Nascent Decay (The Goddess of Decay Book 1)

by Hash, Charles

  “They are recovering from the blast,” Isaar responded. “Why?”

  “Because we need to begin training together,” she said. Isaar shrugged.

  “We just lost everything, Rhylie,” he said quietly. There was something different about his voice. “I…I do not know what to do next, or where to turn. Perhaps I should just give up and live the rest of my life in exile.” That’s why everyone is acting so weird, she thought. She hadn’t known Isaar long, but she’d never seen him like this.

  “We didn’t have much to begin with,” she said. Isaar sat down heavily, as though the burden of standing was becoming too great for him. He leaned forward and put his elbows on the table, burying his face in his hands.

  “I lost the one person I really loved, Rhylie,” he said in a thick voice. “I lost my homeworld, my parents. I can never show my face in public again. I have lost everything.” Rhylie reached out, putting her hand on Isaar’s forearm.

  “So have I,” she said softly. She didn’t know what else to say.

  “I should have left you in the Chamber,” Isaar said bitterly. Rhylie recoiled, pulling her hand back as though she’d been bitten. “I should have listened to you and everyone else. I should have just fulfilled the contract and killed you.”

  “Maybe you should have,” she said coldly, meticulously. “But you can’t put me back now. And killing me won’t bring back Drasce or anyone else.” Isaar’s shoulders began shaking. Rhylie frowned deeply and put her hands on the table. She could feel a tension headache coming on. “There will be time to mourn the dead once we’ve avenged them,” she said.

  Isaar shrugged once without looking up. It was the barest of movements. Everyone was staring at the two of them, wide-eyed. Reskle and Sora seemed to have snapped out of their shock and were looking at her like she was the one with a frog’s head, and not Mersi.

  “What would you have us do?” asked Reskle. “We don’t have anything left but this ship and the people on it. I lost my entire laboratory. We lost all of our friends and companions. They were good people, Rhylie.” Rhylie smiled in what she hoped was an encouraging fashion.

  “All the more reason not to let them have died in vain. We have all that we need, except for a nice quiet place for us to plan and train,” she said. “Somewhere for us to mourn our losses.” Isaar kept his head down and said nothing.

  “I know just the place!” exclaimed Mersi, bouncing in her seat. Rhylie sighed.

  Of course she does, she thought.

  29

  “Vorcia obviously knows that you are still alive,” Isaar said as they watched Vorle and Konii burn down makeshift targets from several feet away. He had become detached from the rest of them, remaining locked away in his small room on the ship whenever he could. He hadn’t been eating, and didn’t look like he had been sleeping. He didn’t smell like he had been bathing for that matter, either. Rhylie and everyone else were growing more concerned about him with every passing day.

  The small, uninhabited planet Mersi had guided them to was undeveloped and savage. Compared to what she had been through, it was peaceful and tranquil. It felt like a sanctuary to her.

  They had chosen some plains on the southern hemisphere to land upon and set up one of the temporary shelters that had been kept on the ship for emergency landings. It seemed to be springtime; there was a freshness to the air that Rhylie had never experienced anywhere else. The signs of renewed life across the plains had a melancholy effect as well; for some reason the budding wildflowers reminded her of the infant that had been taken from her in the Chamber.

  There wasn’t a trace of technology on the planet, Mersi had repeatedly assured them. Sora had tried to tell her that even primitive beasts would use rocks to smash open nuts, or sticks to scratch their backs. As long as they couldn’t send a feed to the Siirocians, Rhylie didn’t care what they did with their sticks and nuts.

  “How did she find out?” Rhylie asked quietly. Part of her didn’t want to know.

  “Someone had to have told her,” Isaar responded in a hushed voice. She could see the worry painted on his face. Suddenly she didn’t feel so safe anymore.

  “So you think we that have a spy?” she asked. Isaar nodded.

  “Or we did, rather,” he said hopefully, but Rhylie could hear the doubt creeping in. He looked exhausted and haggard, as though sorrow were dragging his facial expressions through mud.

