Selena
Page 56
“That was twenty-three years ago. I didn’t hunt you during the interim, nor did I kill you several months ago. I wasn’t the one who reminded you of that day; what about that man?”
“I haven’t spoken with him.” Redina walked to a crate and leaned against it. “I’m certain the baron is the one who wants you.”
Malik cocked his head. “And that troubles you?”
The admiral crossed his arms and nodded. “You’re a force, and he’s driven by harsh passions. I don’t like having you together.”
“Does that mean you’ll kill me in advance?”
Redina pondered the idea and frowned. “We did have an agreement.”
Malik raised two shackled ankles. “We did.”
There was another pause. “I’ll have them removed.”
“No need.” Malik mentally pushed the cuffs under opposition from the breach inhibitors and stepped free of the links. “You should probably create something more comprehensive. It might facilitate your plans if your old master believed your fears still troubled you.”
The man’s face whitened, and he backed away. “You slipped them.”
Malik released a sigh of impatience. “And you still live. I dislodged your mental chains in exchange for you discontinuing your attacks, and then I promised not to kill you. Was there a reason for this visit?”
Redina straightened. “My actions were because of war.”
“The survivors were slaughtered on the world’s final high point.”
“Where you slaughtered an entire garrison during your attack.”
Malik shrugged. “I had help. You were to die to the last man, just like Paradise’s survivors. You fled, and then the ship’s crew needed to die.”
“I was under orders. The military was my life.”
“I was compelled. Your death was my passion.”
Redina’s brow furrowed as he considered the comparison. “It seems we’re both free of bondage, yet we’re both returning to an old master. It’s evident you don’t like a leash; what will you do when he takes yours?”
Malik shrugged. “I’ll know when I get there. What about you?”
***
Arrival at Paradise was as uneventful as the trip. The cloud-splotched, blue world was large beneath him when Malik was ushered into a smaller vessel for surface delivery. Redina was apologetically and faithfully more diligent about Malik’s next confinement: the restriction was a solid, four-limb-shackle unit that encapsulated his wings, contained his tail, and restrained his head and neck. Antigrav lifts moved the contraption to the shuttle; they would later be used when Paradise’s lonely mesa was reached.
The craft arrived at the island under heavy escort, dropping to the landing field to the west of the main complex. It was met by heavily armed men and vehicles. The shuttle’s loading doors opened, and Malik was shifted onto the platform for deposition on the ground. One of the larger, waiting craft opened its doors in response.
Four mantes stepped free and took ready positions, their large, curious eyes watching. A man in a formal, tailored outfit followed to observe his new acquisition.
Malik saw the creatures as confirmation of his theory of multiple Mantes, but their lack of telepathic strength left him perplexed. He returned Hess’s gaze and focused. A mental response rather than a memory triggered recognition—a resonance formed between them. The more he concentrated, the greater it became, and the seductiveness of their connection increased. They linked.
This was the reason Malik let himself get shipped across the Confederation; here were his answers.
Their camaraderie was complete. Malik and Hess were closer than brothers, mirroring each other. Hess noted his presence and although strong in his own right, was dwarfed. Malik was powerful.
The connection was established at a defining moment: Malik’s separation from his family and lover at the house on Asile. From this point, their path split, shared memories pouring from a recession in time, while discordant memories simultaneously advanced and clashed from that critical moment forward. Hess was helpless under the conflicting revelations. The physical world slowed and faded.
Malik’s remembered childhood was refreshed, and his life on the Benning estate was relived in full detail. Rose was real. Reylin was real. His father was real. Relief and grief followed because, while they did once exist for Hess, they never existed for him. Youth and childhood were next, then infancy, and finally his birth, those hazy, first memories closing the revelation.
Just as twenty-two years had receded to the past, they advanced. Malik’s false memories of physical modification and programming were corrected by Hess’s memories of punishment and fresh indenture. His sister was still sent to Bedele. Reylin became another man’s wife. Both Malik and Hess grieved for the women they loved.
Hess’s years on the estate lasted until he was in his forties, when his servitude ended and freedom was awarded. Academia followed—something at which he excelled—and small business— a skill at which he prospered. Personal innovations blossomed into opportunities, which produced the fruit of financial rewards.
The baron was brilliant, and his endeavors inevitably turned to gold. His skills at genetics encouraged the burgeoning field of selective body enhancements then dovetailed into more lucrative possibilities—world building. Around this time, the people of Asile went insane and the world was abandoned. Hess had grieved, but much of the happiness once felt there was long past. He had gained a new future and had conquered death; his skills at organ growth and cranial nerve mappings permitted him virtual eternal life.
He became a preeminent terraformer, constructing habitable worlds in newly discovered systems. The terraformed worlds were adapted to the resident stars and were astonishingly successful. His company often contracted to build three worlds simultaneously. The lucrative enterprise triggered unscrupulous behavior by envious parties on the Earth, the governing council dispatched troops, the business was nationalized, and someone else was appointed to manage the business. After having been the Confederation’s primary world builder, Hess’s enterprise was stolen. His vocation was gone.
