Star Brigade: Ascendant (SB4)

by C. C. Ekeke

  That’s an understatement. But Sam needed the Raichoudry investigation classified until she had answers. “Reach out to our UniPol liaisons,” she requested. “See if they’ve had more success tracking down CoE strike team hideouts.”

  “On it.” Jan’Hax turned to leave, and then stopped as if recalling something. “About last night...”

  Sam swallowed a cringe. Exactly what she didn’t want to discuss. Last night with Jan’Hax, at least what Sam could remember, occurred long before Surje had brought news of Addison.

  She had made a mistake—a torrid, pleasurable, and drug-addled mistake born of needing to quit her brain for a few orvs. One of many mistakes these past few days.

  “What about it?” she asked, impeccably nonchalant. Hopefully Jan’Hax wouldn’t get clingy on her.

  The Ciphereen opened a web-like palm, revealing a thin ribbon of silver strung through a shimmery green jewel wreathed by knotted grey metal. “You forgot this.”

  A warm flush crept up Sam’s neck as she stared at the Cantalesian heartknot necklace. Speaking of mistakes… She snatched it from Jan’Hax’s palm. “Thanks,” Sam replied, her voice rough.

  Jan’Hax wasn’t done. “Last night was better than any time before.” His duck-billed mouth curved again into a slippery smirk. There was that sleazy appetite for decadence. “Let’s revisit soon.”

  Sam’s nostrils flared. “Let’s focus on my orders, Lieutenant.”

  Jan’Hax recoiled from her ire, nodding ruefully before scurrying off. She watched the ObDeck door close behind him. Habraum was right about being stricter with subordinates. As a field commander, her management style had to change.

  On the translifter ride to her quarters, Sam studied the shiny heartknot necklace in her palm. It had been a gift from Habraum during their Cantalesian holiday with the kids a few months back. Previously, she only removed it before field missions. Until last night…

  Before then, the necklace had meant her bond with Habraum. A literal heartknot. The necklace had meant the complicated romance born from over eight years of friendship. The necklace had embodied Tharydane and little Jeremy playing like siblings. The necklace was supposed to symbolize her and Habraum’s future. Even light-years away, she still felt his pull on her.

  Yet in Habraum’s own words, she was only a friend with benefits.

  Wearing the Cantalesian heartknot now felt like a lie and a mockery. And that cracked her heart into a hundred more pieces. Sam curled her hand into a fist, itching to fling the damn thing at the translifter’s walls. But why bother?

  “It’s just a necklace,” Sam whispered, making her heart go cold and her watery eyes go dry. She would tell herself that until the lie became her truth.

  Sam stuffed the jewelry in her hoodie pocket, removing it from sight. The translifter halted and opened on the senior officers’ level.

  Speaking of Habraum, there’d been no news from CT-1 besides a standard location update two nights ago.

  “Better check in,” Sam realized while approaching her quarters. The Brigadier would first try official channels and then Khal, who’d been feeding her updates on the mission and CT-1’s roster—specifically Marguliese.

  According to Khal’s last update, nothing new came up with the Cybernarr.

  His updates better be accurate. The door opened and Sam marched in…

  …almost colliding with Tharydane.

  Sam stopped herself in time and caught her adopted daughter as she lurched back.

  After regaining their balance, both Korvenite and human backpedaled to give each other room.

  The Korvenite teenager’s snowy complexion and tumble of long, lazy purple curls contrasted well with her dark t-shirt and bright red pajama pants. For some reason she was carrying a pile of clothing.

  They stared at one another, and things abruptly grew awkward.

  Due to a stupid misunderstanding two days ago, mother and daughter had been avoiding each other. Tensions had rocketed to where Tharydane now stayed with her other guardian down the hall instead of here.

  Sam would have confronted this head-on if things weren’t so crazy with CT-2. Even then, what was she supposed to do with this kid who wanted more than she was capable of offering?

  What would Habraum do if this were him and Jeremy? She usually asked that when similar problems arose.

  A greeting was a good start. “Hey kid,” she said with a tight smile.

  “Hi,” Tharydane greeted, unsmiling. Her eyes, gold irises on black sclera, never rested long on Sam. “I’m just grabbing a few things. Didn’t mean to get in your way.”

