“Brutish words from a barbarian!” one of the Soulspeakers interjected.
“It is because of barbarians like me that politicians like you get to enjoy life!” I snapped, unable to hold back. Gris put his hand up and I stopped.
“We are not your enemy, Richard Stavos. Remember that.”
I nodded and took a deep breath.
“How many planets outside Aloi space have you visited, Soulspeaker?” The man remained silent. “You must wake up from your dream.”
“You think this is a dream?” Jorr’ka’s Soulspeaker said. “What we have here was built on the backs of the abandoned. In tears, blood and suffering. We know our roots on Primitea, and you know nothing of our path. The art we create, the lives we have built here—”
“Are all a lie,” I said coldly, to the shock of everyone in the room. I wasn’t here to argue over who had a tougher life, but I couldn’t stand the smugness.
“Why do you offend?”
I looked to McGill and Tailor, but they kept their mouths shut. This was apparently all on me. Again.
“Listen, I’m not here to offend. I’m here to ask of you to save our race.”
“Our race is doing well,” Girs said as if trying to piss me off even further.
“No, it’s not. This is not our race. Not all of it. The worlds you escaped centuries ago still exist. The families you left behind still have offspring there. People that share your very blood will be turned into mindless weapons against you. The war will find you sooner or later, the only question is how many you will sacrifice before it does. I don’t understand you people. Are the Aloi not at war with the Ka? Are you not part of this alliance? What would they say if you left your race to suffer in hell just so you could draw another pretty painting of a forest?”
The Soulspeaker of Convictius Jorr’ka opened his mouth again but Convictius Gris raised a hand and shushed him.
“It is good that you ask these questions, Richard Stavos. It is true that the Dusk Ascendancy was sheltered from the atrocities of the Ulxy Cluster. We have never felt that the DA had a stake in this war, and even if it did, our military capabilities are negligible. This entire world would fall in a year without the constant presence of Aloi Crusaders. We will discuss this issue in more detail later. Now, do tell us of the Imminy prisoner.”
“How about you tell me something for a change, Convictius? With all due respect, I’m not here to be interrogated and neither am I a prisoner. I have brought back two battleships with an escort, an Imminy prisoner, and an ancient Aloi mind to your doorstep and aside from questioning my sanity and jabbing at my intelligence, you have given me nothing.”
The Convictius nodded immediately and his expression softened. “You are right. So please, speak.”
“Good. First of all,” I said and turned to Tailor, “What the hell is going on?”
“It’s a long story, son, so I’ll get straight to where you left off almost ten years ago. I’ve been working for the other side for a long time now. I always had a hunch that the Ka weren’t really too good for mankind. I had seen too many wars, too many horrible decisions by our masters that plunged entire civilizations into darkness, but it wasn’t until I landed on Detera, ten years before you did, that I started digging deeper. Since then, I have been steadily working against the Federation in the best ways I could.”
“You killed Aloi.”
“I did, but that was the price the Aloi were willing to pay for the information I had sent them. When Zaria III began, my contacts told me it was a trap, but Winters wouldn’t hear of it. None of the admirals did. Suspicion arose over my motives and I had to bail. I’ve been a refugee here for a while now, but that’s the short version. The long version will have to wait for the days ahead of us.”
I nodded thoughtfully and agreed with him.
“Yeah, we can do that, but where’s Winters now?”
“Winters… The last I heard he was walking in his pajamas around Station Zero mumbling to himself. Winters isn’t important anymore, Richard. He’s basically brain-dead.”
There was an old Earthern belief called karma which had taken the reins of my revenge from me. I wasn’t glad this happened to Winters; he didn’t deserve to be insane, he deserved to be perfectly conscious of his crimes. Though over the years, I cared ever less about him. There was something that I did care about right now.
I turned. “Convictius, would you answer me a single question before we proceed?”
He frowned but nodded and even sat up straighter. “Go ahead, Richard. Ask.”
“How is it that I’m looking at a man but speaking to an Aloi?”
