She closed her eyes and struggled to maintain her patience. “Yes, Forbis. A nap. On your feet. For two hours.”
“Understood.” He immediately walked away from her and headed towards the lone puppet soldier.
She frowned, glanced up at the jump ship, then back down to the puppet soldier. Two hours. Was it enough of a lead or was it too much of one? She didn’t like the idea of meeting Jav without Forbis backing her, but her mind was subconsciously working on something she couldn’t completely grasp or let go. Despite the circumstances, she needed to talk to Jav. Forbis would just complicate things.
10,923.026.0400
Planet 1612 (Loss)
Yago River, North Bend
Icsain trudged forward, his troops spread out to form a wide, moving cordon to ensure that nothing escaped his notice. The mist stymied his senses as it did everyone else’s, but if Holson were heading east within a twenty-kilometer wide corridor, and he was earthbound, Icsain would not miss him. The troops forming the line were spaced every hundred meters or so, but beyond them, the Relic Cords themselves, stretched to the farthest troop in each direction, would be sensitive to anything that passed through them.
He’d walked about thirty-five kilometers and could hear the rush of the Yago River ahead. The river passed close to his bunker running east-west, but turned south before making a wide loop, curving back around to the north here.
Once again assuming that Holson was earthbound, and driving an army, he would need to cross the river at some point. He might decide to hug the river’s contour and follow its course east, south of Icsain’s bunker, but that would be time-consuming, plus he would eventually have to cross anyway, since it ultimately turned south again, emptying into the sea. For some reason, Icsain felt certain that time was a critical factor, that Holson would be pushing forward as quickly as possible and wouldn’t consider unnecessary detours. The river could prove advantageous. Holson’s troops would be swept away by the swift current while his own troops would not. This would be an excellent place to lay an ambush.
10,923.026.0500
Planet 1612 (Loss)
Yago River, North Bend
Gran Mid sped over the terrain, its ribs moving in perfect, undulating waves. Jav and Waice stood upon Mid’s brow, completely motionless in spite of the vigorous pace. Before them, a holographic screen—a composite of video, radar, and sonar—provided a static-shot and ever-distorting image of what was ahead. It was enough, though, to allow Mid to swerve to avoid obstacles or to climb over them when necessary. They crested a ridge and began to descend into a wide valley.
“The Yago River,” Jav said, scrutinizing the fluctuating image. “We’re almost to Icsain’s bunker. We should look for a crossing.”
Waice studied the scrambled image along with Jav. “What about here?” he said.
Jav looked harder, nodded. It was a bridge. Gran Mid needed no verbal instructions and proceeded towards it.
Wary of potential traps, though not sure what to expect, Jav had Gran Mid slow as they approached the river. The proximity to water had chilled the air by several degrees. They passed through wisps of mist hanging heavy in the dusky air, and though the holographic screen continued to show a jumbled image, Jav and Waice both actively scanned for movement ahead and on either side. The sound of the river had drowned out all else, becoming a constant, thunderous note. They were now only twenty meters from the bridge. The land leading up to the bank was rocky and pebble-strewn with sporadic clumps of dying grass and an occasional tree, leafless and skeletal. They could see that the bridge was low and wide—wide enough at least to accommodate Gran Mid—but quite close to the swift-running water.
Details were still impossible to make out, but something about the bridge bothered Waice. There was a Pattern there that niggled him unconsciously. He focused upon the bridge, but found that when he did so, the mist in between showed particles that expanded in his field of view and obscured what he wanted to see.
“The mist,” Waice said. “It’s artificial.”
“Not a surprise,” Jav said.
“It’s filled with microscopic machines. They look like insects. They must be responsible for our communications and other electronics problems.”
“Also not a surprise.”
“No, I guess not. That’s not what’s bothering me, though. There’s something about the bridge.”
“It looks sturdy enough. Doesn’t appear to have any breaks. Not yet, anyway.”
They’d passed onto it now. Waice stared down at it as it passed beneath them. Curious, Jav did the same, staring down over the other side of Gran Mid’s head.
“Now that you mention it,” Jav said, “there is something kind of familiar about it.”
Waice shot bolt upright. He turned to Jav, forgetting that he could easily communicate by Artifact with no one overhearing, and whispered, “Turn us back.”
