The Complete New Dominion Trilogy

by Drury, Matthew J.

  For a moment, Chen could not decide whether to shoot. But as she gazed into those bulbous eyes and sensed the being’s benevolent nature, she relaxed a little. Yet there was another sound, coming from nearby. The voice, the voice from the cavern… still unseen, but could be heard more clearly now.

  “Lorelei.” The words vibrated in her mind. “You will come with me!”

  She could not ignore that command; the power of those softly spoken words was too great. With a great effort, she lifted her head past the small creature and saw what she thought was a hallucination. In front of her, apparently unaffected by the dense fog, was a sentient, humanoid creature dressed in magnificent robes, with pale yellow skin, a large head covered in crustacean-like mandibles, large lidless eyes, toeless feet, and long fingers. It seemed to lack a proper nose, instead having highly sensitive olfactory organs hidden in the skin-flaps of its cheeks.

  Chen wanted to call out to the alien, but she was speechless. Wearily, she lowered the pistol and slipped it back into her suit.

  The alien spoke with the same gentle authority Paramo had always used with the woman when she was far younger. “You will come with me, Lorelei!” Then it turned and walked away in a slow processional gait.

  Chen swallowed dryly, undecisive and partially frozen with terror. What was going on here? How did the alien know her name? Was it responsible for bringing her here? She blinked, fighting away tears, emotionally spent. Against her better judgement, she decided to follow, figuring she had nothing to lose at this point.

  In and out amongst the shapeless foundations of the asteroid they wandered, then soon the fog cleared, giving Chen a clearer view of the landscape of the asteroid. Tall mountains were in the distance, outlandish trees in the foreground. And there, nestled in a valley some distance away, was a dreamlike place – a great golden city of titanic blocks and sky-flung monoliths floating on green water, a place only imagined in human fairy tales.

  “Where are we?” Chen asked.

  The alien, who walked in silence slightly ahead, stopped and looked at her. “The Plains of Vadrigar,” it answered.

  Chen pointed to the golden city in the distance. “And that?”

  The alien’s face remained expressionless, devoid of any emotion, yet its gaze seemed to bore into her very soul. “That is our destination,” it said. “That is the city of the Combine.”

  7

  Chen looked sceptically from the city to the alien, who continued leading her toward the gigantic metropolis over the valley. “Maybe you could tell me who you are?” she asked.

  “I am a Hiereus of the Combine.”

  She frowned. “And what is that?”

  They approached the city and entered an impressive golden edifice with glass-paned, iron-worked windows. As they did so, parts of the giant city’s monolithic exterior began to move. Huge golden sections of the outer walls started to open and unfold. Like a high-tech origami construction, it began converting itself from shape to shape, from pyramid, to palace, to penthouse.

  “In due time,” the Hiereus told her. “All in due time.”

  He beckoned her into a low, candle-lit room with massive golden rafters and dark, stiff, sparse furniture, resembling that of the middle ages on Earth. The past was vivid here, for not an attribute was missing. There was a cavernous fireplace, a huge wooden table and beautifully carved chairs. The place was lit by candles and there were pedestaled bowls of fruit on the table, along with an oversized, leather-bound book… yet everything had a waxy, artificial feel to it. The colour scheme was an antique golden brown with darker wood and black wrought-iron candle stands. The floor was either inlaid marble or an extraordinarily detailed carpet. Whatever the case, Chen was feeling increasingly confused, and terrified. Something wasn’t right here; her senses told her something sinister lurked nearby, just out of sight, bubbling beneath the surface…

  As she gaped at her surroundings, the Hiereus turned abruptly on his heels and walked out.

  “Uh…” Chen murmured, frowning. “I guess I’ll wait here, then?”

  The door slammed behind the Hiereus, locking from the other side.

  “Hello?” Chen called anxiously.

  Then there was something behind her. She felt it coming around the corner of a pillar, but it was moving fast and before she could react, it took her. A powerful, damp hand clamped down over her mouth, and she twisted her neck just in time to see a monstrous, organic golem towering above her, its amber yellow eyes glowing with strange intent.

