Tears ran down his face when the truth suddenly dawned on him. He turned back to look at Alai, the representation of his subconscious, who had already figured out the truth behind the meaning of the vault door, days ago.
“What exactly am I looking at?” Kalian reached out, sure that he could touch Li’ara if he wanted.
“I wouldn't do that,” Alai was quick to respond. “If you cross the threshold, while connected to ALF’s ship, you’ll jump inside the Rackham. Physics might not have much meaning in here, but out there, it’ll turn the Rackham inside out trying to fit ALF’s ship onto the bridge.”
“This is real, then?” Kalian turned back to Li’ara, desperate to hold her.
“Your link to her is just as, if not stronger, than your connection to Savrick or even ALF now. She has always been at the heart of your focus, Kalian. Right now you’re looking over the curve. Time, space, gravity… While you’re being powered by ALF’s ship, these concepts cannot bar you.”
Kalian couldn't find the words to fit his emotions. “She’s alive. How can she be alive?”
“Sef.” Alai’s response was simple, if baffling.
“You can't know that. If I don't know it, then you can't…”
“Now you’re catching on. I am you, just unfiltered. I don't have the emotions and moral compass that fog every thought and action. I’m more…”
“Machine,” Kalian finished.
“Precisely. Sef is the most logical choice since Esabelle told you to find him, suggesting that he is, in fact, alive and operating unseen in the Conclave. You also know that the rest of the Gomar was imprisoned at the time of Li’ara’s supposed death, leaving Sef the only option. There’s a very real chance he’s even on that bridge right now.”
“How do I get from here to there, without crossing the threshold?” He needed to reach Li’ara now. He had to hold her and feel how very real and alive she was. That desperation was building in him, filling him with more urgency.
“Look again,” Alai said, nodding at the frozen image with his chin. “See where you want to be and… be.”
Kalian turned back to the view of the Rackham and tore his eyes from Li’ara, searching for the perfect destination. He smiled, wickedly.
25
Captain Holt couldn't sit in his command chair, due to the adrenaline that had his gut performing somersaults. It didn't help that at least twenty refugees were huddled and crowded into every available space between the stations. Jed was bent over the top of helmsman Maloy’s station, willing the Paladin’s engines to push harder and provide more speed. The Vanguard was quickly approaching from behind, ignoring the escorting Raalakian ships that fired upon it.
“God I hope we got everyone…” Captain Fey was on the other side of the bridge, crouched over Commander Vale’s monitor. She gave Jed a look of thanks and respect, no doubt for his role in evacuating everyone and retrieving the Paladin.
“If we hadn't left when we did we’d be dead already.” Commander Vale never took her eyes off the monitor, watching the enemy’s approach.
“It’s firing!” ensign Marko announced from behind them all.
Jed flashed the man a warning look when those huddled on the bridge gasped and screamed in terror. He didn't need panic right now. If they were all about to die, then let death take them without warning.
“It hit the habitat,” Sam responded from under Captain Fey’s shadow.
Jed observed the screen beside Maloy and watched the feed of the habitat being obliterated with a single strike. The white flash was soon eclipsed by the sheer size of their pursuer.
“We need more speed,” Maloy said under his breath.
Jed was inclined to agree, but the Paladin simply wasn't designed to house so many occupants. The extra seven thousand bodies were taking its toll. For just a moment, Captain Holt thought about the idea of escaping with only a hundred thousand onboard, at least then the majority might have been able to survive. He knew he could never live with that sacrifice, however.
“We’re being hailed,” Marko said.
Sam finished for him. “It’s something called the Rackham.”
“Roland!” Captain Fey appeared hopeful, though Jed couldn't figure out why a single ship would change anything. “Mr. North has a way of making an entrance, and it’s usually one that pisses off his enemies.”
“Communications just went dead.” Marko’s hands danced across the wall-size screen in front of him. “It's jamming us.”
“It’s closing the gap,” Maloy said, just loud enough for Jed to hear.
Captain Holt read the data scrolling down the monitor to his left. There were only three of the escort ships left, the others reduced to smears across the Vanguard’s hull.
Jed put his hand on Maloy’s shoulder and squeezed. “It’s been an-”
The viewport gave way to a new, massive object emerging from sub-space. Everyone on the bridge screamed and huddled closer together, believing this new ship was about to collide with them it was so close. Maloy instinctively pushed the Paladin down in a desperate bid to fly under the giant cube. At this distance, Jed could make out the details on the hull, noting the similarities between it and the ship chasing them.
“What is that thing?” someone shouted from the back of the bridge.
A horrendous screeching noise tore through the Paladin from above, moments before new alerts flashed up on every screen. The cube-shaped vessel had brushed against the hull, ripping through the sturdy panels as if the ship were made of tissue paper. According to the data readouts, the cube dropped into position behind the Paladin and eclipsed the Vanguard with its own girth.
With sweat pouring down his face, Jed locked eyes with Captain Fey. “What the hell was that?”
