Disciple of the Dead (Seraphim Revival Book 3)

by Jacob Holo

  Perhaps that was why Jack’s offhand insult burned more than it should have, and why he’d buried himself in exodrone reports ever since.

  The far wall of his quarters displayed a lush simulacrum depicting gentle hills and distant mountains. Coniferous forests stretched out in every direction, vanishing into fog-veiled valleys. A few maglev roads and white-wall buildings pierced the low morning mist. It only lacked the cool scent of newly fallen rain.

  Home, Jared thought with an ache of longing in his heart. The images were so crisp that a part of him wondered if he could walk up to the wall, step over its threshold, and find himself on Earth.

  A few undergarments tossed against the screen helped dispel the illusion.

  “Yonu…” Jared sighed, fighting down an urge to start cleaning. “What am I going to do with you?”

  Idly, Jared reached into his pocket. He found the bejeweled circle of metal and began rolling it between his thumb and forefinger.

  “I’m such a coward for waiting this long.”

  Jared took his hand out and smacked his cheeks.

  “Okay, Jared. Come on. Back to work.”

  He grabbed the d-scroll, unfurled it, and resumed reading. After a few paragraphs, the door to his quarters opened without permission. That could only mean one person.

  Yonu stormed into the simulated morning light wearing nothing but a tank top and very short shorts. Her long tail of braided raven hair slapped against her back as she came to a halt next to the couch.

  She looked out of breath. And possibly angry.

  Jared set the d-scroll down very slowly.

  “Yonu, is something wrong?”

  “Rec center. NOW!” Yonu gestured out the door with a thumb.

  “I’m sorry, but I’m working. Can it wait?”

  “NO!”

  Jared frowned at the d-scroll.

  Some of the urgency left Yonu’s expression. “What’s eating you?”

  “Oh, nothing.” He tapped his temple. “Just the usual.”

  Yonu sat down next to him and placed a hand on his thigh. “Are you okay?”

  “Yeah, I guess so. It’s just that my brain feels like its wading through knee-deep muck most of the time. It gets frustrating.”

  “You’re just having a… what do you call it? A half empty moment?”

  “Glass half empty. Yeah, that’s what I’m having.”

  “You need to turn this into a glass half full moment. I would literally kill to have a mind as sharp as yours when piloting. Seriously, I really would kill someone for that.”

  Jared chuckled. “That does make me feel better, actually.”

  “None of us get to choose how our talents manifest, and honestly, you could have ended up a lot worse. I mean, look at what a mess Jack is.”

  He nodded. “Yeah, it could be worse.”

  “Now.” Yonu patted his thigh. “If you’re done sulking about your amazing brain, there’s something you have got to see.”

  “Sure. What is it?”

  “Rec center. Come on.”

  When they arrived, Jared was surprised to find nearly everyone on the ship present. They weren’t spread out, either. Nearly a hundred people crowded shoulder-to-shoulder around a single Za’Chei table. The air buzzed with excitement. People cheered, booed, shouted, and laughed.

  Jared reached the crowd’s edge and stood up onto his tiptoes. He found a decent angle through the press of bodies and spotted Jack and Tesset playing Za’Chei.

  “Can you believe it?” Yonu asked. “I think he might actually beat… uhh, Jared?”

  He began shoving his way closer to the table. “Pardon. Excuse me. Whoops, sorry about the foot! Sorry. Sorry! Pardon me! Coming through!”

  Soon, Jared’s diligence rewarded him with a table-side view.

  “Oh my,” he muttered, studying the game-in-progress. He was no master player, but he could normally pick the winner after ten resolutions. This game was thirty resolutions deep with both sides suffering heavy casualties, and Jared had no idea which way the battle would swing.

  Tesset had more ships, a solid half of her fleet left, but Jack had somehow forced her to divide those forces. They were now spread out into two large groups on either side of the board. Jack might have had fewer ships, but they were all concentrated in a single unit larger than either of Tesset’s groups.

  “Too close to call,” Jared whispered, his voice lost in a sea of cheering. “He might actually beat her.”

