by M. R. Forbes
His Disciple had done well. Not only had he survived, but he had brought Lilith with him.
Lucifer was pleased. Very pleased. He would be sure to bestow all of the honor and glory such a victory deserved once the One was defeated. Once he and his love had finally become the Gods they were supposed to be.
Perfect, indeed.
51
“Are you all right, Queenie?” Gant asked.
“I guess we’ll find out,” Abbey replied.
It had been hard to watch the freshly repaired Quasar go, carrying Hayley away from her again after they had only had a few hours to spend together before they went their separate ways. She wasn’t worried that her daughter was in good hands. Quark was a superior soldier, and Nibia seemed to be the perfect foil for him, compassionate and kind. They were both excellent with Hayley, putting her at ease despite her situation, which put Abbey at ease as well. She felt confident that the Riders would make it to Koosa, and Nibia had given her a lot of hope that she and her people would be able to help heal her daughter’s wounds.
Even so, she didn’t want to be separated from her again. She didn’t want her child out of her sight, and especially not halfway across the galaxy. She also didn’t have a choice. She had given herself thirty minutes to cry, letting the Rejects see her weakness and leaning on them for support. Then she had pulled herself together and gotten back to business, getting everyone organized for what could be their last hope of cutting off what Lucifer labeled Armageddon.
She had shuddered when Thraven’s ship, the Promise, had come out of FTL, and she had finally gotten her first look at the Elysium Gate. It was larger than she had imagined, but then it had to be large enough to allow the Covenant to pass through. It seemed to stretch on forever, curving slowly, a massive ring that could easily vanish if she only looked at the center. Most of it was narrow and purely functional, but there was a bulge at one end where the reactors and humans that powered it were located. As they had cleared the disterium plume, she had seen a ship crossing to the hangar there, a transport likely laden with slaves to place into the macabre machinery. They had ten ships just like it ready to launch, each carrying three hundred souls. It was more than Lucifer had asked for, but she figured it was better to over deliver.
She had shuddered again when she felt Lucifer’s Gift approach, slipping along her body, identifying her and the extent of her change. She had bathed in Thraven’s Font, absorbing as many of the naniates within as she could. The activity had completed her transformation, leaving her a replica of the creature Phlenel had presented to her all those weeks ago, turning her into the outward embodiment of Lucifer’s fallen love.
The change was supposed to be inward as well. Completing the metamorphosis had unlocked Lilith’s stored consciousness. Her memories. Her desires. Her interests. It had been difficult to be able to pull forth someone else’s experiences at first, and especially difficult to relive intimate moments she had spent with their enemy long before he had become their enemy. Lilith had known Lucifer when he had been little more than an enthusiastic engineer, one of the many Seraphim who believed in their mission and the Shard with nearly religious fervor. She had backed him when he turned against the Shard, and she had been there when he stabbed his master, trying to help him and the Nephilim make their way from the ship.
She had learned about Judas from those memories. About his original loyalty to the Shard and her eventual demise. Somehow, Lucifer had managed to maintain that experience as well. It was Judas who had brought about her death. It was Judas who had then switched allegiances, volunteering to poison the Covenant and the Keeper when the time came, a traitor so much like the Christian Disciple he had been named after. Or who had been named after him.
She had also found a lot to relate to in Lilith. They were both strong women, with minds of their own. They were both firm in their beliefs and their desire to protect. They diverged in what that meant, but she couldn’t completely blame Lilith for that. Lucifer had lied to her about the Covenant, too. He had convinced her the Shard was using them and treating them as slaves, just as he had convinced the others, and she had died not knowing the truth.
Had he ever felt remorse for those lies?
Abbey doubted it.
The lies made the memories more tragic than painful. She was supposed to be a slave to them. She was supposed to be drowning in Lilith’s consciousness, instead of sitting on the surface and drawing from it, but her mastery over the naniates had prevented the encoding from holding sway. It was an important final piece, one that would allow her to mimic Lilith’s mannerisms and play her convincingly for as long as required.
She hoped it wouldn’t be too long, but she had to give Gant and the others time. Time to reach the Covenant’s Core and regain control of Keeper and the Focus. Time to seize the Gate and bring it offline for good.
“You’d better hide,” Abbey said, glancing back at her friend.
Gant nodded, backing away from the transport’s cockpit. She had fashioned a hidden space beneath the floor of the craft where Gant, Trinity, Phlenel, and Jequn were packed tightly together, staying out of sight until she and Thraven were clear of the Covenant’s hangar. Then they would emerge and make their way toward the Core, hopefully without incident.
Gant vanished into the small space, pulling the floor grating over him. Abbey reached down to it, using the Gift to seal them in. Trinity would cut through the floor to let them out later.
“Are you going to play along?” Abbey asked, looking at Thraven. “Or do I have to force you to behave?”
“We have no option but to follow,” Thraven said. “We serve the Queen of Demons.”
“Good answer,” Abbey said.
For the moment, anyway. She didn’t trust that the sentient machines would remain subservient forever. They would challenge her again, and she had to be ready to rebuke them as many times as it took.
