Elysium Shining

by Terri Kraemer

  “She’s my sister, too. I can’t let you go alone.”

  “They’ll shoot you as soon as you’re spotted. At least I can try to get in and see Fe’remene by myself. I don’t know yet how I’ll get to Zoi’ne and get the both of us out of there, but I’ll think of something. I always do.”

  “That’s as much of a gamble as me saying I’ll lie low until reinforcements arrive, and you know it. I’ll help find her. Besides, you’re still in my protective custody, for the little good that’s doing either of us.”

  “Fine, but you better suit up quickly. Hey, Lieutenant!” One of the Peacekeepers looked her way. By now the gunfire had stopped. Most of the guards were bound, but the people running this facility weren’t in her view. “That back room over there; be extra careful when you arrest those ones in there.”

  “I know my job, Miss Thalassas,” said the man. “Where are you off to?”

  “To save our sister. Tell the laeknar in there, for me, to eat the most radioactive, jagged space rocks she can find.”

  “You’re not supposed to leave our custody.”

  “I’m not supposed to do a lot of things.”

  Without another word she hurried back to the security station and pressed a few buttons. Doing so opened a circular hatch outside where a bunker was located. It stored four sleighs at the moment rather than the five max that it could carry, and the ones that were present were being hoisted from the subterranean level to the surface by way of the lift at the bottom of the bunker. All of this appeared on a screen the size of Il’lyse’s head. She heard the sound of someone whistling behind her. It was the same lieutenant from before.

  “I would not mind riding one of those someday,” he said.

  “Tell you what, get some cold-weather clothes on in the next minute or less and you can ride one with Dasos and me. It’s self-propelled and holds up to three people at once. Each one should have plenty of fuel for multiple trips, but I see your men and women are preoccupied.”

  “Do you really intend to go?”

  “Do you intend to try and stop me?”

  “As you said, my men are preoccupied. There aren’t enough of us available to keep you detained. I’ll say you gave us the slip.”

  “Yeah, right, that’s exactly what I need.”

  “Good luck.”

  Il’lyse led her brother outside to where the sleighs were waiting. All of them were maroon along their bodies. The seats on the front and sides were black while the one in the rear and center was white. Now that she was bothering to look at this, it was clear to Il’lyse that the white seat was due to the Lady’s ego. She pointed to one and hopped into one of the black seats. A joyride on one of these might have sounded nice, but there were two main routes, plus an auxiliary one, programmed into the system to move the sleigh between dome and facility.

  “How fast are these things, anyways?” said Dasos, his voice loud to counter the growing snowstorm.

  “Walking to the manor would have taken us ninety minutes through the snow, which can get deep in certain spots if you’re not careful,” Il’lyse said as she activated the vehicle to move to the dome on the quickest route possible. “This will get us there in three minutes. Make sure you’re strapped in.”

  “Now you tell me. Good thing I was on it. Was that the place you said that you sabotaged?”

  “Yes, but it appears that they were quick to clean it up and resume operations for the last few days. I had swapped out a chemical they use for a poison I found with the same color and consistency, which caused a reaction when I was there last. I crammed the real chemical inside of the snow about a kilometer away from the dome. It was a few meters off the path of the second route, which the girl I framed likes to use.”

  “That sounds like you actually planned this.”

  “I tried. I feared that it wasn’t enough, or that I had messed up somewhere.”

  “You aren’t going to be doing things like this to us, are you?”

  “Not going to happen. I have harmless ones in mind for you, dear brother. Two whole revolutions’ worth.”

  Despite being unable to see his face, she could see his gaze on her and could tell by the silence that he was mulling over some sort of payback. Il’lyse smiled. Hopefully, Zoi’ne was still in a condition to enjoy these sibling hijinks.

  * * *

  She had wanted to avoid any unnecessary combat. With these three Hulda’fi and their palisticks, the fight made her exert herself further still. Zoey climbed the stairs as she warded off their assault. The narrow path of the stairs made it easier to deal with the Hulda’fi one at a time. One rebel she rammed into the wall and pushed back down toward the others. Another of them skipped past their kindred and rushed at Zoey. This was the fastest opponent between the three, and more skilled as well.

  Zoey let her senses go and kicked forward. The quicker insurgent caught her foot with both hands and pulled. Zoey saw it coming, and she gambled with a kick from her second leg. Her left foot crashed against the Hulda’fi’s head, knocking the mask off-center. Zoey had to catch a step in the staircase with her hands so as to reduce her fall, which happened with no issue, but the cultist still held her right foot. Using the base of the next step down, she pushed off with her hands into the Hulda’fi grappling her. She kicked hard with her left and pushed with her right. When Zoey felt her butt hit the stair, she realized that the quick Hulda’fi had let go and was tumbling back down.