  “We really did lose almost everything,” she said. “But these two are coming along just fine.” Rhylie had taught Konii and Vorle how to sheath themselves within a shell of atomorphic skin, but she preferred to feel the wind on her face. It felt good.

  “They will never be as powerful as you are,” Isaar said. “Not unless they went full-body morph like you.” Rhylie nodded her head slowly in response, watching them. They could actually do some things better than her, but for the most part the intensity of their abilities was well below hers.

  Vorle was a brutal fighter, all power and speed, with no mercy. Konii was light on her feet…or tentacles, whichever she chose to use. She was a finesse fighter, graceful and merciful as well in her fighting style. She dispatched her targets with clean, concise strikes, flowing around them like water while Vorle smashed through them with impunity.

  “They’re still pretty damn impressive,” she said. “No sign of Rahve yet, I take it?” Isaar shook his head. Rhylie did not like that at all. Even if he had died in the explosion, they should have found his remains.

  “No. We do not know if he shielded or not, but he was blown into deep space like them,” he said, motioning towards Vorle and Konii. “His signal vanished before we could find him. He could still be out in dead space, stranded, dead, we do not know.” A look of deep concern flashed across his face.

  “Or the Siirocians could have found him,” Rhylie said.

  “Yes,” said Isaar. “They could have.”

  “All the more reason to move fast,” she said. Isaar cast a glance in her direction.

  “I do not know,” he said. “I still think there was or is a traitor. I do not know how the Siirocians could have found us otherwise.” Rhylie gave him a sidelong look.

  “You think that someone with us is the spy?” she asked, her brow furrowed.

  “I do not know,” Isaar said. “I would like to think not. But Mersi seems awful interested in you. She is the one that told me about the bounty on you.” Rhylie frowned.

  “Is it a lot?” she asked. Isaar chuckled softly. Better than nothing, she thought.

  “It is triple the bounty I have on me,” he said. “I have to admit, I am a little jealous.” Rhylie rolled her eyes.

  “So you think it’s Mersi?” she asked.

  “So you think what is Mersi?” a voice piped up from behind them. Rhylie looked over her shoulder to find Mersi standing behind them.

  “How long have you been there?” she asked, her eyes narrowing.

  “I just got here!” Mersi said, smiling brightly. Rhylie frowned.

  “It’s not polite to eavesdrop,” said Rhylie. Mersi frowned.

  “I wasn’t eavesdropping,” she said petulantly. “I just saw you guys out here talking. I didn’t know you were talking about me.” She finished with a pout.

  “We were just wondering who was going to come up with our next great plan,” said Isaar, grinning. “Do you have any ideas?” Mersi furrowed her brow.

  “I don’t know…” she said. “I hadn’t really thought about it. I guess I could give it a try.” Rhylie shot a look over at Isaar. Was he crazy? The thought made her laugh a little. The blind leading the blind. Mersi frowned. “You don’t believe I can do it, do you?” Rhylie’s mouth dropped open in shock.

  “I didn’t mean-” she tried to say.

  “I can come up with a plan,” Mersi said in a hurt tone of voice. “I’ll show you.”

  “Mersi, I’m sorry,” Rhylie tried to explain. “I wasn’t smiling at that, it was…” Mersi turned around and left, leaving her holding her words. She sig
hed.

  “Mersi does not remember either of her parents,” Isaar said softly. “I rescued her from a brothel on Biggiri when she was still very young. She was born into slavery, and sold off to the highest bidder as soon as she developed appendages and lost her tail.” He frowned. “Noura is the closest thing to a mother she has had for the last hundred microcycles. And now that she is with Quasar…” Isaar paused as though struggling to speak about it. “Mersi has chosen to remain with me even though she is free to go. So, no, I do not think it is her, but I have been betrayed by friends before.”

  “I didn’t know,” Rhylie said sadly.

  “We all have our secrets,” Isaar said.

  “I should go find her and apologize,” she said.

  “Just let her stew for a little while,” Issar offered. “Try to be nicer to her if you can. I know she is a little clingy, but we are the only family she has ever had other than the whores at the brothel.”

