Equilibrium of Terror: Part 1

by Eddie R. Hicks

  Several holographic screens appeared, all of them containing either data stored in the Pelican’s data banks, or security camera footage. She was in.

  “Quickly,” Veloshira said as she returned to stealth.

  “This ship is... holy fuck,” Eupiar glanced over the treasure trove of data that was being uploaded to her laptop. Then she remembered Veloshira didn’t speak English. “There’s too many sections, and new security protocols I’m not sure how to break some of them,” she said in Hashmedai.

  A minute later, she found the location of Destiny’s cell after her Radiance to English translation matrix kicked in. Her computer work managed to shut down all elevator functions as well as power and communication for the section of the ship they were in, leading toward Destiny.

  “Let’s go,” she said to her invisible comrade.

  “What’s our plan?”

  “Don’t die.”

  The rescue mission was a go. They were in their semi invisible state and moved through the now darkened halls. Eupiar led the way having memorized the directory. They arrived at the interrogation room where Destiny was being held. Two rangers stood in front of the door, side by side. They both fell to the floor dead as Veloshira appeared before them, thrusting her glowing green blades through both of their chests simultaneously.

  Inside they saw Destiny slumped over in a chair, weakened, and moaning in pain. “Des, wake up,” Eupiar said, releasing her from her bindings. It took some time, but Destiny eventually rose from her imprisonment, and limped over to the cold sandwich on the desk in front of her, eating it in three massive bites. “Seriously?” Eupiar said to her.

  “I’m fucking starving,” Destiny said then swallowed the last bite. “Next time I see that bitch, she dies.”

  Eupiar quickly removed the suit she was relying on for protection and stealth, and handed it to Destiny. “This will fit you better than me,” she said to her.

  “You need to stay safe Eupiar.”

  “I have computer stuff to do,” she said, pointing to her laptop.

  Destiny grinned at her as she got into the outfit, Jazz’s black armored trench coat. It looked a lot cooler on Destiny that it did on Eupiar and her small seventeen-year-old body. Now for the next phase in their escapade. Escaping from the ship.

  The trio left the room looking down the halls. The coast was clear, though the voices of several people speaking Radiance could be heard. Eupiar led them toward the docking bay where the Silver Raven was still impounded while Veloshira and Destiny became translucent. Upon their arrival to the docking bay, they all saw strange looking human like creatures being rounded aboard a few transport ships. The beings had a red gem fused onto their foreheads and emitted a purple aura around their bodies.

  “What are those?” Destiny asked.

  “They weren’t here when we left,” Eupiar said.

  Eupiar instructed both Veloshira and Destiny to move toward the entrance of the Silver Raven. Since they were both in stealth, the likelihood of anyone finding them was slim, now all that remained was for her to get over without being seen by the patrolling rangers.

  You can do this, you’re young, small, and fast, they won’t see you! Eupiar thought, she needed all the words of encouragement during this tricky maneuver. Two guards turned around and continued their patrol path, moving away from the Silver Raven and toward the transports at the end of the docking bay. Now was the time.

  Eupiar sprinted forward, hiding behind the Silver Raven then swiftly with her Hashmedai-human hands accessed a small holo screen from her laptop. It linked with the Silver Raven’s computer systems, and she input a command to force the door at the front to open. Destiny and Veloshira slunk aboard first, nobody suspected a thing. Now it was her turn, though this part should be easy enough since they were now able to cover her from inside. She poked her head from around the corner, the two guards were still walking away, and the crew attending to the zombie looking creatures was too focused to notice the Silver Raven’s door swing open.

  “I’m coming in,” Eupiar transmitted.

  “You’re good,” Destiny said.

  She started to count down in her head. Five, four, three, two, everything was still clear. One! She ran away from the aft end of the ship and toward the front, where the main entrance was. Nobody turned around to look. Please, stay that way, please stay that way!

  Her footsteps clanged on the metallic flooring of the inside of the Silver Raven’s cargo hold.

