Galen tried to break free again. As they restrained him, he bit deep into Tamzin’s right hand, drawing blood. The sight of those bright red droplets in the wan, ethereal light of wraith space sent a surge of acid up Siv’s throat. He swooned and fell to his knees.
After a minute, he mastered the impulse to faint or vomit, and they trudged on. “Sorry, that’s never happened to me before.”
“It’s okay, Kyra,” Galen cooed repeatedly. “Just a bit of blood. Oona will be fine.”
Galen kept walking, somewhat unsteadily, but sometimes Siv wasn’t sure if he leaned on Galen or if Galen leaned on him. He occasionally stumbled, catching himself on the spindly trees. They left a sticky, blue sap that smelled of wet dog and vanilla on his palm. The scent seemed to make the wraiths stronger.
Silky booted up then shut down three times in rapid succession. The spirits swirled more and more rapidly around him, singing nursery rhymes and the sort of lousy pop songs DJs only play when everyone is drunk.
“Where are we?” Siv asked, realizing he’d not been paying attention for a long while.
“Wraith space,” Tamzin replied with worry.
“No, I mean, are we close to where we need to be?”
“You asked me that two minutes ago.”
“Oh. Sorry.”
“Give the lad a break!” Galen screamed. “He’s going to be executed in the morning, after all.”
Laughing hysterically, Galen dropped to his butt and rolled around. Tamzin held a hand out to him. “Come on, Galen. We need to move.”
“Who’s Galen?” he asked.
“Delirium has set in,” Tamzin said to Siv, “and you’re barely helping me anymore.”
“Give the lad a break!”
“Sorry, I’m getting confused now, and it’s hard to focus.”
Galen stood. “Damn right you are, Pashta, you bastard.”
He swung a fist and struck Siv a solid blow to the chin. Siv landed hard, stars in his eyes. Apparently sensing a weakness, specters plunged through him. Siv cried out as sharp, prickling sensations spread across his body.
Galen’s face went blank as he loomed over him. “Mom, I’m so sorry I…” He twitched a few times then stepped away. “Carry on, young man.”
Siv struggled to his feet. “I think ten more minutes is about all I can handle before you’ll have to start helping me along, and he’s losing it.”
Tamzin glanced around. “If you can hold on for five more, then I can get us relatively close to the sentry station.”
“We need to come out as close as possible. We can’t risk being exposed out in—”
Galen dropped and flailed on the ground as if he were in the midst of an epileptic fit.
“We have to leave now!” Siv said.
Her features strained with worry, Tamzin shook her head. “Grab an arm and drag. There’s no exit here.”
They pulled Galen along the ground as he thrashed and screamed. Despite the urgency of the situation, Siv's mind wandered again. Tamzin kept urging him, trying to keep him grounded in reality, but he could feel himself drifting away and knew he wasn’t pulling with his full strength.
The ceramic guardian amulet warmed against his chest, and then a glowing figure walked beside him.
“My son,” Gav Gendin said, a bright smile flashing from amidst his beard.
"Dad!" Siv felt the warmth of love for a moment, but then fear surged through him. Before, Siv had only seen his dad when he was dying. "What happened to me?”
“Nothing, my son. Your mind went far afield and somehow conjured me to this godforsaken world.”
Relief spread through him. “So I’m okay.”
“I wouldn’t say that,” Gav replied. “You need to leave here soon. To do that, you need to focus.”
Awareness of the situation returned to him, and he pulled harder and walked faster.
“Thanks for returning to the realm of the living,” Tamzin said, unaware of the irony.
Siv glanced over to see Gav Gendin striding beside them. “Can you see my dad?” Siv asked her.
“I can’t see specters, remember?”
Gav walked up to them and frowned at Galen. “Poor, poor man. He’s going to die soon.”
“We’ll get him back to real space in time,” Siv assured him.
Moments later, Tamzin stopped. “We can exit here. It’s a risk, though.”
“How so?”