  “I will,” said Rhylie sadly. “I’ll try to make it up to her somehow.”

  “I know you will, Rhylie. You are still a good person,” he said. “Somewhere underneath all that anger and depression and grit,” he finished up with a grin, something that was rare for him lately. She rolled her eyes.

  “I’m not the same person I was before. I don’t know what I am anymore,” she said. “I used to be a good person…but that girl is dead. I’ll never be the same again.” Isaar stopped smiling.

  “None of us will,” he said.

  30

  “So I’ve been keeping in contact with Noura and Quasar,” Mersi finally said after they had walked a few hundred yards away from the ship. Isaar stopped and frowned, his brow knitting.

  “I am surprised that they are even willing to continue open communications with us after everything that has occurred,” Isaar said.

  “Yeah, well, we still have Rhylie, Konii, and Vorle,” Mersi said. “That alone carries some serious weight with most of the resistance movements. The legitimate ones, anyway. Having Noura with them helps too.”

  “Go on…” Isaar said cautiously. He folded his arms across his chest. He had been getting thinner and thinner, and his face was beginning to grow gaunt. Rhylie hoped Mersi had something good up her sleeve. A strong victory would help a lot with recovering his morale. In many ways, she could see herself reflected in his withering depression.

  “I’ve also been keeping up with the migration and relocation of Rhylie’s people,” Mersi began.

  “How has that been working out?” Rhylie interjected.

  “Pretty well for the most part. They managed to get in contact with the General you told me about, which sped up the process greatly. Quasar is currently working with them in developing and training them with the equipment they have ready,” Mersi said. “They actually have access to plenty of resources, but no one to operate them. They just need more recruits to fill out their ranks.”

  “Okay. What does that have to do with us?” asked Isaar. He looked as though he just wanted to go lie down.

  “Well…they want us to initiate the liberation of some of the enslaved races. They claim that they can evacuate the majority of them and provide sanctuary and training for any slaves we could free. They even suggested a few targets,” Mersi said. “They just need to know the when’s and where’s of it so they can coordinate and be there to provide transport for them.” Isaar quirked his lips as he thought about it for a moment. His eyes looked tired and distant, weary.

  “That is a pretty good launching point, Mersi,” he mused, sounding hopeful for the first time in a long while. “We might actually be able to make a real difference doing this.” Mersi smiled brightly at the compliment.

  “I like it,” said Rhylie optimistically. “But is it really going to be that simple? Just fly in there, and poof, they’re free?”

  “It should be, at least the first few times we do it,” said Isaar. “They will not be expecting it. After that, I have to assume that they will prepare some sort of defensive reaction.”

  “But if we hit the right targets, we could swell the ranks of Quasar by tens of millions overnight,” said Mersi. “Maybe even more.”

  “That would make them the largest opposition group in the Galaxy by far,” said Isaar thoughtfully. “They would have more than enough people for training to fully utilize their resources, and then some.”

  “Bigger than the GULiMo even,” she said.

  “Who?” Rhylie asked.

  “The Grand Unification and Liberation Movement. But they’re not at all what they used to be,” Mersi said flatly. Rhylie wondered how many acronyms there were in the galaxy.

  “What do you mean?” asked Rhylie curiously.

  “Well…they started out as a charitable movement, feeding and sheltering the oppressed and impoverished races throughout the galaxy and that kind of stuff. Offering assistance to those in need of getting out of whatever shit-hole they were trapped in,” she said. “Now they just collect donations and lounge in the lap of luxury.” Mersi cast a glance at Isaar. He didn’t seem to notice.

  “But Quasar is militant. Every militant group gets wiped out eventually,” said Isaar. “Once they grow too large to hide.”

  “With humans joining them, they may pass that soon enough,” said Rhylie. “Hopefully there’s still a lot of us left.” Isaar nodded his head as he pursed his lips together.

  “Even so, not all humans are abandoning their homes and settlements,” Isaar said. “But the Siirocian attacks have stalled for now. We think Mars may be next to be destroyed, once the mininova cannon on the World Destroyer in your home system has finished recharging, but some people just don’t seem to care, they won’t abandon their homes. However, I believe Vorcia is more intent on locating you than finishing what she has begun there for the time being.”