  She was inside.

  So was a ranger, who leapt down from the upper deck. His rifle pointed toward her.

  She didn’t know what else to do, where was Destiny? Where was Veloshira? They said it was safe! Clearly, they hadn’t checked up top. She had no choice, she couldn’t turn and run, and he could shoot her, the only way out of this was to fight him head on, just like her friends in the HLF would have done in a situation like this.

  She pulled out her plasma pistol that was still holstered to her side and brought it upwards to shoot the ranger. If she could just get a shot off before his shields activated, maybe, just maybe she could win.

  A blue bubble flicked around the ranger, his shields came online. No!

  Eupiar was attacked by a force behind her. Her body fell forward onto the cold hard floor. Gunshots passed above her body seconds later. Someone was on top of her, holding her down, protecting her. A semi invisible force. Destiny.

  She looked up during the encounter and saw Veloshira appear and thrust her daggers into the back shields of the ranger. Follow up stabs and lunges came next, chipping away, and draining the ranger’s shields. He wasn’t too happy about that as he spun around with his rifle, the butt end of it crashed into the side of Veloshira’s face causing her to fall backwards missing her final strike that could have ended the conflict.

  The ranger turned his back on Eupiar to deal with Veloshira. His rifle aimed down toward her, his finger ready to pull the trigger. So Eupiar did just that with her pistol, and fired multiple blasts of plasma into the back of the ranger. The first two shots shattered what was left of his shields, the follow up barrage started to melt a hole into the back of his armor, then later vaporizing a hole through him. He fell over dead. Eupiar, however, kept on shooting placing burn marks onto the wall. It wasn’t until there were four burns on the wall that she realized they were saved.

  Destiny decloaked from behind her, and helped her back up to her feet. “Damn, girl, nice shooting,” she said, patting Eupiar on the head.

  “I was aiming for his head.”

  Chatter and yelling in Radiance came from outside. The guards from the docking bay, had heard what happened, and saw them standing around. Eupiar ran to the side to shut the door as Veloshira got back to her feet and pulled out her plasma rifle to exchange weapons fire with the Radiance guards outside. Destiny joined in the fun having stolen the dead ranger’s rifle.

  Slowly the doors started to shut, but not before the whole bay and probably the whole ship was alerted to the combat. Their situation became more apparent upon entering the cockpit and glancing out of the forward windshield, they were slowly becoming surrounded by a chain by rangers.

  Eupiar went back to work with her laptop which she still had access to some of the Pelican’s systems. She managed to shut down the tractor beam that was still holding the Silver Raven in place along with all the external ones. Now to work on the doors up ahead.

  Access denied was the response she got.

  “No one else but us aboard,” Destiny said, having completed her check of the ship, something they probably should have been done when they first got on.

  “We’re free to move, but I can’t get the doors open,” Eupiar said to Veloshira in Hashmedai.

  The Silver Raven’s shields could be seen flickering from the windshield as bullets from all angles slammed into it. With the ship free to fly, Veloshira took control of it and moved it forward while still within the confines of the docking bay. Multiple thuds could be heard as she ran man
y of the closer rangers over.

  The move got Destiny to laugh a bit. “Vel would be great at playing GTA.”

  Several psionics teleported ahead and began to float in the air, summoning salvo after salvo of purple plasma onto the Silver Raven as it continued to run down then later shoot everyone in sight. Several sections of the docking bays doors started to slowly melt from the Silver Raven’s plasma cannon fire. It gave Eupiar an idea.

  “I can’t get the doors open. Can we shoot our way out?” she asked Veloshira.

  “I see no other option at this point,” she said.

  A cascading flow of plasma shot away from the Silver Raven, vaporizing rangers and psionics that didn’t move away quick enough, while destroying the transport ships in a series of chaotic and multi blast explosions. All this, in an attempt to blow away the main bay doors that confined them. Smoke began to fill the docking bay from the fires that ignited. There wasn’t much in terms of life on the outside, with the exception of the strange zombie creatures. They seemed to have come back to life after getting obliterated, at least the ones that weren’t all out vaporized.

