Elysium Shining

by Terri Kraemer

  “The man better, or else he’ll miss out on this promotion that’s opening soon.” Her voice chimed, and Bon’sinne gave Dasos her impish grin.

  “Admiral Mom?”

  “Well, your father wouldn’t take it. He was reluctant enough to become a captain when he did. I have no idea of the other captains’ intentions.”

  As they walked there was a sound of something crashing, and a woman roared. Both of them, along with some of the Peacekeepers, picked up their pace. The sounds continued as Dasos drew closer and closer, his nerves feeling more and more gripped by what they were about to find. Two Peacekeepers stood at the ready on one side of the double doorway. Dasos and the others with him reached the same side of it from the other direction, and he looked inside the room.

  It was two floors in height. The first floor had a low ceiling over it, but there were rounded shapes cut into it with guard rails around the openings, allowing anyone from upstairs to look down at the ground and anyone on it. There, too, was a set of stairs in here along with a fireplace and a space to one side that Dasos gathered to be some sort of bar.

  “Where is it?” said a familiar voice.

  Fe’remene emerged behind the counter. Her ear had healed, though it was scarred. The remains of her shimmering gown hung off of her body. Scarring appeared again on her right shoulder that continued down her backside as far as Dasos could see, though she was turned sideways from the double door.

  Bon’sinne stepped to the door, and Dasos held an arm out to stop her. He said, “Wait, she’s faster than you. Stronger too. We were lucky to beat her.”

  “You might as well come in,” said Fe’remene.

  “Please be careful.”

  “I’d make a comment about not biting, but it doesn’t matter anymore, does it? Come in, come in. Ho-ho, Captain Thalassas, I see that the Hoshi-Lacartan Alliance has decided to act fast.”

  With a heavy breath through her nose alone, Bon’sinne walked through the door that was open, the other one of the pair still closed. Dasos followed her, and another officer of the Allied Peacekeepers did as well. He could see Fe’remene as she limped across the floor by the windows.

  “Ironic, isn’t it?” said Fe’remene. “I spent over two centuries being worshipped by a steadily growing force of both Aelfs and Ginserei when I had volunteered for the program to fight the latter. Both sides stole from one another during the war, leading to the advent of genesis nectar. So much of it was made and used for the likes of me. Now I require it to sustain my livelihood. Who better to feed me life than the children of the ones who worship me? Who better to worship me than the children of those who made me? Now I have nothing except for the children who remain.”

  “Leave my children out of this,” said Bon’sinne. “Leave everybody’s children out of this. You have a lot to answer for, and I will see to it that you spend the remainder of your endless years with no one to worship you; somewhere dark and far away.”

  “I don’t know how much longer I will last, to be honest. Without my drug that I smoke, my body will be susceptible to long-term damage. These scars will remain. You say none will worship me, but be honest. I am at my best without such blemishes or worse, but I’ll have many worshippers no matter how I look.”

  “Then you won’t have to worry about outliving every jailer who comes along to feed you. After what you’ve done over the centuries, your sentence will last until the day when life can no longer exist in the universe.”

  “You’re angry with me. You’re trying to contain that rage, as I am with mine, but I know that anger all too well.” She fell by the fireplace and faced it, though it was unlit. One scar over her back remained red with blood. “Not even one puff? I haven’t felt this vulnerable since we left Elysium Prime.”

  “We who?” said Dasos.

  “My parents and I, three hundred and twelve revolutions ago. We were among the last to leave there before it became uninhabitable. I visited there over a decade ago. I found the virus we had used to beat the artificial intelligence, and I brought it back as a souvenir. Who knew that it could be reused to enslave modern-day machines and make their users utterly ours for the taking? Who knew that one of the children responsible for my downfall would come from a rock doomed to repeat the worst of our history?”

  “Where is your husband now?” said Bon’sinne.

  “Saving people in our way. Now that we have our wormholes, there is nothing to stop him. Do what you will with me, but if you let me live, then he will come to save me. He will come with an army from all over the galaxy. We will strike once again from the shadows, and none of you will remain unless you kneel before your goddess and beg me to let you live. Kill me and you will certainly die. You are mine.”

  Fe’remene laughed as she lay across the floor. Her laughter turned into moans, and then she fell silent, eyes closed. She was sleeping.

  Bon’sinne turned to Dasos and said, “Someone find me that ship at once. Dasos, dear, tell me again where the girls are?”

  [ 59]

  She was grateful that the winter wear over her Hulda’fi suit kept the cold air and abundant snowflakes from affecting her, but the high speed of the sleigh made Zoey realize that she needed food. The onslaught of hunger made her groan.

  “Are you doing OK?” Il’lyse asked.

  “I should have eaten something,” said Zoey. “I could go for a lot of things right now, maybe even a raspberry snowcone.”

  “Don’t go trying the snow out here, whatever you do. We’re almost to the stiern-boat. There should be some rations in there to last twenty people a week.”

  “A week? Wait, how did you last so long waiting for the Marslou?”

