Hallowed Nebula

by Eddie R. Hicks

  The young, redheaded Linl woman looked back at Karklosea before the doors shut. She laughed hysterically like she was in the midst of watching a malicious plan move forward.

  And Saressea was stuck sitting next to her.

  12 Karklosea

  Union Tribunal Tower

  Veromacon, Aervounis, Luminous System

  October 31, 2118, 20:19 SST (Sol Standard Time)

  The prisoner transport Karklosea escorted Saressea to launched into the skies via six blue pillars from its launch thrusters. Karklosea found herself the only person standing on the landing pad, her head never moved away from the position it tilted in when she saw the redheaded woman within the transport.

  The woman’s presence wasn’t what had her in shock. She was, after all, arrested and prepared to be hauled elsewhere in the Union for her actions. What had Karklosea still standing there motionlessly? She knew the woman. It took a while, but the woman sitting there without her makeup on and Karklosea visualizing what she would like if she were older, got her thinking about the past council that ruled the Union.

  The Linl council representative of the Union during the end of the Celestial Order wars was a woman named Byikanea. She was removed from the council due to some scandal that involved the Javnis representative of the time and an Aryile that was campaigning to be elected the next Aryile representative.

  There was no doubt about it, the redheaded woman was Byikanea. Karklosea’s HNI ran a number of facial recognition scans based on what she saw compared to Byikanea’s pictures taken years ago. It was a match. Byikanea had clearly undergone gene therapy to make her look that young, which was why Karklosea never noticed at first, or anyone else on the council for that matter.

  The former Linl representative of the council was back from exile, having somehow developed psionic powers, and sought to kill the current council, and convince others to take the identity of rangers that were supposed to stand watch during the council’s debate over the matter of Saressea and her actions. And then Jainuzei made an unexpected return from the dead, having somehow known the act was in progress.

  Making those connections was the reason why Karklosea continued to stand motionless on the platform while Aervounis’ sun’s punishing heat and light baked her armor and tanned face. Something was up.

  Temple of the Gods

  Veromacon, Aervounis, Luminous System

  November 1, 2118, 06:14 SST (Sol Standard Time)

  Karklosea needed guidance. She sought it at the temple once her duties for the day had been completed. She came to kneel before the statues of the three Gods, having left her redeemer blade on a nearby chair to show that she’d rather a solution that didn’t involve violence. The temple was empty save for a young cleric, an Aryile girl, committing the ancient texts to memory.

  Karklosea prayed to Stoarior first, asking for the heat in the skies to reduce just enough to allow her Linl brain to think clearer. Then she asked Tym to allow the hours of the days to slow by her perspective, allowing her to come up with the answers she sought before it was too late. Finally, a prayer to Livie was made asking for good fortune. Livie was always the hardest to pray to, as one had to be careful with their words when asking things from him. As the humans would say, be careful what you wish for, you might just get it.

  When the Draconians first attacked, Karklosea spent every day praying for the Gods to do something. Days later, Captain Foster took command of the Kepler. Now, Karklosea took away the woman that was a vital part of Foster’s crew, and the council? They were forcing the Kepler to remain at Veromacon, unable to continue their mission. Livie was having fun with her.

  The more she replayed the attack on the council via her recorded HNI memories, the more she began to question the decision to have Saressea detained. Byikanea attacking was no coincidence, nor was her confronting them earlier and asking if they were believers . . .

  Believers. Byikanea had offered praise to Marduk prior to her setting off a second psionic bomb. Most of the Kepler’s crew had been aboard the Carl Sagan when the Javnis Muodiry that went by the name Marduk was bested.

  Her lips, making prayers to the Gods, stopped moving. She heard footsteps approaching that weren’t the Aryile cleric reading the ancient text. It made her stop, get up, and turn. She had left her redeemer unattended behind her after all. The person making the footsteps could easily take her weapon.

  She went for her redeemer. Her mind froze briefly when she noted the tall Aryile man enter, his arms and brawny chest too big for the clothes he was wearing. It was Jainuzei, the man that came to aid the council during the attack.

