“Al! Al come in! Do you read me?”
Please let him be safe, please tell me the village is still standing . . .
“Captain? Yes, I can read you.”
“Flux, thank the stars above. Listen, I’m on the Belle and I have no idea what to do now. What’s the status at the village?”
“The battle seems to be over Captain. Being installed in this computer does not give me a wide range of sensor ability, but I can scan the immediate area. The Dawnians are all being herded together one hundred yards south of my position. I also scanned multiple humanoid signatures moving in range. They appear to be joining the larger group. Captain, there are a number of humanoids that register . . . rather oddly.”
I sagged in my chair. The cyborgs. That meant King probably survived, maybe even Erebos and Cessa.
“Captain, I must also inform you that the starship Echelon has made landfall.”
“What?”
“Just moments ago the ESA Echelon lowered into the atmosphere and landed outside the village.”
I really had no fluxing clue what to do now. I thought maybe with the destruction of the shuttles that King would request more, but I didn’t think in a million years that she would bring the flagship onto the planet. Unless . . . with the destruction of the mountain, did she intend on flying the entire ship into what was left of the empyreus lake to absorb it? That had to be the plan. I had to stop it from happening, but how?
“Al,” I said softly as I returned to my command chair, leaving the comm signal open. “I’m going to manually pilot the ship to collide with the Echelon.”
“Sir, is this a wise course of action? I will confirm that if you maintain full thrusters the impact will destroy both ships, but are you sure this is your only choice?”
Al actually sounded concerned for me. It felt good and helped me stand firm in my decision.
“I’m sure Al.”
When I punched in the sequence to lift the ship into its hovering mode, nothing happened. I activated the thrusters while still on the ground. Nothing happened. I looked down at the hanging wires. The soldiers must have disconnected the navigational system while they were looking for Al. Stars above! I was actually ready to sacrifice myself and still something went wrong!
“Damn it to hell! Can’t a guy catch a break when he’s trying to save a civilization?”
“I regret that you are unable to pilot the ship to defend these people,” Al said after I explained the problem to him. “If only the autopilot was still installed on the ship, I could pilot it remotely from here.”
In that moment, the moment I gave up hope and wanted to quit and just wish for it all to end, I had one more thought. Suddenly another option presented itself, an insane one that would only work if the damn stars were aligned perfectly, but this was our last option.
“Al,” I said with a renewed enthusiasm. “I need to get to you quickly, but . . . damn it. I’m in bad shape and the ship’s navigation is out. How the hell am I supposed to get to you? If only I had your portable module . . .”
“You should have it Captain,” Al said.
I blinked.
“What? How? Isn’t it with you?”
“Negative sir,” Al said. “The module was disconnected from my mainframe during the uninstallation process, though you should know your chances of a successful teleport are no greater than they were before.”
I dropped to the floor searching for the module. I couldn’t remember the exact success rate that Al mentioned over a week ago, something under 60% I think. I searched and searched, looked under every station on the bridge. I finally found it pushed into the corner of the floor. I grabbed it and attached it back onto Ashley’s ring. It looked the same as the day I purchased it, though at the time the diamond on top was actually a diamond. With the ring in one hand and Cessa’s sword in the other, I stood up and kept still.
“Al. Found it. Execute teleportation now,” I said with a renewed determination.
Within a minute I felt the familiar pull of each and every part of my body. It took Al longer to calculate and activate the module than it took me to teleport to him. When I rematerialized my body was in the air a few feet above the ground. I dropped and my legs couldn’t support the fall. I did my best to ignore the pain and stood up, looking around. There wasn’t anyone in sight, though I heard a large commotion somewhere across the village. In that same direction I looked up in the sky to see the outline of the giant Echelon. Seeing her on the ground made her all the more magnificent and at the same time, terrifying.
I had to move quickly. Someone could spot me here at any moment. Not only would they arrest or kill me, but they would more than likely study this station and learn of Al’s existence.
“Okay Al, you said you can’t control the Belle because the autopilot wasn’t functional, not to mention the bastards tore apart navigation . . . anyway, what if it was functional, but on another ship?”
The Belle couldn’t be remote controlled, but maybe the Echelon could be! Al had been installed in that computer core as well, and should have prior knowledge of how to manipulate the systems. I knew that King and her minions would’ve had to reinstall certain components after Captain Smithson removed Al, but most of the computer systems should still be compatible. I waited for Al’s response, hoping it was a good one.
“Captain, I am tied into the Echelon’s navigational control.”
“Al, see if you can . . . wait, what? I didn’t tell you to do that,” I said, a puzzled look formed on my face.
“Captain, I believe it is something you call . . . improvising and you did request I work on it, did you not?”
I laughed out loud.
“Al, you’re the most amazing non-sentient being I’ve ever known.” I stepped up to the control panel of the station and the two of us input commands into the Echelon mainframe. Al wasn’t the only one who had knowledge of how their computer systems worked. I was going to make sure we gave them quite a shock and I explained my plan to accomplish that to him.
“Captain, if my sensors are correct, the Dawnians being held south of our position are about to be executed. I detect weapon systems charging from multiple devices.”
