Equilibrium of Terror: Part 1 (Splintered Galaxy Book 3)

by Eddie R. Hicks

  “If the humans truly wanted to join by now we should have heard something,” said Armuzei. “The president herself had announced to her people her plans to make it happen.”

  “Then came violence and riots in their streets I think,” Gonvilei said. “As I said in the past, humans cannot be trusted, and now they want to take back their choice.”

  “Then we have the empire. If they are indeed planning another attack on Earth, the humans will lose, even with their new ships,” Byikanea said, then grimaced at the thought of the aftermath of such a scenario.

  “We are no longer obligated to help them, we already did so,” Gonvilei said.

  Byikanea winced. “Debatable.”

  “Debate all you want, there is no mention that the gods insist we help another species that doesn’t wish to be helped,” Gonvilei said. “We helped them, we offered them a place in the union, let’s not force it any more than we already have unless you want to create another enemy.”

  “Let us form a consensus then,” Iey’liwea said, shutting off her visor. “The proposal is the following. Shall the union abandon Earth?”

  “The humans are free to apply to the union anytime, but as it stands, until we get a definite yes or no,” Armuzei said. “The Radiance Union will withdraw support for the human race.”

  Numbing silence filled the chamber as the five thought among themselves. Some of them whispered to their corresponding psionic behind them, requesting that they link their minds with politicians on other worlds to hear their opinions on the matter. Fifteen minutes later, voting began and the council revealed their decision based on their opinion and what their politicians informed them.

  “We choose to leave,” said Gonvilei which was no surprise to many, he was on the council almost one hundred years ago when the human race was first discovered. He voted no then and he voted no now.

  “We do as well,” Armuzei said, casting the Javnis decision.

  “The Linl disagree. We choose to stay,” Byikanea said.

  “The Vorcambreum wish to do the same and stay,” Marchei said.

  “We motion to…” Iey’liwea said, then paused, knowing full well that the Rabuabin vote was going to be the tie breaker, “… leave.”

  Disappointed looks grew on Byikanea and Marchei faces as the other three smiled at the final choice.

  “It is decided,” Armuzei said. “The Radiance Union will abandon Earth until further notice. Inform all psionics serving aboard Earth vessels to bid their farewell and return to Radiance space for reassignment.”

  “With what ships?” Marchei asked. “The humans won’t give up what few ships they have to send our people off.”

  “The same ones that we will use to deport the humans living in Lejorania and Dark Lejorania,” said Iey’liwea.

  “Is that necessary?” Byikanea asked.

  “Yes, we are pulling our support which means we can no longer support humans living on our worlds, they must be deported at once.”

  “You realize this will take eight years?” Byikanea said. “What will our people on Earth currently do during that time? And what about our people onboard the deep space human ships? Some of them won’t awaken from cryo for several more years.”

  “Stay low and away from all human influence until our ships arrive to bring them home,” Iey’liwea said. “As for those still in cryo, well that’s another subject we probably should deal with when the time comes. In the meantime, the viceroy will have to coordinate the withdrawal efforts in the Sol system for now. With that said, connect with his mind once again, and inform him of what has transpired.”

  Kuei said after a minute of telepathic communication. “The viceroy understands, and will pass on the message.”

  “Now what of the Hashmedai?” asked Marchei “Should they attack now our people will be at risk.”

  “That will be the goal of the viceroy at this point, protecting our people, preventing further loss of Radiance life,” Armuzei said, then the tone of his voice changed. “This was the right choice. We have sacrificed a lot of souls in the name of helping humans, for small returns.”

  “Anything else on this matter before we move on?” Gonvilei said then coughed three times.

  “Yes,” Iey’liwea said. “The human woman that lives on Rasi doing lab work for the union, she will have to be deported as well. No exceptions.”

  “I’ll inform the foreman of the lab,” Kuei said.

  … … …

  ►► Earth Cube, Geneva, Earth

  ► Sol System

  “Get me the president,” Viceroy Crimei bellowed into his holo phone. “Then wake her! This is important!”

