Whatever was going on in the ruins had everything to do with this, she concluded. It also put the desperation of the women who were holding her ship hostage into stark perspective, as well as the willingness of the Seevaans and the Hriss to risk an interstellar war.
Power like that—power that could invisibly overcome two enemy battle squadrons as if they were nothing, and smash planets into dust, was worth committing treason for. Worth a war. If everyone involved were completely mad, of course.
Forcing herself to focus on the most immediate problem, she addressed Silvi and her SRU team members. She had to try and bring the situation back under control. “Colonel?”
Silvi was still overwhelmed by what they had just seen and it took her a moment to respond. When she did, she seemed even more desperate than ever.
“Commander,” she snarled, pointing her weapon straight at her. “Don’t move! Stay exactly where you are, or I will shoot you.”
“What are you going to do?” Katrinn asked with a tranquility that surprised even her.
“I’m going to keep this ship right where it is,” Silvi responded,” until my sister returns. Then everything will be different. Everything.”
There was a glint of insanity in her eyes, and Katrinn didn’t challenge her.
She only hoped that one of her officers would understand the clue that she’d given them and take action. They had to recapture the Athena, destroy those ruins, and warn Rixa before it was too late.
She also had no question about the Seevans and the threat that they represented. They would come looking for their missing ships and another chance to seize control. And it was a fair bet that they would be joined by warships from cultures that were even more advanced than them, and just as desperate. Something this powerful could not be allowed to remain uncontrolled, and no one would want it brought to bear against them by their enemies. The Sisterhood would be caught in the middle, right along with the Xee, and squashed flat.
Unless someone did something to prevent it…
…Hands were grasping Maya, helping her up to the surface. Still under the spell of her experience, she couldn’t offer her rescuers any assistance and allowed herself to be lifted up and carried out. Her eyelids felt like they weighed a ton, and she could barely open them.
She was tired. So very tired.
Then Jan was cradling her head on her lap, and Celina was brushing away the hair from her face.
“W-what happened?” she managed to croak.
“We don’t know,” Jan told her. “You just disappeared, and the Tree started glowing. Everything stopped when you came back.”
Maya raised herself up onto her elbows. They were still in the shallow end of the pool, but by now the silver liquid was beginning to drain away. It was doing so by defying every known law of physics and flowing back up the ramp.
Then she remembered the last thing that the Galaxy Mind had told her.
“There’s another Tree,” she gasped, “The Redeemer---the Enemy is going there to use it.” Remembering Angelique and the threat she still posed, she added hurriedly, “We have to get out of here now! Before the Conversâzi finds us.”
Jan attempted to restrain her, but she stood. This proved to be a serious mistake. A wave of vertigo forced her right back down to the floor.
“Take a moment, Maya,” Sarah urged. “We’ll move when you’re ready, but not before.” As she said this, the others were fanning out towards the tunnel entrances.
Jeena, who had taken up a position at the mouth of the northeastern tunnel suddenly threw himself into a backwards roll and came up, his sword in a ready position.
“They’re here!” he cried.
Five agents rolled into the room, assuming their own fighting stances as they came back up on their feet. Fifteen more were right behind them, and Angelique, resplendent in an all-white bodysuit, was in their midst.
She gazed around her at the great chamber in wonder for a long moment, and then focused on Sarah. “Oh Sarah, I never thought that you would betray me. Not like this.”
Sarah had moved over to stand near Skylaar and Jeena, and she reached back over her shoulder and smoothly drew her sword.
“I didn’t,” she said. “The other Sarah, the false one, did. But she is gone now, and I don’t think that you ever really loved her. The only thing that you truly love is yourself.”
“We could have ruled it all, Sarah,” Angelique replied. “We could have been beautiful together, you and I. The galaxy would have worshipped us as goddesses.”
Her eyes fell on Josette next. “And you too, Josette? My own sister?”
