A Galaxy Divided

by Spencer Maxwell

  Helmet, Ryze thought. I forgot it.

  DON’T WORRY. I WILL TELL JADE.

  Thank you…I guess. Tell her Spex is probably worried.

  “Right,” Jade said. “And I’ve already told Spex.”

  Thank you, Ryze told the Gelerris. It dawned on him how natural conversing telepathically with a green blob was. Almost too natural.

  Jade came back with the helmet on, laughing. “How do you even see in this thing, Starlo? And Gods, how do you breathe? It stinks in here. You ever hear of disinfectant and air freshener?” She took it off and smoothed her hair down.

  “I h-have n-n-no idea w-wuh-what’s g-going on…” Ryze said, unaware he’d spoken actual words for the first time since his run-in with a bolt gun. “And huh-why a-are y-y-you c-c-called Blue if y-you’re g-gruh-green?”

  “There’s that jerky attitude I’ve missed so much,” Jade said and laughed.

  IT’S A LONG STORY, Blue answered, BUT WE ARE ALMOST THERE, AND YOU WILL FIND OUT MORE SOON.

  Eleven

  Ryze was seated at a long wooden table. It was polished to a shine so bright, he almost wished he couldn’t open his eyes again. Jade was across from him, smiling. Blue sat to his right, taking up two spots in a special seat that could accommodate his size. There were a lot of empty chairs.

  “Wuh-Wuh…What is t-t-this?” he asked.

  “Sounding better,” Jade said, ignoring the question. “Good job.”

  One of Blue’s tentacles reached over and slapped him hard on the back. He fell forward into the table and couldn’t push himself up.

  OH, MY APOLOGIES. LET ME HELP YOU.

  The same tentacle wrapped around his shoulders and placed him in the chair again.

  SOMETIMES I FORGET MY OWN STRENGTH.

  “Jade, please t-tell me w-why this green blob—I mean, this t-thing is—” Ryze started to say.

  I DO NOT LIKE THAT TERM, RYZE STARLO.

  “Ball?” Ryze corrected. It seemed the more he forced himself to talk, the easier it became. He raised his right arm in defense, achieving more movement than he'd originally anticipated given the timeframe.

  THAT’S BETTER, Blue said, I GUESS.

  “Anyway,” Jade interrupted, “what’s going on, right? Funny story, and not all that long of one.”

  Ryze blinked, waiting.

  “Well, you were right. There is a base on this moon. Obviously.” Jade looked around and up into the shadows of the vaulted ceiling. “Hidden in the mountains like you said, but the rebellion…”

  I knew it, he thought.

  “The rebellion w-what?” Ryze said.

  HOLD ON, STARLO. I’M GONNA GET YOU SOMETHING TO SPEED UP YOUR RECOVERY.

  I’m fine.

  JUST ONE SECOND.

  Blue jumped out of the chair and disappeared through a swinging door behind Jade.

  “I-I don’t get it,” Ryze said. He lifted his left arm, ignoring the pain, and let it fall on the table. It was as if his limbs were asleep and he was trying to spark feeling back into them.

  Blue returned. In one tentacle he carried a mug of steaming liquid, a straw poking out of it. He set the beverage in front of Ryze and took his place at the table.

  GO ON, DRINK UP.

  What is it?

  IT’S CALLED MOONBEAN JUICE. IT’S GOOD. FROM THE MIQUE FIELDS AT THE SOUTH POLE. IT WILL HELP YOUR LIMBS WAKE UP. I PROMISE.

  Ryze stared at the mug warily.

  “It’s safe,” Jade said. “Go on.”

  YES, GO ON. YOU CAN TRUST ME. YOUR BLOB FRIEND. Blue’s mouth feelers, little green tentacles themselves, lifted and took his jowls up into something of a mouthless smile.

  Ryze tried smiling back, but it felt more like a snarl.

  I guess I’ll do anything once…

  THAT’S THE SPIRIT!

  Leaning forward, Ryze slurped from the straw. The liquid rolled down his throat and warmed his chest and belly. It tasted sweet, and it was heavy enough to be a meal on its own. He hadn’t had anything that tasted so good in a long time, not even at the feast he, Jade, and Wylow shared at Ty’s.

  Wow, that’s actually…great.

  I TOLD YOU. I AM NOT A LIAR, MY FRIEND.

  So now we’re friends, even after I called you a blob?

  WELL, I DID WATCH YOU GET STUNNED, AND THEN I DID THROW YOU INTO A CELL. WE CAN BE EVEN FOR NOW.

  Deal.

