---
Adamarus ran his hand through his hair, “It was surreal Radin. The second I said the Stow wanted to take a look at the problem, it was fixed.”
Radin looked off into the distance, “Fuck.”
They were underway again, black hole back in place.
---
It was spring in the Atrium and in the Stow city within the lava tubes of North Peak, a selection process was underway.
After the meteor had crashed through their world killing thousands, not to mention the wall of fire that had moved through the Atrium when Nemesis jumped, the Stow had been rethinking their status and stability. It was turning out that their existence was rather fragile.
This wasn’t a planet. If Nemesis was destroyed, their species would go extinct. The Stow had no seed ship to help with the survival of their species like the humans. They were suddenly worried about this. They wanted their species to survive if possible.
Their plan, pack sisters, some males and a queen—enough to start a new hive—in stasis pods and load them on the human’s seed ship. Forty-eight was the minimum number so, in secret, 48 volunteers would be packed in stasis pods and secretly loaded on The Spore.
The last Stow was getting in her pod. Her name was d-aba. d-eli stopped her and spoke, “We will wake you with replacements after your shift in one hundred years. If something has happened and we cannot, we’ve packed a transmitter device in your pod and will try to send you a message telling you why we could not wake you. There is also a 100-year timer which will wake you up. Of course, there are instructions on how to wake you.”
“I understand,” d-aba said. She lowered herself into the pod, compressed herself and the pod folded in on her compressing her further.
---
Adamarus saw Radin off as Radin lowered himself into the hiber-pod.
“Take care of things while I’m under,” Radin deadpanned.
“What can go wrong?” Adamarus asked.
A buzzing sound started in Radin’s ears and Adamarus faded… …
Radin looked around.
Adamarus, Leewood, Harrington and Woodworth were on hand for the departure of the two Loud Umbrella ships. They were all gathered in the new observation deck of one of the first orbital habitats to be built to watch the ships depart. It was bare inside; no one had even moved in yet.
There was also an avatar present which Bugs was operating from its ship. “Well, my friends, we’ll be back before you know it.” It bowed slightly, then said, “May probability fold in your favor!” and the avatar went still.
Radin looked at the three Loud interplanetary Umbrella ships. Each one was seven-miles long. Each one, from Radin’s view, looked like an upside-down umbrella. Two were leaving, one would stay.
They watched as the graviton drives engaged and two of the ships shimmered and vanished using the phased acceleration technology that no one understood yet.
Overhead on a large screen, telescopes tracked the ships which had jumped to relativistic speeds almost instantly. They watched until the ships were just dots of light at the highest magnification.
Adamarus turned to the assembled group, “Well, what are we waiting for? We have an enormous amount of work to do over the next three hundred years.” The statement, though absolutely true, brought laughter from the assembled crowd. “Let’s get to it!”
Radin laughed then smelled a metallic smell and suddenly red lights blinded him.
The pod opened above Radin and the tech asked, “How are you doing sir?”
“Is this real or am I dreaming?” Radin asked.
“I know how you feel, this is real I assure you.” the tech replied even though the tech could not ensure this was really true.
Radin got out and slowly made his way out of the chamber. He waved to the tech as he left, “In your favor.”
The tech nodded and replied with the newer shortened version Radin hadn’t heard yet, “Favor.”
---
The Yoga Toga was a relatively new bar in the shabbier part of Nemesis City. Whitehall had a dark booth in the back, sipping his poison and brooding.
He didn’t really notice the three come in. They were just suddenly there at the bar drinking and talking too loudly. Whitehall sighed and tucked himself deeper into his booth.
The one in the middle was really drunk and almost crying. “I just couldn’t tell anyone. It would have ruined my spot here and I wanted a job on this ship.”
“But man, that’s heavy stuff,” the one on the left said.
Whitehall looked them over. The three were all marines. He took a drink.
The guy on the right said, “Orders just got mixed up buddy. Everyone was going crazy.”
Others at the bar were politely listening now.
