by Larkin, Matt
In the end, though, that wasn’t human nature. She’d seen enough not to blind herself to the truth anymore. Her quest to save humanity had always been futile, because she was trying to save them not from the long-gone Angels, but from themselves. And in the end, human greed and ambition would win out over any altruistic aims they might start out with.
Just like her. She’d wanted to save the universe, but she had let pride and possession of the Ark convince her to keep it from the Sentinels. For all their flaws, they were the men and women putting their lives on the line to protect the light of civilization. And the Ark would have been better in their hands.
Now Raziel had the Ark, but she wasn’t sure he could hold it against the Conglomerate, not alone. Maybe he would have woken his brethren anyway. But now it wasn’t his decision—it was hers.
David was right. She didn’t know what the Angels would do. But it was the only card left for her to play, the only way she was going to keep the Ark out of the hands of a single corp.
Rachel nodded and ran for the cryo chamber, then almost stumbled into the gaping hole just outside the bridge. Down there waited the beings who had saved and enslaved mankind. And Knight had fallen through. Damn, she wished she had a grav-net.
Rachel jumped into the hole.
CHAPTER NINETY-FOUR
So instead, I almost wish I had never recovered the Sefer. Of course, now I know the truth. If I had turned back, if I had failed in the mission, Raziel would only have sent another. It was never about me—and my own arrogance prevented me from seeing I was never more than a pawn.
The scrape of metal over the deck filled the chamber as Raziel rose. A beat of the Angel’s wings sent mist washing over Knight. He kipped back up to his feet. He was getting damn tired of the winged wonder.
At least down here the others were safe. He would finish this threat by himself. It was the only way he could protect Rachel and Phoebe from this thing.
“She was right all along, about your kind,” he said, circling the Angel.
“Ms. Jordan?” Raziel laughed, the sound cold but surprisingly human. “I fear she is misguided, Nephilim.”
“Stop calling me that.”
He needed a way to deal with those wings. Giant razors seriously limited his ability to close with the Angel. If he could get in there, he knew he could bring Raziel down.
“Everything I have done was to unleash your utmost potential.”
“Nice job.” Knight rushed in, flipped in the air, and flung throwing knives at the Angel’s legs.
Raziel’s wings beat away one, but the other embedded in his thigh. The angel shrieked in pain and stumbled to one knee, clutching his leg. Knight landed nearby and slammed his knee into Raziel’s chin.
He landed blow after blow, pummeling the Angel’s chest and face as fast as he could. Raziel blocked a few strikes, but Knight just kept attacking. He was done with the creature. It was going down. He twisted the Angel’s arm and slammed his palm down on it.
Raziel screamed, but the joint didn’t break like it should have. Raziel flung him off, and Knight flew through the air. He twisted in midair and landed in a crouch.
So all the Angel’s bones were metal.
He grabbed more knives from his thighs as Raziel rose. The knife he had landed in Raziel’s thigh rose up out of its own accord and flew at Knight. He twisted his head to the side to evade it, then flung knife after knife at the Angel while he rushed forward.
Raziel dodged the knives or beat them away with his wings. Knight skidded over to him and landed a tight blow against the Angel’s abs. Raziel’s wing tore across Knight’s chest and sent him backpedaling. Liquid fire erupted from a half dozen gouges. His armor was torn to pieces. None of the scratches were deep, but they hurt like the void, and he might bleed out if he didn’t end this soon.
“My patience is at an end,” the Angel said.
“Took the words right out of my mouth.” Knight circled around the Angel. Wait for an opening. His foe was ancient, powerful. But Knight was the ghost in the night. He was death. And that was the answer. If he couldn’t win in a head-on confrontation, he had to use his strengths.
A beat of the Angel’s wings carried him into the air. Raziel landed, swinging his fist at Knight in a blow that should have crushed him. Knight rolled under the Angel and took off into the mist at a dead run. He skidded behind one of the cryo units before Raziel turned around.
