Shards of Eternity (Stars in Shadow Book 2)

by John Triptych

  The door opened, and the old man came inside, carrying an old tray with a plate of food and a crystalline carafe. Placing it on the table, he began pouring the wine into glasses. “I have made some inquiries, and I should get some replies before noon.”

  Ava smiled at him. “Thank you, sir.”

  The old man gestured at the glasses. “Please, help yourselves. I run a lucrative business, and the spiced wine is from a region of Earth. I think you will like it.”

  Ava reached into the folds of her blouse for some coin. “Let me pay you for this.”

  The old man shook his head. “No, no. That pouch of gems you gave me was more than adequate. You can pay me the rest when I am able to get the transportation for you.”

  “Very well, sir. Thank you.”

  The old man nodded and left, closing the door behind him.

  Dilye took a few sips from her cup before standing up and looking around. “It is a pity there is no bed in this room, my lady, but I think I could spread my cloak over that row of boxes and it should be adequate for you.”

  Ava downed her glass in one long gulp. The mulled wine had a soothingly rich taste, and it began to warm her stomach. “No need, Dilye. I think I can just lean back on this chair and it should be enough for me.”

  Dilye threw off her long cloak and began arranging it like a cushion over a row of stacked boxes. “Nonsense, my lady. That little chair is too uncomfortable to nap in. Why even I—”

  A loud thud made the handmaiden turn around. Ava had collapsed onto the floor; it seemed she had fallen asleep in a matter of seconds.

  Dilye was about to pick her mistress up, but her legs quickly became wobbly and she fell on her knees. “What is—”

  And then she knew. The wine had been spiked with a narcotic. Her vision rapidly began to blur and the morning quickly turned into darkness. Dilye uttered a brief whimper before her head touched the floor. No matter how hard she tried to keep her eyes open, she just couldn’t.

  Less than an hour later, the door to the storeroom opened again, and the old man pointed towards the two women lying on the floor. “They’ll be out for at least a few more hours.”

  Baz Wilkerson nodded. “Good. I’ll get them off your hands.”

  “Please, sir. Give me some time to move my business before you try anything with them. It’s all I ask.”

  “Now don’t you worry, you old cat-eyed geezer,” the executive officer of the Tiburon said. “Where they’re going, they’ll have no chance of ever squealing on you.”

  32 The Demand

  HD-95687 consisted of nothing more than a scathingly hot bluish-white star. The system itself had no planets or other celestial objects to speak of, aside from the ubiquitous clouds of dark matter at its outskirts. With no resources to support a colony or outpost, it was nothing more than an emergency stopover for Concordance vessels if they took a wrong jump.

  The Nepenthe skirted close to an unused dark matter field, using the shadow zone’s special properties to mask her identifiable heat and radiation signature, just in case other ships stumbled into the system. Despite her precautions, a much smaller transport ship approached the pirate vessel’s position since they knew each other, and this was their chosen rendezvous point.

  It took less than thirty minutes for the Clint V to match headings and velocity with the drifting pirate ship, and both vessels started their docking procedures. Attached cables ran in between both ships, and an extendable airlock jutted out from the Clint V and connected itself to the Nepenthe’s rotating gravity deck.

  Inside the Clint V’s small bridge, Duncan Hauk leaned back on the pilot’s chair as he let go of the controls. “Docking procedures completed, LT.”

  Garrett Strand unbuckled the restraints on the command chair before floating up. “Good job, Spacer Sergeant. Looks like you’re really getting the hang of this piloting thing.”

  “It was mostly Sappho who was doing the work, sir.”

  “Don’t sell yourself short, kid. Your takeoff from Pirindra worked pretty well; you were able to find a seam in their orbital defenses and no one bothered to check on us when we reached the shadow zone.”

  “I had some help from Fytti,” Hauk said. “Seems her special passcodes were enough to prevent the bio-probes from swarming us.”

  “Nevertheless, you were able to coordinate it all very smoothly. I think I’ll recommend the captain to give you the sergeant rank permanently.”