  Finally, the docking bay doors exploded, burned body parts, debris and all sorts of junk from the action, everything, everyone was spewed out into space while the Silver Raven flew forward, making its escape. The planet Oyuri was just below them, then later behind them as Veloshira entered a course back to Rasi and entered sub light speeds.

  “Report!” Captain Peluei demanded on hearing a hull breach alarm sound on the bridge of the Pelican.

  “The Hashmedai ship managed to escape,” Senliea said, reading the data coming in from her screen. “Shall we pursue?”

  “No.” Peluei shook his head. “Hannah has requested we deliver the wraiths to the surface at once, let’s put them on transports as planned and send them off, then pursue.”

  “They’ve been lost, sir,” Senliea reported. “Either we teleport them down, or...”

  “Upset the seer? I think not. Muster up what psionics you can and teleport them,” he said, wondering what would happen to the psionics who teleport down. Unprotected ones would have their minds ripped apart.

  “That ship isn’t going anywhere, all Radiance patrols have been notified that it’s a Hashmedai ship. If we don’t catch it, they will.”

  “Radiance will destroy it and everyone aboard,” he said, returning to his command chair. “We still need them for further questioning.”

  Radiance R&D complex, Rasi, Barnard’s Star system

  The lone wraith that escaped from the labs ran through the empty tram tunnels until it started to get used to the cybernetic implants it had installed on its insides as well as the psionic chip in its brain. Jump porting and teleportation became a part of its long list of tricks it could perform. It attacked a group of rangers as it exited the tunnels, spreading its viral essence into their wounds, well at least the ones whose brains were still partly active. Active brains were necessary for the mutation process in which the victims’ wounds healed instantly and their bodies transformed into wraiths while their minds rewired and joined a collective hive mind. A hive mind that grew larger as more people became infected. A hive mind where their queen existed in another plane of existence. Aether space.

  Alisha screamed for help and banged on the windows of the darkened lab she was locked up in, upon witnessing scores of Radiance personnel run toward the exit of the complex with fear fueling their legs. Nobody stopped to hear pleas for help, they were all concerned about themselves. All of them except one person, who cut their way into the lab with a plasma sword.

  It was Jainuzei.

  “Oh my god, thank you!” she said, running toward him with a strong hug “Or should I say oh my gods?” She let go of him and looked out from the now sliced open door at the panic that was running by. “What happened?”

  “I was hoping you could tell me,” he said. “I was ordered to respond to a distress call.”

  “And you came here first, huh?”

  “I was worried about you more than anything.”

  “Jazz was here, along with two others, they went to the labs requiring top level clearance.”

  A female psionic, Javnis, along with several rangers entered. Jainuzei looked at the psionic and said, “Dargonea, come with me.” Then to the rangers he said, “Take her to the evac transport, our evac transport.”

  “Yes sir,” one of the rangers said

  Alisha walked toward the comforting grace of the rangers, before leaving she called out to Jainuzei.

  “I will deal with this issue Alisha,” he said to her.

  “Make him pay.” By him she meant Jazz.

  “May the gods’ light shine upon you,” Jainuzei said to her.

  She smiled and said, “May their light shine upon you as well.”

  She felt happy being able to say that to him, confirmation that she had accepted the word of the gods. Not just any word, the real one that the Celestial Order teaches. Speaking with Dalhakei had brought so much clarity into her life, the sole reason she was being rescued was because of the will of the gods. They sent Jainuzei to get her, a reward for accepting their will.

  Dargonea and Jainuzei both teleported away as Alisha was led away with the rangers to a transport waiting for them at the cargo bay for the complex.

  Jazz and Vaishea gunned down the last of the psionic zombies as the doors to their transport shut. The numbers of the zombies were increasing while the dead order members continued to mutate and join the party.

