They gained ground, pushing the Porro Thule back to the doorway.
Their rises converged. Malik, Rikt, and Hosk peaked and turned their combined power to the animated skeleton. As one they ripped Porro Thule's spirit from his long-dead bones and tore it apart. The Liothern screamed as it faded. The skeleton crumbled and the room darkened again.
Malik's rise ebbed from the effort and he exhaled. "Everyone breathing?"
"One of my lungs collapsed," Hosk said, smiling. "The exo-frame's working on it, though."
Rikt walked up, dragging his right leg in a limp as small automated systems stitched and graphed new skin over his wounds. "Fine now," he said. "What was all that about?"
"Yeah," Hosk said. "Why would he resist handing Necris over to fellow Liothern? It makes no sense."
"There's only one way to find out," Malik said, pointing to the open doorway.
The Liothern stepped into the small room and each one gasped.
There, on the center table of this long room, laid a pale being roughly two meters tall and a half a meter wide. Its gray skin was slick with a thin coat of dried sweat and grit. On either side of the stone slab, a series of monitors and fluid processors stood silent watch. Its eyes were closed. The grime that had settled on its skin made it nearly unrecognizable. Nearly.
"It's a Necri," Malik said. He walked up to the prone figure and watched as its chest rose and fell in slow movements. "It's breathing."
"The damn thing is alive?" Hosk said.
"How is this possible?" Rikt asked. He scrambled up the side of the stone table and punched keys on the panel display. It chirped back at him and he read the screen. "It's in a crude stasis."
Malik stood over the Necri for a breath, just looking at the body. The crests at its temples were not in any way pronounced. It had a thickness to it at the forearms and hips. He lifted one of its eyelids with his thumb and saw the telltale purple hue. "She," Malik said. "It's a female."
Realization gripped the three of them and they grew quiet.
"Is she..." Hosk started, but was cut off by the tones and alarms of the machinery. "Is this a processing unit?"
Rikt tapped more keys on the control console. Hundreds of words scrolled across the display. He read them, then looked back at Malik and shook his head.
"If it is, it's ancient," Malik said. "These power cells were not made to keep up this level of constant use. They should have shorted out long ago."
"Porro Thule must have been supplementing the systems with his lifeforce," Hosk said.
"How?" Malik asked. "Even the strongest of us only last a few years in post-life before they fade."
Just then, as though in response to Malik's question, a muffled tap echoed from underneath the table. It was accompanied by a pulse that shot through them as it did outside by the wreckage of Celwik's ship. The shudder passed over them and each Liothern knew what must have caused the noise.
Right below their knees was a simple stone trough rigged with a narrow slide that extended down from underneath the center of the table. The Liothern crouched and stared in awe at the mound of purple chips. Some were pale and faded. Others were so vibrant that they glowed in throbs that sang to them a call that promised peace and serenity.
"Necris," Malik said. "Porro Thule must have drawn strength from it even in post-life. That's how he kept her alive."
"And now we've killed him," Hosk said.
The three of them stood over the long, gray body as the red light flashed on the display over and over again.
"She'll die if she stays," Rikt said.
"I know," Malik said, without taking his eyes off of the Necri. He sighed and looked up at them. "We take her with us."
Rikt jumped down off of the table and reached for one of the blue-violet chips.
Malik grabbed his wrist and jerked it away from the trough. "What are you doing?"
"We need Necris to keep her alive," Rikt said.
"Raw?" Malik asked. "That'd kill you."
"It was good enough for Porro Thule," Hosk said.
"Who was already dead," Malik said. "For all we know, that's what killed him."
"Still," Rikt said. "We need power to do what you're asking."
Malik stared at the pile of vibrant, raw Necris for long seconds, then watched the Necri female draw long slow breaths. "Fine," he said, pulling out his container. "Whole tabs. One each."
"I'm out of whole tabs," Hosk said.
Malik drew a second tab out of his container and offered it to her. She reached for it and he pulled his hand back. "Don't chew this one."
Her face soured.
"We're doing a lot of work here together and we need it to last in sync. If you burn out too quickly, we won't make it back to the ship."
He looked in her eyes to make sure she understood. Hosk nodded. He handed it to her and she swallowed the pale lavender tab.
He did the same and they stood for a full minute in their reverie before redirecting their thoughts into the body before them.
The orange and red lights switched to green and the alarms settled into a sustained, patterned beeping.
"Good," Malik said. "She's stable." He drew his thoughts partially out of the Necri. "You two, keep her alive. Lift her, the stone slab, and the trough beneath her. It's all coming with us."
"And what are you doing?" Hosk asked.
"Someone needs to clear all that debris by the front entrance."
