The Loss Queen (Approaching Infinity Book 5)

by Chris Eisenlauer

  The dream had looped several times before she’d become aware of the repetition, and each time it concluded—only to start again—the shock was greater, the impression stronger and more lasting. She’d become feverish, locked in an endless cycle that was both hopeless and confusing, and which she was beginning to think might consume her.

  Vays’s voice in her head finally succeeded in upsetting the cycle and waking her.

  “What did you say?” she said through her Artifact, rubbing her eyes and temples.

  “Icsain reported that he’s in the process of ambushing Holson and Waice.”

  Brin’s brow furrowed “Waice? Why is he ambushing Waice? Where are they?”

  “At the north bend of the Yago River. He said he’s as good as eliminated Gran Mid.”

  “Okay.” She squeezed her eyes shut and tried to focus. The content of her dream had largely abandoned her conscious mind, leaving only an increased sense of anxiety. She felt more than ever that she needed to speak with Jav, that he had an answer to a question that hadn’t yet crystalized in her mind. Besides everything seeming somehow off, though, she wanted to know what Waice was doing with Jav. Surely they couldn’t be partners. Was Icsain just using broad strokes to get to Jav? There was no way to know, but it was time to go. She stood up and moved to the front of the jump ship where she sat down in the pilot’s seat.

  “Have a nice nap, Forbis,” she said.

  “Right. See you later.”

  She took the control yoke and directed the ship south until coming to the Yago. There she turned the ship west, and cruised upstream, maintaining a steady altitude of about five meters directly above the water. With the river as her only point of reference in the mist, she opted for caution over speed. She still didn’t know what she planned to do once she got to the bend or whether or not she’d arrive in time to question Jav, but crashing into something unseen—a bridge for example—at breakneck speed wouldn’t do, either. She couldn’t take the ship any higher and still keep visual contact with the river, so she would have to proceed slowly. She had the feeling that her fellow Shades wouldn’t be so careful, but despite her position within the Titan Squad, she’d never gotten completely comfortable with field work. She much preferred broadcasting from the safety of the Root Palace.

  10,923.026.0600

  Planet 1612 (Loss)

  Yago River

  All video monitoring was scrambled and unreliable, and though the mist obscured raw visibility, Brin could not help but see the disturbance in the river ahead through the jump ship’s forward viewport. Something had been driven down into the tumultuous current with incredible speed and force, but was now coming to the surface. The only reason she could follow its progress within the depths was because it was emitting light—familiar light. She slowed the ship, brought it precariously close to the water, so that the partial stair, which she deployed from the hatch, dipped down to split the rushing water. Situating it as best she could, she stopped the ship altogether and rushed to the hatch. She climbed down the ladder, reached down with her free hand to corral and then take hold of Waice before he sped past. Her Artifact and limited gravity training provided her with more than enough strength to haul him up into the ship. His black light rings were bright, but moving more slowly than usual. She was pretty sure that he was just out cold and laid him upon one of the couches in the belly of the ship.

  She breathed a sigh of relief. She was glad Waice wasn’t dead and relieved by his apparent innocence. She didn’t think Icsain could throw anyone that hard. It was possible that Gran Lej had thrown him, but it was more likely Jav’s work. She stood over Waice for a moment, still confused as ever by her own feelings for him, then returned to the cockpit.

  In the pilot’s seat once more, Brin raised the ship, opened the throttle, and resumed progress towards the north bend. More speed might be dangerous, but the need to speak with Jav had come to a boil. She didn’t understand why, she just knew it needed to be done.

  As she proceeded, she began to see more things in the river that were potential cause for alarm. They were Icsain’s troops. First one or two isolated puppets came bobbing past, then stretches of ten to twenty, then they were coming by the hundreds. Had the mighty cousin of the Emperor fallen? And so quickly? Further down, she was shocked to see what must have been Gran Mid’s corpse, half-sunk and snagged on some rocks, occupying a fair percentage of the river’s width. More puppet soldiers were piling up behind it, building up to a sizable mass. She slowed the ship, easing it towards the south bank. Icsain had said that the bend was roughly forty kilometers from the 2nd Perimeter. Her route had been necessarily different, but she was coming close to reaching that distance west of Icsain’s bunker. As she thought this, she visually confirmed the gradual shift in the contour of the waterway below. She reduced the ship’s speed again and came to a halt near a copse of trees.

