Progeny of Vale

by Rhett C. Bruno

  “This isn’t the time—”

  Tarsis cut him off. “She insists.”

  Talon sighed and pulled the hood up over his head. “Fine,” he said. “But I can’t promise Zaimur will let anyone but me in.”

  Tarsis nodded to him, and Talon returned the gesture before Kitt hurried to his side. The young Vergent’s curious gaze was darting around the port.

  “What about you?” Talon asked Kitt as they started walking. “Is this your first time?”

  “Came here when I was young. First time out of port though.”

  They moved out into the lofty space of the Buckle, all of the hollowed-out stalagmites rising up around them and filled with motion as if they were within a tremendous insect hive. Talon immediately realized that things were different from when he left. People vocally protested against the Tribune, begging for war in the name of what had happened to Kalliope. Talon realized it was no longer a mystery, as HOLO-Screens all over displayed telescopic images of the split asteroid. Members of different clans were sitting outside shops arguing about what was coming next, while white-eyed service androids brought them drink after drink. They were so busy that they didn’t even pay attention to the thin-eyed Vergent walking right past them, far away from the safety of his ship.

  The Conduit Station above Ceres was in disarray. Traders with Tribunal backgrounds were being hoarded into hangars to be sent away on the next Solar-Ark, if they weren’t beaten to death first. Anybody who dared to speak of the Spirit of the Earth in a positive light would be a target. Talon wondered if everything had happened in the same way the last time it came to war, when the Tribune staked a claim on every moon of Jupiter and made a mandate that the production of androids had to stop. That was just a disagreement. This time, Ceresians were murdered in cold blood, around eight hundred by Talon’s estimations.

  A few glares lingered on Kitt a little longer than Talon cared for, so he pulled him along quickly. They boarded the Underpass bound for the West 534 Housing District—his home. As far as he was concerned, Zaimur could wait a little bit while he made sure Elisha and Julius were safe.

  “I’ve seen your home, now welcome to mine,” Talon said, smiling widely as the hollowed-out district he grew up in came into view. The tram stopped in front of Dome 534, vibrant colors spilling out through the club’s latticed structure the same as they always did. Talon hopped off of the tram while Kitt gawked at the club.

  “C’mon, we’re going to go check on an old friend.” Talon smiled as he directed Kitt up the stairs leading to the residential block. He went to Julius’s shack first and nobody answered. He then headed to his own shack and found it just the same.

  “Nobody home?” Kitt said.

  Talon shook his head and stepped out of his shack. “I forgot to check the time. They must be down at the Dome. C’mon, I’ll get you a spot at the bar. A little fresh water will do you well.”

  Kitt’s eyes went wide. “Fresh?”

  “They harvest it from the oceanic core of Ceres and a few other asteroids. Far better than most of the shit that gets served around here.”

  He nodded excitedly and they started heading back toward Dome 534. Just as they did Talon made eye contact with Ulson’s wife. There was a palpable sinking sensation in his chest as she hurried in the opposite direction.

  “Yuri!” Talon shouted as he started off after her. She might know for sure where Julius and Elisha were. He and Kitt followed her up to the second level of the stacked housing units where he was unable to ignore Vellish’s domicile nearby, the door closed tightly. The sight made his throat go dry, but he swallowed hard to steady himself and continued after Yuri.

  Ulson had a nicer place than any of his friends—a hollow built directly into a bulbous knob of rock. Yuri glanced over her shoulder and scowled before slamming the entry hatch behind her. Talon wasn’t surprised. He knew everyone left behind would blame him for what happened on the freighter, just as he did.

  Talon knocked on the circular, metal hatch with all of his might and struggled to force words out. “Yuri, Where’s Julius?” he asked. When she ignored him he kept repeating himself and banging on the hatch until some of her neighbors started staring.

  Finally, a man inside hollered, “Just let him in, damnit!”

  The entrance popped open and Yuri stood in it wearing a disapproving glare. “Just leave us be Talon Rayne,” she whimpered. “You’ve done enough.”