The Angel turned, scanning the room. Even if he could see in the dark, the mist should cover Knight. Unless Raziel had thermographic vision. Based on the way he kept slowly turning, scanning the chamber, Knight guessed not.
He stalked closer. Waiting for the opening.
Rachel dropped into the chamber, grunting when she landed hard.
Knight almost stumbled. What in the holy universe was she thinking?
Raziel spun toward Rachel, who was rising from the floor. Damn girl. But she might have given him his opening. Knight snuck closer, knives in each hand. Raziel advanced toward Rachel, who had spotted him and was backing away.
Knight slammed a throwing knife into each of the Angel’s thighs. Raziel shrieked and fell, and Knight flipped over him before his wings could retaliate. He kneed Raziel in the face, then flipped backward, kicking the Angel in the head as he went.
Raziel fell back, and Knight charged back in and leapt on top of him. He slipped a knife between the Angel’s ribs. The creature coughed up blood. Knight considered slitting its throat, but he wasn’t sure if Rachel would have further use for it.
An alarm sounded through the cryo chamber. Icy mist began venting from every single unit in the chamber, and the doors cracked open. Knight rose, at a loss. Had Raziel been able to psionically awaken his brethren? But it was Rachel, standing by a console, who seemed to look at the opening chambers without surprise. Horror, but not surprise.
Knight ran to her. “What the void?”
“We have no choice, Knight. The Ark is lost, Jericho is everywhere.”
Then why in the holy universe had he just worn himself ragged fighting down a Goddamn Angel? “So now you want them to have it? These things you blamed every wrong in the universe on! You want them to take the Ark?” He clutched his wounded side, surprised to see the cuts already bled less than they had moments ago.
“I don’t want them to have it. I just don’t want the Conglomerate to have it any more.”
David leapt down, too, though a grav-net arrested his fall. “Rachel, are you all right?” He approached, and she nodded. “You look a bit worse for wear, lad,” he said to Knight.
Knight felt like he’d walked through a blender, but his strength was returning quickly. He was almost—almost—grateful for what Raziel had done to him to make him like this. He had never been stronger.
“We have to get out of here,” Rachel said.
David shook his head. “It’s too late, lass. There are ships everywhere. We could never escape this in a shuttle, even if there was anywhere we could reach.”
“So you’re just giving up?” Knight said. He’d surrender when he was dead, if then.
“If we turn ourselves in, they might spare us. Otherwise, maybe we can find a place to hide on the Ark until the Angels …”
“That …” Raziel rasped from the floor behind them, “is a poor idea. You don’t understand what you have started here, Ms. Jordan. You … should have turned this Ark over to me sooner.” The Angel groaned. “My ship is in the hangar … You can escape in it.”
Now the Angel was helping them? Knight was so confused. This was why Rachel was supposed to be in charge. He liked to clearly know who his enemies were. These corporations seemed to switch sides faster than he could keep track of. And apparently, so did Angels.
Rachel nodded. “Fine.” She turned to Knight. “Bring the Angel.”
CHAPTER NINETY-FIVE
But the door has been opened. The Ark has been found, as has Eden, and such revelations cannot be undone. Whether Raziel manipulated me or not, b
ecause of my actions, the universe is at war. I have lost the Ark, and even I can no longer predict what is to come. I can only pray the human race shall come through the fire stronger than before, and free.
Rachel strapped herself into the Angel’s ship. Its design was foreign, like a sleek dart, jet black against the night. David and Phoebe had shot their way to the hangar, with Knight hauling the unconscious Angel. She supposed that extra adrenaline was what let him carry Raziel, who must weigh God-alone-knew-what.
“Much as I love this place,” Phoebe said, “and really, some of my best, or at least most recent memories, are here—but can we get the void off this ship?”
David sat at the pilot’s console and cast a scowl at her. He pushed a few buttons, still probably trying to familiarize himself with the design.
“What should I do with Raziel?” Knight asked.
