Disciple of the Dead (Seraphim Revival Book 3)

by Jacob Holo

  She stopped in front of him, faced him without sight, and grinned wryly. “Well, that could have gone better.”

  “Yeah.” Jack sighed the word. “They reacted a lot faster than usual.”

  “So, can we try the direct approach next time?”

  “You mean fly in with your seraph, reach into the building, and rip out the data core?”

  “Yeah, that would be it,” Tesset said, still grinning.

  “I don’t know. The point is to get the information without them knowing we have it. Your method isn’t exactly subtle.”

  “Neither is having swordfights with assault warriors and jumping out of buildings.”

  Jack nodded. “True. True. You do have a point there.”

  Both Jack and Tesset turned at the sound of loud running footfalls. Jared Daykin cleared the open airlock and sprinted straight at them.

  The leader of Knight Squadron was tall and slender man with sandy blond hair and a curiously vacant expression. He wore the storm-gray uniform of a seraph pilot with white six-winged hawks on cuffs and collar. His red armband bore the Earth Nation seal: sixteen stars circling the Earth and Moon.

  “There you are!” Jared placed both hands on his knees and tried to catch his breath.

  “Hey Jared, I’ve got a question for you.” Jack smirked at Tesset.

  “Funny you should say that, because—”

  “If I were to say to you ‘executing Escape Plan J’ while on an infiltration mission, what do you think it would mean?”

  Jared furrowed his brow. “What? Escape Plan J? What are you talking about? Did you jump off a building?”

  “What?” Tesset blurted. “No way. No way.”

  Jack’s smile grew. “See, even Jared gets it.”

  “Thanks.” Jared took a few deep breaths before his face darkened. “Hey. What do you mean ‘even Jared gets it’?”

  “You two planned this,” Tesset said. “There’s no way he just guessed that.”

  “Well, it’s obvious,” Jared said. “J for jump, right?”

  “See. Obvious. Even to Jared.”

  “Yeah, about this ‘even Jared’ thing again…”

  Jack winked and gave him a firm pat on the shoulder. “Only joking. So what did you come racing over here about?”

  “You two ran into some difficulties, didn’t you?”

  “Well, I did jump off a floating city.” Jack grimaced. “Wait a second. My seraph, right?”

  “Yeah, that thing went nuts. Even with the cryogenic plants at full, it started smashing at the walls and managed to rip free of its catapult rails. We were about ready to jettison it into space when it stopped.” Jared snapped his fingers. “Just like that.”

  “Okay, I’ll go look into it,” Jack said. “Tesset, would you mind coming with me?”

  “Really?”

  “I’d appreciate it if you took a close look at my seraph with me.”

  “I don’t know,” Tesset said with a nervous quaver in her voice. “Shouldn’t you check in with Seth in the command center?”

  “He won’t mind the delay.”

  “Look, I can sense that thing just fine from here. It’s just as messed up as yesterday.”

  “Tesset, please?”

  She sighed. “All right. I’ll come along if it’ll make you feel better.”

  “Thank you.” Jack gave Jared another pat on the shoulder and started down the long stretch of seraph bays.

  The first seraph the two pilots came across was Jared’s. It loomed over them with its metallic gray exterior and sharp utilitarian lines. The Knight Squadron seal was displayed prominently on both upper wings: a chess knight on a shield split into four sections of differing patterns and color.

  “You know, the lift would be faster,” Tesset said.

  “I enjoy the walk. It’s calming, and that affects both me and my buddy.”

  “Well, when you put it that way, take as long as you want.”

  The next seraph belonged to Yonu Nezrii, who commanded Knight Squadron cooperatively with Jared. Unlike the standardized EN seraphs, her Aktenai craft was as unique and fanciful as she desired. Yonu had opted for an ocean blue design with smooth organic lines and chaos shunts stylized as shallow domes on the wings, limbs, and center of the chest. Its lines were clean and pure, marred only by the Knight Squadron seal on its upper wings.

  Jack and Tesset continued through the ship, walking past Knight Squadron’s broad mix of personalized Aktenai designs and austere Earth Nation models.