  Us? Talon stormed in past her and found Ulson lying on their rock-carved bed. Blankets covered him up to his neck.

  “You made it?”

  Ulson turned his head. A grotesque burn covered one side of his face, from his cheek to his ear. He smiled weakly, and just that effort of moving his face was enough to make him wince in pain. “Back from the dead, old friend,” he said. His voice was frail and raspy.

  Talon raced over to him and grasped his outstretched hand. Its grip was weak, and it too was covered in burns.

  “By the Ancients it’s good to see you!” Talon exclaimed.

  “Never thought I would,” Ulson whispered. “How the hell did you get off of there?”

  Talon looked over his shoulder at Kitt, who was standing politely in the doorway behind Yuri. “I had some help.” Talon scanned Ulson’s ravaged body again and sighed. “I heard your transmission cut out. Thought for sure they got you.”

  “Aye. Ship took a hit right to the engines. All life-support systems went out, but the cockpit held its integrity somehow. I would’ve suffocated if there wasn’t a spare suit in there with some oxygen. The Tribune mistook me for debris and cleared out, and then Morastus scouts picked me up, barely alive and almost in one piece.” He stuck the stump of his right leg out from the side of the blankets. It was amputated halfway up his quad.

  “Ulson, I’m—”

  Ulson reached out and placed his hand on Talon’s shoulder. “I knew the risks. I’ll never mine again, but at least I got out alive. Shame what happened to Kalliope.” He paused and looked at his wife. “Yuri, can you please bring us something to drink?”

  She didn’t move.

  “Please.”

  Yuri bit her lips and fought back another scowl before heading over to their refrigerator. She brought them two glasses filled with discolored Synthrol. She didn’t even make eye contact with Talon as she gave him his. Then she offered one to Kitt, who declined wordlessly.

  “Is it only you?” Ulson asked.

  “Only me and Agatha. The bitch was working for the Tribune the whole time. Led us right into a trap.”

  “Fuck. Could’ve had me fooled.” Ulson’s attempt at sitting up failed as he groaned in pain. “Vellish?”

  Talon’s hands tightened into fists. “She shot him in the head before sending me to the Keepers.”

  Ulson appeared similarly displeased, though not surprised. “I ever see her again I’m gonna see if her arm works for a leg.”

  “I’ll screw it on myself.”

  They exchanged a pair of wicked grins, and then Ulson held up his glass, his hand trembling. “To Vellish,” he said.

  “To Kalliope.”

  They clanked their glasses together and took down a mouthful of the liquid. It was so refreshing after so long that Talon didn’t even mind how bitter it was. It was easily the worst quality Synthrol he’d ever endured.

  “You’ll have to tell me how you managed to get back here,” Ulson said once his mouth recovered from the taste.

  “You can thank Kitt and his people mostly,” Talon replied.

  Ulson titled his head to look past Talon, as if he hadn’t even realized the quiet boy was there. His brow furrowed even though the singed side of his face could barely move. “Is he a—”

  “Vergent, yep. I was as surprised as you are.”

  “Talon Rayne. You’ll have to tell me everything. I could use a good story, stuck in this bed all day.”

  “And I will, but first I have to find Julius,” Talon replied. “He wasn’t home, so I’m guessing he’s down a
t the Dome. I left him behind to look after Elisha; I didn’t realize I was saving his life.”

  “I figured that was why. He must’ve taken it more seriously than he usually does. I haven’t seen him since I’ve been out of the med center. Her either. I haven’t left this hole much, but I figured he’d stop by once he found out I made it.”

  Talon’s heart started racing again, but he took deep breaths to try and stay calm. “Not at all? I told him to avoid anything Morastus, but that’s not like him.”

  “You think they’d still come for them after what happened?” Ulson asked. “Seems like a waste of time.”

  “I agree, but you never know with Zaimur Morastus running things.”

  “Julius is probably just being overly careful to make you proud. I’d go ask Vera. You know he can’t go too long without watching her. I’m sure everything is fine.”

  “Yeah…probably,” Talon allowed himself a slight nod. “I’ll keep looking, and after I find him we’ll sit around here and I’ll tell you all about what happened, and we’ll drink until our minds are numb.”

