Truth of the Children

by Adam DiSalvo

  Taytha and Lilyth rushed up the back ramp and into the cargo hold as thresher fire tapped out a futile attack along the outside hull. Jaithen raised the rear ramp and made for then sky.

  “Strap your asses in!” Jaithen called back from the cockpit. "We’re getting the fuck outta here!"

  Taytha helped Lilyth secure her belts and strapped herself in to the seat next to her.

  “Pressurizing cabin,” announced Jaithen over the intercom. “Radar’s clear. We’ll reach zero G in just a few minutes."

  Lilyth wept as the craft’s thrusters pushed them to the sides of their seats, her tears falling onto Taytha’s thigh. Taytha held Lilyth’s hand and placed her arm around her. Chandra’s two remaining avatars watched in silence as Lilyth cried.

  “Chandra!” called Jaithen. “You have those codes?”

  One cat turned, morphing into human form as she headed to the cockpit.

  “I do captain,” Chandra replied. "Once we’re clear we have to secure the relay before we —.”

  The ground far below exploded into a brilliant halo of light rocking the transport.

  “Chandra?” worried Jaithen.

  Chandra shot Jaithen a concerned look.

  “Captain. A ship is docking with the Alejandra. It's trying to override my systems."

  CHAPTER 20

  PASSING INTO THE artificial gravity field,” Jaithen announced. “In 3, 2, 1.” Jaithen fell a few inches back into his chair.

  “Have you gotten any of the systems back?” Jaithen asked, looking over at Chandra.

  Taytha sat next to Lilyth still strapped into their seats. One of Chandra’s cats lay on the floor in front of them.

  “I have navigation, docking, and life support systems under my control but, all my onboard avatars have been disabled and I have been locked out of security. Stealth systems are still active. Who ever is onboard continues to fight me for control of the ship.”

  Jaithen leaned back in his seat.

  “How is that possible?”

  “I don’t know, captain,” Chandra warned. “They must have intimate knowledge of my operating systems.”

  “Well we’’re about to have an interesting introduction,” Jaithen remarked. “We got about thirty seconds until we hit the umbilical. Think they’re hostile?”

  Chandra shot him a sideways glance.

  “You think they’re not?”

  Jaithen shook his head.

  “Everything in this goddess damned system is hostile.” Jaithen cracked.

  He let go of the sticks and climbed out of his seat. He slipped past the nav-station chairs and knelt down next to Lilyth. She didn’t move.

  “Hey,” Jaithen cooed placing his hand on Lilyth's shoulder. “I’m sorry about your father. He is a good man.”

  He looked up at Taytha’s tear ladened gaze.

  “I lost everything,” Lilyth whimpered. “There’s nothing left.”

  The transport rocked as it made contact with the umbilical arm.

  “My home. My family, My father. Everything’s gone,” Lilyth cried. “What do I do? Goddess help me!”

  A flood of sadness washed through her fingers as she covered her face.

  Jaithen rose to the hiss of the umbilical's air lock. He looked down at Chandra laying on the floor.

  “Can you stay with her?” Jaithen requested.

  “Yes. I’ll leave one unit behind,” Chandra offered.

  “Okay,” Jaithen trailed off turning to Taytha. “Lieutenant, is it?”

  “Sergeant,”Taytha replied.

  “Its a miracle we’re alive Sergeant,” Jaithen stated. “May I have one last dance?”

  Taytha leaned her head back on the seat's headrest. The clear look of exhaustion on her face.

  “Since you were so kind as to not leave us to die back there, why not? One last dance.”

  Chandra’s human avatar took her place at the side air lock opposite the nav-station, deploying a weapon to each hand. Jaithen stacked up behind her with his rifle ready. Taytha turned and looked down at Lilyth, placing her hand on her back.

  “Are you going to be okay for a minute?” Taytha asked rubbing Lilyth’s back.

  The broken syren nodded.

