Echo Rift

by G. S. Jennsen

  “It will not. I’m skeptical that it would affect adiamene—the extraordinary metal comprising our hull—but in any event, the Dimensional Rifter will collect any radiation to blow our way.”

  “You are so confident in your technological marvels. We were like you once.”

  Caleb’s hand landed on her knee before she could voice the retort that was priming on her lips. She gritted her teeth instead. “We’ll be fine.”

  The ship slowed to drift above the pock-marked remains of the planetoid, and the Rasu attackers came into full view to their starboard. “No time to waste. Launching the probe in 3…2…1…launch.”

  The tiny probe shot out from beneath the Siyane and sped to its targeted location dead center of the four Rasu vessels. It was too small to draw any attention, and it reached its target and exploded without fanfare.

  The explosion was hardly big enough for the Rasu to notice, either, and they seemed to pay it no mind. “Valkyrie, confirm detonation of the payload.”

  ‘Scanning. Confirmed. I am detecting drastically increased levels of neutron radiation in the area.’

  Caleb leapt up and headed back downstairs. “Give me two minutes to reload the bay.”

  The Rasu abruptly stopped firing on the planetoid. All four vessels pivoted and spread their formation out. They, too, had detected the increase in radiation. She shouted over her shoulder. “Better make it ninety seconds. They’re getting twitchy already.”

  He vaulted back up the stairs eighty seconds later. “Go.”

  Unfortunately, in the intervening time the Rasu had spread out enough that this wasn’t going to be the straightforward ‘aim and fire’ scenario she’d mocked up. As soon as one of her missiles hit the first ship, they would realize an armed enemy was in the immediate vicinity. The Siyane should be invisible to their scans, but the Rasu could reverse-calculate trajectories as well as anyone, so she’d need to move fast.

  In her head, Valkyrie supplied an ideal trajectory from one target to the next. It might even work.

  She positioned the Siyane as close to the first Rasu as she dared, barely staying outside the projected blast radius. “Firing the first missile.”

  Two seconds later, a frothing globule of pure void ballooned out from the crystal weapons assembly, obliterating the center mass of the Rasu vessel and sending the rest careening away.

  Right on cue, the other three vessels instantly moved into a defensive formation. They shifted in three different directions, each adopting a frankly ingenious spin that made the weapons assemblies almost impossible to hit.

  Only almost.

  She chuckled under her breath. The wafer-thin line between her and Valkyrie blurred and vanished as together they maneuvered, aimed and fired. The weapons assembly on the second Rasu slid into the crosshairs, and she fired. Perfect strike. Five seconds later, the core of the third Rasu crumbled as well.

  A violet beam shot toward them; the Siyane lurched to port and dove at a thirty-degree angle under their combined, instantaneous control, and the beam missed by an easy hundred meters.

  The final vessel fired a second time, which they more easily evaded, then made to flee. She was tempted to let it go….

  Caleb shook his head in her peripheral vision. “We can’t risk it returning while we’re evacuating the settlement.”

  “Right. Impulse power it is.” The modified Zero Drive meant full impulse power was fast, and the Rasu vessel wasn’t fleeing at full speed. Instead, space in front of the alien ship began to contort. It churned in on itself until a bright vortex swirled around an absence of space, falling into it like water circling a drain, yet never dissipating.

  “And we definitely don’t want it reporting back home.”

  “No, we do not.” She fired. The center of the vessel disintegrated, and the forming wormhole petered out and died.

  Chunks of Rasu now littered the region above the planetoid, drifting and powerless. A few pieces tried to stretch and morph, only to fail. Assuming their improvised bomb had done its job well enough, they wouldn’t be reforming for several hours.

  “Nice weapon you’ve got there, Wyddoniiet. Now, how do we get this hidden door open?”

  PART IV

  …NOW IS FOUND

  49

  * * *

  MIRAI

  Omoikane Initiative

  Thanks to the placement of sensitive long-range scanners along the outer reaches of every system in the Gennisi galaxy that held valuable allies or assets, Lance Palmer knew the Rasu were incoming to Toki’taku before the Taiyoks did.

