by M. R. Forbes
Damned If You Don’t
Chaos of the Covenant, Book Five
M.R. Forbes
Published by Quirky Algorithms
Seattle, Washington
This novel is a work of fiction and a product of the author’s imagination.
Any resemblance to actual persons or events is purely coincidental.
Copyright © 2017 by M.R. Forbes
All rights reserved.
Cover illustration by Tom Edwards
tomedwardsdesign.com
Acknowledgments
THANK YOU for coming back for more! Your enjoyment of my work makes telling fun stories one of the most rewarding endeavors I can think of.
THANK YOU to my beta readers for helping me make Damned if You Don’t the best and cleanest story it can be.
THANK YOU to my wife, who has supported me through the best, worst, and in between, and like Queenie with her Rejects has always had my back.
1
Abbey stood in front of the shuttle, her eyes passing over each of her Rejects. In one sense, she was excited to see them, her heart feeling a sense of relief that they were alive and healthy and that she had been able to get them away from Azure. In another, she regretted that she was back with them. She was concerned for them. Afraid. She knew what came next. The Shard from the alternate universe had given her a hint, and the shard of the Shard that had saved her life only minutes before had made clear to her the rest of that truth.
“You aren’t the one I would have chosen,” he had said to her, in the fevered alternate reality she had found herself in when the interior of the shuttle had gone dark. “But you’re the one who was available.”
It hadn’t been a glowing report, but after all she had experienced in the Seraphim compound she had come to the conclusion that maybe the race wasn’t as angelic as the mythology around them might have implied. The fact that the Shard was a bit of an asshole wasn’t a massive shock.
“I’m changing,” she had said to him. “Losing all that I am to something violent and evil.”
Her Shard was a male, of course, but she knew from the other one that it didn’t have to be. He was handsome. Very handsome. Perfect. Too perfect. Golden hair, light brown skin, a perfect jaw and sparkling teeth. He seemed to know it, which had really ticked her off.
“You have the stink of Lucifer in you,” he said. “I can see what he’s done to my creation. The way he’s twisted it is an abomination to me.”
“I didn’t ask for this. I didn’t ask to be given the Gift, and I don’t remember asking you to come along for the ride, either.”
He had laughed, smiled, turned his head and moved his hands in a way that she supposed was intended to be seductive or sexy. She was too angry to find him sexy, even if he was.
“Fortunately for you, Abigail Cage, Lucifer’s Gift is exactly what we both need. I created the seeds that created this galaxy. You were once nothing more than a mote of cosmic dust. A microscopic speck.”
“Sounds familiar.”
He nodded. “That is what I became. My life force, my blood, was placed into the Focus, but my physical self? It broke down into dust, and as the Shardship traveled I spread across the stars. It has taken long years for a piece of me to connect with someone with whom I am compatible. With you.”
“I suppose you think I should feel honored.”
“I’m a god.”
“I’m not buying that. You died. Lucifer didn’t even have to cut off your head to do it.”
“I took an oath of non-violence more years ago than you can even conceive.”
“That didn’t work out very well for you. I’m guessing your oath is still in place, right? You aren’t the one being violent. I am.”
“I don’t understand your anger toward me, Abigail. I’m trying to help you. I can save your life.”
“From what I understand, the same uprising that’s happening here is happening in other universes the One created. Which makes me wonder - are the Nephilim really the bad guys?”
His face had gone dark at that.
“Reconsidering your oath?”
“Don’t be foolish. I have existed for countless eternities. I can’t expect children to understand all that I understand. They rebel because they question instead of having faith in me when I have been nothing but benevolent.”
“And arrogant. Maybe that was why they didn’t like you?”
“The truth isn’t arrogance.”
“It is when you serve it from a high horse. What are you really?”
“I’m a god.”
“Fine. Here’s the deal then, god. I don’t give a flying frag about Lucifer or you or ancient history. What I do care about is the galaxy I live in and the fact that Thraven wants to destroy half of it and enslave the other half so he can go back to Elysium and kill your bigger whole. And by the way, knowing you a little better, I understand why he wants to because you come off as a prick. But, he’s a bigger prick than you, and I imagine we both want him dead. So we have common ground.”
“I can help you, and by helping you help myself, but you have to allow me to enter.”
“Haven’t you already?”
“No. I’m on the surface. I won’t go beneath the flesh without your permission.”
“Another oath?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because once, long ago, I made a mistake. A terrible mistake. I promised I would do better forever after.”
“Gods don’t make mistakes.”
“Gods don’t just suddenly appear. They are born as all things are born. I was made from eternities past, out of more failures than can be counted. There is salvation in the stars, Abigail, if we have the patience to attain it.”
“Patience isn’t my strong suit.”
“I know. Will you let me in?”
“Can you stop the change? Can you prevent me from going insane?”
“Yes. That is why I didn’t want you to take the second poison.”
“The Serum?”
“It will limit you. It will stifle what you can become.”