  “Okay,” Taytha acknowledged. “Just wait here and we”ll come back for you as soon as we clear the ship."

  She turned and tapped Jaithen on the arm.

  “Let’s go.”

  The door to the side airlock slid open and the running lights on the floor on the umbilical bridge blinked on.

  “Time to see who’s made themselves comfortable.” Jaithen growled.

  The three stayed vigilant as they crossed the bridge to the airlock of the Alejandra. Chandra opened the door and the three stepped into a dark cargo bay. Light’s onboard Chandra and Taytha’s suit turned on. The group crept through the cargo bay and over to the deck lift.

  "We’ll clear the decks one by one.” Jaithen suggested. “Then we’ll lock out the lift from accessing the lower levels each time we move up.”

  “Sounds good to me.” Taytha agreed.

  Jaithen called the lift and the doors slid open. They stepped inside and queued the lift for the next level.

  “Jaithen.” aired Taytha as the lift stopped at the next floor. “Thanks.”

  “Ay. Don’t mention it,” Jaithen smiled. “After this we’re even. I think. ”

  The lift doors slid open.

  “Captain,” Chandra whispered. I’ve regained partial control on the security systems. It’s seems there’s only one bio signature present besides ourselves.”

  She stepped out onto the lower lounge deck.

  “There’s only one other person onboard?” Jaithen questioned.

  “They’re on this level,” Chandra reported.

  The three exited the lift in a staggered three formation. Taytha and Chandra switched off their illumination as they slipped along. The group stacked up on the next corner and Chandra peered around the edge to spy a dark-skinned middle aged man sitting at the bar near the center of the room. A shiny new AGR lay on the bar top in from of him. Next to the weapon sat a bottle Cal’Uthan whiskey, half full. The three fanned out around the trespasser as he poured the whiskey into a small glass. He took sip and placed the glass back down.

  “If that’s not you Jaithen feel free to pull the trigger.” said the man as he remained in his seat.

  Jaithen squinted his eyes in suspicion.

  “How do you know who I am?”

  The man spun around in his chair.

  “Raffa Calderon?” Taytha gasped.

  “And the beautiful Chandra,” smiled Raffa opening his arms.

  “Mr. Calderon,” greeted Chandra. “Nice to see you again.”

  “This ship is untraceable. How did you find us?” Jaithen tested.

  “You think I wouldn’t track the person I hired to steal my ship?” Raffa smirked.

  “Your ship?” replied Chandra and Jaithen in chorus.

  Jaithen held his weapon steady.

  “You know Raffa Calderon?” Taytha blurted out.

  “This ship was commissioned for the emperor,” Jaithen cracked. "How can it be your ship?”

  “Because he probably designed it,” Taytha postulated.

  “Very good miss—“

  “Sergeant, actually,” Taytha clarified still pointing her AGR. “Sergeant Sundive.”

  “Sergeant? How did you get mixed up in this?” Raffa prodded.

  “Three years ag—,” Taytha responded.

  Raffa waved his hand.

  “It was rhetorical, sergeant.” he interrupted.

  Raffa walked through the small group with each of their weapons trained on his face.

  “Look guys, are you gonna shoot me or what?” Raffa pressed.

  The group lowered their weapons.

  “Alright that’s progress,” Raffa quipped taking everyone in. “Now that we’re all acting friendly, can someone tell me what in styx possessed you to take this ship on a joyride t
o Skylauren?”

  “Working a job.” Jaithen answered.

  “Really? For who?” Raffa grinned.

  “Sorry, can’t tell you that,” resisted Jaithen.

  “No matter,” Raffa shrugged. “What did you find down there?”

  “Death,” offered Lilyth, standing right behind Rafa.

  “Holy goddess!” Raffa squawked, jumping in surprise.

  Jaithen stepped around Raffa and placed his arm around Lilyth.

  “Hey. Everything alright? I thought you were going to wait on the transport.”

