by Jacob Holo
“Huh.” Jack scratched the back of his head. “So you’re going to try converting him? I don’t know if that’s such a good idea.”
Yonu placed a hand across her chest. “It is my duty, as the member of the more advanced culture, to enlighten him concerning his superstitions.”
“Ouch. Glad I’m not the one getting married.”
Yonu peered over the pages and gave him a sharp look. “Now what is that supposed to mean?”
Jack grinned at her. “Whatever you want it to mean.”
“Hurry up and ask him about the rib,” Tesset said.
“Rib?” Jack asked. “What rib?”
“We’ve been going through Jared’s book,” Tesset said.
“What? The both of you?”
Tesset set the glass watering can down and waved a d-scroll in the air.
“I’m following along with this,” she said.
“Ah.”
“This is very confusing.” Yonu thumbed to the beginning of the book. “You don’t think my translation matrix is malfunctioning, do you?”
“Nah,” Tesset said. “Mine’s coming up with the same weird stuff.”
“Anyway, Jack. We thought you could help us make sense of this.”
“Well, this is Jared’s territory, but I’ll do my best.”
“You and he are the same religion, right?” Yonu asked.
“I suppose. Though technically he’s Russian Orthodox, and I practice so little it doesn’t even matter which branch I was.”
“That’ll have to do,” Yonu said. “Well, come on. Sit down.”
She set the open book on a glass table and waited for the two pilots to join her.
“Genesis,” Jack sighed. “Oh, this should be fun trying to explain.”
Yonu pointed to a verse. “Okay. First, I’m struggling to understand this ‘God’ entity. What is it?”
“He.”
“What?”
“God’s a he, not an it. At least in Jared’s faith.”
Yonu rolled her eyes. “Well, of course. Why would it be any other way?”
“I’m just trying to help.”
“Then explain this rib thing to me.”
“What rib?”
Yonu tapped the book urgently. “The one God takes out of Adam and then makes Eve with.”
“Oh, that rib. Now I remember.”
“First of all, this book is showcasing a gross ignorance of both biology and mass conservation. You can’t make a woman out of a rib!”
Jack hung his head.
“And what about poor Adam? Now he has a hole in his chest. All his squishy bits are going to come out.”
Jack closed his eyes and sighed.
“And don’t tell me they took him to the local ward to be patched up, because I’ve run a search. There are absolutely no mentions of micro or nanoscopic medical sciences anywhere in this book.”
“Yonu, I think you’re missing the point.”
“Then enlighten me.”
Tesset leaned in. “Oh, this I’ve got to hear.”
“You’re not helping,” Jack said.
Tesset giggled.
Jack sat up in his seat. “Look, you’re probably taking it too literally. It’s more symbolic than that. It’s saying that men and women are two parts of a whole.”
Yonu raised a skeptical eyebrow. “Really?”
“At least that’s how I look at it. Think of it like piloting. Both you and Jared have your strengths, but you also have weaknesses you struggle with. When you’re working together, you’re greater than the sum of your parts. You cover each other’s blind spots.” Jack gestured towards Tesset. “And sometimes those blind spots are literal.”
Tesset scowled at him. “Watch it, Jack.”
“Sorry.”
“Are you sure that’s what it means?” Yonu asked.
“Nope,” Jack said bluntly. “You can probably find as many interpretations as there are people in the galaxy, so this is just what I think.”
“Hmm…”
Yonu picked up the book, placed it on her lap, and glared at the page. She tapped her foot nervously on the carpet, reread the verses, and eventually turned the page. Her sapphire crucifixes glinted each time she moved her head.
The door chimed. “Hey, Yonu? Are you in here?”
“Come on in, Jared!” Tesset said cheerfully.
The door opened and Jared walked in. “Oh. Jack. Tesset. You’re here, too.”
Jack hung his head again. Great. Now he’s seen me in Tesset’s quarters. I can hear the rumors spreading right now. Seth is going to kill me.