  She didn’t know if it were possible to sneak up on Jav or if he’d already continued east, but she hoped to come upon him unawares and snare him in her power so she would be able to question him without any fuss or conflict. She knelt down, close to Waice, placing a hand upon his breast to make sure his heart was still beating, then exited the ship.

  There were sparse trees and shrubs, but the mist, as always, provided substantial cover. She moved cautiously, following the bank, which was curving more and more, pushing towards its eventual northward line. There were inert wooden soldiers everywhere, some littering the bank, some farther inland, many still moving downstream. Strangely—thankfully—there were no skeleton soldiers, broken or whole, anywhere, but the presence of the puppets was enough to preoccupy her. She wasn’t scared exactly, but the countless faceless figures, especially those few still standing, made her mind race. She didn’t like their potential for sudden, unexpected movement. She knew that Icsain was solely responsible for what might fill their heads, but unlike Forbis Vays, she had an imagination, which was of no use to her at the moment, and indeed, she felt she could do without.

  A sudden, loud pop made her stop. Adrenalin pumped through her, and she struggled to master herself. She was a Shade of the Viscain Empire and had no business being afraid. She steeled her nerves and continued on, marveling as the white outline of Gran Mid’s broken skull coalesced out of the mist. It was a bit surreal, making her wonder if her eyes were working correctly, and she nearly cried aloud when she saw a skeleton backing out of the Gran’s mouth. She couldn’t move or speak. She could only watch as he turned towards her and fixed something—it almost looked like an animal’s horn—to the breastbone of the Kaiser Bones. For a moment they regarded each other, Jav perhaps trying to do as she had and confirm that she was real and not some trick of the mist.

  Jav shot towards her, like a shell from a cannon, and this time she did cry out, but she beat him. A great amorphous shadow loomed behind him and yanked him back, snaring his limbs roughly and spreading them out, making an X of him and crucifying him upon the Dharma Clock, now clearly defined.

  The sudden jerk to a halt shook Jav’s brain in his skull, dazing him.

  “I’m sorry, Jav,” Brin said. “You startled me.”

  He shook his head to clear it, finding that his head was the only thing he could move. “I startled you? Didn’t you mean to try to kill me? You’ve set everyone else to do so.”

  “Yes, but it’s different. Something’s wrong.”

  Jav snorted. “Don’t tell me you’ve come down with a bad case of conscience, too.”

  “No, it’s not that.”

  “I guess not. You’ve never been one to entertain regret.”

  She scowled at this. “Shut up and listen. Something’s off. I don’t want to kill you, not now. If you die, I’m not sure what will happen.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I don’t know, but I think you do. You’re the key to all of this.”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “I’ll make you tell me.”

  Jav felt the
Dharma Clock tick one increment, stretching his limbs and tearing something open internally, something that felt alarmingly familiar and that inspired a dark, inescapable dread. His mind clouded, his vision dimmed. He still saw Brin and the Yago, but beyond them were the pillars of bone that supported the universe. Voices crowded his head, crying out, “Guilty! Guilty! Justice!” and he couldn’t help feeling guilty and the overwhelming urge to submit to justice, just as commanded.

  “Now, will you tell me?” The sound of Brin’s voice called him back to the here and now.

  After gathering himself, Jav started to chuckle. “So you don’t want to kill me, but to get what you want you threaten to kill me? Poor, poor Ren never had a chance with you, power or no power.”

  “Don’t you speak his name!” she cried. “Ren was. . . special.”

  “How dare you!” Jav thundered, his head clearing sharply with indignant rage. “Do not presume to lay claim to his memory. You are a liar and a manipulator, devoid of all conscience, of any real feeling. You treated him the way you treat everything that can or cannot provide you with some use.”