“And what’s that? A Shard? I don’t want to be a demi-god. I want to finish raising my daughter in peace.”
“You can have it in time if we succeed.”
“If?”
“I can help you, but I can’t fight for you. What I can give you is an enhancement. An upgrade, so to speak.”
“If it keeps me from becoming a mindless killing monster, you can do whatever the frag you want to me.”
“You have to say yes, Abigail.”
She hadn’t hesitated. Now that she was back here, looking at her friends, her Rejects, she wondered if she should have given it a little more thought. What had she signed them up for? And were they up to the task?
Her eyes landed on Gant. He looked like he was about to explode, his eyes huge, expressing an adorable mix of excitement and trepidation.
She already knew the answer to that. It was the same answer she had given the Shard.
“Yes.”
It had been immediate. The Light of the Shard had entered her, moving from the Hell brand and into her mouth, from her mouth to her lungs, from her lungs to her heart and throughout her body. She had regained her sight. She had regained her self. The demonsuit had broken away, leaving her naked, but she hadn’t cared. There was no shame. She was what she was. She had felt the power moving through her, a cold burn against her insides that prickled her skin and made her veins glow with the Light as it made her into something new. Something unique.
“Gant,” she said. “It’s good to see you again.”
“You to
o, Queenie,” Gant replied. “Are you feeling okay?”
“I’m fine. But why are you all just standing there? We have work to do.”
“You’re sure you’re okay, Queenie?” Bastion said. “You look a little. I don’t know.” He paused, not sure what words to use.
“Electric,” Pik said.
“Yeah. Electric. I guess.”
Abbey turned her attention back to Jequn. The Ophanim fell to her knees as she did, bowing her head all the way to the floor.
“My Queen,” she said.
“I think the crazy may be contagious,” Benhil said.
Jequn lifted her head, though she continued to kneel. “You don’t know what you’re looking at. I do. Have some respect.”
“What’s she talking about, Queenie?” he asked.
“This,” Abbey replied, holding out her arms.
The glow was beginning to fade, though her skin was still a lighter shade of pale and the naniates remained around her, covering her like a lightsuit. A shardsuit. She was controlling them subconsciously, her connection to the Shard giving her a more innate connection to them. He had repaired the alterations that Lucifer had made. He had returned her naniates to their original state. While he couldn’t reverse the changes they had already made, he had stopped her from continuing to alter. He had saved her as he promised.
The price was still unclear, but she was certain there would be one. There always was.
“The Shard,” Jequn said. “It has joined with you.”
“Shard?” Benhil said. “THE Shard? The piece of a god?”
“I wouldn’t say joined,” Abbey replied. “It gave me an upgrade. I also wouldn’t say god. I’m not sure what the Shard or the One are, but I’m pretty sure it’s not that. But yeah, he saved me from the change. He purified the Gift.” She turned her arms over, showing off the suit she had made. “Do you like it?”
It shimmered at the question, as though it were made of crystal.
“I like it,” Pik said. “You can almost see right through it.”
Abbey made a face at him and then turned the shardsuit opaque. “Do you have to be an asshole?”
Pik shrugged.
“Queenie, you said we have work to do?” Gant said.
Abbey nodded, silently thankful to him for deflecting their attention away from her appearance. She was the same person she had been before. Mostly. She wouldn’t claim her experience on Azure hadn’t changed her or her perception of the war between the Seraphim and the Nephilim. It didn’t change her goals or her desires, or her intention of stopping Thraven from ruining the galaxy.
“I need a debriefing, and then I want to talk to General Kett. We need to regroup and prioritize our targets.” She looked around the hangar, her eyes stopping on the Faust. “What happened?”
“Uh. Queenie,” Bastion said. “You should know up front. We didn’t exactly leave Kett’s company on the best of terms.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well. We kind of disobeyed orders and took this ship from the Republic to come and get you.”
“And crashed the Faust in the process,” Bastion said.
Abbey raised her eyebrow.
“It’s all on the up and up,” Gant said. “Kett was being an asshole. He didn’t want to let us come back for you.”
“I see,” Abbey said. “Cherub, I’m assuming since you’re here that you agree with Gant’s assessment?”
“Yes, Queenie,” Jequn said. “My father was being an asshole. And the fact that you’ve been touched by the Shard proves that he was wrong.”
“There’s more,” Bastion said.
“More?”
“He wiped Ruby.”
Abbey felt her jaw clench. Ruby was their connection to Olus, who was the only person on Earth she could trust, and who was their best chance of staying current on events within the Republic.
“Why would he do something like that?”
“He told me he had a good reason,” Jequn said. “But he wouldn’t tell me what that reason was.”
“He’ll tell me what it was, and it had better be the best fragging reason I’ve ever heard, or I’m going to throw his ass out of the nearest airlock.”
Gant chittered in reply to the statement. “It’s good to have you back, Queenie.”
