Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright
Chapter 1 - Sentinel Tower
Chapter 2 - Another String
Chapter 3 - The Fist Of Orinmore
Chapter 4 - The Offer
Chapter 5 - Tight Spaces
Chapter 6 - The Former Admiral
Chapter 7 - The Contact
Chapter 8 - Untimely
Contact
ENTER THE SHROUD
GALACTIC SENTINEL
BOOK TWO
KILLIAN CARTER
Copyright © Killian C. Carter
First published in Great Britain by Arcane Pages, in 2018
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior permission of the publisher.
Any person who makes any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable for criminal prosecution and civil claims and damages.
The moral rights of the author have been asserted.
First edition 2018 v1.0
Published by Arcane Pages
www.kccarter.com
SENTINEL TOWER
Clio’s head spun as she hurried through the vast corridors of Sentinel Tower, blaster at the ready. Minister Straiya was in trouble, and Clio was still shaking from the panic she heard in the shanti's voice—a voice usually strong and commanding respect. The line had cut before Clio could learn what was wrong. When she tried to call back, she found that the Tower’s communication network had been compromised. She tried getting a hold of the base, but her exogear wouldn’t connect. External lines appeared to be down too.
Clio swore as she sped through another corridor. On any given day, she would have passed several people going about their duties; however, the tower was all but empty as personnel focused on preparations for the annual Sentinel Ceremony taking place later that week. That there weren’t any guards, however, was worrying.
Straiya’s pleas played over and over in Clio’s head like dissonant bells.
They’re breaking into my chambers, she’d said. Get help!
Clio wondered if she wasn’t rushing into a trap but figured there was nothing else she could do.
She quickly checked her exoframe’s systems. Shields were active, and armor integrity was full.
Clio wished Booster and Swigger were there, but her furry friend was still in rehabilitation after the events of Colony 115, and Swigger was manning his post at the base—not that they spoke much after he called off their brief relationship. A slight pang of pain reared its head only to be drowned by Clio’s consternation. Self-pity would have to wait.
It was just her and the semi-automatic pistol in her right hand—she cursed SenSec for their rigid rules around carrying in the tower. Only designated guards were permitted rifles, and those guards were nowhere to be found.
Clio cautiously rounded a corner and pressed against the heavy doors that led to the shanti Minister’s offices. She aimed her exoframe’s audio amplifiers at the room and waited for their circuits to load.
It suddenly dawned on her that she hadn’t considered what to do if Straiya’s offices had been overrun. Perhaps she should have gone for help first. She pushed the looming regret aside. She didn’t have time to get help. Straiya might not have survived whatever had befallen her by the time Clio returned. She was probably too late as it was.
I’ll have to figure it out as I go. But how did they manage not to trigger the alarm?
Clio was no seasoned soldier, but she’d been in enough scrapes to know when something wasn’t right. Months of sitting behind a computer terminal and processing data in an attempt to track Chimera had made her a bit rusty, but the trials of Colony 115 had tampered her—transformed her. Training with Taza and Zora whenever Clio could wrangle them also helped in keeping something of an edge.
The audio amp pinged in her ear, and she swiftly scanned the offices beyond.
Silence. No activity, talking, or the usual sounds one would associate with a busy government department. Just silence. It all but confirmed her suspicions, and fear set her heart racing. She inhaled deeply and repeated the breathing pattern Zora had taught her as she reached for the door’s access panel.
The doors snapped open.
Clio cautiously poked her head inside to find the space as void of life as the tower’s corridors had been. She expected to detect signs of a battle or some struggle at least.
Didn’t Straiya’s guards put up a fight?
She had seen shanti in action on Colony 115. They were not the kind to be trifled with.
Were the guards in on it? If Chimera had managed to sneak several guards into Straiya’s service, they could have conducted their operation quietly. They could also have taken hostages, which would explain how everyone suddenly disappeared.
Clio pressed into the open space, staying low behind desks and partitions. She slowly progressed toward Straiya’s chamber, snaking along the walkways, watching for trouble. On reaching her destination, she heard the first signs of life since receiving the distress call.
Someone inside Straiya’s office spoke in hushed tones. She could barely hear the words, even with audio levels turned to max, but at least one person was inside the room.
Clio sneaked to the opened door and crouched just outside waiting to hear more.
“The girl isn’t coming,” a nasal voice said. “She’s probably gone to get help.”
“She tends to act without thinking,” a gruff voice answered. “She’ll be here.”
From their dialect, they were shanti alright, and Clio was sure she recognized one of them.
“Typical women,” the nasal voice spat.
“I wouldn’t underestimate her. Remember what she did on 115.”
“Those reports are exaggerated. Mere stories. Everything I’ve heard about that whole affair is so damned far-fetched. They should have chucked that Grimshaw character in an insane asylum and thrown away the key.”
“If you had your way, you’d lock all human’s in a cage.” The gruff voice laughed.
