Triorion: Awakening (Book One)

by L. J. Hachmeister

  She covered her ears as her own words split into a thousand screaming voices, sharpening into the shriek of metal on metal. As she curled up into a ball, trying to shut out the noise, she remembered. (I know that sound—)

  Raw fear surged through her phantom body, dissolving her limbs. I have to concentrate—

  Heavy footfall sounded in the darkness, breaking through the shrieks in a discordant symphony. Her heart lodged in her throat, and she shut her eyes. The footsteps rushed at her, cutting across leagues of endless darkness in the giant, pounding steps of a hungering animal.

  Suddenly, a familiar smell settled over her, triggering her earliest memories in a sweep of supercharged emotion.

  (Jahx!) she sobbed, reaching out blindly into the shadow.

  Concentrating as hard as she could on the memories of her brother, she opened her eyes. Two blue eyes stared back at her, distant and pale.

  (You have to find me)

  (And kill him.)

  “Jetta!”

  Gulping for air, she pawed at the hands that shook her by the shoulders. “Stop—” she cried. When her eyes finally came into focus, she saw her sister kneeling in front of her.

  “What is happening to you?” Jaeia asked, not letting go. “You were acting crazy!”

  Jetta swallowed hard and wiped the sweat from her eyes with trembling hands. “What do you mean?”

  Before Jaeia could respond, Jetta dove into her sister’s memories only to see herself flailing about.

  “I don’t know why he would do it, but the Grand Oblin did something to change our dreams,” Jaeia said, wiping tears from her eyes.

  “Did you have a nightmare about Jahx too?”

  Jaeia sat back on her heels. “I tried to tell you that before you went to sleep again. It was terrible...”

  As Jaeia’s words trailed off, Jetta saw the reflection of her sister’s dream glinting off her thoughts. Embroiled in her own urgency, Jetta glossed over her sister’s experience.

  “Look,” Jetta said excitedly, “I thought I was just having a nightmare—but it was too real. Jahx found me—he called to me!” Jetta said. “He’s somewhere far away, but he’s still alive. We have to go find him!”

  Jaeia sucked in her lips. “Jetta, you aren’t listening to me.”

  Jetta’s mind screeched to a halt as she sensed the depth of her sister’s fear. “What?”

  Jaeia’s voice cracked and tears reformed anew. “I don’t know if it’s true or not, but...”

  Jetta grabbed her sister by the shoulders, pressing her forehead to hers, plunging headfirst into the fray.

  (I hope you’ll understand.)

  Grainy and distant, the memories laid before her came from someone other than her sister.

  (Who is this?)

  The gunfire ceased. Bullet-riddled soldiers lay dead all around her. Overhead light panels dangled from blast holes, some flickering, others sparking, most of them completely dark. Smoke filled the debris-littered room, making her choke.

  She crawled out of her hiding place and listened. At first she heard nothing. She knew it was a mistake, but she called out. Even though these were bad men, she wanted very desperately for one of them to be alive. (I don’t want to be alone—not when the monster comes for me.)

  Her voice echoed in the hallway but quickly died out. She expanded her mind, even though she didn’t want to. Just around the corner she found it, along with many others. It had been watching her, waiting.

  It repeated back what she had called out, as did the rest of them. In a panic she ran down the corridor, her stomach going cold as she realized she couldn’t possibly get away. There were hundreds of footsteps—no, not footsteps. It sounded more like thousands of pointed feet skittering across a metal floor.

  (I hope you’ll understand.)

  Sadness mixed with a peculiar understanding. “Everything will be all right...” Jahx whispered.

  She sees the auxiliary computer console where the image of a jump-ship flashes like a beacon of hope. Her hands, which she now knows are his, work desperately on an alternate escape plan—but not for him.

  (No, no,) she cried softly. (Take it, go, please, for me!)

  The feeling of sadness and understanding returns. He knows something she does not.

  (Jahx, no,) she whispered.

  (I hope you’ll understand.)

  Now she is in another place, another time. A body hangs before her in a room that is a wet, intestinal red. Slick yellow and white support structures arch overhead, punctured by routing wires and flashing terminal interfaces. Fuel and gristle insult her nose, making her gag.