“We’re in a clearing within a small forest near the sentry station.”
“That’s good though, right? If we have to come up short, it will be good to have some cover while we rest a few moments.”
“I have an intuitive sense of objects, both here and there, and I have a good memory for places I’ve visited. But I haven’t been here in a long time, and vegetation is almost impossible for me to sense, and it’s incredibly dangerous. I try to avoid areas with plant life when possible.”
“How is vegetation dangerous?” Siv asked.
“Popping into real space with a vine weaving through your leg or with a tree limb staked through your chest is hardly ideal, you know.”
“Then we should travel farther and get closer to the station.”
“It’s this clearing in the woods or five more minutes here at this pace, maybe more.”
Siv glanced at poor Galen then looked to his dad.
“You should leave now, son.”
“Okay,” Siv said. “Let’s do it.”
Tamzin drew her cube and wrapped her arms around them both.
"Goodbye, dad. For now anyway."
“For now my—”
As Tamzin clicked the cube, alarm twisted Gav’s ghostly face.
“Toward me, son! Toward me!”
As the hyperphasic bubble engulfed them, Siv launched himself toward his dad, tackling Tamzin and dragging Galen along with them.
40
Siv Gendin
The three of them tumbled back into real space.
“What the hell, Gendin?!” Tamzin shoved him as she stood. “You could’ve gotten us—”
She froze.
Right beside them, in the place where they would’ve materialized had he not shoved them, was a large, fallen limb.
“How did you know?” Tamzin asked, voice trembling.
“It’s a long story.”
Galen grasped at Tamzin. "Mother? Mother, are you eating?" He shook his head. "Why? Why not?"
She patted Galen’s head. “It’s going to be okay.” She turned to Siv. “How about you tell me the story while we rest. Maybe by then…” her face twisted with worry “…maybe by then Galen’s mind will have cleared.”
While Silky’s boot-up sequence chimed, Siv glanced around. They were in a clearing on the edge of a small forest. Through the trees, he could just make out the sentry station, a squat, stone block sitting atop a rise.
To get there, they’d have to sprint five hundred meters across open ground. While they still had an hour of night left, the darkness wouldn’t shield them from the Tekk Reaper’s infrared scans.
“Good to be back in real space, sir. Though I note we’re a little off target. I’ll run some scans.”
Siv noted the clear sky directly above. Any cover they could get would help, given Silky’s ability to use the ScanField-3 to jam detection attempts.
“Let’s pull Galen into the trees.”
As they dragged Galen into the woods, Tamzin glared at Siv. “I want to know how you knew about the limb. I have to know.”
“It’s not something you can do, and you won’t believe what I’m going to tell you, but here goes…”
When he’d finished, she rubbed her chin and nodded. “I believe you.”
“You do?”
“Why not?”
Damn but Tamzin was strange and hard to figure out.
“Sir, you need to get moving ASAP.”
“Galen needs rest.”
“Strap your antigrav onto him and carry him then.”
“I need rest too. M
y brain is still reeling.”
“I don’t care, sir. The Tekk Reapers are already heading this way. Their ship is airborne as of right now. I can’t delay them from finding us because they placed a tracker in Galen, a tracker that I can’t counter without bringing attention to us.”
Judging by the look on Tamzin’s face, she’d heard Silky. Siv removed his antigrav belt and strapped it around Galen’s waist. He maxed it, and they lifted him between them.
Carefully, they weaved through the trees to the edge of the forest. They paused to take a few deep breaths then burst out into the clearing running as fast as possible.
Within a hundred meters, Siv's lungs burned, and his head swam. He wasn't ready for this so soon after wraith space, physically or mentally. As long as he had Tamzin to follow and Silky's guidance, all he had to do was focus on moving his legs, but that was almost more than he could do right now.
“We never should’ve left the Falling Rain,” Tamzin complained.
“You couldn’t stay there forever,” Silky responded.
“Things would’ve calmed down in a few weeks, once they dealt with all of you.”