  That was another dagger to Sam’s heart. God, this girl truly thinks she’s just a charity case. “You’ve never been in my way, Tharydane.” She had to resolve things before this issue continued to fester.

  Sam continued, “Let’s have breakf—”

  A sharp, incessant beep cut her off. Annoyed, she glanced at her wristcom. Commander Bevrolor zo Azelten, CT-2’s XO.

  Sam swore under her breath. Not a social call this early. “I gotta take this.”

  She rounded the teenager and scurried to her private office before answering. “D’Urso.”

  “Heatstroke,” the Nubrideen XO’s gruff voice answered, calling Sam by her codename. “A CoE strike team just hijacked a transport moving Korvenites from Mekaal’s living facilities to the one at the outskirts of the Mynar Sector.”

  Excitement jolted through Sam. “At least they’re consistent,” she quipped. So the Children of Earth resurfaced to kidnap and eventually experiment on Korvenites. Thank God Tharyn hadn’t heard that. “Tell me the CoE ship is getting tracked,” she inquired, heart in her throat. If they lost another potential lead…

  “Yes,” the Nubrideen confirmed after a long moment. “Before the CoE destroyed the transport, they had disgorged debris and fluids that stuck to the attacking ship’s hull. Tracking has been spotty thanks to the CoE’s stealth capabilities.”

  “But…” Sam gestured for more info despite her XO not seeing that.

  “UniPol reports the ship’s last known heading was Alorum and hasn’t deviated.”

  Sam jumped up for joy.

  A CoE lead and terrorists to beat up. Just what I need. “Is UniPol heading to intercept?”

  “Yes,” Bevrolor confirmed. “They expect to rendezvous with CT-2 near Alorum in four orvs.”

  “Let’s not disappoint.” Sam’s grin stretched from ear to ear. “Have CT-2 suit up and be aboard the Phaeton in half an orv. D’Urso out.”

  This meant all of CT-2—including Addison Raichoudry. On their maiden field mission, Sam needed her full team. And if Raichoudry fucked up, she’d have full justification to boot her from CT-2. Her smile turned wicked.

  “Better get ready.” She would change into field uniform on the Phaeton.

  Sam burst out of her office into the common room and found it empty. Tharyn was gone—probably feeling shafted in Sam’s list of priorities…again. The realization stung as harshly as before. But there was no time to process. The lead on the Children of Earth had to be followed.

  Sam shoved her sorrows into a dark corner of her mind and rushed from her quarters, focused only on CT-2’s mission.

  ***

  “I’m sick of waiting!” Kingston Reyes barked. The former Children of Earth soldier could contain his anger no longer. A week had passed since losing his CoE strike team, forcing him to flee through Terra Sollus’s underground. A week since his life had turned to shit—not tattshi like those candy asses toadying with non-humans said. A week since he saw how few allies he truly had. One day since he had found shelter in an ally’s safe house. But even that was no longer safe. “When are you extracting me from Terra Sollus?”

  “I’m working as fast as possible to make that happen, Reyes,” a disembodied, digitally scrambled voice spoke over the safe house’s com systems. “The only way I can secure your extraction is through the Korvenite girl. Right now I’m devising how to remove her from her many guard
ians.”

  That would be Kingston’s one remaining friend, a mole working on the UComm starbase Hollus Maddrone. Normally this friend’s promise was usually enough for Kingston. But the circumstances had changed. And his impatience was driven by more than fear. “Hurry! I can’t…take much more of this—”

  “Kingston!” the voice interrupted. “I’m about to blow my cover for you. Still that isn’t enough. What is wrong?”

  Kingston wanted to tell his friend everything. He longed to even call off the extraction.

  Don’t. You. Dare, a hissing voice slithered in his thoughts.

  Kingston’s voice caught in his throat. Suddenly, the human’s will was no longer his own. Reyes was now paying the price for his Children of Earth work in the worst way.

  Calm yourself and salvage the situation, the voice instructed.

  “My apologies.” Kingston wiped the sweat from his forehead and sighed. “I’m just…eager to return to some normalcy.”

  A long silence followed, too long. And Reyes began panicking. “Sorry, Star Brigade’s prepping for a mission. I’ll have to leave. And I understand, Kingston. Once I can grab the little Korvie bitch and leave Hollus Maddrone, your nightmare will be over.