  It was too late to do anything but gasp.

  Slipping in and out of consciousness, Chen was led into a mist-filled room by two golems who walked her onto a platform. Then she was sucked forward into a metallic, spider-webbed panel in the wall, with her back to the room. She strained to watch as the two golems performed some kind of bizarre surgery, attaching her arms intravenously to tubes which emanated outward to a source she could not see; within them, various-coloured liquids coursed.

  Within half an hour, the golems stepped away, apparently finished and clearly awaiting the next event. Chen was turned so that she was facing into the room. Whatever chemicals were being pumped into her system were making her feel placid, lowering her inhibitions. Absently, she figured it was probably some kind of powerful truth serum. She tried to gather her strength, preparing for whatever might be coming next. For all her effort, she couldn’t do much more than lift her head slightly.

  Time passed; she wasn’t exactly sure how much. Then, from somewhere above, came an intimidating, artificially-flanged voice, unlike anything she had quite heard before. The sound was a cascade of tones, fading in and out while the pitch swept up or down, on a range that was almost too deep for her human hearing to detect. “Are you ready?” it said.

  Chen stared up through the mists at a dark tangle of flesh and machinery that obscured the ceiling - and, for the moment, any glimpse of whoever had spoken. She was not certain whether the question had been intended for her or the golems; nevertheless, she responded with a question of her own.

  “Who are you?”

  The answer came in a booming voice, infinitely confident, infinitely proud: “I am the Combine.”

  Chen tilted her head, the back of her skull sweeping against the hard surgical panel. “I… I don’t understand. What are you talking about?”

  The overhead darkness stirred; from its midst, a creature emerged. Creature, because its face was skull-like with an exposed brain, and its skin had a charcoal colouring. Resembling neither man nor woman, its eyes were unlike either - dark, with a decided glint of silver, and its body consisted of nothing more than head, neck, shoulders, arms. Spiderlike, it began to descend from a slick, gleaming web of machinery, its legless, genderless body suspended by black cables.

  “I am the beginning,” it said. “The end. The Combine. I am the Overmind.”

  As it spoke, its truncated form descended smoothly into an organic, armoured golem body that awaited below. With a liquid gurgle, its head and shoulders moved into place; the cables detached and swung away, and the thing moved toward Lorelei Chen like a phantom from some childhood nightmare. Its silver eyes were ancient, decadent, insatiable.

  “Overmind?” Chen repeated. She was emotionally drained, physically exhausted, and absolutely terrified. What the hell had she gotten herself into here?

  “I am the leader of the Combine Swarm,” the Overmind said. “I was created here, in the Plains of Vadrigar by the Xel’Naga, to bring order to the Combine.”

  Chen pondered this. “I’ve never heard of you. What is the Combine?”

  The creature’s long, artificial arms spread in a wide, sweeping V that encompassed the entire surroundings. “You claim you do not know us?”

  She took a deep breath. “Well, take no offense there. I’m sure you’re a very important group of… people. I’ve just been… out of the loop for the past few years. I’m a traveller. Just passing through, actually.”

  The Overmind picked up a large razor-
sharp knife from a table on the platform and looked at its blade, then smiled, cracked lips parting to reveal teeth even and pearly; the sight triggered the image of a millennia-old spider, opening its glittering maw to devour a mate. “I can see you have much to learn, Lorelei Chen.”

  Her eyelids lowered coyly. “Please, enlighten me.”

  “The Combine is powerful, interdimensional,” the Overmind said soothingly, smugly, toying with the blade of the knife. “We are composed of a massive variety of both allied and enslaved species. Now, thanks to you, we have found a key to harnessing the power of the Eidolon…”

  A wave of dread spread rapidly through Chen’s gut and tears swelled, blurring her vision. She blinked them away quickly, memories of Cristian Stefánsson assailing her in flashes, of the words he had spoken following his experience on Deadworld so many years ago…

  I learned so much, Lora. He showed me the way. The Eidolon. He saved me.

  “Eidolon?” she blurted. “To what end?” She froze, trying to ignore the sudden chill that seized her. An overwhelming second passed before she recovered enough to notice that the Overmind was standing before her. She recoiled in shock.