  “You’re wrong,” she said, shaking her head. “I loved him.”

  “Just like a black widow spider.”

  “What’s that?” she sneered.

  “Exactly what you are.”

  She shook her head again and said softly, “I will make you talk.”

  Jav barely heard her, but the Dharma Clock spoke more loudly, ticking by another increment and stretching him, both mind and body, further. A gash unzipped below his ribs on his right and blood spilled liberally, painting his hip and most of his right leg.

  In spite or because of his lightheadedness, the pillars of bone grew more distinct now. The voices grew louder, more insistent. “Repent! Confess!”

  “Tell me, Jav. I can stop the Clock, but only if you tell me what you and the Loss Queen have done.”

  Reality jelled once again. Jav, panting with pain and exhaustion, shook his head. “I still don’t know what you’re talking about. I’m doing exactly what you were told I’d do. Tell me, though, did someone have to compel you to manipulate your fellow Shades to kill me?”

  “No,” she said.

  Jav shook with weak laughter. “Of course not. So what part of my assessment of you is inaccurate? How do you—how does anyone—just do that? I never liked you, Brin, but I never tried to kill you. I’ve even kept you alive on an occasion or two.”

  Brin’s scowl had returned and intensified. She was shaking with obvious anger.

  “I’ll tell you how you do it,” he said. “You do it with a complete lack of feeling for anyone or anything except yourself. You lie and manipulate as it suits you, asking no questions because the answers would be contrary or irrelevant to you and your worldview.”

  “Enough!” she cried, but this only elicited more laughter from Jav, though this was swiftly silenced as the Dharma Clock ticked again.

  Jav threw his head back in agony.

  “You have pushed me too far, Jav Holson! Your death may be the end of everything, but I will be rid of you. The Empire will be rid of you! All existence will be rid of you!”

  Jav didn’t hear any of this. The souls of all those he’d killed, directly or indirectly, bore down upon him, pulling at him from every direction with their demands for justice. As the pressure to comply built and built, one voice rose above the rest.

  “Do not give up, Jav Holson,” the Voice of a Hundred Heroes cried. “Your work is not yet finished. You can and will be held accountable for your crimes, but not here, not before destroying the force that has employed you as its agent. The Viscain Emperor awaits. There is no atonement for you if you surrender your life so easily.”

  Jav clung to the Voice and fought through the pain, the overwhelming regret. The Dharma Clock had moved through half of its cycle and already seemed unbearable. “What can I do?” Jav asked of the Voice.

  “You have never needed urging to fight, Jav Holson. Even before you were Jav Holson, you demonstrated your indefatigable will. What you call your F-Gene is a facility of an altogether different nature and provides you with strength, responds to your need. Do not shut down, do not deny your potential.”

  Jav took the words to heart and began to focus deep inside, where pain and emotion hadn’t yet reached. A blue spark ignited there.

  The Dharma Clock ticked again and would soon complete its fatal revolution. Brin concentrated, finding a strange kind of resistance, a sort she’d never before encountered. She renewed her efforts and her confidence returned.

  “Specialist Karvasti!” a voice echoed over the sound of the river.

  Startled, Brin turned. “Waice?”

  Waice came forward, limping slightly and holding his left arm. “I can’t let you do that!”

  “What do you mean, Waice? You shouldn’t have a choice. You should be wanting to kill him yourself.”

  “And I would, too, if I hadn’t taken precautions against your compulsion.” Before she could say another word, Waice half-framed the Whirl Plate at his middle with his splayed right hand and the world spun.

  The influence of the Phantasma Spiral radiated out, reaching both Brin and her victim, distorting everything. Brin’s stomach jumped. She staggered in place, bent, and vomited.

