Defender of the Empire: Chaos

by Catherine Beery

  “Better to be prepared than not,” she replied.

  Before she could leave, I asked, “Did you have a vision?”

  She turned back at the door. “If I was horribly concerned, I would suggest we keep out of the battle. I’m just getting ready for a few bumps.”

  “Make sure you’re braced for this,” I called after her.

  Once she left, Mykio sighed. “She kind of takes the suspense out of life doesn’t she?”

  “What’s the plan?” Westley asked.

  A slow smile spread across my face. I leaned forward in my chair. “I want us to be the unseen blade that distracts the Zar’dakens long enough for our LF friends to take care of them.”

  “I get to finally use those pristine laser cannons that have just been gathering dust?” Carden asked, a feral light gleaming in his eyes.

  “Of course. I want you to target all those annoying darts. And I want those wing blades on. Jason, calculate jump points inside and then out of the Zar’daken shields.” I turned back to Westley, “You get the hard job.”

  “When don’t I?”

  “You also get the second-most fun job,” Carden pointed out.

  “I know. Let me guess,” he said, turning back to me. “I’m to give Carden the best angles to destroy the most targets as possible while remaining untraceable and ahead of all those stray missiles?”

  I grinned. “You took the words right out of my mouth.” I leaned back in my chair. “I would just add that staying out of the way of our own ships is a priority, too.”

  “Don’t ask for much, do you?” he grumbled, half-heartedly already turning back to his console.

  “Never.”

  “Do I have to avoid the Legion Fleet ships, too?” Carden asked. At my look, he just shrugged unrepentantly. Once a bad boy, always a bad boy. I thought. “I won’t shoot them, unless they get themselves in the way after I’ve fired. I will not be held accountable for their stupidity.”

  “And thus, we have problems with friendly fire,” Jason said, as he raced the computer to make the calculations needed.

  Kylesst, can you let Ace and Mattie know what we’re doing? I asked silently.

  MATTIE IS WAY AHEAD OF YOU.

  Oh, good. Didn’t want them feeling left out.

  The SE Secret’s first real battle was one that would leave the witnesses scratching their heads. One moment three Zar’dakan warships and their thousands of darts were bearing down on three Hasta class ships with their combined three hundred LFGs. The Spectralian ships held their own, but were tiring. The mindless darts were not. Numbers had started to take their toll.

  Then, suddenly, a large cluster of darts burst into useless debris before the Legion Fleet’s ships could do something about them. It kept happening. The sensors caught movement but that was it. And then things got even more interesting.

  The Zar’daken warships started taking damage, but not their shields. Bursts of energy were the only warning that another hole was about to appear. The speed of the attacks was reminiscent of an LFA, but none had the capacity to do such damage without being seen. The remaining darts wheeled around like an angry swarm. Their goal was to destroy the unseen attacker. And it was this subsequent destruction and distraction of the darts that gave the Spectralians the edge they needed.

  Of course, the crippling of the Zar’daken warships’ weapons helped the cause, as well. The Spectralians just didn’t know who had helped them.

  “Carden, we need to do some tweaking.” Ace said over the comm. once the Secret had left the battle.

  “What is this ‘we’ you mention?” Carden protested. “You know that I don’t know how to work the technical stuff.”

  Ace snorted. “Lies. Come down to the workshop. I have some ideas.” And in that moment, I could easily imagine Ace rubbing his hands together in a maniacal scientist kind of way.

  “And what are you plotting to do to my ship?” I asked. I hadn’t yet decided if I should be amused or terrified. Knowing Ace, the right answer would be a little bit of both.

  “Come, Ry, what is the fun in telling you before you need to know?” Ace quipped. “Carden, I’m waiting.”

  “And if I need him still?” I asked innocently.

  “I’m sorry, are we having this calm conversation while in the midst of a battle? Is Westley wishing we would just shut up and let him drive?” Ace asked.

  I rolled my eyes. “Fine. If Carden wants to go and get into trouble with you, he may.”

  “You can’t say its trouble when you like the results,” Carden pointed out.

  “Watch me.”

  “That you, Ry, luv. I’m sure Marius can cover the weapons console while Carden is helping me with the upgrades,” Ace said, with a smile in his tone.

