Veil of Reality (Cadicle #2): An Epic Space Opera Series

by Amy DuBoff

  Kate straightened. “Don’t let him push you away. You know how he can be. He wants you there, even if he says otherwise.”

  Cris nodded. “I know. I’ll give him space today, but I have no intention of going anywhere.”

  Kate crossed her arms and hugged herself. “This all feels so surreal. The war was hard enough to comprehend, but genetic engineering… And the Priesthood’s involvement! Stars, I always thought the TSS was so far away from them. But being part of it?”

  “I can’t quite wrap my head around it, either.” I always thought the TSS would give us leverage to bring the Priesthood down, but maybe the TSS is the very thing keeping the Priesthood safe.

  “I wish we were together.”

  “Me too. I can’t wait to be back home, even if I’ll need to resist the urge to punch Banks when I see him.”

  Kate cracked a smile. “I think he’d understand.”

  Cris sighed. “I should probably check in with my crew and let them know what’s going on.”

  “Okay, I’ll be thinking about you. Give my love to Wil.” Kate paused. “Learn what you can while you’re there.”

  “I will.”

  “I’ll be anxiously awaiting your return. Love you.”

  “Love you, too. I’ll check in again soon.” Cris ended the call. At least we have each other. We’ll find a way to get through anything the Priesthood has in store for us.

  * * *

  Wil pushed down his irritation over his father’s behavior. What was he thinking? He turned his attention to Taelis. “So, you were saying about the independent jump drive…?”

  The High Commander nodded, continuing down the corridor. “Right. One of the biggest tactical challenges we’ve encountered in the war is an inability to reliably travel in and out of the rift. Getting a stable beacon lock takes time and also makes our ships’ locations easier to identify. Essentially, the Bakzen always know we’re coming.”

  “Whereas you don’t know when and where they’re going to strike.”

  “Precisely. But with the combination of an independent jump drive and simultaneous observation, we would know where they are at all times and have the maneuvering precision to respond.”

  They’re counting on two things they don’t have right now, and want me to deliver both. “What’s your backup plan?”

  “We don’t have one.”

  What if I can’t do it? Wil took an unsteady breath and bit his lower lip.

  Taelis softened. “Wil, I know we’re asking a lot. You do have some time to get everything in place—I’m not expecting a solution overnight.”

  “To my father’s point, people have spent their whole lives trying work out an independent jump drive design without ever getting anywhere.” Running into the same blocks I have every time I’ve looked at it.

  “Even if it’s not possible, simultaneous observation alone may be enough to turn the war in our favor.”

  Wil shook his head. “An act you claim no Taran can currently perform.”

  Taelis hesitated. “That’s not exactly true.”

  “Sir?”

  The High Commander stopped mid-stride. “Have you heard of the Aesir?”

  Wil stopped next to him. “No, I don’t think so.”

  “Most haven’t. Some know them as ‘The Ascended.’”

  “I’m sorry, I’m not familiar.”

  “Well, they are capable of something resembling simultaneous observation—only, it’s more like seeing the fabric of subspace, not so much observing real-time events.”

  I didn’t even know that was possible. “How can they see the fabric of subspace?”

  Taelis gave a dismissive flip of his hand. “I’m not sure exactly. They claim to be seeking enlightenment by reading some sort of larger pattern to our existence. But the point is, they can disconnect consciousness from physical self, so we know it’s possible. You’ll just need to take it to the next level.”

  Is that even more than the Bakzen can do? “Why don’t I go train with the Aesir, then?”

  The High Commander became rigid. “That’s not possible.”

  “It sounds like they might be able to give me a leg up on learning what I need to succeed.”

  “Though they are of Taran origins, they now live in the furthest depths of explored space and like to keep to themselves,” Taelis replied. “I barely even know they exist. And from what little else I know about them, I don’t think they’d take kindly to a training request, however well-intentioned.”