  Upon the Dharma Clock, Jav felt the pressure pulling at his arms weaken enough to resist. The blue spark inside him flared, and his arms found release. His mind cleared despite the effects of Waice’s assault, and the new addition jutting from his breast Bone—Gran Mid’s Fire circuit—gave birth to a flame that erupted into blast-furnace fire. The fire threatened to stream forward, but Jav was already moving, once more a human projectile, but this time sheathed in Gran Mid’s Fire. The Dharma Clock sparked where it had made contact with his legs and burst into roaring flames itself, fading as it still burned, floating in the air.

  Jav streaked through Brin like a spectral comet, stopping just past her with his hands held out before him, one above the other, in the attitude of the Kaiser Claw. The fire stopped with him, but he remained alight as the tail poured over and just past him, bathing Brin until the fire burned out entirely. Despite the flame’s temperature and whipping fury, Jav was completely unharmed. Brin stood motionless—head cocked too far to one side, chin pointing to the sky—burning, blackening, toppling to the ground where her rigid form crumbled to ash.

  Jav turned to regard what was left of her. He held his side, which still wept blood, and took a deep, calming breath. He became aware of Waice’s silence. “Thank you, Waice. I’m sorry it had to go like that.”

  Waice, too, stared at the ashes and finally shook his head. “No. It was you or her.”

  “I’m glad. . . you feel. . . that way,” Jav stammered then promptly collapsed.

  12

  TITAN SQUAD

  FIRST SPECIALIST VAYS

  10,923.026.0700

  Planet 1612 (Loss)

  2nd Perimeter (Yago River)

  Vays awoke from his nap. He felt refreshed, but it took him a moment to orient himself. He was standing. He was at the 2nd Perimeter bunker. Icsain, of course, was gone, but so were Brin and the jump ship. Not far away, Vays found the lone puppet soldier prone and inert. Anger bubbled within his breast. The aftereffects of Brin’s manipulations were becoming more and more noticeable. He crouched to examine the puppet soldier and cursed when he saw the purple fluid trailing from it interminably westward.

  “Fools! Both of them!” he blurted aloud.

  He gripped the horn issuing from his helmet and drew the Titan Saber. After a quick flourish, he held the blade horizontally at chest level, drew it back, and thrust it forward with immeasurable force. The blade shot forth, lengthening and driving through the mist a channel that didn’t close after the blade’s passing. He exerted himself for a full minute in this manner, pushing the blade kilometers away to reveal the path of purple fluid. Finally he relaxed and the blade retracted in an instant to its original length. For a moment, he
observed the corridor in the mist he’d created then bent his knees to spring, flashing like a silver streak through it.

  10,923.026.0800

  Planet 1612 (Loss)

  Yago River, North Bend

  Vays arrived at the east bank of the Yago where the purple trail disappeared into the water. Unmoving puppet soldiers were strewn about, both upon the bank and bobbing in the current, caught on rocks or other sunken obstacles. The mist had started to close back in midway through his trip, but the channel he’d cleared had revealed that the purple line was constant. All he had to do was follow its projected course. It didn’t matter whether he could see or not. At the bank, he didn’t hesitate to leap once more, covering a good fraction of the Yago’s width before plunging through the surface and sinking to the bottom. As he had in past circumstances, he modified his boots to anchor him to the river’s floor for traction and walked the rest of the way, making sure to adhere to the vector established by what he accurately assumed was the “blood” of Icsain’s Artifact.

  Twenty minutes later, Vays, the Titan Saber still in his right hand, emerged from the river, trudging up the west bank, ignoring the power of the current rushing past him. Water ran from the angles and facets of his armor in runnels, leaving him completely dry in less than a minute. He’d gone thirty-five meters from the river’s edge and slowed to a brief halt. He could see two streams of smoke, rising and commingling with the mist. One of the sources was Gran Mid’s crushed head. The other was a collection of ash in the vague outline of a petite human, most likely female, most likely Brin. Black rage descended upon him, bringing a hush to his otherwise raw state. He saw Jav, Dark but covered in blood, leaning up against Gran Mid’s skull. He appeared to be unconscious. Next to him was Spaier Waice who scrambled to his feet once he saw Vays. Vays proceeded, showing no sign of aggression.