  “The couple of us who were down on Earth saw a bunch of food where we had crashed. We grabbed as much food as we could carry as soon as we saw that the struggle we’d had in there had resulted in a fire breaking out. I’m really sorry about that, by the way. After that we spent a few days in Natt Grans before heading back to wait for the signal from the Lord or Lady to ambush the ship. I have no idea how they got the cryogenic case onto the ship, but we blew so much food and fuel waiting for it.”

  The sleigh parked itself next to a hole in the rocky hill, a short trudge from the vessel, and both girls got off of snow vehicle. The snow had buried the bottom of the boat by a few inches. Given the intensity of the snowfall in the area, Zoey had expected more in the few seconds that they were here.

  “Is this the right stiern-boat?” asked Zoey. “There doesn’t seem to be a whole lot of snow at the bottom.”

  Il’lyse said, “What are you talking about? Seven centimeters in fifty minutes to an hour is normal in this weather. Welcome to Dereskoo. I bet you’re ready to leave it behind already.”

  “I always thought snow this heavy could bury a car in half that time.”

  “Do you watch nothing except cartoons? Come on.”

  “I could go for some hot cocoa right now.”

  As they trekked through the deep, crunching snow, Zoey caught the outline of a person coming out of the hole in the hill. She crouched and kept an eye on the man, dressed in a furred cap and jacket, as he emerged.

  “You’re back,” he said.

  “Lieutenant, we have to leave again,” said Il’lyse. “Do yourself a favor and set up a few flares out here to point the way for the Allied Peacekeepers when they get here. You’ll want to send out a beacon in a signal that only they recognize as well. Someone will be here shortly to pick up your prisoners.”

  “In case you’ve forgotten, you are supposed to be our prisoner.”

  Zoey said, “There’s no time for that. One of their leaders is getting away, using wormholes. He said his ship is waiting outside Natt Grans. We’re going to use this craft to make our way there before he runs off to who-knows-where.”

  “And then what?”

  “We’re going to use their favorite weapon against them. Like she said, there’s no time.”

  “My superiors aren’t going to be happy
about you taking off, especially when you should be in my protective custody.”

  “Wrong sister.”

  “Zoi’ne, let’s go,” said Il’lyse, having opened the door to the stiern-boat.

  The lieutenant threw his arms up in defeat and returned to his hole while Zoey entered the vessel interior. It was still cold, but it was quieter and didn’t bear the same sensation of being pelted by some vengeful god of ice and wind as was found outside. She took off the cap and protective mask as the door closed and Il’lyse turned on the console in the cockpit.

  She flew the ship away from the hill where the underground facility was. Zoey wasn’t sure yet why her sister was doing this, but she suspected that it had a merit she would have to ask about later. For now, the air inside the craft was warming up, and the coat around her torso and thighs was no longer necessary.

  Static rang on the radio as Il’lyse pressed a few buttons. She raised a finger and pressed it over her lips, looking at Zoey.

  She faked her voice and said, “Hastig Silver, do you read me? This is Irenid Three requesting a stable wormhole to come back to you.”

  It took over a minute for a response to come. Given the distance that Natt Grans was from the stellar system that Elysium IX and Dereskoo were in, Zoey estimated that to be the right amount of time, thanks to the signal boosting relays.

  The girl’s voice that responded said, “Irenid Three, we had expected to hear from you ten minutes ago. What is your status?”

  “Not well, I’m afraid,” said Il’lyse. “We were ambushed at the facility, and one of the assailants hit our radio by getting on board. I’ve only gotten away with one other sister. We’ve been in hiding, and only minutes ago fixed our radio. I repeat, requesting a stable wormhole to come aboard. Hallowed be our Lord and Lady.”

  She turned away and gagged during the next wait. The second wait was longer, and then longer. Then longer still. Over two minutes since the last message went out before Zoey wondered if their plan failed.

  Through the static, Admiral Fjorfolia said, “Irenid Three, it is good to hear from you. You have lucked out by mere minutes; permission granted. You may open the event horizon on your end. Hurry, though; we will not linger. Lord Tunderek – out.”

  In her normal voice Il’lyse said, “Check the green bins by that wall back there on your left side. One of the bars in there should tide you over until the galaxy is free of Chan-Yeol.” She returned to her administering of fluid button presses.

  Zoey saw the lighting change behind her in the seconds it took to spot the green bins her sister spoke about. The lids were fastened on two sides by clips that seemed easy to move once she had applied pressure to either one. Once she opened a bin there was a wide selection of food bars. She was hungry enough to consider taking all of them, but her sister had said to take one. Zoey pressed and puffed her lips, and then took two of them before closing the bin.

  Outside the front window was outer space and a ship in the distance that looked as small as one of Zoey’s fingertips, but it was growing.

  Her sister scrambled to grab something from a shelving unit and went back to the pilot’s seat. Zoey unwrapped the first bar when she returned to the front and sat next to Il’lyse, who held up an item as small as her thumb that looked like it could plug into something.

