Eye of the Abyss

by Michael Formichelli

  “Wow,” she whispered.

  “Nice. Come on.” Giselle dropped to her stomach and started crawling in the underbrush.

  She did the same, feeling the ash and dirt on her as the armacorium transmitted the sensation to her body. Shards of wood exploded around them while screams and curses filled the air as the strafing continued. It seemed to take forever for them to reach the far side of the clearing crawling through the chaos, but they did. She was grateful when they stood among the trees and deactivated the stealth mode before hurrying on toward the center of the dome.

  The forest thinned, and the village appeared beyond them. For an all too brief moment she had hope that they might be in time to make a difference, then she got a clear view and her throat constricted.

  If not for the presence of the huts and houses, she would have thought they had returned to the battlefield behind them. Drones poured in from the jungle, streaming yellow beams from their arms as the turrets on their shoulders swiveled, sending deadly laser-fire through the air. The bodies of dead Gaians—humans, Isinari, and Volgoth—littered the ground. She scanned them, shuddering as she did, relieved her friends were not among the dead before she set her eyes on Lalande Euphrati’s abode. She found it ringed by the flaming remains of a make-shift barricade comprised of household debris and stone. What remained of the door was now in splinters hanging from its hinges, and she could hear the gut-wrenching crackle of gunshots coming from within.

  “Don’t be foolish.” Giselle crouched in the dirt beside her. “Watch and wait. We have to see what’s going on before rushing in.”

  “I’m not going to rush in,” she said from between gritted teeth.

  “Yes, you are. Stop thinking about it.”

  She was about to ask how she knew what she was thinking when Biren emerged from within the house. His body was covered in mud and blood, and his shoulders were slumped. Ila came next, her white jumpsuit stained gray by dirt, and behind her followed Sanul and Boadicea. Cygni gasped as they formed a line and dropped to their knees with their hands on their heads. Lalande Euphrati, Mother-Priestess of the Biodome, appeared after them and was shoved forward into the dirt the moment she cleared the doorway. Every muscle in Biren’s body seemed to flex at once, but to Cygni’s surprise, he did not rise from his place.

  The reason became clear a moment later when a tall woman dressed in the black uniform of an Abyssian Praetor ducked under the door frame to clear it from inside with her gun trained on his mother. She had pale eyes and even paler skin that seemed to glow in its contrast with her uniform. The Eye in the Galaxy medallion on her jacket gleamed in the shifting firelight as she walked up behind Lalande, grabbed a fist-full of her hair, and hauled her up on her knees.

  “Cygni, wait,” Giselle cautioned, again seeming to know her mind.

  “They’re being arrested,” she said, wishing it was true. She dreaded what was actually happening.

  The Praetor looked down at Lalande, who returned the gaze with angry, defiant eyes. Cygni expected her to use the butt of her gun to knock the look from Lalande’s face, but instead, the Praetor wound her hand deeper into the Mother-Priestess’ hair, placed the barrel of her gun to her temple. The crack of the bullet caused Cygni to jerk in place as it shattered Lalande’s skull.

  The Praetor let her body go and it fell into the mud.

  “NO!” Boa screamed. The Abyssian turned her gun towards her next.

  “Cygni!” Giselle shouted, but it was too late. She was on her feet with her legs pumping, closing the distance between her and the threat to her friend without a thought in her head. Only the rush of blood and feel of gritted teeth managed to penetrate the panicked rage filling her breast.

  Praetor Augusta looked up as she got within arm’s reach, and her eyes narrowed. She was about to strike at the Abyssian when Biren smashed into her target from the side, sending the Praetor skidding to the ground. With an animal roar he was on her, hammering away with his fists while the others looked around with tear-stained faces.

  “Come on, we have to run. Biren!”

  Ila, Sanul, and Boa scrambled to their feet and fled into the jungle.