  Spacer Jia-Hao was sitting in the co-pilot’s chair, and he started clapping his hands. “Well done, Sergeant Hauk.”

  Hauk grinned. I’ll soon be the youngest non-commissioned officer of the Nepenthe. “Thanks, LT.”

  “You’ve earned it,” Strand said.

  Spacer Paulina sat near the back of the room, manning the com-links. “LT, the captain would like to see you right away.”

  Strand used the handholds to pull himself towards the exit hatch. “Tell the Nepenthe I’m on my way.” He looked back down at the boy. “Duncan, I want you to supervise the disassembly of the Clint V. Don’t forget to remove the t-drive separately when you store her components.”

  “You got it, LT,” Hauk said.

  The hatch in front of Strand opened, and Fytti’s head poked through. “Garrett, I’d like your permission to modify this ship’s com-link device.”

  Strand raised an eyebrow. “Why?”

  “On our way out of the Pirindra star system, I was picking up some chatter on the rumor wires,” Fytti said. “I can get the latest news on what’s happening in Scythia if you’ll allow me to do some modifications on your comms.”

  “This vessel is being disassembled.”

  Fytti’s slit-shaped pupils widened. “Why?”

  “Because we don’t need her anymore,” Strand said. “We’re to fold her up and store her main modules inside the Nepenthe.”

  “Then I need to modify the Nepenthe’s com-links.”

  Strand let out a deep breath. “That’s a tall order. Our ship’s chief engineer views her as his personal toy, and you’ll need a good reason to convince him.”

  “With my modifications, you’ll be able to pick up classified Concordance messages in this part of the galaxy. Wouldn’t that be a good enough reason?”

  “Come with me then.”

  Both Strand and Fytti made their way through the docking corridor and entered the Nepenthe’s main airlock. Captain Lucien Dangard and Commander Creull Bonecrusher stood near the corridor entryway, as if to formally greet them.

  The moment she walked past the open airlock door, Fytti hesitated.

  Strand addressed his superiors while introducing her. “Captain, Commander, this is Fytti. She served as Toto Vega’s intel contact in the Scythian cluster, until he betrayed her too.”

  Dangard gave her a polite nod. “Welcome aboard, Fytti.”

  Fytti remained still, as her eyes continued to stare at Creull.

  Strand glanced towards Fytti. “What’s wrong?”

  Fytti spoke slowly. “I’ve … never been … this close to … a riwwr before.”

  Dangard smiled. “Don’t worry. My executive officer doesn’t bite, not unless you piss her off.”

  “I am in a good mood,” Creull said. “So no biting for now.”

  Strand chuckled. “Fytti here is asking if she could do some modifications to our com-link systems. She explained to me that we can pick up lots of classified intel while in Concordance space if we do.”

  Creull was intrigued. “We’re already picking up transmissions from seed probes that pass through the dark matter fields all the time. The problem is, we can’t crack their encryption. The Concordance bio signatures are a complete mystery to us.”

  “You’re halfway there,” Fytti said. “I can show you a trick during download that will open it all up.”

  Creull gestured at Fytti to follow her. “Come with me then; I’ll introduce you to our chief engineer, who will be very happy to know about your techniques. If looking at a riwwr unnerves you, jus
t wait till you see him.”

  Fytti shot a parting glance at Strand before disappearing into a corridor while following the Nepenthe’s executive officer.

  Strand trained his attention towards the captain. “You wanted to see me, sir.”

  “I did,” Dangard said. “I read your report about the search for the fifth shard while both ships were docking. Your conclusions state that you didn’t think the relic would have been found on Pirindra. Please elaborate.”

  “Well, I did read up on this sub-archon Jurt Maladore’s personal file. He was young, yet he seemed to have a very practical mind, according to those close to him.”

  “Go on.”

  “I’ll ask a rhetorical question. If you were in his shoes, a young nobleman, going into battle—would you willingly take a family heirloom that could be lost to the enemy if something happened to you?”

  “No.”

