Equilibrium of Terror: Part 1

by Eddie R. Hicks

  Vaishea pondered a few seconds longer, then gave her a response. “Sure, I seldom ever visit other worlds, let alone temples on them.”

  Vaishea’s training as a counselor before enlisting provided her with all the knowledge needed to be aware that Dargonea was slightly jealous of Karklosea and Stolanei, most likely because he was chosen to be Karklosea’s apprentice psionic. Hopefully this will cheer her up, Vaishea thought.

  Courelia upper levels, Rasi, Barnard’s Star system

  The knowledge network was the Radiance and Hashmedai equivalent of the internet. Each planet or fleet had its own local network that received updates from other fleets or planets within a planetary system forming a system wide net. From there, that network would receive updates from the rest of the galaxy, the time it takes depended on the distance between the star systems transmitting the data unless psionic minds were at play.

  Radiance and Hashmedai networks were separate from one another, though skilled hackers were known to break security protocols on either side and access limited amounts of data. Earth’s internet evolved in a similar manner in which there was a local internet for Earth a network for Mars, networks for ships and moons around the gas giants. Though information on the internet could only be accessed by someone with an Earth based computer device within the Sol system, the internet did not extend beyond Sol unlike the knowledge network.

  And it was this restriction that caused Eupiar to unleash a barrage of curse words in Spanish as she realized that there would be no means of her sending an email to her family with her laptop, though it would take six years to reach them anyway.

  Both Jazz and Destiny busted out laughing at Eupiar’s misfortune as they stood next to a network junction box mounted onto a wall in a back alley. They wore their most recent purchases from a clothing outfitter, Linl civilian wear. Destiny wore a long red dress that formed into a gradient from the mid-section, gradually changing into an orange color for the top. Light blue jewels hung from her shoulders, they emitted a small glow of light. Jazz couldn’t get over the look on her face when she saw her reflection in a holo mirror, she was quite upset, but dresses like that was all that was available in the women’s section.

  Jazz wore a dark brown top with something that resembled a vest over the top of it along with matching pants with ribbon like material along the sides. It was nothing like the Linl clothing commonly found on Morutrin Prime, though the fashion there was based on traditional Linl designs, while what they were wearing was a hybrid between Linl and Aryile apparel.

  The network junction box next to them had the data leech device slapped onto the underside of it, placed there as per Eupiar’s instructions.

  “Anything?” Jazz asked as his and Destiny’s laughs subsided.

  “It’s coming in slow and steady,” Eupiar transmitted to them. “Give me a few minutes to run my translation program and dig through it all.”

  “Is Vel treating ya okay?”

  “She hasn’t stabbed me yet if that’s what you’re worried about.”

  Destiny held onto a piece of the fabric of the dress she wore. “I officially don’t like this get up,” she said, turning her face away from it in disgust.

  “If you ever find yourself in Morutrin Prime,” Jazz said to Destiny. “I’ll show you a good place to shop. It’s got some nice Linl wear there.”

  Destiny double checked the contents of the pouch attached the sides of her dress, her dual ePistols were hidden in each one. It was the only feature of the outfit she liked. Jazz too as he was unarmed, plasma weaponry had Hashmedai written all over it. He considered asking Destiny to lend him a pistol, but in the end decided against it. They were just doing recon with no plans to directly engage in any combat. If they kept their mouths shut and out of trouble there shouldn’t be any need for bloodshed.

  Silver Raven at Courelia spaceport dock, Rasi, Barnard’s Star system

  Veloshira sat with an impatient posture in her chair, staring at the cockpit’s control interface, wondering when she’d be using them to pilot the Silver Raven back to the empire. She and Jazz’s tasks were partially completed as far as she knew, yet he and his friends insisted on this extra duty, a duty that resulted in her just sitting here waiting... and waiting. They should have gotten their own ship and let me take this back home.