  “It sometimes amazes me,” Jack said. “We’ve been chasing Veketon for five years now, and we’re all still here.”

  “We haven’t directly confronted him that often,” Tesset said. “We’ve mostly been stinging at his infrastructure. To very little effect, I might add.”

  “Yeah, I know.”

  “You and Seth are a match for him, but the rest of us? We’d just be slaughtered.”

  “Don’t sell yourself short.”

  “Jack, I remember the last time I fought a throne. If Seth hadn’t been there, I’d be dead.”

  The two pilots stepped into Jack’s modified seraph bay. Unlike all the other bays, this one was completely vacant. Few dared enter it, and for very good reasons.

  Cold air from the cryogenic plants bit at Jack’s face. Thick mnemonic glass shielded the ledge from the seraph, but the glass was warped in several places, struck earlier by the seraph’s giant fists. Dents and armor fractures surrounded the seraph on three sides, and the shattered remains of the catapult restrains dangled limply from the ceiling.

  In contrast to the bay, Jack’s seraph looked absolutely pristine, its white armor gleaming under the lights. His seraph sported elegant organic curves, lending it a strong masculine appearance. When in flight, the stylized chaos shunts would blaze with his personal frequency, spelling out the Litany of the Mission in sharp fiery characters.

  Jack looked up at the seraph. It turned its head and looked down at them.

  “Whoa!” Tesset jerked back and grabbed hold of his arm with both hands. “Jack, it’s staring at me, and not in a nice way!”

  “It’s all right,” Jack said, whether to the seraph or Tesset, he wasn’t quite sure. “Everything’s fine now.”

  A wave of wordless relief passed between pilot and seraph. Its shoulders slumped a bit.

  Jack closed his eyes and concentrated. There it was, always present and now coming into focus. He saw himself from the seraph’s perspective, felt what it felt, and undoubtedly, the beast could do the same. It was a faithful servant, caring for nothing but the wellbeing of its pilot, and Jack did not fully understand how it had come to be like this.

  For years, decades really, the line between him and the seraph had been indistinct at best. They were one and the same, two parts of a greater whole, both born from and scarred by the same traumatic melding.

  But now his seraph had become increasingly independent, and Jack no longer felt he had full control over the strange creature. Even more alarming, this transformation included the seraph’s own body. Its organic components grew and changed, slowly but steadily consuming the seraph’s mechanical systems in an unseen internal battle.

  “Come on, buddy,” Jack said. “You made everyone nervous again. You know how they don’t like that.”

  The seraph turned its head away and somehow looked ashamed. At least, as ashamed as a giant humanoid weapon could look.

  “These episodes are getting worse. You know that’s not a good thing, right?”

  The seraph did not respond.

  “Try to keep it under control. Okay, buddy?”

  The seraph did not move, but Jack sensed its shame and its desire to please. His message had been understood.

  “Can we go now?” Tesset said with a few insistent tugs to his arm.

  “Tesset, do you have any idea what’s wrong with my seraph?”

  She shook her head. “Its aura is so complex now. It’s almost unrecognizable compared to when I first saw it.”


  “I’m having fewer nightmares, but those clearly aren’t the source anymore.”

  “I don’t know what to say,” Tesset said. “None of us have any idea what’s causing these changes. And even if we did, what can we hope to do about them this far from Aktenzek? We’re all alone out here.”

  “I know, and I guess worrying about it isn’t going to do any good. All right, let’s go talk to Seth.”

  “Finally.” Tesset breathed a sigh of relief and led the way out.

  “Hey, it’s not like I made you come along.”

  “But you asked me to!”

  “I said please, didn’t I? Besides, I value your input.”

  “Are you kidding? You never listen to my advice anyway. Remember the Auspicious Judge and the antimatter grenade?”

  Jack hung his head. “Please don’t bring up that crap again. I said I was sorry.”

  Tesset laughed as they entered the lift, sounding both happy for the camaraderie and relieved to get away from his seraph.

  ***

  Jack followed Tesset into the Judgment’s command center.