Li’ara couldn't believe her eyes. The Rackham was far enough away to give them the perfect view of the giant cube, emerging from sub-space, which barely missed the Paladin. The cube was missing all of its corners, but the design was certainly identical to that of the Vanguard. A pit opened in her stomach. She had seen Earth reduced to flames, Century destroyed and now she would bear witness to the end of her kind. Defeating the Vanguard was an almost impossible task, but defeating two of them with one world breaker was hopeless.
“What the shit is that thing?” Roland, happy to be piloting his own ship again, voiced a question they all had.
“It’s fallen in behind the Paladin,” Ch’len observed.
“It’s not pursuing…” Li’ara tracked its trajectory on the screen and looked up to see the cube heading for the Vanguard. Neither reduced speed.
“Is it a bad guy?” Roland was still taking them in, and fast. The Rackham was already arcing towards the gap between the Vanguard and the new ship.
“The world breaker is primed.” Ch’len was furiously munching on his usual orange snacks.
“Pull us out!” Vox ordered. “They’re not slowing down and we’re heading for the middle of it!”
“Damn it!” Roland tugged hard on the controls and redirected the Rackham at the last second, just as the two behemoths collided.
Li’ara brought up the view on the holographic monitor and watched with the others. The Rackham was able to avoid most of the chaos, but the Vanguard was an unstoppable force interacting violently with an immovable object. The Vanguard’s pointed ship shattered against the cube’s surface, as if it had been made of blocks or glass, never quite stuck together. The cube continued forward, while the millions of pieces that had once been the Vanguard were pushed across its hull and scattered into space, behind its momentum.
“Holy shit…” Roland once again voiced the general consensus.
The millions of pieces were coming back together on the other side of the cube and reforming into the original structure. The Paladin, a tiny object in the distance, was still heading for the sun, desperate to outrun the Vanguard. The collision had slowed it down, but it apparently wasn't enough to destroy it.
Roland swivelled the ship to acquire a bette
r view. “If that thing can be turned inside out and still keep going, what exactly did we think a world breaker was going to do?”
“Wait!” Li’ara called, her eyes narrowing on the chaos behind the cube, where the Vanguard was still coming back together. “What’s that?”
They all saw the brilliant, blue streak of a missile leave the cube and dive into the heart of the forming ship. By the time the Vanguard came back together, the missile detonated from within. The bronze hull swelled, as the nanocelium tried to absorb the explosion, but it inevitably succumbed to the crippling blow. There was no obvious engine or port at the back of the ship but immediately began to slow down and drift off course.
A spectacular light show erupted from within, when chunks of the Vanguard blew away from the surface, exposing more of the nanocelium inside. The cornerless cube spun on its axis and came about, turning to face the broken Vanguard.
“What are we watching here?” Roland asked in the quiet of the bridge.
Li’ara had no answer. She looked to the Gomar, who all stood perfectly still, observing the fight between the mechanical gods. Li’ara wondered if they were scanning the two ships in the same way that Kalian often did. She still didn't fully grasp the connection between the Terran and the universe, but she had seen Kalian unravel mysteries hidden behind miles of rock.
“I’m registering a huge shift in gravitons around the Vanguard,” Ch’len said, his mouth finally free of food.
It’s going to jump, Sef telepathically observed.
In the blink of an eye, the Vanguard folded in on itself and vanished from sight. The Paladin was just visible to the human eye, thanks to its rounded, swollen midsection, which blocked out the field of stars along its trajectory. The cube floated in and around the debris field left behind by the damaged Vanguard.
It just floated…
The crunch of Ch’len’s new mouthful broke the silence. “What happens now?”
“...Do you copy? Paladin to Rackham, do you copy?”
Li’ara didn't recognise the voice, but she was happy to hear from them. “Turn them around,” she looked to Ch’len, “bring them back.”
“What about that thing?” Roland gestured to the viewport and the dormant cube. “Are we looking at the enemy of our enemy or… just another enemy?”
Li’ara looked out at the unusual ship, devoid of any traditional structures seen on space-faring vessels, and wondered what was going on inside of it. Was this an enemy?
“The Paladin is turning around,” Ch’len reported. “And something pretty huge is coming up behind us.”
The Marillion… Sef operated the controls built into his suit’s fingertips and collapsed his helmet, revealing his short blond hair and blue eyes.
Indeed, the Marillion was coming up behind them, its shining gold surface glowing in the light of the distant sun. Li’ara examined it on the holographic screen, noting the multiple holes and scorch marks as big as any Nexus Class vessel. Its regal appearance was somewhat dishevelled.
“Open a channel,” Li’ara spoke directly to Ch’len.
“There’s a lot of people giving orders on my ship that’s not me.” Roland moved the Rackham out in order to get a better view of both the Marillion and the cube.
After a dialogue was opened between the Highclave’s ship and the Rackham, Telarrek’s calming voice eventually filled the bridge. “...The crew of the Sentinel has been evacuated onto the Marillion. We have lost many lives today.”
“You sound a little banged up yourself. What about the Highclave?” Li’ara asked.
“They are safe on the capital,” Telarrek replied. “High Charge Uthor has agreed to use the Marillion to house the occupants aboard the Paladin - for transportation means.”
