With a nod, Silvia began herding the other Blashians into a nearby building. Lorne turned back to the guards and gave them their orders. His people released the so-called ‘Driftwood’ they had captured, though not without dark looks being passed between them. Lorne could see the thoughts they left unspoken; they disagreed with Renaei’s decision to let them go.
‘Renaei, just a moment,’ he called and waited until she drew close to him before continuing. ‘Now that you’re here, Oceania’s people will probably launch a full-scale attack.’
Renaei lifted her chin. ‘My guards can repel any attack of theirs.’
‘Won’t our opponents have…similar backing?’ he asked, alluding to her brother.
No, Renaei said, using her abilities to silently answer him after a furtive look around. He won’t dare show his face. He’s just as afraid of dying as I am.
Lorne frowned and also switched to thoughts instead of spoken words. He won’t come? Then this won’t end with New Sydney.
What do you mean, Lorne?
There’s a reason we try to take out the leader of a group in a fight, Lorne told her. Oceania’s the head of this animal and he’ll keep attacking you and your people all across the galaxy.
‘I will protect my people from any harm that comes their way,’ Renaei declared out loud and then marched towards the large hovel the Blashians used for their meetings. The doorway was so low that the goddess had to duck to follow Silvia inside.
Lorne watched Renaei go, grinding his molars together. Don’t make promises you can’t keep, Renaei. You yourself told me that Oceania has other gods on his side. Even if you spread your fifteen Guards of the Goddess across the stars, we can’t protect everyone.
She didn’t answer him but he felt the tendril of fear that she quickly coiled up inside her. He remained a spectator in her mind, listening to the speech she was giving her people — words to placate, words that omitted instead of explaining, words that held the empty promises they had all heard before.
‘We’ll be easy pickings once you abandon us and take your guards with you,’ Silvia pointed out. Through Renaei’s eyes, Lorne could see that the elder was pacing, her staff drifting beside her, almost like an afterthought. The other villagers packed into the room nodded their agreement.
Lorne? Renaei called. Please help me. What do I offer them?
So he told her. He told her exactly what he would do in her place.
Moments later, Renaei’s words echoed his. ‘I will leave some of my guards here to protect you and they’ll also train you to defend yourselves. Anyone who wishes to learn from them will be given my powers as well as countless brothers and sisters to fight alongside. Who among you is willing to volunteer?’
The response was immediate: cheers, applause, bows, even whispered reverence.
You didn’t need to use my idea, Lorne said, not bothering to hide his pleasure that his goddess trusted his opinion so much.
And you didn’t need to help me, Renaei countered.
Yes, I did.
Because I am your goddess?
He swallowed a laugh. Give your ego a rest, Renaei. If your people can defend themselves, you won’t have to physically appear so often. It’s safer. I guess today it was my turn to exercise some common sense.
Her amusement spiking briefly, Renaei did not reply and instead shooed him out of her mind so that she could concentrate. Lorne obeyed her, already preoccupied with the ramifications of her speech. She would need him to travel across the galaxy and teach her people how to use their new powers. The thought of leaving someone else at Renaei’s side while he did this rankled. But it was something he’d have to live with.
A hand fell on his shoulder. Lorne started — and looked around at his Second, who had managed to sneak up on him. There was a smirk twisting her lips.
‘Stopped talking to the boss in your head yet?’ Merryn asked.
‘I shouldn’t have lost focus,’ he said, annoyed with himself. ‘Thank you.’
Merryn snickered. ‘Happy to help, Captain. Who’d have thought when you were teaching me about forcefields back at GLEA that you’d need me this much?’
‘Merryn…’ Lorne sighed, rubbing his scarred temple. ‘We need to be alert and ready for a fight, not reminiscing.’
‘Stark, you’re as much fun as Colonel Vasquez,’ she complained, naming the agent she’d been paired with before she’d left the Agency.
‘Hopefully I was a much better agent than him,’ Lorne muttered.
One of the nearby guards shouted a warning, interrupting whatever smart comment Merryn was about to make.