“You better believe it. They’re a scourge on the galaxy.”
Clio controlled her breathing. As far as she could tell, there were only two, but they were expecting her. The guards also seemed to know a lot about her. Maybe Straiya had sold her out. Politicians were a spineless bunch. All it would have taken was a gun to the Minister’s head, and she would have spilled everything. Clio always knew the shanti couldn’t be trusted.
But why are they expecting me to show up? Sounds like they know about my fury genes. Grimshaw had warned her that such information would draw attention from undesirable people if it ever got out, but that was why they had kept it secret.
Clio sneaked a glance into the room, ready to fire just in case. She pulled back when no one had seen her.
One guard had his back to her and obscured another who sat in Minister Straiya’s chair with his boots up on her ornate desk. The one she could see wore a variation of the Sentinel Tower exoframe, though it was more robust than the standard issue ornamental gear, an officer’s armor. Not only had Straiya’s security team been compromised, whoever it was had somehow infiltrated the higher ranks. There was no telling whether it was Chimera, but Clio didn’t know who else it could be. A politician as powerful as Straiya had no doubt made many enemies.
I can handle two. Clio tightened her grip on her blaster.
“I think you’re right,” the gruff voice said. “Bitch must have gone for help like Straiya asked her.”
“In whic
h case we better get going,” the nasal voice said. “If the Minister doesn’t stop yacking, I’ll have to shut her up.”
“Our orders were to take Straiya in unharmed,” the gruff voice objected. “She’s no good to the boss dead.”
“Who said anything about killing her? But there’s nothing wrong with having a little fun.”
The intruders chuckled.
“Let’s get out of here before Hallak gets trigger happy and detonates those charges.”
Clio charged into the room, discharging half of her rounds into the nearest guard as he turned. He dropped faster than she’d expected. She emptied the remainder of her clip into the second guard, knocking the pistol from his hands as he climbed out of the chair. Clio reached for her knife and sprang over the desk. They toppled over the chair and crashed to the tiled floor. Clio straddled the intruder with her knife pointed at his neck. His arms pushed against hers, and exoframe servos whined as one sought to overcome the other. She shifted her weight forward, and the tip of the blade descended inch by inch.
The room suddenly spun, and her knife clattered to the ground. He had somehow broken free and disarmed her.
He leaped for her knife, and she scrambled after him. They wrestled and clawed for ownership of the weapon. Her fingertips touched the hilt, but the intruder snapped it from her grasp. Clio dodged a swipe and grappled his arm. They wrestled again, and the guard ended up on top of her.
With more weight behind him, the blade plunged fast until it rested just above her left breast.
Clio released her grip, and the knife glanced off her breastplate’s kinetic barrier. She struck the guard under the chin before he could come at her again, and fell sideways. The pistol the shanti had dropped lay next to her. She retrieved the weapon and flung herself into her assailant again, holding the muzzle to his chin.
“Where’s the Minster?”
“Okay, okay,” he pleaded in his annoying nasal tone. “I’ll tell you where she is. Just don’t kill me.”
“You have three seconds.”
His long canines shone as he lashed her a smile. The reflection in his visor shifted.
By the time Clio had worked it out, something had smashed into the back of her helmet, and she fell into the light.
***
Clio slowly opened her eyes, the back of her head throbbing with pain. When her senses finally returned, she found herself sitting in a dark and unfamiliar room, tied to a chair with her hands secured behind her back. She could tell little about the place through the head-fog.
Drugs? Am I still in the tower?
She rotated her head, working out a tense in her neck. It eased the pain even if only a little but did little to clear the haze that clouded her mind. Where she was and how long she’d been there, Clio had no idea. She tested her restraints, and they didn’t move. She wasn’t going anywhere, and the best she could do was take stock.
The intruders had stripped her down to her under-armor. For all Clio knew, they had transported her off the Sentinel days ago while keeping her under sedation. But her head wasn’t foggy, and she suspected she was still on the station, and the altercation had taken place the same day.
What has happened to Straiya? What about the Grimshaw and the others? Are they looking for me?
That they would be searching for her had she not reported back was a small comfort. But she couldn't rely on them finding her. The Sentinel was as big as some planets, and it would be months or years by the time they found her. She’d be a corpse by then…a memory.
Clio cursed herself for trusting the shanti and vowed never to make the same mistake again if she ever made it out alive. She should have known better than to let her guard down. She had grown too soft since leaving Morigan, and now she was paying the price.
A shanti warrior emerged from the shadows before her with a knife in his hand. His exoframe was a cut above the shanti standard issue, and he wore no helmet. Clio realized he was the guard she’d attacked first. She had misjudged the firepower it would take to put him down—that was another mistake she wouldn’t make again. He moved with a limp, and one corner of her mouth curled in a smile.
At least I hurt the bastard.
“You have nothing to smile about, human.” His words dripped with acid. “If I had it my way, I’d break your legs as compensation for your actions.”
