“Shit-balls…” Roland took in the strewn bodies and blood-splattered walls. “Couldn't you have just cracked their necks or something? Not that I'm criticising your work; I'm definitely a personal fan.”
Sef didn't turn to face them but continued to stand over his prey with clenched fists.
Ch’len’s voice came over the comm pieces in their ears. “I'm sifting through everything in the ship’s mainframe. It looks they stopped to transmit a data packet, but the destination is encrypted. It’ll take me some time to break it down.”
Li’ara ignored the bodies and stood by Sef. “I'm willing to bet the location of the Gomar is in that data packet.”
“And I'm willing to bet he sent it to Kel-var Tionis.” Roland joined her and crouched over Gor-van with his menacing smile.
Why would Kel-var Tionis want that information? Sef asked.
Roland retrieved his Terran blade from the base of his back. “I don't like asking myself questions.” The bounty hunter tapped Gor-van’s knee with the tip of the blade. “That's what he’s for…”
Gor-van’s eyes twitched between them all, unsure of who was the greatest threat at that particular moment.
“Look at you,” Roland began, poking his knife gently into the Shay’s robe, “pathetic. You were at the top. You commanded more resources and held more wealth than trillions of others could in a hundred lifetimes. But now, you’re just another asshole who's gonna get stabbed a lot.”
Gor-van gasped and pressed himself against the console he was pinned to.
“Wait.” Li’ara rested her hand on Roland’s shoulder. “Why would he send the coordinates to Kel-var?” She looked at Sef with evident concern.
Sef’s face was hidden beneath his black, almost featureless helmet.
Malekk… The Gomar said with certainty.
Li’ara replied with a grave nod. “We already know it was Protocorps that combined the cube with the Terran. It would fit that they’re still working together.”
“You talking about that guy Kalian fought in the Helteron Cluster? The one who killed Esabelle.” Roland hadn't given the infected Terran much thought over the last three months, though he had imagined killing him very slowly once or twice after what he did to Esabelle.
“Sef tried for months to track him down, but Malekk hasn’t surfaced anywhere. It would make sense though if he has all the resources of Protocorps hiding him.”
The remaining Gomar will be considered a serious threat in Malekk’s eyes. Killing them will be a priority.
Roland agreed, the thought dawning on him that chasing after Kel-var now would be a mistake. This was why he didn't like getting involved in the whole ‘saving the universe’ crap. Responsibility just didn't sit right on his shoulders.
“Shit!” Ch’len squawked down their ears. “We have a problem!”
“What is it?” Li’ara looked around, expecting a new threat to reveal itself.
Roland took his cue from Sef, who would surely know if their lives were suddenly in danger.
“The mainframe’s burning out,” Ch’len replied. “The message he sent is being pulled apart!”
“Well download onto the Rackham’s mainframe and decipher it from there!” Roland stood up now, his eyes fixed on the treacherous Shay.
“I’m trying!” Ch’len sounded as if he was trying to be in several places at once. The Ch’kara sighed. “It’s gone. The data, the logs, it’s all gone.”
Li’ara rubbed her eyes. “Did you get anything?”
“Yeah, I got the location of where he sent the data packet, but I'm not sure I believe it.”
“Where did he send it, Len?” Roland was itching to go to work on Gor-van.
“Shandar.”
“The Shay homeworld?” Li’ara asked. “That’s not unbelievable. It must be where Kel-var is hiding.”
“It’s not that,” Ch’len clarified. “It’s where the data packet was acknowledged that’s hard to believe. According to what I got from the logs, it was sent to Shandar’s surface.”
Li’ara frowned. “I thought the surface was barren, toxic even.”
“Maybe it is,” Roland replied. “Doesn't mean Protocorps don't have a base down there.”
It would be the perfect place to hide, Sef offered.
Roland grabbed Gor-van by his red robes and lifted him from the floor with a rough tug. “Either way, this son-of-a-bitch has seen the coordinates to the Gomar.” The bounty hunter turned to Sef. “Can't you just look inside his mind and take what we need?”
“It doesn't work that way,” Li’ara was quick to reply. “Different brain chemistry, remember?”
“None of this will help you,” Gor-van spat, glancing at the Terran blade Roland was holding to his neck. “I only saw the numbers, coordinates for a region of space I know nothing about. I couldn't remember them if you tortured me all day!”
Roland shrugged casually. “Well how about two days?”
Gor-van struggled to hold his resolve against the bounty hunter’s retort.
“We’re wasting time, Roland.” Li’ara turned to leave. “It looks like you’ll get your shot at Tionis after all…”
Sef’s six-foot-five frame moved with Li’ara as if the two were entwined. Roland didn't like it. They may have spent a rather intimate three months hiding in the bowls of Clave Tower together, but this whole connection to Esabelle thing was still hard for him to get his head around. Sef couldn't be trusted yet, though challenging the god-like giant wasn't at the top of Roland’s list.
“I just wanna know why?” Roland gripped the Shay’s robes and pressed the edge of the blade against his pale throat. “Why would you back something like Malekk? Him and his want to see us all dead, or worse; infected by them. You got a thing against living, Gor-van?”
