Celestial Ascension (Splintered Galaxy Book 1)

by Eddie R. Hicks

  His aging body moved toward a computer terminal in the middle of the lab. “Now…what if I were to tell you the gods have been speaking to us for thousands of years and we just never heard the message? What if I told you everything you knew about the gods was misinformation spread by the Radiance Union Council?”

  No, he can’t possibly be talking about…no, I must have misheard. “What?”A large holographic projection of a gem with a sphere in it appeared before Odelea. The projection startled her, and reflexes sent her back a step or two.

  “Many years ago salvagers in the Morutrin system discovered gems like this. The orbs within it emit psionic energy, a type never before seen by the Radiance Union or Hashmedai Empire. It was later discovered that a psionic could merge his or her mind with the orbs to unlock hidden power. Odelea, I’m talking about psionic gifts that no other psionic we know can do. And in some rare cases, they can even directly speak with the gods.”

  The hologram shifted into an image of a Linl woman with short blond hair and green eyes.

  “One psionic, Ure Sealphraea, did speak to the gods and learned what they really wanted us to do—which was to come here…to Earth. ‘humanity is the key,’ the gods said. The humans need to be brought onto the galactic stage, and their bodies need to be ready for the challenges life in space brings. Their bodies need to be able to become the key the gods wish them to become. Sealphraea presented her discovery to the council, and she was charged and executed with—”

  “Heresy.” Odelea cut him off. She had heard the story of Sealphraea.

  “Right.”

  “You are part of the Celestial Order, the heretics.” She couldn’t deny it any longer. Anyone who speaks in this manner is a heretic.

  “The Radiance Union launched attacks against our Order. Scholars studying the gems were silenced, labs taken over or destroyed. Our Hashmedai brothers and sisters suffered the same fate, as it is forbidden for Hashmedai to worship anything, let alone the gods. Many were labeled as traitors and executed,” he explained.

  “Hashmedai joined your cause as well?”

  “Hashmedai salvagers discovered the first gems. At first they sold them to the Linl, but as time went on, some of their psionics melded with the orbs within the gems and saw the light—the gods do exist and have a plan for us. They have a plan for the whole galaxy. Our plan was to convince the council to uplift the human race, but they rejected it, fearing humanity was too similar to the Hashmedai when we first discovered them. The Hashmedai Empire also refused, fearing humanity will one day take over their region of space. We needed a way to have humanity uplifted.

  “The council permitted us to study them, so agents within our Order set up labs like this to conduct tests, while we came up with a plan to force the uprising of humans to the stars. Our agents convinced the Hashmedai empress that the Radiance Union could uplift humanity, so she sent her children to infiltrate as a means to reach out and trick humans into devoting themselves to the empire. From there we had them killed, making it appear humans did it in cold blood. The empress in her rage then carried out what you see before you—war with Earth. The Radiance Union is obligated by the gods to protect and uplift any race whose existence is threatened, much like what they did for the Linl when the Hashmedai invaded our worlds. In eight years, our forces from Lejorania will arrive to drive out the Hashmedai here and advance the human race forward.”

  “What comes next?” Her hungry, inquiring mind wanted more information to digest.

  He pointed his finger at the cryo tube in the far corner. A child, a human girl, lay resting inside of it. It was the same child Xyniea saw looking for her mother earlier, Hannah. The woman who had been leading the girl stood next to the tube with a data pad in hand. She clearly was a Linl who had posed has a human doctor at the medical facility.

  “This child—Hannah they call her—has the answers. The gods told us she would be in this world at this time. She will guide us to the next step in transitioning humanity into the key.” His wrinkled face stared at the cryo tubes behind him. “I know it sounds like madness, but believe me, it is true. Earth was not discovered by accident. The Linl have been drawn to this region of space for a long time. They knew this world had to be discovered and that this child must be located.”

  Odelea was officially overwhelmed. “Oh my gods…”

  “What do you think, my former student? Interested in our cause? Interested in joining our Javnis, Aryile, Rabuabin, Vorcambreum, Linl, and Hashmedai brothers and sisters in bringing down the nonbelievers—the Radiance Union and Hashmedai Empire?” She didn’t reply, still floored by this whole situation. He said, “Take your time to think about it. Even if you choose not to, I know you are smart enough not to talk about this to others.”

