Sins of Angels (The Complete Collection)

by Larkin, Matt

  As expected, the Angels broke away at the last instant.

  Immortals weren’t too eager to die, were they?

  Rachel spun the ship around. “Are the shuttles clear?”

  “Yes, Captain.”

  Good. Her heart ached for David, but at least she’d protected these Sentinels.

  She dove the ship straight for the Redeemers, trusting the crew to fire the right weapons. The Redeemers didn’t matter right now. All that mattered was saving this ship. As her enemies fled from her aggressive dive, she banked away in a loop and pushed hard for the Conduit Gate.

  Let them follow. If they dared.

  CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED SIXTY-ONE

  June 17th

  We always believed ourselves alone out here. There were the Angels, of course, but they claimed to be sent by God. The educated long ago rejected alien life as pure fantasy. A belief reinforced by the Angels themselves. Another lie.

  The Wake of Heaven lingered in the Zarethon System. Though the ship remained under Hannah Hertz’s command, she had deferred to Phoebe. Hannah had trusted David, and David had trusted Phoebe. It all led back to Rachel, of course. She was convinced that if they found these Lotan, it could make a difference.

  Knight wasn’t so sure. Maybe they would prove useful allies, maybe they wouldn’t talk to humans at all. Why would they acknowledge the servants of their enemies, after all? Isn’t that how the Lotan would see humanity—as slaves of Angels?

  “Maybe your brother was lying,” he said.

  Phoebe shook her head. She had her hand on her abdomen, though she hadn’t really begun to show yet. “Ezra said there were always rumors of aliens in this region.”

  And Ezra Dana—space pirate and cyborg—was notoriously trustworthy. He’d been left in the brig on the Sephirot. Phoebe had wanted to bring him with them, but Knight had convinced her the man belonged in prison. He didn’t want sentiment clouding her judgment.

  Void, pregnancy hormones seemed to do that well enough. One minute she was ecstatic, the next she ranted about Rachel sending her all the way out here.

  And maybe she was right. They had spent far too long in the Expanse already, bouncing from system to system. Phoebe assured him she had calibrated the scanners to detect dark matter creatures, but still they found nothing. Maybe Rachel had sent him on a fool’s errand. Knight had to consider Phoebe and their baby.

  “Captain,” the communications officer said. “We’ve got an incoming signal from Rachel Jordan. Old—it had to go through too many relays.”

  Hertz looked to him.

  “Let’s hear it.”

  “Put it on screen,” Hertz said.

  Rachel’s face filled the screen, but it was just a recording. Without proper relays, live communication wouldn’t work. “Phoebe. I don’t know whether you will have heard this, and I’m sorry to have to tell you. Ekron has been taken by the Redeemers and the Gogmagog. I’ve done all I can, and I left behind Sentinels to harry them. I promise I’ll return as soon as we’re able. Your mission takes precedence, but you have a right to know.”

  The transmission cut off.

  “I have a right to know,” Phoebe said. “I’ve got a right to know. That’s what she has to say? Yup, yup. That’s me, good little soldier girl who just … just … What the void, Rachel!”

  Knight reached for her and she punched him in the shoulder. Then she collapsed into his arms. He’d never understand her.

  “Ca-can we get a signal to Ekron?” Phoebe mumbled.

  “We can send a message,” Hertz said, “but it’ll take time for it to get there.”

  Phoebe trembled in his arms, then pushed him away. “I-I’ve got to send a message to Mom and Dad, you know? I, uh … Knight?”

  “I’m here.”

  “Haven’t we wasted enough time out here? We should go back … to … My family.”

  Rachel was off rotation. As usual. This had all been a colossal waste of time. And now Phoebe’s family was in danger.

  Raziel had said the Angels fought the Lotan, but that was God knew how long ago. Before the Exodus, even. In all those thousands of years, they didn’t know if the creatures even still existed. Perhaps they had fled the Local Group. Phoebe needed him now.

  “Yeah. We will.”