  Ulson chuckled. He extended a hand, his arm shaking. “It’s good to see you, Tal.”

  “The Tribune can’t get us all,” Talon replied. He decided against embracing Ulson and settled for shaking his hand. Then he opened his mouth to say something to Yuri, but as his gaze met her grimace nothing came out. All he could do was nod and head out of the room. He could hear Ulson groan behind him, rustling around in his bed to try to find a comfortable position.

  “C’mon,” Talon said to Kitt as he closed the hatch behind them. He wished he could spend more time, but even after learning of his friend’s miraculous survival, finding Elisha was all he could focus on.

  They headed down to Dome 534 without exchanging a word. Kitt stared at the two androids with rifles posted at the entrance while they waited in the short line. When they finally reached the front, the Morastus Bouncer at the tarp-covered entrance said, “CP Cards.”

  Talon reached down, then remembered that he didn’t have his anymore. It was lost somewhere aboard Tribune Benjar Vakari’s New Earth Cruiser. As he was busy trying to think of a proper excuse, Vera came stumbling out through the tarp.

  “Tal!” she shrieked and threw herself at him. “Where have you been?”

  Her skimpy leotard was half pulled down and she could barely stand. Her eyelashes fluttered as she tried to look at him but couldn’t focus. She pursed her lips and attempted to kiss him, and almost succeeded since his infected muscles were so weak. Directly behind her was a Morastus Agent wearing a suit of armor similar to the one Talon used to wear. He didn’t look happy seeing his girl clinging to another, but Talon didn’t care.

  He helped her onto a bench outside of the club and leaned her head back. Her pupils were dilated three times their usual size, and the area under her nostrils was chapped. He couldn’t pick out what synthetic drug she was on exactly, but she’d always had a taste for all of them—anything concocted in the depths of Ceres was fair game.

  “Vera, what are you doing?” Talon sighed. Sometimes it was hard to believe she was the mother of his child.

  She giggled maniacally. “We’re going to war!”

  “Back off ya’ filth!” the agent she was with pushed Kitt out of the way and then yanked Talon up by the wrist.

  Talon thought about announcing who he was, but it had been so long since he worked directly under Zargo Morastus that most Morastus thugs wouldn’t recognize him anymore. Instead he lashed out and struck the inebriated man across the jaw, knocking him unconscious. A few people nearby glanced over for a moment before continuing on with their conversations. Dome 534 was no stranger to drunken brawls. It was business as usual.

  “That felt good,” Talon exhaled, shaking out his hand. The punch made his entire arm instantly burn with soreness, but it was worth it. He hated seeing Vera strung out on drugs when Elisha could be anywhere nearby and see. “So where is she?”

  “Elisha?” Vera mouthed, enunciating each syllable individually. “I haven’t seen her in forever. Have you?”

  Talon leaned in closer to her. “What do you mean? Knowing Julius, I’m sure they’re down here all the time.”

  “Him either.” She playfully poked Talon in his chest. “Or his muscles.”

  “How long?” Talon questioned. He grasped her by the sides of her head and pulled her face close. “How long!”

  “What?”

  “How long since you saw our daughter?” he growled, shaking her.

  “Days…weeks…” Her eyes closed and she let her body droop back as if she was about to fall asleep. “I don’t know. Right after you left maybe.”

  Talon’s heart skipped a beat. He almost completely let her fall before Kitt had a chance to lunge forward and help lower her head down to the surface of the bench.

  Talon fell to his knees, his fists shaking. “Zaimur,” he whispered, holding back a roar. If nobody knew where Julius was, then there wasn’t a doubt in his mind that the Morastus prince was behind it. All because of Talon’s failure to obtain a freighter’s cargo on a mission that had no chance of success. A part of him knew he should have expected it. After all that he’d been through he knew he shouldn’t have thought seeing her again wouldn’t be as simple as getting home. But he wouldn’t let anything stand in his way. If Zaimur was willing to ignore all that Talon had done for his father, then Talon would do the same.