  The half breed girl called Eupiar sat in Jazz’s chair with a multitude of holographic windows in front of her as her fingers dashed across the input board. Eupiar must have been attending to this task for hours now since Jazz and Destiny left having changed into their Radiance civilian clothing. Not once did Eupiar take a break, making Veloshira question how long it would be before she got tired. A question she typically found herself asking when her son Peiun would run around playing in the snow with a seemingly endless supply of energy.

  An emotional sigh left her mouth along with white mist. Her mate Neilus and her son Peiun, what parts of the empire have they managed to visit? And what would they do once they learn that Veloshira’s return to the empire was going to be different to how she told them? According to the Silver Raven’s computers the Cerbillon system would take them a little over thirty years to reach from their current spot. Only the wormhole could get her home faster, and her hopes of finding it were dwindling with every passing hour.

  Veloshira’s hands reached out interacting with the computer terminal. She sifted through its database, entering a section where she saved her personal files and data too. A hologram of her family appeared. A blue and white projection depicting her and Neilus standing next to each other as his hands patted the head of their child Peiun while snowflakes fell to the ground around them. For a brief moment Veloshira felt calm and relaxed. Complete bliss.

  “Family?” Eupiar asked her.

  “You speak our language?”

  “Not well, my mother uh,” Eupiar paused, probably trying to remember what words to use Veloshira figured. “Mother explained some words. Rather speak human words.”

  Eupiar loaded a new holo window, this one showing a picture of her when she was younger along with a Hashmedai woman, man, and smaller boy. Eupiar’s hands threw the projection toward Veloshira, allowing her to take a closer look.

  “My family,” Eupiar said. “Step-father was killed trying to help the liberation front.”

  “My mate, son, and my father are all that remains of our family,” Veloshira said then gazed at her with a perplexed look. “Why do you rather speak in the human language, you are part Hashmedai.”

  “Don’t like the image Hashmedai present to humans and Radiance. It’s a negative one.”

  “You should be proud of our heritage. We had to endure a lot during our time on Paryo and our time in the stars.”

  “Humans like each other and Radiance, Radiance like one another and humans. Hashmedai are hated by everyone and in turn hate those including those that aren’t full blooded like my shirt.”

  “Shirt?”

  Eupiar began to flush. “Uh like I?”

  “‘Myself’ is the word you are looking for.” Veloshira said, correcting her. The Hashmedai word for ‘shirt’ and ‘myself’ did have a similar sound.

  “Right, sorry, like I said, I don’t speak this language well.”

  Eupiar faced her holo screen again interacting with the keyboard of her laptop. A new and very different hologram projected. It was a green colored screen with several rectangular shaped objects on it, some of them had crude pictures on them none of them she recognized.

  Eupiar split the projection in two, sending one window to Veloshira while she kept one facing her. “What is this?” Veloshira asked.

  “A card game some humans play,” Eupiar said. “They call it ‘Crazy Eights’.”

  “Games.” Is this really the time for games?

  “What else do you plan on doing?”

  She had a point, the last few hours were spent staring at the computer terminal, bulkheads groaning about their current situation and otherwise being plain miserable an
d bored. Eupiar explained the rules of the game and how to play it with their holo screens. It took Veloshira awhile, but after three games she started to get the hang of it, and as much as she didn’t want to admit it, rather enjoyed it. A few laughs were shared between them for the next hour until Eupiar’s laptop started to beep, without delay she shoved the game window aside and faced a window full of lines of computer code.

  Courelia upper levels, Rasi, Barnard’s Star system

  “Hey guys, I got some Radiance comm chatter going on, interesting stuff,” Eupiar’s voice transmitted to Jazz and Destiny’s earpiece communicators as they walked through a crowded park.

  “Such as?” Destiny asked.

  “Some big ass ship parked in orbit not long ago,” Eupiar said. “It dropped off some kind of VIPs who are now at a temple.”

  “What are the chances Hannah will be there?”

  “It’s all I got right now, the rest of my findings are still being downloaded.”

  Jazz shrugged toward Destiny and said. “I dunno.”

  “The order is quite religious, isn’t it? Maybe you’ll catch them saying a prayer or two there given how popular that temple is right now.”

