Celestial Ascension (Splintered Galaxy Book 1)

by Eddie R. Hicks

  The water was ice-cold, perfect as the rising sunlight caused the temperature to rise slightly. Her heartbeat and breathing slowed, enabling her body and mind to enter a relaxed state to ponder recent events—namely, Jerut’s liberal way of using the term “my associates.”

  Noylarlie's mother knew of people in the military she labeled the same way. Noylarlie never inquired more about the subject, but the gist of it was that a group was doing things the empress didn’t know of—probably things that could get them into a lot of trouble. After all, Noylarlie’s mother, an Archmage, went rogue; had two daughters from two different men; and kept those children secret since they had psionic powers. She knew what she was doing was considered wrong, but she did it anyway because—it was originally thought—she just wanted out, wanted to live a normal life and raise a family. Noylarlie knew damn well, however, that she and Phylarlie existed because Mother wanted some fun and to satisfy a never-ending itch…and didn’t time her anti pregnancy chems right. Children were not part of the initial game plan.

  Why cut herself off from the empress? Why hide out living with Lord Hasiv? Come to think of it, Hasiv mentioned associates as well a few times when talking with mother.

  “Mind if I join?”Akeia stood off to the side, and Noylarlie nodded yes.Her eyes opened, dashing her deep thoughts. As Akeia entered, she asked, “What do you know of the Morutrin system?” The system Jerut mentioned earlier.

  He explained, “It’s a star system on the edge of Hashmedai and Radiance space—well, Linl space to be exact. It and the surrounding region of space are, to this day, considered to be contested.”

  “I thought worlds were either Radiance- or Hashmedai-controlled.”

  “Morutrin is different. The Linl were a space faring race before joining the union. There were some territorial disputes between us and the Linl when we started to venture into that region of space. There was a failed attempt at subjugating them, but that’s another story. When they joined the union, Radiance only focused on halting our advancements and adding non war-torn Linl worlds to the union. Everyone else, such as those residing on Morutrin, were left behind to fend for themselves.”

  “Who controls Morutrin, then?”

  “Officially no one—the fighting there caused a lot of our people to flee, but some still remain. Radiance have a few ships there but mostly just to keep an eye on us and to exploit resources from some of the planets. Leftovers from the old Linl government exist as well. Why do you ask?”

  “I was curious.” That was a lie. Morutrin sounded like the ideal place for a rogue group to hide a plot. The location for her next trip across the stars had been determined.

  ………

  Noylarlie’s ship lay dormant in the palace’s docking bay. Its model was called Crimson Arrow mk.3for good reason. A shape similar to the pointy part of an arrow was the cockpit and sleeping quarters, and connected to that was the main fuselage, which held a cargo bay, cryo chambers, and two main entrances on the left and right sides. On the back were the main engines and large “wings,” which held two plasma cannons each. The color, of course was a deep crimson red with black stripes going across.

  Noylarlie sat in the main chair of the cockpit. The layout of it was similar to that of most small Hashmedai ships—window up front and computer terminal below to fly and view ship data. This one, however, had two extra seats behind the main one in case she had guests catching a ride. She received a message from her invited guest, who requested to enter. Her psionic mind merged with the ship’s systems, and a second later the main door on the left unlocked and rolled open. She needed to get used to applying her psionics to activate computer systems, especially since she was not a trained ship pilot. Flying the ship would require her mind to become one with the ship’s computer. Motion sensors and security video relayed directly to her mind that someone was approaching the cockpit—Jerut. “You wish to speak to me?” Jerut asked.

  “I’m going to Morutrin, Jerut,” she replied.

  He smiled at the news. “Excellent, you have made the right choice.” His face was visible to her via computer images beaming to her thoughts. “Ary Parcisei,” Jerut said. “Seek him out when you discover his location.”

  “Ary Parcisei—that’s an Aryile name,” she said.

