Ruins of the Galaxy Box Set: Books 1-6

by Chaney, J. N.

  But Piper was not here to marvel at her newfound ability nor play with her memories frivis—vivious—frivolously. She had a job to do. So she leaped from stone to stone until she saw herself in the lily pond a moment after she’d returned the scene to normal.

  “That was super awesome,” Piper saw herself say. Then she looked at So-Elku.

  “You don’t know the half of it, my child,” he replied.

  Right there! she thought.

  Piper stopped the scene in the Unity, using the Nexus to hold it in place. She drew close to the man’s face and studied it. He had a strange look in his eyes—a greedy look. Like he wanted something that he’d never been able to have before, and he was looking at Piper.

  No, she corrected herself, he was looking through me.

  It was like So-Elku wanted what Piper had—her powers. After all, Piper knew she was more powerful than him. She could feel it. But two were always better than one, which is why I need him, right? she reasoned. Being a team is why we need each other.

  But if that were true, why didn’t her grandmother need So-Elku? Why didn’t Awen want to work with him to achieve peace? Piper wondered what made So-Elku so different than the two women, and why they all couldn’t work to achieve the same things. Wasn’t their goal the same?

  Suddenly, Piper had an adult thought—a complicated and kind of confusing adult thought. Their goal might be the same, she said to herself, but the way they want to get to it is not.

  Any warmth Piper had felt before disappeared. She snapped out of the Unity and found herself back on the old chair. Then she squeezed her knees tighter as the room seemed to close in on her. Piper wanted to run—wanted to get out of this place. But to where? She had no family left, and Awen had probably gone back to metaspace.

  For the first time in her life, Piper truly felt alone. She curled up on the chair in her soaked nightgown and started to cry.

  * * *

  A sliver of sunlight irritated Piper’s eyelid. She tried to squint it away, but the beam was persistent. It nagged at her until she moved her head some centimeters out of the way. After a few minutes, the warm glow had caught up with her eyelid again, tickling her eyelashes. She smiled and then turned away from the sunlight. She opened her eyes and found herself in the chair in the corner of her room. The sun shone through the narrow slit in the heavy drapes, carving a path along the rug to her. She’d fallen asleep after the nightmare and all the grownup type thinking she’d done. It was hard work.

  Piper stretched and yawned and then shuffled back to the big fluffy bed. It still smelled like old people, but she was cold, and the covers looked warm and inviting.

  As she nestled back in to try and get a little bit more sleep, her thoughts drifted back to what she’d thought about in the middle of the night. She rolled over and then went back as she tried to dismiss the images and feelings. Being a grownup was hard, and she felt like she’d put herself in a very grownup position way before she was supposed to. Worse still, she didn’t know how to get out. She needed an escape.

  Just then, Piper remembered the holo call So-Elku had taken when they were in the garden together. The man on the other end seemed very scary looking. Now, Piper, that’s mean, she thought, correcting herself with a teacher-like tone. Rather than tell herself she was sorry for the judgment, Piper revised her assessment of the man in the black uniform with the scarred bald head and black eyes. He’s just different from me, that’s all.

  And yet, the funny thing was, there was something about him that wasn’t so different. In fact, there was something about the man that seemed familiar. Why, Piper had no idea. She’d never seen him before in her life. And yet she felt like she knew him, or maybe that she was supposed to know him. Like a long-lost friend who you hadn’t seen in decades. Of course, Piper had no idea what decades felt like—she’d barely made it to one decade. Which reminded her: Isn’t my birthday soon? But the thought of celebrating without her mother and father made Piper want to cry again, and she’d done enough of that for one day.

  The man in the holo call said he was coming to visit So-Elku, and that gave Piper an idea.

  12

  Moldark heard So-Elku’s voice coming from inside Elder’s Hall long before he saw the Luma Master. “Let him in, let him in,” So-Elku said with an exasperated tone. The guards who stood at the doors barring Moldark’s way seemed confused. They looked at one another, then back in So-Elku’s direction, before returning their gaze to Moldark.

