“I can convert more existing factories to ship production. Refitting will require no time at all.”
“You cannot delay the manufacture of other war materials. I will not allow it.”
“No, of course not, lord of lords. I will see to it all non-martial production is ended. We will produce only your goods and the power needed to do so.”
“Make it so, and I will see if you live.” He laughed loudly. “I guess housing construction can be ended without an impact. I’ve packaged enough of your otherwise useless race to make plenty of room for those who remain.” He laughed again.
The Leck genuflected in near panic.
“Show me my new flagship,” said Anganctus.
“It is my honor. This way, most regal.”
They descended a few sets of stairs and crossed the dock leading to the rear hatch of a truly tremendous warship. The Color of Blood was typical of Faxel design, but much larger. Its gravity wave generators were correspondingly bigger. She would be like the battleships of old Earth, massive and powerful.
As the group stepped aboard, the first thing the Leck noted was the horrific smell. Large cats working in close quarters inside produced an odor that was desirable to the cats but to no other species. Ammonia, pheromones, and decaying meat assaulted the Leck’s nostrils. Anganctus breathed it in deeply like a fresh sea breeze. One of the technicians collapsed in a fit of gagging.
“Take him to the galley,” said Anganctus without delay. “My crew deserves fresh meat.”
The now smaller group proceeded down a corridor.
“Take me to the bridge,” said Anganctus.
Monrove stepped to the front and led the way. When they arrived, it was a hive of activity. Mostly Faxel personnel were installing the sensitive inner workings, such as computers and communication equipment. When they noted Anganctus’s entry, they all stood and saluted.
“Thank you, my friends. Please, don’t stop work on my behalf. The sooner this ship is complete, the sooner she will see the color of blood.”
A loud cheer in the form of a growl rose from the crowd.
“The ship will be ready for its maiden voyage very shortly, lord,” said Monrove, addressing the floor.
“I hope, for your remaining children’s sake, that is the case.”
In a sense, everyone on Leck knew it was an idle threat. Whenever the Faxel were done decimating a world, they canned or froze all consumables before leaving. The faster the Leck worked, the sooner they would perish as a society.
Back in his quarters later that day, Anganctus spoke with his top advisors.
“Has the last of my fleet set sail for the human space?”
“Yes, lord,” said his chief of staff, Quentib. “The final flotilla has set a course for the last known position of their worldship fleet. They are at maximal drive and will hopefully arrive within two years.”
“I do not wish to delay my divine retribution for two years. Tell the captains to make better speed or I will fire on them when they arrive home.”
“Sir, it will be so. However, the inherent instability of the warp…”
“I care nothing for physics or similar trivialities. The crew will find a way, or die in their attempt. Is that clear, Quentib?”
“Yes. Perfectly. I will send the order myself.”
“Good. At least I have one reliable servant.” He scanned the others present with an evil look.
“Have you finalized your battle plan?” he asked of his fleet admiral.
“Yes, given what we knew as of our last encounter, I expect changes will be needed once we have the prey in sight, but we are ready.”
“Excellent.”
“I followed your vision to the letter, lord. We will attack like lightning, and we will be spread as thinly as the molecules in space. We cannot fail.”
Anganctus leaned toward the admiral hatefully. “Do you mock me? Do you say failure is not possible, or do you say failure cannot be tolerated?”
“Lord, the very thought. I could not mock you if I wanted to. I clearly meant to say failure was impossible given your all-encompassing vision. If I have insulted you, please allow me to fall on my sword.”
“No. That will not be necessary.”
“Thank you, gracious one.”
“You may fall on my sword. It longs for the taste of blood. Yours, though dilute, will quench the blade for the time being.”
SIX
Kayla and I were settling in nicely. Since both of us had spent so much time in space together, nearly alone, we were uncertain if we’d like the close quarters of a worldship. The first impression I got, having lived on Earth for forty years, was that Exeter was very much like living in a big city such as LA or Houston. I didn't get the feel of being in a spacecraft. Of course, that was part of the design, trying to fool the senses into not getting island fever. Mass hysteria was a real possibility if a large segment of the population started focusing on their extreme isolation.
