Naia was sitting on a bench attached to one wall, and looking out of an open window. The only light was provided by the glow of a bio-light next to her. The candles were all out. Her feet were on top of the bench, and she still wore the same gown he’d seen her in earlier. She turned her iridescent face to him. She didn’t seem at all surprised to see him. “You’re awake.” Naia motioned for him to sit down next to her.
Theo approached her slowly, and sat down. “I was asleep. I woke up, then I decided to come here, and see if I could find something to read. Guess you don’t keep any written material around here.” He could feel the warmth radiate from her legs. The mottling on them flowed in a new pattern.
“We keep written materials in the library. It’s in another room, but you’d need to cross several walk lines to reach it. I don’t advise you do that at night.” Naia gracefully turned back to the window.
“Aren’t you afraid the light from the open window will attract attention?”
Naia smiled, and shook her head. “It’s not bright enough here for that to be a concern. We actually have a variety of large tree sloths that hunt their prey using a glowing ‘lantern’, so we’re far from being the only light around.”
Theo watched her continue to stare out the window. “Do you not need to sleep?”
“My people sleep, but not in the same way humans do. I don’t cycle through it the way you might. That’s why I’m awake at night.”
“I was surprised to see you so soon when we landed. You reached the site quickly.” The conversation flowed easily with her, and there was none of the coldness he had been experiencing with Cierra. He felt himself drawn to her.
Naia laughed softly. “No. We had been there for a while. When you landed, all we had to do was wait for the four of you to emerge.” She continued to listen to something outside the window.
“Do you hear something?” Theo leaned in closer.
“I listen to the trees. They can tell you many things if you know what to listen for.”
“What do they tell you?” He was fascinated by her.
Naia stretched back on the bench. “They let me know that we are safe at the moment. There’s nothing in the forest that will threaten us. They don’t talk all at once. You have to be careful to hear the right words.”
“I guess you don’t have much trouble.” A small smile turned up the corners of his mouth. “Pardon me, if I assume too much.”
“No apology necessary. The base did brief you on what to expect, didn’t it?”
“Not in any adequate fashion.”
Naia looked away from the window, and shifted her soft gaze to Theo. He noted her eyes were green, but not like Cierra’s. They had a glow he’d never seen before. It gave him a strange sensation. His breath quickened.
“This isn’t my natural form. My people look a lot different on our home world.”
“Then, why do you have this form?” The tips of his ears turned pink. “I mean, why you are so sultry. Oh, that was wrong, I meant…” He was becoming flustered. Why couldn’t he find the right words?
“You don’t have to apologize. This form was chosen because it has the right effect on someone like you. I can bend human men to my will. They don’t give me any trouble.”
“And if they do?”
“I carry a gun.”
“Oh, I see.”
“Your wife perished in the destruction of your planet, didn’t she?” Naia changed the subject, to the topic he least wanted to talk about.
“Yes.” He averted his eyes. He didn’t want to think about Mari.
“Then why do you still wear that medallion?” Naia tilted her head to the side. She reached out one long finger to touch the metal. “There is no hope of her return, yet you display a symbol that tells everyone you’ve taken yourself out of reproductive consideration. Unless you’ve recommitted to another female, I find this strange. Why wouldn’t you let the other capable women know you still have the ability to help make children?”
Theo’s ears deepened to crimson at her words. “Well, I wear this in memory of her, and my family. I lost everything, when the planet was destroyed. I guess I think if I still wear this, then maybe part of them still exists.”
“Why do you humans spend so much time searching for a purpose in life?” Naia continued. “You always want to find that higher meaning. We’ve wondered about this for a long time, and concluded it has to be something for which you evolved.”
“Doesn’t your species look up at the sky and wonder? Do you mean to tell me you know the reason for existence?”
“We know that it’s better than non-existence. Do you need to know more than that?” Naia replied.
“It doesn’t work like that for a lot of people. We need something to explain it to us. Something outside our reality. How can you judge something if you’re inside it?”
“What if you’re part of everything? We believe in the fundamental unity of all things. There is no ‘outside’ this universe because everything is interconnected.” Naia closed her eyes for a second. Theo assumed that she must have been listening to the trees again.
Theo was quiet. He could tell that Naia was a very special person. He was fascinated by her, but it was late, and tomorrow the Grand Council might send them the directive. He allowed himself one more appreciative glance at her. “It was nice talking with you, but I do need to get some sleep.”
“We will speak again.” Naia smiled at him sweetly, before she turned her attention to the forest once again.
Theo reentered the sleeping area. Cierra rolled over in her hammock, to stare at him. “You were gone for a while.” By now, Theo could recognize an accusing look from her, even in near darkness.
“I was talking with Naia.” He told her, as he lay down in his hammock.
“Just talking?”
Theo was about to try to defend himself, but shut his mouth instead. He closed his eyes. After all of her coldness, he didn’t owe her any explanations.
Theo was awoken the next morning by a strong hand on his shoulder. His eyes jerked open to see Cherish staring down at him. The window across from him was open, and light streamed in. The air was heavy with humidity after the rain. He blinked up at her, and then looked around. The other hammocks were empty. “Where is everyone?”