  Sure enough, over the course of this quick mental conversation, Ryze’s limbs started to loosen. Feeling came back into his muscles in a rush, and the numbness drained away like old fluid from a starcraft’s injector line. Quickly, he reached with a steady hand, ditched the straw, and brought the mug to his lips. The mug was empty in two gulps.

  “Wow!” he shouted once it was down. “I feel like a million frags!”

  “That’s good to hear,” Jade said.

  Ryze stood and stretched. His body was sore, but not nearly as bad as it would’ve felt had he come out of the paralysis without the help of moonbean juice. “All right, Jade. I’m good now, so let’s get the hell out of here.”

  “What?” She wrinkled her brow. “Hold on, Ryze. Hear us out first.”

  “Don’t need to. Why would I want to stay where there’s a giant worm burrowing beneath the surface, and a telepathic green blo—er, ball stuffs you into a spherical prison?” He made his way toward the door. “And Button? Did you honestly name that worm beast Button?”

  Before Ryze could hit the door’s control, it opened, and a new stranger stepped lithely in his way.

  “Because, Ryze Starlo,” this peculiar woman said, “we’re your best hope at saving the one called Wylow.”

  Twelve

  The woman strode around the table and faced Ryze. She was Linq, an ancient race of feline-like people who’d gone extinct over two Common decades ago. The Linq planet was one of the first the God-King had laid destruction to. They had risen up and fought, and were mildly successful, too. Their legend as great warriors had spread throughout the stars afterwards. Ryze remembered the images on the Holo Net, images of Linq armies taking down Dominion ships as easily as cats kills mice, some of their warriors brandishing their priceless void-weapons called abysslades. Voidrunners, these warriors were called. Unfortunately, the God-King was an up-and-coming dictator, and he wouldn’t let himself be humiliated at the hands of the Linqians. Linq was used to make an example. Anyone that resists will be turned to ash. It was his flagship, the Behemoth, that destroyed the small planet, obliterating millions of inhabitants in the process.

  Ryze rubbed his eyes until stars pricked his vision. Like Blue, a Gelerris, Ryze had never seen a Linq in person. He wondered if this one was a voidrunner. Still, he couldn’t believe it.

  Because they no longer exist, he thought. This is a dream. Even if a few hundred or a thousand Linqs got off the planet before the God-King blew it to hell, they were hunted down and publicly executed. I remember those images on the Holo Net, too… How could I ever forget?

  SHE IS REAL. YOU’RE NOT LOOKING AT AN APPARITION, Blue said.

  The Linq stuck out a paw that looked slightly like a human hand.

  Ryze, his mouth hanging open, brought up his own and took the Linq’s. They shook.

  “My name is Sae. It is a pleasure to meet you under…different circumstances.”

  I’m not hallucinating, am I?

  NOPE.

  Are you sure? There’s some real powerful simulators on Faze.

  YOU’RE NOT ON FAZE, BUT WORD OF ADVICE: NEVER ASK WHAT YOU THINK IS A HALLUCINATION IF IT’S REAL OR NOT. IT’S IN THE HALLUCINATION’S BEST INTEREST TO LIE TO YOU AND KEEP THE CHARADE GOING.

  Good point.

  “Yes, Ryze Starlo, I am very real. You may close your mouth now,” Sae said.

  “How?” he said.

  “Pressing your lips together is a good start.” Sae smiled. “Now have a seat and I’ll explain.” She pulled his chair out for him, then lithely rounded the table and took her place at its head.

  Jade
was smiling. He tried to return it but found he couldn’t.

  Sae leaned forward and put her hand on Ryze’s shoulder. “I am sorry for what occurred outside. We don’t get many visitors, and Button is the cheapest and best form of security. He has been here for eons.”

  “I don’t know, the spheres and electricity-induced paralysis is pretty good for security, too. And Button? That’s the worm’s name? Really?” Ryze said.

  YES, I ALREADY TOLD YOU BUTTON IS HIS NAME, Blue said. I GAVE IT TO HIM MYSELF.

  Ryze turned to Blue. “It’s a good name,” he said. “I don’t know about fitting— Oh, Blue just told me he named Button himself.”

  “We know,” Jade said.

  Ryze tilted his head and blinked. “How? I thought he was only talking in my head.”

  I’M BROADCASTING MY SPEECH TO ALL OF YOU.

  “Wow, that’s actually pretty cool.”

  IS IT? I’VE ALWAYS BEEN ABLE TO DO THIS. THIS IS HOW MY SPECIES ALL COMMUNICATE. The tone of Blue’s voice in Ryze’s head sounded flat. HOW THEY USED TO COMMUNICATE, I MEANT.