  He wrestled with the Praetor, one hand on the wrist holding her gun while the other pressed into her throat. His eyes were wide and bloodshot, like the frenzy of a wild beast lay within them. Cygni rushed forward, not quite sure what she would do against an Abyssian but certain that Biren needed her help. She was three short steps from him when the Praetor smashed her face into his nose, stunning him. The Praetor used the moment to get a foot under his chest and launched his body through the air with such force that he struck a tree on the jungle’s edge ten-meters away, cracking the trunk. Cygni watched him fall to the ground as the Praetor flipped up to her feet and shoved the gun in her face.

  The crackle of the supersonic bullets deafened her. She felt them punch her in the head with three impacts that sent sparks through her vision, but they did not penetrate. As in Solahab Tower, the armacorium vibrated and heated up as it redistributed the kinetic energy. It wasn’t until her body hit the ground that she realized she’d been launched into the air by the attack. Through the spots in her vision she saw the Abyssian move to stand over her and place a foot on her chest. Silver-ringed eyes looked down into her own.

  The gun came up again.

  “You should not be here,” the Praetor said. “Why are you—”

  She was cut short by gun shots. Bullets struck her in the head and chest several times, though they had little effect other than to knock her short, black hair out of place. Cygni looked over and saw Giselle continuing to fire as she advanced on them.

  I need a weapon! She screamed in her head.

  [Charging armacorium] her PLIA responded.

  Praetor Augusta raised her gun at Giselle, but looked down at Cygni with narrowed eyes.

  [Armacorium charged, fire?]

  Yes!

  Arcs of electricity exploded up through the Abyssian. Her body vibrated, and the gun fired as her fingers squeezed into a fist. It crackled with the sound of tiny sonic booms, but drained itself into the ground above her instead of Giselle’s body. A moment after the arcs stopped the Praetor fell backward stiff as a metal rod and slammed into the ground hard enough for Cygni to feel it in her back.

  “Come on, it’ll get back up soon,” Giselle said, rushing to her side.

  She accepted the help up and headed straight for Biren’s crumpled body.

  “Cygni! Goddess dammit!” Giselle followed her to his side.

  “Biren!” She rolled his limp body over onto his back and smacked him across the face. “Wake up! Dammit Biren!” She hit him again, then fell forward to put her ear to his mouth. Please be alive, she thought.

  She heard the faintest of breaths pass through his lips, and her heart jumped in her chest.

  “Cygni, we have to go,” Giselle said in a soft tone.

  “Not without him. We came here for this. I can’t leave him to die here.”

  Her face tightened. “Okay. I’ll help you.”

  She bent over, and grabbed Biren’s arm as Cygni took the other. Together they hauled him up. He was heavy, even with the weight distributed between them, and she staggered until she remembered that she could enhance her strength with the armacorium.

  “We need to find the others,” she said, slinging Biren over one shoulder so that his torso hung down her back.

  “They went that way.” Giselle pointed towards the trees. Her cheeks exploded outward with a splash of red that covered Cygni’s face as the bullet, having passed through her friend’s face, struck her between the eyes. She stumbled back into a tree as Giselle dropped to the ground, her mouth and jaw lost in a mess of crimson gore.

  Her eyes found Praetor Augusta’s as the Abyssian rose to her feet with gun in hand.

  “Shit!” she screamed, panting hard. She made sure she still had Biren, then forced herself forward. The Praetor fired again and she felt the bullets strike her neck and temple, blurr
ing her vision and sending her into a coughing fit. She forced herself onward in spite of it. Crouching, she grabbed Giselle’s body by her belt and hauled her up as she fled. She didn’t think about where she was going, or the hammer of bullets at her legs and back, but kept herself moving forward into the shifting shadows of the jungle. Her mind seemed to blank, and for a time all that existed was the pump of her legs and the feel of the ground beneath her soles.

  At some point the bullets ceased to strike her, but it wasn’t long after that her legs gave out. She collapsed into the muddy soil with Biren’s body on one side and Giselle’s on the other. Her head was pounding and her vision was blurry, but she knew she had to keep moving, had to save her friends. With a deep breath she forced herself up onto her hands and knees. Ahead of her light poured in from the street beyond the triangle-lattice of the dome’s wall. She stared at it, trying to make out if the street beyond was flooded with DS-109’s or not, but the glass was too smoke-stained and blurry to tell.

