Baldwin's Legacy: The Complete Series

by Hystad, Nathan

“What’s your take on the Invaders? Are they that different than the Ugna we know?”

  “I haven’t been around them much, but they were nothing like Prophet. She and Basher seem so normal that it tells me anyone could be Ugna. Not like the rigid, red-eyed, pale people we always think of.”

  It was strange conversing with Lark like they were contemporaries, not enemies. “Then what good is Basher?”

  “Bargaining chips are imperative at times like this. I’m not sure what Wylen hoped to gain from kidnapping my family, but…”

  Tom didn’t think it was possible, and he used his computer while Lark continued to speak. He hardly heard the other man as he located the program linking him to Seda’s secret hideout. He brought the communication to life, and a minute later, his old flame appeared on the screen. Tom waved Lark over, and the man nearly broke down as he saw his wife.

  “Seda… are you safe?” Lark asked, tears already forming in his eyes.

  Tom stood, letting them have the moment. “I’m fine, Lark. How are you with Thomas? I don’t understand. They came looking for you, checking if you’d escaped here. I was so worried.”

  “Daddy?” Luci’s timid voice asked, and Tom peeked at the screen. Lark’s emotional reaction at seeing his little blonde daughter was overwhelming. Was that what it was to be a father? Could the mere sight of a child cause so much grief and elicit so much joy at the same time? Tom was going to find out soon enough, and the thought of having someone relying on him one hundred percent terrified him, but also set steel in his nerves and fired him up for the coming battle.

  “Luci, it’s me. Are you being good for Mommy?”

  She nodded. “When are you coming home?”

  Lark glanced at Tom, and all he could do was nod once, indicating it was a possibility. Who was he to deny this family being reunited? It was time to move past it—if Lark cooperated and proved his loyalty to the Concord after all. “Soon, honey. Soon.”

  Tom let them talk for a short while before signaling to Lark that it was time to wind down the conversation. They still had a lot to discuss. With a tearful goodbye, Seda and Luci’s image disappeared, and Lark melted into his seat in a pile. “You have no idea how much that means to me.”

  “I think I do, Keen. As you can see, we haven’t let them out of our sight, so you can be assured Wylen doesn’t have them. Whoever passed that information on was lying, but maybe two can play at that game.” Tom typed a note to himself, nodding as he wrote it.

  “What are you thinking?”

  “I’m thinking we’re going to need some stall tactics, and maybe the odd bluff will give us the reprieve we need.”

  “To do what?” Lark asked.

  “To give our fleet enough hours to arrive, and stop the Ugna from being anything more than Zilph’i, Tekol, Callalay, and humans,” Tom said.

  “You’re going to take the Ugna out of them?”

  “If that’s what it takes,” Tom said.

  Lark grinned, looking renewed after the meeting. “I am so in. What can I do to help?”

  Tom appraised the man and couldn’t believe he was about to accept Lark Keen back into the fold. “You want to see my new command? Let’s head to Legacy.”

  Nine

  The streets of Ridele were busy with people rushing out for late dinners or early drinks, depending on their age. Treena strolled beside Conner, wondering what the locals thought of her. Most likely, they thought nothing of the determined woman walking with leg braces and civilian clothes. Her scars were all but healed, her bones mended and straight. Even her muscles were nearly as strong as they’d once been, some more so after the strenuous exercise regimen she’d been under for the last few months.

  She was once again the true version of Treena Starling, and it felt strange to breathe through real lungs. To smell with her own nostrils, rather than taking in artificial scents and processing them to match memories. The night was hot, and a layer of sweat covered her forehead. The feeling was welcome to Treena. Conner seemed irritated with the heat, and he frowned as his shirt clung to his chest.

  “This is one of the reasons I live on a climate-controlled starship,” he muttered as they approached the restaurant.

  A beautiful Tekol woman opened the door for them, sending crisp, cool air blowing in their direction. “Do you have a…” she started to ask.

  “I think Admiral Baldwin sent a message in,” Conner told her, and the woman’s smile faltered for a moment. She ducked away, waving them inside.