“I'm sure the Highclave will love that…” Li’ara wondered if the Novaarian could hear the smile in her tone. “Does the High Charge have anything in mind for our new friend?”
There was a pause on Telarrek’s end. “Contact has been made.”
Li’ara could tell from the surrounding expressions that she was not the only one surprised by this. “What’s going on, Telarrek?”
“Docking coordinates are being provided,” the Novaarian replied mysteriously. “Both you and the Paladin are to land inside the Marillion. Docking procedures are being readied for the cube.”
The frequency went dead before anyone could ask more questions. Li’ara didn't like Telarrek’s tone. There was a sadness to it that spoke of something worse than any injuries sustained aboard the Sentinel. She looked to Roland who was shaking his head dramatically.
“There’s no way I’m landing the Rackham inside the most secure, roided-out ship in the entire Conclave fleet!”
“Roland…” Li’ara didn't have the energy.
“I might never get back out!” he continued to protest.
The cube glided by the viewport, wiping away the horizon of stars, and moved ever closer to the Marillion.
Li’ara had to know what was going on. “We need answers. We didn't come this far to run away and hide. We need to build-”
“Not another speech! Please!” Roland held up his hands. “Future, trust blah blah blah.” The bounty hunter rotated the Rackham to face the golden ship. “I miss the days when I could just shoot stuff…”
26
Li’ara had no idea where the Paladin or the cube were going to dock within the golden orb, but she was happy to get out of Roland’s smelly ship. On the other end of the spectrum, the Marillion was larger than life in almost every way. The corridors they were escorted through were just as tall as any inside a Novaarian ship, with walkways ascending the sleek surfaces. There was evidence of damage in several areas, with technical engineers seeing to repairs and medical personnel tending to the injured.
One of the most terrifyingly armed vessels in the fleet had been savagely beaten in a single encounter. For all the Conclave’s advancements, the enemy was simply stronger.
The Gomar followed behind Roland and herself, Malekk floating in the middle, unconscious. Ch’len waddled at the back, visibly sweating inside his miniature forcefield. The wide open spaces of the Marillion was his worst nightmare, but the ship’s security force had denied his request to stay aboard the Rackham.
Roland glanced back at Malekk. “He’s definitely out, right? Because you guys kind of dropped the ball earlier…”
Li’ara hit him in the arm. “They saved everyone aboard the Sentinel, you moron.”
The bounty hunter shrugged in that really annoying way that got under Li’ara’s skin.
After several Translifts and even a trip inside a small transport, the group finally found themselves outside the main bridge. Li’ara had a feeling they had only seen a fraction of the ship’s interior and their particular path had been deliberately long, avoiding the more sensitive areas.
The bridge was surprisingly modest, but there was a good chance the Highclave never visited this section of the Marillion. High Charge Uthor and Charge Ilo turned to greet them, though Ilo was limping with a medical brace wrapped around her thigh. Both of the aliens looked to have taken a knock, with Uthor sporting a nasty gash, above his right eye, stained golden with his unique Raalakian blood. Ilo’s blue face was bruised and marred with smaller cuts.
“What’s going on?” Li’ara didn't have time for the pleasantries. “Where’s Telarrek? Whats happening with that ship?” She looked around as if the answers would suddenly become apparent.
Vox stepped forward. “Where’s the Vanguard?”
Uthor looked from Li’ara to Vox and hesitated. His black eyes finally looked beyond all of them and settled on something in the entrance to the bridge.
“Naydaalan was injured in the jump…”
Li’ara knew that voice as if it were her own. No words reached her lips and a small gasp prevented her from taking another breath. She turned around and watched the group of Gomar part in the middle, revealing the figure in the doorway.
Kalian stood, adorned
in his Terran armour, with that boyish grin pushing at his cheeks. “He’ll survive, but he can't leave the Medder right now. Telarrek is with him.”
Li’ara heard everything he said, but she couldn't entirely process it all. It didn't matter anyway, as Kalian strode across the bridge and almost picked her up in his tight embrace. No words passed between them, nor could they, with their lips so firmly locked together. They shared a single kiss that conveyed everything they had wanted to say to each other. Kalian was thankful more than anything that she was alive, while Li’ara was just happy to let go and finally give in to the feelings she had buried under so many layers of duty and obligation.
Their embrace lasted longer than it should and Li’ara became aware of the many eyes watching them. She had Kalian’s face fixed between her hands, as he pulled her in, refusing to let go.
I love you…
Li’ara opened her eyes, sure that Kalian had just spoken directly into her mind. It was a form of communication she wasn't used to with him. Somehow it felt more intimate than when Sef spoke to her as if Kalian’s voice was almost her own. Li’ara pulled away and kissed him one last time with a tender touch, savoring the sensation.
Uthor cleared his throat, which was not so subtle when his voice box was that of two rocks grinding together. The pair separated but remained at each other's side with an intimate proximity.
“What happened to Naydaalan?” There was so much Li’ara wanted to talk about, but the thought of Naydaalan being injured was distracting.
The Terran Cycle Boxset Page 126