An old anger surfaced within Hess. Malik experienced the emotion as if it were his own.
After the loss, Hess secretly assembled a new planet in a new system, and a new people with stronger morals were designed. They were consequently rejected and drowned. Another world was formed, and retribution was engineered. One hundred weapons were grown, sixty of which survived the maturation process to be programmed, but that survival rate fell when the implanted memories destabilized the recipients. The majority of the remainder died on the sands and rocks of Paradise during the assault, and the last one survived to be caged before Hess.
Violence shook the revelations, and Hess’s thoughts spiraled away, dissolving within a black maelstrom of destruction. Fully intertwined with the man’s thoughts, Malik’s mind followed, the presence of death as palpable now as when Drelas mis-teleported. There was no one to pull him free, and there was decidedly someone to pull him down. The darkness beaconed.
Hess was gone. Malik followed.
Three lifelines of Fates caught him in a basket of salvation, letting him safely dangle over the consuming pit. A fourth mind, Evelyn’s, followed, reaching and gently pulling him back. The whirlpool closed upon itself, oblivion’s lure faded, and his consciousness returned.
Malik opened his eyes to chaos. Hess lay before him, missing his head and a large portion of his chest. One of the mantes was shattered, another was broken, and another of the creatures was moving with missing limbs.
The shuttle and Hess’s yacht were gone, and numerous casualties from the Third Fleet and Hess’s personal guard were strewn about. Two of the wall’s closest guard towers had been destroyed. Cannons fired upward while explosive ordnance dropped downward. The remaining mantes were neutralized even as defenders sprinted for cover.
Apprehension grew within him. Redina’s efforts to be convincing had been thorough—Malik was fully immobilized. The pre
monition strengthened, much as with the encounter near Silas. There was no safe destination but ocean, and he desired a planned escape that did not leave him floundering and helpless.
Self-anchors had been difficult to set; now they were essential. He opened a shielded breach and focused on the top of the nearby stone wall, establishing a destination. Mental weight was lent to the far position, enough for him to set an independent origination anchor, and he pushed against the near anchor even as he pulled himself toward the far one.
The connection was sufficient to complete the transition—he was on the wall in an instant, free of the constrictive bindings. Acute internal warnings strengthened as the barrage intensified. He spread his wings, leaped from his perch, and plunged toward the waters.
69: Epilogue
Day 1126: Paradise
The glory of free fall filled Malik’s mind. He angled his forward wings to catch the wind and shifted his rear wings to drop his tail, shallow his descent, and raise his angle of attack. Once his attitude was established, he made powerful downstrokes to preserve altitude.
Orbital weaponry thrashed the island, sending debris soaring over his head into the waters. The early shots against the island had been fairly surgical, but there was nothing delicate about the current abuse. Repeated wing strokes arrested his descent and increased his altitude.
A thrill ran through him—he was flying. The time in detention had offered him a plethora of opportunities to practice, strengthen his muscles, and gain the necessary endurance to stay aloft. After a few additional strokes to increase altitude, he shifted the wings’ angles and accelerated forward.
This reward alone was worth the restrictive trip to Paradise. Powerful strokes left greater air behind him, letting lift provide the work of defying gravity. His rhythm steadied and his velocity increased.
Paradise’s thunderous demise diminished the farther he flew, and he kept flying lest the Third Fleet gunners redirected their focus. He cloaked, accelerated, and directed pieces of his mind to search behind and upward to understand their intentions.
The assault’s intensity dropped after five minutes, while spot attacks to eliminate survivors lasted another half hour. Malik sensed no hostile intentions after the attackers’ departure but remained cautious, flying low above the water. When he decided that sufficient time had passed, he reversed course. Fatigue overcame him; he glided to the water. Swimming came naturally, the wings helped, and he arrived at the island’s underwater shelf after a long swim.
Twenty-three years had altered the ocean floor, and the passage regularly used during his simulator runs was gone. He found an irregular route through the coral-strewn rocks to reach the beach. The island had been shattered. Every tree was downed. Fires raged.
He loped to the road to climb the mesa. Every structure within the walled enclosure had been shaken from their foundations, soot filled the air, and the ground was charred. All was still except for a woman in the landing zone; she emerged from cloak and removed her headpiece.
Evelyn grinned and crossed her arms as she rose to greet him. His visage mirrored hers. She then sprinted to hug him. “You should be dead, you know that?”
“I wasn’t made to die,” said Malik, grinning.
“Of course not.” Her face was beaming when she pulled away. “Welcome home, flyboy.”
-End-
Appendices
World One
The Great War
The war between Cheonia and the Coalition, triggered by the Coalition attack against Bordeaux, started two weeks into the events covered within the book, “Vexing the Beast,” continued through “Serena,” and ends in “Selena.”