Flux! I had to stall them. I could only think of one thing and I cringed at the thought of doing it, but I had little choice.
“Al, is Idza still alive? Can you sense her life signs through her translator?”
“Yes Captain. She is among the people who are about to be terminated.”
I asked Al to patch into her translator so I could talk to her. I thought carefully about what I wanted to say and how I would say it.
“Idza, it’s Daniel. I’m alive, surprisingly. I’m so sorry that all of this happened to you and your people. I never meant for it to be this way . . .” I paused taking a deep breath before continuing. “I think I can save us Idza, but I need your help. I need your music, your song, to persuade the soldiers to disengage one more time. It doesn’t have to affect them for very long.”
I stopped and waited. She responded with a question, one I expected.
“Laraar?”
I didn’t know what to say or how to break the news. It didn’t matter though. My hesitation told her what she needed to know. She didn’t say another word into the translator and there was nothing but silence. Suddenly I heard a soft, low humming that was carried on the wind. More voices joined in and from my position in the village I could hear a ballad that was lovely and at the same time sad. The emotions poured into me and I felt even worse.
I knew that the soldiers would be feeling the same way I was.
“Al, put our plan into action now. I’ll see you later if I’m not dead.”
I left Al to do his work and ran toward the singing, hoping I wouldn’t be shot or killed in the process. When I turned at a junction in the village’s path, I saw the crowd of humans and Dawnians. Forty or fifty humans stood in front of them with their guns lowered. A lot of the Dawnians still lived, too many to count,
but I knew many had already died. They were on their knees, hands placed on the ground and they were swaying, singing their beautiful ballad. I stopped for a moment to listen, feeling tired of battle and death.
Snap out of it! Snap out of it, I told myself over and over. I tuned out the song as best I could and ran up to the group. I saw Raymond Erebos, Sarah King, and Cessa along with a number of cyborgs. One of them was Jason. Their entire group was covered in dust and dirt, the aftermath of the mountain’s explosion.
The cyborgs were moving to attack the Dawnians. The musical spell didn’t work on them. Before they could do anything, I screamed out over the music.
“Stop! Stop!”
When Erebos looked at me he smiled, King frowned, and Cessa looked directly at her sword. Erebos raised his hands and told everyone to stand down, though most of the soldiers and thugs were still reeling from the effects of the music. King ordered the cyborgs to return to her position and they waited as I caught up to the group and stood between the humans and Dawnians.
“Mr. Quinn, never in my life has a day gone by where someone has impressed me as many times as you. You have defended this planet and its people with honor, but ultimately you have to realize the folly of your attempts. There was never any way you could win.”
“Mr. Erebos,” I replied to him, mocking his tone. “Never in the time I’ve known you have you looked so filthy! It’s nice to see that you’re finally getting your hands dirty!”
I quickly switched gears, changing my tone to something more serious and sincere.
“Do you even give a damn about the people who lost their lives today?” I asked
“I think we previously established that sacrifices are necessary to obtain one’s goal,” Erebos said. He smiled and raised his hand up toward me. “You yourself know this. You blew up their mountain, separating them from their ability to harness the empyreus. How do you know that you didn’t condemn their race to death by doing so?”
He had a point, but this conversation wasn’t meant to guilt trip me. I’d feel plenty of guilt later if I wasn’t dead. All I needed to do now was distract him.
“I don’t know what the consequences will be, but I stopped you from getting your hands on it. Speak all you want about what’s good for the human race, but I’ve seen the monstrosities you intend on creating with it. The universe itself could only know what other demonic plans you have.”
“Demonic?” Erebos asked, tilting his head back and laughing. “I won’t try to persuade you anymore Mr. Quinn. You’ve chosen your side. Unfortunately it was the wrong one because you’ve only delayed the inevitable. I can wait here patiently while the creatures you call friends rebuild their facility for me or die by refusing.”
A communication device attached to King’s hip flashed blue and red and then beeped in furious successions. A young man’s voice spoke through static.
“Captain King! Captain King! Urgent!” I stretched my lips as wide as they could go in a successful smile. Al, you amazing son of a bitch you did it! I couldn’t help but use the moment to taunt Erebos one more time.
“Well Erebos, I think you will be waiting longer than you expected.” I looked at King, who was trying to ignore her officer calling in. “You may want to get that . . . Commander.”
She tore the device from her belt, shouting into the speaker. “What the hell do you want?”
“Captain, the Echelon is prepping for departure!”
Every human, from the soldiers and thugs to the assholes who controlled them turned to the Echelon and stared in shock. King turned back toward me, her mouth parted and eyes wide. I winked at her.
“What are you talking about?” Her head trembled, which made me wonder if it could explode.
“Something is overriding the controls, Captain. The system is set to take us out of the system in two minutes!”
She stared at the comm device and then looked back at me, rage boiling over in her eyes. She knew what I had done and how I did it, by utilizing the very artificial intelligence program she sought.
“Do you think yourself clever? You think you can scare us away like this? How do you know I won’t just leave my soldiers here to take control of the planet?”
Wait for it . . .