  Not caring to assess the situation further Zoey pressed onward to the top of the stairs. There she closed the door and checked her surroundings. The door could swing out from the basement so having something heavy in the way was a good idea.

  Through one open doorway, she spotted a houseplant by the window in a ceramic pot that might be as tall as her knees. From this distance it wasn’t easy to tell with much accuracy. She considered how long it would take to drag the plant to this door if it were heavy enough to do any good. The next second she heard a large object drag against the white tiles of the floor.

  The Ginserei from before was pushing a couch toward Zoey’s direction. Zoey hopped out of the way, and the girl pressed the furniture against the door. Then she fell over on top of the sofa.

  “What are you doing?” Zoey said.

  “Helping you,” said the girl. “You’re really not one of us, are you? Neither am I. Or I wasn’t. I don’t even know.”

  “I don’t understand.”

  “I was a man before I joined. Belonging to a sex cult seemed like so much fun to me that I didn’t even fight it until recently. It took me five revolutions to realize that there is something wrong here. When Soror Valide broke, something about her struggle resonated with me, and now here I am.”

  The Hulda’fi behind the door banged against it. The door was too tough for them to break with whatever they had, and the sofa was keeping it in place. The strange girl laughed.

  “You’re Soror Valide’s sister, aren’t you?” The Ginserei asked. “I wondered if she had someone helping her fight this. I wish I did.”

  Zoey said, “How did you—?”

  “How did I know? I watched her most of all among the girls here. I had heard that someone aboard the Marslou and the nightclub in Trullwick had succeeded in getting under her skin. I knew she still had relatives. That fake voice you used reminded me of her when she was initiated two revolutions ago. So you’re the one who made her crack? Thank you. You gave me hope. I have no idea what you’re doing here, or what you’re planning, but let me help you by sitting right here until the law shows up. Of course, you’re welcome to join me for a while.” She beckoned with a single finger, and bit her lower lip.

  “I’m sorry, but I can’t do that. There’s only one girl for me.”

  “She must be a lucky girl. Then you better get going before I make you change your mind.”

  * * *

  The sleigh had stopped at the dome entrance. Il’lyse’s plan, if anything could be called one at this point, was to march inside and thr
ow off her winter gear. Then Dasos could slip in behind the bright flora of the garden and sneak in that way. She tossed her cap to the right, the opposite direction that Dasos was likely to go. In front of her, a few Hulda’fi stood in shock as their former sister took off her protective mask in broad faux-daylight. Il’lyse dropped the mask, but threw her coat at them.

  “What’s up?” she said to them. “Is the Lady Tunderek in? I have something that I need to say to her.”

  They said nothing to her, even as she passed them toward the house. Her right leg started to feel sore again, but she wasn’t about to show that weakness. Let anyone who could see her believe that Soror Valide was as undying as their precious goddess. She spotted a couple of them wearing their masks and chatting out of earshot. Chances were, now, that everyone with a radio receiver set to the current frequency knew that she had returned alive.

  Every sister and brother got out of her way as Il’lyse navigated through the halls of the house. No one wanted to fight her. She didn’t blame them.

  The admiral and lord of the manor exited one door and saw her. He said, “She is seeing someone at the moment, but said she’ll see you too.”

  “Great,” said Il’lyse. “When I’m done talking to her, I’ll come deal with you.”

  “Not likely.” He walked off in another direction, letting Il’lyse pass.

  Out of the Lady’s favorite places around the house, this doorway led to one in particular. She is seeing someone at the moment, Chan-Yeol’s voice echoed. The thought of Zoi’ne in their grasp made Il’lyse worry. It made her angry.

  She stepped inside and climbed the stairs to the second floor of the manor. Il’lyse knew the Lady too well, and could already hear her sultry whispers. The Lady loved to be in one of three seats she’d set up where the view of the outdoors was pleasant, and where there was a persistent shadow over which the chair had been set up.

  Another voice moaned and pleaded.

  “Yes, I know,” said Fe’remene, “you’ve said time and again that you’re innocent. But you were also careless, weren’t you?”

  “I was, Hallowed Lady,” said the other voice.

  “Good girl. I now give you release.”

  “Thank y—augh!” The other girl choked, and there was a thud on the floor.

  Finally Il’lyse saw Fe’remene behind a series of wooden room dividers. On the floor next to her feet was a girl, naked and bleeding, with the splatter on the ground before Fe’remene. There was a knife in the Lady’s hand with blood on it as well, but she leered at Il’lyse and threw the weapon to the side.

  “Ho-ho, look who decided to come,” said Fe’remene. “Is it the younger sister made by accident, or the older with all of the tenacity of a roach?”

  “It hardly matters,” Il’lyse said, passing the opening in the dividers.

  “Of course it does. I would like to know if I should convert someone brand new, or if I should remind someone old of her place before she dies in my hand.”

  “You have no right toying with people’s lives.”

