearby, Reklin shifted a stone wall and held it in place while Begle molded the stone into place with a molecular modifier, the ancient mechanism sputtering as it reshaped the stone into a corner. Inary, Lavana, and Kevent then placed more walls to connect to the two existing corners, while Kensen overlaid a holo to show the building design.

  In the two weeks since Skorn had shattered their alliance, he’d been surprised at how quickly he’d come to feel happy. It was strange and exciting and new, yet the emotion was marred with a sense of loss. Even after what had happened, he missed his brother.

  Ero spotted a figure standing on the ledge above the building and picked his way up the cracked and worn steps to reach her. She smiled as he approached, her bright blue eyes lighting with amusement.

  “It’s not often I see a krey getting his hands dirty,” Enara said.

  He looked down at his muddy clothing with a sour expression. “I don’t plan on making it a habit.”

  She motioned to the group of augments and dakorians laboring together. “I’ve never seen the races work in unity outside of the Light.”

  “Do they know you’re helping us?”

  “I may have neglected to mention your request to the Brightwall Council.” Her smile highlighted the age wrinkles. “Besides, after missing holidays and events for seventeen thousand years, I would say you were due for a gift.”

  “Some would say a planet is far too generous,” Ero said, “but I am not one of those people.”

  Enara laughed lightly. “Only a few in the Light know about New Haven, and even less know how to get here. You should be safe from the Empire.”

  Ero smiled and surveyed the dilapidated city, with the bright forest stretching to the horizon. Two moons graced the sky, both crescents that were barely visible in the brightness from the sun. It was as good a refuge as he could hope for.

  “Any sign of Siena?” he asked.

  “Our spies in the Empire tell us the fleet is still searching the wreckage, but I doubt they’re going to find anything.”

  “She’s out there,” Ero said. “I know it.”

  She didn’t argue, and instead asked, “Have you given any thought to joining the Light? Even with your augmented friends, I think I can convince the other elders to let you in.”

  “I’m afraid my goals do not align with yours,” he admitted.

  “Oh?” She seemed amused. “Do you not want freedom for the humans?”

  “Of course,” Ero said. “But I have no intention of hiding, and it won’t be long before the Empire wants us dead.”

  “You want to go to war.”

  “Not just yet,” he said. “First I’ll need a few allies.”

  “Like more augments?”

  “The only way to create more augments is on Lumineia. I have a different type of ally in mind.”

  He didn’t mention that once they found Siena, she would be able to augment more humans. That particular secret was known only to a handful, and until she was returned, he intended to keep it that way.

  Kensen wormed his way out from under the Crescent, his clothing splattered w
ith grease. He’d been tinkering with it since it had arrived yesterday, and insisted he could get the sleek ship to live up to its name. He checked his holoview, a gift from Ero, and nodded to himself.

  “It’s time!”

  His shout halted the work, and everyone hurried to ascend the steps to the Gate. It powered up and made the connection, and a moment later Devroc stepped through. Reklin greeted him warmly, and the dakorians rushed to welcome the newcomers. A handful of humans appeared, including Thren, who seemed relieved when he spotted Kensen.

  Enara lowered her voice. “How many got out?”

  “All the dakorians from Reklin’s family,” Ero said. “Plus a handful of augments they managed to collect.”

  “Skorn really terminated their contracts?” Enara asked.

  “Apparently he didn’t think they could be trusted.”

  Skorn and Dragorn had reached Lumineia in the Blue Iris and promptly terminated every dakorian contract. Devroc and some of the others had realized what was happening and pulled Siena’s closest friends and allies out before Skorn could kill them, but the entire group had been exiled. Dragorn had already contracted with the Spinebreakers, a group of brutal insurrectionists, to secure the planet, a deliberate snub after Visika’s betrayal. As soon as Ero had established the secret planet of New Haven for their new home, Reklin had called the vestiges of his exiled family.

  Reklin finished welcoming the group of dakorians and approached Ero. “Looks like they’re all here.”

  Enara pointed to the sprawling ruins. “You think they’ll accept living here?”

  “We built our homes back on Rebor,” he said. “This is no different.”

  Ero spotted Zelor and Thania, the pair of dakorians that had come from the Light of Everden. They looked slightly out of place in the midst of Reklin’s family, and kept their distance from the augments.

  “Not everyone is from your family,” he said. “Can we trust them?”

  “They chose to leave,” Reklin said, following his gaze. “And they chose to come with us. I trust them.”

  “Have you told them our intentions?” Ero asked.

  “Not yet,” Reklin said. “Give them a few weeks to adapt to their new reality, and then we’ll see how many want to join us.”

  “Already scheming?” Enara asked.

  “That makes it sound bad,” Ero groaned. “More like, working together to create an honorable goal to which others can rally.”

  “That’s quite a mouthful,” Reklin said.

  Enara smiled up at the big soldier. “Let’s just call it scheming.”

  “I don’t think I like you two being friends,” Ero said sourly.

  “Too late,” Reklin laughed as he departed. Then he cast over his shoulder, “I’ll get them started. We’ll see you at the evening meal.”

  “I like him,” Enara said when he was gone.

  “Me too,” Ero admitted.

  She turned to face him. “Are you going to tell me what you’re planning?”

  He hesitated, and then decided it didn’t matter. Enara was one he trusted. “Kensen managed to decode a message from Dragorn to the Spinebreakers. House Bright’Lor doesn’t want to risk exposure, so they’ve isolated themselves from the Empire.”

  “They’re not going to steal any more slaves?”

  Ero shook his head. “Skorn convinced him the Emperor got too close and they can’t risk being caught. They’re going to wait a generation and let the augments grow in population before taking them to market.”