  Wall screens covered the outer surface of the compact circular room, displaying reams of data: suspected enemy positions, seraph statuses, pilot biometrics, ordnance manifests, and so on. Concentric rings of light on a black ceiling provided illumination for a central dais and six intelligence desks. Seth Elexen sat at one, perusing a sheaf of d-scroll reports and occasionally looking at live stealth exodrone feeds.

  Seth’s trim black hair glistened with sweat from the recent flight. An interlocking pattern of black triangles marked the sleeves of his white pressure suit: the heraldry of a Keeper named Haanuphel.

  Though Seth was small in stature, no one could mistake his enormous presence. He exuded command and authority effortlessly, sometimes contrary to his wishes. Where he led, people followed.

  And he has led us here, Jack thought. To the far side of the galaxy in pursuit of the most dangerous man in existence.

  Seth looked up. “Ah. Jack, please come in. Tesset, you’re welcome to join us if you like.”

  “That’s all right,” she said. “You two take care of things. I’m going to freshen up.”

  “But we still have a match scheduled, right?” Jack asked.

  Tesset paused with one foot out the door. “I’ll be waiting in the rec center. Show up whenever you find the courage.”

  “You’ll see. Your undefeated days are over.”

  Tesset flashed him an eager grin. “Just keep telling yourself that.” She turned on the balls of her feet and left. The command center door closed behind her.

  “Another Za’Chei match?” Seth asked.

  “Yeah. I’ve actually gotten pretty good, but she’s still way better.”

  “I despise the game. It’s so embarrassing when she makes me play.”

  “Well, she doesn’t do that anymore, right?”

  “No, and I appreciate you keeping her occupied.”

  Jack glanced over the wall screens. “You’ve sent out a lot of exodrones since Tesset and I left. Catch anything interesting?”

  “Yes, actually.” Seth stood up and joined Jack by the live exodrone feeds. “Something is going on, though I’m not sure what. The Fellerossi are making huge shifts in their fleet disposition. It’s like they’re readying for an offensive campaign.”

  “Against who?”

  “Unknown. So far as we can tell, all the ceasefires with neighboring powers are still in effect.” Seth shook his head. “I don’t like being in the dark about his plans.”

  “But if Vek does go on the offensive, it might help us track down the Vengeful Ascendant.”

  “Doubtful. Veketon has proven extremely adept at concealing his command ship’s location. A handful of stealth exodrones can’t cover the Fellerossi territories. And even if we did locate his command ship, we’d still have to confront him, his throne, and the concentrated strength of his remaining archangel squadrons.”

  “And Quennin,” Jack said.

  “Yes,” Seth said softly. “And her.”

  “Well, we’ve whittled at his archangel squadrons over the years.”

  “And he continues to make more.” Seth clasped his hands behind his back and stared at the live feeds. “I doubt we’ve made an appreciable dent. We need to take out their support infrastructure, also.”

  “Which is the Vengeful Ascendant.”

  Seth nodded.

  Jack sighed. “So, which of us thought we could pull this off alone with no fleet, no backup, and nowhere to run if we get into trouble?”

  “I believe it was a mutual decision.”

  “I guess sometimes I wonder if he’s too much for us.”

  “I don’t.”

  “You know, it always makes me feel better to hear you say that,” Jack said. “By the way, did we find anything interesting from that courier?”

  “The Judgment’s computers are still sifting through it. But even if we do decrypt the data, it may simply be misinformation.”

  “Yeah, Vek does seem to enjoy planting false trails.”

  “The analysis will take some time,” Seth said. “And I want to see how this redeployment shakes out. Once we have more information, I’ll make an announcement to the rest of the crew.”

  “Sounds good,” Jack said. “Need anything else?”

  “Not at the moment.”

  “Well then, if you don’t mind, I have a Za’Chei match to attend.”

  “Not at all. Please, go enjoy yourself. You work harder than any of us. It’s good to see you unwind a little.”

  “Thanks, Seth. That means a lot coming from you.”

  “Go. Shoo.” Seth waved him off.

