Echo Rift

by G. S. Jennsen

  At Concord HQ, Eren breaks Torval out of detention and imprisons him in the cargo hold of Eren’s ship. Caleb and Felzeor reach Concord HQ minutes after Eren has absconded with Torval. They confer with Richard until he’s called away by Miriam, then decide to go drop in on Marlee.

  Rasu arrive in the Namino stellar system, and Lance deploys his fleet. Miriam orders the AEGIS, Machim, Novoloume and Khokteh fleets to Namino and accompanies them in the Stalwart II.

  On learning of the impending battle, Ferdinand elasson-Kyvern conspires with other Anaden elassons to subvert the new alliance. He kidnaps Casmir before the man can report to Namino with his fleet.

  The Asterion fleet engages the Rasu. Concord forces arrives at Namino and join the battle, but the Machim fleet is a no-show. Mia reaches out to Ferdinand, who threatens an all-out rebellion against Concord. The battle is nevertheless turning the Asterions’ and Concord’s way when massive Rasu reinforcements arrive. Miriam appeals to Lakhes for the Kats to join the battle, but Lakhes declines.

  Alex arrives at Namino to find the battle going badly for the good guys. After checking in with Miriam, she leaves the Siyane in Valkyrie’s hands and goes to the Initiative to warn Nika that they’re about to lose Namino. Nika and Dashiel decide they need to get the Vault to a safe location, and they’re debating where and how when Mesme shows up and offers to safeguard the Vault. Nika is skeptical, but Mesme’s pleas and Alex’s promise that she trusts Mesme convinces Nika to agree to it.

  A Rasu leviathan attacks the Stalwart II. When it can’t do any damage, it changes shape and surrounds the Stalwart II, enclosing it entirely. Rasu then melt and infiltrate the ship via tiny seams in the hull; once inside, they solidify and attack ship personnel. When the Rasu are about to reach the bridge, Miriam activates the ship’s self-destruct mechanism.

  Valkyrie shows Alex what happened to the Stalwart II. Alex tells Nika that whatever she’s going to do to rescue the people still on Namino, she needs to do it now, then opens a wormhole and vanishes.

  Nika prepares to go to Namino and fight the Rasu invaders. Joaquim Lacese arrives at the Initiative, eager to join her. Joaquim leads the way through the d-gate to Namino; just as Nika is stepping through, the d-gate shuts down, as does every d-gate leading to Namino.

  Caleb learns that Marlee has gone with Mia to the Dominion. He sends a furious message to Mia, demanding that she get Marlee out of the warzone immediately. Mia insists that she’s trying (unsuccessfully) to get Marlee to leave, and Caleb tells her to open a wormhole to her office and he’ll personally come retrieve Marlee.

  Marlee gets separated from Grant and begins trying to get pedestrians into the DAF Command basement as Rasu land in the city and go on the attack. Caleb arrives at Mia’s office, and Mia opens a wormhole, joining him just as Rasu reach DAF Command and attack Marlee. Caleb is rushing through the wormhole to rescue her when it shuts down, denying him access to Namino. When Mia is unable to reopen it, Caleb announces he is going to get his niece and walks out.

  * * *

  INVERSION

  On learning the Stalwart II has self-destructed, Alex returns to Concord HQ, only to find it embroiled in a coup attempt by rebel Anaden forces. Caleb’s plans to travel to Namino and rescue Marlee are delayed as he helps Richard defeat the Anaden rebels.

  On Namino, Grant and Joaquim rescue an unconscious Marlee from the Rasu and retreat to an underground bunker. Marlee awakens several hours later to find her injuries treated; Grant fills her in on events, and she meets Joaquim, Selene and Xyche’ghael. Joaquim and Selene clash over how to protect those trapped underground while fighting the Rasu invasion.

  With their fleet decimated and Namino occupied, the Advisors gather at the Omoikane Initiative and review their limited options for how to respond. Unexpectedly, a fleet of Kat superdreadnoughts arrives to defend the remaining Asterion Axis Worlds from Rasu attacks.

  At Concord HQ, David tries to keep the Concord infrastructure functioning while Miriam undergoes regenesis. Caleb convinces David to help him steal a CINT Ghost ship so he can sneak onto Namino.