  Treena leaned in, whispering to Conner, “Did you need to use his name?”

  “Of course I did. This is the hottest spot in Ridele.”

  “Right this way,” the hostess said. She walked ahead, lights blinking at the hem of her dress and in her thick braids.

  Treena glanced around the place, finding it overly dark. People crammed into the small table settings, some with projections of friends casting over their tables as they tried to showcase their unique dining experience; others huddled together in tight booths, quietly chatting over empty bottles of Vina on the tables.

  There were numerous wooden elements, rich dark flooring, dimly glowing lights above. They kept walking past everyone, a few glances landing on the pair as they climbed a few steps. Treena’s legs were aching after the ten-block hike to reach their destination, so when Conner offered his hand, she took it.

  Their private booth was open on the sides, and Treena peered left to see the busy kitchen staff working over the night’s meals. To the right, they overlooked the restaurant.

  “Welcome to Brenio’s. We hope the dinner is to your liking,” the hostess said, and the moment she vanished down the steps in a swaying of dress and hair, a thin Tekol man arrived, holding an unmarked bottle of Vina.

  “Our finest vintage for the Concord’s exclusive guests.” He smiled as he poured a smidge of red liquid in Treena’s glass. It took her a moment to realize he was waiting for her to taste it. She lifted the glass, swirled it as she’d seen others do, and sipped.

  She had no idea what to say but just smiled at the man and said the Vina was good, and the waiter poured liberal amounts into each glass. When he left, Conner leaned across the table, his smile speaking trouble. “That bottle costs more than a month’s rent at my old place.”

  Treena nearly knocked the Vina over but saved it with her other hand. “Why did they give it to us?”

  “Because I asked for it when I sent the message in earlier.” Conner took a sip and seemed pleased with himself.

  Treena rolled her eyes at him. The truth was, she enjoyed seeing him like this, playful and daring. He treated his work the same as his life, and it allowed him to excel. “So Tom had nothing to do with this, did he?”

  Conner shook his head. “Why would the admiral want to pay for our dinner?”

  She laughed, realizing the Concord was picking up the bill. “Why did you ask me here?”

  “Because we may not have a lot of time,” he said, his mood instantly shifting.

  “What do you mean?”

  “This”—he waved his hand around, indicating the restaurant—“isn’t real. There’s a fleet coming, intent on destroying everything we’ve built, and yet the normal civilians don’t even seem to care.”

  “They don’t understand, that’s all,” Treena assured him.

  “We’ve issued warnings. Did you hear that only ten percent of Ridele evacuated?” Conner took another drink.

  She had heard that, and the numbers in the rural areas of Nolix were even lower. “It’s because they trust us. We’re responsible for their well-being.”

  “Do you ever wish things were different?” Conner asked.

  “In what way?” Treena did wish that Felix wasn’t dead, and that the Ugna weren’t attacking their capital.

  “You grew up on Earon, right?”

  “Sure. Lumber town.”

  “What if you hadn’t joined the Academy, and you were working at the plant right now, going home at night to the perfect family
?” he said softly.

  “Is that what you want?” she asked.

  Conner shrugged and fiddled with his glass. “Who knows if that exact scenario is my perfect one, but something along those lines might have been okay in another life. But now that I’ve tasted what it’s like to put myself into danger on the executive crew, I can’t go back. I don’t want to. Because you’re right about one thing. We are responsible for them.”

  Treena smiled at him. “And yet we’re drinking the most expensive Vina you could order.”

  “Touché. That’s the very reason why the Concord is treating us,” he told her.

  “Is that so?”

  “Yes. Because we’re going to save their hides again, and no one will be the wiser. So tonight we drink and eat the finest this city has to offer, because tomorrow we go to war.” Conner lifted his glass, and Treena took her own, clinking it with his.

  “To tomorrow.”

  “To tonight.” Conner grinned again, and the waiter returned to take their order.

  Treena let herself enjoy the rich food, the robust drink, and the company of Conner Douglas, trying not to think about what lay ahead for them.