“You couldn't possibly understand what they are, or what they offer!” Roland had seen this bravery in men before; it always came at the end, when they realised death was here for them. “We will transcend this physical realm and become as gods, roaming the universe as we please.” The hint of a smile crept across Gor-van’s face. “I would advise you to cease your resistance and join us, but your kind hasn't been chosen as mine has. Humans, Terran, Gomar… it doesn't matter. Your very DNA has been targeted for extinction and they will see it done.”
Roland faced the Shay with an expression that told of all the fucks he gave. “So you guys basically worship this nanocelium stuff?” The bounty hunter waved the Terran blade in his face. “Well, who am I to stand between you and your god?” Roland thrust the blade up into the soft skin, under Gor-van’s jaw, and continued upwards until the tip of the blade pierced the Shay’s skull.
The bounty hunter watched the brief flash of life that lit up the Shay’s eyes until an expressionless, blank slate remained. He had seen that moment in so many before, but he never relished in it, only taking it in as a job well done.
“Can we go now?” Li’ara asked from the torn door of the bridge.
Roland removed his blade and cleaned it on the dead Shay’s robe. “Sure. You ever been to Shandar? They make great kebabs! Just don't ask what animal it is…”
Malekk placed his hand on the glass top of the Starforge’s main console and released the finest strands of nanocelium from his skin. The intelligent machines found their way into the console and relayed his commands, having a small craft in the hangar prepped for immediate launch. The security provided by Protocorps had abandoned the spacious bridge and patrolled other areas, choosing to avoid Malekk where possible.
The three starrilliums that lined the Starforge’s hull like limpets came to life, providing the station with enough energy to open a hole in space just large enough to pass a transmission through; to the naked eye, the hole would be impossible to see. Once open, Malekk retreated into himself and tapped into the frequency on which all his kind communicated. As usual, the cube inside the Starforge was present but occupied with the station’s systems. It was the other voice that weighed on him, threaten
ing to take back control and subsume him.
Malekk knew he should long for this, to be back within the fold and a part of the Vanguard, a part of his kind. Independence was a disease he should flee from and yet Malekk found himself frightened at the prospect of being absorbed again. These emotions and experiences that were all his very own were becoming… interesting. The infected Terran found himself wanting more and wondering what else he could do with these abilities. Of all the species they had ever come across, the Terran were surely the most powerful, and now, so too was he.
The Terran disease has almost claimed all of you. The Vanguard could look into his mind while they were connected. This communication will be brief, to avoid any chance of infection. Under no circumstances are you to physically interact with any of my sub-minds.
Malekk knew the Vanguard was referring to the cubes and the thought dawned on him that he had once been a sub-mind. Nothing more than an appendage of the Vanguard, the superior mind.
These thoughts will ultimately consume you. Soon you will be just as infected as the heretic.
Malekk pushed his thoughts aside and spoke with purpose. I... we have located the Gomar, Master.
What of the human ship?
The Shay have failed to destroy the…
You have failed. Now the human numbers will grow.
They will be seen to, Master. Malekk felt exposed and vulnerable in this space. Every part of him could be examined by the Vanguard, stripped and analysed.
You will do as instructed. The Gomar must be prioritised. See to their destruction before all else. If you fail me again, I will be forced to take steps that could compromise the harvest.
Even if you were to reveal yourself, we would not lose the element of surprise. Most of the Conclave do not believe we are real, and those who do have no idea what is coming.
Your mind cannot comprehend as I. Do only as you are commanded, nothing else. I would not risk failure again by asking too much of you.
Malekk could feel the Vanguard’s pure contempt for him through their bond. It was more than disappointment. Disappointment was what a parent might express to a failing child. The Vanguard felt as if he were communing with the infected filth under his boot.
The cube, as commanded by the Vanguard, shut down the Starforge, ending the transmission. Malekk should have felt detachment and loneliness when the connection was severed, but instead, he felt only relief to be out of the Vanguard’s spotlight.
“It’s good, isn't it? To be alive.” The Terran’s voice resounded inside Malekk’s head. The infection had grown beyond the confinements.
Malekk manifested himself inside the host’s mind and confronted the Terran. His efforts to break free and regain control were evident in his appearance. Instead of being naked, the Terran was now clothed in his typical white armour of nanocelium and the ankle-deep water had been reduced to puddles.
I will complete my mission and destroy every fibre of this body before you take back control.
“Before any of this, I was a Terran, but I fought for the Gomar, for Savrick; because I agreed with their views and saw a better way for us to live together than what my people believed. You can do the same thing. You don't have to do as the Vanguard commands. The harvest can be stopped.”
While the Terran had been babbling on, Malekk had been working on the next layer of defence, ensuring that the infection remained trapped inside a maze. Above all, he had to maintain control of the host’s body.
Enjoy what freedom you have. You will go no further.
Malekk opened his eyes and found himself on the bridge once more. Only seconds had gone by, conserving the power of the starrilliums. The console flashed with an alert, informing him that the shuttle was ready for departure. Using the same technique as before, Malekk attempted to upload the Gomars’ coordinates into the Starforge’s navigational array. His anger quickly rose to the surface, unchecked as it was, when an error code displayed, denying him access to the array.