Yonu looked up from the book. “What took you so long?”
“Sorry. I had to sort out things between Tackett and Eignen. Still not sure what sparked this sudden competitive streak between them, though I have a feeling S’Zet knows. They kept glancing at her while I chewed them out.”
Tesset clapped a hand to her mouth, muffling a giggle. Yonu shot her a warning look.
Jared didn’t seem to notice. “Anyway, I got it sorted out. I didn’t want to bug you with something this trivial.”
“No, that’s all right. I wouldn’t have minded helping.” Yonu clapped the book shut and joined him by the door. “By the way, I’ve been doing some reading.”
“Oh, good. How’s it going?”
“A little confusing, but I’m working my way through it.”
“That’s great.” Jared put an arm around her shoulders and guided her out the door. “Don’t worry. Confusion is normal at first.” He paused ever so slightly. “At least for me it was.”
“Well, it’s good to know I’m not alone.”
The door closed behind them.
Jack turned his head very slowly from the exit to Tesset. “Okay, am I the only one who found that disturbing?”
Tesset snorted out a laugh. “Probably not.”
“You’re enjoying this, aren’t you? How long has this been going on?”
“Why ask me?”
Jack leaned forward with a sly grin. “Because you know everything that happens on this ship.”
“Sorry! Yonu has sworn me to secrecy!”
“Well, isn’t she clever?”
Jack slouched back into his chair. Tesset began fiddling with her blindfold.
“Soooo… Tesset. I take it you didn’t call me over here to watch Jared and Yonu’s dysfunctional relationship.”
She shook her head slowly. “No, I didn’t.”
“Well?”
“It’s… I’m sorry but just give me a moment. I don’t want this coming across the wrong way.”
Jack frowned. A sinking feeling overcame the pit of his stomach.
“Oh, I was afraid of this,” he said.
“What?”
Jack stood up and walked halfway to the door before turning around to face her. “Look, I think I know what’s going on here. I’m making things complicated for you, aren’t I? And that’s something you just don’t need.”
“But…”
“Look, it happened, okay? People make mistakes. We made a mistake, but life goes on. Tesset, the last thing I want to do is hurt you, but that’s exactly what I’m doing.”
“What are you saying?”
“I’m saying we can just forget the whole thing. I’ll walk out that door and act like it never happened. No one will ever know.”
“You don’t actually mean that, Jack. Do you?” She sniffled.
“Look, if I’m going to hurt you, then I’d rather be alone. This is all my fault, anyway. I was just being a big selfish jerk. What gave me the right to intrude the way I did? I should have just respected you and Seth by staying away. But I didn’t, so here we are.”
“Jack…” She rubbed underneath her blindfold.
He shook his head. “Yeah, I’ve totally messed this up. Look, I’m leaving. I’m sorry about doing this to you.”
“Jack, you-you-you…”
“It felt good getting these feelings off my chest. Every bit of it was true, but thin
gs would have been better if I’d never said them. I’m sorry.”
Jack reached to palm the door open.
“Stay.”
He stopped and turned around slowly.
“What did you say?”
Tesset took a long stuttering breath. “You’re such an idiot.”
“No, before that.”
“I said I ‘stay,’ you big dummy.”
“You really mean that?”
Tesset took another slow breath and wiped underneath her blindfold.
Jack walked towards her. “Even though I’m causing you all sorts of problems?”
“Yeah, I… I want you to stay.”
“You really do mean it.” Jack helped her out of the chair. He ran a thumb across her cheek and brushed away a tear that had trickled out from under her blindfold.
“Do you really think I don’t share your feelings?” Tesset asked.
“Well…”
“And you thought you’d make things better by staying away from me?”
“I meant well. Really, I did.”
“Just shut up and kiss me, you big idiot.”
Chapter 13
Disciples of Vayl
Othaniel floated above the circumference of the Aperture Halo’s immense brass ring. She spread her seraph’s regenerated hand in front of her, then clenched it in a tight fist. The new muscles felt stiff but functional.
