A meaty smack! and a ground-shaking boom! awoke him. Lucien gasped, and sucked in a deep, desperate breath. The ever-tightening cocoon of flesh around him had relaxed. Now it was a limp, but heavy weight pressing him down, loose enough for him to breathe freely and for to move his arms and legs, but not by much.
“What just happened?” Lucien asked, still breathing deeply to clear his muddled thoughts.
“I don’t...” Addy trailed off.
Lucien was about to try shooting his way out when a glowing blue blade appeared, slicing through just above his head. Red blood gushed, splattering Lucien’s faceplate.
Once the gash was a few meters wide, the sword withdrew and an armored hand appeared, reaching blindly for him through a crimson cascade of alien blood. Lucien grabbed that hand, and felt himself sliding up and out. The flooded throat slurped disgustingly as he left.
Lucien’s feet touched castcrete and he furiously swiped away the blood from his faceplate so that he could see.
He saw Brak’s grinning face staring back at him. “This is a tale to tell your children’s children,” he said. “And when you tell it, remember Brakos, the hero.”
Lucien grinned and slapped Brak on the back. “You bet, buddy.” He turned to see Addy and Garek crouching beside a big, bloody red mound of flesh that Brak must have hacked off some other part of the beast. He walked over to them. “What were you two doing? Providing moral support? A few more seconds and I’d have been swimming in a pool of digestive fluids.”
Addy stood and turned to him with a look of mingled horror and awe. She slowly shook her head. “Brak didn’t save you.”
Lucien frowned. “What do you mean he didn’t save me?”
Garek straightened, too, and jerked his chin up to indicate something in the sky. “They did.”
Lucien followed that gesture and saw four Polypuses floating down, their hair-like tentacles waving in an imperceptible breeze.
“How?”
“They ripped out its heart,” Garek replied.
Lucien blinked in shock, and his gaze strayed back to the bloody mound of flesh beside Garek and Addy. Now he saw it for what it really was: a giant heart.
* * *
Astralis
“This emergency session of council is now in session,” Chief Councilor Ellis declared.
Tyra resisted the urge to sigh. Her gaze wandered to the bird’s eye view of the four cities through the transparent floor of the council chamber. Her inattention was a silent form of protest. Here she was, attending yet another emergency session of council—two in as many days. The last one had dragged on for almost six hours, and she’d been falling asleep by the time it had ended. After that, she’d still had to work well into the morning coming up with new legislation to regulate cloning in the wake of Ellis’s proposal. Hopefully this time they’d be able to get through the agenda faster. Tyra dragged her eyes up, forcing herself to pay attention to the proceedings.
“...are well on our way to getting back out there. I’m told that all of our former Paragons have agreed to have their clones join the new expeditionary force, and we have hundreds of other applicants signing up by the hour. At this rate, we’ll have to start putting them on reserve for future missions.”
“All of the Paragons agreed?” Tyra asked, blinking in shock.
“That’s correct,” Ellis replied.
Tyra accepted the news with a shallow nod. She felt an accompanying flash of anger at her husband. They’d talked about it just a few hours ago, right before he’d left to attend the meeting with the other Paragons. She’d explained all of her concerns to him, but he’d decided to go ahead and sign up, anyway.
“First up on the agenda, I have a motion from Councilor Kato S’var of District One, petitioning for a formal declaration of war against the Farosien Empire,” Ellis said.
Kato nodded, half of his face still pink where the flesh had been re-grown after he’d suffered third degree burns in the Faros’ attacks. District One had been hit the hardest by the bomb that had ripped Fallside open, and Kato was understandably biased against the Faros, but Tyra didn’t think any of the other councilors would be against formally declaring war.
“Let’s vote on it, shall we?” Ellis asked. “All in favor?” He raised his hand, and so did everyone else. “It’s unanimous, then. Let the record show that Astralis is now officially at war with the Farosien Empire.”
The councilors nodded and murmured their agreement.
“Moving on, we have another motion from Councilor S’var, calling for the execution of the Faro prisoners we have on board... I believe we addressed this issue in our last emergency session of council. There were six votes for and seven against dispensing with the prisoners. Are you suggesting we retake the vote?”
Councilor S’var nodded. “They must be made to answer for their crimes. Publicly if possible.”
Ellis arched an eyebrow at S’var. “All right. Let’s have another vote.”
The vote came out exactly the same as it had the last time, with six in favor and seven against.
“It’s settled, then. I trust that we won’t need to re-take this vote again tomorrow?” Ellis asked S’var. He responded with a scowl and looked away.
“Good...” Ellis trailed off and cocked his head, as if listening to something only he could hear. “Well, that’s good timing,” he said after a moment.
“What’s good timing?” Councilor Romark of Winterside asked.
“The Speaker of the House just informed me of the result of their deliberations. They’ve approved the Emergency War Measures Act, which I suppose will be going into effect now thanks to Councilor S’var’s motion.”
The councilors shot each other bewildered looks.
“What War Measures Act?” Tyra asked.
Ellis frowned and met the councilors’ confusion with a measure of his own. “The one we all drafted in our last session of council...”