  I’ll kill him, he thought before turning to Kitt. “Watch her. I’ll be back.”

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN—ADIM

  An Extension of the Hand

  The White Hand hurtled through space toward Ceres Prime. ADIM sat in the captain’s chair on the Command Deck. He wasn’t in a state of full hibernation, just low processing. Cassius was asleep and the ship’s computer, Gaia, had it on auto-pilot, but ADIM had to be ready just in case something happened.

  The stars danced slowly by, and no matter how many of the Ignescent Cell’s scattered asteroids passed in the distance nothing bothered the White Hand. Even though they were traversing countless miles of Ceresian space, its stealth systems were far too advanced to be caught by anything but top of the line scanners, especially while racing ahead. According to Cassius, the Ceresians were far behind in that technology.

  ADIM heard something moving behind him and snapped to full attention, his head whipping around 180 degrees.

  “Relax, it’s only me,” Cassius announced as he walked through. He appeared to be well rested, which was not a state ADIM was accustomed to seeing him in. “We should be there shortly.”

  “Twenty-four minutes precisely,” ADIM said.

  “Good.” Cassius walked up to the chair. ADIM went to get up so that his creator could sit down, but was stopped by Cassius’s hand. “I need the exercise,” Cassius said. “Gaia, show us the last location of all Tribunal ships, provided by the Vale Protocol.”

  “Yes, captain,” the feminine voice of the White Hand’s virtual intelligence responded promptly. A minute went by without anything happening.

  “Forgive me, ADIM,” Cassius groaned. “She’s not as fast as she used to be after all these years. She’s older than you. I’ll have to clean out her memory banks sometime and see if I can improve performance.”

  Finally, a hologram shot up from the command deck’s main HOLO-Projector, displaying all the planets, moons, asteroids, and artificial stations which comprised Circuit. Tiny red dots popped up along it, each of them blinking. ADIM eyed it curiously.

  “Creator, can’t that be used to disable the entire Tribunal fleet?” he asked.

  Cassius exhaled. “Unfortunately no. When I designed this program I served the Tribune loyally. The ability to disable ships on command can only be controlled from within the Enclave in New Terrene, and even then there are strict fail-safes. The Vale Protocol requires both an iris scan and a subdermal hand-print from an active Tribune to be accessed. I was very thorough. It will, however, take them a little longer to figure out how to bl
ock our ability to at least see the location of all linked ships. This is a gift I think the Ceresians would greatly value.”

  Cassius pointed to Jupiter, which had the brightest cluster of red dots surrounding it. “They are amassing here,” he said. “Just waiting patiently for the signal to wipe out the Ceresian culture for good this time. Tribune Joran’s Cruiser remains stationed over Mars, and look, Tribune Yashan and his sizeable fleet are preparing to leave Earth in order to position themselves at the edge of the asteroid belt.”

  “Leaving Earth and her moon undefended,” ADIM stated.

  “Why waste ships?” Cassius replied. “After losing their taste for the old war, the Tribune resolved to slowly bleed the Ceresians out over time until they came crawling over to the side of the faithful. They would’ve succeeded eventually if not for us. Now the Ceresians have fewer and older ships, while for twenty-eight years the Tribune has worked to rebuild their crippled fleet. It’s double the size it ever was.”

  “The Ceresians would be unwise to provoke total war. Their dispersion across many more settlements is their only advantage.” ADIM quickly counted eighty-seven settlements holding populations of over 10,000 people throughout the asteroid belt.

  “Kalliope will force their hands and the Tribunal response will be swift. Benjar Vakari has been waiting for this moment since the old war ended. He was never in favor of signing the armistice, but there were only two other Tribunes at the time and they voted against him. That was just one of the reasons he recommended that I be named to the council afterward, thinking I’d always side with him.” Cassius paused for a moment, ruminating. “Anyway, when his Cruiser moves from its perch over Titan, our new war will begin.”

  “This unit does not understand,” ADIM stated. “If the Creator is so certain that the Ceresians will be annihilated, why are we aiding them?”