Engineered by Selena (Winered522), who owned the small estate on an island south of the Antonia canton called Bordeaux, and Malik (Kilam), who controlled the entirety of Antonia, the war was intended not for conquest. It was started to convince the Coalition to change their policies toward new members, cease blacklisting players that played with him, and open trade with his nation, Cheonia. The majority of the membership, facing Cheonia’s might, sought agreement to the terms after several months, but Serena (Serena143), the top member of the alliance, refused.
Kilam was systematic; his forces overwhelmed three enemy cantons per month. Pacifying the populous was more difficult. His ability to do this rose from two cantons a month to a later capacity of three.
Below is the progression of the first phase of the war. The first number is the month, followed by the number of enemy occupied cantons, overrun cantons, and pacified cantons at the beginning of the month. After these is listed the chapters during which the action occurred. Numbers in bold are chapters describing actual events in Xist Nations on World One.
VtB: Vexing the Beast; Sr: Serena; Sl: Selena.
Month
Coalition
Contested
Pacified
Chapters
1
33
0
0
VtB chapters 15-30; 23, 30
2
30
3
0
VtB: 31-40; 36, 38
3
27
4
2
VtB: 41-51; 41,42
4
24
5
4
5
21
6
6
VtB: 53-62; 55
6
18
7
8
VtB: 53-62; 55
7
15
8
10
VtB: 63
8
12
9
12
VtB: 64-67; 66
9
9
9
15
VtB: 68-71
10
6
9
18
VtB: 71
11
3
9
21
VtB: 72; Sr: 1-22; 2,20
Hersan, Jersey, and Greenwich were occupied during first month; JinJin, Provolas, and Avenger were occupied during the second; Brunswick, Connell, and Askyr during the third; Bavaria, Labrador, and Maracaibo during the fourth; Tuscany, Veracruz, and Silistra during the fifth; Pattani. Sokoto, and Kosice during the sixth; Moldavia, Karelia, and Shandong during the seventh; Minas Gerais, Sevilla, and Attica occupied during the eighth; Ismailia, Khartoum, and Imbabura during the ninth; and Itata, Helmand, and Nagaland during the tenth month. Resistance forces within Shandong, Minas Gerais, Sevilla, Attica, Ismailia, Khartoum, Imbabura, Itata, Helmand, and Nagaland remained active.
Coalition cheating began during the eleventh month. Populations under occupation rebelled, Coalition forces advanced, and contested cantons shook off Cheonian control. Nine contested cantons and five pacified cantons reentered Coalition control. Cheonia maintained order in Hersan, Jersey, Greenwich, JinJin, Avenger, and Provolas. Brunswick, Connell, Askyr, Bavaria, Ellereese, Lindward, Tuscany, Veracruz, Silistra, and Sokoto entered into open rebellion. During the next month, Hersan, Provolas, Greenwich, and Avengers’ populations are crushed to slow the Coalition’s advance, still contested. Hersan’s population gets displaced by Cheonian citizens, stopping their rebellion. An additional month reduces Cheonia’s holdings to Antonia and Hersan.
Month
Coal.
Cont.
Pac.
Disp.
Chapters
12
17
10
6
Sr: 23-29; 28
13
28
4
0
1
Sr: 30-35; 37-40, 40
14
32
0
0
1
Sr: 42-48; 43
Although overwhelmed by the Coalition’s new superiority of skills and equipment, Cheonia was able to counteract their advance by pourin
g troops into the fight in incredible numbers, retrieving its dead with reapers, restoring and upgrading troops, then returning them to battle. Cheating was punished on all the other worlds but World One, and the illegal mods raised character and skill caps across the board. Cheonia steadily advanced past parity, advancing when sufficient troops could hold defensive lines and control the enemy populations. Captured populations are displaced by Cheonian citizens. Herson, Greenwich, Avenger, JinJin, and Provolas are captured, pacified, and displaced in that order.
Month
Coal.
Cont.
Pac.
Disp.
Chapters
15
32
0
0
1
Sr: 49-58; 55
16
32
0
0
1
17
31
1
0
1
Sr: 59
18
31
0
1
1
Sr: 59-63
19
30
1
0
2
Sr: 63
20
29
1
1
2
Sr: 63,64
21
29
0
1
3
Sr: 64-67
22
28
1
0
4
Sr: 67,68; Sl: 1-11; 8
23
27
1
1
5
Sl: 12-20
The Coalition discovers a way to disrupt the friendly populations within the displaced cantons; Kilam compensates, dismantling the affected cantons, porting the infrastructure and culture to Antonia, and evacuating the population. Garrisons are left to manage the cantons. Conquest to garrison strategy is taken against Brunswick; Bavaria, Connell; Labrador; Maracaibo, Askyr; Tuscany, Veracruz; Silistra, Pattani; Sokoto, Kosice; Shandong, Minas Girais, Sevilla; Attica, Ismailia, Khartoum; Imbabura, Nagaland, Itata, Helmand; Lampung, and Shikoku; in that order.