Looks of dawning realization replaced the councilors’ confusion, and they began nodding slowly, murmuring at their absent-mindedness. Tyra wasn’t so easily assured.
“What War Measures Act?” she insisted.
“Since everyone seems to be having so much trouble remembering...” Ellis reached into one of the pockets of his ceremonial robes and withdrew a holo projector. He tossed it toward the center of the room, and it hovered into place. A moment later, the document in question appeared as a three-dimensional hologram that seemed to be facing everyone at once. Ellis made a scrolling gesture with one finger until he reached the bottom of the document, where all of the councilors’ signatures appeared, followed by hundreds more signatures from the House of Representatives.
Tyra blinked in shock. Now she remembered, but somehow the memory felt alien and wrong. Signing the act didn’t sound like something she would do, and she found it hard to believe that any of the other councilors would sign it either. The Emergency War Measures Act gave Ellis the ability to overrule the council unilaterally in the event of war on all defense-related decisions. With that act in place, his only advisers would be Admiral Stavos and General Graves.
The council had essentially handed all of their political powers and responsibilities to Chief Councilor Ellis during wartime, and now conveniently, a war had been declared.
It smelled like a setup to Tyra. One by one, she glanced at the other councilors, her gaze challenging each of them as it traveled around the room. “You all remember signing this?”
The councilors’ heads bobbed, but confusion warred on their faces, belying those acknowledgments.
“I understand we’ve all been under a lot of pressure and stress lately,” Ellis said. “Perhaps this should be the last emergency session of council for a while. I think a good night’s rest is in order for all of us.”
Tyra turned back to Ellis, working hard to conceal her shock and suspicion. She failed utterly. “I guess we will be able to get more sleep now that you’ll be making all of the decisions for us.”
&
nbsp; Ellis smiled thinly at that. “Not all of the decisions, Councilor Ortane. Just the war-related ones, and you can rest assured that even with those decisions, I will still value all of your input.”
Value, but not listen to? Tyra wondered. Dread wormed through her stomach.
Somehow Ellis had managed to strike a killing blow against democracy while everyone was watching. They’d all literally signed off on it, but Tyra could barely remember giving her signature, and she obviously wasn’t alone.
But that wasn’t even the strangest part. The majority of the House of Representatives had also signed the War Measures Act, and there were more than four hundred representatives in the House. How was it possible that all of them had consciously voted for the proposal, knowing full well that they’d be paving the way for a military dictatorship?
Thanks to the War Measures Act and subsequent declaration of war, Ellis, Stavos, and Graves were now the sole authorities on Astralis. As far as Tyra was concerned, that was no coincidence. Those three were the same three that the Faros had fought so hard to reach. All three of them had been touched by the Faros.
And Atara. Horror and outrage flashed through Tyra with renewed force, but she clamped down on it, determined not to draw attention to herself.
She looked around the council chamber, watching the other councilors’ faces as Ellis went blithely through the rest of an otherwise mundane agenda.
Every single councilor wore an expression that reflected some part of what Tyra was now feeling. And yet, no one said anything.
Tyra had already challenged Ellis once, sarcastically, but he’d pretended not to notice. What would happen if someone challenged him again, but more forcefully this time? Would Ellis call in security and have them escorted from the room? Or would he appear to tolerate dissenting voices only to have them conveniently silenced later?
It was finally clear what the Faros had been after when they’d invaded Astralis. They were slavers through and through, but when they’d realized they didn’t have the numbers to take the ship by force, they’d decided to do so politically by subverting their leaders. An insidious plot if there ever was one. But if that was true, they could have called in reinforcements to finish the job long ago.
So why hadn’t they?
What else were they planning?
And was it too late to stop them?
Tyra considered what had happened so far. Twelve councilors, including herself, remembered signing the War Measures Act, and four hundred plus representatives from the House had just done the same thing, but had anyone actually signed anything? The signatures could have been forged, the memories of signing planted via their AR implants.
In order to do that, there needed to be more Faro agents on board besides Ellis, Stavos, and Graves. One of them had to be a high-ranking official in the Resurrection Center. Someone with high enough clearance to get in while no one was watching and alter people’s memories—maybe even their personalities—in a way that no one would notice.
One name jumped to mind: Nora Helios, director of the Resurrection Center. It had to be her.
Now all Tyra had to do was prove it before Ellis realized she was on to him. But even if she succeeded, she needed someone else waiting to wrest control of the military from Stavos and Graves, to make sure they didn’t get out a comms message calling for reinforcements from the Faros. Lieutenant Commander Wheeler, the one-time acting Commander of Astralis might be able to do that.
The pieces of a plan began sliding into place in Tyra’s brain, but she stopped those thoughts in their tracks. She felt watched. If memories could be planted in her brain without her permission, then maybe someone could read her thoughts, too.
Just in case, Tyra went about de-activating her AR implant, and then her ARCs, but just before she deactivated them, an urgent message came in from Lucien—text only. She hurriedly scanned the contents, her horror mounting with every word: it was about Atara....
Chapter 34
Astralis
“You’re the one who got hurt,” Atara whined. “Why do I have to get an injection?” She struggled violently against the pair of nurses holding her down.
