Five Empires: An Epic Space Opera

by Steven J Shelley

  “Now listen up,” he said, feeling the harsh sun on the back of his head. It was time to move. “Mandie and I have a place to be. You gentlemen have an appointment in the opposite direction.”

  Jake gestured to the plume of dust far to the south.

  “I need you to investigate,” he explained. “Could be a security threat.”

  Nobblar’s expression was a work of art.

  “Don’t suppose there’s any settlements in that direction,” he said quietly.

  “Not according to my data,” Jake said brightly. “But it could be outdated.”

  Nobblar’s shoulders slumped. He knew he was being gulagged and about to meet a very thirsty plain.

  “You’d better get started,” Jake urged. “You might get halfway by sundown.”

  “Can we bring water?” Basko asked moodily.

  “Experienced journeyman like yourself should be knowin’ where it’s at,” Jake said in a reasonable tone. He was enjoying this far more than he should have been.

  “Come, Basko,” Nobblar said, taking his first steps into the unknown. “Might be we catch up with Jakey later.”

  “Might be,” Basko agreed, giving Jake his hardest stare. “I certainly hope so.”

  And with that they were off. Jake watched them for several minutes, savoring the moment. The Nostroma tandem, already bruised and battered by their unsecured flight, would be dehydrated and weak. And as Jake had discovered, the plain wasn’t as flat as it seemed. Those gullies and rills would be murder to negotiate in their condition.

  Some of the gullies contained water, but it was brackish and dirty. Nobblar would need to draw on his famous guile if he was to survive. Jake shrugged - it was time to loot the corvette for supplies.

  After checking on Mandie, he climbed into the upturned cabin and raided the galley. He found a survival pack in a foot locker under the larder. Also finding the galley cool box, he shoveled all manner of exotic foodstuffs into the pack. Slow-burn protein bars were fine, but Jake intended to eat like a king for the first couple of days.

  The last steps were to check the water seals on the pack and ensure the med kit was fully stocked. Strapped and ready, Jake wandered out to Mandie by the port bow.

  “We should go,” he said quietly. “Sun’s hot and the terrain difficult, but -”

  “You have a mission to complete,” Mandie said, springing to her feet.

  “Wait a second,” Jake said. “What exactly do you know about me?”

  “Only that you’re not here for re-programming,” Mandie said with a lingering glance.

  “Play your cards right, darlin’, and you might see what this show is all about.”

  Mandie nodded, eager to be on her way. Jake was fairly certain her bravado was just a front - she’d had a rough flight and probably just wanted to curl up into a ball. Jake appreciated her determination nonetheless.

  The least he could do was shoulder their supplies and allow her an easy trek north.

  35

  Jake’s decision proved to be the correct one - the hard-baked gullies snaked east-west across their path and the going was arduous. Mandie paled quickly as she hauled her exhausted body over the mounds. Jake himself was lathered in sweat within half an hour.

  He rarely removed his trench coat as that meant revealing his various weapons and tools, but in this case it was necessary. Some of the gullies were ankle-deep with tepid water, others were choked with clinging weeds that smelled of rotten mushroom. After two hours of hard trekking the Avene mountains didn’t seem any closer.

  A lone eagle circled far above them in the azure sky. Mandie was exerting herself too much to talk and Jake was content to ease into a relaxed rhythm. He wondered if Basko and Nobblar had continued on south or whether they’d doubled back to the wrecked corvette. He guessed the latter - they would need food and water and they weren’t likely to find it on the endless plain.

  Not for the first time Jake regretted his choice of crash site, wondering if he could’ve coaxed a few more miles from the corvette. Tranda IX certainly appeared to be a planet of wide open spaces.

  As the sun rode their left shoulders Jake called a halt in the shade of a larger ridge. He slid into the inky shadow, dumping his pack and leaning back against the dirt. A sharp sting at the back of his skull set him upright - a nest of mandible ants had risen up in protest at his intrusion.