“What?”
“Now,” Waice said trying to emphasize while still remaining quiet.
But it was too late. The bridge burst apart, and was an instant swarm of scrambling figures, many clinging to Gran Mid’s ribs, others clinging to each other to reconfigure. The bridge was now little more than framework. Gran Mid canted and dipped unevenly into the water at various points. Both Jav and Waice were cast into the river, where they were able to recover their wits, and each, with his own means, could fight the current. They watched helplessly as Gran Mid was submerged not in water but in figures of familiar construction.
Puppet soldiers streamed to build Gran Lej’s clutching hand, his arm, his head, his torso. Gran Mid flailed against Lej’s grip, but had less and less leverage as the bridge continued to disintegrate into its true form. Mid writhed, whipping the length of its body against its captor, but Gran Lej merely tightened its formation, taking little more than surface damage.
Jav followed the struggle with his eyes, hoping for an opportunity to use Gran Mid’s Fire, but Lej kept Mid’s mouth aimed away from itself. Lej’s size was variable, but even at maximum, it didn’t require the entirety of Icsain’s troops. It was big enough now to wrestle Gran Mid into submission. Gran Lej shook the great snake with both hands, giving it a vicious snap, which stunned it and put it into proper position. With its right fist vice-tight around the base of Gran Mid’s skull, Lej swung its other fist like a mallet down onto the top of Gran Mid’s head, caving it in. A series of explosions from within the thick shell of bone lit the eyes, the mouth, the jagged cracks. Lej took the ruined face in its blocky left hand and strained to pull the head from where it gripped the spine. A prolonged creak was followed by a sickening pop as the head came free. Lej cast the head away. It spun through the air, skidding onto the western bank, where it settled and stared at Lej with dead, accusing eyes. Lej released the rest of the body into the river, where it half-sank and responded to the current.
More puppets had arrived, some coming up through the water, some scrabbling down the remaining framework bridge, all seeking to drive Jav under water. He ignored them and initiated the Charge Circuit. The water surrounding him bowled for several meters, and every puppet within the sphere of influence was reduced to splinters. Jav hovered there for an instant before streaking like a comet for Gran Lej’s breast. He struck with immeasurable force, sending a shockwave through the whole of Gran Lej. Because of the angle at which Jav struck, everything above the impact point was sent scattering and broken. Icsain, however, was not in his usual place inside, and more puppets moved in streams to replace their lost fellows, rebuilding Gran Lej in less than a minute.
Waice defended himself from the oncoming wooden soldiers. His Phantasma Screw was sufficient to tear through the synthetic grain and destroy them, but there were too many. He made his way to the west bank and pulled himself out of the water.
Jav dropped down from his place in the air to join Waice. He looked from Gran Lej to what was left here on the bank of Gran Mid, then to Mid’s retreating carcass as it bobbed amidst the rapids.
; “Icsain!” Jav shouted. Then once more, he broadcast through his Artifact so that Waice and Icsain could hear. “Icsain. It would be good for both of us to meet and settle our differences. I would hate to let Gran Mid go unavenged, but you really don’t matter quite as much as you might think. I have the means to reach the Palace before you can get back to your bunker. You saw what I did just now. Did it remind you of anything? Of Gran Pham’s Charge, perhaps? Face me or don’t, it doesn’t matter to me. If the Emperor asks, I’ll just say you were shy.”
Laughter echoed across the water and over its constant roar. One of the wooden soldiers rose from the water and began to walk upon the surface towards the river’s western bank. “You need not goad me, Jav Holson. Is it still Jav Holson? Or have you remembered? You must have regained your memories.”
“No, not all of them. You could tell me my original name and jog some of them back into place for me, though.”
“Oh, I wouldn’t presume. But do you mean to tell me that you are engaging in this. . . this rebellion without even fully knowing why?”
“I know enough. I know that the Emperor has killed countless of the Loss Queen’s soul echoes and what that did to me. I know that the Empire comes to an end here on Planet Loss, before gaining access to The Place with Many Doors.”
Icsain was nearly ashore. “Humans are so foolish. An endless source of base amusement.
“And what are you doing here, Waice?” Icsain said. “Or is that your Rommel,” he said to Jav, “dressed up in Waice’s clothes?”