  Jainuzei and Karklosea made eye contact. He nodded to her. “My apologies if I interrupted you.”

  “No,” she said, retrieving her weapon. “I was just finishing.”

  Jainuzei moved closer to her, his head tilted up to the ceiling and walls, then back to the trio of the Gods behind her. “This place has changed a great deal since I was last here,” Jainuzei said. “Just like how my life changed on that fateful day I came here lost, seeking guidance.”

  “How long ago was that? The layout for this temple has been like this for the last sixty years.”

  “Ah.” Jainuzei became lost in thought, he shut his Aryile eyes. “Patriarch Dalhakei was here at that time.”

  Patriarch Dalhakei was the religious leader of the Radiance faith of the Gods. Patriarchs were the unofficial rulers of the Union, as they had the power to override any vote the council made if they deemed it something that went against the will of the Gods. And as she recalled, Dalhakei left for Barnard’s Star, arriving weeks before the decisive battle that took place there that brought an end to the Celestial Order wars. The humans currently occupying that system had yet to locate his body.

  “You knew Dalhakei then?” she asked him.

  “Yes, he was the one that helped me during a dark moment in my life, when my dreams of having a loving wife and family vaporized in an instant.”

  “What happened then?” Jainuzei face grew sour with a wince. “Let me be more specific, what happened to you after your ‘death?’”

  “I was undertaking a great task to . . . save the galaxy.”

  “Care to elaborate?”

  “Did the Celestial Order wars end?”

  “Yes.”

  “Well then, let’s leave it as that.”

  She watched him move away, walking to the altar behind where the Gods perpetually idle bodies greeted him with opened arms. “We should pray together,” he said, turning back to face her. “It has been a long time since I had a lovely woman at my side praying with me. I’d be honored if you join me.”

  “As I said, I was on my way out,” she said, moving to the exit.

  Though, it was a lie, of course. Jainuzei’s presence made her feel extremely uncomfortable. It was almost as if the Gods sent him there to send a message to her. Why else would he have appeared during her prayers?

  “What is your name?”

  “Lord Commander Karklosea,” she said, turning back to face him, searching for any signs on his face that might reveal the secrets within it. “I’m a veteran of the Battle of Barnard’s Star.”

  “Weapons Master Jainuzei,” he said, grimacing. “Have we met?”

  “Perhaps we crossed paths. I once served on a Navy warship.”

  “We did,” he said. “The operation on New Paryo?”

  She vaguely remembered that planet and the mission on it. A battle that took place during a Radiance blitzkrieg on Imperial colonies near its border. The one that ended the reign of a past Imperial Emperor.

  “It was a pleasure speaking with you, Lord Commander.”

  She left the temple, indulging in the feeling that she was teleported from the past to the present. The temple was built to resemble the look of the first temples the Aryile constructed thousands of years ago. But outside around it was the present, and the big, bright, light floating city of Veromacon, with the never-ending lines of starships dotting the ski
es with white spheres from their lights, moving into space, or coming from it, making a landing at a starport.

  Halfway into her march to the city’s rapid transit trains, she thought back to the days of the Celestial Order wars, and the battle of Barnard’s Star. His previous comments suggested he played a role in ending it, yet, she had no memory of him at the battle when she led the charge against Order forces. Of course, HNI didn’t exist back then, so simply bringing up recorded memories wasn’t an option.

  Still, his face wasn’t one she was able to remember, unlike Byikanea when she gave her a second glance, then again, Byikanea was a leader of the Union, and the voice of Karklosea’s species on the council. It wouldn’t have taken much for her to remember that detail, unlike the troves of information about the Order she had to examine when she had worked as a shipboard psionic during the war, which had now become blurry thoughts.