  It was Tesset’s turn, and she nervously spun a red glass dreadnought in her hand, one of several casualties lined up on her side of the table. She clenched her jaw tightly and studied the game through her unique sense.

  “Any time now, Tesset.” Jack leaned back, wearing a confident grin.

  Tesset didn’t answer. The dreadnought spun faster in her fingers.

  Jared tapped Jack on the shoulder.

  He looked up. “Oh. Hey, Jared.”

  “That’s a Xixek technique you’re using, isn’t it?”

  “You know, you could say hello first.”

  “But am I right?”

  “Yeah, Jared. It is. You know how Tesset loves leading off with a Balezuur’s Gambit?”

  “Yeah.” Several hundred games flashed through Jared’s mind.

  “Well, the best way to beat Balezuur’s Gambit is with Xixek’s Blitz. Risky, but if it works, it really fowls up her momentum.”

  Jared logged the fact into his neural link and highlighted it for later study.

  “You haven’t beaten me yet,” Tesset said. Her fingers missed a beat, and the glass dreadnought tumbled out of her right hand. She snatched it out of the air with her left.

  Jared felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned to find Yonu next to him.

  “See, Jared? Aren’t you glad I told you about this?”

  “Yeah, thanks for letting me know. So who do you think is going to win?”

  “I still say Tesset’s the favorite. She never loses.”

  The game progressed as a standoff with Jack walking a fine line between wedging Tesset’s fleets apart and getting surrounded. Tesset meanwhile kept backing away from engagement after engagement, trying desperately to regroup before committing to combat.

  And then, in a handful of resolutions, it completely fell apart.

  “Ah, crap-on-a-stick,” Jack muttered.

  Tesset’s two fleets finally converged on his with superior firepower. She flopped back into her seat and let out a long, relieved breath.

  “I thought you had me there,” she said.

  “Yeah, me too.”

  Jared narrowed his eyes. He replayed the last three resolutions in his mind.

  “But that was a really good game,” Tesset said. “You’ve gotten a lot better.”

  “Not good enough, though.”

  Jared crossed his arms and glared at the board, deep in his own world.

  “You came really close to winning,” Tesset said. “But do you realize what went wrong?”

  “I guess I got a little too eager. You were playing the waiting game, and I tried too hard to engage the group on the right.” Jack shrugged. “Oh well. I’ll try harder next time.”

  “Yeah. Good game, though. Really good game.”

  “Thanks.”

  The crowd started to disperse, but Jared kept his eyes fixed on the Za’Chei board. The holograms winked out, and playing pieces hovered silently into slotted recesses along the board’s edges.

  There was something wrong about that last bit, he thought.

  “All pilots, please report to the command center,” Seth said over the speakers. “All pilots to the command center.”

  “Come on.” Yonu shook Jared’s shoulder. “Let’s go.”

  “Sure. I just want to have a quick word with Jack.”

  “All right. I’ll see you at the briefing.”

  Jared rounded a throng of the thinning crowd and walked up to Jack. The bane-pilot leaned against the long window overlooking the basketball courts,
apparently waiting for the crowd to thin before leaving. No one else was close by.

  “Hey, Jared. What’s up? Enjoy the game?”

  Jared leaned against the window next to him. “You lost that game on purpose.”

  “Of course I did.”

  “You’re not even denying it?”

  “Shhh.” Jack placed a finger to his lips. “Just don’t tell anyone else.”

  “Sure, but why? You could have beaten her.”

  “Let me ask you something, Jared. If you were competing against Yonu—could be at basketball or Za’Chei or anything, really—if you had the chance to let her win without her knowing, would you do that?”

  “No,” Jared said without having to think.

  Jack shook his head and sighed. “And that’s just one of many reasons why you’re you and I’m me.”

  Without another word, Jack pushed off the window and walked out of the rec center.

  Jared watched him leave.

  “And just what is that supposed to mean?”

  ***

  Seth stood on the dais in the Judgment’s command center as his fellow pilots filed into the room. He felt pride swell within his heart as he saw their confident expressions. They were all ready for his orders, ready to do their part to rid this universe of Veketon’s evils.