“You do know that no one has ever liked you, right?” Waice said to Icsain.
“Ah, no, it is Spaier Waice. Am I to understand, Mr. Waice, that your dislike for me has prompted your defection? Don’t bother answering. I don’t care.
“I will take great pleasure, though, in forcing Mr. Holson to kill you.” To Jav he said, “You once caught one of my Relic Cords. See if you can catch them all.”
“Do nothing against his Cords,” Jav heard the Voice of a Hundred Heroes say, so he stood motionless as a tangle of ghostly tentacles shot squirming up, out of Icsain’s back, to fall and drape down upon him severally.
“Huh,” Jav said, surprised. “Looks like this house is too crowded.” And Jav was again surprised, hearing the Voice laugh in his head.
Jav wrapped several of the Cords around his arms. They were, in general, invisible and intangible, but they were neither to Jav, and though they could span extreme ranges in the execution of their function, they did not respond favorably to several tons worth of instant pressure. A series of pops sounded as the Cords ripped. The ends became more substantial and dropped to the ground, writhing and spilling copious amounts of clear, purplish fluid.
Waice hopped back to avoid the spatter, and unconsciously voiced is disgust.
“One or the other, it makes no difference to me,” Icsain said, sending another wave of Cords, this time for Waice.
Waice could not see the Cords, but felt them as they fell upon him. When the first leaf-shaped tip touched him, his mind was not his own.
Icsain laughed and faded from view.
This was new. Jav had never seen anything like this from Icsain. Waice now appeared to be a statue of animate wood, a perfect copy, but drained of Waice’s color. The ultraviolet whorls rising up his body were now rippling rings in the wood grain. As Jav took this in, Waice leapt for him.
Jav parried each of Waice’s sharp, precise bullet punches. Though Icsain was in control, these were Waice’s techniques and instincts, and he was good. Jav had known this indirectly, based on Waice’s progress on the custom gravity block, but fighting him now, Jav felt torn: Waice’s skill required his full attention and a committed response, but he didn’t want to cripple or kill the young man after becoming allies. He continued on the defensive, disengaging from Waice periodically, only to have Waice fire off his Phantasma Screw and follow up immediately with more up-close attacks. The Screw was easy enough to dodge, and actually, the spatial distortions that resulted pulled and twisted at local space in such a way as to negate Icsain’s invisibility for brief moments. Waice, being on constant offense, made it difficult to focus instead on Icsain, but as Waice was the problem, he was also the solution.
“Sorry, to do this to you, Waice.” Jav took hold of Waice’s incoming fist and spun him around, maintaining his initial momentum and adding to it to hurl him back in the opposite direction. Waice streaked through the air and as he was about to skip like a stone across the surface of the river, Jav applied AI in stages to cast him yet farther away and sinking him deeper, farther and deeper, farther and deeper into the water in the hopes of disorienting him and that the current would continue to draw him away.
Icsain became visible, perhaps unintentionally, and stared after Waice as he retreated from view. He suddenly stumbled forward, his head, bobbing violently back, and fell to all fours upon the rocky bank. From his place there, he looked back to see Jav walking towards him.
“Surprised? No more pawns, Icsain. None of worth, anyway. Just you and me.”
“You can’t kill me, Jav Holson,” Icsain said, rising, turning.
“No? Maybe not. But I can break you into little pieces.”
“Hmph. You can—”
Before Icsain could finish, Jav was upon him, executing the Kaiser Claw, which produced a loud pop. Jav twisted the smooth, wooden head easily from the post that was Icsain’s neck and front-kicked him in the midsection. The force of the kick knocked Icsain’s legs out from under him and sent him bumping further down the bank so that his headless body began to slide down into the water. Jav noted that the head hadn’t been reduced, but had cracked along the grain, which was no longer moving. He flung the head into the river where it splashed and sank.
Jav scanned the river for Waice, then looked to Gran Mid’s severed head. He had work to do here before continuing on to the Palace, and Waice should be able to take care of himself. With one last look downriver, he turned and walked over to Gran Mid.