  Something stirred behind her and she whirled around into a kneeling position, ready to feel the impact of the Praetor’s bullets upon her skin again. Instead, a pair of twisting, crystal horns appeared above the underbrush a moment before Sanul broke through. He rushed to her side and put a four-fingered hand on her shoulder.

  “I found you.” A crystal smile split his thick lips. Ila and Boa appeared behind him.

  “Yeah, you did.” She smiled until her eyes fell on those of Boadicea Euphrati. Her former friend stared down at her with a look harder than stone. After a seeming eternity her eyes shifted to the ground, and Cygni let out a breath she didn’t know she was holding.

  “They won’t last long without medical aid,” Boa said. “Come on. We’re near one of the emergency exits.”

  She bent down and offered her hand. Cygni took it and accepted the help up to her feet.

  “Help me with him,” Boa said to Sanul. The two of them grabbed Biren, leaving Cygni to pick up Giselle.

  “Won’t they have the exits covered?” She said with Giselle in her arms. She had to admit, being as exhausted as she was, without the armacorium she wouldn’t have been able to manage it.

  “We have a few secrets that aren’t on the schematics.” Boa and Sanul started off carrying Biren between them.

  She glanced over her shoulder, her eyes searching the foliage. There was no sign of the Praetor. For a moment she wondered why, then, adjusting her friend in her arms, she followed Boa into the darkness of the jungle.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Ikuzlu City, Kosfanter

  41:3:34 (J2400:3224)

  Cylus dropped to his knees and kissed the tarmac atop his tower. His nostrils filled with the brine of the sea and his skin warmed with the touch of the Kosfantari sun. All thoughts of the terrible news they received on the way to this place evaporated while he drank it in.

  Lina laughed.

  “We’re home,” he said.

  “Yes, we are.” She smiled, but it faded quickly. She was despondent when they received the news feed during the trip from the exit zone. The Gaians were alleged to have attacked the Premier, and resisted when Praetor-Prime Augusta moved to arrest those responsible. It was reported that only a few survived the ensuing slaughter, and the biodome was in ruin. He vowed to get to the bottom of what happened once they were sure his own head was not in a noose for Vargas and Olivaar. The news didn’t indicate that it was, but with the Praetor on-planet it was hard to tell which way things would go. It made him doubly nervous since he still didn’t know why Praetor Modulus abducted them on Calemni. If Daedalus was against him—well, it wasn’t worth thinking about right now.

  Reika and Meia walked down the ramp behind them and took up positions at their flanks. Both were dressed in the military uniforms they made using the ship’s fabricator. It was interesting to note that Reika had done so, since she stayed in casual clothes when they headed out for Calemni, and he suspected that Meia had something to do with it. He noted the two of them spending a great deal of time together around the ship. Maybe the captain was trying to impress the former Star Corps officer? Whatever the case she deserved a reward—both of them did—for getting them away from that crazy Abyssian and off that cursed moon.

  “I never thought we’d see it again.” He looked out at the city around them through the haze of the midday sun. His eyes fell upon the seven black claws of Revenant Tower in the distance, but he refused to let it spoil his mood.

  Lina took his hand and squeezed it. “I think Ben is waiting.”

  He looked to the door leading into the penthouse. Ben stood before it in a black, three-piece suit. Cylus smiled and approached with the rest of them following in his wake.

  “It is good to see you home, master.” Ben bowed.

  “I’m relieved to see you. I’m afraid I didn’t take good care of your iteration,” he said with a shudder. The memory of Ben’s head exploding was imprinted on his brain.

  “Think nothing of it, Master. The Spur is a dangerous place. It is unfortunate that I must inform you Baroness Sophiathena Cronus is present, as is Praetor-Prime Augusta.”

  He shivered as his cheerfulness evaporated. “What?”

  “They await you in the conference room.”

  He felt his stomach turn.

  “Praetor Augusta has given no indication that she intends to arrest you,” Ben added.

  “That’s good to know.” His mouth was dry.

  “Arrest him?” Meia frowned and crossed her arms before her chest. Beside her, Reika’s tail wagged back and forth in jerky movements.