  CHAPTER 5

  ►► Abyssal Pelican, Rasi orbit

  ► Barnard’s Star system

  The Abyssal Pelican was an enormous Radiance dreadnaught five to six times larger than typical Radiance cruisers. The ship featured six plasma cannons on its front, hundreds of plasma missile launchers along the port and starboard sides and two aft plasma cannons. It was capable of holding and deploying up to six thousand rangers, made possible by the wide hanger bay loaded with transport ships, lined up one by in an orderly fashion. Given the amount of credits the ship cost to build on top of the xenethereal crystals needed to power its reactors and helium-3 fuel needed to keep it moving. It was the only ship of its kind in service and thus became the personal transport ship of the Radiance Patriarch, the religious elder of the union.

  In recent times, there’d been a lot of debate as to who truly controls the Radiance Union. Officially it was the five species council, however the Patriarch has the power to veto any law they make, any decision they come to should he deem it something that goes against the will of the three gods. Additionally, should the Patriarch feel that the union isn’t doing enough to please the gods, they have the power to force the council into making the changes needed.

  Of course, Patriarch’s had several other duties outside of religion and politics. Newly founded colonies were typically blessed by the Patriarch, in order to ensure a good and promising future for the world.

  Inside one of the thousands of quarters aboard the Abyssal Pelican was one Ary Jainuzei, Radiance Union Weapons Master. He was a tall Aryile man, standing over six feet in height. He had fair skin which was a rarity for the Aryile people. The scales on his neck, back and arms were a bright light green and were made much more visible with his large biceps, firm and built chest, abs, and muscular legs.

  His brown hair was cut short and slicked back as it was the only form of hair on his body as he swung a Hashmedai plasma sword around, practicing swordplay in the nude – It was his way. The plasma sword was one of many battle trophies he’d acquired over the years as he participated in the endless war against the Hashmedai Empire.

  He spun the sword around and around like a performer entertaining the masses before entering an aggressive stance and launching forward striking imaginary targets with deadly efficiency. Sweat dripped down and glazed his ripped naked body as the bright lights in his quarters reflected in it. He held the blade high above his head taking on a defensive stance when the door chime sounded.

  Lowering the blade to his side, Jainuzei walked over to the entrance, commanding the sliding doors to partly swing open, causing the Javnis crewman behind to grimace and step backwards as he saw his nakedness.

  “Sorry we’ve been trying to reach you—”

  “I’m practicing, I cannot be interrupted.”

  “Plans got pushed up, we are heading to the surface now,” the crewman said, keeping his four eyes toward the ceiling. After a deep breath, he added. “And for god’s sake get some clothes on!”

  “I shall be ready soon,” Jainuzei said, shutting the door in the crewman’s face.

  Minutes later Jainuzei exited his quarters dressed in advanced Radiance combat armor. Strapped to his back was his magnetic rifle, a Hashmedai plasma polearm and greatsword. Holstered at his sides were a magnetic pistol, plasma sword and two plasma daggers. He
proceeded toward the transport hanger bay, nodding toward one of the many psionics in the corridors who provided gravity for all key areas of the ship.

  His armor shone brightly in the lights as he entered the hanger bay and walked down its main pathway. Transport ships were lined up to his left and right, but none of them was the one he was interested in, no, the one that he was ordered to board was at the very far end. The personal transport for Patriarch Ure Dalhakei. It was twice as large as standard Radiance transports, equipped with additional plasma missile launchers, engines, and fuel tanks large enough for interstellar travel if needed and a small galley toward the aft end housing the Patriarch’s personal chef, should anyone aboard get hungry.

  Jainuzei approached the black and gold colored craft and its doors slid open, Dalhakei stood outside of them and grinned as Jainuzei climbed aboard. Dalhakei’s wrinkled hand patted Jainuzei’s cold and solid armored shoulder as he gestured toward the pilot and psionic co-pilot to begin take off procedures.

  Jainuzei often wondered what Dalhakei would look like in zero-g with his long grey sage like beard and hair floating around. But as with most areas of the Abyssal Pelican, this transport had a psionic whose duty was to provide gravity for the aged Linl Patriarch. The transport departed the dreadnaught, and traveled to the surface of Rasi, Courelia City within the primary habitat arcology.