With a much larger than average home and an endless number of people who wanted to meet the legend—me—we had a lot of company. Kayla flourished at that. Who knew she was a hostess with the mostest? Serving as first officer on a pirate ship didn't exactly give a gal the background needed to entertain gracefully. But she made guests feel welcome, stimulated the shy to speak and the drunken to quiet down. She wasn’t a half-bad cook either.
Seemingly before I knew it, and certainly before I could handle it, Kayla was pregnant with our third child, and little Gallenda was about to start school. Despite looking like I was still thirty-eight, I felt very old. I’d been through all this with Sapale and my stepchildren, but the intimacy of this version was disquieting. I might have to admit to being a grown up soon, which was a jarring thought because, logically, I’d have to start acting like an adult. Yuck.
Somewhere in my period of domestic bliss, Toño asked me to come to his lab. He and Carlos had something they wanted to share.
“Good afternoon, professors,” I called out as I entered. “You have a new toaster you wanted to show me?”
Toño smiled like a kid put in charge of a candy shop. “Think bigger,” he said, barely able to contain himself.
“Wow, not a newer, bigger toaster oven? I can’t tell you how much I need one of those.”
He frowned. “You have a way of deflating the most joyous of times,” said Toño with a pout.
“Aw, I’m sorry. What miracle did you come up with?” I figured it was something to do with the gravity wave generators.
“Not a miracle,” replied Carlos, “but not all that far from one. Look at this,” he gestured to a control panel.
“Ah, what? You invented the computer?”
“No. We assembled what this one is capable of doing,” responded Carlos.
“Here,” said Toño.
He flipped a switch and hit a few buttons. A sound came out of the speakers I couldn’t place. It was not radio noise because it had a periodicity to it. Otherwise, it sounded like boring music. Maybe.
“I give up. What am I listening to?”
“Here,” Toño said, hitting another button. “Let me cut in this filter.”
Instantly the wavy electronic signal became a set of discrete sounds. The result was like one of those voice scramblers kids loved to play with.
“And now, this,” he said, tapping a final icon.
“…routine maintenance reports will be issued on the prowl. Delinquent reports will be noted in the issuer’s file and may be cause for disciplinary action if the offense endangers any part of the total operation, its goals, or its intent. Remediation of infractions…”
“Wow, that was dull,” I said shaking my head. “Those have to be the most boring people in existence. Even the Sarcorit and Jinicgus would find them ponderous. Wait, you’re not eavesdropping on Luhman 16a, are you?”
“No. Guess again. I’ll give you a hint. You don’t like them at all,” responded Toño with a wicked grin.
“That’s a non-short
list.”
“One guess please, if only to see you fail.”
“You want to see me fail? That’s harsh, Doc.”
“You’re right. I should say fail again. Go on, guess.”
“The Listhelon?”
“No, but not a bad guess. No, the voice your hearing is a Berrillian AI.” Toño said that so triumphantly I felt bad not getting the exact point.
“You have a recording of a Berrillian AI. That’s supposed to impress me?”
“It is not a recording, Jon. It’s a live broadcast.” Carlos was about to explode too. “It comes to us from warp space.”
“Not really getting…whoa. Are you saying we can listen to them live in warp space?”
“Real space too,” squealed Toño. “We figured out their communications pathways and broke their codes.”
“But how? It shouldn’t be possible, right? They’re millions of parsecs away in a warp bubble.”
“A truly magnificent piece of engineering on their part. To make travel in warp space possible for a fleet, they devised a way to communicate. Without it, they’d slow considerably. The technology creates a tiny warp bubble here.” Toño pointed to a large metal-jacketed box. “For whatever twist of physics, bubble-to-bubble signaling is possible, and it is in real time.”