  The Icie stepped away and left the bridge, head high and shoulders taught.

  “Fucking Angels,” Knight said.

  Some of the crew murmured at his blasphemy. Even now. Even after all that had happened—three thousand years of tradition had enslaved their very way of thought. They fought a war against the Angels and still feared to speak ill of them.

  “Fucking Angels!”

  He grabbed the edge of a console and squeezed. He needed someone to hurt. He needed to kill something. To do something.

  And Phoebe needed him. He’d done what he had to for Rachel—all that and more. Phoebe was right—Rachel had become a guiding light for him. And now she was drawing him away from the things that mattered most.

  “Hertz. Get us the void out of the Expanse. Take us back to the Milky Way, fast as you can.”

  The captain sighed, but nodded. Probably just as glad to get out of the Expanse as any of them. Zarethon had been a total waste. Maybe Ezra was lying, or maybe just relaying another rumor. Knight was done chasing rumors. He had a war to fight. And Angels would tremble before he was through.

  The console beeped, and Knight glanced down at it. It beeped again, a sound like a high-pitched pulsing.

  “What is that?” Hertz asked.

  “Commander Dana’s special scanner just picked something up,” their comm officer said.

  He looked at the view screen. Nothing. Nothing was out there. But the scanner revealed the outline of a ship, fading in and out. The reading was faint, hard to tell what he was seeing … tendrils descending from a central sphere.

  “Angels above,” the comm officer said. “Looks like a giant jellyfish.”

  Knight didn’t know what that meant. The officer was an Amphie, so probably some kind of underwater monster. “Hail them.” He tapped his comm. “Knight to Dana. Phoebe … You’d better come to the bridge. Right now.”

  “Ensign, put the scanner readings on the screen,” Hertz said.

  The Amphie did, and the display showed the massive, tentacled creature.

  “Holy universe …” Hertz said. “That’s really an alien life form.”

  A few years ago Knight would have said there was no such thing as aliens. Turns out they had existed not that far from Gehenna.

  The screen flickered and filled with static. Then blackness, like the darkest water, shimmering slightly.

  “They’ve broken into our data banks,” an officer said. “I can’t shut them out.”

  “Don’t,” Knight said. “They’re probably trying to understand us.” This was what Rachel had sent them out here for. If the aliens had a way to communicate, all the better.

  The bridge lift opened and Phoebe walked back to his side, her mouth open and eyes wide.

  “Holy universe …” she mumbled. Her hand slipped into his.

  “What’s happening?” he whispered to her.

  “I think they’re trying to send a signal we can process. They understand they exist outside our visual spectrum, but they want us to be able to see and hear them. I hope.”

  “So we should do …?”

  “Nothing. Maybe? Run like the void is at our heels? Pray? I don’t know, Knight.” She squeezed his hand.

  A moment more, and the amorphous image began to solidify. The alien ship, if that was what they were seeing, seemed viscous. Several serpentine heads and necks leaned forward, coming into view, though they remained shadows. Impressions. Like holograms projected through water … Translucent and otherworldly. Knight’s pulse quickened and time began to slow. His natural reaction to danger. He could feel the increase of adrenaline, readying him for action. But he had no idea what step to take.

  Phoebe squeezed his hand again. “You brought us here
, big guy.”

  Knight swallowed. He had. He had agreed to Rachel’s off rotation plan without considering the risk. He dropped Phoebe’s hand and stepped forward. One way or another, he had to do this now.

  “My name is Ezekiel Knight. Can you understand me?”

  “I.”

  “Understand.”

  “You.”

  Each word seemed to come from a different head, as though it was all one being. Could that be the case? Many heads of the same creature?

  “Are you Lotans?”

  “Yes. Human. I. Am. A. Lotan.”

  A Lotan. So it was a single being. With seven heads? Or perhaps the entire ship was part of a single entity. If Rachel were here, she’d have a million questions. Actually, a million was probably selling her short.

  “You know what we are?” he asked.