25
The people of the Dusk Ascendency were by far the most beautiful humans I had seen in a long time. The Convictionis, especially, just radiated with living force. All the more disorienting then that there was no other expression on Convictionis Daxars’ face than a morbid lethargy when she spoke.
“Would all of you kindly leave? We must discuss something with Richard before we move on with this… process.”
Fars was about to protest, but I held my hand up and pressed my index to my lips.
“Do as we’re told for now.”
He let out a sigh and moved toward the door on an uneasy step. Convictionis Daxar gave another order, this one directed at hers and everyone else’s Soulspeakers.
“You too, leave us. This isn’t for your ears.”
Immediately the Soulspeakers cried out in protest. For a moment I even thought there could be a brawl. They were really upset. Some of them even cried, others broke out in maniacal laughter, but all the while they steadily kept moving toward the door like a traveling theatre ensemble.
“Is that normal?” I asked after they had left.
“Yes, the Soulspeakers carry the Convictionis’ emotional reactions in them. They are prone to outbursts but necessary for a balanced cooperation,” Daxar explained.
“How did you do this? How did you invade people’s minds?” I asked, shivering at the mere thought of someone doing the same thing to me or my loved ones. It was pure horror to see how brainwashed they were.
“We don’t invade. We co-exist. Within this mind there is me and there is Erin Kovazc.”
“You must see the problem here, right?”
“Erin feels, sees, hears, and she’s talking to me right now.”
I looked at Erin’s impassive face. Just as I feared. She was completely dormant in there, suppressed, no agency, no nothing. She could be screaming in complete agony for decades or centuries, but we couldn’t know. The idea disgusted me beyond anything else. My heart started pumping and my nanites accelerated through my bloodstream; my hosts noticed immediately.
A second later the door opened again and Daxar’s or Erin’s Soulspeakers rushed in. One of them spoke.
“I’m Erin, Richard. Calm down, I’m fine.”
“And I’m Erin too,” the other Soulspeaker said morosely.
“What the hell is this?” I hissed. “What kind of morbid theater is this?”
Daxar let out a deep sigh before she replied. “We need to get this out of the way if we want to continue our negotiations. Much of Erin’s consciousness is split among her Soulspeakers. She retains agency and experiences a rich and unique life. In this unity of minds, man and Aloi have prospered beyond anything the original colonies of humanity achieved.”
There was a thing that bothered me in his every point, but I just had to ask the one thing I was still revolted by most.
“And the Soulspeakers? If you’re in there, Erin, where are the minds of the Soulspeakers?”
“They are within us,” one of them said, and as soon as she saw my expression hadn’t changed, she continued. “For a year, followers of the Dusk Ushers take a year as Soulspeakers as their initiation ritual. It is an honor you’re gifted.”
“Whatever,” I muttered under my breath, but that was all that I could muster.
“Richard Stavos, please, would you like to take a rest? We c
an reconvene once you’ve had some time to process… all of this. Don’t jump to conclusions and don’t be quick to judge. This is our way of life and we cherish it.”
I realized I had clenched my fists so hard my nails almost tore into my palm. I wanted to get out of there pronto. The very sight of them made me sick, so I agreed.
“Very well. Thank you for your consideration.”
I turned about and marched out of the council chamber, barely glancing at Tailor and the others standing at a rest and awaiting the outcome of our negotiations. I couldn’t speak a word. Leo ran after me asking questions, but I waved him away. I walked straight to the Tanaree and into Arthur’s faraday cage. The Templar busied himself with reading, which wasn’t too common. As soon as he laid eyes on me, he grinned.
“They pissed you off?”
“Can you invade my mind?” Arthur left out a hearty chuckle. “No, there’s not enough room.”
“Be serious! Can you or can’t you invade a human’s mind and take control of it?”
“Oh, you’re serious,” he said, shutting down the holographic projection of Lapran poetry. “All right, these Lapran only talk about rocks anyway. As for your question, no, I can’t invade your mind or anyone’s mind for that matter. But let me guess, some of the Dusk Ascendancy people have Aloi in their heads, am I right?”