  So the only Taran people who could help me won’t. I guess the Bakzen were right that the TSS couldn’t give me what I need. Wil pushed aside the thought. “It’s a lot for me to take on by myself.”

  “You’re largely self-taught, aren’t you?” Taelis asked, resuming his stride down the hallway.

  Wil followed. “Simultaneous observation sounds a little more complicated than reading a book.” But I guess I have no choice other than to figure it out on my own. But how?

  “One step at a time,” Taelis assured. “Let’s get back to the tangible. The engineering team is waiting for us.”

  Wil nodded. Machines that already exist in real life—what a refreshing change. “I look forward to meeting them.”

  “Come on.” Taelis picked up the pace and led the way to an elevator at the central hub of the space station.

  Like the previous sections of the space station, the designs of the remaining hallway and elevator were plain and utilitarian. Largely metal on metal, everything gleamed cold and sterile. With a shudder, Wil was reminded of the Bakzen’s facility. Both are built for war, not for comfort. Wil stood in silence as the elevator descended to a lower structure within H2.

  Taelis pulled out his handheld, his brow furrowing as he read a message. He wrote a response.

  Wil almost asked what the message was regarding but decided against it. I don’t think they get much good news around here.

  The elevator slowed and came to a rest. As the doors opened, Wil saw that the elevator had taken them directly to a cavernous room resembling a hangar. There were rows of jets on the far side, and various ship components occupied rows upon rows of shelving near the elevator doors. When they exited the elevator, Wil saw that the hangar wrapped all the way around the central axis of the space station, forming one continuous open area on the entire level. He couldn’t make out what was behind the central column, but it appeared that there were similar clusters of jets all around the perimeter.

  “As you probably guessed, this is our main berthing for H2’s defense jets,” Taelis explained. “We have nowhere near enough pilots stationed here to fly all of them, but they are here as a fallback defense. I know it looks rather exposed here, but this entire station has redundant electromagnetic shielding, and there are blast doors for all windows in case we need to fortify against direct attack. The most critical operations are on levels that can rotate ninety-degrees within the ring so we can achieve centrifugal gravity through spin around the axis, in case we ever need to shut down the artificial gravity.”

  Wil nodded with satisfaction. “You really planned ahead.”

  “I hope we never have to use any of those features,” Taelis replied solemnly.

  It’s all meant to be used as a last resort, if all else is lost. “I’ll do my best to make sure it doesn’t come to that.”

  “Right, well, let’s see what you’re working with,” the High Commander said. He set off between the rows of shelves toward a far wall.

  As they approached, Wil realized that they were headed toward an enclosed room within the hangar—one of several throughout the sprawling space. The double doors to the room were slid open to either side, and half a dozen people were huddled around a craft inside. It was the Bakzen jet Wil had commandeered for his escape. Studying it already.

  Everyone came to attention as Taelis neared. “Commander on deck,” a female engineer announced.

  I think Banks would laugh if anyone did that for him. Wil dropped a pace behind the
High Commander, waiting to be acknowledged.

  “At ease,” Taelis said. “Laecy, I want to introduce you to Wil Sietinen.”

  A woman stepped out from around the back side of the Bakzen jet. She looked to be around her late-thirties, with copper-colored eyes and light brown hair that was pulled up into a ponytail. Her mouth fell open a little as she caught sight of Wil. “No way.” She caught herself, and hastily wiped off her hands and held out her right hand, palm up, in greeting. “It’s an honor, sir.”

  A murmur of surprise passed through the other engineers, and they also presented the formal greeting.

  “Deena Laecy is our Lead Engineer,” Taelis explained. “She’s provided the final specification reviews for your production designs.”

  “Not that I ever had any changes to make,” Lacey said with a smile. “I was pretty shocked to find out those old TX-70s were designed by a ten-year-old.” She bowed her head a little, “Sir.”

  Wil returned her smile. “And I was pretty shocked to learn they went into production.”

