Hallowed Nebula

by Eddie R. Hicks

  “Ignoring us is one thing,” Foster said. “Leavin’ the phone of the hook is another.”

  Odelea’s face looked puzzled when she looked back up at Foster. “Phone off the hook?”

  “Eh, it’s human talk, don’t worry about it,” Foster said. “Point is, sounds like someone on the Rezeki’s Rage don’t wanna talk. That don’t sound like something Peiun would do.”

  QEC communication wasn’t an option, leaving two other means of reaching the Imperial ship that helped Foster out more than any other ship in the galaxy since she awoke from the longer than planned cryo sleep. Standard communication equipment, which traveled at the speed of light, meaning it would take several hundred years for their message to arrive assuming the Rezeki’s Rage was still in orbit around Taxah. Nobody had time for that.

  The last option was psionic telepathy, which was instant, like QEC. Problem number one with that plan was none of the psionics aboard the Kepler personally knew Alesyna, the Rezeki’s Rage’s psionic. Problem number two, Alesyna was still waiting to be recovered having been brought to Amicitia Station 14 along with Pierce and some EDF black ops operative after their ordeal in the Morutrin system.

  “Odelea, put us through to Blackmar on Amicitia Station,” Foster asked.

  Odelea nodded, keying in the commands into her computer. “Contacting them now.”

  After a few minutes, contact was made with the station that lay beyond the wormhole in the system. Commander Blackmar’s holographic image appeared ahead of the view screen, sitting at his desk in his office on the station.

  He smiled warmly at Foster. “Captain, what can I do for you?”

  Foster approached his hologram. “Did the Rezeki’s Rage dock at the station recently?”

  She saw his hologram tap through a floating screen over his desk, reading through the data that outputted into it. Blackmar shook his head. “At a glance, no. It was last here just before the incident with the Terrans.”

  “What about their shipboard psionic Alesyna? She was brought aboard along with Pierce and that EISS operative, right?”

  “Yes, and to my knowledge is waiting to be returned to her ship and hasn’t left,” Blackmar’s hologram said. “Unless . . . she slipped away on a non-Imperial ship.”

  “Though it wouldn’t make sense for her to do that.”

  “No, it wouldn’t. I can have my people double check it if you’d like.”

  “Please do,” Foster said. “We can’t seem to reach the Rezeki’s Rage and have reason to believe they’s ignoring us. But if Alesyna is still there on the station and hasn’t been picked up yet . . .”

  “They might be in the middle of a space bridge jump. If that’s the case, technically the ship doesn’t exist anywhere until it reappears. Nevertheless, I’ll keep you informed.”

  “Thank you, Commander.”

  “Blackmar, out.”

  Blackmar’s hologram turned into a floating holographic screen that had the words ‘Transmission ended,’ then faded away, unblocking the view of Veromacon’s bright orange glow of its nighttime skyline, similar to that of Dubai back on Earth.

  The mysterious interior of the vortex key and whether or not Phylarlie had been in the back pockets of the Terrans would have to wait. The Rezeki’s Rage was Foster’s only contact within the Empire and the only ship that could look into things for her regarding that matter.

  With nothing else left to do, and no word from the Radiance council, Foster retired to her quarters, stripped out of her uniform, and took a much-needed shower. Aervounis’ heat had it sticking to her body at one point with sweat.

  The alien tattoos that dressed her body remained idle as she washed herself down. It was both a good and bad sign. Good because it meant there was very little Draconian activity, technology, or maelstrom vortexes within the system. Bad, because non-Draconian threats could always be lurking around the corner, and she, like everyone else had no idea when or where they’d strike.

  Foster awoke the next morning to the sound of her wrist terminal resting on her nightstand next to her bed, and her cat Starlet meowing for food. Her sleep wasn’t long enough. Before she slipped out of her nightgown and into her uniform, she asked EVE to brew an extra-large cup of coffee. Remotely, the AI activated Foster’s coffee maker in her quarters. It filled the room with an eye-opening aroma as she went to fetch food for her pet.