“So, we know what they’re doing as soon as they do?”
“Yes. It’s a game changer.” Toño clasped his hands together in excitement.
“More than a game changer,” I marveled. “It renders them a nuance, not a threat. This is huge, you two beautiful geniuses.”
“Well, that is for you military types to determine. We only make the tool available,” responded Carlos.
“I’m calling the Swedish command worldship. Hand me that phone.”
“Wh…why would you call them?”
“You two are getting a Nobel Prize before the sun sets on your cute little faces.”
“They don’t award them anymore,” replied a very serious Carlos. “Not since we left Earth.”
“I know. That’s why it’ll take me a couple calls.”
The next morning, we had a meeting with Alexis and all her military muckety-mucks. Toño announced the breakthrough to an absolutely dumbfounded room of people. When he was finished presenting, the two of them got a standing ovation, as well as a bear hug from Alexis. After the hoopla died down, Alexis asked if they were any closer to duplicating the gravity wave generators. They said they had made progress but didn’t expect success for at least several months. It was funny. The two scientists were so crestfallen to report that delay.
Alexis saved the day, bless her soul. “I wish I could knight you both. Hell, no, I’d make you dukes or something. Humanity owes you two so much that words of thanks alone simply cannot express our debt. Suffice it to say your contributions will never be forgotten.”
That perked them up. Both looked like a couple of embarrassed boys in front of the whole school. Darn cute. It was one of those moments I never expected but was privileged to be a part of. Life felt good just then. I began to fantasize that we’d turned a corner and that humankind’s travels in space were going to fall into a comfortable normalcy.
In retrospect, my big mistake was not staying on guard. The alternate timeline version of me had said the baton was mine alone. But, experiencing normal life for the first time was a narcotic to me. I lost the desire to worry about, manage, and police the galaxy. I also put Azsuram so far back in my head I didn’t think of paying them a visit as often as I should have, as often as I owed it to Sapale. I was only human. I made a set of misjudgments. Maybe that cost us big in the long run. Maybe it wouldn’t have changed a damn thing. If I'd been lucky, the second alternate timeline Jon would have shown up and kicked my ass.
SEVEN
“No, Dolirca, you can’t. What you are is out of order. The Council of Elders has rules. This is not a bar. You wait your turn or I’ll have you thrown out.” JJ was furious with his niece. He was a man who rarely got mad, so all in attendance noted this explosion.
“But this is important. I insist to be allowed to speak first.” Dolirca struggled to remain calm. She wanted to appear the more composed of the two.
“I’m betting it’s only important in your mind, not from a rational person’s perspective.”
“I must point out it is forbidden to cast insults in a council meeting. You’re out of order. I will have you thrown out,” spat back Dolirca defiantly.
The session was degenerating badly. As head of the council, JJ needed to take control. Plus, he was not about to let his crazy niece have her spoiled way.
Summoning all his inner strength, he spoke evenly. “Will the sergeant at arms please remove Dolirca from the room. Please see to it that she does not interfere with the proceedings in any other manner. The subject of her punishment will be discussed at an appropriate point in this meeting.”
JJ flopped into his chair. What a mess. Plus, Dolirca’s brood-mate was the current sergeant at arms. What a muddle. Burlinhar was spineless on his best day. He might be incapable of forcing his boulder-like brood’s-mate from where she sat.
“If the SAA needs more help, the room’s full of anxious volunteers,” JJ sniped.
“No,” Dolirca shouted, “he does not require aide. I shall gladly leave this mockery of a deliberative body.” She stormed out of the room, her Toe by her side.
Burlinhar followed closely behind, visibly slumping. He caught up with Dolirca halfway home. When he firmly grabbed her arm to stop her, both Toe growled viciously.
“Dory, wait,” he said as he pulled to slow her flight. “Come on, let’s talk. That will help.”
She ripped her arm free and began to run.