  Karklosea returned to her high-rise home, a small pad fit for one person, two if you didn’t mind sharing everything you owned with the other. Unless you were the Gods, Karklosea’s days of sharing with others were over. Her devotion to protecting the temples, the council, and arresting those that might corrupt the perfect balance of the Radiance Union was her duty. She was beyond the need for a lover, regardless of the desires the young, gene therapy age-locked body she had wanted. The Gods will not be defied; she owed them too much to allow it.

  With her redeemer tossed to the side, she slipped out of her armor. It wasn’t a quick task as it was designed to plug into cybernetic ports on her body. The armor was an extension of her body, enhancing her psionic powers, necessary for her to conduct her role as a Templar. The suit had to be deactivated first, then carefully unplugged from her body, until it lay in pieces on the floor below her.

  She stood naked, her once porcelain skin now sun-kissed by Aervounis sun, having made this planet her home for years. Scars left behind by her old implants remained, especially on her back. Some of her old implants had to be left on her body, as removing them would cause fatal damage.

  She stepped out to her balcony, darkened by the night skies, diving into the pool for a quick swim. Every house, apartment, condo, and place of dwelling had one. It was more customary for Aryile to dip into a pool every day for a swim, though that aspect of their culture became standard with all races that were assimilated into the Union, especially the Linl, Rabuabin, and Vorcambreum on this planet. The Aryile weren’t fond of air-conditioning, the Javnis too, to a degree. What the Aryile founders wanted, they got. They, after all, shared the gifts of the Gods to them all.

  As Karklosea soaked in the water, she browsed the knowledge network, hoping to find archived reports from the era of the Celestial Order wars. She must have missed something, something that would shed light on Jainuzei. She found Jainuzei’s service records, listing the day he enlisted in the military, the countless battles he fought against the Hashmedai, and his love for collecting and mastering the usage of all weapons he found on the battlefield. Hence the title he was given after being promoted to a first-class ranger: weapons master. Karklosea smirked at the trove of data she was able to get. Being a lord commander had its privileges for high-security clearance.

  Jainuzei’s last operation took place during the Union’s blitzkrieg of Hashmedai colonies near the Luminous system. He participated in an operation that saw the death of the Emperor Rezeki and then retired from the military upon his return to Aervounis. He put in a request to rejoin, and then was killed in a confrontation with a man his wife left him for. Karklosea accessed the law enforcement records of that incident. Dienei was the name of the man that shot and killed Jainuzei outside his home. Apparently, Jainuzei, in a jealous rage, went to fight him after learning that his now-former wife, Marrea, left Jainuzei for Dienei.

  The reading of the names caused Karklosea’s HNI to beep. As she floated to the surface of her pool, she accessed the holographic triggers that appeared. Marrea was the mother of councilman Ienthei and his twin sister Queenea, co-founder of Souyila. Jainuzei was their father but was never part of their life after his ‘death.’

  Everything else about Jainuzei was blank after that in terms of facts. The next set of reports were all rumors, conspiracy theories, and other ideas that were both never proven and had too many holes in to be considered real. Some reports suggested that Jainuzei was alive and well at Barnard’s Star, and was a bodyguard for Dalhakei. Others stated he took control of the Celestial Order fleet which had been masquerading as a Radiance fleet after Dalhakei went missing. More rumors appeared, some stating Jainuzei was allied with the Order, and others shooting it down since he was already dead.

  The council didn’t help to sort out the facts, many of its members like Byikanea had been removed, and they sought to repair their damaged reputation, spinning what stories they could to boost morale within the Union. Then came the Imperial reports on what they believed happened, followed by the UNE who claimed that their reports were correct as they now controlled the system. In the end, nobody had a clear picture of what happened.

  Jainuzei was hiding something. Byikanea was removed from the council before the Battle of Barnard’s Star, as was Armuzei, the Javnis representative at the time, and the runner-up for the vacant Aryile seat on the council. Dienei, the man that allegedly killed Jainuzei, was that runner-up. If there was anyone who knew the truth behind what really happened to Jainuzei it would be Dienei or Marrea. According to the next set of HNI reports pulled off the knowledge network, Dienei was exiled along with Armuzei and Byikanea.

