Star Brigade: Ascendant (SB4)

by C. C. Ekeke

  Ugh. Tharydane loved Lethe for always being her advocate, but she had to fight her own battles every so often. “Lethe, it’s—”

  “It will happen, Tharydane.” He smiled. “Get some rest.” He turned to depart.

  “Lethe,” the Korvenite called out. He stopped. She almost wanted to mention her weird dreams about the life-draining tongues, to see if it wasn’t a premonition. But the Kudoban had enough on his hands without her adding more.

  “Thank you,” she said instead, walling up her concerns.

  The Kudoban nodded his long neck and departed from Tharydane’s bedroom.

  After the door hissed shut, the Korvenite felt both mentally and physically exhausted. She pulled up a new floating holoscreen and sent a brief transmission telling Jeremy they could talk tomorrow. After that, Tharyn swaddled herself in bedsheets and quickly passed out.

  Later, the shadowy humanoid returned to her dreams. Countless tongues snaked forward to suck the Korvenite’s life away…

  Chapter 13

  For over three orvs of time, V’Korram Prydyri-Ravlek had asked question after question, getting only stony silence in reply. Just like Marguliese and Captain Nyell before him.

  Now the Kintarian had reached the summit of his limited patience.

  “You have two options,” V’Korram growled, hatred contorting his furry face. He paced around in a white and sterile interrogation room, laser-focused on his enemy. “Tell me everything you know about the Zenith Point.”

  Ghuj’aega, leader of the radical and defunct Farooqua Ghebrekh tribe, sat behind a square table. He glared back with cold menace, beady eyes glowing bright purple. Shackled from head to toe in the restraints Khrome had fashioned, he couldn’t move beyond a head turn, let alone access his full powers.

  Ghuj’aega currently didn’t look like a threat. Short and gaunt even by Farooqua standards, his deep-blue skin was hairless and covered with white angular tattoos. That same skin was covered in nasty bruises from battling Star Brigade. The beating he’d received should have killed anyone else ten times over.

  V’Korram repressed a shiver. Regardless of how powerless and defeated Ghuj’aega appeared, the Kintarian remembered every detail of him at full power connected to Faroor’s moon. His manipulation of reality caused the disappearances of Captain Nwosu, Dr. Cortes, and Specialist Byzlar.

  We don’t know how to kill him. V’Korram did not forget that Ghuj’aega was still a threat, shackled or not.

  “And if I don’t?” Ghuj’aega spoke for the first time, his voice sporting an eerie otherworldly echo.

  V’Korram was momentarily stunned. “Then don’t,” he countered. “That is your only option. When this ends, you still die.”

  Ghuj’aega glowered, his purple eyes deepening. “Where is my incentive then, you foolish mammal?”

  “Your species is under siege because of their loyalty.” V’Korram bared his teeth. “To you. They are paying the price for that loyalty. We have already decimated your so-called Ghebrekh tribe. Help us find our missing teammates so we can help save your kind, Ghuj’aega.”

  The Farooqua shrugged and looked away, unmoved. “What about those evolutionary dead ends? They were doomed the moment their primitive lives began.”

  V’Korram sucked in a sharp breath. “You don’t care.”

  Ghuj’aega actually smiled, revealing shattered teeth. “When I merge with the Zenith Point, these pitiful mistakes will be erased from existence. Like you.”

  “It appears we are getting nowhere,” Marguliese’s flat, mechanical voice spoke in his ear comm. She was in an observation room, monitoring the exchange. Khrome wasn’t there, but the Thulican was in Magnasterium’s UComm tech research labs working on disconnecting Ghuj’aega from the Zenith Point. That was going nowhere as well.

  “Show him the massacre at the Farooqua Udaa tribal lands,” the Cybernarr concluded. “I will resume interrogations in two orvs.”

  V’Korram showed his understanding with a subtle nod. Snarling a command, the walls on either side of Ghuj’aega displayed footage of armored Ttaunz Defense Force officers marching through Farooqua N’noa villages. Their weapons discharged radiant lances of energy, mowing down Farooqua young and old. The visuals left the Kintarian sick to his bones, despite knowing UComm was already intervening. But the remaining Star Brigade was running out of options. And if they eventually found Captain Nwosu…and Cortes…this form of torture was worth it. V’Korram moved to exit the room, heart on his sleeve. “Enjoy watching your species get slaughtered,” he growled over his shoulder.