  I groaned into my hands after the comm. link closed and Carden had left. “Why do I feel like that might have been a mistake?” I muttered.

  Mykio laughed. “Cus you’re wise sometimes.”

  “Thanks, Myk, thanks,” I said dryly. The dog saluted me as he left to continue preparing for whatever we might face on Kinair.

  “Anyone else think he is preparing to arm the whole Fleet?” Jason wondered aloud.

  I lifted my head out of my hands. “How long until we reach Kinair?”

  “’bout half an hour.” Westley replied.

  In that time, Lassie, Jason, and I gathered more detailed information on Kinair. Kinair was a world similar to Old Earth before it was terraformed into Forestrium. Kinair had oceans of water surrounding three major continents. Two of them hugged the equator while a third stretched into the North Polar Region. The world belonged to the Kina, who were human-like in appearance except for the fact that their hair colors included the entire rainbow and could not be changed with dye. Lassie found this fact fascinating and possibly dreadful. Especially if one ended up with three colors that just didn’t go well together.

  Thanks to Caintallon and the Betrayer’s journal, we also knew that Kinair was the ancestral home of the Ket’neiar. The journal filled in the historical record for the planet. Long before the Spectral Empire came into existence, the leaders of the Ket’neiar vanished. Betrayer turned them into Soul Shadows. After a few years of chaos, the remnants built a culture without majvolta. Now they were called the Kina, with a world much like the rest of the modern empire before the war started.

  Politically, the Kina reminded me of both Old Earth England and the United States. An elected minister served as the voice for the people on the Imperial Council, while the rest of the government saw to the day-to-day running of the planet.

  “All this information is great, but how does this help us find the Heart, or where it used to be?” Jason asked, staring glumly at the table in the mess after the three of us had put together what we had.

  “It gives us a starting ground,” I replied. “We’re looking for families with Ket’neiar names that existed from the beginning of their recorded history.”

  “That would describe just about the entire population,” Jason pointed out grumpily.

  Lassie shook her head. “Not exactly, Jason. They may have started out that way, but over the years they became something different. Except for five, the Arelace, Ghenarld, Norighen, Orinza, and Solfren.”

  “Norighen? That was Caintallon’s last name,” I said.

  “So, the Heart is with them?” Jason asked, perking up.

  “Perhaps, but it would be best if we could investigate all five of them. With the amount of time that has gone by, it is possible that all five are decedents of Betrayer.”

  Crestfallen, Jason flicked his finger over his tablet. “Rylynn, that is several hundred people and anyone of them could have it. Or perhaps its purpose was forgotten and it’s in the trash now.”

  DOUBTFUL, Prathane said, nudging Jason’s shoulder, ANYONE WHO TRIED TO TOUCH IT WOULD BECOME A SOUL SHADOW, he explained.

  I sighed. “So, it is probably where it was originally placed by Caintallon.”

  “And if that is so, th
en that narrows it down to five locations,” Lassie said excitedly.

  “You mean cities?” Jason asked.

  “No. Houses,” she said, placing her tablet in front of me and pointing at the five pins on the two continents on the equator.

  “Seriously? I thought only nobility did that when they couldn’t afford more than one residence?” Jason said leaning forward.

  Lassie’s brows rose, her expression unimpressed by his assumption. Jason winked at me when she looked down at her tablet. I raised a brow. Lassie had no idea she was being teased. And at the risk of identifying who Jason really was, I couldn’t tell her that. “I thought you would know better, Jason Winter, being part of a noble line,” she huffed.

  “Mine was small,” he said with a shrug. The boy almost deserves a medal for his acting. ‘Almost,’ because he couldn’t quite hide his amusement at the situation.

  “Very well,” Lassie began in a somewhat aggrieved tone, “families of great power tend to have a seat of power. A traditional home. In some cases, like mine and these families, they prefer to have all the branches living under one roof. Such a housing arrangement keeps things in the family. Others sometimes spread out to better conduct business or oversee projects.”

  “Now that we know where to start looking, we need to find a way to get in without attracting too much attention,” I said.

  “They probably have visiting hours,” Lassie suggested.

  “But only certain rooms are open to the public, right?”