  ____________

  “Are you certain you will go alone?” High Elder Fayle asked Ven.

  Ven didn’t respond instantly, because he’d been wondering just that. The mission was going to be dangerous, potentially deadly, and a part of him wanted her present. But their allies required Fayle’s support and advice, so he couldn’t take her away in the midst of their war.

  “I will go alone,” Ven spoke plainly. “I am afraid.”

  Fayle put a hand to his face, staring at him. “You are destined to follow this path. You are the leader our people need, who will inspire generations to come, and this is why I chose to send you in the first place. The Vast stone will guide you, Ven. It will allow you to seek the answers we search for and give us the advantage against Wylen.”

  Ven didn’t feel any different; or perhaps he did, and the adjustments were subtle enough to keep him from noticing. The reality was, he’d died, Fayle had revived him, and after some time, he’d realized En’or wasn’t necessary to perform his tasks. Meditation had brought him a sense of himself and the Vastness he’d never expected. “Why me?”

  “Ven, we are but tools of the Vastness, so what good does it do to question its motives?”

  “But what is the Vastness? The Concord thinks it is a place we go when we die: Until we meet in the Vastness. They also use it as a type of expression: What in the Vastness…? Where did this come from, and how do the Ugna have the same term for the afterlife?” Ven asked. They had always been taught that the Vastness existed, but never the details behind it. Curious acolytes were given the runaround or told to stop pestering their instructors.

  “I do not think it is the afterlife at all, Ven Ittix,” Fayle said. She took a seat on the floor, crossing her legs. They faced one another, much as they’d done for the first time almost two decades ago. “The Vastness is but a term, one coined thousands of years ago. The origin is virtually untraceable, but the Zilph’i were the first Founder to use the name. That could be why the Ugna were more apt to run with the title than anything of our own.”

  “So you are saying it doesn’t matter what we call it, that the Vastness is an energy powering the universe?” he asked. Even now, sitting on the floor of his suite, it coursed through him. Lights moved in concentric circles in his periphery, a power that was omnipresent with him, but when Ven turned to see the colors, they moved out of sight.

  “It is complicated, Ven, but yes, for the sake of this conversation, that is correct,” Fayle told him.

  “Why are some able to connect to it, while others have no idea it exists?”

  High Elder Fayle set her hands on her knees and smiled at him, a rare enough sight. “I do not think it is magical or anything supernatural. More of a genetic flaw that permits the energy to seep into us. The Ugna have bred that flaw.”

  “A flaw?” Ven had always thought of his people as special, many of the acolytes whispering amongst themselves that they were superior to normal people. But Fayle was here telling him they were in fact the result of a mutation bred into their bloodlines.

  “That is correct.”

  “And you discovered how to create this flaw in others, which is why there are non-Zilph’i Ugna.” It was growing clearer.

  “In a sense. Thousands of children are born each year across the Concord, and presumably everywhere in this enormous universe, with the defect. Many will die before they understand what it is. The Ugna only track a small percentage of them. Most will never be trained.”

  “Or given the drug that allows them to hone their abilities,” Ven finished for her.

  “I regret many things, Ven, and En’or may be one of them. For all the glory we could have had with our telekinesis and empathic skills, I fear Wylen only wanted a million weapons to be leveraged for war. I was misled, along with every single other Ugna,” Fayle said in her teacher voice.

  “Then I will be the one to stop him and to regain trust of our people once again. R-Emergence is working with Reeve Daak and Doctor Nee on the device to burn En’or from the bloodstream, but we won’t be able to test this properly. Have you assisted their process?” Ven asked.

  “I have given them as much En’or as I could. I…”

  “You still use it, do you not?” Vem didn’t even need to ask. It was evident in the way her shoulders sloped and in her dilated eyes. It was everywhere he looked.

  “I do. Because I have obligations, and unlike you, I need it to lower my boundaries to the Vastness,” Fayle informed him.

  “There is something else I need to ask,” he said.

  “I am an open book.”