  The constant and relentless Rasu probing of their defenses had set everyone’s nerves on permanent edge, and when an alarm rang out in the DAF suite at the Initiative, in seconds a cadre of Advisors and military officers came running. Frantic questions from the Advisors overlapped with orders from the officers, and chaos took hold.

  Lance shouted over the sudden clamor. “Everyone, shut it for five seconds! The situation is this: a Rasu armada is on approach to Toki’taku. We’ve been expecting this eventuality, and we have prepared for it. I’m issuing an order now to implement Scenario 2B. Brigadier Johansson, you have command of DAF operations at the Initiative. Advisors, direct your questions to Johansson.” His gaze swept across his lieutenants, his expression grim. “Everyone else, to your ships. Now.”

  Today, the Rasu weren’t coming for them. But they were coming for the Taiyoks, and in these games of war, the military distinction was irrelevant. He passed on the warning to Elder Zhanre’khavet on his way out of the suite, then ordered the DAF fleet to the Toki’taku system before receiving a formal request for assistance.

  Next, he stopped by the top floor long enough to confirm that Nika was nowhere in sight. Last he’d heard, she was working on some sort of plan to save the Taiyoks from their own stubbornness, so he sent her a message alerting her to the fact that the battle was about to be joined. Then he strode through the d-gate to the DAF orbital docks and headed for the Dauntless.

  ADV DAUNTLESS

  Toki’taku Stellar System

  The Asterion fleet dropped out of superluminal above Toki’taku a scant few seconds before a menacing wave of Rasu ships closed in on the planet. The sight of so many of the metal shapeshifters arrayed in a purposeful attack formation sent a chill through Lance’s bones. Considering they’d already killed him once, it probably always would.

  He drew in a sharp breath and immediately went to work.

  Commander Palmer (TT Mission Channel): “All DAF vessels, execute on Scenario 2B, extra-planetary engagement only. Fire at will.”

  As the viewport exploded in laser fire and shadowy missile trails, he sent a private communication.

  Commandant Solovy, you and your fleets are cordially invited to a Rasu engagement in the Gennisi galaxy, Toki’taku stellar system.

  The response arrived promptly, as was her way. The Taiyok planet? Are they amenable to our assistance?

  If they aren’t now, they will be by the time you get here. Just keep your ships in space. Trust me, they’ll have plenty to do there.

  Understood. First wave ETA is…fifty-two minutes.

  This was the first real battle test for Lance’s new and improved fleet, and now they had a clear goal: keep the Rasu off the planet below for fifty-two minutes.

  His ships had barely begun to engage the enemy when a full brigade of Taiyok warships breached the outer atmosphere, weapons firing. So they’d have some help. The Taiyok vessels were light, fast and incredibly agile, but they were not indestructible and their crews were not immortal.

  The Taiyoks did not lack for bravery, however, and they comprehended the mission, the risks and the consequences if they failed. So Lance needed to let the Taiyoks do their thing and focus on his fleet’s performance—including his own new ship. As command vessels went, it would be dwarfed by the Concord dreadnoughts when they arrived, but unlike them, his ship didn’t need a crew of thousands to operate it. To do his job, he merely needed an imperviou
s and fluid hull surrounding him, a finely tuned advanced warfare system at his fingertips, and lots and lots of weapons. And those, he had.

  A large salvo of negative energy missiles fired from a squadron of his fast-attack frigates wiped out the enemy’s rear flank in a matter of minutes. He’d have smiled, but the truth was, despite their imposing profile and intimidating numbers, what they were currently fighting was little more than a scouting party. Once the Rasu determined the planet was not protected by a Rift Bubble, the real fleet was going to arrive, and things were certain to get a lot dicier.

  Still, the longer they kept the Rasu engaged away from the planet, the better. The longer it took them to parse the situation, the longer it would take for enemy reinforcements to show up once they did identify the planet’s vulnerability, and the more Concord ships would be in place when they did.

