The Kinship of Stars

by Julie Ishaya

  The quaking galleon emerged from the rift on Valtaer, wide tendrils of colored light trailing back along the hull. The accompanying raptors broke free of the opening and sped forward to arc back and realign with the greater ship. Aboard, the crown prince, the captain, and the rest of the crew all remained encased in the stabilizing bonds of their chairs until the craft fully cleared and the rift closed behind it with that familiar ssscraaaak! sound swallowing the sky.

  As the flesh-hued, filigree shells of the safety meld began to creep back from his wrists, torso, head and neck, Adam boosted out of the chair on the bridge and commanded the system to pull up the view of the southern ocean. The brilliance of late afternoon nearly blinded the crew right before the rifting sickness hit a few of them.

  Adam swallowed down what bile attempted to rise in his throat, and he continued gazing at the screen.

  The southern ocean sparkled with the lowering light of the daystar to the southeast of the wall. To the north, the distant strip of land could only be made out by the sparkle of city and port lights. The galleon, however, would not be gliding into port. It kept to the air as it began its course toward Nall, the golden-cast waves rippling past below the hull.

  (Captain,) Adam sent to Fahl'gir, (identify those raptor pilots and order that they maintain the same course as Imperial Command until further notice. We have an entire city ahead of us, and citizens could get hurt if we aren't careful.)

  Fahl'gir nodded and began the task, while Adam ordered the system to put him in link with the liege of Nall. If he didn't notify the city's overlord of his mission first, and this whole endeavor led to a catastrophe, then Nex might forever be held in contempt by the governments of Valtaer.

  By the time the liege had responded to the message, the galleon was closing in on the shoreline to the southwest of Nall, and the remaining daylight had left one portion of the sky illuminated and pale blue, while the other portion gradually succumbed to a more cobalt hue interrupted by the glow of the arc of moons. Nall's spires still caught the duskier light and added to it their own clusters of tiny lights from windows and street lamps. Air and land transporters moved about the scape, and Adam found himself leaning closer to the edge of the bridge as he sought the distant form of the Shiv ship. He focused in on the area of the city where the Mahlharium manse stood, and saw no sign of the Shiv vessel. The sensors had yet to find it as well.

  Of course, he realized, the thing had no place to land there. The streets were too narrow and the buildings too tall for a spacecraft, even one that small, to land.

  As Adam continued to scan the surrounding city and the galleon came to a slower speed, he drew back when the liege's irritated face finally appeared on the screen in answer to his transmission. The man's round, middle-aged face seemed interrupted by the harsher contours of his cheekbones. His small dark eyes were given some accent by the arch of his brows as they practically flew off into his hairline. Only his face, framed by waves of graying brown hair, and the tall collar of his uniform tunic showed on the screen, magnified so as to appear looming over the crew of the Nexian craft. This was an intimidation tactic. Adam knew his father often had to deal with it when Asmodéus attended business on Valtaer.

  Adam did not like this man, just as he had not liked the former liege, but this one gave more respect to the Nexian regime for its support, without which there would be no means of taming the wall's unpredictable energies.

  "Lord Asmirrius," the liege said, his voice biting, "would you care to explain the unidentified ship which has just rifted onto our shores?"

  "My lord," Adam bowed and immediately delivered his explanation, knowing who would really be intimidated in just a moment. "That is a renegade Shiv vessel which skirted Nexian borders to rift through the lower nexus." He did not comment on the interstellar battle still taking place. That was between Nex and the Shiv, and he knew that the liege's knowledge of the Shiv had been thoroughly filtered via Nexian relations.

  "You mean to say that the nexus is not guarded from such an entry?" the liege seethed.

  "No, my lord, it's not possible to guard the entire nexus." Adam wanted to roll his eyes disrespectfully at the man's ignorance. "I am speaking to you from the helm of the Dyssian Imperial Command. Captain Sonixa Fahl'gir and I are attempting to apprehend the craft."

  "And where is Lord Asmodéus? Why isn't he attending this matter?"