The middle one slurred a reply, “I am the sole survivor of the 60th. I know what I know. But saying more about it? Forget it.”
The guy on the left: “Let me get this straight. He says the 60th Infantry was ordered to cover for asshole’s unit until they could reposition and cover the 60th’s retreat and…”
Whitehall’s head jerked up and his heart started pounding.
The guy on the right said, “And what does the 1st Mobil Heavy Artillery do? Runs. Claims they had orders to evacuate people but… he ran. And the 60th? Wiped out!”
Talk was spreading amoung the other patrons at the bar. Whitehall’s head was starting to pound.
“Your damn right that asshole Whitehall ran,” a man down the bar in a navy uniform said.
Someone else said, “Yeah!”
Another, “Your damn right!”
Whitehall, in a red haze, felt for then drew his sidearm, a new laser pistol. He slid out of the booth and walked up behind the middle man at the bar and pointed his pistol at the back of the man’s head.
Gasps came from the others in the bar.
The men on the right and left turned, saw and recognized Whitehall. Their eyes went wide and they both got up and edged away. Whitehall watched them go and only then seemed to notice everyone else in the bar.
He turned back to the man who claimed to be the sole survivor of the 60th Infantry. “What’s your name?” The general asked in a controlled voice.
The man turned and stared in disbelief at Whitehall, the gun now pointed at his forehead.
“Corporal, I asked you a question?”
His voice shook, “Corporal Ben Dobrin, si… si… sir.”
Whitehall knew he’d over stepped in front of too many people. He holstered his pistol then grilled Dobrin on his unit, job and commanding officer.
“Your drunk. Too drunk. Plus, what you say…”
“I never said nothing…”
“… is a lie. I was there. Are you calling me a liar?”
“No, sir.”
Whitehall sighed. This guy was going to have to have an accident. He turned and walked out.
---
News spreads in an enclosed environment and word of Dobrin’s tale and Whitehall’s pointing a laser pistol at the man got around to Radin within hours.
He assembled security, “I want a Corporal Ben Dobrin located and brought to me.”
It took an hour.
Corporal Ben Dobrin looked like a haggard veteran. He looked like the sole survivor of the 60th Infantry. He sat upright in his chair looking straight ahead.
“Corporal, I need you to tell me what happened back on the day the Slayers attacked Amular concerning the 60th and the 1st.”
“Sir,” Dobrin swallowed, “I was there when orders came in from General Bradbury, sir. We were to hold off moving until the energy beams passed us so that the 1st, could move to high ground and give us cover to retreat.” Dobrin looked down, “We got no cover, and the 60th was wiped out. Everyone… but me.”
Radin looked at him hard. He believed him. And he knew that Bradbury would not give the 60th orders like that then tell Whitehall to move the 1st rearward to evac anyone.
“You will not tell anyone else abo
ut this,” Radin said.
“The general threatened me… he held a gun to my head. The only reason he didn’t shoot me was there were too many witnesses.”
“Corporal, I guarantee you Whitehall wouldn’t let any harm come to you. Everyone on the ship knows this by now. You’re the safest person on Nemesis.”
Chapter Fifteen – The Loud
“Time stops when you reach a singularity. Therefore, to a singularity, the universe begins and ends in the same instant. That means that, to a singularity, every time is the same time and every place is the same place.”
The Stow named d-eli
Source: The Archive
Within the dark caverns and corridors of the Blackship life had returned to normal. Workers trudged through their own molded waste splashing it high as they shit, feed, breathed and squawked all through the same orifice and, went about their ship’s duties.
The 186 Harvesters had been selected and now they were being modified. Modified for a specific purpose. This took 30-years but time had an altogether different meaning to the Slayers.
At last, their bodies and minds were transformed and now, finally, they were fully ready.
Ships had been prepared for the Harvesters and they boarded. The ships departed from the Blackship and spent 150 years traveling to a star.
The star had been easy for the Blackship to find and do initial profiles on. Signals from the fifth planet had flooded space in every direction for light years and the Blackship had picked these up and analyzed them.