  “You. Are like. The Angels. But different.” The creature’s speech was slowly becoming more fluid. Continuous, as if it were assimilating their language.

  “The Angels have become our enemies. We know they were your enemies, as well.”

  “They tried to enslave us. They created a universe. To fight us. It killed many of us before. It turned on them. They locked it away. We have the last lock now.”

  The last lock? The last seal. The Lotan had taken the final Angel station? Which must mean another had fallen while he was away. “What are you going to do with it?”

  “We do not know. Angels tried to destroy us. Their creation tried to destroy us. Humans do not understand us.”

  “We can try.”

  “Then. Try.” The screen went dead.

  Knight blew out a long breath. How the void had he become an ambassador?

  He looked to Phoebe, who stood there, her mouth agape. An expression mirrored on the rest of the crew.

  Void.

  CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED SIXTY-TWO

  And so now, I place my last fragile hope in these strange creatures Raziel claims exist. Perhaps I am a fool—I have been called worse.

  The Lotan had agreed to await Knight’s return. The aliens seemed surprisingly willing to cooperate. Assuming he could read them or their intentions at all. Which he probably couldn’t. But he had to get to the edge of the Expanse. From there he could hit a Mazzaroth relay and contact Rachel.

  Several hours in the Conduit had seemed longer.

  Knight sat cross-legged on the floor of his suite.

  He didn’t look at Phoebe, but he could feel her there, on the bed. Taking endless notes on the creatures. The Lotan.

  “You know this is the most important discovery in human history, right?” she said. “I mean, expect for the Ark, and the Angels, and the Adversary itself. But since then, this is it. We are making history. You and me, Knight.”

  “You sound like Rachel.”

  “Yup, yup.” She mimicked Rachel. “Let’s make history and save humanity and go off rotation together! Plus, I figure we can start at least two wars before breakfast. And, Knight—” her voice returned to normal “—you know you’ll be punished for comparing me to her, right? I’m just making sure you know that. So you can’t complain you don’t understand me or something later.”

  Knight shut his eyes. He tried to meditate, but his thoughts raced too quickly. Was the ship itself the Lotan, or a mere extension of the alien’s being? Did more than one live in each ship, or were they single transports?

  Still, those questions paled compared to the greater ones. Even if the Lotan would help him, still the Angels were out there. Conquering worlds. Worlds like Ekron. Phoebe tried to put up a brave front. She tried to keep herself busy—even Knight could see that much.

  But they had taken everything from her. They had taken New Rome, the capital of her former empire. They had taken Hazaroth, where she had become a Sentinel. They had cost her the government she had sworn to uphold. And now Angels had taken her homeworld.

  If they took Gehenna, he’d be pissed … and he hated that place. So how much worse if they took a place he loved?

  They had taken everything from her. And she was everything to him.

  By God, he was going to make them pay. For three thousand years Angels had terrorized and dominated mankind under threat of the Adversary. But it was their Adversary to fear. Rachel was right. Mankind must stand on its own, or lurk forever in the shadows of beings who would be gods.

  Act or react. That was the only choice. As long as they were reacting, they were on the defensive. And the best way to overcome an enemy was to be where they least expected. To take the road they never imagined you’d take.

  Knight sighed and rose, then moved to stand before Phoebe.

  “I can see why the Angels needed to create the Adversary to fight them,” Phoebe said. “Engaging creatures so hard to detect must have been … Their ships are obviously organic, like the Angels’. Assuming these are ships, and not the Lotan themselves.”

  Knight grabbed her and pulled her up into his arms. She shuddered, letting out a long breath and embraced him back. She had been through too much. And it wasn’t done.

  “I swear we will get your world back.”

  “No signal has come in from my parents.” Her voice was barely a whisper against his shoulder.

  “It doesn’t mean they’re hurt, love. It just means they don’t have Mazzaroth access. Could be Redeemers jamming outgoing signals.”

  “Yup. Course. That makes sense.” She nodded, and leaned into him. “Jamming. I’m sure that’s all.”