  She located the home of Marrea and made plans to pay her a visit. Whoever attacked the council was a threat, one Jainuzei knew of and refused to reveal, and had at least one of the exiled former council members in their ranks—

  Paralysis took hold of Karklosea’s body. Flashing HNI alerts appeared, her cybernetics were malfunctioning, and at the worst time, while she was still in the pool. Her body sank to the bottom, unable to move, unable to breathe, and unable to answer when any of that would change. She was drowning and paralyzed. After repeated attempts, she managed to get her limbs to move again, and swam to the edge of the pool, lying face first on the solid ground.

  She gasped for air that was denied to her during the ordeal, her lungs thanked her. A quick HNI diagnostic revealed what happened. She took more damage to her cybernetics than she thought during the psionic bomb blasts. She’d need repairs, repairs that could only be made by a cybernetic specialist on the Linl homeworld that managed to remove her old shipboard implants, replacing them with the ones required for Templar duties.

  She groaned at the thought. Leaving to get her implants checked out meant leaving her investigation of Jainuzei and Byikanea behind. Leaving them unchecked, might just end up killing her.

  When she regained proper control of her body, she kneeled next to the edge of her pool, her nude body still wet with dripping water. She put her hands together and prayed. She prayed for a ship that could get her to the cybernetic specialist fast and give her the means to continue her investigation of Jainuzei.

  13 Foster

  XSV Johannes Kepler, Parked at Veromacon Landing Pad

  Veromacon, Aervounis, Luminous System

  November 1, 2118, 00:22 SST (Sol Standard Time)

  Foster moaned softly as she walked up the Kepler’s entry ramp. The wave of standard human temperature hit her the second she boarded. It reminded her of the summer days in Nashville, when she returned home after being at a park with her school friends all afternoon and took in that beautiful air-conditioning chill that’d hit her.

  She looked back at the darkened starport platform, slowly vanishing while the entry ramp rose, and wondered . . . just how the hell did she manage to make it back without Odelea’s assistance? Foster thought for sure, she’d board the wrong train, or get off on the wrong station. English was an alien language to the people of this planet.

  She made her way up the ladder in the cargo bay, setting foot on the overhead catwalk of the second le
vel, connecting to the rest of the middle deck. Her walk back to the bridge was short-lived when Miles and Maxwell bumped into each other when they went to make a pass at the corridor’s intersection.

  “Whoa, sorry abou’ that, eh,” Miles said to Maxwell.

  “Whatever, man,” Maxwell grunted, keeping his face away from Miles.

  Miles snorted. “Please, don’t shot me b’y.”

  “I don’t need bullets to knock your ass out.”

  The two men faced each other, and if Foster hadn’t stood in between them, a fist fight probably would have broken out.

  “Guys!” she shouted, both her hands struggling to push them apart.

  “Oi,” Miles said, and taunted to Maxwell, ignoring Foster’s words. “Sounds like someone just put their big dick on, eh?”

  Foster could tell Maxwell wanted to push forward and fight. But to do so, would require him to trample over her.

  “Take it outside y’all,” Foster said to them. “None of that shit on my ship, ya hear?”

  Maxwell looked down at Foster. “Shit on your shit?”

  “No! I said, shit on my ship—” She cut herself off. Foster needed to hammer the point better. “Look, don’t make me put y’all in the corner!”

  “There a reason he’s staying with us, Foster?” Maxwell asked her.

  “There a reason EDF is still aboard?” Miles asked, pointing at Maxwell.

  “We’re not leaving one of our members behind.” It was the best answer she could come up with. Everyone that was aboard was part of the team now whether they liked it or not. Especially since Radiance still had a no-fly rule on the Kepler.

  Miles snickered. “Like Boyd?”

  The two men went to go at it again. Once again, Foster kept her body between them. They thought twice about their actions. “Guys!” she said with increased volume in her voice. “Go do something else with your time!”