Josette smiled serenely. “Who else? You and I both know how things are with our little ‘family’. You would have had me killed the moment that you thought I posed any threat to you. This way, I at least have a fighting chance.”
Angelique laughed bitterly. “I’ll take a special pleasure in seeing you dead, sister dearest. You always were a conceited little bitch.”
“Spoken by someone who would certainly know all about conceit,” her sibling countered.
Angelique ignored the insult, having already pronounced her sister’s death sentence and considering her as good as gone already. She was more interested in the Three. They were still standing together at the pool. Seeing Maya among them, her patrician features briefly clouded over with hatred, but then became thoughtful.
“So, we have all of the Three here,” she observed. “Good. I know who the Singer is. Now, which of you is the User, and which the Guide? Let me guess—“
She put a finger to her lips and made a show of considering the question. Her answer was obvious however. Maya’s defiant stance and the clear dislike on her face had given it away immediately.
“Oh Maya,” she said at last. “Obviously, I have grossly underestimated you.” She stepped forwards, spreading her arms in a conciliatory gesture. “Please, accept my profoundest apologies. You are obviously made of much finer stuff than I had originally believed.’
“Come, you don’t need these others; they might not have told you this, but once the Tree has been unlocked, only the User really matters—and you and I can do wonderful things together. The galaxy itself can be ours! I’ll even spare the lives of your friends.”
Maya drew her weapon. “The only thing I want from you,” she spat, “is my sword twisting in your gut.”
“Maya, that is not the proper way to look at it,” Angelique replied calmly. She had drawn her own sword, and her fighters were now arranging themselves around the chamber in a loose semi-circle.
Maya answered with an expletive, but Angelique overlooked it and addressed Sarah again.
“Sarah, I forgive you,” she told her. “Please, reason with her. I know that we can all still work together.”
“I should think that that should be Maya’s decision,” Sarah said, turning slightly to face the nearest Conversâzi agents. One of them smiled wolfishly at her, and Sarah replied with a feral grin of her own.
“I suppose then, that another form of persuasion will have to be brought to bear here,” Angelique said resignedly.
Another figure had walked into the chamber. It was Lieutenant Amandra Sa’Tela.
“My colleague here will change your mind Maya,” Angelique stated. “I believe that you are aware of her talent for stripping minds and implanting motivations. If I can’t have you willingly, then you will simply be compelled to cooperate. A shame really, but sadly, unavoidable.”
Sa’Tela took a menacing step towards Maya.
Right then a voice, a human voice, broke in. “The User is ours!” the speaker declared. “The Tree is ours! Hand her over to us in the name of the Emperor!” As one, and without exposing themselves to potential attack, both sides wheeled to face the new arrivals.
It was a squad of Hriss mercenaries, and they were led by the human driver from the Gravedeep. Like everyone else, they had also encountered the effects of the nullification field, and were brandishing bladed weapons.
>
Only a second later, a large party of Seevaan warriors, with Queen Talaria herself at their head, scuttled in. They were carrying their ceremonial pikes, which were no less lethal for all their finery.
“So!” the insectoid Queen said in pincerspeak. “My suspicions were correct! You intended to betray me all along, Angelique. The User is ours and your lives are all forfeit!”
Angelique laughed. “You’re as obtuse as my sister, Talaria, and twice as foolish. Did you really think that I was about to turn over the Secret to you? To your race? Like a good, obedient little client? Did you honestly believe that I wouldn’t find out what it really was? What it could do?’
“No wonder you are no match for your Empress. You don’t deserve the Secret. It is mine, and the User is mine. She will come with me—after I kill you.”
“I’m not owned by any of you,” Maya exclaimed. “And I’m not going with anyone--anywhere. You’ll have to kill me.” She was looking straight at Sa’Tela. When the fight started, she was going to take her out as quickly as possible. She had no desire to become nothing more than a head on a petri dish.
“So be it,” Talaria signed. “I will not allow you to be taken captive by anyone but me. If you will not be mine, then you will join your fellow humans in death!”