Rachel stared at the Angel who had caused so much chaos in their lives. “Restrain him. One of the side chambers might work for a brig cell. Use mag restraints on his arms and legs. And wings.”
Knight did as she asked, with help from Phoebe, then the two of them strapped in beside each other. They were staring into each other’s eyes like long-lost lovers. Rachel was used to the waves of lust radiating off the pair, but it was deeper now. A warmth, a trust she had never felt from either of them. Were they falling in love?
She tried to tell herself she was happy for them. She should be. She was with David, and there was no way in the void she should be jealous of Phoebe. Just because all this time Knight had wanted her, and now he had eyes only for the Cold-worlder. It was so shallow of her to want Knight to still chase after her, knowing she had chosen David. She supposed, in a way, he had become her best friend, and knowing he felt that way for her had been … flattering? Or a comfort. At least two men in the universe cared deeply for her, even if she couldn’t count her father or brother among them.
But Knight had changed in other ways, too. Raziel’s experiments, his tortures, had transformed the former assassin into something more than human. There were no real records of Nephilim, no way to know what would happen to him. Leah had said his body might well give out from the strain, or maybe he could live forever because of the cellular regeneration. What kind of burden would that place on him?
Knight had had no childhood. He’d been raised by a monster. Everything Rachel knew about Sarah Radison made her wish Knight had killed the woman. And now, Knight had been remade by a different monster. And somehow, despite being twice birthed from such darkness, she still felt he could be a good man. Never mind his attempts to hide it.
The ship shot out from the hangar. David flew it as if they were pursued, but Rachel soon realized they weren’t. She unstrapped herself and rose to glance at the scanners. It was as if the Conglomerate ships didn’t even see them.
“They must not be able to pick this ship up on the scanners,” she said.
“Aye, I was just thinking the same thing,” David said.
Thank God for small blessings.
David launched them into the Conduit. In here, they would be safe. At least for a while. David could escape the Conglomerate ships, she was sure. Whether Jericho or the Angels held the Ark was out of her hands. Maybe she had failed. Maybe she had made all the wrong choices. But in the end, she saw no other options.
She sat down beside David, then glanced at the rest of the crew. Leah had gone to inspect Raziel. Knight and Phoebe shared a quiet kiss in the corner.
The others, they all looked to her and David. They didn’t ask where the ship was headed. They trusted them to make the decisions. It was a burden, she supposed. She wasn’t really used to having people expect her to lead them. She had been on her own so long she didn’t know how to feel about it. But David was a natural leader, and she had chosen to make herself one. All she could do now was see it through.
She blew out a long breath, then turned to him. “What are we going to do now?” She spoke softly, trying not to let the others hear her doubt. If they looked to her and David as the leaders, let them. Let them believe she had the answers. It was the smallest comfort she could offer at the moment.
David scratched his head, but kept his eyes on the Conduit ahead. “You already know the answer, lass. We have to go to the Sentinels. Mizraim is still at war with Asherah. I have a duty to do whatever I can to protect the Empire. And now that we’ve lost the Ark, they may be the only ones we can turn to.”
Assuming the Sentinels didn’t just throw them all in jail. Or send them back to Horesh. David had escaped a penal colony, and she’d killed people in the process. She doubted they would receive a warm welcome. And yet … Maybe he was right. Without the Sentinels, she had no one else to turn to. She could only wait and see whether the Angels or the Conglomerate came out ahead, while Asherah and Mizraim destroyed each other.
David had done all she had asked. She’d found Eden because of him.
And that was it, wasn’t it? She had found Eden. They could return to Mizraim with that knowledge, with the chance to lead mankind back to its homeworld. She prayed such a revelation would be enough to excuse their crimes. Either way, it was her last shot to help the human race escape the shadows cast over it by the Angels.
And Rachel was used to playing a long shot.
CHAPTER NINETY-SIX
December 15th, 3096 EY
To stop the Conglomerate from taking the Ark I awakened the long-dormant Angels from cryo sleep. More than a week has passed, and we have heard nothing from them. My nights are restless, while I wait for the hammer to fall. Time will tell whether I made the right decision.