  Laecy lit up. “The integrated thruster design was pure art. All the pilots love it. And the lines! You have an eye for designing a sexy spacecraft.”

  Taelis scowled. “Laecy, Wil may be young, but he’s dressed in black.”

  The engineer bowed her head. “I’m sorry, sir, I meant no disrespect.”

  Taelis needs to loosen up. “It’s quite all right. No need for formality here,” Wil said to Laecy, but glanced at Taelis.

  Laecy and the other engineers tried to contain their excitement, but their smirks came through.

  Wil felt Taelis try to voice a protest telepathically, but he blocked him out. “So, I guess you’re the lucky bunch that gets to dissect this,” Wil continued, looking over the Bakzen vessel. The engineers had opened the belly of the jet and there were several components resting on the ground.

  “Yes!” Laecy said, resting a hand on the nose of the vessel. “We just started. This is the most intact Bakzen ship we’ve ever had to study. Either they’re destroyed in battle, or the pilot will initiate a self-destruct as soon as they’re captured.”

  Good thing I didn’t accidentally trigger that! Wil stepped toward her, studying the components on the ground. “I’m glad I could provide something useful.”

  “We were just about to extract the jump drive. Want to take a look with us?” Laecy offered.

  That sounds way more interesting than whatever else Taelis has in store for me. “I’d love to.” He turned to Taelis. “Sir, do you mind?”

  Taelis’ displeasure was quite evident, but he inclined his head. “That’s fine. Probably best you get to know each other, anyway.” He checked his handheld. “I’ll have someone come retrieve you in a few hours. We still have a lot to cover.”

  “Of course, sir,” Wil acknowledged with a bow of his head. “Thank you for the opportunity to look this over. I think it will be helpful for my work on the independent jump drive.” The engineers glanced at each other with the last statement.

  “As you wish,” Taelis said, and strode off.

  “Are you really working on an independent jump drive design?” one of the young men on the engineering team questioned.

  What was a fun side project has become a real assignment. “Apparently I am.”

  “Do you think it’s possible?” Laecy asked.

  “We’ll find out,” Wil replied, turning his attention to the ship. “Let’s see how the Bakzen do it.”

  * * *

  Cris wandered into the Command Center, having nowhere else to be. To his surprise, he found Alec and Kari still at their stations, and Scott was sitting on the ledge of the command platform talking with them.

  They looked up with surprise when Cris entered. Kari hastily pulled a graphic data display down from the front of the viewscreen.

  “Hi,” Scott greeted. “Why aren’t you with Wil?”

  “No chaperones allowed,” replied Cris. “You look like you’re up to no good.”

  Alec and Kari eyed each other, and Scott shrugged. “Just investigating,” Scott said.

  “Investigating what?” Cris asked, coming to sit next to Scott.

  Scott glanced at the others. “The cost of the war, basically.”

  “Banks said they have an entirely separate budget for this Headquarters and the associated operations” Cris told them.

  “We figured as much,” Scott said. “But we were especially curious about the resources cost.”

  It has to be enormous. “Did you find anything?”

  Kari returned the content to the front of the viewscreen. There were several trend charts and data tables, but the labels were vague. “Well, I was especially curious about the fleet,” Kari said. “Building and stocking an interstellar ship is just about the most costly undertaking there is—both in terms of labor and raw materials. So, I decided to cross-reference docking records with the most recent inventory to get a sense of scale.”

  “I won’t ask how you got those files.” That hacking ability is one of the reasons I love having her around.

  “What I found is a little alarming,” Kari continued. “I was just sharing my preliminary findings.”

  “And?” Cris asked. There’s more they haven’t told us?

  Kari grimaced. She glanced at the files on the viewscreen. “I think they are losing ships on at least a weekly basis. Not jets, but cruisers.”

  “Which would explain why all the Bakzen carriers looked so scrappy—they’ve been salvaging pieces from our ships they destroy,” Alec added.

  Cris’ stomach turned over. There are dozens of people onboard each TSS cruiser—if not a hundred. “If that’s the case, how is the TSS even still functioning?”

