Karma of Kalpana

by T. L Smith

  Only the apparition of the major held back, taking up a position to lend his abilities to Sharmila, waiting for us on the other side of the door. Sharmila let Everett guide us from the protection of the cave, moving to rejoin the recon team. “Prepare to move out as soon as the doors open.”

  We crouched low against a wall, waiting to hear the doors give, keeping the entrance tunnel covered in case other Punitraq came to defend their queen. We waited as the Slayers reduced the numbers on the other side of the doors. And for Sharmila to regain her strength after the demonstration.

  CHAPTER FORTY-NINE

  The doors were thick, but we could hear frantic screaming as the Slayers created a terrified chaos among the Punitraq. Sharmila watched, waiting as they succeeded beyond her hopes. The surges, then evaporation of energy. Energy released into the universe to be cleansed and given to other purposes, as the universe saw fit. A universe returning to balance.

  But balance required the Punitraq to be erased. It required she take their queen. She had to get into the other chamber. She gave the recon team a nod. She inhaled a breath before the door was blown. She needed that last second to feel the air in my lungs, that sensation of it spreading through my chest and out into my body. She needed it to steel herself.

  As soon as the doors fell, we let Everett lead. In full soldier mode, we rolled into the inner chambers. Slayer attacks were reinforced by true weapon fire. From cover, Sharmila searched the bunker.

  A ghostly figure appeared. Maj. Bowen. “I have your rat pinned down. He just needs to be pushed a little more.” He gave me something that resembled a bow, then fluttered away.

  We slipped through shadows, following unnoticed, stopping as we watched him make another menacing attack on the frightened soul he’d been letting slip by the rest of his men.

  It was a woman and any resolve to fight, any hunger urging her to feed, disappeared as he loomed over her, fearsome teeth extending as his jaws opened to rip her to shreds. She’d seen enough of her fellow Punitraq die horribly. She bolted from her hole, running into the darkness. Seeking the protection of her queen.

  Bowen let her go and attached himself to us as we took off after her. The tunnel she disappeared into had been well-hidden behind a false wall. Everett was on full defensive mode as we slipped down the walls. Every nerve ending in my body stung as hatred emanated up from the depths of this hole. It drew us reluctantly into the darkness. He stopped at a bend ten meters inside the cave, but Sharmila turned the corner.

  The sight ahead froze my feet to the ground.

  Bodies were strewn across the floor, slaves driven into this last refuge, but no longer servants. The Punitraq who’d fled battle was in the final silent gasps of a scream. She hung in the arms of a creature glowing too brightly to be seen. Her body slumped to a pile on the floor, as if life had never existed.

  We didn’t feel bad about the woman’s life, but we had come too late to save the slaves buried down here with this creature. I should have felt afraid, but Sharmila had no room for fear or guilt. She lifted our gaze to the blinding light as it faded.

  A figure developed. Translucent skin glowed from energy burning inside. Veins pulsed with blood, casting a blueish light into smooth skin stretched over fine, high cheekbones. Those same designs as I carried in my flesh, glowed in hers from this fresh surge of energy. Her arms, long and thin, extended outwards after the death grip on her last victim. Her hair flowed white down her back as she tilted her head upwards, soaking in the last of the energy she’d consumed.

  The queen’s beauty was lethal, evidenced by the death around her. Beneath the flesh was a soul of poison. That splendor faded as the queen’s gratification was replaced with rage. Rage as the sounds of war penetrated her sanctuary. She cast her eyes about at what was left of her world, the last of her slaves fed on to prepare for this invasion.

  She moved to follow her people into battle, but Sharmila stepped out of the shadows to block the queen’s path.

  The Punitraq queen almost stumbled in her surprise, staring at the intruder. Sharmila batted away the first probe as the queen tried to reach inside the EV suit. As much as Sharmila wanted to take her on, face-to-face, the environment was too thin for me. Instead she shifted her energy to solidify an image of her former glory, overlaying my physical being.

  Her arms were as long as this queen’s, but her skin pure and radiant. Her hair coiled softly over her shoulder and her eyes were as clear as the sky of their home world. She reflected the woman I’d admired in the photo.