  The Mazzaroth chimed. Knight turned to look at it. Rachel Jordan.

  At last. She needed to know. She had to know before he acted. Then he had to go back to the Lotan. They were the key to ending this. All of it had started with them. The Angels had found a foe they couldn’t overcome, and in their pride, created a weapon they couldn’t control. But the Lotan seemed to have no interest in humanity—other than mild curiosity.

  “Receive call.” He pulled away from Phoebe to stand before the Mazzaroth.

  “Knight. Thank God. I was worried. You … got my message? About Ekron?”

  “We did.” And he would have to help Phoebe with that as soon this was done. “I found them, Rachel. The Lotan.”

  Her mouth opened a little, but no sound came out. She just sat there while he related all that had happened. No indication of what she thought. In the end, she just nodded. “Will they help us?”

  “Maybe. I think they’re as confused as we are. As we were. But I know what I have to do.”

  Rachel shook her head. “Great. At this point you’re probably the only person in the holy universe who can say that. So tell me, Knight. What should we do?”

  He swallowed. There was only one choice, really. The Angels were taking over the whole damn universe. The NER would fall. Asherah would be destroyed. Everything would go back to how it was. Unless the Angels faced an opponent more powerful than themselves. Unless they were forced to capitulate.

  Unless he made the choice they’d never see coming.

  “I’m going to destroy the last seal.”

  “You … what?”

  “I’m going to release the Adversary.”

  “Wh-what?” Phoebe mumbled. “You’re going to do what the void now?”

  Rachel sat there, mouth agape, shaking her head.

  “Tell me I’m wrong, Rachel. Tell me the Adversary is not the one threat that would drive the Angels away from their mission to enslave us.”

  “Knight … People are not going to understand. They don’t like change, not like this. For thirty-one centuries the Adversary has been the threat at our heels. The nameless fear that keeps children awake at night. The Angels cast them as—”

  “I know. They cast them the same way the Shadow Council cast the Gibborim.” Ghosts in the darkness. A threat spoken of only in whispers. “Rachel. We are failing. The Angel tyranny is returning. David was … He fell trying to stop it. Ekron fell. We are going to lose the republic if nothing changes.”

  Act or react. Only a bold choi
ce could change the future.

  He could feel Phoebe shaking her head beside him. “Knight …”

  Rachel sighed. “I don’t know whether you’re wrong or not, Knight. But one thing I do know. If you do this … if you open this door, you won’t be able to shut it again. A thousand generations will curse your name.”

  She was right. She was too right. People would not understand. But sometimes you had to do what was necessary, even if no one else could accept it. Rachel had taught him that. “It’s for those generations I must open the door.”

  All his life he had served the Shadow Council. He had spied and murdered in the name of petty warlords enforcing their petty rule over a hellhole of a world. And at long last he had become something more. He had become a Sentinel. He had gone from the ghost in the dark, to the guardian against the night. Humanity’s last line of defense against any threat.

  “You’ve taught me so much,” he said.

  Rachel shut her eyes. “I could say the same to you. And I pray you’re right.”

  So did he. “Mazzaroth off.” He tapped his comm. “Knight to Hertz. Time to return to the Lotan.”

  “Acknowledged.”

  “Are you really going to do this?” Phoebe asked.

  “I have to.” It was the last card he had left to play. Rachel had showed him that when you couldn’t accept the universe, you had to change it. One way or another, everything would change tonight.

  “Knight …” Phoebe said, when he turned to head back to the bridge. “This is just … I mean, it’s your call. But, what are we going to do, you know, after the Angels are defeated?”

  Knight paused with a sigh. He didn’t know. Maybe it would make things even worse … but to do nothing was the surest way to fail. Act or react. “This is the only play we have left. Whatever future we create, then we’ll deal with that.”

  “I’m afraid.”

  Not something he heard from Icie Sentinel often. Knight kissed her forehead. The truth was—so was he.

  Hours later, they met the Lotan ship.