  The Savrakath ambassador tells Mia that Malcolm died during the Savrak raid. She immediately starts the regenesis paperwork to bring him back, only to learn that he had a ‘no regenesis’ clause in his will. On Savrak, however, Malcolm wakes up to find himself injured and chained up in a dungeon.

  Eren delivers Torval to the Savrakaths so they can punish him for destroying their antimatter lab. Eren returns to his ship, intending to commit suicide, when he’s knocked unconscious. He later wakes up to find himself restrained in the cargo hold, where his friend and teammate, Drae Shonen, intends to help him detox from the dialele.

  On Epithero, the elassons Ferdinand elasson-Kyvern has gathered in his faltering rebellion against Concord bicker over how to move forward. Meanwhile, in the Dominion, Corradeo Praesidis/Danilo Nisi shows up at the Omoikane Initiative after rescuing Kiernan, stunning Nika and Lance, who remember him as their enemy during the SAI Rebellion.

  Joaquim and Selene deploy drones to track the Rasu on Namino. Footage from the drones reveals widespread destruction, but also a massive Rasu compound being constructed on the edge of the city.

  Alex belatedly learns Caleb has gone to Namino and that her father helped him; she and David argue, and she confesses how she’s afraid that due to his bond with Akeso, Caleb won’t survive this trial. Caleb reaches Namino, battling both Rasu and Akeso’s protests as he crosses the city to try to reach Marlee.

  Miriam wakes up from regenesis in a new body. She struggles to accept what happened, what it means to have been dead and the incongruity of a new body. That night, she’s consumed by nightmares of the Rasu imprisoning her.

  Caleb reaches the underground bunker and reunites with Marlee. He tries to convince her to to leave Namino with him, but she insists on staying to help everyone trapped there, and he agrees to stay as well.

  Parc Eshett’s Plex twin was injured during the initial Rasu attack and is now trapped on the streets of Namino. Parc’s other incarnation on Mirai reaches the Omoikane Initiative and reveals that he can communicate with his Plex twin on Namino despite the quantum block.

  Mesme offers the Asterions a Rift Bubble device, which will prevent any Rasu from reaching the surface of a planet. Corradeo Praesidis tells Nika about the destruction he and Nyx saw at the Ourankeli’s halo ring. Nika urges him to go home to Concord and bring the Anadens in line.

  Miriam gives the eulogy at Malcolm’s funeral, and Alex vows to do something to stop the spiraling carnage. Mia, in mourning, tries to convince Richard and Miriam to send Casmir and a Machim fleet against Savrak targets. When they refuse, she enlists Devon Reynolds, now in charge of Special Projects, to hack into the CINT servers and send a message directly to Casmir. Richard and David argue over David using Richard’s credentials to help Caleb steal a Ghost. Casmir receives a message he believes is from Miriam, authorizing him to send Machim ships against Savrakath military targets.

  Alex returns home to find Akeso in a full state of revolt, with thunderstorms and flooding consuming the planet. She enlists her father’s help to steal a Machim Imperium, and they deliver it to Kennedy, who reverse engineers the Imperium’s double shielding in order to install it on Concord ships.

  On Namino, a team from the bunker finds an injured Parc and brings him back to their hideout. Caleb suffers through the intense negative physical reaction of Akeso to the violence he committed during the excursion.

  Dashiel develops a way to meld kyoseil into adiamene, allowing the kyoseil to dynamically alter the shape of adiamene hulls, and begins building a new, more resilient fleet.

  Parc on Mirai passes along a message for Alex from Caleb, then tells Nika what’s happening on Namino. Dashiel announces that his people have developed a virutox that should disrupt Rasu functionality, and Nika asks Dashiel to create a kyoseil-infused body she can use to reach Namino and deliver the virutox.

  Nika passes along Caleb’s message, and Alex dec
ides to take the Siyane to Namino. Devon provides her with new toys to combat the Rasu, including a negative energy handgun called a Rectifier. Alex seeks out Morgan Lekkas, who since Brooklyn Harper’s death six years earlier has been running a bar on Chalmun Station, and convinces Morgan to accompany her to Namino. Alex then asks Akeso for help in tracking Caleb. They bond, and Akeso grants Alex the ability to sense the location of Caleb’s heartbeat.