  Hell—

  Tasting the raw edge of vomit in the back of her throat, Jetta dares to step closer to inspect the body, feet sloshing through pink exudate.

  No, no, NO—

  She can barely make out the outline, but she knows it’s his by the soft curve of his face. Reaching out, Jetta touches her brother’s cold and lifeless skin.

  Impossible! she shrieked across the psionic planes, tearing at the seams of her sister’s reality.

  “No!” she screamed, slamming back into the present.

  “Now you see,” Jaeia whispered, scrubbing tears away with the back of her hand. “Those were his memories. I think he’s—”

  Jetta didn’t hear what Jaeia said next, but her sister’s grief hit her like a sledgehammer to the chest.

  “I don’t believe it,” Jetta said between sobs. “I won’t. What I saw—”

  “Wasn’t real. It was what you wanted to see, what you wanted to believe,” Jaeia whispered, her head cradled against her knees.

  Jetta stood up, cold anger rising like a carrier wave. “Then if Jahx is dead, what’s the point of leaving now?”

  “Jetta, I can’t be here anymore,” Jaeia said, voice teetering on the edge of a sob. “I can’t drink the monster’s blood—I just can’t. You feel the same way.”

  “No, I don’t,” Jetta said. Apart from anger, she felt dead inside. Not even the psionic pull of her sister held the same clout.

  What is happening to me?

  “I don’t even know what to feel right now,” Jetta whispered, pressing the knuckles of her thumbs into her eyes.

  “If I were in you,” a feminine voice observed, “I would be afraid, too.”

  A stout body waddled in from the tunnel connecting to the other cavern. Jetta glared at the Oblin.

  “What did you do to us, old man?” Jetta said, rushing toward her, but she came to an abrupt halt. Behind her, Jaeia gasped. Trailing behind the fat woman was Senka.

  “But—but,” Jaeia stammered, “You’re—”

  Senka’s eyes, dark and sunken in a face that had gone eerily gray, barely met her gaze. Dried blood and something slick and black caked her clothing and bandages. Her face contorted oddly in what Jetta realized was an attempt at a smile.

  “The Liiker,” Senka said quietly as she moved stiffly toward them.

  “The ‘antibiotics’?” Jaeia asked. “That’s what you call the Liiker blood?”

  “It has very powerful healing properties,” Senka said, no longer making eye contact.

  “Something happened,” the Oblin interjected, fumbling with her walking stick. “I lost my connection to the two of you.”

  “I thought I made it clear that you shouldn’t be digging around in our heads!” Jetta shouted.

  “Look at your injuries,” the Grand Oblin said, pointing at her.

  Jetta did not look, but her cheeks went hot as the others scrutinized her wounds.

  “Telepaths are different from other Sentients. Very powerful dreams can affect your body as well as your mind. That is why I was helping you—I didn’t want something like this to happen. But I can’t anymore; something is stopping me,” the Grand Oblin replied. Her amethyst eyes went solemn. “Even though I don’t know what it will do to you, I will show you what’s left. I would rather your conscious mind sees it before your subconscious ravages your body. Then maybe we can sort all
this out.”

  “So, those dreams we had—those are our memories?” Jaeia asked, her voice trembling again. “The ones we can’t remember?”

  “Yes, trying to surface.” The Grand Oblin nodded. “I experienced some of them with you—or at least with one of you—a short while ago. That is why I came here.”

  Jaeia tried to catch Jetta’s eye, but Jetta refused to look at her and shoved out her thoughts.

  Gathering up her robes, the Grand Oblin clumsily hopped up onto a rock. She motioned for them to sit next to her, but Jetta stayed where she was. Jaeia moved toward the Oblin but did not join her on her perch.

  The Oblin sighed and looked at her shoeless feet. “I know you think what I did was wrong, but I did what I did to protect you, to help you through what you have experienced. I could never let harm come to any Sentient, especially a child.”

  “We’re not children,” Jetta said adamantly. “We may be seven, but I’ve never felt like a child, and I’ve certainly never had the opportunity.”

  “I suppose in some ways you’re right,” the Oblin said, smiling sadly.