  “Are you sure the transmission was real?”

  “I trust Kensen,” Ero said. “If he says it’s real, then it’s real.”

  Enara frowned. “You think this is an opportunity.”

  “We both do.” Ero motioned to Reklin. “Give us a few years to find Siena and prepare, and then we’re going to take back what’s ours.”

  “You’re going after Lumineia,” she said.

  “I did say my goals would not align with the Light.”

  “You think your little force here can go up against Skorn, our father, and an entire House?” Her voice was incredulous, and if Ero was not mistaken, tinged with admiration.

  “I don’t plan on doing it alone,” Ero said. “And while they hide on Lumineia, we’re going to be recruiting our own friends. Renegades, outlaws, outcasts, even the exiled. The Empire is filled with those who’ve been cast aside. We just need to unite them.”

  This time her smile was all admiration. “I always knew you had the capacity for leadership. You just needed the right cause.”

  “Or the right friends,” he said.

  “To form an alliance of outlaws you’ll need a name.”

  “I already have one.”

  “Oh?”

  “Since it turns out I could have been Emperor, I figured we needed a name that demonstrated our status.” He gave a sly smile. “From now on, we’re the Eternals.”

  She laughed lightly. “I like it.”

  “You don’t think it’s too ostentatious?”

  “Not at all.” She leaned in and embraced him. When she pulled back her expression was soft. “I can see you have everything handled here, and it’s time I returned to the Light.”

  “Someday I look forward to meeting your family.”

  She patted his arm. “They’re your family too, you know.”

  With a parting nod, she worked her way up the steps to the Gate. He turned back to his new world, the home of the Eternals. Time had reduced the ancient city to rubble and ruin, but the first of the new buildings were almost complete. He hoped to see the planet of New Haven brought back to life. Yet despite his newfound happiness and friends, he knew it would never be whole until Siena returned. His gaze was drawn to the sky, where the last of the stars were giving way to the rising sun. He wondered which hid Siena, the girl the Empire hunted, the girl known as the supreme augment, the girl he called daughter.

  Epilogue

  The six dakorians, nine krey, and two humans stood in a line, all trembling except for Thekton, whose expression was pure hatred. It had been four weeks since the Kildor had been destroyed, and his anger had only deepened into a simmering rage. Not that Dralik could blame him. Bloodwalls had a perfect genome, and scars eventually healed to smooth skin. And yet—impossibly—his body, arms, hands, and face bore ugly, twisting scars. He refused to say what had caused such disfigurement.

  “Again,” Dralik said.

  One of the surviving officers of the Kildor began to speak in halting words. The ship being torn in half. Everyone fleeing like roaks from a sinking ship. Escape pods gathering and speeding away so House Bright’Lor would not kill them. The distress beacons and a fleet ship arriving to pick them up and search for the renegades. They’d found nothing, and Dralik had summoned the survivors to his palace. Dralik had heard the report, but forcing one to admit their failures was always a pleasure.

  As the krey talked, Dralik stood up from his throne and strode to the nearest window. His honor guard encouraged the Kildor survivors to follow with charged hammer lances at their backs. Thekton continued to glower as he was forced to the balcony.

  Dralik stood on the balcony and looked out over the landscape below. He loved his palace, with its sprawling courtyards and spires, its golden hallways and diamond-studded walls, its thousands of Gates that allowed instant access to any room, its secret dungeon where he kept his disgraced enemies.

  The entire building floated two kilometers above the surface of Valana, resting on a gravity cushion that was hidden behind an oxygenator. The clouds floated beneath and around, so his palace looked like the home of a god.

  The Grand Approach held his throne. The hall was so large that pillars reached for hundreds of feet to support the arched ceilings. Emeralds glowed in the floor, embedded with silver and agate in the sparkling granite. Dralik loved the opulence.

  “Again,” he said when the krey stopped talking.

  The krey swallowed and began anew, describing the appearance
of a human girl that had punctured the alpha power conduits with an energy blade, and proceeded to fight the bridge crew. Noticeably, the krey did not mention Thekton or his part in the fight. They did cast furtive glances at the captain.

  Rage wafted off the disfigured dakorian, especially when his officers mentioned the human augment. Had the augment done such damage to Thekton? Or had it been Ero or one of the dakorians the girl had brought? A touch of anger seeped into Dralik’s fingers, and his grip tightened on the polished obsidian railing. How had this happened? He’d departed the Kildor confident in the defeat of Bright’Lor, and now Ero and Skorn had escaped, Malikin was dead, and the Kildor was a smoking wreck. They still couldn’t find the stern of the powerful warship. It was probably nothing but scattered debris.

  After Dragorn’s very public escape, the blue-eyed krey had vanished. Neither the father nor the two sons had been spotted in months. Speculation about the fate of Bright’Lor had been rampant until the news was mercifully overtaken by a scandal in House Jek’Orus.

  The krey lieutenant who was speaking—the navigation officer on the bridge, Dralik remembered—finished the description, and Dralik idly tapped twice on the balcony rail. The krey’s eyes widened and he sucked in his breath, but his words were lost in the ion bolt to his back. He died before he hit the floor.

  “Again,” Dralik said mildly.

  The next senior officer stared at the body on the floor, his eyes flicking to the trio of dead krey in the Grand Approach. Swallowing, he began to tell the same story. He’d been in engineering when two dakorians and a human had attacked, and claimed to have seen a boy send fire from his hands. An earlier witness had claimed a girl could lift a dakorian from a distance, as if gravity itself obeyed her will. What absurdity. Dralik didn’t care one iota about the augments. They were just human. And they would always be human. But the survival of Dragorn, Ero, and Skorn—especially now that they knew the truth—could be catastrophic. But what to do?