  This was the problem with the current liege; he seemed to think that only the emperor of Nex was competent, while the rest of the lords, the crown prince included, were ill accomplished in anything other than the business of their individual orders. The rumors about Adam's early years on Nex or his exile did not help. Withholding his irritation, he tried not to grit his teeth as he replied, "My father had other matters to attend. I was assigned to apprehend the Shiv craft. If Nallian security can give us a report on the route of the ship, we will continue, you must issue a warning to the citizens of Nall to stay indoors for the time being until this situation is under control."

  "I will see to it," the other replied as though that had been his plan all along. "Reports confirm that craft has lowered near the Ariahm School. Didn't your son attend there?"

  "Yes," Adam answered, receiving a glance from Fahl'gir. He thought he should give a quick explanation. "The Shiv must intend to take hostages, and the school grounds give them enough room to land. The Shiv are the worst enemies of Nex, and therefore they are enemies of Valtaer. We will tend to them, my lord," he insisted. "Do not make any attempt to send troops to our aid. The Shiv have psionics that could prove deadly to anyone without defensive discipline." He finished there and signed out. The screen returned to the view of Nall passing by far below.

  "Damn," Adam whispered, looking ahead as the range of the school began to come into view. The Shiv must have learned about the school when Rai Jinn stung Kieriell. Plus the boy wore the medallion of his school honors all the time, which would have given them another clue. If they had not already discerned the location of the Mahlharium manse, then it made sense that they would begin their search for Jenesaazi at the school.

  "My lord," Fahl'gir said, "sensors detect a concentration of psionic activity ahead. The Shiv craft has indeed landed within the walls of Ariahm."

  Adam thought on this. "Imperial Command will pull up here. If I remember correctly, the higher walls of the school are on the north side. The fighters might use stealth to land within a reasonable range, and the pilots might penetrate the school as ground agents."

  "What if the students are all under psionic control?" Fahl'gir sounded as if she had a bitter taste in her mouth.

  Adam didn't want to consider this, necessary though it was. He himself was already weakened psionically, but at this point he would do anything to ensure Jenesaazi's safety. The tension in him was power enough. "We must keep our own guards up, and if possible, aid those under Shiv control to regain their own will. There are no strict codes on Valtaer as there are on Nex. We must respect that." No Nexian had ever imagined facing such a dilemma, and no amount of preparation could have given him confidence. Furthermore, his anger was subdued but still existent, still a factor in how he would act when the initial contact came with the kai. He could not know what to expect, and accepting this, he finally turned to Captain Fahl'gir as the galleon came to a hover over western Nall. The city seemed disguised by a veil of peace, not knowing the threat to its people, to their very minds as well as their lives.

  "Prepare a shuttle," he said. "I'll go down on my own and signal to speak with the kai. That may give our ground team some time." He started to exit the helm and paused, wondering how long he could maintain his reason when the shift lurked so readily beneath his skin and the ashen taste of vengeance already rose in his mouth.

  35

  Kieriell groped blindly over solid ground. The light behind his eyes wouldn't fade. He could feel that his body had completed the manifestation, but his eyes did not yet become whole. A piece of his mind was still attached to the void and t
he last gridline, which had guided him. It was frightening, compelling, intoxicating.

  "Kieriell?"

  His mother's voice was close. Small, feminine hands gripped his shoulders, though his weight was too much to pull up. His hands spread wide, flexed over pavement, sloughing off particles of grit and tiny stones stuck to the creases in his skin. He wasn't sure what he had done wrong this time, but he didn't like it. Didn't like the lingering light as it tried to reclaim him. It would be so easy to allow it.

  "Kieriell, I'm here." Jenesaazi's voice came from in front of him, her hands on the sides of his face.

  He pried his eyes open and tried to focus beyond the light. There was her face, vaguely defined, staring back at him through the white haze and the peace of the void, but no sooner had he looked at her than she startled, her hands pulling away as though she had touched something hot.