  The evil queen’s dark eyes narrowed. “Who are you and what do you want?”

  Sharmila took a silent step forward, matter and energy interplaying to maintain her image. “I’m sure time hasn’t totally erased the truth of your origins. Mercy was shown your people in the last war, but instead of finding a new path, you have chosen violence, again.”

  While she appeared unruffled, the queen’s eyes betrayed her, getting a little wider and a lot colder. “There are stories of our mother race, of a horrible battle, but we survived.”

  “Yes, and for that only I am the one to blame.” Sharmila stretched out her arms, letting the power within start to swell. Invisible energy from all around us. Even from the vanquished Punitraq. I felt the threads weaving together. “This time I will grant no further mercy.”

  “Queen Sharmila?” The young queen’s face turned as hard as her eyes and she advanced. “If you are Queen Sharmila, then you would be old and weak, Mother.”

  “See for yourself.” Sharmila cast out an arm, releasing a burst of energy. The pulse hit the queen in the center of her chest and threw her against a stone support arch. It wrapped around her, holding her immobile as Sharmila pressed forward upon her. “And don’t call me, ‘Mother’. You may be borne of us, but you are not my blood.”

  “If you are… Queen… Sharmila…” The young queen had to force the words out with the bands tight around her chest. “…then you are... our mother!” She twisted against the restraints, breaking apart the energy holding her.

  Sharmila threw another cluster of energy strands. “You ceased to be our children when you became monsters who killed innocents.” Sharmila clenched her fist, making the strands pull tighter. “When your ancestors slew my lifemate and child, I vowed I’d be here if you ever rose to power again. If you followed the same evil path. Now I feel only disgust for the Punitraq and what you force me to do.”

  Even though Sharmila’s grip burrowed into the young queen’s protective energy field, the woman managed an evil smile. “Yes, your consort, we killed him.” With a push of will, she pried at Sharmila’s grip. Having fed only minutes before, she twisted again and freed an arm, pulling apart the strands pinning her to the arch.

  Sharmila’s power shuddered as the young queen gathered the energy for herself, then thrust it back at us. It struck my chest. Foul energy radiated into the EV suit, as painfully as real fingers coiled around muscle and bone.

  The young queen searched for a mental hold to feed upon. Sharmila suddenly let go of her prey, backing off to restore her shielding around me. The young queen didn’t expect this total release and fell to the floor.

  Having revealed herself, Sharmila released her imagery to conserve energy. Refocusing calmly, she watched the young queen lift herself to her feet, insulted by being dropped so unceremoniously.

  “Very good, my dear ancestor...” The young queen started to circle us now, glaring through the visor. “…but not good enough.”

  ”I am not your ancestor.” Sharmila’s arm flashed out. A real backhand slap that picked the little queen up again and tossed her across the chamber. There was a crunch of bones and a huff as the impact knocked air from the queen’s lungs.

  Sharmila advanced upon the gasping woman, not giving her the chance to recover. She grabbed her off the floor and flung her against the wall, bouncing her hard against stone. The suit’s servos pinned her immobile again.

  Screams from outside the chamber grew louder. S
harmila knew the queen could feel her people dying, but she showed no distress for their fates. This woman’s coldness only made Sharmila angrier. “You care nothing for life. Not even the lives of your own people. You are a monster.”

  “Like you?” The queen eyes turned black, her mind opened to Sharmila. “Have you lost so much of yourself with age, you can’t see who I am? You left your own behind. Can’t you feel me, Mother?”

  Sharmila felt me warning her to not look, but she couldn’t help it, drawn to those eyes.

  “Yes, look. What do you see? Who do you see?”

  Sharmila bit down on the twinge of recognition, but she had no need to link to a soul long gone. “It matters nothing whose blood you came from. Those who fought and died here did so of their own free will and their souls were released, forever.”

  The young queen didn’t fight as she had before, but kept those eyes focused upon Sharmila as she tipped her head to the sounds of death outside. “Is that what it sounded like when you tried to destroy us? Is that what your daughter heard as you left her behind?”