“They were never going to stop searching for Galen,” Silky said. “They believe he knows things that no one else does. And they’re not wrong.”
“You could’ve told us about the tracker,” she snapped.
“It can’t be removed, and it’s passive,” Silky said. “I couldn’t even tell it was there until they scanned for him once we were back in real space.”
Halfway to the sentry station, Siv pulled up with a stitch running down his side. He managed a fast walk for a minute then sprinted again.
“Where’s Mitsuki?” he asked, trying to keep his mind on something other than the difficulty of running.
“I sent her to retrieve something for me.”
“So you’ve definitely started your big, daring plan?”
“Kill Hard 12, sir.”
Siv skidded to a full stop out in the open. “Shit.”
Tamzin glared at him. “We need to keep moving.”
“Silkster, that’s insane.”
“You got a better idea, sir?”
Siv shook his head then started running again. “Did you ask the others to come rescue us?”
“I did not, sir. I told them to hit the edge of the system and drop the phantom emitter decoy system that Crazy Horns has been preparing then move out to a safe distance.”
“I’m not happy about you getting them involved.”
“I understand that, sir, but it is absolutely imperative that I get to that facility, and we could really use the distraction. Besides, this is a safe play, and it gives them something to do. The last thing you want is for them to feel useless. That will make them eighty-four percent more likely to get involved.”
“Are you certain there’s no other way out for us than Kill Hard 12?”
“Certain, sir.”
“Okay then. I trust you, Silkster. You keep secrets, but you never let me down.”
“The Tekk Reapers’ ETA is two minutes, sir. Run faster. Run harder.”
“So you’ve notified all the other players?”
“I invited everyone to our battle royal, sir.”
“Even Kaleeb?”
“While there’s no way he could miss what’s happening, I felt it best to send him a cordial invitation laced with vaguely disguised insults. It’s my fondest wish for a Tekk Reaper to take him out of play.”
“I have no idea what the two of you are talking about,” Tamzin said. “And I certainly don’t watch stupid old action movies from centuries ago.”
“I have summoned every bad guy who’s after us and told them where we’ll be,” Silky said. “We will hold them off while they fight each other.”
“And then we fight whoever is left standing?” Tamzin asked. “That’s kind of stupid, don’t you think?”
"Oh no, that's what they did in the last remake," Silky replied with disgust. "We're following the plot to the original. Once all our enemies are in a knockdown, drag-out fight weakening one another, we will slip away."
“And you think that’s going to work in real life because it worked in the movie?” she asked.
“I hope it works because it’s really our only choice,” Silky replied.
Siv considered Silky's plan so he wouldn't have to think about how much his lungs and legs were burning, how much he just wanted to fall down and let the Tekk Reapers take him.
“So Mitsuki’s stealing us a starship?”
“None are easily acquirable right now, sir. Too much security, and we need a cover story to get into orbit. It would take days to put something together that would allow us to steal a ship. Instead, I sent her to a tiny military reserve post to steal a strike-shuttle.”
“Straight up Kill Hard 12, huh? Impressive, Silkster.”
“Thank you, sir.”
Kill Hard 12 was a great movie, and one of his favorites. He'd spent many youthful nights alone in his room, watching through the original forty-two Kill Hard films with Silky. If he had to die, he couldn't imagine a better way than doing it in style by reenacting a classic. Besides which, it did seem like the only option.
“So we take the shuttle into orbit and rendezvous with a starship… But you told the Outworld Ranger crew to not come for us.”
“That’s correct, sir.”
“Who’s picking us up?”
"Six and a half hours ago, I figured out the location of the Hydrogenist's homeworld. Suddenly, they're willing to come help us out. In exchange for that information, of course."
“Excellent!” Siv stumbled. "Hold on. In a few days, you figured out what the Benevolence couldn’t in centuries?"
“Couldn’t or wouldn’t, sir?”
“Oh. And the Hydrogenists believed you?”
“I was convincing, sir. It’s quite interesting. I don’t know why the Benevolence didn’t tell them. Curious how I figured it out?”