  Jake swore vehemently, moving to the very edge of the shadow. Mandie smiled weakly from the other side of the nest. It calmed the duellist and he tossed her a canteen. The pair reclined in silence as they recovered their energy.

  Further down the gully a spiny-backed creature played in a pool of water. Jake would’ve been happy to spend the rest of the day in the gully but he didn’t have the luxury of time. He stood, dreading Tranda’s renewed UV assault.

  Peering through his optics, he could see more detail in the lower Avene slopes from this range. The erect trees of the dryland forest were both stately and imposing. There was barely any movement on this hot, still afternoon.

  Jake trained his optics further up the slopes, hoping for a glimpse, a sign of civilization. He didn’t have any intel on the monastery’s exact location and would probably need guidance from Fusar herself. Nostromic monasteries were notoriously secretive and their geographic positions were usually code-shielded, even from military maps. Jake looked at his wrist pad and made a snap decision.

  He keyed in Fusar’s details and waited as a coms satellite tried to connect.

  came the Jaj girl’s voice. For some reason she sounded further away than normal, even though Jake was planet-side. Hearing the girl use Jake’s name triggered an unidentified emotion. Was it anxiety? Guilt? It was ferocious. Jake was filled with a sudden urge to scale the mountains, rush the monastery and take down anyone in his path.

  “I’m here, Fusar,” he said. “I need to know your exact location.”

 

  Jake frowned. There was a note of panic in the girl’s voice.

  “Fusar,” he said. “Where are you right now?”

  came the reply.

  Jake pictured the girl, chained like a dog in a dark, stale room.

  “I’m on my way, Fusar,” he said. “I need to know something about the valley. Anything.”

  came the eventual reply. Fusar was sobbing.

  She seemed to be breaking down. “That’s OK, Fusar, I’ll find you no matter what,” Jake said. “Sit tight and I’ll come for you.”

  The duellist waited as Fusar’s sobbing gradually subsided.

  “Take a few breaths,” he said gently. “We still have time.”

  Fusar said.

  Jake tried to stifle his anger, knowing it wasn’t the time or the place, but it was relentless.

  “I’ll kill them,” he said in cold fury. “I’ll kill them all, Fusar.”

  said the Jaj, sounding a little more focused.

  “Excellent, Fusar,” Jake said. It sounded like he wouldn’t need to cross the range. “I’ll find a way up there. See you soon.”

  The line died.

  His mind swirling with emotion, Jake nodded to Mandie, who was ready to continue. They resumed their trek through gully after gully, Jake struggling to control his gait. He needed to conserve his flagging energy even though he was itching to run.

  All Nostroma were quite capable of separating emotional and logical reasoning, but for Jake the boundaries were no longer clear. Something about the search for the Jaj girl dredged powerful emotions from his core.

  Was it about Fusar, a
vulnerable woman in a diabolical situation? Or was it more about his obsession with the Catalyst Prophecy? There was no doubt his father’s legacy loomed large on his mind. Whatever the case, he was being carried forward with an irresistible momentum. Right now he felt as though it would take an army to bring him down.

  And yet he was smart enough to know that such emotions were dangerous. He would need Mandie to temper his instincts once they reached the monastery. It wasn’t a military installation, and Jake suspected they’d need something other than brute force to liberate Fusar.

  Both were once more covered in rank sweat within the hour. The hazy mountain range was only marginally closer. Jake’s thighs throbbed from the constant stretching over gully mounds, so he could only imagine what Mandie was feeling. To her credit, she never raised a word of complaint, though her speed flagged a little as the sun hung low.

  “Time to make camp,” Jake announced. He didn’t want to run his plucky human companion into the ground. There were no trees on the plain but some of the larger weeds had woody stems. He gathered kindling while Mandie assessed the supplies he’d hastily shoved into the pack.

  “Dengen foie gras,” she said with a smile. “Looks like Nobblar is a connoisseur.”