  “And thanks to the recent research data from the Morutrin system,” added the woman with the pad, “we now know exactly how a psionic must think in order to unlock sealed orbs.” An urgent notification pinged her data pad, and her eyes lit up as she viewed the message. “Speaking of the orbs, one was just used at Cedars-Sinai.”

  “How?” asked Telinei. “Sinzihea, you can’t be serious.”

  “I’m unsure of the source, but I’m tracing where the energy went,” Sinzihea said.

  ………

  Phylarlie had spent her time floating in the back of the Hashmedai transport ship, while the rest of the team teleported down to the hospital in an attempt to rescue Jazz’s friends, who according to him were kidnapped by Radiance. Her daggers spun in circles with the aid of zero-g, a sign she was bored with waiting.

  Completing her mission was the only task she was interested in. As noble as it was for the rest of the recon team to help Jazz, it wasn’t her mission and wasn’t anything she cared about. Keeping Kroshka alive and getting home were all that mattered to her right now.

  When Chidorli requested Whigli to teleport Kroshka below, concern did grow within Phylarlie. Blue light filled the cabin of the Hashmedai transport. That concern grew even stronger now that everyone—except for Kroshka and Jazz—was back on board. What happened? “Thought this was going to be an in-and-out operation,” Phylarlie said.

  Chidorli never looked at anyone, her head pointing at the cold metallic floor, trying to hide some kind of guilt or shame.

  She must have made herself look like a fool, Phylarlie thought.

  Whigli embraced Chidorli in a comforting manner, for she hadn’t performed well. Zhinbryo pushed and floated his way to the cockpit to analyze data on the flight computer terminal, while Onatiasha, who had a massive frown, faced Phylarlie.

  “Perhaps if you had helped out, we wouldn’t have run into complications!” Onatiasha said, her voice raised.

  “Where is Kroshka?” Phylarlie asked.

  “They took her. Radiance came in from behind and grabbed her.” Onatiasha’s explanation set off a fire in Phylarlie’s eyes. “And since you asked, Jazz is dead.”

  Phylarlie floated directly in front of Onatiasha. “How did this happen?” she yelled, turning to release verbal rage on the two psionics. “And you? Why did you take her down to such a risky area unprepared?”

  The cold strength of Onatiasha’s gauntlets gripped Phylarlie’s shoulders, dragging her closer. The two stared at each other, face to face, each waiting for an excuse to draw a weapon.

  “This is as much as your fault as it is theirs, assassin!” Onatiasha screamed at Phylarlie. “You didn’t aid us, and this could have been prevented if you were there!”

  Onatiasha’s intimidation tactics didn’t work on Phylarlie, who merely grinned and said, “Rescuing humans does not concern me or my mission!”

  “Your mission is now comprised since you chose to sit up here!” Phylarlie quietly reached for her dagger—this was the excuse she had been waiting for. “Blame my team all you want. Yes, I made mistakes. Chidorli made mistakes. In hindsight, the whole mission should have been scrapped from the start. But at the end of everything, you made the biggest mistake of all.” Her gaze
dropped to see Phylarlie’s blade pointed toward her abs. “Now drop that dagger or I will end you, assassin.”

  Blue light flooded the interior of the transport as Chidorli and Whigli vanished. The quarreling duo both quickly spun their weightless bodies forward to take note of the lack of psionics on board. “Well, that’s just great,” said Phylarlie.

  “Is your bickering over?” Zhinbryo asked.

  “What is it?” replied Onatiasha, floating to the cockpit.

  “The Radiance transport that has Kroshka captive—I have been tracking it,” he said.

  Onatiasha floated over to glance at the data. A red dot hovered over a human landing strip next to a crater. “Looks like a human military base,” she concluded.

  Zhinbryo added, “Unless psionics have teleported her away, she is most likely being held there.”

  “You’re assuming she’s still alive,” Phylarlie said, her arms crossed.