  “Father Hamesly. He was your right-hand man for years, and he left to instruct at his Church of Sol. He told me on Earon that we didn’t need En’or. That we were being fooled into using the mind-controlling drug. That we were dependent on our Elders as a result,” Ven told her.

  “Elder Hamesly was always a bit of an outsider. What is your question?”

  Ven realized he hadn’t asked one. “Church of Sol. Where did the name come from? We went to Sol and Earth to find an entire segment of Ugna there… these Invaders. Perhaps they are capable of tapping the Vastness without the use of En’or.”

  High Elder Fayle surprised him by acting shocked. “You may be right. If that is the case, the Protectors and Ugna they carry will not be affected by what we are developing, but they will depend on the flow from the Vast stone.”

  Ven nodded, knowing he’d need to tell the admiral about his speculations before leaving in a few days. “I will meditate on it.”

  “Very well.” Fayle’s eyes closed, and so did Ven’s.

  He rose from the ground, the lights behind his eyelids coming into focus as he sought guidance. For the first time ever, an image formed, as crystal clear as any vision he’d been shown in his tenure. The mountain was bleak red-brown stone, no trees or grass in sight. A deep sense of foreboding crawled over his skin, entering his body to delve into his bones.

  He had to get to the Vast stone, but he was being warned to stay away.

  ____________

  The shuttle arrived just as the first moon settled over the horizon, casting a hazy blue glow over the lake. Brandon glanced up from his seat on the porch, setting his Raca on the wooden deck boards.

  “Concord-issued,” Kristen whispered, standing in a hurry. The others were coming outside, his friends emerging from their temporary home.

  “What do they want?” Jun asked, and Val exited behind her, wearing an oversized apron. She had flour on her face, and Brandon laughed along with Carl.

  “Maybe they have some news about Earth,” Carl said, pointing at Val’s nose to tell her there was something on it.

  She wiped it off, and the five of them stepped onto the gravel pathway, walking toward the shuttle. The doors opened, and out walked Doctor Nee, the strange man
who always wore the white gloves. His white hair was perfectly styled, and he sported a lab coat.

  “I apologize for the intrusion, but I’ve been informed that one of you was able to inject something into an Invader and keep them from using their abilities against you. Is this true?” Nee asked.

  Val raised her hand. “I was the one who created it.”

  “That is most impressive. Do you have any supply with you?” he asked.

  “In my pack. I should have a vial left over,” she said, and headed inside the building.

  “What’s this about?” Brandon asked. Part of him loved the relaxation time, but he was also itching to return and assist the Concord.

  “We have a guest and cannot keep drugging him into a coma. The admiral wishes to… interview him,” Nee said.

  “Who is it?” Carl asked, shouldering his way past Brandon.

  The doctor seemed unsure, but the moment passed. “President Gordon Basher.”

  Silence hung like a low fog over their group.

  “Are you kidding me?” Jun asked, an arm wrapping around Carl’s waist.

  “I’m not joking. He was brought to us today.”

  “How is this possible? Does this mean the Protectors have arrived?” Kristen asked between clenched teeth.

  Nee shook his head, a hair falling out of place. “No. He was taken captive by someone we know, and brought here under duress. I have been told the Protectors are on schedule, however.”

  Val rushed out of the front door, her medical pack in her grip. She fumbled through it, setting supplies on the ground beside Nee, and eventually plucked the vial out. She also slid a small memory storage drive into Nee’s hand. “This has the formula to make it. There’s only enough doses to keep one under wraps for a day or so. You’ll have to create more.”

  Nee took the offering with his thanks and started to turn for the shuttle. Brandon darted over to him, blocking the path. “I’m coming with you.”

  Kristen objected, trying to pull him by his sleeve. “What are we going to do?”

  Carl joined Brandon, crossing his arms. “Bran’s right. We’ve been sitting idle too long. If the Invaders are approaching, we have to stop them. Plus, Starling promised she’d help us reclaim Earth when this was over, and I, for one, am going to make sure that happens. Are you all game?”