  “True.” Lassie sighed. She slanted a look at me. “No offense, but how is it that you know that?” she asked curiously.

  “Aunt Sylvie,” I replied.

  “Oh, right,” she said, blushing prettily. Mine and Jason’s family had been one of those powerful families to spread out. But what else could one expect of a royal family that held such a large territory? I won’t lie to you, I still think it sounds surreal. Even stranger that Jason and I are distant cousins.

  “Hey! I think I know how we can get into each of those Great Houses!” Jason announced into the somewhat uneasy silence between Lassie and I.

  “How?” I asked.

  “Sewer systems. The cities near those five locations all have an open sewer.”

  “Yuck! Why?” Lassie asked.

  Jason shrugged. “Don’t know. But,” he began grinning up at her, “it’s the back, back door.”

  We were orbiting Kinair when I called the crew together to discuss plans. Five of us would go planet-side, one to each location. Marius, Ace, Carden, and Mykio would go planet-side with me. Since we would just be with our Spectrals. we would only be searching for any word about the Heart. Hopefully it would just be a quick in-and-out situation. Though, I’ll admit, that was probably a tad optimistic. But we had our Spectrals up our sleeves. With any luck, they would give us that advantage we needed to be in and out.

  The other four would stay on the ship. Neither Jason nor Westley were happy about being left shipboard again. But I needed them to monitor communication and be able to make sure that the Secret remained one. Lassie wasn’t upset at all about being left behind, especially since we would be ‘crawling in disgusting sewers.’ Before the recon. team left, Aunt Sylvie rushed to bid us good luck and give us a hint.

  “Look for the ‘Key.’ One of you will find it. I don’t know who,” she said, her irritation over that lack of information obvious, “but whoever it is will know the ‘Key’ once they see it.” She then swept me into a tight hug. “Be careful,” she whispered into my ear, “there is a darkness here like none I have ever seen before. It hides things from my Sight.” Which explained her earlier frustration.

  “I’ll be careful,” I replied, stepping back. “We all will be,” I said, glancing at the men at my back.”

  “Of course, when are we not?” Ace asked.

  I rolled my eyes. “Let’s go.” We took the transporter down separately. And that was when I realized something. I had never been transported since that first time when the Hail Mary picked me up. I had suffered a seizure from the experience.

  My realization came at the same time as as the ringing caused my vision to fade.once I was planet-side. “That hasn’t happened for a while,” I muttered to Kylesst, who helped me stay conscious.

  I THINK THE CHANGE IN MOLECULAR STURCTURE TO A STREAM AND BACK AGAIN CAUSES YOUR SPECTRAL SYNC ABILITY TO ABSORB MORE THAN NORMAL. IT’S THE SHOCK ONCE YOU BECOME SOLID AGAIN THAT CAUSES THE SEIZURE, Kylesst hypothesized.

  Great, I guess I won’t be taking a transporter again, I replied silently.

  Kylesst snorted. THIS TIME I WASN’T EXPECTING IT. NEXT TIME I WILL PULL THE EXCESS ENERGY FROM YOU SO THERE IS NO SHOCK.

  Thank you. That would be great. I led us toward an old entrance to the sewers to find my way into the Norighen House.

  Chapter 27 – The Key

  I still couldn’t get over it. Concordia city was a modern tourist trap. New shops and hotels were constantly going up. The latest attractions were screaming with bright lights to lure anyone who would spend their money. Everything was new. Even the ‘old’ things, which were really just replicas. In short, Concordia was the last place in which I expected to actually find an old tunnel that had once been a sewer, perhaps, but no longer. With the advent of waste recyclers, sewers were obsolete. Even colonies, like Lenti, had benefited from such advancements. But most cities had closed off the old sewers for several reasons; support, sanitation, and security. The Officers of Order did what they could to keep the crime above the streets where they could get to them. That was the usual reason, but some colony cities had other priorities, which would explain why Sage’tehti still had its tunnels. But I didn’t think that Concordia, a large city on a prime world, would still keep them open. But they were what provided a ‘back, back entrance,’ as Jason said, to the Norighen House.