  "Your eyes!"

  "I'm all right. I've got it," he gurgled, feeling as if his vocal chords were tangled. He cleared his throat and that felt better. His first time at vertical teleportation had been taxing, his second perfect, but now he was taxed again and struggling to leave the grid behind.

  "Your eyes are light," Jenesaazi said now, easing closer again. She traced a fingertip along his upper cheekbone and temple, and he could see that she was in awe.

  He blinked and shook his head, then the light dimmed, absorbed into the colors of flowers along the edges of the paved walkway, into the gray stone of the garden fountain, and the green of grass and leaves. He had manifested in the manse courtyard, which was lit by energy staves along the walkway. Evening had fallen. The sky above was almost black, though the glow of two moons, visible from within the courtyard, produced haloes of white and softer blue.

  As he got bearing on his physical self, he tried to stand. His arms wavering a little, he balanced himself upright. "Am I still glowing?" he asked irritably, not comfortable at all with what had just happened and how it had almost distracted him from his task.

  "No," she replied, taking his arm. "Did you find your father?"

  "Not yet." His purpose came back to him, quickening his pulse, and he looked around. The garden passage into the manse had been left wide open, and several curious servants stood clustered there, staring.

  "One of them saw you appear and called me," Jenesaazi explained, walking with him toward the spectators. They scrambled out of the path, and mother and son passed through the doorway into the foyer at the rear of the main hallway. "The liege," she said, "just issued a city wide warning from Nex that all citizens must stay in their homes. Something is happening at the school."

  Kieriell turned on her. "Mother, you have to leave."

  "But the liege just said. . ."

  "Never mind that, you need to go somewhere else. The other citizens are fine in their homes, but you aren't. The Shiv can find you here. They know you carry the manifestation of the gridcode."

  She shook her head. "Where am I supposed to go? And why didn't you find your father?"

  "There's no time for me to explain." He looked into her eyes and issued a gentle sending so that the servants would not hear. (Have the transporter take you down to the beach and wait in the sun tunnel where you and father used to go. It's just for the time being.) Her eyes widened in surprise, for rarely had he spoken to her with telepathy. He couldn't think of another place for her to go. The Shiv could not know about the sun tunnel since Rai Jinn's mindsting had happened before Kieriell ever knew of the tunnel. There were other places she might go as well—friends' houses, or even to the liege himself—but going to any of these would involve other citizens and possibly endanger them. (I'll meet you at the sun tunnel,) he concluded, then he veered off toward the front hallway, his footsteps pounding out a determined march. "Hopefully," he called over his shoulder, "I'll have my father with me."

  "Be careful," she echoed after him.

  Not stopping his pace, he met the dusk-lit foyer at the front of the manse. The evening light fell on him in panes of orange-brown, and he commanded the door open before he bounded down the steps and into the front yard near the transport pad. Hurrying around the docked vehicle to the front gate, he let himself out with the voice-coded console.

  The streets stirred with warm wind from the south, while there was not one person in sight. The city had become a necropolis after the liege's warning. The white and sand colors of the buildings and the straight route of the street added an eerie sterility. Kieriell ran a few paces then stopped to look about, psionically sensing if anyone would see him were he to simply teleport to the school.

  Then a new noise from overhead pierced the dead evening, and he looked up while turning in the direction of the din. It was the drone of an aerial craft moving over the buildings. It cut the air in a smooth soar as it came into view, and Kieriell saw its blunt-winged and long silhouette against the sky, as well as the blue light of its rear and under thrusters: a Dyssian shuttle, used to disembark from a greater ship. Kieriell gaped, unconsciously turning in a half circle to view the full passage of the craft until it disappeared over the taller buildings.

  It's headed toward the school. He wondered if his father was on board, and he absently ran a few more paces to chase the thing, desperation clouding his thinking. Inwardly scolding himself, he tried to cast away the panic. He recalled the outer ward of the school where Jarren stayed in the student guide quarters. Unsure he needed to be seen yet, he thought that would provide a good cover area to which he could teleport. He would beat the shuttle there as well and get a firsthand look at the situation.