Malik called upon his training to scatter the collapsed rocks into dust and reshape the walls into a passable exit for them and their cargo. He led them out of the tomb and through the mountain passage. Once outside, he collapsed the mountain in on itself, forever concealing any sign of its existence.
Satisfied with his work, he switched on the comm link to the ship. "Carthen to Swift Destiny."
"Daton here, Captain," the voice came back. "Where did you three disappear to?"
"We went underground for a while," Malik said. "Prep the med bay and make room in the hold."
"I'm reading clean vitals on all three of you in spite of the injuries," Daton said. "I'm guessing you found something?"
"Yeah," Malik said. "It's something alright."
Chapter Nine
9
"She's crashing again," Joer said. He and Wren tapped the control keys to the medical bay's computer. Two MedBots hurriedly carried out their commands and began screening her blood for the third time.
It had been twenty minutes since the away team brought the Necri female on board the Swift Destiny. In that time, they ran seven tests and pumped her full of so many drugs that she should be leaping off of the table. Instead, Malik watched her just lie there, cold and still. He spoke to Rikt and Hosk without once taking his eyes off of the Necri. "You two are going to have to hold her together, understand?"
Rikt managed to wince a response. "I'm ebbing."
"Me too," Hosk said. "We can't keep this up. This isn't going to work."
Joer tapped a few more controls on the med console. "It has to."
"What do you expect me to do?" Hosk asked. "Keep hitting whole tabs until my liver gives out?"
"Yes," Joer said, then looked at her for a long moment. "If that's what it takes."
Malik felt Hosk's concentration break for an instant and threw more of his thoughts into the Necri to compensate. The strain hit him from the sides of his head inward, like a vice of unseeable force. He motioned to Rikt and the Abyssiet pulled away to recover his strength. "You're still with me, Hosk."
The Drogerd bared her teeth and nodded. He felt her thoughts join his and the pain in his temples eased a bit, but not by much.
The data stream scrolled over Wren's display and she shook her head. "I don't get it. She reads as being fine."
"This is not fine," Hosk said. "There is a lot riding on her surviving our trip back to the Collective."
"The Collective?" Joer asked. "It would make more sense to bring her to an Alliance outpost. It's closer, only two hundred light ye
ars."
"We don't have the time to debate galactic politics now," Malik snapped.
"If not now," Rikt chirruped, "when?"
Malik drew a breath to answer, but said nothing. Joer was right. So were Hosk and Rikt. Sooner or later, this crew was going to have to make a decision. Is the last Necri safer with the Liothern Collective of the former Amun Empire or the new Alliance?
Then, seemingly from nowhere, Zeeb's voice came from the doorway of the medical bay. "Why not take her to the processing station in the asteroid field?"
As one, Wren, Joer, Rikt, Hosk, and Malik looked at one another. A silence hung in the air and, in that moment, Malik knew that the thought had occurred to everyone in the room before Zeeb said anything. It's just that no one wanted to be the first to suggest it. They all knew where it led.
"I mean," Zeeb continued, seeming a little uncertain in the face of the sudden quiet, "that the equipment is specifically designed to keep Necri in a prolonged stasis. We can all talk this out after she's hooked up."
Wren looked at her controls. "He's right. I can stabilize her there."
All eyes fell on Malik, just as he knew they would. As the highest ranking Liothern on board, this was his decision to make. He switched on the comm link to the cockpit. "Daton, come in."
"Daton here."
Malik looked over his crew, then down at the body. "Plot a course back to the station. Best speed."
The Swift Destiny carved a smooth path through the asteroid field and into the station in twenty-seven minutes. The gunship lowered into the docking bay and the engines hissed to a stop. Seconds later, a ramp descended from the belly of the ship.
Joer, Wren, Daton, and Zeeb had their boots on the floor before the ramp even touched down. Their job was simple. Sweep the place clean.
Malik was readying the Necri for transport when he heard the first shots. He lifted his head, but no more followed. Celwik must have not left much of a crew behind. The blaster fire may have even been from turrets or old ComBots that he used as guards while he was away. He'd have to ask Joer later, after the necessary work was over.
He, Hosk, and Rikt moved carefully down the ramp with the Necri strapped across the back of one MedBot that had transformed itself into an emergency gurney. They guided her down one hallway, then another, until they came to the processor's stasis chamber.
"How're we doing, Wren?" Malik asked through the exo-frame's comm link.
"I'm in the command center. Give me one more minute," she answered. She was quiet for a breath. "There. I reprogrammed the security protocols. It should be coming through to all of your exo-frames now."
Malik accessed the new codes and opened the chamber door. The room hummed to life. Pale lights flickered on over a thin long stasis pod and a few control panels.
Hosk and Malik lifted the Necri into the pod and began attaching several tubes and wires to her. The MedBot reformed, then assisted in completing the hookup.