The last time David saw the Tabernacle he had come in shame, prepared for a court martial. Despite all he had done since then, the Sanhedrin had welcomed him back. Perhaps the war with Asherah was going poorly and they sought any advantage they could gain. Perhaps it was all a trap. After all, Imperator Scott had agreed to his return to duty in exchange for Rachel and Knight joining the Sentinels.
David brought Raziel’s unusual ship toward one of the Tabernacle’s three hangars—each a bubble on station’s surface. The station was a massive sphere housing other spherical districts. As they approached, he released control to the station. The computer guided them through a series of airlock doors that shut behind them, then they touched down gently on the hangar floor.
“Are you sure about this?” Rachel asked.
“It’s a little late for second thoughts,” Knight said from the back of the ship.
Rachel still seemed to hope that learning the location of mankind’s lost homeworld would unite them. David had his doubts. Word had spread through the galaxies like a solar wind, and still Mizraim and Asherah fought. Still the Conglomerate schemed.
David sighed. Part of him wished Rachel would have stayed on Eden. Maybe she would have been safer. Knowing her, maybe not. Besides, the psychic ghosts there would have driven her off rotation.
Either way, the Sanhedrin might not have agreed to his pardon without Rachel’s cooperation. Her intimate knowledge of the Angel’s Ark made her the most valuable asset in the universe. At least he hoped so.
Just like he chose to interpret those four Sentinels waiting outside the ship as an honor guard, not a prisoner escort. He popped the hatch to the ship and rose from the control console. Best get it over with.
Knight stepped out of the ship before David could even get there and stood so close to one of the Sentinels it couldn’t help but be interpreted as a challenge. The Sentinel kept his face utterly expressionless, looking Knight right in the eye. Good lad. Phoebe burst out laughing and followed her new boyfriend out.
David probably would have been happy for the lass, if her choice of man wasn’t an off rotation former assassin. And possibly a Nephilim.
He followed the pair out of the ship, and Rachel and Leah came right behind him. David saluted the Sentinels.
“Commander McGregor,” one of them said, “we’re to escort you to the Shekhinah.”
Th
e Shekhinah? So the Sanhedrin weren’t meeting him themselves? They had been sent straight to the top. It might be a good sign. Or it might not.
“Aye. Lead the way, then.”
Their escort guided them toward the lift.
“What’s the Shekhinah?” Knight whispered.
“A sentient computer the Angels left behind to rule in their absence,” Rachel said. “It forms the heart of the Tabernacle and is the ultimate authority in the Mizraim Empire.”
“I thought the Sanhedrin ruled the Empire? Those Imperators?”
Oh, Lordy. He’d gotten her started in lecture mode now.
“The Sanhedrin are the human voice of Mizraim. Individually they are called Imperators, and each is in charge of one of the twenty-three galaxies the Empire controls. Imperator Scott is the highest ranking, because he controls Andromeda, the largest galaxy. But the Imperators are each just agents of the Shekhinah, which, according to doctrine, speaks with the authority of the Angels themselves.”
The way she said ‘doctrine’ somehow managed to make the word drip with venom. Rachel had been raised by Redeemers—her father was a hierophant, one of the groups’ highest ranking members. And yet she had rejected all they believed in—all David himself had once believed—and appointed herself to save humanity from its own blind faith. Endearingly arrogant of her, really.
“The Shekhinah first co-opted the Sentinels,” Rachel said.
“Lass,” David said. “It didn’t co-opt us. The Shekhinah is the legitimate authority appointed to rule over mankind, and the Sentinels were established to protect humanity. It only stands to reason—”
“The legitimate authority according to itself. Very convenient, David.”
He could just imagine her pacing in a classroom while teaching this. Was Knight even listening? Probably. The Gehennan might have feigned disinterest in politics, but David suspected he absorbed information quickly and totally. His training would have made such things imperative.