  His eyes fell upon Tesset Daelus: the young pilot he was bonded with until their daughter came of age, as was the Aktenai custom. Neither of them had seen the child in years, and Seth hoped little Saera fared well under the caretakers’ watchful eyes.

  Jack entered after her, followed by Jared and the last few pilots from Knight Squadron. Seth knew he stood amongst some of the most powerful pilots in all of Aktenai history. The doors slid shut, and they waited silently for his words.

  “Veketon is mobilizing for an offensive,” Seth said. “The Fellerossi are shifting all available forces towards the galactic rim, heading for an Outcast nation known as the Disciples of Vayl.”

  “What do we know about them?” Yonu asked.

  “Very little,” Seth said. “And everything we do have is second hand. They are a secretive nation that appears to have non-aggression pacts with their neighbors, but no formal trade agreements or alliances. This could be due to how isolated their star cluster is. From what we know, they have absolutely no military ambitions in the region. Their interests appear to be, as strange as this sounds, archeological in nature.”

  “That doesn’t make sense,” Yonu said. “Why is Veketon picking a fight with them?”

  “A valid question indeed.”

  Jack cleared his throat.

  “You have something to add?” Seth asked.

  “Yeah.” Jack stepped forward. “I think I know who these so-called Disciples are.”

  “You do?” Seth asked.

  “Remember, I’ve been to this region of space before. We’re close to the world I found Vierj on. And if you recall, the whole time I was on this side of the galaxy I was being hunted.”

  Seth nodded.

  “Well, these Disciples were the jerks doing the hunting. They knew what I was, and they hated me for it. They must have known about Vierj too. Archeological interests? Yeah right! When you start talking the true history of this universe, you’re talking banes, portal lances, Gates, and who-but-Veketon knows what else.”

  “Who-but-Veketon indeed,” Seth said. “You make an excellent point. Veketon may have more justification for his attack than I thought at first. We’ll have to take that into consideration. But for now, we shall focus on our most pressing need: information.”

  “What’s the plan, sir?” Jared asked.

  “We need to know where the Vengeful Ascendant is,” Seth said. “Where will it be, and what forces are in close proximity? With the new offensive, the Ascendant is undoubtedly on the move, and this movement will have to be coordinated with other ships and installations.”

  A hologram shimmered between Seth and the assembled pilots. The air above the floor coalesced into lifeless hills and valleys drenched in sun and blasted by sand.

  Above the desert floated an aerial fortress that resembled a thin-legged five-point star. Its surface shimmered like burnished silver, and each leg measured ten kilometers long. They were so long and so thin that, despite its size, the aerial fortress possessed a fragile beauty.

  At its core was a sphere one kilometer in diameter. Text scrolled next to the image, listing its weapon emplacements. Red brackets highlighted the guns and missile banks.

  Jared whistled.

  “This is the Vigilant Sentinel,” Seth said. “According to our exodrone surveillance, most of the supplies for the offensive will be distributed from this fortress. Other fortresses are being used as staging points, but this one appears to be handling logistics for the initial redeployment. We have a very limited window of opportunity here. Maybe ten hours, maximum.

  “Our goal is to capture its primary hypercast buffer located somewhere in the spherical core section. The Vengeful Ascendant may have requested supplies from this fortress. If so, we’ll have a precise record of where those supplies are being sent. After that, we can scout the area. A ship the Ascendant’s size leaves a very loud fold engine wake. Even if it leaves, it’ll be some time before the wake dissipates completely.”

  Jack nodded thoughtfully. “I like it. Even if they purge the buffer, we can perform a reconstruction here on the Judgment.”

  “My thoughts exactly,” Seth said. “Per standard operating procedures, I’ll open an intra-gate to the target to mask our point of origin. Remember, only engage your fold engines if absolutely necessary, and never lead the enemy back to the Judgment.”