  “That’s an excellent question,” Scott responded. “Near as we can tell, they keep their Agents pretty spaced out—just a Captain on each ship, likely for direct telepathic communication to avoid interception by the Bakzen. There’s a much higher Militia contingent for the rest of the officers compared to ours. There aren’t even Agents as Navigators on most ships.”

  “Stars!” Cris looked down. Taelis wasn’t exaggerating when he said the situation was dire. “I always knew there were other Militia training facilities outside of our Headquarters. But they must have way more recruits than I ever imagined, to keep up with casualties on that magnitude.”

  Alec sighed. “It must be a massive operation. I don’t know where they’d keep finding people—maybe recruiting in the outer colonies?”

  “Little do the recruits know that a Jotun assignment may as well be a death sentence.” How many students do I know who’ve ended up here?

  “Well, it’s not quite that bleak,” Alec replied. “But knowing these statistics, I wouldn’t want an assignment here.”

  In a few years, we won’t have a choice. “How are they even supporting a fleet that size?”

  “There are a lot of supply deliveries with pretty sketchy transit records,” Kari said. “I think they are diverting resources from the outer colonies.”

  Cris learned back and crossed his arms. That would explain a lot. “Things have been bad in the outer colonies at least since I was a kid. I saw the supply distributions firsthand so I know the colonies get deliveries, but I guess there’s no knowing what happens after that.”

  “But stealing from civilians?” Alec questioned. “That’s wrong on so many levels.”

  “Not to mention, how has no one heard about this?” Scott added.

  Anything is possible, knowing the Priesthood is involved. Win the war at any cost. “It’s not that hard to conceal information when you know the right people.”

  “I feel gross.” Kari slumped back in her chair.

  “There’s nothing we can do right now,” Cris said. But after the war, I’m going after the real enemy.

  “So, we just try to forget and get on with it?” Kari asked.

  If only we could forget. “Like I said, there’s nothing we can do right now. But, forward me these files. Thi
s is going to be important information when the time is right.”

  “You’re not talking as a TSS officer right now, are you?” Scott asked.

  All of Cris’ commanding officers knew his position outside of the TSS, but it wasn’t something he liked to discuss directly. “As a member of the Taran race, I promise that I will do everything in my power to make sure our people are never treated this way again.”

  “I guess that will have to do,” Kari said. She made some entries on her console. “Everything is locked up in a secure file for you.”

  “I’m glad you looked into this, but keep it to yourself,” Cris instructed.

  “Will do,” Scott assured.

  Alec and Kari nodded.

  “We’re going to fix this.” I’m not entirely sure how yet, but I’ll find a way. The Priesthood needs to go.

  CHAPTER 14

  Wil couldn’t help grinning as he examined the benchmarks for the Bakzeni jump drive. A blue-green field swirled around the drive secured within a translucent containment chamber several meters away. “Do you see the way it’s verifying its relative location?”

  “Just brilliant!” Laecy exclaimed, her eyes glued to the monitor. “I never would have thought they piggybacked on our beacon pings.”

  So even the Bakzen use the SiNavTech network. “And I’m not even sure we could block them. The signal can only be encrypted so much.”

  “I guess we can dismiss the theory that the Bakzen have an independent jump drive. It’s just really good pilots with a fluid nav system.”

  Wil nodded. “But it does give me some ideas. I’ve never tried working the math with the ship being a fixed point.”

  “I’ll leave that part up to you.” Laecy grinned.

  The final benchmark results displayed on the screen as the hum of the jump drive wound down within the containment chamber. It was an impressive system, and the implications were concerning. A Bakzen ship was completely invisible while traveling through the rift.

  I need to figure out how to make this work. Wil’s excitement evaporated as he was reminded of his task. “Can you send me a copy of the analysis?”

  “Of course,” Laecy affirmed. “Thanks for your help getting the drive hooked up.”