Thraven guided the ship toward the Covenant’s open hangar. Abbey had been taken by surprise a third time when she had seen what Lucifer had made Keeper do to the ship. She had added weapons to it earlier, and now it was bristling with armament, covered in enough firepower to make short work of an entire fleet.
“Killshot, are your teams ready?” Abbey asked, risking the short-range comm.
“Aye, Queenie,” Olus said. “We’re all in position.”
“I thought I was done being bait after the slave market?” Bastion said.
“You aren’t bait,” Gant said. “You’re going to Lucifer, not trying to draw Lucifer out.”
“Oh. Yeah. That makes me feel much better.”
“You volunteered, didn’t you?” Abbey asked.
“Under duress.”
“How so?”
“I thought it would get me another kiss.”
“That’s what you get for assuming. If you survive, I’ll kiss you again.”
“You will?”
“Yes. But you have to survive.”
“Roger.”
Lucifer hadn’t asked Thraven to deliver the prisoners to the Gate just yet. He hadn’t even contacted the Gloritant directly. Keeper had done the honors, hailing the Promise and ordering both of them to transfer to the Covenant. It might have been cute if Lucifer were anyone other than himself. He didn’t even want to hear her voice before he could be in her presence. As it was, she was pleased by his distraction. The longer she could prevent him from suspecting their betrayal, the better it would be for everybody.
The transport entered the wide mouth of the hangar, gravity control systems taking over once they did. The ship was caught above the deck and guided downward, coming to a gentle rest on the floor only a few meters away from where Keeper was waiting. The intelligence was motionless while the hatch opened and both Thraven and Abbey departed from the craft.
“Keeper,” Abbey said.
She found it in Lilith’s memories. It had been a constant presence on the Shardship, always at the Shard’s beck and call, often running through
the long corridors to deliver things from one place to another. The Seraphim had respected it as a product of the One, but they also didn’t understand why it was there. Few of them had ever seen the Core, and they didn’t understand the connection between the silver humanoid and the pulsing bundle of nerves that ran the major systems of the Covenant. It wasn’t due to ignorance. It was a simple matter of access. One thing she couldn’t argue with Lucifer about was that the Shard was maybe a little too secretive. Because he was trying to hide the fact that his power was borrowed, and he only had the most tentative control over it?
Whatever. He had created them and then left them to clean up his mess. Maybe there was a deeper meaning to it. Maybe there was a greater purpose. At the moment, she didn’t care.
She just wanted to get all of this bullshit over with.
“He has missed you, Lilith,” Keeper said. “He told me as much.”
“I’ve missed him as well,” Abbey said. “I’m grateful for this new body. I’m grateful to be restored.”
“Follow me.”
52
Keeper brought them through the larger corridor Abbey had opened for Dog, from the hangar down into the depths of the Covenant. At first, she was worried that Lucifer had taken residence with the Core, which would have made things a lot more complicated for Gant and the others. Instead, she discovered that her larger corridor had been expanded, reaching away from the Focus, remaining closer to the outer hull.
The room Keeper delivered her to was as large as a Republic cruiser, an open space that had clearly been prepared for her arrival. Candles illuminated the length of it, while cushions and pillows of all shapes and sizes were placed randomly in case she happened to want to sit there. An entire spread of food was also available. Human food. Meats and cheeses and bread that they must have taken from somewhere. How many planets had Lucifer attacked since he had arrived here? With communications down, there was no way to know.
Lucifer was near the back of the room, close to a large viewport that allowed him to keep an eye both on the Gate and the area around it. He was sitting on a large throne, hands clasped together, the flames of his power momentarily extinguished.
“Father,” Keeper said, leading them toward him. “I bring you your wife.”
Lucifer turned his head slowly, as though he wanted to savor the moment. When his eyes reached Abbey, she felt a sudden urge to both turn and run away, and sprint directly to him. She could feel the fire in her belly, the attraction of the naniates to one another and the attraction of Lilith to her husband. She opened her mouth, gasping at the sudden grip of it, and nearly losing it all in the process.
“My Father,” Thraven said, falling to his knees.
He opened his mouth to speak, words that Abbey hadn’t asked for. She steeled herself against her emotions, reigning the naniates back in.
No words escaped from him.
“My Disciple,” Lucifer said, rising from the throne. It seemed to Abbey as though he had grown larger since the last time. He took four steps to reach Thraven, looking down at him. “You have exceeded my expectations in every way. You bring glory to the Nephilim, and to my name.”
“I have done only as you asked in the Covenant, Father,” Thraven said in reply, every word passing through Abbey’s filter before they were spoken. “I am pleased to be your humble servant.”
“Your loyalty will be well rewarded when the One is destroyed,” Lucifer said. “I will give you this entire universe to do with as you will.”
“You are generous, Father.”
“Go now, and prepare the Gate. Have your transports meet you there. The other children will be returning soon from their conquests.”
“Conquests, Father?” Thraven asked.
“I was unsure if my bride would kill you. I can deny her nothing.”
He looked up at Abbey. Thraven looked back at her as well.
“Your Disciple brings great honor to you. Why would I desire his end? Do as your Father bids you, Gloritant Thraven.”