  “No it won’t, Kingston fretted after the transmission ended.

  “Good,” an oily voice spoke. “Turn around.” Kingston shuddered, feeling so cold all the time. Hopeless, he turned as ordered to the safe house’s other occupant. Before him stood a creature made of nightmares. An osvowraith, the very one his defunct strike team had used to hunt Korvenites, now held him hostage. Every time Kingston thought he knew how ugly this demon beast was, another look reminded him all over again. The body of this unclothed osvowraith was taut with sinewy muscle and covered in sickly grey skin. Long cord-like hair cascaded around a stretched, sallow face with snake-like red eyes and a blade of a nose. Kingston’s stomach roiled, but some will not his own kept him from looking away.

  “Do not antagonize our way off this rock,” the beast warned in venomous tones. “That is one of two reasons you still live, human.”

  Kingston nodded limply. He saw no future beyond death by this beast’s hand. “And the other?”

  The osvowraith’s mouth opened impossibly wide, its jaw splitting in two. “I’m hungry.”

  A swarm of glittering coils snaked out from its throat, impaling Kingston through the chest, arms, stomach, and legs.

  As the life was drained from him, Kingston screamed…

  Chapter 7

  “Dēvatā Gāisǐ de!” Khal swore. He had tried staying calm, especially in front of CT-1’s acting field commander.

  But after five orvs searching for Nwosu and Cortes, his patience was beyond frayed.

  “Still nothing?” Tyris asked. His high, cold voice was edged with disappointment. The two Brigadiers sat in the rear of Phaeton’s helm, pouring over a massive 3D holomap of Faroor.

  Khal shook his head, running both hands through his raven-black mop. “Try anything but Nwosu or Cortes. There are at least fifty or so exotic energy flare-ups all over Faroor.” He gestured angrily at the holomap. “Nothing shows signs of their comm signals or DNA.”

  He and Tyris were the first shift searching for their teammates. If nothing was found after six orvs, they returned to Magnasterium so Khrome, Marguliese, and V’Korram would take second shift. They had one orv left.

  The massive holomap was more of a transparent outline, missing detailed features of the world they flew across. Thanks to Khrome’s configurations, they could scan for the same exotic energy patterns as the singularity that had sucked Captain Nwosu, Dr. Cortes, and Specialist Byzlar into who knew where. So far, they had found all kinds of aftershocks from these flare-ups.

  Commercial and civilian spacecrafts had been grounded due to continued lightning storms. Only Ttaunz and UComm military aircraft ruled the skies. That would have made Khal and Tyris’s jobs easier if there were any trace of their missing teammates.

  “What I am detecting based on visuals and incoming chatter,” Khal continued, leaning back in his seat, “are Ttaunz citizens disappearing from various Faroor city-states, and strange creatures not native to Faroor or even Union space are appearing.”

  Tyris looked at Khal sharply. “Like the jusha beasts on Inorskii Fields.”

  “Exactly.” That didn’t matter. These portals never stayed open for long before another singularity opened up. And still no sign of their teammates.

  Even though Khal was CT-1’s newest member, the last thing he wanted was to lose two teammates on his first official mission. Besides, he knew what both Nwosu and Cortes meant to Sam. Anything happens to them… Khal shivered, unwilling to complete that thought.

  What was omnipresent, no matter where they flew across Faroor, was the planet’s moon, Qos.

  Or should they say, the Zenith Point. Qos no longer eclipsed Faroor’s sun, but it still cast a baleful white glow as bright as a star. That moon was the cause of all these issues, and the source of Ghuj’aega’s abilities. Something about its throbbing radiance unnerved Khal to his core.

  Tyris stood up and began pacing. “This isn’t working.”

  Khal scoffed. “No kidding.” He glanced at the chronometer. Less than an orv left.

  “Maybe Marguliese and V’Korram will have more luck interrogating Ghuj’aega.”

  Tyris stopped pacing and stared ahead, ignoring Khal’s supposition.

  “Or Khrome with his techno wizardry will find Ghuj’aega’s connection to the Zenith Point.”

  Tyris stood stiller than an ice statue, hands on hips. The halolights glinted off the many spikes on his ice crystalline body.

  “Tyris!” Khal finally barked.