  Jack exited the command center and navigated the spacious corridors to his roomy private quarters. He removed the half-melted remains of the stealthsuit, showered thoroughly, changed into a fresh uniform, and made his way to the rec center.

  The Judgment’s recreation center was perhaps the most Earth-influenced space on the ship. Round tables with suspended light fixtures filled the room, many equipped with holographic games of Aktenai or Earth design. At the moment, dinner was being served from the manual kitchen, and the ship’s complement of technicians, medics, and pilots queued up to collect their meals.

  Pasta and marinara sauce by the smell of it, Jack thought.

  The cook raised a meaty arm as Jack stepped through the threshold.

  “Hello, Jack!”

  Jack waved back. “Hello, Rob!”

  He navigated the maze of tables and chairs, then stopped by a large window overlooking the basketball court. Several pilots from Knight Squadron were engaged in a fast-paced game, their members split into Aktenai and Earth Nation teams. Yonu Nezrii dribbled quickly up the court, faked a shot for the hoop, and bounced a quick pass to a teammate.

  My, she does look hot in shorts and a tank top. I’m almost envious of Jared.

  “I believe you have a game to lose,” Tesset said. “If you’re done staring at the scenery.”

  Jack turned to see Tesset at a table with the Za’Chei board already set up, her chin resting on intertwined fingers, a confident smile on her face. He pulled up a chair and sat down.

  “You ready for your undefeated streak to end?” Jack asked.

  “No. Should I be?”

  “We’ll see how long that attitude lasts.”

  Jack linked with the Za’Chei board and activated it. The board’s small gravitic field switched on, picking up red and blue glass game pieces and suspending them within a holographic grid.

  “So, which color do you want, red or blue?”

  Tesset tilted her head to one side and scratched one of the empty sockets underneath her blindfold. “Oh, like it really matters.”

  “I just thought I’d ask. You know, trying to be polite before I kick your butt.”

  “I think you need to try harder at both of those.”

  “Just so long as you don’t try to read my mind,” Jack sai
d.

  “Please. Like I can see anything through your aura-scars.”

  The Za’Chei boarded generated a random set of terrain consisting of a small asteroid field, five moons, and one gas giant, all represented with exquisite artistic flourish and no sense of actual scale. Jack and Tesset took turns placing their fleets.

  “Yonu, why don’t you join us?” Tesset said without moving her head.

  Jack looked over his shoulder.

  “Sure.” Yonu walked over, drying herself off with a gray towel. A long black braid swung behind her full figured body.

  “Did your team win?” Jack asked.

  “Barely. It was a good match.” She pulled up a chair and sat down, looking deliciously exhausted.

  Tesset smiled brightly. “You and I should have a match after I’m done beating Jack.”

  Jack cleared his throat. “Ah, but the game has just begun.”

  Yonu shook her head. “Nope. No way, Tesset. It’s impossible to beat you. I’m not going to let you humiliate me the way you do Jared.”

  Tesset wore a dejected look. “Ah, come on. It’s not that bad.”

  “Whatever you say,” Yonu said.

  “Your move,” Jack said.

  Tesset leaned back and cracked her knuckles. A nearby table with five technicians noticed the game and adjusted their seating so they could watch. Two Knight Squadron pilots walked up and asked Yonu what was going on. They also decided to stay and watch.

  Around the Za’Chei table, an audience began to form.

  Chapter 3

  Keeper’s Judgment

  Jared sank into his couch and tossed the d-scroll aside. He ground his palms into his eyes and tried to focus on the Fellerossi intelligence report. As always, he struggled with even this simple task.

  Unlike the others, Jared’s mind accelerated when piloting a seraph. Chaos energy not only enhanced his reflexes, but also his cognitive abilities. On the battlefield and in full command of his seraph, he possessed a genius-level intellect, but while sitting in his quarters as just a man, he merely recalled that feeling of easy comprehension.

  The duality of his mind vexed him, but he took that frustration and turned it inward, let it drive him to be more than he was. He knew what the others thought of him, saw the twin gazes of awe and pity. Poor, stupid Jared. That’s what they thought, even if they never said it.