  “This is it,” she whispered. “The question I have right now is whether or not to let it go with them, or what.”

  “Can they hear us?” Zoey said, pointing to the radio. She bit into the bar, finding a dry taste void of real flavor. There were hints of green beans and black beans in it, but the texture was that of a smooth leather if it could be chewed with as much ease as gum was.

  “Space food sucks, huh?” Il’lyse asked.

  “It’s totally the best thing ever.” Zoey took another bite out of defiance.

  “Well, to answer your question, they can listen in if they want. It helps to have little to say if you ever had a lot to hide. When I learned to pilot these things, I took solace in the silence, or tried to. One time a girl rode me when she caught me zoning out in the pilot’s seat. That gave a new meaning to ‘learning curves.’”

  The stiern-boat made contact with one of the ship’s landing docks. Zoey heard the reverberation through the vessel’s portside, but she did not feel it. Il’lyse focused on her connection to the larger vehicle until it was done. She grabbed a computer from the side of her seat and plugged in the small drive. She pressed a few selections that Zoey couldn’t make out.

  “We’re not far from the Medical Bay. I have an idea that involves it, but I’ll need to get in there,” said Il’lyse. She grabbed another item from the shelving unit and put it in Zoey’s free hand. “Before that, here’s a beacon. If we get separated, I want you to use this.”

  “What? No,” said Zoey.

  “No arguments. If we had plenty of time, I would program this thing to take you automatically and fly to safety if I’m not back within five minutes of your arrival.”

  “I really don’t want to teleport anywhere. What if I change again? What if I wake up from all this back in my old body? What if I don’t wake up at all?”

  “Zoi’ne, please, it will be like one extended blink, except that it covers your body instead of your eyes. You’ll be fine. Promise me you will use this on yourself, and not on someone else like you did our mom.”

  “Fine, but you owe me a better breakfast.”

  Il’lyse giggled. “Deal. Now to figure out the Medical Bay.”

  “How is your leg?”

  * * *

  While her sister wore a Hulda’fi mask, Il’lyse kept her hood up and head low. They walked into the Medical Bay, with the older sister pretending to be nauseous. Their ploy was to pretend a severe or debilitating case of pregnancy symptoms. One laeknar was present in the entire section. He accepted them and took Il’lyse onto the table before seeing her face. The man turned in a panic, but Zoey put a hand over his mouth and pushed him back on the table, which Il’lyse had rolled off of to make room.

  “Now what?” said Zoey.

  “Now I do this,” Il’lyse said with an object in hand that she had grabbed. It was transparent in the main tube, and had a two-piece cap with a needle inside of it. Il’lyse grabbed the man’s arm, and he screamed out when she pressed the front of the cap against the vein.

  The laeknar went limp, his eyes rolling back. Il’lyse helped Zoey lay him over the bed, and then she darted for the refrigerated storage racks.

  “What is that?” Zoey said.

  “It’s a type of syringe for quick injections. It had enough tranquilizer in it for one dose capable of putting either of the two of us to sleep in seconds. It would last us a few hours or more. He’ll come around in one hour due to being larger and heavier than us. Here we go.” She grabbed a bottle with more tranquilizer fluid in it.

  “Is that what we’re here for?”

  “Yes. It’ll help me put the engineers to sleep, as well as another Hulda’fi or two who might get in the way. Let them sleep so they don’t feel anything when this whole thing goes. It’s the least I can do for them, assuming they don’t know any better. Are you ready to get started?”

  The intercom rang, like any sadistic alarm clock yanking a person from a dream in the middle of a thought or sentence.

  Chan-Yeol’s voice came through it, saying, “My children, as sad as it is that only sixty-three of us are present for this, we have passed the wormhole safely. Our new mission is to take the planet known as Earth. They need our help, the Lady’s blessing, and we are going to give it to them. As few as we are, we can do this for seven billion lives, and branch out quickly to more worlds in need of saving. We will one day return home. We will one day go back to reclaim the Hoshi-Lacartan territory with all of your brothers and sisters who remain there. We will one day see our Hallowed Lady again and spread her blessings across the whole galaxy. My children, welcome to Earth’s stellar system. Our arrival will be in two hours, bearing current speeds.” />
  “That doesn’t give us much time,” said Il’lyse.

  “Crap,” said Zoey, “let me distract them.”

  “Distract them how?”

  “The Hulda’fi wanted to convert me to replace you, I think. I’m going to have a chat about that with the asshole in charge.”

  “Zoi’ne.”

  “Let me do this. It will distract some of them. It will give you the time you need to infect their ship and take control of it. I’ll have this beacon you handed me.”

  “Somehow I get the feeling you won’t be using it.”

  “Just worry about blowing up the ship. Send me a sign of some kind if you have to to say you’re fine. If I don’t make it back, tell our family I’m sorry, and that I love them. Tell Tonny that I wanted to be there for her when she decided what to do with her baby, as well as when she gave birth.”