  “Your master seems insistent,” Moldark said. “Of course, if you’d like to double-check with him, we’ll wait here.” He gestured behind him to the four platoons of Paragon troopers with weapons held across their chests.

  “For the love of all the mystics, what are you waiting for?” So-Elku said again.

  The guards, still appearing unsure as to why their commander would allow such an audience, begrudgingly stepped aside. Moldark nodded at them and then stepped through the half-open doorway, his entourage following close behind.

  “Admiral Kane,” So-Elku said with no attempt to hide his blatant disgust. The Luma leader stood in the circular room’s center with his arms crossed. Far fewer elders surrounded him than during their last meeting in this place.

  Moldark made a show of looking around as he approached So-Elku. “Where is everyone? I seem to recall there being more to your court than this.”

  “What do you want, Kane?”

  “That’s it?” Moldark turned and looked up to the domed ceiling above. His troopers spread out and encircled So-Elku and his Luma. “Where is the hospitality? Where is the peace-filled plea of entreaty? I thought the Order of Luma extended more of a welcome than—well, than this.” Moldark flung his hands up and sneered at So-Elku.

  “The Order does when the audience merits it,” replied So-Elku.

  “Merits it?” Moldark continued to turn, taking in the hall. “And does not the lord of the Paragon merit it?”

  So-Elku squinted at the title, just as Moldark suspected he would. “Lord of what?”

  The dark lord snapped back to look at So-Elku. “The Paragon, the reign of perfect rule, that which has supplanted your feeble Republic.”

  “I have no more allegiance to the Galactic Republic than—”

  Moldark hissed at So-Elku. “Lying is unbecoming, Master Luma. You should know this.”

  “And your presence is unbecoming.”

  “Yes, especially considering that I am still alive.”

  So-Elku hesitated. “What do you want?”

  “Ah, ah, ah. You must give an account for your transgressions against me.” Moldark walked toward So-Elku and began circling him. The other elders did not attempt to stop him, no doubt remembering what Moldark did to the last man who’d tried.

  “Whatever are you talking about?” So-Elku said, eyes darting to follow Moldark’s route.

  “You and I, we had a deal. You were to eliminate the Circle of Nine. Instead, what did you do?” So-Elku did not reply, so Moldark pressed him again. “What did you do, So-Elku?” Again, the Luma failed to respond. “No? Then I will proclaim your shortcomings to the cosmos. You betrayed me. You aligned yourself with them, gave them information, and attempted to thwart me—Moldark.”

  “Who?”

  “Silence!” Moldark reached out and touched So-Elku’s soul—not enough to suck him dry, but enough to make the man stiffen. “Do you deny your betrayal, human seed?”

  So-Elku stood on his toes, chin raised. Veins bulged in his neck as he struggled to breath. “I—do—not.”

  “There now,” Moldark said, releasing the man.

  So-Elku collapsed to the ground and gasped for breath.

  “You see? Truth-telling has its rewards, though it will not spare you for long. For when I am done with the Jujari, I will turn my eyes toward Capriana, and then here to Worru. Your species and all those like you deserve extinction, Luma Master. And I won’t stop until I’ve made it so.”

  “You are deranged, Kane,” So
-Elku said between coughs. “You’re a menace and must be stopped. The Nine will see to it.”

  “A menace?” Moldark’s eyes widened. “And still with this Kane business.” He tsk’d the Luma Master and squatted in front of him. Then, placing a finger beneath his chin, he raised the man’s head. “Do you really think I’m a menace, Luma Master? Is that what you see when you look at me in your beloved Unity? A menace? Because I can assure you, I am far worse.”

  Moldark reached out to three Luma elders and drank. The mortals writhed, and their shrieks added to the satisfaction he took in draining energy from their souls.

  So-Elku’s face shook as he stared into Moldark’s eyes, wincing as the men’s bones clattered to the marble floor. Moldark marveled at just how many bones the human body contained, never realizing the scope until they came to a rest in a jumble on the ground, half-hidden by the men’s robes.