  Onatiasha turned back toward her with a cunning smile and said, “If she is dead, we have found the location for your next targets.”

  ………

  “Why do I get the feeling this is what our lives will be like for the next eight years?” said Chloe.

  The occupants of the Radiance transport remained sitting still after fleeing from the two floaters at the hospital. Gengei and Xyniea sat up front in the cockpit, while Chloe and Sarah took a seat in the middle. Their captive, a young Hashmedai girl named Kroshka, sat at the back with a large collar around her neck and her hands cuffed together. The girl looked sad and depressed.

  The nerve of her. Millions on this planet were dying by the hands of her people, and she was upset about what? Chloe wondered. That humanity is fighting back?

  “Sadly, events like we just went through will be commonplace until the Radiance fleet arrives,” said Gengei.

  “Unless we’re wiped out in the process,” Sarah added.

  “That, too, is a grim possibility. This is why we are taking as many people as possible aboard the Abyssal Explorer,” Gengei said.

  Chloe spoke. “Your ship up above can’t possibly hold the entire human race, let alone a city worth of people.” This was an issue so few had raised when Radiance began taking people, probably because they were afraid of the answer.

  “You are…correct. Our space is limited.”

  Sarah interjected, “As much as I appreciate what your kind is doing for our world, I don’t dig the idea of a small handful of people getting saved while everyone else has to suffer or die.”

  “There is no other option. We cannot take on that fleet alone, and we have studied the effectiveness of your…space shuttles,” Gengei said.

  Gengei’s statement reminded Chloe of a few marines joking about how NASA should have mounted guns and nukes onto the ISS. As controversial as it would have been, nuclear weapons in space could have prevented a lot of death and destruction right now. If every nuke ever made by humanity were launched into space, there wouldn’t be much of a Hashmedai fleet left, Chloe thought.

  Sarah spoke. “Our nukes can take down Hashmedai ships, and we got a fuck-ton of them laying around.” She and Chloe were on the same wavelength—sisterly bonding at its best.

  “We just have no means of sending them into high Earth orbit to take out those ships,” Chloe said. “Hell, they’ll see it coming and shoot them down before they even get close.”As much as Chloe enjoyed the fantasy of nukes launching to the skies and beyond to save Earth, she knew the Hashmedai weren’t going to allow more of their ships to be blown up so easily.

  Gengei added, “It is a pity, too, that two-thirds of the fleet has been recalled to temporarily dock inside the command ship. The best time to strike at a Hashmedai fleet is when it is docked. Destroy the command ship, and most of the fleet will go down with it.”

  Chloe and Sarah looked at each other, intrigued by what Gengei revealed. “Really?” Chloe said.

  Gengei continued. “Yes, the ships inside have their shields disabled so the docking tractor beam will work. Furthermore, they are all stowed away in close proximity to one another.”

  “Then let’s nuke the command ship. I know it’s easier said than done, but we need to figure out a way to get nukes out there without them knowing,” Sarah said.

  Gengei spoke again. “The only thing that can get close to the command ship without being shot down is another Hashmedai ship.” He paused, indicating he had just thought of something important that could make this idea a reality. “It is possible to board a Hashmedai ship with the brainjack device.”

  “Come again?” said Chloe.

  Gengei walked over to the overhead weapons locker above Chloe and Sarah. His hands reached up and pulled out a device shaped like a pistol with a small computer screen and input pad on the back of it. “This weapon fires a projectile that bores into the brain of a psionic and hacks into the chip implanted in its brain.” He held the computer screen closer to Chloe and then Sarah, so both could see it. “This device here will give the user full control of the psionic along with its powers. We can use it to teleport aboard a Hashmedai ship, bypassing their mind shields.”

  “Hijack the ship, kill the crew, load it with nukes, and fly to the command ship,” Chloe said, looking at the brainjack once more. “Where the hell was that device earlier, when we took on those floaters?”

  Gengei explained the limitations of the device. “The range on the device is small. The user needs to be standing close to the psionic in order to maintain a stable connection, thus—”

  “You have to get right in the face of a floater,” Chloe said.