The Aperture Halo hummed with power across its whole moon-sized ring. Ziggurat eyes covered the surface, all open, all facing her brother.
Zophiel held the portal lance before him like a humble offering and descended towards the base of a grand spike: one of seven that stretched almost to the ring’s center. The spike’s thick foundation dwarfed his seraph: a black dot against the curving wall of brass. Ziggurat eyes blinked excitedly, awaiting his approach. A circular panel depressed, divided into over a dozen segments, then slid aside.
Zophiel placed the lance into the waiting carriage. Rings contracted around it, locking it in position.
Black energy danced across the spike’s five-hundred-kilometer length, forming great arcs that resembled solar prominences. Zophiel spread his wings and flew away from the spike’s base. The panels closed shut and the energetic discharges died down.
The Aperture Halo was inert once more.
“Finally,” Riviel breathed, her voice ripe with anticipation and reverence.
Othaniel gazed up at the warships forming a protective barrier around the Aperture Halo. Over six hundred vessels of various sizes and classes filled space around them, their reflective armor gleaming in the light of the giant star far beyond. Despite the distance, they were close enough that the blue giant filled much of the horizon with its fiery girth. Fierce solar wind roared upward, so thick that it diffused the star’s glow like smoke or mist.
Zophiel landed on the ring next to his sisters. All of their seraphs had regenerated from the battle, though the same could not be said for their Ziggurat weapons. Othaniel’s right arm had healed, but her armlet was gone, lost in Cathedral somewhere. Riviel’s shield continued to reform itself. Three of its eyes had reopened, but the shield still looked like a half-melted sheet.
Zophiel stepped across the brass surface, a lone sword docked against his back.
“The Aperture Halo is ready,” he said.
“What must we do, Brother?” Othaniel asked.
“It requires a surge of chaos energy to start the processes, much like an ignition laser. Once the process is started, it will become self-perpetuating. The lances will draw the necessary chaotic forces from the aperture itself, guided by the Ziggurat machines inside the ring. Follow me, Sisters.”
Zophiel spread his wings and took off. He led them a third of the way around the ring’s circumference, coming at last to a smooth brass mountain that jutted out of the ring’s upper surface. Ziggurat eyes, each several kilometers wide, formed a circle around its base.
Zophiel dropped onto the mountain’s flattened peak. Othaniel and Riviel landed behind him.
“Please do as I do,” he said. “But I must warn you this will not be pleasant.”
Three pillars deployed from the floor, each stopping level with a seraph’s chest. Zophiel approached the central pillar and placed his hands into two shallow grooves. The pillar unfolded like a complex mechanical puzzle. Plates and rings enveloped his forearms, then brass stilettos pierced all the way through his hands.
Othaniel flinched at the sight. Her wings quivered.
Riviel stepped confidently forward and pressed her hands into the second pillar’s grooves. The mechanism encapsulated her hands and speared through her palms. Black energized blood drained down the pillar and pooled at its base, becoming a deep crimson as chaos influx ebbed away.
“Sister?” Zophiel said quietly. “Please.”
Othaniel folded her wings against her back and steeled herself. “Yes, Brother. Of course.” She stepped up and placed her hands atop the pillar. Brass pieces reformed around her forearms, and sudden hot needles punched through the meat of her hands.
She cried out.
“It will begin shortly,” Zophiel said. “Brace yourselves.”
Othaniel tensed up, trying not to flex the muscles in her hands. Every little twitch burned her palms.
The ignition process began slowly at first, as if something nibbled at her seraph’s barrier. That subtle itch turned into a dull burn, and then a sharper pain. Othaniel sucked in a harsh breath as the Ziggurat machines hungrily pulled more and more power from her.
The siphoning of chaos energy accelerated and accelerated and accelerated, seemingly without end, her agony mounting each step of the way. She broke down and screamed, but the sound died against the thunderous rush of power through her. Her legs went slack, and she collapsed against the pillar, her hands held securely in place by cruel blades.