The ships finally arrived and for all the world looked like three upside-down umbrellas. They parked far above the planet and went into stealth mode. They would study the intelligent life on the planet below and learn its hopes, dreams and aspirations. They would determine if they could be motivated into becoming Helpers. If not, they’d be destroyed. If so, the game was on.
---
The tech looked down at Adamarus, “Have a good sleep Admiral.”
“Thank you,” Adamarus replied and closed his eyes.
It was a time before the Loud avatars, the time of the Listening Chamber. They walked to the large thick window and faced the alien.
As soon as Bugs saw them, it sucked in air and rose rapidly up towards the ceiling. Even having been told about this, it startled Grace and six-year-old Nero and they took a step back. As Bugs pushed the air out and issued the ear-shattering screech, Nero grabbed his mother’s leg tightly. The translator issued its words almost without delay, “Greetings, beloved wife and son of Adamarus. I am honored by your presence.”
Both mother and son relaxed a little upon hearing its words, but they just stood there staring at it, not saying anything. Adamarus nudged Grace and whispered, “Say hello.”
Grace looked at him, nodded and cleared her throat, “Hello, Bugs. It’s an honor and a pleasure to meet you, too.” The progress bar on the translation box shot across and a short screech could be heard issuing in the chamber beyond the glass.
Bugs replied, “The honor and pleasure is all mine. Both of you must be very proud of your husband and father. Nero, I hear that you have a couple of questions you wish to ask me.”
Nero looked nervously at his mother and then his dad. Both nodded, encouraging him to speak up. Nero looked back at Bugs and in a small voice said, “Hello, Bugs. Ah…yes, if you don’t mind.”
“I don’t mind at all.”
“The first one is from me and is just this: How old are you?”
Bugs answered, “Well, Nero, you have to understand that keeping track of our age is not as important to us as it is for you. I would have to look it up to be exact, but I can tell you that I am about three thousand years old.”
“Wow!” Nero exclaimed.
Grace’s mouth fell open, and she looked at Adamarus who nodded. It had been one of the initial questions he’d put to Bugs, but it, as well as all information from the aliens, was classified. It had not occurred to him that Nero’s questions would reveal classified information and he had not thought to mention Nero’s questions to anyone. He would have to talk to Nero and Grace later.
“And what is your second question?” Bugs asked.
“This is from my class at school.” Nero quickly dug a crumpled piece of paper out of his pocket and unfolded it. He looked at it and began reading, “Eighteen hundred and fifty-four years ago your star, G214H, underwent a stellar flare. It was so bright it could be seen in broad daylight for a week…” Adamarus and Grace both turned and looked at Nero, their mouths dropping in surprise. “…the question is, how did your species survive that?” Everyone looked back to Bugs.
Bugs remained perfectly still. Adamarus noticed that the receptors in his eyes had drifted evenly apart. He realized that this must mean that the eyes were not focused on any particular thing. Adamarus had never seen anything like it. They all looked at each other and Adamarus shook his head. They all looked back at Bugs. Adamarus was about to ask the alien if something was wrong, but suddenly its eyes focused again and it expanded upward. “I’m afraid you are wrong. There was no stellar flare.”
The hiber-dream shifted…
Adamarus followed Howard, walking quickly to catch up. “Hey, Howard…what was that all about?”
Howard turned, “Adamarus, we must speak immediately.”
Adamarus was shocked by the expression on Howard’s face, “What’s wrong?”
“Everything. I’m afraid that…” but Howard suddenly cut off and lowered his head. Then he reached up with his hands and grabbed it on each side. He let out a mournful wail and dropped to his knees.
Adamarus rushed over and knelt down beside him. He noticed in alarm that blood was coming from Howard’s ears.
“Noooo,” Howard said as he toppled over and crumbled to the floor.
Adamarus dropped down beside him and propped his head up, “What’s wrong, Howard?” but the young man was shaking uncontrollably.