  Seth studied their faces. The pilots all understood his reasons for repeating this warning before every launch. They all knew the cost of failure. If the Judgment’s location was revealed, Veketon would bring the full might of the Fellerossi slamming down on their heads.

  Their base of operations would die, and with it gone, so would they. Simple as that.

  “The attack will be conducted in two waves,” Seth said. “Wave One will consist of Jared, Yonu, Jack, and Tesset. The rest of Knight Squadron will remain in reserve. Jared and Yonu will provide cover for the operation while Jack boards the Vigilant Sentinel and retrieves the hypercast buffer. Tesset, stay hidden close to Jack and assist as needed if things go wrong.”

  “When things go wrong,” Tesset said dryly.

  “Precisely,” Seth said with a nod.

  “Why not just rip the buffer out with a seraph?” Tesset asked.

  “Do you know where they put the communication nexus on these things?” Jack asked.

  “No.”

  “Neither do I,” Jack said. “The fortress core is, what, a few cubic kilometers of space? Where do you want to start yanking stuff out? No, the fastest way is for me to go in and listen for the hypercast feeds.”

  “Outside of your seraph.”

  “It won’t work any other way.”

  “Don’t you always say that talent of yours is temperamental?” Tesset asked.

  “That’s why I’ll have you watching my back, right?”

  Tesset shook her head. “You’re going to be exposed in there. This isn’t some Fellerossi city. It’s an aerial fortress.”

  “We don’t have any better options. Look, if we’re ever going to kill Veketon, we’re going to have to take some risks. Seth, back me up on this.”

  “Time is critical,” Seth said. “The fortress is gathering supplies from installations on the surface. Once complete, it will ascend out of the planet’s gravity well and engage its fold engines. We need to act quickly, otherwise we’ll miss this opportunity. Tesset, I understand your concerns, but there’s nothing we can do about them.”

  “Well, that makes it all better,” Tesset muttered under her breath.

  Seth frowned. He wished he could address her concerns and ease her fears, but the mission trumped her needs. They had to succeed. Veketon could not be allowed to live.
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br />   “Expect a heavy and growing Fellerossi fleet presence,” Seth said. “Archangels may appear as the mission unfolds, so keep that in mind as you select your weapon loadouts.”

  “In other words,” Jared said, “keep a sword handy and don’t go too heavy on ship-killing torpedoes. Load up on tactical seekers for when things get rough.”

  “What about thrones?” Yonu asked. Her words hung in the air.

  The pilots did not fear archangels. Those imitations could only threaten seraphs through superior numbers. But even Jared, who was the third strongest pilot onboard, stood almost no chance against a throne.

  Seth understood their hesitation all too well. Even if all of Knight Squadron engaged Veketon alone, it would be a bloodbath and likely end in his favor. No, this is something only Jack and I can do.

  “If thrones appear, we will disengage immediately,” Seth said. “Veketon will only enter the engagement if he has the upper hand.”

  “No need to convince us,” Jared said. “All right. We run if those things show up.”

  “When do we leave?” Jack asked.

  “There is nothing to be gained by waiting,” Seth said. “Our window of opportunity may pass earlier than predicted. Everyone, don your i-suits and board your seraphs. We leave as soon as all craft are ready.”

  “Listen up!” Jared placed one foot on the dais and turned to the other pilots. Pieces of the Vigilant Sentinel’s hologram wavered around his waist. “Knight Squadron, finalize your loadouts and link them down to the techs. I don’t want to see anything over a fifty-fifty split in those missile pods. Rifles loaded and swords at the ready, go it?”

  The pilots of Knight Squadron chorused loudly, “Yes, sir!”

  Seth switched off the hologram and stepped away from the dais. He walked over to Tesset as the other pilots filed out. For some reason, Jack hesitated by the door, his gaze passing over both Seth and Tesset. He took a half step back into the room, but then turned and left.

  Seth put his hands on Tesset’s shoulders.

  “You okay?”

  Tesset shrugged. “Yeah. I guess so.”

  “I’m sorry about that.”

  “You did the right thing,” she said. “We have a job to do. I guess I lose sight of that sometimes.”