  She had a point, and it was their only lead thus far since arriving. “We’ll look into it,” Jazz said. “Keep us posted.”

  Eupiar guided them toward the temple in question, a small crowd had gathered outside of it as robed Radiance monks held small bell like objects, softly hitting them every minute, chanting words neither of them fully understood. The temple was built in the middle of what appeared to be a residential area, full of taller apartment condos on every street corner.

  Jazz and Destiny stepped closer to the temple to get a peek inside of its wide doors while the line up outside vanished as the people eventually were led inside and seated. A quick stop, gaze and walk away was the plan Jazz and Destiny agreed upon as they got closer. Before either of them had a chance to get close to the door, one of the monks began speaking to them.

  Smile and nod.

  It didn’t work.

  The monk with his welcoming arms clearly insisted that they enter the temple, or perhaps they gave the impression they wanted to enter? Either way the monk was overjoyed to see Jazz and Destiny as he continued to speak. Something about a Patriarch and the word ‘must,’ it was all Jazz was able to understand. He gestured to Destiny to follow him in. No point in blowing their cover having come so far. Perhaps people seen close to a temple were required to enter? Who knew.

  Inside, they saw two to three dozen groups of Radiance people kneeling in an orderly fashion. An old Linl man dressed in white robes with a long grey beard and hair stood in front of a podium. Two rangers armed with magnetic rifles stood on the left and right sides of the door, while another one, a heavily armed Aryile man at that, stood in the far back of the temple, with his hands folded.

  “Err, well this is awkward,” Jazz whispered to Destiny.

  “Well, shit,” she whispered back.

  “Any idea what they do here?”

  “None whatsoever, let’s just play along...”

  They displayed a pair of fake smiles as they walked toward the kneeling group, looking for a spot of their own.

  Vaishea’s eyes scanned the great temple up and down as she and Dargonea walked closer toward it and the monks welcoming everyone in. There wasn’t much time to change as Dargonea insisted they leave right away. As such Vaishea still wore her grey jumpsuit and was armed with her magnetic pistol. Dargonea was still dressed in her hooded psionic robe, casting darkness over her four eyes and dark green leathery skin.

  “Ah this must be it,” Dargonea said, pointing toward the temple.

  “Come in, come in, Dalhakei will be starting the sermon soon,” one of the monks said as they neared the large doors.

  Vaishea bowed to the monks, “Thank you,” she said and entered with Dargonea.

  A sermon of some sort started as the patrons inside began bowing down in a warship. Great we just walked into Sunday morning church for Radiance. The old Linl man upfront began giving a long speech as Jazz and Destiny watched then mimicked the actions of everyone else that surrounded them.

  The patrons looked up to see the old man, who started speaking again, Jazz and Destiny after a brief delay did the same. The old man stopped speaking, mid-sentence as he and Jazz made eye contact. Jazz tilted his head away from the man, but his gaze continued to center around Jazz.

  “What did you?” Destiny whispered to Jazz.

  “Nothing.”

  “I think you pissed him off.”

  The old man slowly walked away from his podium with his elaborately designed staff brimming with light from the top, and approached Jazz from the side.

  “You,” the old man said as his haggard fingers pushed up on Jazz’s chin, forcing him to look up at him.

  Jazz resisted the urge to get up and break the man’s arms in three places, nobody touched him like that except his mother, and she was dead. But maintaining cover required some sacrifices to be made and pride to be swallowed,

  Hold up, Jazz thought as he came to the realization of something critical. This old ass mother fucker spoke English...

  “I never forget a face, especially from the reports I’ve read,” the old man continued. “Jake Johnson.”

  He knows me, but I don’t know him. “I’m sorry, you are?” Jazz said calmly.

  The old man said a few words in Radiance, seconds later everyone inside with the exception of the guards standing watch and the Aryile man in the back, left the temple in a rush. Might be a good idea to do the same, Jazz thought as he and Destiny got up and went toward the door. They were met with two magnetic rifles aimed at them by the two guards so they stopped immediately as everyone else around them moved past them. The doors slammed shut as the last patrons and monks exited outside.