  “We had some issues with an Abyssian on Calemni. Did this Praetor Prime mention anything of them?” he asked.

  “Trouble?” Ben said.

  “He abducted us.” Lina’s eyebrows drew down towards the bridge of her nose.

  “Strange,” Ben stated. “Did he arrest you?”

  “Effectively, though he wouldn’t say why,” Cylus said.

  “I cannot speak to that,” Ben responded. “And this Praetor has not spoken of it.”

  He frowned and nodded. It seemed he would have to find out what she wanted for himself.

  “Ben, take our guests to their quarters. Use the suites on the east side of the tower.” He was giving Meia and Reika some of the most lavish accommodations he had, right beside his own. They deserved it, and it kept the cure for Siren nearby as she promised. “Come and meet us in the conference room when you’re finished. I want your company for that conversation.”

  “Yes, Baron.”

  “You don’t want us with you?” Meia asked, surprising him.

  He followed her eyes to the large, armored frame of Iapetus and realized what she meant. It occurred to him that she was dependent on him to take down Captain Solus and restore her position in Star Corps. He also realized that having a combat drone animated by an AI at his back was probably a good idea when confronting an Abyssian.

  “Actually, yes, you’re right. We’ll all go.”

  Lina caught his eye and nodded.

  “Very good, master. Shall I fetch your luggage?” Ben asked.

  Remember the plan, he thought.

  “No, but I need to know one thing before we proceed. Is everything ready for what we talked about when I left?” His heart raced at the thought. It would be a key bit of leverage he’d need to pull off the plan he and Lina came up with.

  Ben nodded. “The necessary arrangements are in place. Baroness Sophiathena Cronus has attempted to discover the reasons for my maneuvers—”

  “She has?” He sucked in his breath.

  “—but she was unsuccessful in divining their nature. I could not prevent her access to Keltan Securities records, given your standing orders in the matter, but I was able to lead her from the main goal. The last thing that remains is to meet with Premier Dorsky and gain his acceptance. It may be challenging, however.”

  “How so?” he asked.

  “He views you as a rival to the Office of Premier.”


  “Maybe something can be worked out?” He looked to Lina and received a nod.

  “Perhaps,” Ben said.

  “Good.” Cylus felt a sense of power flood his body. “Let’s not keep the Praetor or Sophi waiting. Ah, Iapetus, can you secure our cerebral computers against outside attack? I don’t want what happened on that moon to occur again.”

  “Uncertain against an Abyssian cyber-attack, but I will defend you as long as you support the Lieutenant.” Iapetus’ deep voice sounded from the speaker-grill in his throat.

  He nodded and squeezed Lina’s hand. “Thank you. I shall, and I’m sure you’ll do your best. Oh, and one more thing: I don’t want anyone to know who we have with us. Ben, can you set the lieutenant here up with a new identity in case the Praetor asks?”

  “It will be difficult to fool Daedalus,” Ben responded. “And he will know what happened on Calemni. All Abyssians are linked to him.”

  “Damn. You’re right.” He sighed.

  “But yes, I believe it will be useful when interacting with beings other than Praetor-Prime Augusta. I can do that. It will not hold up against deep scrutiny, but perhaps it will do.” Ben turned to Meia. “Do you have a name preference?”

  He smiled. “Ben, you are amazing.”

  Meia’s brow furled. “Yes. Carina Starblood.”

  “Interesting choice,” Cylus said, wondering how she came up with the name.

  “Miss Carina Starblood, a mercenary out of the Sasstossan sector,” Ben said.

  She nodded. “That works. What about Iapetus?”

  “I bought a drone for additional protection while we were out there?” Cylus offered.

  “No, he’s mine. I got him myself,” Meia stated in a firm tone.

  “I will make it work,” Ben said. “He is battlefield salvage. We just have to keep his existence from Star Corps for as long as possible.”

  “What about Reika?” Meia asked.

  Cylus looked over at the captain. “She’s a Shiragawa employee. I guess it would be a little strange to have her with us.”

  “I can head back to IntelSys Tower if—” she began.