  “Indeed, Morutrin Prime, the capital of that system is…different compared to Radiance and Hashmedai worlds.” His eyes looked upon the layout of Noylarlie’s ship, the grin on his face suggesting he was clearly impressed. “Parcisei will provide you details for the task.”

  “Anything else I should know?”

  “There is no space bridge in the system. Not an issue at first, as the bridge here can transport you directly into the system. But when leaving, the closest space bridge is outside of the system in the void of space—no orbiting planets or stars, just a random space bridge.”

  “Odd place to put one.”

  “It was necessary, since we don’t have a lot of power in that region. The Radiance Union would never send ships flying randomly in space to seek its location. A space bridge in the middle of nowhere keeps it off the grid.” Jerut walked to the main entrance. “Make sure no one is following or tracking you on your way home.” He stopped before the door. “Almost forgot, we’re pushing through with our expedition to the human world, so don’t take too long over there—you might miss our send-off.”

  ………

  Noylarlie’s ship, the Crimson Arrow, materialized from blue light just outside the Morutrin system. The trip, due to the size of her ship, took only a day. Five planets, a massive asteroid belt and a few smaller dwarf planets orbited a star that gave off a yellow glow. The scars of war were evident there; she passed a derelict ship, of unknown origin, shot up during an old battle. Its engines were missing. Signs were present that they were removed by a cutting laser, the work of salvagers. Looks like those plundering vermin infested this region as well.

  Hours later, a wide scan of the system was complete. There was no recent data in Hashmedai star maps regarding what was out there. An image manifested in Noylarlie’s thoughts, displaying the layout of the system, namely the inner planets. Five rocky planets orbited closest to the star, beyond them was the asteroid belt, separating them from them the exterior worlds. The forth object orbiting the star had the most notes in regards to additional information, including heavy ship activity and a breathable atmosphere—this had to be Morutrin Prime.

  A new image was projected to her mind, this one showing the planet in question. It was four times larger than Paryo, featuring massive continents and oceans. The southern hemisphere was devoid of any landmass with the exception of a few small islands. Everything south of the equator was an enormous ocean. Almost a two thirds of the planet was blanketed with thick cloud coverage, rain was a common sight in some places. Additional scans showed that most of the land was comprised of swamps, jungles, and the odd desert. She sighed. This was a hot world—good thing psionics didn’t wear a lot to start with.

  Her mind commanded the ship’s computer to provide her with locations of all ships within the system, and the data transmitted to her instantly—one Radiance starbase, four Radiance warships, and seven Hashmedai destroyers with no command ship for them to dock. Thirty-eight smaller ships were also detected, most likely transports, mining ships, pirates, and salvagers. Of course, the Radiance starbase and one of its warships orbited Morutrin Prime. Why would this be easy?

  She arrived at the planet after three hours of sub-light-speed travel. During her approach she passed several anti asteroid platforms. Essentially giant plasma cannons, build to destroy asteroids that get too close to the inner planets. Makes sense, she thought. These planets probably saw non-stop impact events prior to the Linl building cities here.

  The Radiance ship did not react, thankfully, but no doubt in her mind they were well aware her ship had arrived. The largest continent held the larger cities, so she made her descent to one facing the west coast. Leaving the Crimson Arrow in orbit carried
too many risks, particularly with the Radiance ships close by.

  The night darkness blanketed the sky, stars from space slowly fading away as she got closer to the city, as too many lights from the structures rendered the stars invisible. The Crimson Arrow now hovered above the cityscape, and large skyscrapers densely packed together reigned supreme. Every large building had a bridge linking adjacent buildings together, and people were crossing those. There was quite a bit of activity going on in the streets below, despite it being dark—a sign that this planet’s night cycles were long. A rectangular building came into view, as tall as most of the structures but much wider and with several small ships parked on top. This was most likely the space port. Noylarlie visualized her ship coming to land on an empty spot on top and then sent that command to the computer. The Crimson Arrow descended, landing precisely.