He matched her pace and reached for her again. One batted his arm away and stopped to block him. When he tried to step around the Toe, she lifted him in her furry arms.
He stared wide-eyed at One, not knowing if he was about to be torn to shreds. One was uncertain also.
“Dory,” he shouted, “help. Make her put me down.”
She slowed quickly to a stop and reluctantly turned around. “One, release him and come here.”
One did so and trotted over quickly.
“Do us both a favor and never come home,” she said in a passionless tone. “Never speak to me. Don’t even look at me. Next time I will not call my guards off.” She turned and began walking away.
“Dory, wait. You can’t mean that! We’re one, you and me. What about our children? I have to see my kids.”
She stopped and stood stiffly with her back to him. Her first thought was to have the Toe kill him. But that would raise questions in others’ minds, and there might be repercussions. If Burlinhar was found in tiny pieces, it would be easy to forensically prove her guards were responsible. A call might be made to destroy the only things she truly loved. Burlinhar would not cost her so dearly.
“Take him to the Cliff of Atlas and throw him off. But be gentle. I want it to look like a simple suicide.” Dolirca wagged a scolding finger at the Toe. “Do you hear me? Not a mark on him the rocks and the water don’t cause.”
That would do nicely. Everyone was at the council meeting. No witnesses. She’d claim they argued after the meeting. Her dearest Burlinhar fled into the night. She worried about him so because he blamed himself for her expulsion. She’d even cry when they told her they’d found his worthless corpse.
Two days later, Dolirca’s mother Fashallana and a group of her sibling came to her door. JJ was conspicuously not among them. Their faces were grave. They told her that Dolirca’s worst fears were confirmed. Her brood-mate’s badly mangled remains were found washed ashore below the cliffs. Her sisters carried her to the couch when Dolirca’s legs collapsed. Her tears were unconsolable, her grief manifest. Before leaving, Fashallana mentioned that the sheriff would be by the following day to take her official statement. Burlinhar’s autopsy was already in progress, so the burial could be performed in accordance with tradition.
/> After closing the door on the last of her cursed kin, Dolirca leaned back onto the portal. A statement? How offensive. Her fool brood-mate jumped off a cliff. Why were statements and autopsies needed? They suspected her. That was the reason she was being accused. They all clearly hated her. They were all jealous. They knew she was the rightful heiress to Sapale’s golden crown, and they hated her for it.
But they would never stop her. No. They were inferiors each and every one of them. Slime on the underside of a rock. She would rule supreme, and they would bow down to her. And she would rule them with wisdom, grace, and love, because Dolirca was love. She was mother to all her kind. That was why she loved the unlovable and would cherish the undeserving lot of them. Soon, the preposterous statue to her grandmother would be hammered to dust by an adoring crowd and a proper monument would be raised for Azsuram’s first and only queen.
EIGHT
Eas-el stood in a universe he’d never known. He closed his eyes and saw everything that was. Infinities were such a wonder of endless possibilities. He felt as if blood surged in his body, stirring in the heart he didn’t have, warming his barren interior. It was good to be alive again, not suspended in quasi-death and locked in some ill-defined nexus. He sensed life abounding in this universe. It was everywhere, and it was joyous. He knew it was his to crush, his light to extinguish. It was good to destroy again, to create fear, to end happiness, and to cancel out meaning. As his brothers and sisters dragged themselves reluctantly into existence near him, Eas-el smelled their longing, their acceptance of the need to squeeze all order from this universe. What else could the Last Nightmare do? The oblivion they spread was their way.
“Eas-el, you were always the smallest and the weakest of us, yet you force us to come here. I share your lust for shattering this vibrant universe. We all do. But the peril we are causes inhabitants to resist us every time. We will lose brothers and sisters in the apocalypse that we will spawn. It has always been so. I hold you responsible for each of them.” So spoke Des-al, the most powerful of the Last Nightmares that remained.
Forever Series 5: The Forever Alliance Page 3