  That startled the Tanoeen out of his immobility. “Sorry. I just—” He shook his head. “I remembered something.”

  “Fantastic,” Khal replied blandly. He glanced again at his readings in the center table. Two more portals closed. “Will it help in finding Captain Nwosu and Dr. Cortes?”

  Tyris turned to him. Khal was getting good at reading the Tanoeen’s beady cobalt eyes. Right now he saw uncertainty. “Possibly.

  “Years ago in my youth,” the Tanoeen began, “there was an incident around my homeworld’s southern pole. No one really knew what happened beyond that event disrupting energy output all over Titanoa for an orv. And the Kedri Imperium government swarmed in to handle it.”

  “Okay.” Khal didn’t see the connection to their mission, but he stayed quiet and listened.

  “During my Imperium Army stint, I dug a little. More like a lot on that incident. Not much was available other than that a micro black hole had opened up and a body under an ice sheet in a frozen lake was found. A...human body.”

  Khal’s stomach crawled up into his throat. “Did they say if it was earthborn or crimsonborn?

  “Don’t know,” Tyris replied. “But I want to find out. I still have contacts in the Imperium. It might be hard given current relations with the Union.”

  “Why didn’t you say something before?” the human asked with a little heat.

  “I don’t know.” Tyris shook his head. Those beady cobalt eyes on his smooth, icy face were dull with confusion. “The memory just…popped into my head out of nowhere.”

  Khal jerked upright in his seat. Out of nowhere. “Which means the memory wasn’t there until someone from present day appeared in the past. Tattshi, this is getting weird.”

  The way Tyris stared back only compounded the growing terror at what the Tanoeen’s possibly altered memories meant. So Khal voiced those fears. “You think it’s either Cortes or Nwosu?”

  “Hope not.” Tyris shook his spiked head stubbornly. “I’ll put forward the request. Keep searching for our teammates.” He turned to head for the helm’s front section.

  Khal nodded and turned back to the holoscreens floating before him from this center table. Then one of the smaller screens caught his eyes. He grabbed the small holoscreen’s top and bottom to pull outward, increasi
ng its size. “Whoa!” the human man exclaimed.

  Immediately, Tyris rushed to Khal’s side. “What?”

  The human said nothing, just pointing at the screen and the visuals that were knifing into his heart. Farooqua from the Inuu tribe, all gangly-limbed and squashed-faced, fleeing in terror as Ttaunz Defense Force fighter jets circled overhead, raining down death with green energy blasts. Countless Farooqua were able to dive behind rocky structures for cover. Many weren’t so lucky, their bodies shredded into bloody pieces. One Farooqua Inuu, couldn’t have been older than a teenager, got nailed in the back and burst apart in sprays of blood and viscera. Khal couldn’t watch anymore.

  Why would the Ttaunz break the planetary peace treaty and declare open war like this? Then it hit Khal. No doubt many Inuu had joined the Ghebrekh.

  The Ttaunz must be attacking any Farooqua tribe associated with the Ghebrekh. He jerked upright.

  “We have to stop them.” Khal headed for the front of the helm to inform Solrao.

  The Tanoeen caught Khal by the arm. His grip was ice-cold, like him. “Can’t.”

  Khal couldn’t believe his ears. No one could ever excuse the young man of being out to save the galaxy. But this “ethnic cleansing” was wrong. “Those Farooqua are getting slaughtered down there.” He gestured heatedly at the holoscreen as more Inuu were mowed down by another Ttaunz fighter jet barrage. “These revenge massacres could be happening all over Faroor.”

  Tyris didn’t release his arm. “Not our place or mission.” The Tanoeen’s eyes were two beady chips of dark blue. Khal used to think him being physically and emotionally frozen was just a bad joke.

  Disgusted, he jerked free of Tyris’s grasp. “Tyris,” Khal began angrily, shaking his arm to get the blood flowing again.

  “Lieutenant,” Tyris’s retort was a cold slap of wind. He got in Khal’s face, standing over three inches taller. “Our interference would cause another conflict with the Ttaunz Supremacy. That could obstruct our finding Captain Nwosu and Dr. Cortes. This then could affect our teammates at Magnasterium interrogating Ghuj’aega and looking for ways to destroy him. Are those Farooqua down there worth it?”