Rikt climbed over to one panel and booted up the system. With a few taps, he initiated the stasis program.
Malik thumbed the switch that closed the transparent dome over the pod and watched as it slid into place. Wisps of steam rose inside the pod and condensed against the dome. A tone signaled and the droplets froze instantly.
Rikt turned his attention back to the display panel. Numbers scrolled over the screen and he read the levels intently. He then sighed and smiled.
"Status?" Malik asked.
"Lucky. We can keep her like this indefinitely." He stopped himself and a look of surprise ran across his face. The Abyssiet then added, "If needed."
"Understood," Malik said. It was then that he noticed Joer at the chamber door. The Replicant was at attention, waiting to be acknowledged. Malik looked him over. "Report."
"We found the seven missing tons of Necris in the cargo bay alongside twelve more," Joer said. "Celwik must have been stockpiling."
"The Shogol would have paid a lot for that," Hosk said. "Does Wren think that anyone in the Network knows of this installation."
"She doubts it, but she's combing through the records now," Joer said.
"She's not going to find anything," Malik said. "Once the Necri disappeared, these stations became forgotten relics. Why else would Celwik have been able to hide here without anyone knowing? No one outside of old Liothern knows of this place and no one will come looking for it."
"So how soon do we tell the Alliance about her?" Joer asked flatly. His face was an expressionless mask.
Despite this, the question caught Malik off guard. It shouldn't have. It had to be asked out loud. He just didn't expect to have to answer it so soon. "We don't."
"And the Collective?" Hosk asked.
"They will have their ten tons of Necris, just as our mission detailed," Malik said to her. "That'll be enough to overtake the Shogol Network in most sectors."
"Are you sure about this?" Hosk asked.
"Yes," Malik said. "Our first duty as Liothern is to serve the Necri and the Amun Empire. As long as one Necri survives, the Empire does as well."
Hosk squirmed at his words.
"Those are my orders, Hosk. Understood?"
"Yes, Captain," Hosk said through clenched teeth. She then turned and walked out of the stasis chamber.
Joer made a move to go after her, but Malik held up his hand and stopped him. "Let her go. I need you to help me and Rikt. Now that she's in stasis, we're going to hook her up to the processor unit. We have a lot of raw Necris to refine and more is coming."
#
Malik walked the halls of the station alone that night until he found Hosk. She was outside the processing unit's stasis chamber hall. She didn't turn or acknowledge him in any way, even though he knew she felt his presence. He stepped up beside her and, together, they stared at the long gray body inside the pod.
"I've already talked to the others," Malik said finally. "They're all in agreement."
"As you knew they would be," Hosk sighed. "So this is what Porro Thule meant about us being the architects of a Great Deception."
"Hosk, we live in a fractured galaxy. Do you really think that the Alliance would welcome a being that would unseat them by simply waking up?" Malik asked. "They'd let her die or, worse, actively try to kill her. The Collective wouldn't be much better. They'd use her as a totem to invalidate all governing bodies and right now we cannot afford to lose the Alliance as an ally. Maybe when the Shogol are gone..."
"Meanwhile we can lift a quick fix whenever it suits us, right?" Hosk quipped. "You have this all figured out."
"I'm working on it," he said. "Hosk, she's safe here."
"She's captive here."
"She's alive," he countered.
"And how long do you think we can keep this up?"
Malik looked at her. "As long as we can manage."
They stood quietly for long moments as the processor hummed in the next room. Then, as Hosk drew breath to argue, she was interrupted by the dull ring of a single chip of raw Necris that fell into a fresh and empty trough.
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About the Author
Author Jeremiah Kleckner has taught English/Language Arts in Perth Amboy since 2005. During that time, he earned the Samuel E. Shull Middle School's 2014/2015 Teacher of the Year award and published several books. His highly-successful dark fantasy prequel, CAPTAIN JAMES HOOK AND THE CURSE OF PETER PAN, was co-written in 2012 with his longtime friend Jeremy Marshall and is available in digital, print, and audio formats. That book's sequel, CAPTAIN JAMES HOOK AND THE SIEGE OF NEVERLAND, was published two years later in 2014. The third book in the trilogy is slated for release in 2018. Jeremiah's ongoing TOME OF TESTAMENTS series, starting with ADVERSARY, BEAST,
and CREATURE, is a Lovecraftian dark urban cult fantasy set in modern-day Jersey City and Hoboken. FORCE, a superhero fantasy, and WATCHING FROM BEHIND GLASS EYES, a collection of short horror stories featuring a possessed doll, are available for free online if you want to give his writing a test drive. SUPERHEROES KILL and REDSHIFT are tributes to the icons who taught him drama, story structure, and the joys of reading. Jeremiah lives in Jersey City with his wife, daughter, and an increasing number of dogs and cats.
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Deception Page 4