Another piped up from the back, “Theo? That doesn’t sound like a Josti name. What planet did he come from?”
Cherish was beginning to get a little frustrated with the council. They kept getting snagged on small details instead of focusing on what she was trying to tell them. “He’s from Relisse.”
“Relisse?” Alegro looked at her in confusion. “Wasn’t Relisse a human planet? Are you trying to tell us that Hulaki is a human?”
One of the representatives scoffed loudly. “That’s preposterous!”
“Why?” Cherish stood her ground. “Humans are far more prevalent in the galaxy than the Verbash or the Aphaians, or even the Josti. Why is it so hard to believe that Hulaki could be a human?”
The Josti female stood up from her seat, and threw her hands in the air. “Humans are not Batumah’s chosen people. Prime Minister, you can’t let this false prophet continue. She is making a ridicule of our religion!”
Alegro waved a feathery finger in the Josti’s direction. “Representative Jiyeon, please take your seat.” He turned back to Cherish. “Young lady, was it your intention to come here today to insult us?”
Cherish shook her head solemnly. “No, sir, not at all. I understand that the Josti, Verbash, and Aphaians are some of the most devoted worshipers of Batumah, but isn’t one of the base beliefs of that religion the premise that Batumah created all beings? If you believe that, then you must believe that he created humans, too. The only thing Batumah asks is for his followers to accept his golden light in their hearts. If Batumah is willing to accept every race, then who are you to look down on one of his creations? Batumah only sees what is in someone’s heart, but you want to judge by skin color and number of limbs. Do you really think that you know better than he does?”
There was a silent pause from the gathered representatives. They seemed to be thinking over what she had said. Alegro narrowed his eyes at her. “The origin of Hulaki aside, how do you know that it was the imperials, and not the Carbonari that attacked the monasteries?”
Cherish closed her eyes for a second. Taking a deep breath, she locked eyes with Alegro. “I know that it wasn’t the Carbonari because we were in the Carbonari.”
Shrieks echoed in the cave. Jiyeon’s voice rose above the fray. “Guards, attack!”
Cherish, Makka, and Fabois huddled closer together. The guards were just as outraged as the representatives. Looking into their eyes, Cherish could see no mercy. They had suffered a great loss, and she had just given them a scapegoat to take it out on.
Seven
Cierra’s scream echoed in the shaft as she fell. “Theo!”
“No!” Theo managed to send two more plasma blasts towards Karl and Makram. Before he could think of a plan, Theo leapt into the darkness after her.
Pressing his arms to his side, Theo made himself as aerodynamic as possible. Wind rushed past him, making his eyes tear up. Below in the darkness, he could see Cierra still falling. He was gaining on her. Stretching out his fingers, he strained to grab onto her. He could see the panic in her eyes.
Jaedo’s voice carried down to him. “Theo! Use your blaster!”
Glancing over his shoulder, Theo saw the Josti had leapt in after them. Jaedo was sending up blasts from his gun to propel him down the shaft faster. Following his lead, Theo aimed a few plasma blasts behind him, careful not to hit Jaedo in the process. “Cierra, reach out your hand!”
In her panic, she managed to stretch her hand up towards him. Another upwards blast brought him down closer to her. Theo grabbed her fingers, and pulled her to him. Cierra clung to him. Her face was buried in his neck. He could feel her fingertips sink into his skin. Jaedo was still trying to catch up to them. Theo had no idea how much longer they had before they collided with the bottom of the shaft. At their current velocity, survival would be unlikely. He had to do something.
Sparks burst overhead. Theo looked over his shoulder to see a pod screeching down the shaft. One of Jaedo’s plasma bursts had hit the cables securing the pod. Without the cables, the guards couldn’t control the speed of the descent. The pod, which did not take up the full width of the shaft, plummeted down past them. Lights from the interior faded to pinpricks the further it fell. Then, in the darkness, the pod collided into the bottom of the shaft. A fireball erupted from the wreckage, illuminating the sides of the pit as they moved swiftly by.
Cierra struggled to suck in a breath. “We’re going too fast! We have to slow down somehow!”
Jaedo managed to turn his arms into wings. He stretched them out to try and slow his descent. “Theo!”