2
Gant led Abbey out of the hangar with the rest of the Rejects trailing behind them. They passed some of the High Noon’s crew on the way toward the bridge, and she could see how their faces changed at the sight of her, vacillating from fear to confusion to curiosity and back. She didn’t blame them. She knew she didn’t look normal anymore. Even though the internal Light of the Shard was beginning to fade and her skin was returning to normal, between the shardsuit, her hair, the ridges on her flesh, and her eyes, she definitely didn’t blend in with the others. A part of her was bothered by the change. A bigger part was just grateful that it had been stopped. She wasn’t going to turn into a complete monster. She still had a chance to stop Thraven. She still had a chance to provide Hayley a stable galaxy to grow up in.
“All hail the Queen,” Pik bellowed as they reached the bridge.
Most of the crew didn’t know how to react, but Erlan stood and bowed his head beside his station. As Abbey swept onto the deck and the other soldiers got a look at her, they reacted by standing and coming to attention.
All except Captain Davlyn. He was in the command chair, holding his jaw. Abbey could see the bruise on it beneath his fingers.
“Captain,” Gant said. “I suggest you stand.”
Davlyn glared at him, his anger obvious. “This isn’t your ship, you furry little piece of shit. This is a Republic Naval vessel. I sent an emergency beacon out. They know what you did. They’re going to come for you. You put the lives of my entire crew at risk.”
“Oh, you sent an emergency beacon out?” Gant said mockingly. “Good for you. Too bad I disabled the transmitter while you were still unconscious when we first took the ship. Nobody is going to hear you scream, Captain. Look around. Your crew seems to get it. Why don’t you?”
“Gant,” Abbey said. “I’ll take care of this.”
“Okay, Queenie,” Gant said.
Abbey moved in front of the Captain. “Captain Davlyn,” she said. “My name is Abigail Cage.”
Davlyn stared at her, his face turning pale. “You’re the reason we came to this planet.”
“I’m also the reason we escaped the planet. I disabled the two ships that were attacking you.”
“What?” Davlyn said.
“What?” she heard Benhil say further back.
“Has Gant told you what’s happening here? About the Nephilim? About Gloritant Thraven?”
“He’s told me a lot of things.”
“Do you believe them?”
“I don’t know what to believe anymore.” He glanced over at Gant. “But nothing I’ve been told has turned out to be untrue so far.”
“Which leaves you in an interesting position, doesn’t it, Captain?”
“What do you mean?”
“I’m guessing you had orders that brought you within range of the Rejects?”
“Rejects?”
“Gant, you never introduced yourself to the Captain?”
“Not officially,” Gant replied.
“I’m sorry for the rudeness of my Gant,” Abbey said. “We’re Hell’s Rejects.” She put out her hand. “A pleasure to meet you, Captain.”
Davlyn hesitated a moment before taking her hand. His grip was loose. He was afraid to touch her.
“What were your orders, Captain?”
“We located the Brimstone through a disterium trace, along with a larger fleet of ships. We were ordered to identify and confront it.”
“You were ordered to attack the Brimstone?”
“Aye.”
“By who?”
“Admiral Kuill.”
“Of the Committee?”
“Yes. We launched the attack, and of course, our we
apons were useless. We tried to retreat, but our ships wouldn’t jump.”
“General Kett used the Focus to keep them from escaping,” Jequn said. “He sent his Gifted through the teleporters on the Seedships to the largest vessels in the patrol group. I convinced him to let the Rejects take this one, the High Noon.”
“Thus allowing us to escape,” Bastion said.
“And here we are,” Abbey said. “You disobeyed the Admiral’s orders by calling a retreat before you ever committed treason against the Republic by aiding known criminals.”
“Wait a second,” Davlyn said. “I didn’t aid known criminals. That one was threatening to kill everyone on board.” He pointed at Gant. “I made a judgment call. Follow his demands until I could get my crew to safety. That’s all. Any good Captain would have done the same to protect their crew.”
“Like I said,” Abbey replied. “You’re in an interesting position. Do you think the Republic is going to buy that story? Even if they do, what about the fact that you tried to run? It doesn’t matter if you were successful or not. The logs don’t lie. You had orders, Captain, and you didn’t follow them.”
“I have a duty to protect my crew.”
“You have a duty to protect the Republic. You took an oath.”
“Don’t spit that shit back at me. Without my ship, you would still be stuck on that planet. I did what I thought was best. What is this, a trial?”
“Let’s call it an examination of conscience. You understand that going back to the Republic is going to get you charged with treason and sent to Hell, don’t you?”
Davlyn didn’t look happy, but he nodded. “Yes.”
“But you tried to send a beacon anyway? I’ve been to Hell, Captain. Trust me; it’s not someplace you want to be.”
“I have a duty to protect my crew. They’re good individuals. Loyal soldiers. They followed me here without question, but I wouldn’t ask them to follow me to Hell. You helped me get them out alive. I can bring them back to their families. I can take the fall for all of them.”