  The Overmind moved closer. “For the expansion of our interdimensional empire, of course,” it said. “With the power of the Eidolon, we will dominate the multiverse!”

  Chen shuddered beneath the words. “But… what is the Eidolon? Lord Damarus?”

  The Overmind’s coy expression grew scornful, mocking. “You are such a primitive creature,” it said, then lifted a hand and stroked damp fingertips teasingly over her cheek; Chen forced herself not to flinch. Then, abruptly, the Overmind turned and stepped away. “Let me give you a small lesson on the nature of things, Lorelei Chen. The multiverse, of which your own universe is only a tiny part, consists of four surviving realms of an original six, worlds stretched thin across the membrane where dimensions intersect. They were created by the Elder Gods… the primordial deities which together make up the All.

  “Acmon, the first-born, is a Realm of pure Light. It is the bright, glowing upper air of Heaven and the substance of Light.

  “Xel’Naga, the Realm of Order, whose inhabitants prize structure and order above all else, is where the first sentient creatures, perceiving themselves as separate from the All, evolved.

  “Vadrigar, the realm of constant strife where you now stand, is where the Combine was created.

  “Arc’Ger, a realm of gas giants inhabited by vast meteorological intelligences - the Asterites - who do not abide by any rules whatsoever.

  “And finally, the Xeilig Realm, which was known for its beauty, artistic expression, and the longevity of its inhabitants. Your own universe is part of what was once the Xeilig Realm, home to King Dru’Ma Bu’Can, greatest ruler of the Xeilig Star Empire.

  “Long ago, after the Combine was created, the Elder Gods decreed that the denizens of one realm could never again interfere with another, but one Asterite broke through eons ago and destroyed the Xeilig Empire, by feeding upon all of their worlds. But the Xeilig, as a species, managed to escape by ascending to Acmon, though Dru’Ma Bu’Can was trapped by the Asterite before he could make his final ascent… and he became the Eidolon, a creature trapped between dimensions, a powerful anomaly that the Combine have searched for ever since.”

  Chen nodded. Triumph rose within her. Whatever tragedy might follow, she at last had the satisfaction of knowing: the Eidolon was her foe, not Lord Damarus himself. Damarus had simply been an idea, a delusion… The Eidolon itself was the devourer of her lover’s soul, and the good man who had once been Cristian Stefánsson had been trapped within it. “That’s why it chose to take Cris,” she murmured, “to ease the burden of its lonely existence.”

  The Overmind turned to look at her. “Lord Damarus was too powerful for us to confront directly, but now, thanks to your actions, we have found a key to harnessing the Eidolon’s power remotely.”

  “You can’t,” Chen blurted. “I killed… I mean, I kill him.”

  The Overmind directed a smile of purely malevolent triumph at her. “Or so you think, Lorelei Chen. But it hasn’t happened yet. For a long time now, we have been tracking your movements through space and time and the changes you have been making, ever since the Xeilig Ark was reforged and came into your possession. Your actions are greatly disturbing to the Combine. You are considered a wanted criminal, a rogue interfering in our domain. Your attempts to kill Cristian Stefánsson have succeeded in doing nothing but fragmenting space-time beyond its natural equilibrium, therefore increasing the powers of the Asterites, who we can scarcely control.”

  “You can’t stop me,” Chen said. “I have seen the end of Damarus, and your precious Eidolon, with my own eyes. My future self will end him once and for all. I have seen it.”

  The Overmind moved closer, its body almost touching hers; it spoke, and she fought not to shudder at the feel of its warm, sterile breath upon her skin. “Not any more. You are now our prisoner, Lorelei Chen, and the Xeilig Ark has been taken from you. And now, thanks to you, we also know about the female.”

  “What female?” Chen rasped, exasperated.

  “Kimberley Stefánsson, of course.” A moment of silence passed, one in which the quicksilver gaze swept wistfully over the vast chamber, then again fixed itself upon Chen. “The daughter of Lord Damarus. The strength of their emotional and spiritual connection is unprecedented. We believe that she is the Key. With her, the Combine will harness the power of the Eidolon, and she will lead us to our victory!”