  Lance studied the evolving tactical map, letting the frenetics of the battle outside fade away from his active perception. Something about what he was seeing wasn’t right; the engagements, the ship movements, the ebb and flow of the combat felt…off. Unfamiliar.

  He frowned, struggling to put his finger on the nature of the problem….

  Suddenly he realized what it was. None of the Asterion ships were dropping off the map, because none of them were getting disabled or destroyed. The scrolling feed on the right side of the map displayed literally zero damage reports or pilot rescue requests.

  He chuckled to himself. What a fine invention you are, adiaK. Give him another hundred thousand of these indestructible, impenetrable warships, and he’d daresay he could change the world. Or at least warfare.

  But he didn’t have a hundred thousand of them today, and even this relatively small Rasu force was putting up a brutal fight. The Taiyok fleet was not faring quite so well as his—how could it—and the viewport splashed with multiple explosions across the edges of the planetary atmosphere.

  Those explosions were abruptly drowned out as the battlefield was bathed in flares of blinding light. He blinked away halos and adjusted the filters on the viewport. What the hells was going out there?

  The filters kicked in to dim what turned out to be sunlight bouncing off a vast array of orbital weapons batteries. They had materialized out of nowhere and…he checked the sensors…appeared to encircle the planet.

  The array had been there all along, hidden and silent, until it was needed. Unmatched Taiyok stealth at work, indeed. Lance mused briefly that he was glad they’d never made enemies of their allies.

  Thousands of lasers erupted from the batteries at once to target the front line of Rasu vessels with shocking firepower. On contact, they ripped the attackers apart from end to end in one of the most dramatic acts of sheer destruction Lance had ever seen. He made a note to congratulate the Taiyok military leadership on the feat, assuming they survived the battle.

  Because as stunning and impressive as the feat was, it wasn’t going to be enough to win the day. The destruction the array had wreaked wasn’t permanent. As imposing as these new weapons the Taiyoks wielded were, they were conventional in nature, and they’d only slow the enemy down for a time.

  Commander Palmer (TT Mission Channel): “All fast-attack craft, concentrate your negative energy fire on the scattered pieces of Rasu the planetary array just littered the battlefield with. Let’s prevent them from regrouping and getting back in the fight.”

  Hundreds of Asterion ships swarmed into the Rasu debris, but Lance watched the gambit unfold in growing frustration. His ship captains were doing everything in their power to target the chunks of Rasu already drifting back toward one another, unleashing their negative energy missiles before the Rasu could reform. But his fleet was still too small and the Rasu still too godsdamn many.

  The array weapons continued firing, and in minutes they’d made a proper mess out of the battlespace. Clumps of Rasu the size of fighters raced to regroup while actual fighters chased them. Chaos intensified.

  Commander Palmer (TT Mission Channel): “Remember, your first priority is to keep the Rasu away from the planet for as long as possible. Make them chase you if you must. Your ships can take the abuse now.”

  The mental leap required to accept and internalize the fact that one’s ship was simply not going to disintegrate under even the most sustained fire was a difficult one to make, no question. Perhaps a little easier for Asterions than most, who had long ago internalized the reality of eternal survival about themselves, but nonetheless difficult.

  To underscore the necessity—and despite herculean efforts, the increasing failure—of his strategy, a wide violet Rasu beam sliced through the chaos, aimed directly at the surface of the planet. He sighed; thus brought an end to their charade.

  To Lance’s astonishment, though, the beam impacted something far short of the surface and was reflected cleanly back to burn into the very Rasu leviathan that had fired it, cleaving the massive vessel in two.

  He quickly reviewed the footage of the incident…and still wasn’t entirely sure what he was looking at. Some manner of responsive defensive mirrors hidden between the array batteries, maybe? Nika had said the Elder insisted they had ways to defend their planet, and it seemed the Taiyok leader hadn’t been lying. Hidden orbital arrays, now massive mirror defenses. What else did the Taiyoks have secreted away beneath their reticent feathers?