“How? And for fuck’s sake, why?”
“There’s something called a Friend. A parasite we developed that can be attached to the brains of certain races. It gives us an opening to insert ourselves into a victim’s mind… A person’s mind, I mean. Aloian slip if you will.” He looked at me almost sheepishly which was as much of the expression as I’d ever gotten out of him. “But before you make any judgements, the Aloi mind within that body is specifically trained for it over decades. It’s not a simple task.”
“I don’t care how hard it is for you people,” I said angrily but Arthur just shrugged. He felt like he had no horse in this race.
“Why vent your anger on me? It’s not like I’ve ever done it. Guilty by association?”
I stared at him blankly before I went on.
“Can you be freed from it? Can you ever be yourself again?”
“Depends on the race, I guess. Some stay for a lifetime, some detach earlier. I don’t know how it is with humans. I never met one before you. Why does this bother you so much?”
“Why does it bother me that your race is mind-controlling my people?”
“Ah… right.”
It was just as I had suspected. The Aloi thought of minds like we thought of computers. Switch them on or off, put them on standby, or just erase them entirely. I stood there fuming with anger and confusion. I wanted an ally for mankind, but at what cost?
“Arthur, stop reading that stupid poetry, get your shit together, and face your race. They’ve been asking me about you since we landed, and I’m bored of making excuses. You’re a thousand years old and you behave like a godman brat.”
I turned around and left before Arthur had a chance to reply. Tailor, Leo, Fars, and McGill waited for me in the hallways with anxious expressions. They had no idea what pissed me off so much, but I knew McGill could probably guess.
“Freya, why didn’t you say something? You thought I’d get over it once I’m already on Primitea? Is that it?”
She eyed me guiltily. I understood her position: she wanted to get home at all costs, but I was too freaked out by everything to care.
“And you, Tailor? Leo? You’re ok with this? Human minds subjugated by the Aloi? You’re ok with the Aloi making the decisions for you? Is that what we have reduced ourselves to? You know what? Don’t bother.”
I just stormed past them toward the holding cells. All of them ran after me telling me to calm down and have a talk. I wasn’t prone to panic or drama. You could have a battalion firing at me and my heartrate wouldn’t be steadier than it was at that moment.
We had synthetized a watery prison for our Imminy guest, complete with dozens of layers of computational and physical protections so the brain-squid wouldn’t pull off something crazy. I had Mitto keep an eye on him 24/7 and if it still managed to get out, the whole deck would seal off. I found the Imminy floating behind the reinforced glass like a pickled squid.
“You! Did you know about the Dusk Ascendancy? Did the Federation know?”
The Imminy Absolute said nothing as it stared at me with an amused expression. It swam over to the glass and then spoke through the translator box attached to his tank.
“Are your new friends not entirely what you have hoped for?”
“Is everyone around me a fucking smartass?” I sneered, feeling like a damn child myself, just as I accused Arthur to be one, but I didn’t care. Some things shouldn’t be allowed! “ Did you or did you not know of the Dusk Ascendancy?”
“Of course we knew. Are you upset that the Aloi mind controls your puny brains?” Always three steps ahead those fishy monsters. “You should have stayed with the Federation, Lieutenant. At least we don’t need to get into your heads for you to obey us. Fear is all you need.”
“I’m not a lieutenant, I’m a…” I wasn’t sure what I was saying anymore. It seemed as though everyone knew this was going on but me and everyone seemed quite all right with it. Was I overreacting? I probably was.
“Don’t worry about it, Lieutenant, while the Aloi play with the minds of this planet, the Federation will meticulously and very violently play with the minds of the rest of your species.” In a rush of anger, I pressed the switch on the Imminy’s tank that sent electric shocks through its tank. The squid twitched in agony for several seconds.
“And I will very violently play with this switch here, fish.”
“Do your worst,” it said coldly, but I could read the pain showing on its face.
I sat down on a bench across the tank and shoved my face into my hands. I felt caught between a rock and a hard place, and I was failing to see an option that made sense.