  Moldark stretched his neck and then looked at the remaining elders. They were petrified, faces betraying a level of terror that Moldark found… fitting.

  “If you’ve come to kill me, be done with it,” So-Elku said, lowering his head.

  “Kill you?” Moldark tilted his head. “Perhaps I will.”

  “That isn’t why you’ve come?”

  “No, but we can amend that.”

  So-Elku squinted at Moldark. “Then what do you want?”

  “I want her.”

  “Her?” So-Elku’s eyes snapped up. “I—I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “He means me,” said a small voice from across the hall.

  “Piper, stay back,” So-Elku cried.

  Moldark looked across the room and saw Piper standing by herself near a small doorway. So-Elku made to protest again, but Moldark exerted some energy and sent So-Elku to the ground in a spasm. “Come here, child. Don’t be afraid.”

  “I’m not afraid of you,” she replied, but the look on her face seemed to say otherwise.

  Moldark tilted his head back and forth as his eyes searched the tiny human’s body. He could feel the power emanating from her. Wave upon wave, her life force washed over him beyond any he’d ever sensed before, second only to the Norxük, of course. How this human had come by such power was beyond him. But he had found her—at long last, he’d finally found her.

  “Release him,” she said, pointing to So-Elku.

  Moldark turned to examine the man writhing on the marble floor. “Why?”

  “Or else I won’t go with you,” she said. “That is what you want, isn’t it?”

  “I have come to take you, yes.”

  “Then release him, and I’ll go with you.”

  Suddenly, from somewhere deep within, Moldark felt his elemental presence lurch. It was as if some otherworldly force bumped into him, contending for his soul’s place of preeminence. In his mortal body, Moldark felt as if he might wretch—an annoying human function which he despised. But internally, the discomfort was even more considerable. Then, without the ability to stop it, a voice came from his mouth—one he hadn’t heard in quite some time.

  “Is it really you?” the voice asked.

  Piper scrunched up her nose, peering at Moldark with some measure of confusion.

  No, Moldark said within. You will not speak!

  But Kane’s will pushed around him and even made Moldark kneel, hand extended toward the child. “Piper, I’m your—”

  No! Moldark ordered within. You have no permission. Suddenly, Moldark yanked control from Kane and forced his body off the floor with a violent jerk. Piper let out a tiny yelp and jumped back.

  “Come with me, child,” Moldark said, back in control once more.

  “Release him,” she said, more forcefully this time.

  “But he has kept you against your will and sought to kill your kin.”

  “But he does not deserve to die,” Piper replied.

  “Curse your kind,” Moldark spat. “You all deserve to die.”

  “Still, release him, or I will not go with you.”

  Moldark knew better than to threaten the child. She could stop him if she wanted—or worse. But whether or not she knew such things was a different story. He suspected that if she knew about her powers, he wouldn’t be negotiating with her. But since she was, it was probably best to abide by her wishes. For now, anyway. “As you wish.”

  Moldark released So-Elku from his leash. The man gagged, vomited, and then cried as he took in terrific lungfuls of air. Pathetic, sniveling fool, Moldark thought.

  “Thank you,” Piper said.

  “Now we go,” Moldark replied.

  “Yes. Now we can go.”

  * * *

  “You want my help for something, don’t you,” the girl said.

  She marched beside him as they walked through the vaulted hallway leading out of the Grand Arielina with Moldark’s four platoons following close behind them. “You are perceptive, child,” Moldark replied. “I do.”

  “Then I have one more condition before I agree.”

  Moldark looked down at her. “You used it to free So-Elku.”

  “No one said I only had one.”

  “There are no more conditions. Come.”

  “No,” Piper said. She stopped and folded her arms. The troopers halted as their armor smacked together.

  Surely this infernal being knew her powers were strong or else she would not test Moldark like this. He seethed within but knew better than to push this child too far. At least, not yet. “What is it?”