  “Yes,” Sae said, “Blue and I are the last of our kind. There may be more of us out there, but we don’t think so.”

  “I’m sorry to hear that—” Ryze began, but his helmet chirped. At first he didn’t understand what the sound was. It seemed his suit and armor were down for days instead of only a couple hours. Then it hit him. He grabbed the helmet and put it on. “Spex?”

  “Sir? Glad to hear your voice. Are you okay?”

  “Yeah…I think so. I mean, I guess that’s a pretty deep question when you really think of it, but that’s probably best left to the philosophers—”

  “I had feared you were gone for good. I saw you above the worm, and then dropping, but the viewscreen turned to static, and then your communicator went dead and your signal disappeared from the console. I was going mad not knowing. Thankfully Queen Jade informed me of your predicament.”

  Ryze laughed. “Yeah, some predicament it is.”

  “How sweet,” Jade said. “He loooooves you. And hi, Spex!”

  “Is that Jade, sir?”

  “Yes.”

  “Greetings, Queen Jade!”

  “Yeah, yeah, you two can catch up in a bit. Right now, we gotta get back down to business,” Ryze said. “Starlo out.” He turned his comm off and set the helmet in front of him, next to his empty mug. “Sorry, that was my pesky first mate.”

  “Oh, should he join us?” Sae asked.

  Ryze snorted laughter. “No, no—he’s an AI, and not a particularly obedient one at that. Plus, he’s probably already listening as we speak.”

  Sae nodded. “I see, I see. So where were we?”

  Feeling more confident, Ryze said, “Right. Our friend Wylow is in Dominion captivity.”

  “Yes, Queen Jade has informed us of your problem,” Sae said. “And she has told us about that.” The Linq purred as she pointed to the crystal around Jade’s neck, the noise as soft as the artifact’s glowing light. Her eyes were large and shiny.

  “Oh yeah,” Ryze said, “that stupid rock.”

  STUPID? Blue gasped. HOW DARE HE—

  “Settle down, Blue,” Sae said. “He doesn’t know its importance like those on Linq did.”

  “Explain it to me,” Ryze said. “I’d be surprised if you could really make me care for a rock.”

  “This piece is one of the Fractured. Once, there were over two dozen of them throughout the galaxy. The God-King, or Zaidre as his Common name was, tracked them down over the span of his rule. There was even one on Linq—it was the reason he invaded my planet in the first place.”

  Ryze leaned forward, eyes wide. “Seriously? He did all that for a piece of hardened dirt?”

  “I am afraid so,” Sae answered. “He has done it many times over.”

  YOU CAN SAY THAT AGAIN, Blue said.

  “Right,” Sae added. “Blue here was one of the lucky inhabitants of Gelerris who’d been off-planet at the time of his small moon’s destruction and one who’d lucky enough to avoid being hunted down.”

  LUCKY? The alien laughed. I WOULDN’T GO THAT FAR. I LOST EVERYONE I EVER CARED ABOUT—MY PARENTS, MY FRIENDS, MY GIRLFRIEND. NOW I AM ALONE, THE ONLY GELERRIS STILL BREATHING.

  “You don’t know that for sure,” Jade said. “There could be others.”

  BELIEVE ME, JADE, I KNOW THAT. WE ARE ALL PART OF A PSYCHIC NETWORK SPANNING LIGHTYEARS. IT WAS USED TO COMMUNICATE OVER LONG DISTANCES, AND NOW THAT NETWORK IS EMPTY. NOTHING BUT WHITE NOISE.

  “God, that’s terrible,” Jade said, bringing a hand up to her mouth.

  IT IS THE WAY OF LIFE UNDER THE GOD-KING’S RULE. THERE IS NOTHING I CAN DO ABOUT IT. IT IS THAT SIMPLE.

  Ryze leaned to his right and put an arm on the Gelerris’s shoulder—or what he thought was his shoulder. “I’m sorry, man. Real sorry.” He felt a sadness for Blue that he wouldn’t have ever felt before he’d met Jade and Wylow. Getting soft was what he called it, and at this point in their journey, he had learned to accept that fact. It wasn’t too bad, having people in his life that he cared about, having empathy. A foreign emotion, for sure, but one he had learned to welcome. For the most part… It was still an adjustment, yes, he’d be the first to admit that, but he was getting there.

  THANK YOU, RYZE STARLO. I KNOW SYMPATHY DOES NOT COME EASILY TO YOU. YOU ARE AS TOUGH AS YOUR ARMOR. OR AT LEAST YOU PROJECT THAT TO OTHERS.