  The main door to the Crimson Arrow slid open, and Noylarlie emerged, wearing her revealing psionic outfit. The air was thick, moist, and humid. Her skin already felt sticky as she walked away and commanded the ship to close, lock up, and arm weapons in case some riff raff took a liking to the Crimson Arrow. She entered an elevator that was directly in the middle of the space port’s landing pad.

  As the elevator descended, Noylarlie took notice of the holographic messages on its interior walls. It was written in a language she didn’t understand. Hopefully, the locals all don’t speak this language—whoever they are. The doors swung open, revealing a platform. It looked like a waiting station for some kind of transportation—a tramline. Three people stood waiting. None paid any attention to Noylarlie as she entered the waiting zone. She was relieved to see that one of the three was Hashmedai. The other two were Linl—one was an old man with dark skin and gray hair, the other a woman with lighter skin and short blond hair.

  She glanced up and down at them for a few seconds before turning away. It was not every day she saw another race. Plus, Linl were supposed to look like humans. So it’s beings like this Akeia will be interacting with? Interesting, she thought. The tram arrived, consisting of five oval pods joined together. Each pod had sliding doors, which slid open as two Hashmedai exited the tram. Everyone else who had been waiting quickly boarded.

  A network of rails littered the lower section of the streets below. These rails guided the trams across the city at great speeds. The tram she entered was packed tight, leaving no room to sit. Linl and Hashmedai populated the tram. Safe to say, this is a world shared by the two races, she observed, most likely unwillingly, as Linl are only speaking with one another while ignoring Hashmedai and vice versa. Granted, the language barrier didn’t help her. The tram periodically stopped at stations throughout the city as people got on and off. Noylarlie would have to do the same as well…but where? Her answer came when the tram stopped at a location where music was playing in the distance. Must be a gathering place, she thought before exiting.

  She entered a long hallway after leaving the tram station. As she ventured through it, the music became louder and louder. A group of Linl traveled in the opposite direction of the music, stumbling and limping. They were intoxicated. It has to be a bar. She was right.

  A glass door slid open as Noylarlie approached it, and the music vibrated through the air and against her body. The square room was filled to capacity and buzzing with alcohol-fueled Linl and Hashmedai. Tables were scattered about in random placement. On the right side was a bar with a dozen chairs lined up in front of it. Everyone in the establishment was enjoying a drink of some kind or another, and to Noylarlie’s surprise, even a few Linl and Hashmedai were conversing with one another. The keyword here was “few,” since the vast majority kept to their own race.

  She took a seat at the bar. If anyone knew this Ary Parcisei person, hopefully it would be the bartender. Noylarlie knew that people with the “Ary” prefix were of the Aryile race. Someone like that should stand out in an area predominantly filled with Linl and Hashmedai.

  The bartender approached Noylarlie to serve her. He was a large overweight Linl man, wearing a black shirt and slacks. He spoke to her in the Hashmedaian language. “Ah, blue-skin beauty. Rare to see, very nice. What beverage can me provide?” He didn’t speak Hashmedai well.

  “Anything from Taxah will do,” she said.

  “Ale Taxah, very good. Great many blue-skin Hashmedai enjoy.” He produced a bottle of green liquid. White foam exited from the nozzle of the bottle into a glass cup before her, which slowly transformed into the green fluid that was in the bottle. Noylarlie took hold of the glass, and she brought it to her mouth. The cold, thin beverage lowered her body temperature. She needed that, as this world was too hot.

  A Linl man moved past Noylarlie, stopped, and watched her with lust in his eyes. She took notice from the corner of her eye and wasn’t impressed. He claimed the vacant seat next to her and gave her a good top-to-bottom stare before asking in Hashmedai, “How much?”

  She turned to him. “What?”

  “How much for the night? I love the blue-skinned women, amazing Yuntiag.”

  “I’m not selling my body, if that’s what you think,” she shot back angrily.

  “Blue-skin Hashmedai dressed like that, and you’re not selling?”

  “My cybernetics need to breathe.”