  With her mug in hand and its steaming mist rising away from it, she stood before the windows of her quarters, eying the now bright daytime skies of the city, the windows had automatically dimmed to prevent her from damaging her eyesight. Being on the top deck gave her a better glimpse at the Radiance capital city and the hundreds of ships flying single file in the skies. She grumbled at the thought of how much time had been wasted so far.

  Once back in her uniform, she checked her wrist terminal. Rivera had yet to contact them. IESA, however, did informing them of the accident that happened on the Carl Sagan. Rivera was listed as being one of the survivors though, the only one in fact. Must be trying to recover mentally from it, poor thing.

  She let the lack of contact fly for the time being, expecting Rivera to get a hold of them later in the day.

  Chef Bailey prepared a traditional Rabuabin breakfast for the crew in the mess hall. It was his way of remembering Saressea now that she was on a transport to her homeworld to stand trial. The meal was a pie made with diced vegetables and meat trim from their world. Foster couldn’t pronounce the names of the ingredients to save herself.

  The Rabuabin traditionally used leftover food from the previous day, mixed them together to form the filling of the pie and serve it for breakfast. This way, their food stores would always be empty of old food, ready to take in the new food gathered during the new day. At least, that’s what Odelea told her, who opted for her usual apples to eat.

  “Captain, incoming transmission from the Radiance council,” EVE’s voice transmitted via the intercom.

  Foster wiped her mouth clean with the napkin, stood up from her seat in the captain’s mess, and tapped the wall mounted intercom. “Put it through to the captain’s mess.”

  She stood back as a holo screen flashed before her. Ienthei of the Radiance council was on it with a neutral expression on his pale face. “Foster, is your crew still able to assist us?”

  “Of course,” she said to his hologram. “Need to get this show back on the road.”

  “I can’t speak long. The rest of the council isn’t even aware of our talk. My father, Jainuzei, has agreed to what we spoke of. Have your team ready at the landing pad within the hour. I’m sending you the intel now. Get this done, make it look like you came to aid us out of the goodness of your heart, and I will convince the council to release your ship.”

  “Anything I should be aware of?”

  “You’ll have to ask my father for that. Good luck, Captain.”

  Within the hour . . . she thought back to his words and then smiled. Within the hour meant she could finish up breakfast. And hope she was making the right choice. She was about to launch a mission to capture or kill a group of people that came close to assassinating the most powerful group of politicians in the galaxy in hopes that she and the Kepler would incur their anger, rather than Radiance.

  Whatever it was, Ienthei was able to do to release the Kepler, it had to be fast. Foster needed the ship to be off the planet long before this group plotted to take their frustrations out on them.

  It was time to go.

  Foster quickly climbed the ladder down into the Kepler’s cargo bay and approached its small armory. She wasn’t trained to use any of the equipment inside, with the exception of one item, the Draconian tachyon rifle she picked up on Jacobus. She grabbed the strangely crafted weapon constructed beyond the edge of the galaxy, before moving toward the Kepler’s only transport ship.

  Chang sat in the cockpit going through a list of preflight checks. He gave her the nod that they were good to go and she stepped back out into the cargo bay. LeBoeuf, Max
well, and Miles all approached after she called them down.

  “Suit up, y’all, we got some action ahead,” Foster said, strapping the tachyon rifle over her shoulders.

  Maxwell’s eyes narrowed. “Us?”

  “Yes.”

  Maxwell cocked his thumb at Miles. “With him?”

  “We’s all a team here, like it or not,” Foster said to him.

  “Could have fooled me,” Miles said. “Ya know, after what happened to Williams.”

  Maxwell glared at Miles. There was rage in the eyes of the blond mohawk haircut psionic. “You just won’t let that go, will you?”

  “You know, yer right, I should,” Miles said. “You two weren’t the ones that shot ‘em, Chevallier did. And she got what she had coming to her—”

  “Miles!” Foster yelled at him.

  Maxwell and Miles stood toe to toe, ready to go at it again. This time, Foster wasn’t in between them. “You’re a fucking dick!”