  “In his own mind, maybe,” Jake grunted as he knelt by the wood and drew his trusty sparker from his utility belt. He had a comfortable fire going within minutes. Drowsy from the flames, he checked for mandible ants before reclining. Mandie sat opposite him. The duellist tried the foie gras but immediately regretted it - the heat of the pack had spoiled it. He threw it on the fire and watched it burn. Mandie seemed to enjoy the symbolism of the move, her teeth bright through the grasping flames.

  “You did well today,” Jake said seriously. “Despite everything.”

  “We’re a good team,” Mandie said shrugging off his praise.

  A human life span was only half that of a Nostroma. He’d been raised to believe that humans didn’t lack for courage but had no real concept of longevity or any appreciation of the weight of history. But he supposed it was all relative. In his experience, human relationships were usually more intense than Nostroma ones, even if they were more fleeting.

  “You have family, Mandie?” he asked, genuinely curious.

  The Blue Orchid merc nodded. “I have a brother on Cerulean. Kelp farmer. He has three children who I try to see as often as I can.”

  “How do you come and go?” Jake asked. “Until recently Cerulean was controlled by the Cava05.”

  Mandie shrugged. “The simians aren’t really concerned with humans. I guess we fly under the radar.”

  For some reason Jake’s heart went out to Mandie. It was a peculiar emotion, not unlike the strong surges he felt when he was with the young Aegisi Michael Danner. He couldn’t be sure what was triggering them, but the end result was a sense of care and responsibility.

  A well-traveled Nostroma, Jake knew that the galaxy was filled with countless tales of tragedy and loss. Lately, however, he’d begun to see the people behind these sad stories and gain true insight into the lives of others. Jake looked into Mandie’s eyes and saw no self-pity there - just an acceptance of the various forces that shaped her life.

  “You’re tough,” Jake said. “I ain’t got no beef with humans. Not when they’re like you.”

  “Thanks,” Mandie said at length. “That means a lot, coming from you.”

  Jake considered the dark eyes gazing back at him from across the crackling flames.

  “Why are you helping me?” he asked. “I’m a good fuck, not a great one.”

  Mandie’s eyes softened into a smile. She paused, choosing her words carefully.

  “I believe in what you’re trying to do,” she said eventually. “I have no idea if you’re right, or just a crazed rebel, but I like your intent.”

  So Nobblar had been in Mandie’s ear.

  “I asked about you,” she said quickly, sensing she needed to explain herself. “I couldn’t resist.”

  Jake smiled. He had nothing to fear from Mandie now - her contract with Nobblar was redundant.

  “Then you probably know that the Jaj girl we’re rescuing isn’t the Second Catalyst,” Jake said with a wink.

  Mandie frowned. “But I thought -”

  “She’s the Third,” Jake said, letting the sentence hang.

  Mandie was wide-eyed with shock as Jake stoked the fire with a wry grin.

  “I’m the only one who knows all of my father’s Prophecy,” Jake explained. “The Second Catalyst centers around a Nostromic duellist in green.”

  Mandie breathed out in disbelief. “How do you know you’re a Catalyst?”

  Jake shrugged. “Just know,” he said simply. “My father told me to help the Aegisi boy, which I’ve done. That secured Cerulean for the Aegisi Republic. The other thing I know is that I need to find a Jaj girl.”

  “There aren’t many Jaj women,” Mandie reflected. “Doesn’t their genetic pool favor men?”

  Jake nodded, impressed with Mandie’s knowledge of xeno-biology.

  “Michael Danner told me about Fusar, currently up at the monastery,” he said. “I’m gonna need your help bustin’ her out of there.”

  Mandie hugged herself against the cold. She was only wearing a standard orbital utility suit and Tranda’s frigid night cycle was clawing at her.

  “Take this,” Jake said, stripping his trench coat and laying it across Mandie’s lap. She was about to protest but he waved it off.

  “Just give the fucker back in the mornin’,” he drawled, drawing two arellos from his utility belt. “I daresay I’ll need that on the morrow.”