A message popped up across the glass, sent by the cube, notifying Malekk that he could not use the Starforge to open a wormhole and transport him to the designated planet. The cube went on to detail how the energy levels inside the station are to be kept at optimal levels to give the Vanguard immediate access, should he require it. Should Malekk fail, that is.
Malekk raged, throwing his hands into the air and vying to destroy everything in sight. The Gomar were far from their current position and he was keenly aware that there were others hunting the Gomar down. Malekk turned on his heel and stormed out of the bridge, only pausing to throw a chair clear across the three-tiered chamber. He knew that should he come across any of the mercenaries on his way to the hangar, they would surely die an agonising death.
17
Captain Fey walked side-by-side with Ambassador Telarrek, along the promenade that overlooked the central park, where the seven thousand survivors were now mingling with the hundred thousand new refugees. The park, which was usually spacious and full of green, was filled to bursting with people of every ethnicity and age greeting one another. The habitat they occupied was certainly massive by anyone’s description, but it simply wasn't designed to house this many people.
“It’s cramped,” Fey observed, “but damn if it isn't a great sight.”
“I too wondered if we would ever see this many humans again,” Telarrek replied, somewhat absently.
“Has there been any breakthrough with the autopsies?” Fey desperately wanted to know why the Shay had attacked them.
“Possibly. They are keeping me in the dark, most likely because of my close ties to you. I will be leaving later today. I have an appointment with the Highclave in person.”
“In person?” Fey knew how rare those particular meetings were.
“I have hopes that they have been discussing the possibility of a new world for you or at least a more appropriate habitat.” Telarrek’s long neck never once arched over to meet the captain’s eyes.
“Or perhaps they have news of Naydaalan and Kalian.” Fey noticed the smallest of quivers on the Novaarians top lip. “You are worried about him, about Naydaalan.”
Telarrek sighed, imitating a human all too well, and looked down at her. “I have many children, scattered throughout the Conclave and achieving their own goals in life. We may not see each other as often as we would like, but our lifespan offers such opportunities.”
“But Naydaalan isn't in the Conclave…” Fey had shared many conversations with the Novaarian, and often forgot he was an alien.
“The distance is hard to comprehend, but the dangers lying in wait are not. The Terran Empire could hold secrets it does not want to relinquish.” Telarrek’s lower arms braced the railing, while they stopped to take in the view of milling humans.
“From what I've heard he’s quite the accomplished warrior. He must be if the Highclave allowed him to accompany Kalian.”
Telarrek responded with a sharp grunt - a Novarrian agreement. “I am sure they are both watching each other’s backs. Enough of my worries.” Telarrek waved his left, upper hand. “How is everything here?”
“I haven't been back more than a day,” Fey replied, straightening her back. “Commander Holland informs me that two more people have committed suicide. The first lost her family back on Century. The councillors had been working with her but…” Every death weighed on her more than she could admit.
“And the other?” Telarrek always tried to share the burden.
“Jonathan Vincent, one of our biologists. He lost his wife when Professor Jones attacked us on the Gommarian.” Fey could name every person who had died since they arrived in the Conclave. “I’ve already discussed with Captain Holt about the serious need for councillors and placing people under suicide watch.”
“Losing your whole world, your cultures and history…” Telarrek’s slender shoulders sagged. “It’s no wonder so many find it hard to go on.”
“Losing Earth and Century is devastating. The magnitude of
that loss will probably take years to fully comprehend, but it’s not what drives us to despair. We’ve lost so much, but it doesn't override our instinct for survival or hinder our ability to look forward. Losing the people closest to us hurts. The ones who felt like a part of us.” Fey turned to look up at Telarrek. “That’s when it’s real.”
The two continued their walk along the promenade until Captain Holt came into view. He was standing in the corner of the railing, staring up at the transparent dome that sheltered them.
“Quite the view, isn't it?” Fey followed his gaze to the looming planet that watched over them. “That’s Arakesh, the Raalakian homeworld.”
Jed had yet to take his eyes from it. “It’s an alien world. I'm just a little…” The captain turned to see Fey and Telarrek, who towered over them both. “Stunned, I suppose.”
Fey glanced at Telarrek and remembered what it was like when aliens were still a new sight. “This is Ambassador Telarrek. He is our representative in the Conclave.”
“A No-vaarian?” Jed replied.
“Correct.” Telarrek bowed until his golden eyes were level with Jed’s head. “I offer greetings of peace, on behalf of both the Novaarians and the Conclave.”
“Thank you.” Jed was clearly still uncomfortable with aliens.
“I remember when your crew disappeared, Captain Holt. My own crew, that of the Valoran, attempted to locate you many times, but now we know how impossible that task was.”
Jed’s brow furrowed in response. “You remember? I don't understand.”
Fey explained, “Telarrek and his crew observed Earth for centuries before contact was made. There’s every chance the Paladin flew right past them and you didn't notice.”
The Terran Cycle Boxset Page 117