  “Like you enjoyed the slaughter of the fighting pits?”

  V’Korram went totally rigid. “What…did you say?” Had he imagined Ghuj’aega’s question?

  “Pit fighting made imprisonment bearable, yes?” The Farooqua caressed each word with casual malice. “The blood. The violence. The slaughter.”

  V’Korram turned slowly. His jaw dropped in disbelief. “How…could you possibly know that?”

  “I see someone’s past—and future—at a glance.” The terrorist sat on his chair, shackled and allegedly powerless, holovid footage of Farooqua butchery splashing across his gaunt body. Yet Ghuj’aega looked disturbingly triumphant, thin lips pulled into a grin. “Your Thulican’s restraints disrupted most of my power, not all.”

  “Jakadda,” Marguliese spoke in his earcom. “Leave the room.”

  Ghuj’aega wasn’t done. “Initially, you were forced into mortal combat. Within a month, you enthusiastically needed no motivation to butcher whoever they threw at you.”

  “Stop.” V’Korram clamped his hands over both pointy ears, turning to leave. The Kintarian’s past was a constant unwelcome companion. Hearing a stranger spew it at him now ripped open scars that had never healed.

  “That Cressonish guard who brutalized you throughout your sentence, just because he could,” Ghuj’aega leaned gleefully over the table. “How much did you relish your revenge after getting released? Hunting him down, taking your time to make him suffer? But even you were aghast by the bloodbath you made—”

  “Stop talking!” V’Korram roared. Blood-soaked memories began clouding rational thought, filling him with unbridled fury. He felt old, terrible instincts from those dark days re-emerging. The Kintarian had to get away from this room. From Ghuj’aega.

  “V’Korram,” Marguliese was flat and firm. “Leave.”

  “If Ch’tlanys and your family pride believed you guilty of those trumped-up charges,” Ghuj’aega continued, enjoying this, “imagine if they knew what those fighting pits turned you into—”

  V’Korram exploded forward. “ENOUGH!” Catching Ghuj’aega by the throat, he hoisted the shackled Farooqua terrorist off the ground one-handed. Every muscle trembled. V’Korram couldn’t kill him, but he could brutalize Ghuj’aega before anyone intervened.

  A familiar digitized noise caught his ear. Cybernarr teleportation.

  “Jakadda—” V’Korram wrenched from Marguliese’s grip with excessive force, sending her tumbling over the table. He didn’t care.

  “Know this, savage,” Ghuj’aega taunted, dangling in the air. His eyes glowed malevolently. “You and your teammates are dead. The Zenith Point will erase you from existence—”

  “SHUT UP!” V’Korram smashed Ghuj’aega onto the tabletop, so hard he heard something crack. The Farooqua gasped before a hoarse laugh wracked his scrawny frame. V’Korram slammed him down again. And again. More snapping bones.

  V’Korram raised his free hand, long, black claws ready to shred the Farooqua’s face.

  Marguliese moved frighteningly fast, yanking him off Ghuj’aega and pinning him against the wall. The Kintarian thrashed ferociously, spitting and snarling. Marguliese had him restrained. The point of her metallic elbow dug into his throat, her other hand restraining one of his wrists to the wall. Despite V’Korram’s considerable height and weight advantages, she remained much stronger.

  The Cybernarr’s golden face was cold and unyielding. “Stand.
Down.” Her words were even colder.

  V’Korram wasn’t listening, still fixated on Ghuj’aega wheezing and laughing on the ground. He’d rip that smile off, followed by the Farooqua’s throat—

  Marguliese dug her elbow deeper. V’Korram choked, forced to pay attention. “Look at what he almost goaded you into doing.”

  The absurdity of her comment breached V’Korram’s rage. “He can’t be killed,” he rasped out. “So what if I skinned him?”

  “Unless he didn’t want us to kill him on the field.”

  The assertion cut so deep, V’Korram felt it in his gut. He stopped struggling, feeling like a stupid cub. Anger had blinded him…again.

  Marguliese removed her elbow from his throat. V’Korram coughed, able to breathe freely.

  “If Ghuj’aega wants to die at our hands, while still connected to the Zenith Point,” she reminded, pushing the hair from her face, “that outcome is unacceptable.”