Cierra tightened her grasp around Theo. “That’s it! You have to make wings.”
Theo struggled to try and stretch his skin to form anything resembling wings. Sweat beaded on his forehead. He hadn’t been able to recharge after cloaking them and healing himself and Cierra earlier. The skin on his shoulders tightened, but he couldn’t make it expand out. “I don’t know if I can!”
Cierra glanced down the shaft where the flames of the wreckage flickered. “You have to!”
Overhead, another pod was making its way down the shaft. The guards were still coming for them. Shots rained down on them. Cierra screamed, and Theo held her tighter. He pushed his body to its limit. Focusing on the image of wings in his mind, he tried to will them into existence.
Turning to look up at Jaedo again, Theo cried out for help. “I can’t get it to work!”
Jaedo nodded understanding. He swept down towards them, using his wings to propel himself further down the shaft. The same moment the Josti moved to sweep down, one of the guards fired another plasma blast at them. If Jaedo hadn’t tried to move into position to catch them, the blast would have struck Theo in the back. The Josti unwittingly intercepted the blast. A giant hole ate through one of his wings, leaving behind a glowing edge of embers gnawing away at his flesh. He spun out of control, and dropped like a stone towards the ground below.
Theo heard Jaedo’s body collide with the rocky bottom. They were almost to the end. With one final push, Theo managed to shoot out fleshy wings, but it was too late. All he could do was hope to soften the blow. Rolling to the side, he placed his body between Cierra and the ground. Theo braced himself for the impact.
The brutal force cracked his bones, and knocked the wind from him. Cierra was torn from his grasp. Even as his ribs crunched under him, Theo heard her smack into the rock over to his left. She let out a whimper of pain.
Trying to sit up—agonizing with broken ribs and a cracked skull—Theo felt the damage in his internal organs. He focused on repairing it all. The flimsy wings he had managed to conjure too late, sucked back into his body. The tissues and bones healed inside of him. “Cierra? Jaedo?”
Jaedo was already on his feet. “I’m fine. It was a bad hit, but I healed it well enough.”
“Cierra?” Theo looked through the flickering light from the mangled descent pod. He could see her hunched over, clutching her leg. Theo rushed over to her.
Her breathing was ragged. He could see the pain on her face. “How bad is it?” Cierra’s hand was over her shinbone. She was too afraid to look at it.
Gently, Theo reached down to move her hand away. She winced at his touch. The bone was jutting out of her uniform. Blood soaked the cloth. “It’s pretty bad.”
Jaedo whistled at them and pointed up to the pods that were on their way down the shaft. “They’re coming! We have to go!” He jerked his head towards the door leading to the underground labs, and started running.
Theo looked deeply into her eyes. “Cierra, I’m sorry, but this is going to hurt.” He hooked one arm under her legs, and wrapped the other around her back.
She let out a scream as he moved her. The sound was a stab in Theo’s heart. He carried her in his arms and ran after Jaedo. Focusing his gift on Cierra, Theo healed her as he ran. Her body relaxed some as the wound stopped hurting. She was still crying silent tears into his shoulder. It was more than just physical pain that tormented her. Theo wished that he
could heal her heart as easily as he had healed her leg. He knew that he was the cause of her heartache, but there wasn’t much he could do about it at present. His first concern was getting the three of them out of the base alive.
Ahead of them, Jaedo had managed to wrench the lab door open. “Hurry!”
Theo raced past him. Inside the lab, he whispered to Cierra, “Can you walk?” She nodded, but didn’t say anything. Theo put her down, and helped Jaedo to block the door. It might not buy them much time, but anything was better than nothing.
The lab housed had rows of microscopes and storage bins. A few scientists in white lab coats faced the intruders, fear written all over their faces. One of them started to reach for a blaster on one of the work benches, but Jaedo already had his gun focused on the man. “Pick it up, and I’ll kill you where you stand.” The scientist paled, and raised his hands up in surrender.
Theo looked around the room, but he didn’t see anything that would warrant being so far beneath the surface. He whirled on the scientists. “Where is it?”
One fellow, standing by a workbench to the left, swallowed hard. “Where is what?”
Another scientist glared at his coworker. “Shut up, Leon!”