“You need to get up and over to the other room. A message came through last night from the Grand Council. Our mission is about to change. That’s all I know.”
The urgency in Cherish’s voice jolted him fully awake. Theo was used to rising early in the morning, but not at such short notice. He was in the meeting room within two minutes.
Once again, all eyes were on Naia. Theo took his seat at the table, as Cherish passed him a cup of a warm, local liquid to drink. It tasted sweet, like berries, but it seemed to give him a jolt of energy. The storm was over, and the windows were open to let the rays of morning brighten the room. The rain had left behind a freshness in the air.
“You are just in time to witness the transmission.” Makram was too focused to crack any jokes at Theo’s expense. He turned to Naia. “Is the link established?”
“Yes, it is. Just a moment, I have him now.” She made a few adjustments to a box which sat on top of the table. A few seconds later, an image formed over them.
Theo looked up to see Hubard’s face floating over the room. This had to be important. It was expensive and risky to establish a private channel across the interstellar portal system. Theo felt a knot begin to form in his stomach.
“I see everyone has arrived.” Hubard’s eyes turned to look at Theo. “There’s been a change in plans. I have some important news for you. Some good, and some bad. The good news is that we want you to take out the Yasta mining operation on Relisse. The bad news is that there’s a large group of Yasta running the mining operation. They’re extracting the Relissarium at a rate faster than we anticipated. I’ve been able to make all of you lasana blades, but the Yasta will also have them by now. They may also have Relis
sarium armor. We need you to eliminate their operation.”
“Why us?” Makram knitted his eyebrows together. “I thought there was something very important here that the council needed?”
“There is, but Naia and her crew can get it later. Taking this mining operation out is a greater priority. The sooner we get the mine destroyed, the greater our chance of keeping more Relissarium out of the Yasta’s control.”
“And there’s no one else you can send there on short notice?” Cherish was fiddling with one of her metal joints, anxiously. It was a tic that Theo had only when she was extremely nervous. “We’re weeks away from that planet.”
Hubard sighed and pushed his spectacles higher on his nose. “Everyone else is preoccupied with fighting the Yasta or the Empire. So, the council has decided that you get the task. Don’t worry about the distance, I can reroute you back to the vicinity in a hurry. It’s not the cheapest way to get someone around the galaxy, but it’s the quickest. There’s something else you should know, too. There is no breathable atmosphere on Relisse now. You’ll have to do everything on the surface inside an environmental suit. Those will be waiting for you on the cargo ship we’re sending to pick you up.”
“When should we expect the cargo ship?” Makram glanced at the chronometer on his wrist.
“It’ll be there tomorrow morning. We’ll send an orbital lift down for the four of you. They don’t want to make a big show of bringing you up, but we’re short on time. We need to get you out of there. I’ll send a message to Naia when the lift is less than an hour away. I wish this had come to our attention before you were shipped out, but things don’t always happen to our preferences.” Theo detected a hint of annoyance in Hubard’s voice.
“Things typically never happen the way we want them to.” Cierra’s mood was still dark. She intentionally avoided looking in Theo’s direction.
“I’d wanted to test out a nuclear weapon with a Relissarium casing, but there’s no time for that now. My one hope is that the Yasta haven’t devised one of their own. I have no doubt that they could. I’ll be in touch tomorrow.” Hubard sighed, and broke the connection.
There was a small pause in the room, before Makram broke the silence. “Well that was quite a change of plans. Guess we have twenty-four hours to wait. The rest of you can do what you will. I’m going to stick around the shelter, and think through possible attack scenarios. Planning is going to be almost impossible without schematics of their operation.”
Three
The next morning, Naia and two of her aides led the Strike Force Retaliation team to a different landing zone. It was a barren, rocky area to the north of the forest, at the foot of a gray, lifeless-looking mountain range. Theo tried to keep Naia out of his mind, but it was proving more difficult than he had anticipated.
“They’re on time.” Naia shielded her eyes, as she looked up. The flame from the drop shuttle brightened as it braked harder, rapidly descending to within a few hundred feet of the ground. The deep roar of its engines echoed from the mountains. A flock of large, black birds took off in the distance. The group instinctually backed away, even though the plateau was large enough that they were not in danger.
The craft was soon on the ground. When they got closer to the shuttle, they could see Kurga standing by it. He had his laser out, but lowered it to the ground when he recognized them. “I had to be sure. I’d be in a bad spot if anyone other than you arrived.”
Theo let the others file up the ramp into the lift first. As Kurga waited, with a look that broadcast impatience, Theo went back over to Naia, and gave her a hug. He wasn’t sure if it was an appropriate thing to do, but Naia hugged him back. Her embrace was warm and comforting. Theo found it hard to let go.
“Theo, there is evil in all of us. Don’t let yours overpower you. Tame your evil self,” Naia whispered in his ear. Her words brought his memories of the Yasta slaughter to the forefront of his mind. He wondered if perhaps she could sense things about more lifeforms than just the trees. Maybe it was part of what she’d said last night about everything being interconnected.