  Corradeo returns to Concord space for the first time in fourteen years. On learning that all the Praesidis Inquisitors who didn’t commit suicide after The Displacement have gone missing, he asks Nyx to try to find them.

  Nika’s new body is awakened, and she’s overwhelmed by the effect of so much kyoseil flowing through her veins on top of the surreal nature of being a Plex. Alex and Morgan pick her up, then take the Siyane to Namino. Alex leaves Morgan in charge of the ship as she and Nika set off toward the occupied city.

  Joaquim and Selene deploy a drone to investigate the mysterious Rasu compound. Parc asserts that the centerpiece of the compound is the source of the quantum block, and Caleb and the others decide to test out the compound’s defenses. They sneak across the city to fire a rocket launcher at the compound, but the rocket is shot down before reaching its target. In response to the attack, Rasu track down the group.

  Meanwhile, Alex and Nika fight Rasu through the city as Alex follows Caleb’s heartbeat. They reach Caleb and the others just as Rasu forces attack; Alex uses the Rectifier to vaporize the attackers then reunites with Caleb.

  Once they return to the bunker, Alex and Caleb argue over his deception about his plans, until they both have a breakthrough and reconcile. Alex discovers that, much like his heartbeat, she can feel what Caleb physically feels. She convinces him to remove the wall he’s erected between himself and Akeso, at which point he can feel her as well. A sensory-overloaded sensual encounter ensues. Afterward, Caleb reluctantly rebuilds the barrier blocking Akeso off so he can continue to fight the Rasu.

  Nika devises a plan for them to destroy the quantum block at the heart of the Rasu compound. Her twin and Lance brief Miriam on the plan, and Miriam agrees to bring a Concord fleet to try to free Namino. Miriam takes command of her new ship, the CAF Aurora, which has the Imperium’s double shielding installed on it.

  Richard discovers that Mia hacked the CINT server and sent messages in his and Miriam’s names. He reluctantly moves to arrest Mia, but she vanishes through a wormhole before he can do so.

  The Savrakaths offer to return Torval to the Anadens in exchange for a one-week cease-fire. Ferdinand accepts the offer but intends to break the terms and bomb the Savrakaths once Torval is safe. Eren recovers from his detox, only to learn that the Savrakaths plan to hand Torval back to the Anadens. In exchange for agreeing to reconnect to the regenesis network, he convinces Drae to help him stop the prisoner exchange. Eren arms himself with antimatter and literally dive-bombs the exchange, killing himself, Torval and many Savrakath military leaders.

  Malcolm’s prison is located beneath the site of the prisoner exchange, and the bombing creates enough damage and chaos to allow him to free himself from his cell. He escapes his crumbling prison and reaches the surface, then calls AEGIS for an extraction. When he arrives at the Presidio, he discovers that the world thought him dead and learns that Mia has disappeared.

  On Namino, Morgan brings the Siyane into the city, and everyone in the bunker is evacuated to the ship. Nika, Joaquim, Alex and Caleb infiltrate the Rasu compound. Alex and Caleb create a distraction to enable Nika and Joaquim to reach the quantum block mechanism. As they engage the Rasu in earnest, Caleb almost kills Alex with unintended friendly fire.

  Joaquim sacrifices himself to buy Nika time to implant the virutox. Once the virutox is activated, Morgan fires on the compound, destroying the quantum block. Nika, Alex and Caleb narrowly escape the compound and call the cavalry in.

  Miriam faces the Rasu for the first time since they killed her, this time from the bridge of her new and improved ship. Mesme delivers a Rift Bubble to Namino, preventing any more Rasu from reaching the surface, and Alex shows Nika how to extract the code powering the Rift Bubble. Miriam, Lance and their fleets defeat the Rasu orbiting the planet, and DAF ground forces arrive on Namino to remove the remaining Rasu from the city.

  After regenesis, Eren returns to his and Cosime’s home on Hirlas, where he finally lets his grief overtake him. Corradeo arrives at the elasson gathering on Epithero in dramatic fashion.

  The Siyane returns home safely, and Marlee reunites with her mother. Caleb and Akeso re-bond and seek a new, more sustainable way forward.