“What is it, child? Are you just now realizing that your entire species is less than a grain of sand in the eye of a giant? Could it be that you’re at the mercy of beings far beyond anything you could even aspire to be? Welcome to the universe.”
It was very much on point with everything it said and that infuriated me even more. I never saw mankind as a big player in cosmic affairs. But it wasn’t until now that I realized how small we actually were. It’s one thing to lose a war and be conquered, but it’s something entirely different to erase a civilization from history because an Imminy was offended.
“You’re not the first race if that makes you feel better. We have destroyed more civilizations than we have cooperated with. You yourself destroyed a couple pre-industrial worlds on our orders, but you wouldn’t know anything about it. We keep you simpletons fed just enough to do our bidding. Everything beyond it, well you can see where we’re at right now. But alas, you have new masters I gather. They too have destroyed and subjugated countless civilizations, robbed them of their very minds and bodies and did who knows what else.”
“And you? What about you? Why are you so damn loyal to the Ka? You control everything in the Federation. All their fleets, all their planets, it’s you who are wielding the power of the Federation, not the Ka.”
The Imminy went silent again, his multi-colored feelers and tentacles swaying in the nutrient-rich liquid of the tank.
“The way you see power is primitive. Power comes from intelligence, not from strength.”
“Well, apparently you’re the most intelligent creatures in the galaxy, so what’s the problem? Why are you bowing and scraping after the Ka? Because of their technology? Because they can float in the air and give everyone cancer?”
If the Imminy could have sighed, he would have. I guess they weren’t used to other races questioning their motives, but I was pretty sure those were some of the questions they asked themselves at night.
“Do you know what detrium is at all? Of course, you don’t. You’re a blunt
weapon. A powerful weapon, I’m sure, but you might as well be a powerful clam at the bottom of the ocean looking to Hirarchia City and wondering how to destroy it.”
“What about detrium? What are you saying?”
“Your scientists know this, they have cracked it decades ago, but of course all research on detrium is government controlled so you would never read the results. Detrium isn’t a fuel. Not in the conventional sense, that is. Detrium is a processing catalyst. It enables computation that is faster than the speed of light. Without this computational power, our starships could never travel the distances we want, so quickly and so precisely.
“But what is detrium now you wonder? You’ve never asked these questions have you? No, you just use this incredible fact to travel across the galaxy, but you never bothered to ask how it is that you have this privilege. This is why races like yours disgust me... no inquisitiveness, no wish to know what the world around you truly is.”
“Get to the point, Imminy.”
“Detrium is Ka residue, you little vermin. We’re using the corpses of fallen Ka that died billions of years ago to travel the galaxy.”
I stared at the tank in shock as the implications of his words sunk into my mind.
“We’re what?”
“Yes, Lieutenant, the Ka exist beyond the speed of light. This makes them not only the greatest beings in the universe, it makes them greater than the universe itself. It’s hard to imagine, isn’t it? Without them there would be no faster-than light interstellar travel, not for the Federation, not for your Aloi masters. A wonderous state of affair, isn’t it? What is it, Lieutenant? Are the big words confusing you?”
He stopped and stared at me smugly as I tried to comprehend what I just heard. Sure, there were many things in the military that were hidden from ordinary grunts. Need to know basis, bla bla. But this… was something else.
“You’re stone-cold honest, aren’t you?”
“Oh, I sure am, little human. Now let me explain: Imagine you’re looking at a two-dimensional painting of yourself. You an see your toes and you can see your head and you can see how it all fits together to be a painting of a person. Now imagine being a two-dimensional drop of paint that makes your forehead. What do you know of the toes, or the arms, or the background of the painting? Nothing. You’d have to travel to every spot of the painting to get only an approximation of your world. That is you, the drop of paint, and the three-dimensional observer, that is the Ka. To them, you and I and everything else in this universe is but a farse, a fleeting interest. What then is the most intelligent drop of paint going to do against this observer?”
Redeemer: A Military Space Opera Series (War Undying Book 2) Page 28