  A sea of hundreds of people from all five Radiance races gathered around a transport landing pad, waiting in anticipation for the Patriarch’s transport to touch down. Cheering and howling drowned out the sounds of everything else in the area, including the transport as its doors opened, revealing the sight of Dalhakei, Jainuzei, and two armored rangers stepping onto the platform.

  The cries of happiness intensified as Dalhakei slowly raised his hand out from his white robes to wave to everyone before retreating backwards to grab hold of his staff handed to him from behind by one of the pilots. The staff was indeed a sight to see, one that always calmed Jainuzei’s mind when Dalhakei held onto it. It was a long white metallic shaft with gold colored petals streaming off the sides, at the top was a glass like dome that emitted a brilliant beam of light, enough to be used as a flashlight had he ever found himself in a dark room. Though that wasn’t the real purpose of the light, according to Dalhakei it was a means of showing the people his job, casting away the darkness, something the Hashmedai Empire enjoyed.

  Songs of praise were sung by a few as Dalhakei and his entourage walked through the crowd, entering the main city square. As they traveled throughout the city, Dalhakei offered his blessing to children, their parents, and workers who took an extended break from their jobs to catch a rare glimpse of the Patriarch. A young Rabuabin couple presented their new born child, wrapped up in a blanket to Dalhakei. Jainuzei watched as Dalhakei gleamed down, and patted the sides of the child’s head, where its horns were expected to grow in as it got older.

  An hour had passed and Jainuzei was led into a pristine temple by Dalhakei and his two rangers. Inside was a large black and gold carpet that led them toward a podium in the center. Toward the main entrance were glass racks and bookshelves carrying ancient Aryile statues and books pertaining to the gods and their wisdom and past Patriarchs before him. Small candles burned and hung on the walls, providing most of the light for the interior of the temple. The rest of the light came from circular windows from the third floor as they let in the bright artificial sunlight from the outside world.

  Jainuzei nodded toward the two rangers, and they started an intense search of the temple and its upper floors. When the task was completed he ordered a second sweep, to ensure this was an indeed safe and secure place to rest, for the Patriarch had a busy plan laid out.

  … … …

  ►► Courelia lower levels, Rasi

  ► Barnard’s Star system

  Alisha took a sip of her tea while her other free hand held her data pad, displaying recent news stories about Earth. Each headline had one of two icons displayed next to it, one indicating that the news was sourced from psionic telepathy and another indicating the news was sourced from the knowledge network. Anything that came from the knowledge network about Earth was six years out of date, the time it takes for the Radiance knowledge network in Sol to transmit data to Barnard’s Star. Psionic stories were of course more recent, though news stories from psionic sources have increasingly become rare on Earth, now more than ever since the destruction of the Radiance fleet protecting Earth along with much of Sol’s Radiance knowledge network. Nevertheless, updates that were transmitted before the fall of Radiance in Sol would continue to travel throughout the galaxy, reaching their destination years after they were transmitted. Space was a remarkable and mind-boggling time machine.

  Alisha’s door chime rang, triggering her body to place what she was holding on the circular glass table next to her and head to the door. At last, she thought as she swung it open, revealing the presence of a Rabuabin man, oh, and a Vorcambreum woman whom she didn’t see at first until she gazed down.

  “Ah welcome, come on in,” Alisha said.

  “I like this place already,” the Rabuabin said as they entered, tilting their heads from left to right.

  “Of course you do, it’s not temporary housing!” the Vorcambreum woman said.

  “So, it’s the two of you that are interested?” Alisha asked.

  “Yes,” the Vorcambreum said, pointing toward the Rabuabin. “Vynei is my bodyguard. Where I go he must follow.”

  “I see. What do you do if you don’t mind me asking?” Alisha enquired.

  “Ah how forgetful of me. I am Eicelea, an archaeologist. You may have come across my articles on the knowledge network about the ruins found throughout the Morutrin system. I came here from Morutrin to study the ruins in this system.”