A river of fire burned through her head, hollowing out her mind and scorching her thoughts. Fierce energy charred every inch of her body. Pain eclipsed all rationality, and she screamed and screamed and screamed—
—and then, the pain stopped as if a switch had been flipped. She struggled unsteadily to her feet and opened her seraph-eyes.
The Aperture Halo shook with pulsing waves of black light. Huge arcs of hot energy flowed from one spike to the next. Power gathered at the center in a barely contained ball of black energy. It undulated as if alive, expanding and contracting as chaotic energies flowed into it.
Eyes everywhere across the Aperture Halo blinked in perfect unison. The seven spikes oscillated with power, their tips vibrating so violently that the edges blurred. The energy sphere at the center bloated outward, dangerously close to bursting.
And then it shrank in on itself and vanished! The Aperture Halo went dead. Ziggurat eyes slammed shut.
The brass needles pulled out of their arms. Othaniel jerked her hands free.
“Was that supposed to happen?” she asked.
Hot, searing light exploded from the center, sending the whole universe into deep contrast. White edges blossomed outward, darkened, and then spun madly back inward. Thin strands of liquid silver flowed across the spikes, falling towards the churning energy in the center.
“Let’s see if the second phase is proceeding smoothly.” Zophiel spread his wings and took off.
Othaniel paused for a moment to study her palms and was pleasantly surprised to find only narrow wounds that would heal quickly. She shook out her hands and followed her brother.
Zophiel flew to the barely contained plasma vortex beneath the Aperture Halo. A long chain of gravity rings guided a thick strand of the blue giant’s expulsions up into the vortex where gravitic fields struggled to hold it in check.
Othaniel didn’t pretend to understand how the vortex provided raw material to the Aperture Halo without any physical connection. The huge spinning panels supped at glowing plasma that then exhaled from the spikes. These strands of plasma then flowed into the growing sphere of energy at the Halo’s
core.
“Good,” Zophiel said. “It seems to be working. The aperture is slowly widening and enough matter is being provided to form the Gate chamber.”
“Congratulations, Brother,” Riviel said. “You’ve done it.”
“It is too early to celebrate. We must defend the Halo until the new Gate has finished maturing.”
“How long with that take?” Othaniel asked.
“I am not sure, and neither is Vayl. A matter of hours, we think, but this is only a guess.”
“And if Veketon attacks before it is finished?” Othaniel asked.
“The process is difficult to interrupt now that it has begun, but we underestimate Veketon at our own peril. For the time being, wait here and guard the Aperture Halo. I will return shortly after speaking with the original.”
“At a time like this?” Riviel asked.
“Yes. It is important that I speak to it. I have an idea that may allow us to avoid another fight with Veketon, but I must consult with that creature first.”
“Very well, Brother,” Riviel said. “Consider the Halo secure until you return.”
“Thank you, both of you. I will return soon.”
Zophiel accelerated from the Aperture Halo and vanished in a flash of distorting energy.
Othaniel floated in space, the energetic machinations of the Aperture Halo before her. With nothing else to do but wait, she found her mind wandering back to the battle within Cathedral.
Those other seraphs, she thought. Especially that white one…
I wonder…
Othaniel separated a piece of her mind and focused on the white seraph’s battle images. The enemy rushed at her, energy sword blazing with power, runic characters glowing against white armor. The design struck her with its simple lines and clean aesthetics, but another sensation crept into her mind as she studied it.
Familiarity.
She had seen the seraph before. Or rather, Vierj had seen it.
Could this be the pilot who befriended her and ultimately betrayed her? Could it be the same man?
Othaniel didn’t know, but curiosity tingled in her mind. Vierj had considered all of her children failures, even ones as powerful as Zophiel and Riviel. There had been only one person Vierj had dealt with as an equal.
Could this be him? she thought. If so, why did she choose him? What makes him so different from us?