“I honestly don’t care. I’m just glad they’re coming to save us and not the Outworld Ranger.”
“A cult of crazy nobodies traveling in a dilapidated starship is picking us up?” Tamzin mentally shouted. “That’s your brilliant plan?!”
“There’s a lot more to them than you think,” Siv replied. “A lot. But we can’t go into it right now.”
“Go into it, or I’m bailing.”
“‘Nevolence! Silkster, tell her as much as she needs to know to get her onboard with this.”
“Sending her data now, sir.”
They stopped when they reached the razor wire fence surrounding the station. As she drew her laser rifle, Tamzin glared at Siv. “You people are insane.” She burned through the fence, and they slipped through and entered the grounds of the facility.
“The landmines are deactivated, sir.”
Siv and Tamzin froze.
“I’m certain, sir. Get moving!”
They ran to the entrance of the squat, cement building. The data in his HUD showed it to be more than the solid block of stone it appeared to be. Beneath three meters of concrete were a thirty-centimeter layer of diamondine and a layer of steel.
Silky triggered the electronic lock, and the reinforced steel door swung open to reveal a second, diamondine door a meter within. Silky also unlocked that one. The final door, a composite of carbon fiber and ceramic, had a conventional lock which Tamzin burned through using the laser rifle.
As they entered the facility, sealing the first two doors behind them, a low rumble overhead announced the arrival of the Tekk Reaper starship.
“Those doors aren’t going to hold them for long,” Tamzin said. “I don’t suspect the mines will either.”
“That’s why we need to get the station’s force field operational,” Silky said. “I’ve restored power and functionality to the building, but some of the systems have to be manually activated, like with a ship’s stardrive. In fact, you’ll probably find it helpful to think of this place as a ship that cannot
fly.”
Silky unlocked another fortified door at the end of a short corridor, and they entered the station’s operations area, which looked precisely like a starship bridge. The two crew stations had circlets and individual monitors. The command chair had a circlet and three manual control levers on the armrests. There was a giant monitor for the entire operations area that showed views from all around the facility.
“I’ll control the force shield and help the two of you with the weapons stations,” Silky said.
“I didn’t see any weapons outside,” Siv said.
“They’re cleverly hidden, sir. We’ll deploy them when they’re needed. Maybe we can even catch them by surprise.”
They helped Galen into the command chair. As he slumped into the seat, some awareness returned to his eyes. “Tamzin… We’re… We’re…”
She kissed him tenderly on the forehead and squeezed his arms. “You’re in real space, Galen. And you’re safe for now. Just relax. It’s all… It’s all going to be okay.”
The monitors activated, showing the hazy outline of the partially cloaked Tekk Reaper ship overhead.
“Silkster, if we’re sticking to Kill Hard 12, we need a tunnel leading out of here. But I don’t see one on the base layouts.”
“Tamzin is our tunnel, sir.”
Tamzin fumed. “Galen can’t handle any—”
“We’re not leaving here until we must, so he’ll have a bit of time to recover,” Silky said. "But when it comes time, we're not going to have a choice. So go ahead and send me nearby locations that will be safe for us to reenter from wraith space. We don't need to travel far. Two kilometers should be sufficient."
While Tamzin cursed and grumbled, Siv activated the force field by pushing a lever at the command station. Then Siv and Tamzin slid into the weapon station seats as reaper teams under antigrav dropped from their ship, landing just beyond the force field bubble.
White flares on their screens announced the plasma cannons of the reaper ship as it opened fire on them.
“And so the battle begins,” Silky declared.
41
Vega Kaleeb
Vega tapped his fingers on the armrest of the command chair in the cockpit. His wine-dark eyes glared at the viewscreen. The Spinner’s Blade orbited Titus II, cloaked and tucked in amidst several defunct survey satellites to help block detection. Using the high-powered spy cameras mounted on the underside of his infiltrator, he watched the action down on the planet below.
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