  He fetched a small circular object from his pocket. “One thousand credits,” he proposed, “and I’ll pay for your drinks. I promise you won’t want to deal with Hashmedai men ever again!”

  Enough. The man fell to the ground, moaning in pain. Noylarlie had crushed his balls with her telekinetic mind. Her head lowered to see his hands over his crotch. “Talk to me again, and I will rip it off.” She stared at the object in his hands. What the hell is that thing anyway? Right, a credit chit. The credit chit left his hand and ended up in hers. She had forgotten that currency was heavily used in places like this. This would come in handy, like in paying for the drink she had just ordered. “I’ll take your money, but I’m not going to fuck you. Now leave.” He did just that, limping away, his hands magnetized to his crotch.

  “Splendid performance there,” said a voice from behind her.

  Noylarlie spun around to see a man smiling at her. He had brown skin, blond hair, and a tall muscular body, and wore a gray jumpsuit. Scales could be seen on his forearms and the back of his neck. An Aryile. There’s no way it could be this easy, she thought.

  “Parcisei?” she asked.

  “Third-class ranger, Ary Parcisei—your acquaintance is recognized.” He placed his left hand on his right shoulder. “You moved through the city faster than I thought you would.”

  “You were tracking me?”

  He took a seat next her. “A psionic friend of mine told me you’re an associate of Jerut. Spotted your ship entering orbit, but I didn’t want to risk sending out a transmission.”

  “You speak our language quite well,” she said, omitting that he was doing an awful job in faking the accent.

  “Thanks.” He looked around the crowded bar. “Got a place we can chat in secret? Too many ears here.”

  ………

  Noylarlie had taken a bit of a risk inviting Parcisei onboard the Crimson Arrow. Willfully allowing an Aryile to board her ship and have a seat in the cockpit could go wrong in so many ways. But in order to get this task done, whatever it may be, the two were going to have to trust each other.

  Noylarlie stood off to the side, her arms crossed. “All right, speak.”

  “You no doubt saw that space station and cruiser in orbit, right?” Parcisei asked.

  “I did, yes.”

  “Well, it’s not exactly supposed to be there, and neither is the cruiser. That station is old, built back before the Linl joined the union. It was recently reactivated to conduct some research the union didn’t want done.”

  “Fascinating, but what does that have to do with me?”

  “Someone tipped off the union as to what was going on, and they showed up to shut it down, keeping everyone on board for interrogation.” He smil
ed at her, but she didn’t react. “This is where you come in—get aboard, get the research data, and blow the place up.”

  “And what of your people?” Not that I care.

  “Not my job to save lives today, and besides, the dead can’t be interrogated.”

  “How many people will be shooting at me?” Better to ask this now, unlike last time.

  “Us! I’m going with you…Oh and two or three squads of rangers will be shooting at us.”

  “I work alone.”

  “You wouldn’t know where to go once on board, and you’re not fooling anyone by saying you’ll read the station’s directory maps, written in the Linl language.”

  “Fine, but don’t get in my way.”

  “You can teleport us to the station when you’re ready. The psionic barrier is disabled as well, thanks to the union taking over the station.”

  Noylarlie closed her eyes to merge her mind with her ship’s computer. Orbital information was displayed, showing the location of the station. Using this data, she was able to get a fix on its exact spot, which was above them. She channeled energy with her cybernetics, blue light flashed, and the two vanished.

  ………

  The Linl space station was essentially a large disk-shaped object that orbited Morutrin Prime. Inside, a network of tube-shaped hallways stretched throughout the disk. Rooms toward the edge of the disk shape were either cargo holds, docking bays, or airlocks. The middle housed a large testing area for experiments, and outside of that were command operations and crew quarters. A reactor on the underside of the station provided power.

  Noylarlie’s teleport landed the two in a docking bay. She was really hoping it would be the lab so they could be done with this quickly. Nothing is ever easy. They floated in zero gravity between two Radiance transport ships. Parcisei gazed about, having realized where on the station they had landed.

  “Oh, this is perfect,” he said with sarcasm.