  “I don’t want to be alone,” Lilyth replied.

  Chandra's feline avatar sat down next to Lilyth, its tail waving back and forth. Taytha stowed her AGR and made her way to the back of the bar.

  “Who is she?” Raffa interposed.

  “She’s a teg syren from Skylauren,” Chandra informed him.

  “Really? Big T, big G? Raffa posited crossing his arms.

  “We don't know sir,” Chandra explained. “She lost her whole family down there."

  Jaithen ushered Lilyth over to a soft padded chair and helped her to sit.

  “The people that survived the pandemic are being taken,” Taytha added pouring herself a drink. “Infants.”

  “Oh no,” gasped Raffa.

  Sweat gathered on Raffa’s forehead as he loosened the top three buttons on his shirt.

  “Infants?” he repeated.

  “Yeah,” Taytha continued. “They had them locked in some sort of pods.”

  Raffa gripped the back of a chair tight in his fist. He wiped his forehead of sweat.

  “Tell me you were able to stop them,” Raffa panted.

  “No, sir,” Chandra replied. “There was an enemy asset that claimed they had been taking people for two generations. They seemed particularly interested in Jaithen and Lilyth Steelmane.”

  Raffa rubbed his chin.

  “How come?”

  “They are syren born,” disclosed Chandra.

  Raffa turned to Taytha.

  "If you could sergeant, think I’ll have a little more,” he requested.

  “That’s not everything though,” Taytha divulged, topping off Raffa’s glass. “I have a recording I think you should see. Seeing you’re the CEO of Genotech. You might be able to do something about it.“

  Jaithen looked up still holding onto Lilyth.

  “Recording?” Raffa queried. “What do you mean?”

  Taytha tilted her head and gestured to her PDC.

  “I think you should just take a look at it yourself. Seems to be the best method of explaining.”

  “Alright, show it to me,” consented Raffa as he made his way over to Taytha. “My PDC is on the bar top.”

  Taytha took a few swipes at her PDC and sipped her drink. Raffa sat down at the bar across from her and picked up his personal data computer. After wiping more sweat from his brow, he tapped at the screen to unlock it and opened the video file. Chandra’s humanoid avatar stepped in next to Raffa for a better view. Images of Taytha’s encounter with the cybernetic annelids flashed across the screen.

  “What is it?” Jaithen asked several seats away.

  “This is unbelievable, sergeant. What are those things?”

  “They’re Gorix. Or so I was told,” Taytha explained.

  Raffa swiped at the screen.

  “Told? By who?”

  Taytha took another sip.

  “Lord Haitrion.”

  Raffa raised an eyebrow.

  “Lord Haitrion? Is that the house you serve?”

  Taytha shook her head.

  “No. I serve House Sungarden. Under Kilahren.”

  “You serve royalty,” Jaithen pointed out.

  “What has Lord Kilahren said about this?” pried Raffa.

  Taytha stood straight.

  “Lord Kilahren Sungarden is dead,” she revealed.

  The group sat back in shock.

  “What?” Jaithen exclaimed.

  “How do you know?” Raffa doubted.

  “Because I killed him,” Taytha admitted.

  “Impossible,” challenged Raffa, looking up from the tablet.

  “It’s all there,” Taytha reassured him. “You don’t have to take my word for it.”

  “Have you shown this to anyone else?” Raffa worried.

  “Not all of it.”

  Raffa looked back at the screen.

  “Where was this video captured?”

  Taytha interlocked her fingers and stretched her arms.

  “Styx.”

  Raffa’s head shot up.

  “Styx?! How’d you get here?”

  Taytha let out a sigh of remorse.

  “Haitrion, he.”

  Taytha paused, staring wide eyed.

  “He did something. He transported me here. To the surface.”

  Taytha looked up.

  "It killed him.”

  Raffa leaned back in his seat. He swallowed hard.

  “I’m too late,” he muttered. “The secret is out."