‘The Driftwood are converging on the beach and they’re all heavily armed!’ Rejos Michson announced from his position on one of the mounds that constituted a building. ‘Shouldn’t have let those fuckers go. We’re outnumbered now, Captain.’
Merryn clapped her personal shield back onto her chest, reactivating the device.
‘He’s right, you know,’ she said aside to Lorne.
‘Don’t question your orders! You’re not being paid to do that.’
‘And here I thought I was being paid to watch you make eyes at our boss,’ Merryn drawled, then danced away before Lorne could take her to task.
• • •
Renaei emerged from the meeting hovel when the fighting had already started, a smile playing over her face as she watched the Guards of the Goddess build a solid wall of soil, moss and rock in front of Blashi. The altered terrain shook but held. Mere lasbolts wouldn’t be able to punch their way through. But Oceania’s people had more than lasguns in their arsenal.
‘Get back inside!’ Lorne roared at the villagers who had followed Renaei.
Broad lascannon fire sailed down from the sky. Lorne was already moving, his hands thrown up in front of him and lines of concentration cutting into his face. Renaei felt him effortlessly take command of the powers she had given him, powers that were so much stronger than what he’d had when he’d been a Chipper. She was stunned. His mastery was nearly a match for her own.
The Blashians could do little but stare at each other in horror as death fell towards them. But they were safe — thanks to Lorne. He used his telekinesis to encase them instead of himself, relying on his personal shielding device to protect him. Its small forcefield wavered ominously after two large beams struck it, then grew seamless once more. His relief swiftly gave way to annoyance.
Lorne spun to face Renaei. ‘Are you done watching us show off? I know you can teleport a whole bunch of people at once, so get rid of these starkers’ weapons and send them back to shore. You can talk to them there.’
But I don’t know what to say to them! Renaei cried silently. And would they even listen to me if I appeared with armed guards?
Leave the others and take me with you, Lorne ordered.
Oceania’s followers shouted in fear as swirls of moss and grass smothered them, teleporting them away from Blashi and back to their beached vessels. Renaei then moved up beside Lorne, including him in her personal vortex. He was used to this method of transportation now and barely blinked when it happened.
The second their faces were obscured from those inside the village, Lorne murmured, ‘I’m here, Renaei. And I’m not going anywhere.’
The words were unnecessary. He didn’t need to say them.
But they stilled the rapid beating of her heart.
Side by side, the goddess and her bodyguard walked out onto wave-licked sand. Lorne immediately fell behind a pace. His personal shield was still active, even if it was giving off uneven whirs of discontent. It sounded as though the device was only a handful of lasbolts away from failing altogether.
Renaei kept her telekinetic defences in place and could also feel Lorne’s touch on her shield, bolstering and strengthening it. He was using all of his powers to protect her while continuing to trust his safety to malfunctioning tech.
She would have to remonstrate him for this later.
‘People of Oceania!’ Ren
aei called, advancing on the people crowded together on the shore.
Now lacking their lasguns, they began to grab rocks and seashells to throw at Renaei. She flinched. It wasn’t a dangerous attack, merely an inconvenient one, but it made her want to take Lorne’s hand for reassurance.
His mind pulsed with warning. A goddess shouldn’t need to rely on her subject.
But I do need you, she thought.
Focus, Ren, Lorne told her firmly.
Renaei glanced at him, startled. No one had used her nickname in over a millennia. Somehow Lorne had found it inside her mind and had known that the surprise of hearing it would distract her from her fear.
Lorne’s shielding device failed after another minute of the primitive onslaught. Without missing a beat, he dropped the smoking tech and stepped in behind Renaei, taking advantage of their combined defences. Nothing came through. Nothing struck them. They were untouchable.
When their opponents realised this, the rocks stopped coming.
Still wary, Oceania’s followers maintained a loose circle around the pair. Renaei held up her hands and waggled them threateningly, a reminder that she could attack at any moment. Lorne stayed at her back, protecting her, ready to offer her any insight.
But he believed she could do this without him. She had every intention of proving to him that his faith was not misplaced.