“What was that all about?” Kurga cast a long, sideways glance at Theo as they both stepped into the lift.
“I can’t explain it right now.” Theo mumbled, and brushed past him. If he was being honest, he wanted to keep his discussions with Naia as a private memory. Kurga shrugged, and latched the door behind him. In a few minutes, they were on their way to the cargo ship in orbit.
Days later, a portal opened in the inky blackness of space, close to their destination. The cargo ship darted through the opening. The blackened remains of Theo’s home world loomed in front of them. Hubard locked the ship into orbit around the planetary cinder that was Relisse. The mood of the crew was somber.
Makram was going over the plan again. He had been obsessing over the details since they had left Sirsette. “Theo, you’re with Cierra. I’ll go in with Hojae. Cherish, you’re going solo on this one. I think you can handle yourself well enough.”
“Shouldn’t be a problem.” Cherish tied her red hair up, to keep it out of her face.
“Good. Hubard, I want you to stay on the ship with Irane, Kurga, and Rix. There’s no point in risking more people on the surface than necessary. Hojae and I will sneak into the processing plant, and tag any of the Relissarium that’s ready for shipment. Cierra and Theo, you two will leave five minutes after us. Your objective is to go into the offices of the plant, and find any data spheres that look to be useful. Once the processing plant is secured, that’s where Cherish will come in. Cherish, you have the most dangerous part of the mission. We’re counting on you to plant the bomb. The timer will be set for ninety minutes. That gives us time for Hubard to land the cargo ship outside of the plant, let’s us haul out whatever we can, and still gives us time to clear the surface with thirty minutes to spare.”
Hojae crossed his arms over his chest. “It seems like you’ve thought this through.”
“I’m the commander. That’s my job. Hubard, if we don’t return by T-minus twenty minutes, the rest of the crew will ditch what they have. They will immediately return to the ship. If no one is on the ship at the fifteen-minute mark, take off. I don’t want this ship captured under any circumstances. Open up the portal, and get the hell out of here the moment you reach orbit. All of us will have to use environmental suits.”
Cherish clicked her tongue. “What about the Yasta monks on the surface? You do realize the mine could be crawling with them.”
“I can’t worry about collateral damage at this point. Every hour that mine stays in operation is another hour the Yasta will have more Relissarium. Holy Batumah, you saw what they did to this planet. The entire surface was fried so they could turn it into Relissarium. Close to a million people are dead down there because of it.” Makram’s words made Theo flinch.
Cherish took a deep breath, and looked at Makram imploringly. “I think you should give them a five-minute warning before we detonate the bomb.”
“And why would I want to do that?” Makram scoffed at her suggestion. “I’ve got a mind to send you all in to cut them down like animals. After what they did, those monks deserve eternal damnation.”
“I can tell you why.” Cherish stood up, with her feet firmly planted. Her eyes were locked on Makram’s, intensely. “Because we’re the good guys! It is one thing to kill them in self-defense like back at the Hilarion monastery. It is something completely different to take out people who may have never spilled a drop of blood in their life! If even one innocent person is killed in the process then we are no better than they are. You want to reduce the Carbonari to their level? Fine. Just do it without me.” Cherish folded her metal arms.
“I’ll take your suggestion into consideration.” Makram snapped back. He didn’t like having his authority undermined in front of the whole team.
The ship had landed. Theo blinked several times, as he looked out over an endless plain of shiny, black material. Any hills on the surface of his hom
e planet had melted. Only the largest mountains remained intact. He pushed away thoughts of Mari and all the other life that once teemed on this world. The unbroken blackness mirrored the desolate wasteland in his heart.
A hand rested lightly on his shoulder. He knew it was Cierra before she even spoke. “Are you okay?”
Theo sniffed, and pushed down the flood of emotions that were weighing on him. He kept his gaze pointed away from her. He didn’t want her to see the glassy reflection of the tears he was holding back. He shook his head. “This isn’t Relisse. It shouldn’t be called that anymore.”
“It’s the same planetary body…”
“Relisse had towns, cities, a capital, a dialect, wildlife found nowhere else. It had sunny days and crappy days, beaches, lakes, and the sea. And a government that was shoddy at best. It was a living, breathing entity,” Theo replied, intensely. “This… place… shouldn’t be called that anymore. It should just have a number, like some inconsequential asteroid.” He couldn’t hold back any more. His cheeks shone with the reflection of tears, though he kept from sobbing out loud to avoid the attention of the rest of the team.
“Theo…” Her voice trailed off.
He pulled himself together, and sighed as he wiped his face with his sleeve. “We’ve got a job to do.”
Hubard had set the ship down on the opposite side of a mountain range from the mining operation.
“There should still be a level pass through the mountains. We can take it to reach the mines,” Theo continued. “Come on. Let’s go.” He pulled on his environmental suit, and double checked the seals. Makram and Hojae had already left the ship. The sooner the mission was over, the sooner he could get back to pretending the gaping hole inside of him didn’t exist.
The Relissarium Wars Omnibus Page 16