  Taytha leaned in towards Raffa.

  “What do you know, Raffa Calderon? Haitrion spoke of things moving in the dark."

  Raffa closed his eyes, rubbing his temples with his fingers. The group looked at each other. Taytha smacked the bar top with her armored palm.

  “Mr. Calderon do you have something that could further enlighten us about our current situation?” she demanded.

  Raffa looked around the group then leaned forward to take another sip of his drink. He finished the glass.

  “Mr. Calderon?” Taytha growled.

  Lilyth leaned up from Jaithen’s lap as he reached for the grip on his weapon. Raffa placed his glass back down, still leaning his elbows on the bar top.

  “I’ll tell you what I know if you can guarantee my safety from her,” Raffa bartered, looking to Chandra’s avatar next to him.

  “Hang on a sec,” Jaithen whispered to Lilyth as he stood up, his weapon in hand.

  “Protection from me?” Chandra inquired. "Why?"

  Chandra’s feline avatar got up and moved to sit down next to its humanoid counterpart.

  “Look boss man,” taunted Jaithen placing his weapon to Raffa’s head. “You’re going to need protection from me unless you tell us what you know.”

  Raffa let out a deep breath and rubbed his mouth.

  “That’s not quite the arrangement I wanted but.”

  Raffa looked around.

  “I don’t think I’m going to get a much better one.” he assessed.

  Taytha shook her head, smirking.

  “Very well,” Raffa continued. “Tell me. Were they all ether born?”

  “Who?” asked Jaithen.

  “The people in the pods! C’mon man! Stay with me!” Raffa chided.

  Taytha reached for her weapon.

  “Yes. How did you know?”

  Raffa tapped his thumbs together on the bar.

  “They need ether born for their ships to work.”

  Taytha furrowed her brow.

  “Ships? What ships? What are you talking about?”

  Raffa looked over at Chandra’s two avatars, sadness brewing in his eyes.

  “I didn’t know what I was doing when I made the designs. I was getting really messed up, you know, because.”

  Raffa stopped himself from choking up.

  “Because uh, a high ranking syren raped and killed a very close colleague and friend of mine. His name was Nuwan Bardin.”

  Jaithen lowered his weapon. Raffa continued.

  “I was so hurt I wanted the syrens to feel something of what I felt. But what can a human do to a syren? They’re the most terrible and powerful things one could imagine.”

  Raffa grunted wiping his eyes. Nobody else spoke.

  “One night I was getting particularly fucked up and was attempting to still do my job as CEO.”

  “Yeah,” Jaithen joked. “That’s probably what you were telling yourself.

  “Quite,” Raffa confes
sed, leaning back. “I was digging through very old files searching for anything that would give me some insight into harming syrens on a grand scale and what I found wasn’t exactly what I expected but, its over reaching affects became instantly clear to me.”

  “Why don’t you just spit it out?” Taytha proposed.

  Raffa tapped his finger tips together.

  “Because sergeant. I don’t want you to pass judgment upon me without hearing me out. Especially Chandra.”

  Jaithen and Taytha looked to one another. Then to Chandra.

  “Alright,” Taytha conceded. “Go ahead.”

  Raffa let his head fall back a bit and took another breath.

  “Oh man,” Raffa sighed. “This is the first time I’ve ever told anyone this.”

  The group waited. Lilyth stood up and walked across the room to take Jaithen’s arm. Chandra’s avatars observed in silence.

  Raffa lifted his head and put his fist over his mouth trying to gain composure.

  “Oh shit. Just say it. Just say it,” Raffa encouraged himself. “Fuck’n hell. Forget the song and dance. Just say it.”

  Raffa cleared his throat his nerves breaking. He looked over to Chandra.

  “Chandra. You’re nervous system is the first successful amalgamation of ether born and machine ever created. You’re of my design. I prayed my mistake had only been carried out once. Your real name is Neena Sadona. And you’re a syren."