“It’ll teach you not to turns your back on a door, especially when you’re expecting someone.”
He leaned into her face and hissed, his sour breath warm on her cheek. “You’ll learn manners yet.”
“Manners are overrated.” She spat, and a glob of saliva struck his lips
They locked eyes before he stepped back and wiped his face with the back of his arm. “I’ll need the codes to access your bases mainframe.”
“Go to hell.”
“In case you haven’t realized,” he said, lifted the knife to her throat. “We’re already in hell.”
Clio pushed herself forward and felt the blade sink just beneath her skin’s surface.
Surprised filled the shanti’s eyes before withdrawing the bloodied knife and quickly composing himself.
“You’ll get nothing from me.”
“You’ve got spirit; I’ll give you that.” He cracked another smile, his pointed canines almost touching his lower lip. “But stronger people have broken at these hands.” He highlighted the point with a wave of his free paw. “Alovon Straiya’s still alive, you know.”
Clio shifted in her chair. “What have you done to her?”
“Let’s just say we’ve got everything we need from the Minister.” He licked Clio’s blood off the blade. “But she’s less of the woman she used to be.” He chuckled.
“You sick bastard.”
“She’s no longer of any use to us. of course, so we’ll have to dispose of her.” He scratched his chin stared down at her with his piercing golden eyes. “However, we’ll be more than happy to let her go if you…give us what we want.”
Clio considered if for a second with gritted teeth. “I already told you, you’ll get nothing from me.”
“That remains to be seen.”
Something beeped, and Clio heard the low buzz of radio chatter coming from a device in the shanti’s ear. He lowered his blade, and his demeanor suddenly changed completely. “Confirmed. Releasing the Lieutenant now.”
“What’s going on?”
He remained silent as he disappeared behind her.
Worry edged its way through the mist, but Clio shoved it aside. She heard a click and felt her restraints release.
Without a thought, she sprang to her feet and stumbled forward several steps before getting her balance. The dizziness caught her off guard.
“What the hell are you doing?” The guard sounded less than happy. “You’ll hurt yourself.”
Clio spun on her heel, a ghost-copy of the room spinning with her. “The idea…”
She ran at the guard, feigned a step to his left, and hammered his hand with the metal fetter still attached to her wrist. She caught the knife as it fell and pressed its point under an armor plate in the inside of his thigh.
“… is to hurt you.” His eye widened.
“Where is the Minister?“
He refused to answer.
She pressed the blade harder and felt it split the suit’s joint.
“I’ll start with your leg and make my way up to your balls. If you want children, I’d suggest you tell me where the minister is.”
“Lieutenant Evans!” The familiar high-pitched voice cut through her brain. “Release Commander Brikkon, at once.”
Clio turned her attention to another shanti emerging from the darkness with two heavily armed guards. Vibrant purple and gold silks draped over her frame, and she had that same dignified—almost-arrogant—expressions all shanti wore. Two tufted ears poked through golden-red hair, and a tail swayed gently behind her.
The shanti female dragged a chair with her and sat it down in front of where Clio had
been restrained. She whisked stray strands of hair out of her feline eyes as she leaned forward, and her face came into the light.
Had she been able, Clio would have fallen off her chair. “Councillor Talori? Are you behind all this? You’ve been working for Chimera this whole time?”
“Don’t be foolish, child. Sit down.” The shanti traitor gestured to the other chair.
“Where’s Straiya? I’ll kill him if you don’t tell me.”
“I said, sit down.” Councillor Talori glared at her. “You can obey by choice or force.”
Both guards at the councilor’s shoulder lifted heavy phase rifles to their shoulders.
Clio considered her options. The knife clanged as it struck the hard floor and Commander Brikkon drew away into the shadows, seemingly unperturbed.
Councillor Talori beckoned for Clio to sit again. The situation suddenly felt stranger still.
“What’s going on here?”
“I’ll answer your question, but you need calm down. Now sit.”
Clio reluctantly sat and, as was always the case with shanti officials, felt like she was being interviewed by royalty.
“I’m here to inform you that you have passed the test.”
“The test? But what—”
“Straiya commanded that your loyalty be tested. I’m pleased to say that you passed, despite my reservations.”
Clio’s head went light, as though she had been teleported to an alternate reality or a dream. “I don’t…understand,” was all she could manage.
“What’s not to understand, child? We set you a test. You took the test. You passed the test. It is simple.”
“You mean…”
“Yes. This entire exercise was a setup. Though, you came close to killing the good Commander twice.”
“But…why?”
“Must I keep repeating myself?” Talori hissed. “To test your loyalty.”
Clio’s head continued to spin wildly. “Why would Minister Straiya do that?”
“That part is up to her to explain. I trust you are calm now?”
Clio nodded, still distracted. In truth, she was anything but calm.
Enter The Shroud: Galactic Sentinel Book Two Page 1