  “Okay, you two!” Foster snapped, marching over to the two men full of way too much testosterone. “Both of you! Git outta here! Shoo! I’ll take LeBoeuf for this one.”

  LeBoeuf, who had remained silent, stepped forward while Miles and Maxwell looked back, both shocked at Foster’s decision. “Captain?”

  “Imma needs psionic support anyways, and LeBoeuf got it.”

  “So do I,” Maxwell spat back at her.

  “You and Miles need to learn how to play nice together,” Foster said, walking back to the transport with LeBoeuf.

  Maxwell’s cybernetically augmented arms crossed. “And we’re going to do that how?—”

  “Go jerk each other off or something!” Foster was beyond frustrated with the two butting heads.

  LeBoeuf smiled at Foster as they stepped aboard the transport. “Captain!”

  “I’m sorry,” Foster said, then paused to take a deep breath. “I’m sorry that was out of line—”

  “No, no, no, that sass was awesome!” LeBoeuf said. “Keep that shit up, girl, I like it.”

  Foster hated it. Going berserk wasn’t who she was. She was a peaceful explorer of space. But as of that moment, she became a wannabe combat girl about to willfully participate in a combat mission.

  This wasn’t what she signed up for. The stress of being the woman that was to save the galaxy from space dragons was getting to her.

  16 Karklosea

  Marrea’s house

  Eelinton, Aervounis, Luminous System

  November 1, 2181, 12:15 SST (Sol Standard Time)

  Eelinton was a small city in the southern hemisphere of Aervounis. It being on the opposite end of the planet, meant nightfall had arrived, whereas day embraced those currently in Veromacon.

  As with all cities on the planet, Eelinton was built on a floating disk-shaped platform high in the skies. It was slightly colder here compared to Veromacon, due to its higher elevation, making its climate ideal for non-Aryile and Javnis. Sometimes, if the weather was perfect, the city’s inhabitants were able to see the clouds in the skies directly ahead of them from the city’s outer limits, making it literally a city in the clouds.

  Karklosea’s small and cramped personal transport landed next to Marrea’s house within the sleeping posh residential community. According to the data files she retrieved, Marrea had become distant with her children, Ienthei and Queenea, following Dienei’s exile, especially after Ienthei was elected as the Aryile representative and Queenea helped build Souyila.

  Marrea had moved here after retiring from missionary work, the career path she took after her second husband, Dienei, had been exiled. Thanks to the UNE protected worlds accords, many missionaries, such as herself, were left without a job, having ramped up their recruitment, when the Undine, Poniga, and Qirak had been discovered in the Sirius system.

  It had been centuries since Radiance added a new civilization to its collective and sharing the will and technology of Gods with them. The Hashmedai was supposed to join but fought Radiance instead, humans were supposed to join, but the Celestial Order marred those plans. It was the hope of the missionaries that they would convince the Undine, Poniga, and Qirak to accept the will of the Gods and join the Union.

  Then the humans had to put up a wall, barring missionaries from spreading that message to those people.

  Karklosea approached Marrea’s house, a rectangular-shaped place where all four walls were made out of glass capable of dimming to dark colors if one wanted more privacy. With a wave of her hand next to the front door’s security controls, Karklosea forced them to unlock and open for her. Templars, like her, had the power to enter any home without being invited if deemed necessary to capture sinners or suppress criminals and security problems for the Union.

  Or in this case, search for answers about Jainuzei.

  The house was devoid of any activity, other than Karklosea walking across its immaculately white and polished tiles observing the elegant furniture that decorated every room. She called out, asking if anyone was home. There was no reply. That didn’t stop Karklosea from searching the empty household.

  A darkened bedroom was found, Karklosea’s HNI created holographic light for her to search within it. Beyond the bed in the corner was a personal computer and a tray of data crystals. Her HNI synced with the computer, powering it on and then inserting one of the data crystals into its port to view its contents.