Renaei lowered her arms to her sides. ‘People of Oceania, I don’t want to hurt you. I would rather speak to you instead.’
‘We’d rather kill you!’ a man cried, throwing one last rock that bounced harmlessly away. ‘Oceania said he’d give us powers if we handed him your body. He promised!’
‘Has Oceania ever answered any of your prayers?’ Renaei asked. ‘Has he even bothered to show you his face? Oceania, my own brother, sent you against me, knowing that you might perish in the attempt.’
‘If we don’t obey him, he’ll slaughter us!’ someone else shouted.
Renaei shook her head. ‘No. I’ll protect you from him. And the fact that he hasn’t shown up means he’s either afraid of me…or he doesn’t care about your wellbeing.’
She hadn’t wanted to inflict the pain she saw in their eyes, nor the uncertainty. Many of them looked to the sea, remembering how their god had ignored or punished them when they dared to ask for help. They had grown jealous of those ashore, having heard that the goddess of tundra always answered her followers’ pleas when they used her name. She let them see her, let them know that she was watching over them. It had been a story, a rumour, but now Oceania’s people knew it to be true.
One by one, their shoulders slumped, the fight in them fading to nothing.
Renaei softened her voice. ‘I will make you an offer. Any of you who need help, at any point in the future, please call my name. I would never send you against a powerful being that you have no hope of defeating. And I would never leave you without some way of defending yourselves. If it’s powers you want, I’ll give them to you — but in return, you must save lives instead of ending them.’
Mutters spread amongst Oceania’s people. They didn’t trust her. Everyone knew the sub-level gods would do anything to grow their followings and expand their influence.
‘I won’t even demand your worship,’ Renaei added quickly, hoping she didn’t sound as desperate as she felt. ‘All I ask is that you come to Blashi when you’re ready to trade war for peace. If you ever are.’
She turned her back to them and strode towards the village, Lorne at her heels.
‘You didn’t need me as much as you thought you did,’ he said after a few moments.
Renaei glanced at him, catching the flash of fear before he buried it. ‘Is that a bad thing?’
‘I’m not sure. I guess I like being needed.’
‘I suspect I’ll always need you,’ she said gently. ‘A goddess has few friends, especially ones who will scold her to her face. It’s been so long since that happened I had begun to believe I was flawless. Clearly I am not.’
Lorne’s eyes glittered. ‘I don’t know. You look pretty flawless to me.’
‘Are you sure you’re not just saying that because I pay you?’ Renaei teased.
‘Oh, I wish that was the real reason,’ he said, his expression suddenly serious. ‘But it’s not.’
Before she could form any coherent thoughts, much less conjure something to say to that, he sped up and left her standing there, lost in a maelstrom of confusion and hope.
CHAPTER SIX
‘Well, you’re obviously her favourite, Captain,’ Merryn said, smothering a yawn.
Crammed into one of the Blashians’ spare buildings, which reeked as though it was usually populated by the village’s smelliest beasts, the Guards of the Goddess were enjoying the apparent ceasefire. They sat around a solar-charged heater and ate an array of seafood that their hosts had provided for them. Four of their number remained outside, patrolling the village’s perimeter.
Renaei had disappeared earlier but Lorne knew she was still nearby, albeit no longer in human form. He could feel her presence emanating from the very ground beneath him. She was monitoring Oceania’s followers, concerned that they might attack. Through her, Lorne could hear their muted, sober conversations. Some continued to argue in favour of killing her.
Lorne wasn’t surprised to find that Renaei was preoccupied with his earlier comments. She wasn’t alone. He kept replaying them in his mind, wondering if he had meant to flirt with her.
He cleared his throat. ‘Merryn, this is not about favourites. Renaei chose me as your leader — that’s why I speak to her so often. While she did give me some extra powers, I assume that was only done to emphasise my position. I should warn you all that I can read minds, though frankly I could do without that ability.’
‘Oh shit, Captain,’ one of the guards said immediately. ‘I didn’t really mean it when I thought those things about you earlier. But you do have a nice arse.’