  Chen reacted with alarm, both at the Overmind’s revelations and its knowledge of Cris’ family. She struggled, trying to force herself out of the intravenous tubes connected to her arms. Blood sprayed, and she took a desperate step forward, toward the Overmind; immediately, two golems stepped from the shadows behind her, each seizing an arm and holding her fast. “No!” she shouted. “Don’t do it! Listen to me! This is not how it’s supposed to happen!”

  The Overmind graced her with a savage smile, delighting in her moment of personal peril. “It is too late for you now, Lorelei Chen. Take her away!”

  In an instant, the two golem guards dragged Lorelei Chen into the darkness.

  Her mind whirled. She was so exhausted.

  This isn’t how it’s supposed to be…

  She sighed deeply, unable to expel her doubts, and she stopped struggling.

  Now, things were a lot worse.

  The next few hours passed in a delirium of fatigue and pain, through most of which she slept. She was aware of her descent into an underground fortress, of being stripped to her underwear and thoroughly searched. Her suit was returned to her, minus her possessions.

  She was thrown roughly into a dungeon cell, and the door crashed shut behind her. A golem moved its hand over a device on the outside wall, and the room changed. Gravity shifted, and the room seemed to twist like a cube in some hydraulic pivot mechanism, the axis reversing. Chen slipped down as the floor suddenly became a wall. The doorway had become the ceiling, many feet above. She fell in the darkness, grunting as she impacted, then picked herself up and sat against the wall, where she immediately passed out again.

  Several hours later she awoke, feeling a dull aching sensation over her entire body. She ached in the fibres of each muscle, and shifted on the hard floor to try and find a position that hurt less. She winced in agony, collapsing in an uncomfortable heap, cursing her situation, then realised her bladder was very full. With no kind of human provisions in the poorly lit chamber she was forced to piss in a corner of the room. Then she moved away and layed on her back, staring at the ceiling, looking upset and defeated. After a few moments of pounding the ground with her fist, she quieted down and tried to organise her thoughts.

  Kim! Her stomach dropped at the thought of what the Combine had planned for Cris’ innocent daughter. If only she knew where the girl was, she could stop this… get to her before the Combine did. But it was wishful thinking. Tentatively, she knocked on the
wall behind her. Solid rock.

  What could she do? Escape? That seemed unlikely. She was in some bizarre alternate dimension for one thing, with no real idea of how to get out, and the Xeilig Ark – her only means of travel through time and space – had been confiscated, as had the pistol she carried. And who knew how many of those monstrous golems were patrolling the golden city beyond these dungeon walls?

  She could bargain, maybe. But what did she have to bargain with? Her body? She didn’t even think these golems had a soul, let alone any interest in defiling her. But how much of that kind of treatment could she really take? No, things were bad - in fact, it didn’t look like they could get much worse. Killing Cristian Stefánsson hadn’t worked, so she was back to square one in her personal quest. Would she try again? Would killing him at a different moment in time and space have any more effect than her little incursion into 2012? Could she even bring herself to do it again?

  Suddenly, a voice spoke, solitary and silken.

  “Hello, Lora.”

  At the same time, the room lit up with a brilliant white light, overwhelming Chen’s senses in dazzling splendour. The light was of such magnitude that she was forced to close her eyes. Even then, the brightness was painful - and when she opened them again, the yellow afterimage left her partially blinded for a few seconds. She looked up, squinting, a puzzled look on her face.

  What she saw made her gasp: her own self, shimmering with light. It was the same visage she’d seen aboard the Retribution seven years earlier, and again following her first time jump. It was her future dead – and ascended – self.

  Chen forced her gaze away; still clinging to the wall, she looked at her future self, speechless, desperate for explanation, for reassurance that she had not simply gone mad. At the same time, she had almost forgotten to breathe; she involuntarily inhaled sharply and found the air was extremely hot. For a fleeting moment she was possessed by fear that she would die of sudden asphyxiation.