  The young queen tried to antagonize Sharmila, and it worked. “My daughter wasn’t left behind. She was killed, just as her father was.” Her grip around the queen tightened and she slammed her harder against the wall.

  “Are you sure?” Blood oozed deep blue into the young queen’s hair, then dripped onto Sharmila’s arm, burning as it turned to ash from the heat of her energy. The blood disintegrated, but not before the last trace of its power radiated through the suit and was absorbed into my own energy. Recognition rolled through Sharmila. Her grip on the queen wavered.

  The young queen felt the pressure on her chest shift and thrust back hard. Sharmila lost her grip and staggered away. The young queen rushed her, her energy a sword before her, driving Sharmila deeper into the depths of the chamber.

  While still shocked from tasting the queen’s energy, Sharmila recovered and shoved back. From my refuge I watched the two women locked arm-to-arm. The young queen pressed close, trying to see into the helmet. “You felt it. Your blood runs through my veins!”

  “My daughter died in battle, just as her father did. Your ancestors must have stolen genetic samples.” It was the logical conclusion. She’d felt her child fall, then her lifemate.

  “But Mother…”

  “I am NOT your mother!” She pushed against the young queen, but couldn’t break their stalemate. “Stealing her blood doesn’t make you mine.”

  The queen laughed shrilly. “She…didn’t…die.” More of her blood fell onto my arm, accentuating each word from the queen’s mouth. “You took our queen, we took your daughter. We made her one of us. Then she bore us a new royal line.” The young queen thrust her energy deep into my chest, at the same time opening her mind and genetic memories.

  Sharmila didn’t want to believe it, but there, buried deep in this young predator were memories belonging to another, carried forward from generation to generation. Heartbreaking memories of a young woman lost, tortured and brutalized by violent men.

  She never broke, not even with the birth of a daughter. A daughter bred to feed. She never broke, even as she died from her own daughter’s hunger.

  The young queen laughed again, high and hysterical. “You recognize me now. I am Queen Eliath, of your blood and strong enough to stand up to you.” Finally revealed, Eliath released another burst of energy against us. “You destroyed my towers, my mate, and many of my people, but you won’t destroy me. I’ll take your power and soul, and turn it on your army to destroy them all. I will reach out until I find all of your people and wipe them from existence, as you tried to do to us.”

  CHAPTER FIFTY

  Eliath’s secret broke Sharmila. She crumbled under the barrage of memories forced upon her by this evil creature, fragments of her daughter’s agony. How could she have not known her daughter lived? How could she have left her in the hands of monsters. How terrible, to bear a child, but be torn by emotions of love and hate. The heartbreak to die at her own child’s hand.

  But Sharmila couldn’t run. She couldn’t lose, not for my life, my kind, our allies. I tried to rise, to help her, but Sharmila had buried me too deep to do anything but suffer with her. Everett tried to force Sharmila to use him, but Eliath felt his presence. “Ahh, so you can’t do this all on your own.” She lashed out at Everett.

  Given no choice, Sharmila forced Everett through the block she’d put around me, cutting him off from the battle too. With both of us safe, she threw herself against Eliath again.

  “Kali!” Everett’s voice called out to me.

  “Everett! Break contact.”

  “No! I need to be here.” He sought me out, despite my desire to send him away. We flowed together as we were meant to be, but there was no ecstasy in this. “You need to take over. Sharmila may not be able to kill her own blood. Even if she tries, she may not have the strength.”

  I’d witnessed her falter. Felt her pain. If she lost this battle, we’d all die. “I know, but I’m trapped.” I could feel Sharmila being battered. “You’re not. Break contact, like you promised.”

  Everett didn’t let me push him away. “I promised what I had to. You need me.”

  As much as I knew Sharmila and I could die in this battle, I now had his soul to worry about too. “What am I supposed to do?”

  “Fight, Kali!” Everett firmly pressed his thoughts to mine. “You’re stronger than Sharmila. Use everything you’ve learned and kill Eliath. If you don’t, she’ll take your soul. She’ll turn it against the Collective. It’s her or us.”