Taking a few steps closer, Theo locked eyes with Leon. “You have two choices. You can either tell me where Makram’s secret weapon is, or you can die like your friend here.” Jaedo readied his blaster on Theo’s cue.
Leon shook his head. “I can’t tell you.” His voice wavered with fright.
Shrugging, Theo turned away from the scientist. “Suit yourself.”
“No!” Leon spoke quickly as Jaedo switched his target. “I-I can’t tell you. I’ll have to show you.”
The other scientist spun on him. “You coward!” He raised a sharp metal instrument in his hand, and advanced to stab Leon. Jaedo quickly fired. The man dropped dead at Leon’s feet.
Quivering, Leon pointed to a partially hidden door near the back of the room. “It’s back there.”
Cierra cast an uneasy eye on him. “How do we know you aren’t leading us into a trap?”
“Please,” Leon pleaded with her. “I just want to live so I can see my family again. The emperor has them held hostage. I’ll do anything, just don’t kill me.”
Theo studied the scientist’s face. “I believe him.”
“Th-thank you! Thank you!”
Jerking his head towards the door, Theo motioned for the man to hurry up. “Come on. We don’t have much time.”
Leon scurried towards the door. He pulled a chain from around his neck. A sliver key dangled from the necklace. Crouching slightly, he slipped the key into the lock. The door swung open easily. Theo, Cierra, and Jaedo followed the man into the next room. Behind the door was a long, white hallway. There were no doors along the walls. At the end of the hall, a bright red door waited for them. Even just looking at it, they could tell that whatever was behind the door was going to be dangerous. Theo wondered how long the lab door would keep the guards at bay.
Leon slid a small metal door away from a scanner, at eyelevel. He moved closer to allow his retina to be scanned. After a second, a hiss signaled that the lock was opening. Leon pushed against the heavy door. “It’s this way.” Slowly, the three of them followed him through the opening.
The vast room was a deep underground lake. A high cavern ceiling arched above the room into the darkness. A rock bridge stretched from the door out to the center of the lake, where a rock platform jutted out of the water. The bridge was probably a story above the lake’s black surface. A dark, metal box was positioned on the pedestal. “What is this place?”
Anxiously, Leon whispered to them. “It was the safest place Prince Makramis could think to store it. If you ask me, no place is safe with that stuff around.” He dried his sweaty palms on his lab coat. “Taking my family was the only way they could make me work down here. Nothing else is worth the risk.”
Gazing across the bridge, Theo steadied his nerves. “What are you up to, Makram?” He muttered the question to himself, as he began to walk towards the box.
“Wait.” Cierra grabbed his elbow. “We don’t know what it is. Why not make him go first?”
Panic filled Leon’s face. Theo quickly reached out and rested a reassuring hand on the scientist’s shoulder. “This poor man has been through enough. He’s done what I asked of him.”
Leon blinked up at Theo with appreciation. “Th-thank you.”
Squaring his shoulders, Theo resumed his walk towards the center of the lake. Cierra and Jaedo were a few steps behind him. The air seemed to buzz, as if it were vibrating with energy. A chill filled the space as they got closer. Theo glanced down. The surface of the water rippled around the pedestal.
Theo hesitated in front of the box. He drew in a deep breath and pulled on the handle on top. Cold air and mist hissed out of the box. “It’s some type of refrigerator.”
Cierra peered over his shoulder. Small glass spheres were positioned carefully on trays so that they were not touching one another. “What are those? Marbles?”
“No.” Jaedo quickly took a few steps back the way they had come. An opaque, glowing, white substance swirled inside the glass spheres. Purple streaks wound through the white in shifting spirals. “That’s dark matter.”
Theo glanced over his shoulder from Jaedo to Leon. “It can’t be. Can it?”
Leon nodded. He was still frightfully pale. “Don’t let the appearance fool you. It really is dark matter. It was called that for so long before it was purified, changing the name seemed pointless.” Theo reached out a tentative hand, but Leon called out to stop him. “No! Even through the glass, it eviscerates living flesh. We never touch it without special gloves and metal tongs.”
The sheer amount of the marbles present made Theo’s stomach turn. “Why is there so much of it? What are they using it for?”