  Is there anyone around? I asked Kylesst, after glancing over my shoulder again. The entrance to this tunnel may have been far from the city in a hard-to-get-to place, but it was clear of any debris. Which had to mean that someone was down here often, but it still maintained a forgotten, musty scent. Doesn’t make any sense, does it? The tunnel was a paradox, both clean and forgotten, hard to get to but taken care of. That would be enough to make me uneasy, but what had me looking over my shoulder was the fact that I felt watched. If I was being followed, I would be able to see them, even in the pitch-black darkness of the tunnel. One of Kylesst’s gifts was night vision.

  I SENSE NO ONE, Kylesst told me. BUT DON’T WORRY, WE WON’T BE DOWN HERE TOO MUCH LONGER. THERE IS AN ENTRANCE UP AHEAD. Which was both a relief and another thing to be concerned about. My aunt had said that there was a Key one of us would find. I really hoped she was right about recognizing it when one saw it. But I wasn’t going to stress about that too much. My main mission was to gather information about the Heart and learn where I could find it. Finding the key would just be an added bonus. I drew one of the throwing knives Talis had given me three cycles ago. Like the Telmick, these knives were dangerous and, if I used them right, would keep me breathing, come what may at that entrance.

  Is there anyone waiting on the other side? I thought to Kylesst, once we had reached the closed entrance he had told me about.

  RYLYNN, I WOULD TELL YOU IF THERE WAS. He sounded a little miffed that I had asked the question.

  I was just making sure, I replied, without a shred of apology. He should know me very well by now. Like I knew he would alert me to danger and that I could trust him with my life, he ought to know that I have this ingrained habit to double or triple check something that has me worried.

  Kylesst sighed, I KNOW. He slipped ahead of me. He was an impressive sight that only another Shade could see. His avian head reached the entrance, a good twelve feet in front of me, with his body still trailing behind me. Being incorporeal, Kylesst slid through the wall that masked the entrance. The last eight feet of his length slid past me as he scouted ahead.

  I cooled my heels for several m
inutes before my Spectral returned. He brought his whole bulk back inside; not that it bothered me, since I could barely feel it. His entrancing, bright-blue gaze met mine. BEYOND THE WALL IS AN ORNAMENTAL GARDEN SURROUNDING A NATURESQUE WATERFALL. THIS IS THE SIDE OF THE WATERFALL, he said, tapping the wall with his barely-there tail. NO ONE IS IN THE VICINITY.

  In short, it was safe to go out. I sheathed the knife and smiled gratefully at Kylesst. “Well, I guess that means we should get out there. Though I wonder if my aunt was right about one of us finding the ‘Key,’” I whispered, frowning thoughtfully.

  AS YOU SAID, WE SHOULD GO OUT AND SEE IF WE CAN FIND IT. I pressed a tile to the side of the entrance that was similar to the one that I had used to enter the tunnel in the first place. Unlike the entrances in Sage’tehti, this wall slid out of sight with barely a murmur. Like it had been greased and maybe even scolded for making the tiniest sound.

  Trusting Kylesst, I walked out with little hesitation. That didn’t mean I didn’t peer around with a hand near my weapon, just in case. When nothing popped out with murder on its mind, I relaxed enough to take in my surroundings. The smell of freshly cut grass mixed with the fresh scent of running water tickled my nose. It made me smile and breathe in again. Night-blooming flowers added in their subtle perfumes. Kylesst hadn’t been lying that the tunnel entrance came out of the side of a waterfall. Obviously man-made, the short ‘cliff’ and pile of rocks that the little waterfall fell through still managed to look beautiful and a little wild. The water splashed happily down into a twelve-foot wide ornamental pond. Decorative, rounded boulders and large rocks bordered the pond. Lily pads dotted over the water. A ripple here and a darting shadow there made me guess the pond was stocked with fish for passerbys to watch, probably from the gazebo that sat near the pond’s edge.

  Around the pond and its waterfall were artful trees and thickly-leaved plants. Many had closed flowers at this time of night. But there were those few night bloomers that shimmered with dew in the starlight. The only reason I saw them at all was again thanks to Kylesst’s night vision. A balmy breeze whispered through the leaves, causing flower buds to bob, and rippled over the pond. Through the plants, I could see sandy paths that disappeared into the rest of the garden. Beyond the plants were the high walls of the house this ‘little’ courtyard was nestled inside of.