  “How do you figure that?”

  TELEPATHY.

  “Damn. I keep forgetting. I don’t know how, considering how you’re talking to me.”

  “You will get used to it,” Sae said. “Now let us get down to business.”

  “You’re the boss,” Ryze replied.

  The Linq smiled at him. Ryze still couldn’t believe it, that she was here and sitting a few feet away from him.

  NOT DREAMING, RYZE STARLO. HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO TELL YOU THAT?

  “Blue, man, you gotta stop broadcasting my thoughts. You don’t do it to Jade or Sae—only me, why’s that?”

  I DON’T KNOW. I GUESS IT IS FUNNIER THAT WAY.

  Ryze rolled his eyes. “Thanks. Thanks a lot.”

  “You’ll get used to that, too,” Sae said.

  “Will I?”

  YOU WILL.

  “And why is that? I don’t see us hanging out anytime soon,” Ryze said.

  “You two will be working together,” Sae said.

  Ryze arched an eyebrow. “How so?”

  Jade leaned forward and said, “This is what I wanted to talk to you about, Ryze. While you were in the sphere, we figured something out.”

  “Correction: while I was suffering in the sphere.”

  Jade went on without sympathy to Ryze’s aching muscles. “There’s a place in the Locklaw System—”

  Ryze laughed and shook his head fast enough for his neck to pop. He knew the Locklaw System, he knew it all too well. It was a cluster of three worlds. One a gas giant and two dwarf planets. Each one was one large prison. Before the Dominion takeover, these planets were largely uninhabited. A few indigenous people lacking in the way of technological advancements lived there, until the Dominion burned their homes to the ground. Others were exiled to other planets, where they were bought and sold as slaves. The majority, however, were murdered. The biggest planet in the system, Sker, when viewed from space, was dark red. Legend said it was only that way because of how much blood had been spilled there. Endless rivers. Oceans.

  “Nope. Count me out.” Ryze stood again, this time determined to leave.

  “Wait, hear me out,” Jade argued.

  Before Ryze left, he turned and eyed the three sitting at the table. “You’re all crazy, you know that, right?”

  Jade nodded, Sae purred, and Blue shrugged two of his tentacles.

  Sae spoke up first, her voice soothing and calm. That voice was probably the only reason Ryze hadn’t bolted yet. “It is necessary to be crazy sometimes, especially if you want success.”

  �
��I am crazy, but the Locklaw System? Sker? I’m not that crazy.”

  Jade stared his way with an intense gaze. He wanted to look away, but at the same time, he wasn’t able to. If he hadn’t understood before, he understood now: Jade really was the gone king’s daughter. She commanded a royal presence the same way her father had. The man could stand before a crowd of two dozen soldiers and inspire them to fight a legion of Dominion enemies and somehow win—and he had done that many times before. Ryze was there on the front lines, had witnessed it firsthand.

  “Ryze Starlo,” Jade snapped in a voice that he thought could be heard over lightyears. “I know how you feel about Wylow.”

  “She’s a nice gal, I’ll admit,” he said, turning a hand over and looking at where his nails would be if not obscured by his suit’s gloves.

  “No. You like her—perhaps close to loving her. In the short span of time you’ve known my queensguard, she has inspired you to change from a stony, stubborn man to, dare I say, a hero.”

  “I’ve always been a hero,” he argued.

  Jade laughed.

  WE ALL THINK THAT ABOUT OURSELVES, Blue added, BUT IT IS OUR ACTIONS THAT DETERMINE SUCH THINGS. HAVE YOUR ACTIONS BEFORE YOU BECAME ENTANGLED WITH QUEEN JADE BEEN HEROIC?

  The short answer: No. Ryze looked away, wishing he was wearing his helmet.

  “You have feelings for her,” Jade said. “Not regular friendly feelings, either. I know it.”

  Is it that obvious how I feel about Wylow? He met Jade’s eyes. “What, are you psychic now, too?”

  “No. Spex told me.”

  “I knew it! That little robotic bastard, I’ll kill—”

  “Calm down. There’s no shame. Wylow is a beautiful, strong, and gentle soul. Of course, she could do much better than you…”

  “Watch it.”

  Jade laughed before her face turned serious. “If you want a future with Wylow, we have to save her. If she dies, there is no future. And right now, our options are slim. Those on Sker don’t usually live to talk about their experiences on other planets, and Sker is where she’s at.”

  “How do you even know?” Ryze asked.