  “Wrong. I have lived for over three centuries. My wounds heal faster than any other person unassisted. When the people who remade me refused to worship me, and instead demanded my obedience like some call center operator, I killed them and the others who would have been like me had their procedures been completed. If anyone has the right to demand fealty from all, if anyone is in a position to play with every other person in the universe, then it’s me.”

  “No one has beaten you, you mean. I’m going to repay you for the day you took me from my real family. I will beat you.”

  Fe’remene had been laughing. “Family! That is a preposterous word. It matters who you belong to, and nothing more. We had given you a place where you belonged for two revolutions. Ho-ho, I believe you have a sister approaching who agrees with me; or perhaps a brother. Come, do you not agree that her place is here?”

  A Hulda’fi who had donned a full combat suit, with the mask on and hood up, had entered the room and now pointed a pistol at Il’lyse. It trembled, but the distorted voice that came did not. She said, “You shouldn’t have come here, sister.”

  [ 57]

  “I can’t believe she’s back,” said a passing Hulda’fi.

  The young man she had been walking with said, “I know. Here I thought Soror Valide had died. Now she’s gone full crazy.”

  “Lady Tunderek will deal with her.”

  Zoey stood there, blown away by what she was hearing. Il’lyse was here? Why? Il’lyse was supposed to be at home, living whatever was left of Zoey’s dream life. She was supposed to be free. Zoey needed to find her, and fast.

  The room they were in was a long storeroom with an open door that led outside toward the gardens. Both rebels were heading further inside rather than toward the exit to her right. So Zoey turned left after them. Neither of the rebels suspected anything was wrong while she walked behind them. In order to find her sister, Zoey needed the best way to ask for such information. Here she was approaching people who might well reject or attack so she could ask them something that seemed so simple. Was this how Brach’geros felt every other day?

  “Is this the last one?” said the young man.

  “It should be,” said the woman.

  “Any one of us could carry this thing. You there,” he looked at Zoey, “would you mind taking this to the stiern-boat?”

  There was an open crate on the ground; each dimension was longer than Zoey’s shoe. Inside, at the top, she saw a tray with half a dozen of the small Hulda’fi pistols. Considering the size of the crate, she thought that, maybe, there were three more trays below it, and these rebels wanted her to move it for them.

  Crap, what now? The craft outside was absolutely not the right way to go to find Il’lyse. Zoey said, “Actually, I was curious about something. I think my radio hasn’t been working right all morning, but did you say Soror Valide was back?”

  “That wasn’t over the radio at all,” said the woman. “You missed a big one, then. She walked in like she owned the place and went upstairs to see the Hallowed Lady.”

  “I have to go see this.”

  “Are you crazy? We’re leaving soon. Nobody in their right mind is going to get involved with Soror Valide.”

  “Wait a minute,” said the man. He reached for Zoey’s mask.

  Well, she tried.

  Zoey grabbed his wrist and punched him in the face. She swept his legs while his balance was lost, and then she spotted the young woman darting for the weapons. Zoey grabbed her by the waist and threw her back away from the crate. She somersaulted over the fallen man’s reach, suspecting that he might try to grab her ankles otherwise, and then kicked the female Hulda’fi in the stomach.

  While the woman was winded, Zoey turned to check on the man, who stood up. The rebels were separated, and at least one of them took steps backward. The girl’s eyes darted to the side. She was going to run for the door, possibly to get help. If Zoey went after her, then the man would have been free to grab the guns or else get help, himself. Between the options, she found the weapons to be the greater threat. Zoey charged at the man and hoped to be able to catch up with the woman before she caused Zoey too much trouble. The male Hulda’fi made a grab for the crate, but her assault against him made the man fall quickly. He was in no way trained to fight like she was.

  She turned and saw that the other Hulda’fi had fallen on her butt away from the exit, apparently knocked back from the open doorway. Dasos walked in and looked around the room.

  “Das?” Zoey said.

  His gaze landed on the male cultist who had trouble telling up from down at the moment. Then he looked at his sister and said, “Zoey?”

  “Grab her, quick. Let’s tie these two up.”

  “Right.”

  “I’d ask what you’re doing here, but Il’lyse needs my help.”

  “We came here looking for you.”

  “And I came here to give Il’lyse back her life! Now look at the th
ree of us.” Zoey dragged the Hulda’fi man across the smooth floor to a corner of the room concealed by a stack of spare bricks. She noted the brooms in this corner and laughed to herself. The universe’s loudest broom closet, indeed.

  “Lord and Lady Tunderek will have you both for this,” said the woman.

  The two rebels were positioned back to back. Dasos used his two pairs of cuffs that he had on him to bind right hand with right hand, and left with left. He stood and said, “Now what?”

  Zoey said, “They have guns over here. It’s the last of the supply that they meant to move onto their boat outside. Do you think you can deal with them while I go get Il’lyse?”