Howard looked up at Adamarus. There was pain in his eyes. With great effort, he muttered, “Paladin.”
Paladin? Adamarus thought.
Red lights shown in Adamarus’ eyes…
The pod lid opened and Adamarus rubbed his eyes.
“Hi Radin,” he said somewhat hoarsely. “What this time?”
“Some serious and rather disturbing incidents have occurred involving Whitehall. I’m afraid rumors are all over the ship and… Whitehall may be in danger.”
Adamarus gave Radin a look, “Really? Not the Stow?”
“Well, yes, d-eli has requested an audience with you. Her issues are perhaps bigger picture while Whitehall can wait. I’d see her first.”
---
d-eli met Adamarus at the entrance to the Stow city. Stow shuttles flew everywhere. Massive, elaborate hives had been carved into the lava tubes and new chambers had been created. North Peak was almost hollow.
“Hello d-eli, how is the queen?” Adamarus asked.
“Hello, Adamarus. The queen is fine, thank you for asking.”
“Very impressive,” Adamarus nodded towards the city.
“It’s very old really… but, thank you.”
“What’s this all about?” Adamarus asked.
“We have discovered something.”
“What?”
d-eli looked away for a moment then back, “The Queen of Queens wants to tell you herself.”
Adamarus was shocked. No one had ever met with any queen let alone the queen reigning over all the queens.
d-eli summoned a Stow air taxi and it took them through the city to the central hive. The vastness of the central hive was dizzying. In the center, the Queen of Queens waited for them.
She was grotesque but stately, “Adamarus, at last, we meet.” Her voice was deep and crispy.
Adamarus thought he should bow or something. Instead, he said, “How do I address you.”
“You can call me d-les… Queen of all Queens is such a mouth full.”
“d-les, it is an honor to meet you,” Adamarus said.
<
br /> “Yes, yes. Now tell me, how much do you trust the Loud?”
The Queen of Queens question took Adamarus by surprise, “Why do you ask?”
“Please, do not answer a question with a question.”
Adamarus was somewhat put out. “I completely trust Bugs.”
d-les considered this a moment, “Okay. May I ask why?”
Adamarus felt a surge of anger, “I trust Bugs more then I trust you.”
“That’s going to change. Bugs has an agenda that doesn’t bode well for humans I think.”
“I’ve heard enough,” Adamarus said and turned on his heel and started walking out.
The Queen of Queens said, “Paladin.”
Adamarus stopped in his tracks and turned, “What did you say?”
d-les the Queen of Queens looked pleased. “We’ve discovered that certain parts of your Archive have been erased.”
“That’s not supposed to be possible,” Adamarus said.
“In reality, it’s not possible, however, you can disconnect information, so it seems to vanish. Actually, you, that is humans, can’t. We can and, of course, the Loud can.”
Adamarus felt somewhat mad but even more off balance. “What about Paladin?” That had been the word that Howard Dawn had spoken before he died.
“That’s what was erased. Everything about him.”
“Who was he?” Adamarus felt dizzy.
“He was an astronomer. His only claim to fame came at the same time the super speck was discovered so what he did went somewhat unnoticed. What he did was estimate the time it would take the light from an ancient stellar flare to reach a nearby nebula, bounce off it and come back to Amular. He took pictures of it.”
“I don’t understand.”
“The stellar flare was the star the Loud said was their star,” d-les said.
Adamarus was stunned. “Wait, that wasn’t the Loud star that flared, it was a passing star that just happened to line up with the Loud star. Bugs explained this.”
“No. The way the light hits the nebula proves it was the Loud’s star that had the flair and no life form could have survived that flare up. You better ask your friend Bugs again.”
Adamarus just looked at her with confusion on his face. So somehow Howard Dawn had known about this Paladin and known that Bugs was lying. Known that Bugs and the Loud were not from that star. That must have been the argument that Howard had had with Bugs just minutes before Howard died. Could Bugs have had something to do with Howard’s death?
Odyssey (The Spiral Slayers Book 3) Page 19