  “Exactly,” Strand said. “He’d keep it in a safe place. Somewhere in the palace, I’d bet.”

  “Let us assume he did that. Wouldn’t it have been found by now?”

  “It said in his files he wasn’t married yet, and he was very close to his sister, the Lady Ava—she’s the one who Vega wants to marry, I believe.”

  “You’re saying she’s got the fifth shard?”

  “Or at least knows where it is,” Strand said.

  “If she does, why doesn’t she tell her father the archon about it then?”

  “According to Fytti, the Lady Ava hasn’t been a happy woman for years. She was betrothed to the son of a minor courtier, but the engagement was called off after her brother’s death, and it left her heartbroken. Rumors inside the palace tell of her depression over her father’s decision to marry her off to someone with more importance in order to keep the family in power.”

  Dangard nodded. “This is one complicated family affair. The operative we sent into Kurgan confirms your suspicions.”

  Strand became confused. “What? You sent my team into Kurgan, I made contact with Vega’s intel source, then we left for Pirindra that same day.”

  Dangard tapped his wrist smartcom. “I sent in another.”

  Strand was stunned as Karana walked into the chamber. She gave him a stony look, and he quickly reciprocated by drawing his laser pistol and aiming it at her.

  Dangard held his hand close to chest level, palm outward in a gesture of peace. “Holster your weapon, Lieutenant.”

  Strand recalled his dead teammates while continuing to aim the weapon at her. “Who in the hell put her back together?”

  “We did,” Dangard said. “It was a mutual decision amongst the senior officers. Creull needed convincing, but she acquiesced in the end.”

  “Why?”

  “Because I know Vega,” Karana said. “I’ve worked with him for years. I helped draw up the plans to take over Scythia with him. All his star charts that he uses to sneak around with, all the possible rendezvous points. I shared it all with your crew.”

  Strand kept her in his weapon’s sights. “You expect me to believe you’d betray him just like that?”

  “Vega … had a hold over me,” Karana said softly. “At one point, I was ready to die for him, but Captain Dangard here … he helped me. I realized Vega was just using me, like he did so many others.”

  Strand shook his head. “I don’t trust you. Not one bit. You helped to wipe out my team on Angkor and you didn’t even flinch. How do I know you won’t betray us again the moment you get the chance to reunite with Vega?”

  Dangard tapped on his wrist smartcom again. “Because of this.”

  Strand took a step back when his own wrist device began beeping. “What did you just send me?”

  “A code,” Dangard said while pointing to Karana. “Viniimn implanted a failsafe in her main neural processor core. A physical, tiny explosive that will be more than enough to disable her cyber systems and kill her organic cerebral cortex. I’ve just given you the code to arm and detonate it via com-link signal. Her life is now in your hands.”

  “I’m here to take out Vega so I can right my wrongs,” Karana said. “Once that’s done, you can do what you want with me.”

  Strand made eye contact with his captain. “You sure about this?”

  “Nothing in this universe is certain,” Dangard said. “Right now, the more we know about what Vega’s plans are, the better our chances will be to avenge our dead colleagues and allies.”

  Strand hesitated for a bit before he holstered his weapon. “I hope this decision doesn’t bite us in the ass later on.”

  Dangard nodded. “Karana came back just ahead of you. She was able to disrupt an attempt by House Dragos to turn the Scythian rebels to their full control. The insurrectionist leader, Nubnar Palacios, has given us more intel on Vega’s activities and movements.”

  “I spoke to Ava Maladore too,” Karana said. “She was intending to give up her title and head into exile rather than marry Toto Vega.”

  Strand crossed his arms. “Dumb move by her. If she did that, then the archon would still have to appoint Vega as his successor because he has three of those crystals.”

  “She doesn’t care,” Karana said. “She wants to be with her true love.”

  “If we get the archon on our side, then we both can go after Vega,” Strand said.

  Karana shook her head. “I tried to get an audience with him, but I failed. It seems he wants nothing more to do with pirates, and maybe the droog I had to kill while trying to get inside the palace might have had something to do with it.”