“Yes, Mother,” Thraven said.
He got back to his feet, bowing to Lucifer and then to Abbey. She could sense the naniates that composed him straining to free themselves from her hold as he left. She pushed back, keeping them quelled.
“My Lilith,” Lucifer said, towering over her. “It has been so long. I have missed you more than words can describe.”
“I am grateful to you for restoring me,” Abbey said. “Your intellect knows no bounds.”
“It was trivial, my love. The configuration technology already existed. It was simply a matter of writing your data to the naniates.”
“Trivial for you, perhaps,” Abbey said. “I don’t believe any other in this universe could have done it.”
“Your words are music to me, Lilith. I wish that this form had not been necessary to contain the volume of naniates I have needed to see our dreams fulfilled. I wish that I could lie with you, as we once did.”
Abbey wanted to throw up in her mouth.
“So do I,” she said, fighting the reaction. At that moment she was thankful for her Breaker training. “But we will be together soon, won’t we?”
“We will. Come and see what I have orchestrated, my love.”
Lucifer waved her to the viewport, pointing to the hundreds of ships floating close to the Gate. “We will lead our fleet through the Gate, with the Covenant in the vanguard position. Our arrival will take the One by surprise, and while he is busy defending himself from their attack, we will make our way to his stronghold. We will bring the full brunt of our combined power to bear, and at that moment we will overwhelm the false God, merging with the naniates and penetrating deep into his Core. Our bodies will burn with the fury of our retribution, but our souls will live on, integrating with the One and taking his place. This I know will come to pass. This I have seen.”
Abbey glanced at him from the corner of her eye. She had told the others she didn’t think Lucifer was a naniate composite, but suddenly she wasn’t sure. His plan sounded very convenient for the atomic machines, as they would be the means to gain control of the One.
“You don’t agree with the plan?” Lucifer said, noticing her sudden trepidation. “Now, when I have all the pieces in place? It has taken millennia to reach this moment.”
His skin smoldered, his anger obvious.
“No,” Abbey said. “It isn’t that. What if our power isn’t great enough?”
“It will be. We will use the Focus against the One. We will turn his weapon against him.”
“And when we have seized control of the One’s power, then we will free the Seraphim from their servitude?” Abbey asked.
“That is what we’ve always wanted,” Lucifer said.
Abbey wanted to punch him in his ugly face. He had just lied right to hers.
“When do we start?” she asked.
“As soon as our Disciple has finished integrating the slaves,” Lucifer said. “It won’t be long.”
It wouldn’t be long enough. She looked back at Keeper, who was stationed near the doorway. She could only hope Gant and the others were on the move.
“In the meantime, eat if you are hungry. Drink if you are thirsty. Sleep if you are tired. I will watch over you, my Lilith.”
Abbey faked a smile.
And I’ll be watching over you.
53
“Are we clear?” Jequn asked. “I can’t feel my legs anymore.”
“That’s because you wound up with Void on top of you,” Gant said.
“I’m sorry,” Trinity said. “There isn’t much room to maneuver.”
“Pudding,” Gant said. “Make a quick sortie and see if we’re good.”
Phlenel couldn’t reply audibly without her bot, so she tapped him on the shoulder instead to indicate she was going. Her form shifted, softening to a viscous goo that poured away from them through the floor.
“I can hear Imp in my head,” Jequn said. She did her best Bastion impression at a whisper. “Ewww, g
ross.”
“It’s not so bad, once you get used to it,” Gant said, remembering his time inside of her when she had saved him from the ravages of exposure to space.
Her gelatinous form had been warm and comforting like a womb, and her distributed nervous system had sent small shocks through him that had elicited an embarrassingly sexual response. They hadn’t spoken about it since and he had refused to tell any of the Rejects what it was like, but he secretly wouldn’t have minded doing it again.
“Gant?” Jequn said.
He caught himself purring softly. He stopped at once, glad they couldn’t see him blush beneath his fur. “What?”
Phlenel moved back into the space, a small tendril waving them out and saving him from having to explain his distraction.
They removed the floor grate carefully, climbing out and quickly moving to the exit. Phlenel had taken a more solid form, a translucent version of Abbey that she seemed to favor. She pointed out of the transport to the nearest corridor.
The Covenant was surprisingly under-manned considering its value to Lucifer’s cause, but it did have a small contingent of Nephilim on board. Two of them were stationed at the entrance to the corridor, their backs to them, watching from the other side. Gant doubted they were expecting any trouble. Who the hell was going to board the Covenant to attack while Lucifer was on it? The idea was crazy.
So crazy it was awesome, as Pik would say. “I’ve got them,” Gant whispered. “Hold tight.”
He slipped to the floor and then dashed across it, using his hands for extra speed. He leaped from twenty meters back, producing a pair of knives from his lightsuit. One of the guards noticed him at the last second, turning to see the blur in the corner of his eye. His neck was cut before he could react, and Gant used his head to brace himself and bounce toward the second guard. He kicked that one hard in an uncovered face, breaking his nose and sending him back against the wall. He stabbed him in the side of the head before he could recover, and rode his body to the floor.