“Captain!” The same voice shouted, though noticeably more scared. He didn’t even wait for her response this time. “Our self-destruct program has been activated! It will destroy the ship in less than ten minutes!”
Her rage slowly turned to confusion, then panic.
“You wouldn’t,” she said, trying to convince herself I wasn’t a murderer. She told me this very fact, reminding me that more than just soldiers lived on the starship, commoners and families. She knew I would never kill an innocent. That’s why I gave her one more piece of information with the best game face I could muster.
“You’re right. I would never kill innocents, but the thing is I don’t have control of the self-destruct sequence. The only one who can deactivate it is the artificial intelligence program. Personally, I don’t think he cares about commoners or families.”
Just saying those words left a bitter taste in my mouth, but I had to do it to prove my point. “Take all of your humans with you King, including Erebos and Cessa. Once you’re onboard and the ship takes off, the self-destruct will be deactivated.”
“Why the hell should I trust you?” She snarled. I shrugged.
“Don’t then. See what happens.”
Wow, if looks could kill.
She stared at me with a hatred so intense, so maniacal that I swear her hair was standing on end. Her fingers dug so hard into her palms I was surprised blood wasn’t dripping from her hands.
“You son of a bitch,” she growled. “I won’t forget this. I’ll be back for you.”
“Sorry but I won’t be here. If you want your precious A.I., or me, I suggest you come looking for me elsewhere. Oh, and one more thing,” I said as I tapped my finger against my bionic eye, which replaced the one she took from me. “I don’t forget either.”
She turned from me and stomped back to her ship along with her soldiers and cyborgs. I watched Jason as he turned to leave, wishing there was something I could do for him. I wanted to call out his name, convince him to stay behind. Unfortunately the persona that held control over his original personality couldn’t be trusted. He could easily snap my neck if I was caught off guard. This wasn’t the end though, I promised myself I would find him and do whatever it took to help him.
That left me with Erebos and Cessa, who both looked at me incredulously. Cessa’s eyes kept darting between mine and her sword which rested over my shoulder. Then Erebos did something I didn’t expect. He shrugged his shoulders and smiled, but the smile didn’t show through his eyes at all. They burned their way to my soul. I shuddered.
“Well done Mr. Quinn,” he said. “It is foolish to not respect those who stand up for what they believe in. You have won this battle and I lost.” He gave me the slightest bow with his head. “However, our business is not yet finished. As I said, I can wait patiently. As I do, I’ll be watching you.”
“That’s . . . kind of creepy,” was the only thing that came out of my mouth. Erebos finally turned and walked back to the ship. Now it was just Cessa and me.
“I want my sword,” she said to me. I held it in front of me and examined it. The craftsmanship was superb, the blade itself sharper than any I ever saw. I kept my eyes on it, waiting for some nightmarish image to pop in my head, but nothing came of it. The weapon itself represented a symbol of everything I feared and tried to run from. Whether it was Ashley’s death or Laraar’s, maybe it was time to face that fear and use it as a reminder—not of what I lost, but what I had.
Plus, I was a mercenary and I was fairly certain the payment Erebos promised me wouldn’t be coming.
“The sword belongs to me now,” I said. The words were like an ocean of fuel poured onto a wildfire. She bent her knees, seemingly about to strike until a loud booming voice called out t
o her.
“Cessa! Come!”
The loud angered voice of Erebos was terrifying. In the time I knew and interacted with him I hadn’t heard him sound so . . . evil. In that instant I thought I saw something pass over Cessa’s face. Her eyes widened, her mouth cringed. She looked terrified. I wasn’t wrong when I said Erebos controlled her and did so by using fear. I couldn’t help but feel pity for her in that small moment. Then, as quickly as I had seen it, her face returned to the cold, hated expression I was used to.
“Keep that close Daniel,” she said to me, turning away. Finally the last of my kind boarded the ship. I felt a body stand next to me. Idza.
“Destroy their ship . . . would you have?”
“No,” I said, watching the massive starship lift into the sky. “I would never sacrifice so many innocent people. Thankfully my bluffs are getting harder to read.”
“Bluffs?” she asked me. I told her I would explain later, but she wasn’t done asking questions.
“Why do they not fire on us . . . destroy us?”
I smiled and took my eyes off of the ship.
“Al and I did a little reprogramming of their computer. Thanks to the empyreus in his system we managed to hack the navigation and weapon control. They’re probably trying to figure out why their weapons won’t fire right about now.”
We stood there awhile longer before she spoke again.
“They will be back,” she said softly.
“Yes,” I replied. “But it will take them a lot longer than you think.”
TWENTY TWO
A brand new day was about to begin on the planet Dawn. The human threat had been contained and sent on its way. Unfortunately it came at a great cost, namely the destruction of the Dawnian’s ability to process the empyreus. My actions in triggering the explosion left me responsible. Sure, at the time it was an easy decision. If I didn’t do it who knows how the battle would have ended, how many more monstrosities King would have created. I kept telling myself it was for the good of the Dawnians and the universe.
Energize (From the Logs of Daniel Quinn Book 1) Page 22