  “The gods gift those that walk the one true path,” the old man spoke again in English from behind them. “Today, they are gifting the Celestial Order, bringing to us the human that made our plans difficult, the human who wouldn’t stop searching for us after leaving Earth.”

  Eupiar was right about one thing, the Celestial Order was here, just not the ones praying, but rather the ones leading the praying. “Being all dramatic like that is cool and all but...” Jazz said, turning back around to the old man, “y’all motherfuckers slammed the door in our faces, that’s just fucking rude yo.”

  Jazz saw the silent Aryile man step closer to the old man. Jazz’s eyebrow raised as he took notice of all the gear the Aryile had. Hashmedai weapons in addition to his Radiance weaponry, he was a walking weapons locker equipped with armaments from both galactic super powers.

  “Jainuzei,” the old man said to the Aryile. “Kill them.”

  Jainuzei addressed the old man. “Dalhakei—”

  Before he could finish, Jazz was pushed to the ground by Destiny as her hands quickly drew her dual pistols like some Wild West gun slinger. Two high velocity bullets ejected from the chamber of her guns delivering a ferocious head shot through the faces of the two rangers standing guard at the doors. Neither of them wore a helmet, or had shields active, probably assuming neither Jazz nor Destiny was a threat with the outfits they wore. Big mistake guys, Jazz thought as their bodies fell against the door and slowly slid to the floor, leaving behind a streak of blood and bits of brain matter.

  It was Jazz’s turn to act. He dashed and rolled his body toward the downed guards, his hands yanked out a magnetic rifle from one of the dead guard’s hands. He heard weapons fire discharge during his stunt, was it Destiny or Jainuzei? Probably both since new bullet holes appeared on the floor next to him.

  Jazz’s newly acquired weapon aimed at the face of Dalhakei, while Destiny kept Jainuzei busy dodge rolling into cover and exchanging weapons fire. He pulled the trigger, a second too late, Jainuzei quickly stepped in front of Dalhakei, and his shields flicked blue as Jazz’s bullet storm repelled off. With rage in his face, Jainuzei switched targe
ts, his rifle aimed and fired toward a now fleeing Jazz who used a nearby bookshelf as cover.

  Dalhakei hand slammed against the barrel of Jainuzei’s rifle as he shouted something to him in Radiance. Stop firing perhaps? Perhaps the books on the shelves are worth a lot Jazz figured. He was right, Jainuzei put his rifle away, replacing it with a plasma sword that glowed green with its super-heated power. Destiny quickly caught onto their weakness, she too stood behind a glass shelf with statues on it, and waved to Jazz to come over to her.

  Jazz ran over, firing from the hip at Jainuzei during his change of cover, he could hear the sound of Jainuzei’s footsteps continue to thrum on the floor, either his shots were missing or his shields were still holding. There was no time to look back to be sure.

  A staircase at the side took Jazz and Destiny to the upper floors where they made their escape, firing random bullets behind every so often, in hopes that it would connect and in hopes that it would be the final shot that would shatter Jainuzei’s shields. Their arrival at the third floor revealed Jainuzei was still a threat, as his rifle shots ripped apart the wooden floor just below their feet. He was below and seconds away from entering the last staircase they just used.

  A large circular window provided the only means of escape now, both Jazz and Destiny dashed toward it, shooting their weapons at it until it shattered into tiny fragments of glass that slowly fell to the ground due to the planets’ weaker gravitational pull. It was a reminder that whatever tactical moves they’d use outside on the rooftops would have to be adjusted to account for lower gravity, such as the big leap from the temple’s rooftops onto the rooftops of a small adjacent apartment.

  They leapt and briefly glided through the air, landing then rolling onto the apartment’s rooftop, with perfect timing at that—Jainuzei emerged from the temple’s shattered window spraying bullets in their general direction, the diving roll they made kept them from getting shot in the back as they narrowly moved out of the danger zone.