The hovel exploded with laughter.
‘I don’t always look at your thoughts,’ Lorne said when his subordinates had quietened again. ‘It takes effort. And I’d rather not gain a headache and lose respect for you lot in the same breath.’
‘That telekinesis I’ve seen you do, that’s pretty awesome,’ Rejos Michson piped up. He could be a brat sometimes, but Lorne liked him, liked how committed the teenager was to learning his powers. ‘It’d make more sense if we all had it.’
Lorne rubbed his temples, hoping his guards would mistake his frustration for exhaustion. ‘I’ve brought that up with the goddess. But she has her reasons. And anyway, I don’t have millennia of practice behind me. Her control is superior to mine.’
‘Still, it’s a useful ability to have,’ Rejos said, sounding wistful.
‘Definitely useful if you want to start taking someone’s clothes off without touching them,’ Merryn commented. ‘That’s a lot of fun.’
Everyone stared at her.
Merryn grinned. ‘Just speaking from experience. I used to be in GLEA, you know. But since the captain’s got telekinesis and we don’t, I guess he’ll be the only one taking Renaei’s clothes off.’
Lorne tossed an empty oyster shell onto the ground, avoiding everyone’s eyes. ‘I’m not going to discuss this.’
‘You’re not even tempted to bed the goddess?’ another guard asked with an incredulous hoot. ‘Stark, she’s beautiful. Maybe I’ll have a crack at her.’
‘You will not,’ Lorne said, fury singeing his words. ‘None of you will. She is your goddess and you will give her all due respect. That’s enough on the matter.’
The hovel fell silent. Someone coughed awkwardly. Several giggles followed.
Shaking her head, Merryn stood up and trudged over to the doorway. She turned back to Lorne, her lips firmly sealed. He didn’t need his mind-reading abilities to know that she wanted to speak to him in private. Reluctantly, he rose to his feet and followed her out.
‘What is it, Second?’ he demanded, using a hand to
shield his face against the icy wind.
Strands of Merryn’s dark hair whipped over her pinched expression. ‘Warning us off her, Captain? You’re pretty much claiming your territory.’
‘That’s not — ’ he started.
‘Oh yes it starking is,’ Merryn interrupted. ‘Why don’t you just come out and tell us she’s yours, Lorne? We’d respect that boundary.’
‘She’s not mine! She can’t be. She can’t ever be.’
‘Why not?’ Merryn asked flatly. ‘Because she’s a goddess? So what? I worship her too, you know. But that doesn’t stop me laughing at her jokes. It shouldn’t stop you falling in love with her.’
‘I’m not falling in love with Renaei,’ he insisted.
‘Then maybe you should stop acting so starking jealous whenever someone else goes near her, huh?’
Lorne opened his mouth, then quickly sealed it.
He wasn’t sure how to defend himself. Because Merryn wasn’t wrong. He was jealous. But he couldn’t be. He’d shared Renaei with hundreds of thousands of mortals before and he had been content with that for most of his life. Why did it matter now? She was still his goddess. That hadn’t changed.
But maybe something else had. Maybe it was him.
The ground rumbled, cutting into his thoughts. Lorne looked down at the grass trembling beneath his boots, frowning — and then his gaze flew to the four guards who came running in from the shore, their faces as white as bleached coral.
‘Captain,’ one of them panted. ‘The water’s gone out. It’s just sand for as far as the eye can see.’
‘Oh shit,’ Merryn said.
Lorne hissed out a breath. ‘A tsunami. Let Silvia and the others know. And start building up a wall again, but make it higher and get it to encircle the entire village. Do it now!’ he added when his guards hesitated, their fearful eyes darting back to the shore. ‘One of you has to warn those camped further down the spit. We need to bring them back here.’
‘We’re saving the Driftwood?’ a guard asked, scowling. ‘They don’t deserve it.’
‘Renaei promised to help them,’ Lorne snapped. ‘So don’t fucking argue. In fact, you’ve just volunteered for that task. Activate your shield and go get them!’
The Galactic Pantheon Novellas Page 22