All of the warriors who were with her began to move forwards, and Skylaar turned to Grammy. “Get the Admiral and the others out of here,” she said. “Contact the JUDI and get some help.”
Grammy immediately started to herd Lilith and the other non-combatants out. Celina and Ingrit were willing enough to leave the chamber, but Lilith, Jan and Jon all balked. “I have to stay here and protect Sarah,” Lilith protested.
“And I have to protect the Admiral,” Jan stated.
“So do I”, Jon added. It was the Marine in him speaking. Lilith was a superior officer, and it was his duty to safeguard her against all enemies. Things like that never went away.
“And I have to knock all of your heads together and hope for some sense to leak out,” Grammy said. “Sarah can take care of herself, but this is no place for any of you. Come with me—now!” Something in the way she said this, and a strange pressure in their foreheads, made them begin to obey. Only Lilith hesitated.
Sarah didn’t dare take her eyes off the enemies all around them, but she still urged her to comply. “Mother—go. Now,” she said. “Get us help.”
Reluctantly, Lilith allowed Grammy and Ingrit to pull her into the escape tunnel.
“She’ll be all right,” Grammy reassured her. “They all will. Sarah is a capable fighter, and the Segen promised me that she will survive this.”
Lilith didn’t refute this mystical claim. Right then, they needed a miracle, and she was willing to accept it from any quarter.
***
No one, from any of the three enemy factions even bothered to give Grammy’s party chase. They managed to travel the entire length of the escape tunnel without any interference whatsoever. The very instant that they were above ground and outside the nullification field, Lilith tried hailing the Pallas Athena.
Katrinn came on, but when Lilith explained what was going on, her friend’s response took her by surprise.
“Lily, I can’t explain it to you right now—but we can’t help you. This is an RSE operation, and they’re in complete charge up here. The Colonel said that if you surrender yourself quietly, no one will get hurt.”
Lilith looked at the Com unit as if it had suddenly transformed into some kind of strange alien insect.
“Surrender!?” she asked in astonishment, “Surrender for what? Kat—she’s the one that needs to ‘surrender’! She’s a goddess-damned traitor, and we need help down here! Now!”
When Katrinn didn’t reply, her voice took on a desperate edge. “Please, send down some Marines or Sarah and the others will die!”
Another voice came over the speaker. “Vice-Admiral? This is Colonel Silvi bel Thana. You are to return to the Tree straightaway and submit yourselves to General bel Thana’s custody, and consider yourself under arrest for treason.”
“Treason?” Lilith cried in outrage. “Us? For what? I—we--haven’t done anything wrong, you little popinjay! You’re the traitor. Kat? I’m giving you a direct order; arrest Colonel bel Thana immediately and send down a detachment.”
“Vice Admiral,” Silvi said. “Commander Bertasdaater is no longer in charge here. I’ve just had her, and all of her senior officers, placed under arrest. As of now, the Pallas Athena is under my command.”
“What?” Lilith spluttered. “You treasonous bitch! When Rixa hears about this, you’ll be finished. I’m giving you one last chance; release Commander Bertasdaater and all the others, and send down the Marines!”
There was no answer, and a moment later, the connection was terminated. Uttering a blistering profanity, Lilith changed frequencies and called the C-JUDI-GO.
“Glad to hear from you,” Bel Lissa said. “We’re already on our way. Kaly got the word to us.”
“Thank the Goddess,” Lilith sighed with relief, “I need you to contact Rixa Naval Headquarters and patch me through.”
“Straightaway, Vice Admiral.”
A second later, the little merchanter appeared over the lip of the nearest buildings and came around to land. With the others right behind her, Lilith pelted up the cargo ramp and ran to the bridge. A holo of Admiral ebed Cya was awaiting her, and Lilith quickly summed up everything that had happened.
“Please!” she finished, now in tears. “Send help! The Athena has been seized and Sarah’s in danger!”