  “I wish you to give me a ship.”

  “A ship?”

  “Yeah.”

  Moldark’s lip curled. “Why do you want a ship?”

  “When we’re done doing whatever you want, I want a ship. No questions questioned.”

  “I think you mean no questions asked.”

  “Nope. The way I said it.”

  “No questions questioned?”

  “Yup.”

  Moldark knew the mortal child would most likely not survive the plans he had for her. And if she did, well, he’d execute her himself. But he remained curious about whatever her goal was, so he’d let the bargaining continue. It may even work in his favor—if she intended to do what he suspected she did. “And what do you intend to do with this ship?”

  “That’s my business,” she replied.

  “But it’s my ship.”

  “You need help doing something, and I need a ship. If you can’t agree to that, then there’s no deal.”

  Moldark made a show of looking around in frustration. “Fine,” he said at last. “You have yourself a deal. Now, can we please continue to the transports?” He gestured outside toward the shuttles waiting beyond the front courtyard.

  “Do you swear it?”

  “Swear what?”

  “Swear that you’ll give me a ship?”

  Moldark rolled his neck, trying to relieve the tension building in his shoulders. “I swear it.”

  “On your ancestors’ graves?”

  Moldark eyed the child with some level of curiosity. This was a strange custom.

  She put out a hand as if offering him some invisible trinket. “Swear your eternal soul to be bound to their graves, or else I’m not getting on your shuttle out there.”

  “I swear it,” Moldark said at last. “Now, can we go?”

  “Sure.” Piper turned down the long carpet and headed for the door without him.

  * * *

  With the child stowed in his private quarters, Moldark proceeded to the Peregrine’s bridge. The main holo screen displayed an image of Worru from orbit. Moldark resisted the urge to incinerate the capital city and bury So-Elku forever, because he knew the child would sense it. He needed her to believe in Admiral Kane—to believe that he was good. All in due time, he thought to himself.

  Captain Ellis greeted him with a salute. “Your lordship, I have information for you pertaining to—”

  “I’m not interested.” Moldark waved a hand at the man. “Take us out of the system.” />
  “But sir, it’s about the Republic ships we saw departing.”

  Perhaps he was interested, at least tentatively. “Speak.”

  “Our sensors detected the two troop transports leave orbit and then vanish.”

  “A subspace jump, Captain.”

  “That’s just it, my lord. There was no jump signature and no wake pattern.”

  Moldark narrowed his eyes at the captain.

  “I know, sir,” Ellis said, seeming to sense Moldark’s reservations. “I triple checked the data personally to make sure it was accurate. And still all sensors show that—”

  “They entered a void horizon.”

  “Yes, my lord.”

  “What were the coordinates?”

  Ellis waved at someone behind the navigation console, and a few seconds later, a star chart filled the main holo screen. “Here, my lord. On the other side of the planet adjacent to us.”

  “What are you up to?” Moldark whispered. He puzzled over why the Republic might be colluding with the rebels. Was this So-Elku’s doing? But the more he thought about it, the more Moldark realized such a partnership seemed unlikely. For if something official had been sanctioned, more than two troop transports would have left the planet. Plus, he’d taken possession of the child. If Moldark played this right, he might get everything he wanted all at once, and that thought made him smile.

  “Leave it,” Moldark said to Ellis.

  “But, my lord—”

  “We have what we need,” Moldark spat. “Return to the Labyrinth.”

  Ellis saluted. “As you have commanded, my lord.”

  13

  Magnus crouched behind four fire teams of ex-Marines as they fired their new NOV1s downrange. The men took cover behind burnt-out skiffs, clad in their newly manufactured Novian armor, only without the luxury of chameleon mode—at least not yet. The teams sent blaster bolts downrange in steady waves, firing on a well-armed enemy. Explosions erupted in the distance as the powerful sounds of destruction echoed off the skyscrapers and seemed to shake sand from the pale clouds.