  “Then Vega still has the advantage,” Strand said. “As long as he stays in the Kurgan system, we can’t get to him.”

  “Vega is also pressed for time,” Karana said. “The xtid want the whole set of shards, and he needs to get the one the archon carries with him.”

  Dangard rubbed his chin in contemplation. “How is he going to rule Scythia peacefully if he hands the shards over to the xtid?”

  “I don’t know,” Karana admitted. “He always spoke of the pressure he was under by the xtid, so they must have surely thought of that possible outcome.”

  “Maybe the xtid will give him a fake set of those relics when he’s got them all and hands the original lot over to them,” Strand said.

  “That is a distinct possibility,” the captain said. “I think now we’ll need to send another team back into the palace and try to find that other shard—”

  Dangard’s statement was interrupted when a general audio chime echoed across the room. The captain quickly turned on the loudspeakers. “Yes?”

  Creull’s voice came over the line. “Captain, the moment Fytti retuned our com-links to catch all the chatter in this region of space, we intercepted a message being carried by a priority courier drone that exchanged communications with a Concordance seed probe skirting the nearby shadow zone. Sappho’s voice recognition confirmed it. I think you will all want to hear this.”

  “Play it,” Dangard said.

  Toto Vega’s recorded voice came over the speakers. “My dear Archon, this special message is just for you. I have your daughter Ava as a … guest on my ship. And do you know what I found on her? Another of your beloved Shards of Eternity! Yes, this means I now have four shards compared to your one.”

  Karana gasped.

  Vega’s voice carried a tonal relish of victory. “So now I give you a new offer. I will accept a trade. Your daughter for the final shard you always carry with you. Now I know this effectively means the end of your dynasty, but look at it this way—you get your daughter back, and I’ll guarantee you a modest pension in some backwater on Kurgan, where you can live the rest of your life quietly.”

  “Well, looks like we don’t need to go to the palace anymore,” Strand mumbled softly.

  “This time you don’t have a choice,” Vega continued. “You know this, for the other nobles in Scythia will eventually side with me. Take the easy way out and you’ll get to live, along with your daughter. All I want is the shard you have hangi
ng around your neck. You get to take one ship and meet me in a star system of my choosing. I await your reply.”

  33 Captives

  Her tears floated beside her, little globules of clear salty liquid suspended in the null gravity. She had been crying since the moment she woke up and saw the leering face of her captor, for he was the last person she had ever wanted to see again. All her hopes, all her dreams had been dashed in an instant, and she felt truly lost.

  Dilye continued to hug her mistress’s shoulders in an effort to soothe the crushing despair, yet her own spirits had also been weakened, and all she could fall back on was her honor and dedication as a handmaiden. “My lady, please be calm.”

  Ava Mandalore’s nictitating membranes could not hold back the flood of sadness, and the beads of tears resembled a light rain around them which never fell to the floor. The small compartment they were held in was fully illuminated and seemed mundane, yet they knew it was a prison. How could I have been so stupid?

  The door in front of them opened. Toto Vega drifted inside, followed closely by Baz Wilkerson, who quickly closed the hatch behind him. Both women huddled together and shrieked in terror.

  Vega winced uncomfortably at their ear-piercing screams while waving away the droplets of tears trying to cling to his face. “Calm down, ladies. I’m only here to tell you the wonderful news.”

  Baz was in a good mood, and he had to stop himself from laughing.

  Dilye stroked her mistress’s hair and whispered soothing rhythms in her ear. Ava swallowed her phlegm while folding up her eyes’ nictitating membrane to stop the tears and quickly became silent.

  “That’s better,” Vega said. “First of all, I would like to welcome you aboard my ship, the Tiburon. You see, it’s a tradition to always greet guests this way, but you were both crying so loud when you woke up, and I never had a chance to do it before. So welcome aboard, my dear ladies.”

  Ava couldn’t bear to look at him, burying her face in her handmaiden’s shoulder instead. Dilye kept her gaze low, not willing to make eye contact with their captors.