“Lily, the Athena is not answering us either,” Ebed Cya said. “I haven’t officially declared a hostile incursion--yet. But you know the Navy’s policy regarding renegade ships.”
Lilith did. Every officer did. As part of their academy training, all cadets were required to familiarize themselves with the Protocole Polaire, the Polaris Protocol.
Named after a Gaian Star Federation warship that had been seized by a Kaseigian boarding party, it specified that if a vessel fell under enemy control, its sister ships were to send aid if possible. If not, and if the ship could not be returned to friendly hands, it was to be targeted and ‘neutralized beyond the capacity of offering a threat to the Sisterhood’s interests, either because of its armament, or the danger that its technology would otherwise pose in unfriendly hands.’
The Protocole also specified the steps that a commander was expected to take, which included sacrificing the lives of her crew, and herself, if it proved impossible to do otherwise. As hateful as the Protocole was, there were too many other lives—civilian ones—that depended on the Navy being able to maintain control over its assets.
This was especially true when it came to a supercruiser like the Athena. Isis class vessels like her not only boasted the most advanced naval technology of any Sisterhood ship, but they also possessed the capacity of destroying entire planets with their weaponry. As a veteran commander, Lilith knew that if she failed to reassert her authority, the ship and all the women aboard her, would be liquidated in the name of national security.
“I’ll dispatch a Battle Group to you straightaway,” Ebed Cya continued, “and see what we can send out from the Embassy. I’d ask the Artemis or the Demeter to send over some of their Marines, but their Captains need them right where they are. We haven’t had any reports of trouble aboard either vessel yet, but you have to understand the position they’re in.”
Lilith nodded unhappily.
“For now, I need you to stand by where you are. I’m going to contact the Chairwoman and whoever the RSE has in charge. Maybe they’ll be able to talk some sense into this Colonel of yours and defuse the situation.’
“I also have to warn you that there is far more at stake than just the Athena now. We’ve already experienced a serious interstellar incident thanks to whatever is in those ruins, and we may be looking at war.”
This caught Lilith by surprise. Being downside at the time and inside th
e tower, she hadn’t been aware of what had transpired in space. Her complexion paled, and she held her breath.
“We’re not sure how it managed to do it,” Ebed Cya told her, “but somehow that device completely destroyed two entire squadrons of warships. They showed up while you were downside, and according to the Demeter’s captain, they were Seevaan and Hriss. She reported that they were threatening to attack us when something hit them, and took them out.’
“Them, Vice-Admiral, not us. Don’t ask me why our forces were spared, because I couldn’t even begin to guess. There’s more; that Tree also may have been responsible for destroying Ashekle’s moon, but we can’t confirm this for certain. What we do know for a fact is that it seems to be a weapon unlike anything anyone has ever seen, and it’s no longer a ‘secret.’
“The moment that the Seevaans lost their ships, the vessels that were participating in their war games went into Null. We believe that they are headed your way, and when they arrive, they’ll probably attempt to seize control of the weapon. That, or deny it to us by force. You have a hell of a mess on your hands, Vice-Admiral. I don’t envy you.”
At last, Lilith found her voice, albeit with great difficulty. “What are your orders, ma’am?”
“Like I said, Lily,” Ebed Cya answered. “Wait, and let me see what I can do for you.”
Just then, waiting was the very last thing that Lilith wanted to do. Instead, she kept her emotions in check. “Yes ma’am. I’ll stand by.”
The seconds that passed after that seemed like years to her. And when Ebed Cya finally came back, her expression was even darker.
“Lily, I’m sorry, but I have more bad news. I spoke with the Chairwoman and some RSE Major. They both agreed that this whole thing is out of hand, and that General bel Thana and her people have clearly gone rogue.’
“They contacted your Colonel and ordered her to cooperate with us, but she refused. She cited some kind of operational mandate and then told them that Commander Bertasdaater and her senior officers were involved in some kind of Marionite terrorism.”
Sisterhood of Suns: Daughters of Eve Page 75