  “Sooner or later she will come back for them, especially if we continue to lay low,” Rhylie said. “If we don’t keep her distracted, she’ll return her focus to them.”

  “While Quasar provides the training, we should have enough time to capture some more resources. We will need a lot of weapons, ships…medical supplies. Food,” Isaar said. She could almost see the wheels driving in his head. She knew what it was like to need something, anything to keep going. “The logistics are already beginning to drive me crazy.”

  “We don’t need to worry about that now. Let someone else handle the preparations for that,” said Rhylie. “We need to focus on what we can do. How are we supposed to free these slaves, Mersi?”

  “Well, there really isn’t much to it other than speed and brute force,” said Mersi. “The enslaved worlds aren’t very heavily defended. In fact, there are just enough armed guards watching over the slaves to prevent a revolt. They try to keep the numbers well-balanced to keep costs low. But if we were to dramatically tip those odds in the favor of the slaves…then we could cause all them kinds of trouble,” she finished with a half-cocked grin and her eyes blinked out of unison. Rhylie didn’t think she would ever get used to that.

  “Or we could just take out as many of the guards as we can in one shot and sweep them onto the ships,” said Rhylie.

  “Well, some planets are so densely packed with slaves that a series of well-timed strikes in the most populated areas would be enough to shift the balance,” said Isaar. “It is not the first time I’ve thought about it.”

  “So several well timed strikes on a single planet could possibly be enough to liberate it?” Rhylie asked as she quirked an eyebrow.

  “Quite possibly, yes,” Isaar responded. “If we use the planet’s rotation to our advantage, and timed our strikes concisely, we could hit each area under the cover of darkness.”

  “Sure. Sounds easy enough,” she said dryly. It sounded too easy, actually, which made her uneasy.

  “The first planet should be no trouble at all, really. After that, they will begin making defensive preparations,” Isaar said. “Who knows what they may do then. We will have to be ready for anything.” Rhy
lie looked down at Mersi.

  “Good job, Mersi,” she said. Mersi beamed proudly back at her.

  “I will go get Vorle and Konii and fill them in on what is going on. They should be ready to go,” said Isaar. “Remember, not a word of this to Reskle or Sora.” They both nodded their heads at him in agreement. “And Mersi…ask them to keep this from Noura. I do not want her participating.” The anguish had returned to his eyes. “I do not even want her to know where we are, or where this planet is. I want her kept out of this.” Mersi nodded, her eyes wide.

  “We’ll be waiting right here,” said Rhylie. She sat in awkward silence with Mersi for a few moments. “I like it here,” she said finally. Mersi shrugged in response.

  “It’s so remote so that I have a hard time tracking feeds here,” she replied. “I can get all the major ones…but none of us should be operating on those,” she replied. “They’d be able to find us in a heartbeat if we did.”

  “Who’d find us in a heartbeat?” asked Rhylie.

  “Anyone that was looking,” said Mersi. “The Siirocians would be the first I’d imagine.” She frowned. “Do you not like me or something?”

  “I-” Rhylie frowned. “I like you just fine, Mersi.” She let out an exasperated sigh and put her hand on the girl’s head. “I’m just in way over my head here. I’m trying to keep Isaar focused on something. I can tell all of this is weighing heavily on his shoulders. Drasce’s death has…completely changed him.” Rhylie hadn’t given herself time to grieve yet, and she had to repress a wave of emotion as it surged within her.

  “We’ve all changed,” Mersi confessed. “If this doesn’t work I don’t know what we’ll do. I don’t know what he’ll do. I’m really worried about him.”

  “It’ll work,” Rhylie said. “I’ll have Vorle and Konii with me this time. As long as you can help keep us coordinated and on track.”

  “That’s the easy part,” she said with a grin. “I’m pretty good at talking.” Rhylie chuckled softly. She did like her, but sometimes she needed a moment to think, a luxury Mersi seldom provided.