  The data crystal held nothing but personal log files and recorded HNI memories. The other data crystals on the storage tray were the same. The memories recorded were extensive, which would explain why Marrea didn’t just store them on her HNI, the files were too big. It was a lot of saved memories for your average person, especially a former missionary like Marrea. Very few people used up all their HNI’s storage space for memories, they were designed to capture one’s memories for centuries since gene therapy made galactic society immortal.

  To have this many recorded memories . . . Marrea had to have had memories from other people. It was impossible for one woman to experience that much. Karklosea took a step back and went to access the memories and watch them replay like it was a drama play, seen from the eyes of Marrea.

  The first memory she found replayed, it was blurry, a sign that it existed before Marrea received her HNI implants, she was after all born and raised before the invention of that and gene therapy. The bedroom turned into a holographic simulation of what Marrea saw. Karklosea saw and heard everything she did, it was as if she was transported back in time, and stood watching history unfold as an omnipotent force.

  She watched the moment Marrea learned of Jainuzei’s death. She saw the blood near the front of a house they owned back in Veromacon. There was no body, and Marrea didn’t care if there was one. She loved Dienei, unlike Jainuzei, he had been there for her during the years Jainuzei was away deployed on combat missions to fight the Imperial forces near the Luminous system. With Jainuzei out of the picture, she was free to marry Dienei, a man that would be around to help her raise the unborn twins growing in a Union hatchery.

  Karklosea skipped ahead with memories. The sights around her turned into the living room of the house Marrea and Dienei shared with Ienthei and Queenea when they had become young adults for the first time. Marrea scorned Queenea for failing her university exams. She had written a paper based on controversial knowledge Odelea had been involved in. Meanwhile, Marrea prayed daily to the Gods asking that Dienei become the next Aryile council representative, rather than her son, Ienthei, who was also in the election race.

  The holograms got interesting by the 2060s, almost twenty years after the Celestial Order wars, and the exile of Dienei, Byikanea, and Armuzei. As per Karklosea’s reports, Marrea had become a missionary to spread the word of the Gods to the galaxy. She and other missionaries were sent to the Sirius system after the UNE constructed a wormhole there, and invited Radiance to help search for the missing Carl Sagan and Abyssal Sword, and co-developed FTL technology, extracted from the remains of Tiamat’s drone fighters.

&nbs
p; The holograms around Karklosea turned into a forest on New Babylon with Marrea and her missionaries searching for Poniga villages to teach them about the Gods. It wasn’t an easy task. She watched Marrea and her team struggle as half the Poniga they found worshipped Tiamat, the others Marduk. Marduk-loyal Poniga were shrinking as the years went on, thanks to the efforts of Foster toppling Marduk’s control over the system.

  Many of the Poniga had been trained by the UNE military, a team called the Hammerheads, to seek out and eliminate Marduk-loyal Poniga and prevent them from plotting revenge. Humans were, after all, building a colony on Terra Nova and other planets within the system. The last thing they needed was Marduk’s overlord and grunt soldiers carrying out guerrilla strikes.

  Deep in the forests of New Babylon, Marrea’s team found a Poniga village, one different from the rest. They had technology that was far advanced from the other Poniga they found. It was the technology Marduk had given them. They were the last of his army. Rivers near the village were populated with the Undine Sirens, they too were of a small demographic of their society that pledged their allegiance to Marduk.

  The Poniga and Undine had a basic understanding of the Radiance language. Marrea saw it as a sign from the Gods. Karklosea, watching the projection, wondered how that group came to learn their language before Marrea got to them. She put those thoughts aside for a moment as the projection got interesting.

  Armuzei, Dienei, and Byikanea appeared days later. Armuzei’s face was similar to when he was last seen in the Union. His face was gold and was missing two out of four of his eyes, lost in combat during his younger days in the military. The golden Javnis no longer worshiped the Gods. He offered his praise to Marduk. Standing at a podium, he began to preach to the missionaries that the worship of the Gods was wrong and that Marduk was a true God as he did appear on ancient Earth and was encountered by Foster and the Carl Sagan. There was a disagreement at first, and Marrea sought to flee with her people. They were grabbed and forced to sit. In the hands of a psionic Poniga were white glowing orbs, engrams as they called them.