  “Second Lieutenant. What happened in there?” V’Korram recognized Sergeant Fiyan’s voice over the room’s comm system. “Some power surge disrupted holovid and audio. Must be from the skyquakes. And Marguliese,” the Nnaxan PLADECO sergeant sounded surprised. “How did you enter that room so fast?”

  “Very carefully,” Marguliese replied, her eyes boring into V’Korram. Clearly the Cybernarr had disrupted this room’s sensors and holovid footage to cover for him. V’Korram swallowed his shame and followed the Cybernarr out of the interrogation room.

  The two Brigadiers met Fiyan outside of UComm’s temporary command center, where they were monitoring both Ghuj’aega and the entire Zenith Point situation. V’Korram swallowed his shock. What started off as a small Star Brigade operation to handle had escalated in scope. Would the Brigade and UComm be able to contain something this…otherworldly?

  “Still nothing from our guest,” the Nnaxan deduced, her lower set of hands on her hips and the upper hands smoothing back the tentacle-like craniowhisks jutting from her head.

  “Negative,” Marguliese answered. “Our prisoner remains belligerent and non-cooperative.”

  Fiyan still wore her stained and soiled field uniform, looking absolutely exhausted. No doubt she had been dealing with more UComm debriefings than Star Brigade, along with Corporal Uyull’s funeral arrangements. Add that to the Nnaxan’s concerns over Specialist Byzlar, who had also disappeared, V’Korram was awed by her fortitude.

  “I can only hold off the UComm higher-ups for so long,” she stated. “If we aren’t making progress on him or locating Nwosu, Cortes, and…Byzlar soon…” The Nnaxan’s voice caught speaking Byzlar’s name. Her thick craniowhisks tumbled down her back, trembling in subtle grief.

  “We know,” V’Korram snapped more rudely than intended. “Commander Iecen and Lt. Al Abdullah will interrogate Ghuj’aega when they return.”

  The PLADECO sergeant received a transmission on her wristcom. “I’m needed back in there.” She corrected her unyielding posture and re-entered the command center.

  Marguliese and V’Korram walked down the corridor, passing several UComm and Ttaunz military personnel.

  “Khromulus,” the Cybernarr said quietly. V’Korram eyed her questioningly, before recalling his cybernetic teammate could connect to almost any communications system with ease. “Can you hear me?”

  “Yep.” Khrome sounded jolly for some reason. That annoyed V’Korram.

  “Tyris,” Marguliese stated. “Are you there?”

  “Yes,” the Tanoeen’s high, cold voice answered.

  “Khrome, where are you on decoupling Ghuj’aega from the Zenith Point?” Marguliese asked.

  “Nowhere,” he replied. “Have you made Ghuj’aega talk?”

  “Negative,” Marguliese answered. “Have you located Reign, Crescendo, or Byzlar?”

  “No,” Tyris replied.

  “So we’re nowhere?” V’Korram snarled angrily. His question met silence. Because the answer was deafening.

  Fear gnawed at V’Korram. His teammates might be dead.

  But he wouldn’t give up until bodies were found. And he knew these Brigadiers felt the same.

  CT-1 had become V’Korram’s pride, in everything but blood.

  But if CT-1 couldn’t locate their fellow Brigadiers soon, they would be officially declared MIA by UComm.

  And Sam will have to be notified as Star Brigade’s acting Brigadier Executive. Given her love for Nwosu and Cortes, V’Korram tried picturing her reaction. He shuddered and stopped trying.

  “Alright,” Tyris finally spoke. “We reach Magnasterium in an orv. Then we meet aboard the Ishliba to discuss options before changing search shifts.”

  After the discussion ended, V’Korram and Marguliese headed for Magnasterium’s hangar bays. V’Korram’s shame over Ghuj’aega lingered. Yet again, the impossible fury that once kept him alive now kept him stuck. Why can’t I move forward? He pushed those past memories deeper and deeper until the pain diminished.

  “About Ghuj’aega’s words—” he began.

  Marguliese silenced him with a look. “Given my species, who am I to critique one’s past misdeeds?” Her features remained blank, but her ocean-blue eyes softened, appearing to relay…compassion. “After we locate our teammates and render Ghuj’aega powerless, carve him up as viciously as you prefer.”

  V’Korram grinned at the prospect. “Gladly.”

  Slight vibrations along the floor interrupted his joy. He exchanged a knowing look with Marguliese.