  The pair smoked in comfortable silence. The sound of more than one prop bulb echoed across the plain from somewhere in the south. Mandie looked at Jake, probably trying to gauge his reaction. He shrugged and spat a gob of tangerine tobacco into the fire.

  “So they isolated the crash site,” he murmured. “Sounded like one, maybe two eagle units. I know the tandem trailing us. One’s my sister, the other’s my ex-lover. Good times.”

  Mandie blinked. “Bad blood?”

  Jake coughed.

  “We Nostroma are a practical bunch,” he replied. “We let go of the elusive ideal of monogamy a long time ago. And as for my sister … well, she’s not my brother. That’s enough.”

  “Something tells me you don’t believe that,” Mandie said.

  Jake took a long draw on his arello, wondering at what point he’d become so damned easy to read. By a human.

  “We got the best part of a day on them,” he said, steering the conversation to more practical matters. “But they’re fresh. It’ll be a close run thing.”

  “These gullies will hide our fires,” Mandie pointed out. “Tranda nights are too cold to be huddling under shrubs.”

  Jake nodded, but remained troubled. He knew his pursuers would catch up at some point, but so quickly?

  “If Nobblar and Basko doubled back, they’ll be plannin’ somethin’ with the girls right now,” he said at length. “Could be three tandems out there, tracking us through the dark.”

  “You know how to tell a bedtime story,” Mandie said, stretching out in front of the fire. “We have a saying where I come from - you aren’t dead until the lights go out.”

  “I dunno, that fire’s startin’ to die,” Jake said, lying down next to Mandie. She punched him playfully in the ribs.

  “Who said you could come over here?”

  “I ain’t got no coat, remember?” Jake protested with a smile. “Gave it to some ungrateful bitch.”

  Mandie draped the coat over both of them. Jake kissed her on the lips, noticing her eyes were still pregnant with a question.

  “Speak,” he said.

  “Jake, if you’re right about the Catalyst Prophecy, the balance of power will change forever.”

  Mandie’s gaze had taken on a grave urgency. Jake had a feeling she was going to unpack a subject he wanted to avoid.

  “Do you think the Cava05 kn
ow about your one-man crusade?” she asked.

  “I have to assume they do,” he replied. “Ajon Prime might be telling them as we speak. A gesture of good faith as we begin our new alliance.”

  Jake could hardly get the words out. The concept of climbing into the bed with the Cavan Empire sickened him to the core.

  “Jake,”said Mandie gently, “You’re probably the most wanted man in the galaxy right now.”

  “My guess is there’ll be warships in orbit before dawn,” Jake admitted. “The Cava05 won’t want me finishing my mission.”

  “All these resources for the capture of one man,” Mandie said, almost in awe. “A rogue duellist everyone thinks is crazy.”

  Jake swallowed. “Not everyone, I hope.”

  “I’m sorry, Jake, I didn’t mean-”

  “No need,” Jake said, running a finger over Mandie’s cheekbone.

  “I’ll be amazed if we survive this,” she said with a weak grin.

  “I’m amazed I still have someone on my side,” Jake said, leaning in for another kiss. It was a long kiss, which led to a slow, grinding embrace by the fire.

  36

  Jake woke just before dawn, just as he intended. He’d been tempted to begin their march earlier, but Mandie needed to rest. He woke her gently and spread the remains of their fire across the gully floor. The last thing he wanted to do was leave an easy trail to follow.

  He was still hopeful of losing their trackers somewhere in the low foothills of the Avene Range. From there it would be a matter of luck as to who found the Fidelis Prime monastery first.

  In a strange way, the monks’ refusal to reveal their precise location was indirectly preserving Jake’s life. The trick now was to get there first. Jake slipped into his trench coat and shouldered his pack, looking across at the mountain range with fresh determination.

  “Lead the way, duellist,” Mandie said, cupping her hand on his buttock. He smiled as he launched himself over the low ridge that had sheltered them the previous night.