  * * *

  CONTENTS

  * * *

  PART I

  ECHOES

  PART II

  UNTETHERED

  PART III

  WHAT WAS LOST…

  PART IV

  …NOW IS FOUND

  ECHO RIFT

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  “But, first, a hush of peace—a soundless calm descends; The struggle of distress, and fierce impatience ends; Mute music soothes my breast—unuttered harmony, That I could never dream, till Earth was lost to me.”

  — Emily Brontë

  PART I

  ECHOES

  1

  * * *

  AKESO

  Ursa Major II Galaxy

  A warm sunrise shone through the canopy of colorful leaves overhead, casting a sea of tiny, frolicking shadows across the dew-soaked meadow.

  Caleb Marano placed both hands on his niece’s shoulders. “Close your eyes.”

  Marlee’s mouth twitched sideways even as she complied, and he sensed her muscles straining to move beneath his hands. “Now slow down. Breathe in deeply. Take control of your awareness and direct it downward, into your chest and past your gut. Let it flow through your leg muscles, acknowledging their strength. Sense the dirt beneath your bare feet. Sink your toes into it and wiggle them around. What does it feel like?”

  An airy giggle made it past her lips. “Cool. Damp. A little gooey.”

  “While you and I were on Namino, Akeso dumped enough rain on itself to fill a new ocean. It’s fine—let your feet get muddy.” He removed his hands from her shoulders and took several steps back. “Now imagine yourself rooted to the ground. Your feet are part of the earth itself. Solid yet pliant, sturdy and stable. The connection binds you and joins you with the soil, with the trees, with the flowing water feeding them. You are the earth, and nothing can dislodge you from this spot.”

  Marlee’s calves flexed as she adjusted her stance without moving her feet, then bounced through her knees twice. “Okay. I’m a tree. Now what?”

  Akeso whispered in his mind, and his mind whispered back. Stretch upward beyond the soil and into the sunlight. Bind one to another.

  “Are you, though? Do you feel the planet’s gravity itself securing you to the ground?”

  “I totally feel it. I am rooted right here in this spot.”

  “Yes, you are. Open your eyes and look down.”

  As soon as she did, she let out a panicked squeal and tried to jump away, but the slender roots rising out of the soil to wind around her legs held her tight.

  Caleb laughed, provoking a dirty glare from Marlee as she wiggled her legs within their prison. “Not funny.”

  “Yes, it is. But it’s also serious. Close your eyes again. Memorize how this feels. The stability and security—the core strength—that comes from being rooted in the earth. Explore every aspect of it until you believe you can instantly call upon this sensation any time you need it.”

  Her brow furrowed tight. She sucked her cheeks in and progressed through a succession of ridiculous facial expressions. She drew in new air, then did it all again. Finally, she nodded. “I’ve got it.”

  Release and rejoin the soil. He silently circled behind her, his own to
es renewing their connection to the earth with every step. Next, he reached out, his palm impacting her spine above her waist to shove her forward.

  She stumbled for barely half a step before re-planting her feet, bending her knees and dropping her weight down to absorb the force of the shove.

  “That’s the idea.”

  “Well, it’s not as if I can move while these roots are holding me prisoner.”

  “What roots?”

  She peered down once more to discover that the roots had retreated into the earth. “Huh.”

  “See? This was all you.”

  She brushed away a loose strand of hair and considered him with a mix of residual skepticism and genuine curiosity. “I think I see what you’re getting at here. But don’t I also need to be light and quick on my feet? To dodge blows and outmaneuver opponents?”

  “Absolutely. But you can’t do so successfully unless you learn to stay rooted in your stability. Keep your center of gravity low and your strength wrapped around the core that center creates. Do this, and you’ll never be knocked off-balance by anything less than a missile strike. Understand?”

  “To be light and agile…I need to be grounded and solid?”

  “Correct. It’s only a contradiction until you understand how they complement one another in action.”

  She regarded him with exaggerated solemnity. “I’m ready to not be a contradiction.”

  “Then don’t let me touch you.” He lunged forward, feinted to the left and punched out, palm open. His fingertips swept barely a centimeter from the loose material of her shirt as she leapt away.

  Thus began a dance across the meadow. The flow of their give and take carried them along the creek bed, into the morning sun and beneath a new canopy of trees.