  His warning was emphasized by a stab of crippling pain. “Take over or you’ll die with her, and I’ll die with you. Don’t think of anything else, except destroying that bitch.”

  As much as I wanted Everett to break contact, his presence strengthened me. I pushed against Sharmila’s barriers. It took two attempts before I tumbled into the battle. I had to instantly make sense of the chaos. I looked at the woman who bore a resemblance to Sharmila. The only difference I could see between them was their souls, this one was as black as hell.

  Everett hadn’t exaggerated Sharmila breaking down. Eliath tossed out torturing visions of the daughter’s horrifying death. I couldn’t let Sharmila suffer anymore, so I took advantage of being locked in her arms. I rammed my helmet into her face.

  Eliath broke her hold, stunned by the unexpected physical blow that brought blood gushing from her nose.

  It stunned Sharmila too. “You aren’t supposed to be here!” She’d been in so much pain she hadn’t felt me break the barrier. “I can’t let you do this. You don’t understand…”

  “No, I do understand. You can’t fight her, but I’m not related to her.” I looked to where the Punitraq queen staggered out of reach, in real pain and confused by the sudden burst of mental energy from Sharmila. “I have no problem knocking the shit out of this monster.” Sharmila submitted, just as the queen found her balance.

  She lunged at us, but I evaded her. She threw herself at me again and as we came together, body to body, energy to energy, only then she realized her opponent had changed.

  She tried to pull loose, but I refused to let her go. “Who are you?”

  “Hmmm, Eliath, let’s just call us cousins.” I flowed into a twist and toss, throwing the queen to the ground. She struggled to stand, but I sank my knee into the back of her neck. “Whatever problem you have with great-grandmother, you’ll have to take it up with me.”

  The bulk of my suit made up for the low gravity and she choked under my weight. I pressed harder. I felt a flood of her hate, but I easily brushed her assault aside. “You’ll have to do better than that, sweetie.” I knew it was a dare I shouldn’t make, insulting her narcissism, but she needed her ideas of ‘untouchability’ crushed.

  I treated her with no more respect than she treated her slaves. I intentionally provoked her to draw out all her powers, so as to not be surprised when I least expected it. To tease her further, I let go and circle
d as she pushed herself off the ground, indignant. No one had ever abused her so. I laughed at her humiliation. “Darling, I’ve barely even started.”

  “This isn’t your war…”

  “Yeah, it is, the second you started attacking others. You really thought you could go where you pleased, abduct whomever you wanted, for your sick feeding practices? Of course you thought the Elders were long gone. That you were now the supreme beings out here.” I advanced upon her again. “Well, Cous’, you were wrong. Dead wrong. Your reign of terror is over.”

  I glanced at the corpses scattered around the chamber, kneeling over a dead soldier. Now I could see the carvings on his face matched the patterns carved into the walls of the room, a temple. Her temple. The Punitraq demoralized these people by marking them as property. I recognized the sick resemblance to how the EH began their existence, forced into being slave soldiers.

  But the conviction of compassionate humans and the blood of the Elders rose us higher. To our freedom. To this place. To end this nightmare. I turned my eyes back to this vicious little queen. “The Elders gave you a second chance, hoping you’d evolve into something better, but you’re unredeemable. We will hunt down every single Punitraq and send their souls to hell.”

  “Not if I kill you first!” Eliath lunged at me. The force of her anger and fear was stronger than I assumed and she knocked me to the ground. Her hands dug into my EV suit. The suit protected me from real injury. But her energy cut as sharp as knives.

  She sought the core of my power and I struggled against her hold, not breaking it as quickly as I thought I could. She started to feed on me. I felt what so many of her victims suffered, but Sharmila nudged me, reminding me of my contribution to her kills.

  I bit back my pain and built the image in my head. When I had it fixed, I thrust it outward. I became this alien creature in Eliath’s eyes. Instead of letting her get away, my new body coiled around her, undulating and pinning her to me, twisting until we were eye-to-eye. “You want to feed on my energy? I’m going to let you.”