  “But still,” Senka added. “You wouldn’t have stayed if you remembered everything—if you didn’t have a chance to see things differently.”

  “She knows too?” Jetta asked. “Does everybody else in this place know our business but us?”

  “I only learned about certain events over the last few hours, as one of you was dreaming,” the Grand Oblin said. “Jaeia, I think it was yours. I seem to be completely cut off from you, Jetta.”

  “But you’ve already showed us what the Core has done to us. Are you saying there’s more?” Jaeia asked.

  The Oblin looked at her hands and nodded. “Yes, there is.”

  Afraid, Jetta wrapped one arm around her sister. Jaeia’s fear compounded her own, sending waves of acid up her throat.

  “It will take a great amount of trust on your part, but I want you to take my hand and see the past, remember what really happened.”

  “We are your friends, we would never want to hurt you,” Senka added, hugging her arms to her chest. “You have to believe that.”

  Jetta ground her teeth together. No adult could be trusted. Still, the Grand Oblin might be hiding something that would prove Jahx was still alive, and for that reason alone she had to extend her hand.

  “You know I could kill you. All of you,” Jetta said, her eyes flicking back and forth between the Oblin and Senka.

  Neither the Grand Oblin’s outstretched arm nor Senka’s gaze faltered.

  Jaeia’s head tilted to one side as she listened to the Oblin’s thoughts. It’s time to learn the truth, Jetta.

  Heartbeat roaring in her ears, Jetta lifted her hand to the Oblin’s, and remembered.

  ***

  Captain Reht Jagger watched with amusement as Tidas Razar, Military Minister of the Starways Alliance, stroked his chin with two fingers. If they had been in an outerworlder bar, that kind of hand motion would have landed him a male escort. Razar had done it as long as he’d known him, probably to make it look like he gave a chak.

  Mantri Sebbs, on minute fifty-two of his rant about the launnies of Fiorah, the abducted telepaths, project ICE, and the Deadwalkers, tested even Reht’s patience. The Jittery Joliak always had a problem getting to the point when he was short on methoc, and unfortunately for all of them, Sebbs was dry as a bone.

  Finally, after Reht had kicked up his feet on Razar’s desk and studied the wall decor, the Minister raised his hand for Sebbs to stop. The old military bastard shot a look of resentment Reht’s way before speaking.

  “I’ll have you know that our military strength has increased exponentially since the defeat of the Eeclian Dominion. The United Starways Coalition is finished. Now we are the Starways Alliance—fully funded, supported by the public and universally recognized. Never again will there be a threat to democracy and peace.”

  “B-but—the launnies—those Deadwalkers—” Sebbs stuttered.

  Reht laughed and slouched further into his chair. Tight as the situation was, he couldn’t remember feeling so comfortable. Looking around the room, he realized just how fancy the Starways Alliance had gotten since its days as the USC. None of the usual stuffy military-issue furniture and equipment—the warship was outfitted more like a hotel. Even the air was scented like something out of a modern home catalog: “Summer’s Breeze #141,” or something like that. Reht wanted to make a joke about putting the taxpayers’ money to good use, but he didn’t have a chance.

  Tidas Razar lifted his fingers off his desk. He looked bored. “Certainly you read the net posts. Do you not know about our new chief commanding officer, Urusous Li? Only twenty years old, but has already graduated command school and beaten all our top commanders, including our former chief, Admiral Unipoesa, in the Endgame. Unheard of—simply unheard of. He’s also lead one of the most successful post-war cleanup campaigns in the history of the Starways.”

  Razar grunted. “So tell me, Sebbs, why do we need your help?”

  Sebbs squirmed nervously in his seat, looking to Reht for backup. Unfortunately for him, Reht enjoyed his discomfort too much to intervene just yet.

  “I know about Li—I do—but I’m telling you it won’t be enough. At least hack into the old Dominion databases—surely they can’t all be corrupted. I gave you those codes—you can confirm that I’m not making this up!”

  The Minister chuckled. “Why Captain Sebbs, I’ve never known you or your escort to be such generous men. I can hardly believe you’d give up so much information without asking for something in return. Maybe a pinch of methoc? Some Bearnigi smokes, hmmm? What is it to you, Reht? Maybe a night at La Raja with the ladies of Neeis?”