  Closing his eyes and envisioning the white-walled house and the yard around it near the greenhouse, he let himself go.

  Adam stood just behind the pilot's chair of the manually operated craft. A small troop of guards was seated along the wall in the cabin behind him, while he looked out the front sloping window and gave the pilot instructions.

  The fighters had already circled the city around the western outskirts and moved in to land in the pastures north of the school walls. Although they were using stealth tactics by moving slower and simulating the drone of the small transport units used all over Nall, Adam began to lose faith in that part of the plan.

  "All right," he said, stepping closer to the pilot, "there it is." The school had come into view, the walls of the outer ward lit at intervals with light columns that also illuminated the immense yard and gardens surrounding the structure. Set just outside the city itself, the school had always seemed to be in a world of its own. Palms growing in the yard wavered with the sea air. It all looked quiet, untouched, but something was wrong.

  Adam could not yet see over the outer wall, and he took note that the main gate was closed. "Take us in slow," he instructed while he still examined the gate. The outer wall actually had two gates overlapping. The one which he looked at now was the white-steel, solid barrier which was closed later at night for curfew. The second gate was only an iron-barred framework, which had an automatic door in the corner of its base where students had to undergo an identification check as they came or left. Adam wasn't sure that he remembered the gate schedules correctly, but if he did, then the solid barrier should not be closed yet. Night had only just fallen, and the barrier should still be opened for another three Valtaerian hours.

  Adam frowned, wondering what else about the school gate was holding his attention. There were a few shadows cast on the wall, he noticed, shapes that flared out, and he thought at first that these were the shadows of the palms. But the lighting along the wall was really so brilliant that it should flood away any shadows, and these "shadows" did not move as the palms did, rustled by wind.

  Adam knew then that they were blast scars. The kai's craft had opened fire on the school, enough to gain attention, and the security system had automatically closed the outer gate. "Magnify those marks," he told the pilot, who reached up to the console. The screen focused in on the assumed shadows as the pilot adjusted it via a small lever beneath the image. Adam bent over for
a closer look. The marks made black smears around center points, which had blown out fragments of wall, and there were even some chunks laying strewn along the grass at the base, which Adam had not noticed before. "Particle impact?" he asked.

  "Yes, my lord. They were probably meant to rouse everyone, scare them into behavior."

  "The Shiv don't know any Valtaerian languages, and Valtaerians certainly don't know Shiv," Adam assessed. "That leaves fear as the primary means of communication." Psionically, however, the Shiv would be able to make their intentions very clear once they came into full contact with the school's occupants. "Take us over the wall."

  The pilot complied, and the shuttle began to rise until the lights within the inner and outer wards came into view along with the higher north wall and its towers, and finally the lay of the quadrangle. The shade trees that grew in grove clusters near the quad walls obscured the aerial view for a moment before the situation below became evident.

  The Shiv craft, unable to dock with its connective beak as it would in space, had been installed with alternate landing gear, and it sat with the appearance of a ray or a strange, flat beetle with a greenish and black-smeared metallic hull. The wing-fins were spined along their outer edges like the shells of sea crabs. Part of the rift-tech cannon protruded from the front nose, and had two inverted, triangular, eye-like features set around it and running up along the front shell.

  Adam could see the translucent ripple of the shield surrounding the creature-ship, keeping a vacuum around it like that of outer space. Adam sensed the guards behind him growing uneasy as they watched the view from screens installed in the upper cabin walls. "Magnify the quadrangle."

  The pilot adjusted the screen again. The view revealed a number of figures standing in the central quad not far from the ship. At least thirteen were Shiv, all wearing metallic breath masks and suits of segmented armor that appeared to be as much for environmental safety as combat protection. Like their ship, they weren't ready to adapt to the natural world of Valtaer. Although they could breathe the air and drink the water, they still might lack some precious immunities to microscopic contaminates.