  Encouraged anew, he checked the time. Come on, Solovy. Get your ass here, and if we’re lucky we can finish off Round 1 before Round 2 arrives.

  50

  * * *

  PERIPLANOS

  Milky Way Galaxy

  Eren strolled around the main cabin of the Periplanos, running his hands along the furniture and fiddling with every control panel he came across. “Nice little ship you’ve got here.”

  Nyx glanced away from studying the HUD readings long enough to shoot him an annoyed frown. “It’s served us well.”

  “And by ‘us,’ you mean you and Nisi—I mean Corradeo. Your grandfather.”

  “Yes.” She handled their departure from Ares with quick, skilled economy of motion, and they were soon in the stars.

  He went into the cockpit and sprawled in the passenger seat, throwing one leg over an arm of the chair. “He’s not literally your grandfather, though, right?”

  “Actually, he is—or rather, he believes he is, and I have no reason to doubt him. According to him, I was the daughter of his daughter.”

  “From before.”

  “Before what?”

  Eren gestured toward the black outside the viewport. “Before…everything. Before his son tried to kill him. Before the Dynasties took control of the government. Before the integrals turned everyone into slaves.”

  Her lips pursed into a thin line. “Yes. From before all of those things.”

  “But you don’t remember that time. You don’t remember your mother, do you?”

  “Obviously I don’t.” She groaned and pivoted her chair to face him. “If you insist on talking, then we should talk about the mission. Ferdinand will be wanting to change his identity so he can fade away into the masses. There are a number of places he can go to accomplish this—”

  “I’d go to Lethe. In fact, I did go to Lethe.”

  “Ferdinand would not be caught dead in a slum of Lethe’s caliber. He’s far too cultured—”

  “Prissy.”

  “Cultured. He’s far too cultured for Lethe. No, he’ll go to Boeno or Menaris. He’s got the money and the connections to pay for a high-quality identity transfer.”

  “Whatever you say, sweetheart.”

  She shot him a renewed glare as she entered new coordinates. “I’ve distributed a request to the Vigil elas on Boeno and Menaris to be on the lookout for Ferdinand. If one of the officers spots him, we’ll know in minutes.”

  “Ever the Inquisitor, aren’t you?”

  “Not any longer. Grandfather is doing away with the title. He says it sounds too ominous and threatening, and there’s too much negative history associated wi
th it.”

  “He’s not wrong. But have you undergone any adjustments to your genetic profile during a regenesis in the last fourteen years?”

  “No. Why would I have done any such thing?”

  “So many reasons. But it means you’re still an Inquisitor where it counts: in your own mind.”

  She shrugged, not disagreeing. “This is what I do. It’s who I am.”

  “This is all I’m saying, sweetheart.”

  “Stop calling me that. It’s insulting.”

  He grinned wolfishly. “I know.”

  “You are terribly arrogant for an asi.”

  “I haven’t played the role of a proper asi since I severed my integral connection one hundred fourteen years ago—in a far more painful and grueling manner than what Corradeo used on the recalcitrant elassons, by the way.”

  “Is that intended to be some sort of badge of honor?”

  “Nah. I’m merely saying, they got off easy.”

  “They’d likely disagree.” Her expression darkened. “It was a bold move on his part, but I hope he’s being careful. Some of the elassons might want retribution for their perceived affront.”

  Eren dropped his chin into his hand. “You’re worried about him?”

  “Of course I am. He’s playing a very dangerous game—no, not a game. A gambit for the future of our people, but a dangerous one.”

  “He’s literally a million years old. He’s survived countless wars, revolutions, multiple assassination attempts and a couple hundred thousand years of wandering around the cosmos. I think he can take care of himself.”

  “Which does nothing to stop me from wanting to take care of him—” She cut herself off. “I’ve received a report of a man matching Ferdinand’s description seen on Menaris.”

  “Damn, that was fast.”

  “My connections are quite extensive.”

  “And the order of an Inquisitor makes people jump like their pants are on fire.”