Sheepishly, Leon lowered his head. “The emperor likes to keep a stash on hand for the rebels. It’s untraceable. After it does its damage, it disintegrates back into subspace once released from the glass it’s stored in.”
Cierra’s eyes widened. “We can’t let them keep this. The emperor can’t be allowed to have that much power.”
Theo nodded. “I know.”
Suddenly, a scream echoed around the underground lake. Spinning around, Theo watched as plasma bursts tore through Jaedo’s body. Leon was slumped, motionless, by Makram’s feet. With a shove of his boot, Makram kicked Leon off of the rock ledge by the door. A splash echoed as his body was swallowed up by the water. Karl snickered beside his younger brother. A few dozen soldiers swarmed out of the doorway. Some of them hung back by the princes. Others marched down the bridge towards the intruders. The narrow pathway forced them to advance single file.
Jaedo raised his blaster to aim at the incoming imperial soldiers, but before he could pull the trigger, another shot caught him center mass. Jaedo took two staggering steps, and then toppled over the edge of the plank. His body dropped into the lake below.
The soldiers were still moving forward. Cierra widened her stance. She looked around for something to fight back with. Behind her, Theo called out her name. Whirling around, she saw his lasana blade sailing through the air. Cierra caught the weapon. Facing her enemies again, she spun the blade in an intimidating cyclone of Relissarium. Focusing on her gift, she tried to widen her shield of deflection to encase both Theo and herself.
Theo raised his blaster. It was low on charge, but it probably still had a few pulses left in it. “Step to the side. I’ll get in a few good shots before they get too close.”
Cierra saw the low charge on his gun. She shook her head. “No, don’t waste it!” Slicing through the air, she took down the first three guards moving towards her. “I’ve got this! You figure out what to do with the spheres!” Determination filled her eyes.
Cierra fought with the ferocity of a woman scorned, who had endured more than she ever should have. The pain she felt at finding out Mari was alive,
the betrayal she felt from Theo not telling her sooner, the anger of losing almost everyone she had ever cared about flowed through her, and into her blade. It whirled this way and that, invisibly fast. The troops’ blades were no match. Blood and body parts splattered the rock bridge and fell into the water below as man after man fell under her swordsmanship.
Makram heckled her from the entryway. His voice rang out over the sound of swords clashing. “You can’t keep this up forever, Cierra! We have almost unlimited manpower. You’ll tire before long. There’s no reason to tire yourself out like this. Just give in!”
Cierra spat on the ground. As she sliced the next soldier in half, she focused on Makram. Her lips formed a twisted smirk. “That always was the difference between us, Makram. I never took the easy way out.”
Eight
Cherish closed her eyes. She tried desperately to think of something that could save them. She thought back to her dreams. Surely Batumah had given her something to use, something to convince the parliament to listen to her. How could she have thought that she could convince them of anything? She was only one person!
Her eyes blinked open. She wasn’t just a person. She was augmented. Cherish looked up at the ceiling. She projected her memories onto the rock surface above. Even the guards were distracted enough to watch. Images of her climb up Kinyah mountain played overhead. “My team and I originally infiltrated the monastery as acolytes. We thought that the Yasta were building an army. Our sources led us to believe that the Yasta had been responsible for the annihilation of the population of Relisse, in order to mine Relissarium.” Images of Relisse on fire, the cruiser leaving the scene, and snippets of the mine on Relisse flashed above them. “Once we were at the monastery, we started to see that what we had been led to believe did not match up with the Yasta that we came to know during our stay there.” Images of Grandmother Yasta, Aphano, and Jaedo came to the forefront of Cherish’s mind. “We came to know that members of the emperor’s family had infiltrated not only the Carbonari, but also the Yasta. They were behind the misinformation that led to the feud between the two groups. The emperor created the seeds of war, and planted them in each of his enemies. With the Carbonari and Yasta fighting with one another, no one was paying attention to the imperial forces mining the remains of Relisse. While we have been battling each other, he has been developing new weapons technology.” She showed them images of Karl and Makram in their cover identities, and then showed them working together. Seeing Makram reopened the wound in her heart. She closed her eyes, and the images stopped.
The Relissarium Wars Omnibus Page 51