  Heurol began the complex task of flying all three transports full of human survivors at the same time, with his mind. Above them was a pair of sliding doors on the ceiling, linking the labs to the outside world. The three transports rose toward the ceiling seconds before the gunned down zombies fully healed and got back to their feet.

  The human psionic zombies were capable of jump porting and using telekinesis to float in the air much like normal psionics. They began to unleash beams of energy from their bodies, blasting away at the already weak shields the transport ships had to start with.

  “I was really hopin’ they weren’t gonna do that,” Jazz said, looking through the windshield as a beam came toward them.

  “I knew the order were insane cultists, but this?” said Heurol. “Do they really think their gods want this?”

  “Our gods would never support this,” said Vaishea.

  The upper doors slowly opened, and carefully Heurol started to move all three transports up toward it in single file. That was until Dargonea and Jainuzei teleported in, between the blinding blue beams from the zombies and plasma disks hurled by Dargonea, shields of all three transports were nearing critical levels.

  “Our shields aren’t going to last long at this rate,” Heurol said. Suddenly Jazz noticed the transport stopped rising altogether. Heurol’s face became flustered. “Damn it, that psionic, she’s forcing the doors to shut, I can’t move us any further!” Their transport began to wobble back and forth, causing all the refugees onboard to panic and tremble. “And she’s tapping into our controls!” Heurol said.

  “Keep tryin’ yo.”

  “I’m mentally over tasked, I can’t keep up.”

  Do I seriously gotta get out and push? Jazz thought as he eyed an environment suit from the overhead store bin, the closest thing they had to combat armor. “Feel free to come back and find me,” he said, starting the complex task of putting the suit on in the crowded transport cabin.

  Jazz pushed several people out of the way as he made his way to the exit. He reached up to the side button to open the door when he was stopped. Vaishea held onto him. He spun around and saw she too was suited up.

  “Feel free to find us,” she said, correcting him.

  They leapt out of the transport as its shields irised, allowing them to go through. The low gravity of the planet allowed them to fall slowly enough to land safely and to take aim and shoot down all of the zombies waiting for them on the ground as well as the floating zombies th
at were jump porting around blasting at the three transports.

  Upon their impact on the floor, they both dove and rolled in unison avoiding plasma from Dargonea and her attempts at pulling them with telekinesis. When they came to, their rifles erupted slowly chipping away at Dargonea’s psionic shields, pilling on enough pressure for her to focus on them solely and ignore the transports, and the door leading to their escape. The upper doors began to open once again and all three transports escaped away into the blizzard outside.

  As expected, the zombies started to heal and come to their feet while Jainuzei moved into cover behind a cargo create much like both Jazz and Vaishea did. Blue light flashed some time afterwards, Dargonea teleported away, going after the transports Jazz suspected.

  “Heurol, heads up you might have incoming!” Jazz messaged him.

  “I’ve noticed,” Heurol said, grumbling.

  “You gonna be cool?”

  “Stop talking to me, and I’ll have a better chance of survival,” Heurol said, cutting the communication off instantly.

  Jazz sighed. “Fucking asshole.”

  Vaishea peeked up and took a few shots toward Jainuzei. Multiple shots were fired back, Jazz from his end of the container added his fury into the battle, allowing his rifle to roar.

  “It would appear you have me outnumbered,” Jainuzei shouted as he put his weapon away, and raised his arms to surrender.

  Jazz was grateful for it. Some of the resurrected zombies were starting to clue in where he and Vaishea were hiding. Their rifles put them down once again.

  “Impressive, aren’t they?” asked Jainuzei while the last zombie fell over.

  “Not really, the one I fought a while back was much stronger. And even then, we killed his ass,” Jazz said to him. “So, you speak English now?”

  “Alisha, she motivated me to finish learning it,” Jainuzei said.

  Jainuzei mentioning her name caused Jazz to clench his fists and grit his teeth. “How the fuck do you know her?”