Jav regarded his inert Gran. Though not, strictly speaking, alive, Mid had been a constant and loyal companion for two hundred and fifty years. He sighed. He would miss the Gran, but Mid might live on in another way, if Jav wasn’t wrong. With his hands, he pried Gran Mid’s jaws open wide enough to admit him and crawled inside.
While so occupied, he was not aware of Icsain, still upon the bank—and still moving. Blocky hands clawed at the rocks and pulled the wooden body out of the grip of the rushing water. The Relic Cords took on substance and writhed from Icsain’s back. Several Cords stretched into the water and within seconds had raised Icsain’s cracked head from the depths. The body stood on shaky legs and raised its arms to work with the Relic Cords, which were dropping the head back to its post. The Relic Cords faded again as Icsain, whole once more, reasserted his control over his puppet troops. The wooden soldiers scurried up the bank in vast numbers, forming an animate mass next to their master, building and building to form Gran Lej. This they did in remarkable silence, or at least at a volume below that of the river’s roar.
In less than two minutes, Gran Lej had reached its maximum size, and once complete, Icsain cried out, “Jav Holson,” mockingly emphasizing Jav’s name as he so often did.
Jav extricated himself from Gran Mid’s mouth, folded his arms as he alternated his gaze between Icsain and the Gran.
“Didn’t I tell you that you couldn’t kill me? I cannot die, Jav Holson. But you can.” Icsain pointed an accusing finger at Jav, prompting Gran Lej to lurch forward, arms raising to come down and smash Jav where he stood.
Jav said nothing. As Icsain watched, Jav dropped his arms and flashed from view.
Jav passed through Gran Lej as if it weren’t real and impacted into Icsain, driving a spear hand into the wood of his chest. Splinters burst out from around the edges of the hole Jav’s hand had punched all the way through Icsain. Jav’s hand was sticking out Icsain’s back, clenched into a fist and shaking with effort. Jav pushed back against Icsai
n with his other hand and drew his fist back through the hole. As he did this, the source of the Relic Cords became visible within his striving fingers. It squirmed like a translucent squid, seeking release.
“These I can destroy,” Jav said. “I’ve hurt them before and will be glad to be rid of them once and for all.” Jav employed AI and closed his fingers, popping the body from which the Cords issued like a fluid-filled balloon.
“No!” Icsain cried, succumbing to a body-wracking shudder.
Every invisible Relic Cord became substantial and then liquefied in an instant. Thin, purplish fluid erupted from all over Gran Lej. The individual soldiers comprising the Gran lost all semblance of life and collapsed at once, making the Gran look as if it were melting or spontaneously decomposing.
“Damn you! Damn you, Jav Holson!” Icsain cried, but his words, though conveying apparently genuine fury, gave way to laughter. Icsain fairly shook with it.
Jav stepped back from him, and flicked his wrist in an attempt to shake the blood of the Relic Cords from it. “So that was your plan?” he said.
“No, no, you fool,” Icsain said, still laughing. “No matter what you do, you cannot kill me.”
Jav nodded. “So you’ve told me. And I believe I promised to break you into little pieces. Let me make good on that now.”
11
TITAN SQUAD
SPECIALIST KARVASTI
10,923.026.0500
Planet 1612 (Loss)
2nd Perimeter (Yago River)
Despite Vays’s presence, Brin didn’t feel comfortable anywhere except inside the jump ship with the hatch closed. She was still a bit nervous, but had laid down upon one of the cushioned benches that ran the length of the fuselage and managed to doze off. Her sleep was plagued by disjointed dreams, vivid and disorienting. Everything was a jumble and contradictory. Jav was dead, choking on his own blood while simultaneously killing off all the Shades, using his Eighteen Heavenly Claws and the harvested power of two Grans. Witchlan’s body supported the disproportionately large gourd that was the Emperor for a head. He paced back and forth in a dark, empty space, muttering to himself and shaking his giant head, unable to arrive at a satisfactory solution to some puzzle. She watched Shades die in succession: Vansen Biggs, whom she’d never met but somehow knew, Raus Kapler, Ban Kapler, Spaier Waice, Icsain. She watched all of them die and watched them watch themselves die, each shaking their heads, much like Witchlan. The most troubling part was watching herself die at Jav’s hands.
The Loss Queen (Approaching Infinity Book 5) Page 19