The probe technician stood off to one side, looking uncertain. “I thought you said she agreed to this? I can’t administer a probe against her will without parental consent.”
“I already gave you my consent,” Lucien insisted. Theola began squirming in his arms, unsettled by her sister’s cries.
“I’m afraid I need both parents’ consent if the child is unwilling, Mr. Ortane. I only have your word for it that your wife has agreed to the treatment.”
Atara went on kicking and screaming on the examination table, her back arching as she struggled to break free. The two nurses holding her down each received a couple of kicks for their trouble before they gave up. Atara sprang up from the table, sobbing, and ran out of the probe room.
The nurses both followed Atara out, sending Lucien dirty looks as they left.
He turned to the technician. “Look, it’s going to take too long to get my wife’s signature. I already explained what’s been going on. Atara was touched by one of the Faros, and she hasn’t been herself ever since. She’s a security risk to everyone on board this ship.”
The technician looked unimpressed. Images flickered over his eyes as he looked something up on his ARCs. “Your daughter’s file says she lives in Fallside, is that correct?”
“Used to.”
“Of course,” the technician said, nodding sympathetically. “And I assume she’s going to a new school, has to make new friends, and has a new home...”
Lucien’s eyes narrowed, and he leveled an accusing finger at the technician. “I see where you’re going with that, but I know my daughter, and she’s not herself.”
“I’m sure you do know her, Mr. Ortane, but you need to understand that she’s suffered multiple traumas and dramatic life changes over the past few days.” More images flickered across the technician’s eyes. “I see here that there’s even a psychiatric evaluation on file. It details an incident whereby Atara witnessed a Navy corpsman beheaded right in front of her.”
Lucien gaped at the technician, who began nodding with the wisdom of his own reasoning.
“Given all of that, it would be strange if Atara weren’t acting out. Perhaps you need to schedule extra sessions with her therapist? I see she’s being seen by a doctor by the name of... Troosssaka’arrr.” The technician’s brow furrowed as he failed to pronounce the name. He repeated it to see if he could do better justice. He didn’t. “Troo, for short,” he decided, giving up. “She’s an alien, but her references and credentials are excellent. Shall I call her for you? Or would you prefer that Atara be seen by a human doctor this time?”
Lucien shook his head and glanced over his shoulder to the door, wondering where Atara had run to. “I’d better go after her,” he said.
The technician inclined his head agreeably. “Of course. If there’s nothing else...”
Lucien started to leave, and the technician followed him out. Once they were in the hallway, Lucien saw his daughter seated in the waiting room a few feet away, her head in her hands, sobbing. One of the nurses who’d been the recipient of Atara’s kicks was sitting beside her, a hand rubbing Atara’s back. The nurse saw Lucien, and glared.
“You should see to your daughter, sir,” the nurse said. “She is extremely distraught.”
Lucien took half a step in their direction, and Atara looked up. Her eyes were dry, the hint of a smirk on her face.
Lucien spun around to look for the probe technician, to point out his daughter’s disingenuous behavior, but the man was already walking away, off to see his next patient.
That’s it, Lucien decided. He held up a hand to the nurse sitting with Atara, indicating that she needed to wait. Then he texted Tyra over his ARCs to make sure Atara didn’t overhear what he said. He explained the situation, and the fact that he needed Tyra’s consent to perform the probe. He finished by
saying, Atara isn’t herself. First Theola, then me. I’m afraid to take her home and find out what she’ll do next. Have any of the others who were touched been doing or saying anything strange? When he was done composing his message, he marked it urgent, hoping Tyra would answer him promptly.
To his relief, she texted him back almost immediately.
I’m in a meeting. Can we talk about this when I get home?
Lucien frowned. I’m at the hospital now. It would be nice not to have to come back again tomorrow.
Atara’s behavior is something we should discuss together before we submit her to more tests. I need to go, but we will talk about this later. I promise.
Lucien sighed. Fine.
I’ll get home as soon as I can. I love you.
Love you, too... Lucien replied.
He turned back to find Atara sitting alone in the waiting room, the nurse having moved on with her day.
“Ready to go home?” he asked brightly.
Atara regarded him warily as he approached. “What about the probe? Who were you talking to?”
Lucien frowned. “Your mother.”
“You told her.”
“Of course I did. You tripped me and I broke a finger!”
Atara’s eyes narrowed swiftly at him, and she crossed her arms over her chest. “I didn’t trip you.”
Lucien swallowed a sigh and took a seat beside Atara. Theola started smacking her sister and giggling.
“Stop it!” Atara snapped. “Dad!”
Lucien grabbed Theola’s hand to stop her, and she started crying and struggling to break free of his grip. He let go of her hand, and she began smacking her sister again.
“Theola’s being bad, too,” Atara said, leaning away, out of her sister’s reach. “Maybe you should have her probed.”
Lucien shook his head. “No one’s getting probed. Let’s go home.”
Atara re-crossed her arms over her chest and looked away, pouting. “Not until you say sorry.”
Dark Space Universe (Book 2): The Enemy Within Page 26