  Alisha smiled and nodded, in reality she wasn’t interested in archaeology, despite the fact it’s what most people in the labs chatted about, some kind of ancient alien ruins in the system. Wait, bodyguard she said he was? “Forgive me for asking, but why does an archaeologist need a bodyguard?”

  “I presume you are not from this side of the galaxy,” Eicelea said. “Well, Morutrin is a dangerous system, full of pirates, salvagers and many other despicable people. One must have adequate protection in dig sites.”

  “I’m sure you’ll find this system to be much calmer,” said Alisha.

  “I hope not, I’ll be out of a job—”

  “Quiet!” Eicelea shouted toward Vynei. “Now I am fully aware that your ad states you were looking for one person, but I am willing to pay extra so that my bodyguard can watch over me while I sleep. And as an added bonus I can take care of our food needs.”

  Alisha used a lot of muscles in her face to hold back a chuckle. She found it rather cute that a woman like Eicelea who was no taller than a little girl was able to be such a take charge person.

  “Well lucky for you, no one has replied to my ad except the two of you, and my funds are running low.”

  “Ah! So, we have a deal then?” Eicelea said with excitement in her voice.

  Alisha smirked. She couldn’t hold it back any longer. “Get your things.”

  “And food!” Eicelea said.

  “I wouldn’t her eat cooking,” Vynei said as he and Eicelea stepped toward the door.

  “I don’t cook per se,” Eicelea said.

  “Exactly,” he said as the doors slid shut behind them.

  Alisha later sat down on her couch, stretching out with a relaxed smile on her face before doing some quick calculations in her head in regard to her income. Her hands slapped together and she bellowed a woo-ho when she realized how many credits she’d have to herself for once when they started paying their share of rent.

  … … …

  ►► Abyssal Explorer, Rasi orbit

  ► Barnard’s Star system

  “Excellent work as always everyone,” Captain Ueyei said as the Abyssal Explorer entered a stable orbit around the darkened icy world. “We’ll be her
e for a time while we off and on load cargo and exploration personnel. Take the time to enjoy some shore leave, you’ve earned it.”

  Smiles and chatter came from all bridge crew members as they heard the news. Some wasted no time heading toward the rear elevators to get a head start on some highly anticipated ‘me time.’

  “Thank you, sir,” Vaishea said.

  “Not too long off sadly,” Ueyei said. “A few days at the most, I’ll keep in touch.”

  “Tell me about it,” said Stolanei. “Between the Hashmedai invasion of Earth, dropping off human refugees then coming all the way out here.”

  “Well since we’re all getting off here,” said Dargonea. “There’s a temple I recommend you visit for prayers. According to the knowledge network, the Patriarch himself will be there for a few days.”

  Vaishea saw Karklosea’s facial expression display signs of debating, Vaishea too as much as she wanted to relax knew that meeting the Patriarch was a once in a life time chance. But... since her promotion she’d fallen behind on her favorite pastime, reading classic Linl romance stories and eating snacks.

  “Tempting but the two of us have some much-needed training to do,” Karklosea said in conclusion.

  “True, I had put it off to deal with the heretics I discovered on Earth,” Stolanei said. “Another time perhaps.”

  “I understand,” Dargonea said then addressed Vaishea. “Commander? Perhaps you would like to come down to the surface with me and visit the Patriarch?”

  Vaishea pondered a few seconds longer, then gave her a response. “Sure, I seldom ever visit other worlds, let alone temples on them.”

  Vaishea’s training as a counselor before enlisting provided her with all the knowledge needed to be aware that Dargonea was slightly jealous of Karklosea and Stolanei, most likely because he was chosen to be Karklosea’s apprentice psionic. Hopefully this will cheer her up, Vaishea thought.

  … … …

  ►► Courelia upper levels, Rasi

  ► Barnard’s Star system

  The knowledge network was the Radiance and Hashmedai equivalent of the internet. Each planet or fleet had its own local network that received updates from other fleets or planets within a planetary system forming a system wide net. From there, that network would receive updates from the rest of the galaxy, the time it takes depended on the distance between the star systems transmitting the data unless psionic minds were at play.