  Reht shrugged his shoulders. The statement wasn’t as much about him as it was about Sebbs. He might be a dog-soldier, but Sebbs was a hardened criminal in their eyes.

  “This isn’t about that!” Sebbs pleaded. “Don’t you think it’s strange that even the Sovereign has disappeared? Doesn’t that hint at more than just a victory for the Alliance?”

  The Minister suppressed a smile. “It’s not that uncommon for a tyrannical leader to cower in the face of defeat, go into hiding, and wait until he makes new allegiances before reemerging. Our Special Missions Team will find him, and he will stand trial for his crimes. Speaking of which,” the Minister said, tapping his fingers together, “you are a wanted man, Sebbs—a very wanted man—and I think I’ll enjoy your trial more than chasing your ideas.”

  Tidas Razar picked up a report on his desk and rattled off a few of the intergalactic charges Sebbs faced, even including the fines and debts he had incurred on the streets.

  Sebbs shot another desperate glance at Reht. The dog-soldier captain smirked and tipped back in his chair. At Sebbs’s furious glare, Reht groaned and took pity on the poor junkie.

  “Minister, I saw one of the launnies Sebbs is jabberin’ about in the Underground bars of Fiorah. She wasn’t your average kiddo, I can tell you that. If she wasn’t a telepath, she must’ve been smarter than the lot of us. Even without all this I ‘spect the Core could’ve used her for something nasty. Besides, Tidas, old friend—Sebbs isn’t stupid enough to waltz right in here, not even if I doped him. You gotta consider that he means what he says to risk all this.”

  “It will take time to investigate these claims. Meanwhile, I appreciate you bringing Mantri Sebbs into our custody, Captain Jagger. I will be happy to provide your crew with an escort to the interior,” the Minister said, pressing a button on the top of his desk and ending the meeting.

  “You don’t understand!” Sebbs cried, rising from his seat as two guards entered the room. “Jahx and the other networked telepaths are still alive! This half-assino operation will be crushed when those Dominion soldiers become fully integrated Liikers!”

  Jagger didn’t move from his seat as the guards closed in with stun guns. He kinda felt sorry for Sebbs when he hit the floor, eyes frozen open like a crazed animal.

&nbs
p; “Captain, my respects to you and your crew,” the Minister said as the guards dragged Sebbs away by the collar. “However, some of the other council members are still unsure of your loyalties. Beginning today, your passage through federated space will be strictly regulated.”

  A retort perched on the tip of his tongue, but Reht stopped himself when the alarm strapped to his thigh vibrated. Something’s happened; the crew is in danger.

  He should have gone right then, but he couldn’t stand to be cheated, especially by a tight-collared old military fart. “Minister, ouch—I can’t accept that. You know I’ve always backed the USC, and that hasn’t changed since the formation of the Alliance. He might not have made good choices, but Mantri did what he had to do to survive. My crew can’t be held responsible for that.”

  “That’s where you’re wrong, Reht. Someone has to take the blame in the eyes of the military council. You are the most convenient target. That’s politics.” The Minister’s mouth twisted in a humorless smile as he showed the dog-soldier captain the door.

  “You lose me, Tidas old pal, and you lose your best bet in surviving what’s to come,” Reht said, folding his arms across his chest, refusing to budge from his seat.

  “We have Sebbs, Captain—the one you claim will be our invaluable informant—so why would we need your scrap crew?”

  Reht snorted. “Because I’m the only one that kid knew and trusted before she was sent away to be brainwashed. If she don’t see a familiar face, then she ain’t gonna help you. Don’t they teach you anything in your fancy command schools?”

  “You overestimate your importance, Jagger. You always have,” Tidas replied.

  Reht leaned in toward Tidas, revealing his incisors. His urge to deck the Minister grew stronger by the second. “When you sit on your assino in gorsh-shit meetings instead of actually being out there,” Reht said, stabbing a finger at the observatory window, “you lose perspective on how things really work. When it comes down to that, the rules of politics don’t apply. You know how to find me, Razar. I’ll be waiting—but with a much heftier price tag.”