  Abruptly the tremor intensified into a powerful, rumbling quake. The entire corridor rocked back and forth, dislodging any object or being not secured. Alarms blared. Ttaunz and non-Ttaunz in the corridor lost footing, finding no safety.

  Another skyquake. A gift from the Zenith Point’s growing instability. V’Korram grabbed Marguliese by the waist as she magnetized her boots to the floor. That barely kept them from swaying to and fro.

  Several macroms passed before the skyquake stopped.

  “That was the third skyquake this orv,” Marguliese noted amid alarms and panicky voices. “They are becoming more frequent.”

  “And more powerful,” V’Korram added with a worried look.

  Chapter 14

  On the flight back to Hollus, Sam heard news that was both unsurprising and aggravating.

  “The CoE strike team operatives aren’t talking to UniPol,” Bevrolor zo Azelten announced. CT-2’s brawny XO had a sullen look on her squashed face when delivering the news. “Again.”

  Sam’s nostrils flared. “Of course not.” She expected that. These were just grunts who probably knew nothing. Sam stood with CT-2’s five other members on Phaeton’s roomy, brightly lit bridge. She had changed into a velvety kurthon maroon magnezip hoodie and matching sweatpants, comfortable and figure-hugging.

  CT-2 had done better than expected—much better. Plus, Sam had so needed the thrill of field combat.

  But with no answers on headquarters or training hubs for Children of Earth’s paramilitary forces, Star Brigade was merely holding the line.

  Sam wanted the line destroyed. “Stronghold?” She turned to her medic. “What’s the word on those Korvenites?”

  The Ubruqite, still in his combat armor, shook his head. “Same as the others. Brains messed up. CoE was experimenting on their psionic talents. From what my tests found, it’s clearly a virus that enhances Korvenite telepathy to fatal levels.” Despite Stronghold lacking any facial features on his faceplate, how he tilted his helmeted head back clearly showcased frustration. “And these Korvenites were subjected to harsh experimentation, like Dr. Cortes stated in her analyses.”

  “Agreed.” Sam nodded, scratching the topknot of butter-blonde hair piled atop her head. “We know the CoE loathes Korvenites. But they wouldn’t go through all this just to lethally torture them.” The CoE had an endgame, one clearly leading the Korvenites toward extinction.

  Sam shuddered, wanting to know what these experiments were yet dreading the answers. “Keep digging. Connect with Un
iPol if needed—”

  Addison Raichoudry cleared her throat loudly, drawing stares. She looked lean and athletic in a navy blue long-sleeve tee and black leggings. Her raven-black hair was in a headband/low ponytail combo except for her heavy bangs.

  Sam gave Raichoudry an annoyed sidelong look. “Yes?”

  “We might have another option.”

  Sam studied her skeptically. “I’m listening.”

  “Europa Hanson,” Addison announced briskly, as if that name was the obvious solution.

  Sam scowled. Hanson was one of the few CoE sleeper agents ousted accidentally by their patsy Kingston Reyes. The same Reyes whom Star Brigade had lost track of. “What did I say about pursuing those sleeper agents?” she asked through a forced smile.

  Addison smirked in the face of Sam’s ire. “Even if she’s been in frequent contact with UniPol agent M’Kuvuh?”

  That silenced the bridge. Sam wasn’t expecting that.

  “How long?” Surje asked, glowing deep crimson with suspicion, “have they been in contact?”

  “For over two months.”

  Bevrolor’s three eyes widened. “When Star Brigade’s joint operation with UniPol began.”

  “Correct,” Addison nodded, obnoxiously smug now.

  Sam frowned, chewing on this new information. M’Kuvuh, a UniPol director, in league with Children of Earth. That made no sense. But in her experience, Sam had partnered with stranger bedfellows.

  Could be a deflection. Pin the turncoat label on someone within UniPol, removing them as a resource and isolating Star Brigade while Addison continued her treachery.

  Or maybe Addison’s clean, Sam considered. “You pursued a connection even after being ordered not to?”

  “Yes,” Addison replied, defiant and unapologetic.

  “Good.” Sam nodded, ignoring Surje’s searing glare. She respected that approach, if genuine. “Do the same with M’Kuvuh. We need to know how deep her corruption goes and if others in UniPol are involved. Work with Surje from start to finish.”