  “And their shields need to be down. This is why it is rarely used in battle. It is suicide in most cases.” Gengei holstered it to his side. “Find me a weakened psionic with its shield down, and we can do this.”

  Chloe looked to their captured Hashmedai in the corner. “What about her? You said that collar prevents her from using psionics. That makes her a good target.”

  “She does not have the cybernetic upgrades, namely the chip implant. But…she is a valuable person—daughter to the Hashmedai empress.”

  “Well, shit, girly here is royalty,” said Sarah.

  “And could serve as bait for a Hashmedaian rescue team—one that will be aided by a psionic,” Gengei said. “So where can we find these ‘nukes’ you speak of?”

  “Nellis Air Force Base comes to mind—should be close, too. Hook me up with a map, and I’ll point it out,” said Chloe.

  Xyniea had not noticed that Kroshka was awake from her “nap.” After Gengei gave a rundown of their plan to attack the command ship, Xyniea rose from her seat and stepped toward the prisoner. Kroshka directed no attention to Xyniea, staring at the floor and looking downtrodden. Xyniea forced her to face her, with the aid of a firm hand around her jaw.

  “You are very lucky,” Xyniea said in the Hashmedai tongue. “You slipped away from me twice. I caught you the third time, only for the commander to insist on keeping you alive.”

  “Twice?” she asked.

  Xyniea smiled and released Kroshka from her hold. “Think back to a few months ago when you got separated from the recon team. Think back to that ambush on the eastern side of this continent.”

  “I didn’t know the Radiance Union resorted to assassinations.”

  “That’s cute. You’d think I was carrying out orders on their behalf.” Xyniea’s eyes locked onto Kroshka’s pendant, an orb. “I’ll cut you a deal. Tell me where you got this, and if I like the answer, I’ll let you live.”

  Chapter 21

  An hour or so had passed since Chidorli and Whigli teleported off the Hashmedai transport to the frozen southern polar landmass. It would allow the two to be free of the arguing above and give Chidorli time to recover mentally from the earlier events.

  The couple sat watching the frozen horizon. Chidorli was still upset, but Whigli felt invigorated. During his time in this area with Phylarlie, he’d long fantasized about bringing Chidorli out here to relax and enjoy the Paryo
-like weather.

  “Feeling better now?” he asked.

  She hesitated. “I just feel like the whole mission was my fault.”

  Whigli replied, “It wasn’t. This is war, and sometimes you just lose battles because the enemy is desperate for a victory.”

  “I had so many opportunities to save Jazz, and I only focused on one task—trying to push back that soldier.” She lowered her head. “And then rather than bringing him up to Kroshka, I had her go down to aid him. Now he’s dead, and she’s been taken away.”

  “If I manage to get out of space bridge duty, we can get her back.” Words of hope were all he could offer at this point.

  “Noylarlie helped you escape space bridge duty,” she said.

  “And she helped you get through academy training. She helped us both.” Her head raised, and with it came a more positive look on her face.

  “What do you think she’s up to?” she asked, resting her head on his shoulder.

  “Making the galaxy fear her name, I hope.”

  “Why is that?”

  “I’m not going back to Jerut’s organization, and something tells me my return back to the empire won’t be a pleasant one. But having an Archmage with anger issues as an ally…”

  The two laughed, their eyes adjusting to stare at each other. “You are the only ally I need,” she said with a smile.

  He returned the compliment by sliding his tongue across hers while her hands slid down the sides of his shirtless body. She fell back into a more comfortable spot on the frozen surface, and he lay on top of her, guiding his tongue down her neck and then down her entire body.

  His head rose up after coming across her navel. A pair of slacks and a dress landed in the snow, and their naked snow-dusted bodies embraced as they joined tongues once again. A set of large hands cupped her breasts, and her small hand guided him inside her. Warm and wet—he missed this feeling probably just as much as she missed his hips thrusting in a slow, savoring manner.

  Every moan she released was followed by her wetness intensifying, leg shaking, and vagina contracting. His body temperature and heartbeat rose. A loud roar echoed across the land as he released his seed inside her caressing body.