Aaron saw them entering the cavern and walked across the expanse to come stand by Thora. He directed Gideon toward a table and chairs in the center of the room.
“What is this place? I’ve never heard of this place before,” Lena said as they walked.
“That means we’ve done our job well,” Aaron replied. “As you’ve probably figured out on your own, we’re inside the Everleighan mountains. Unknown to most, tunnels naturally run along the length of the mountains. These caves were supposed to be part of Everleighs defense system. A secret assignment. They were in the process of being renovated for a refuge when the attack on Everleigh happened.”
“You lived in Everleigh?” Lena asked. “Why don’t I know your children.”
“No, we never lived in Everleigh. My kids and I were here for the Founder’s Party. I knew about the caves from my work with your father,” Aaron said.
“Is this where you live now?” Lena asked as she passed an open kitchen.
“Yes, it was already equipped with a self-sustaining system when Everleigh was bombed. My children Remiah, Dessa and I escaped to the mountains when the Priestess attacked Everleigh. We’ve lived here off and on since then. There is a water source further down that opens into an underground lake, but we have showers and plumbing and food replicators.”
Lena took a deep breath. She smelled something delicious coming from the direction of the open kitchen. Her stomach growled loud enough for everyone to hear it. When had she eaten last?
“You need my insignia,” Lena said.
“Oh no. Don’t you think I didn’t hear your stomach,” Thora said. “First you get cleaned up, then we’ll eat.”
“Then we’ll talk about the server you stole from the facility you bombed?” Lena asked.
Aaron looked taken back. “How did you know about that?” he asked.
“The Priestess had the recruits review the footage. Trying to find who bombed the facility,” Gideon said. Aaron gave Thora a worried look.
“It was Jonah, Birdee, and me who recovered the information,” Lena said. “And unless Jonah revealed the information to anyone else, we never reported what we found.”
“I can’t say for certain what Selene knows now,” Gideon said, “but when we left the Defense Training Facility, she didn’t know it was you who stole it. Or where you were.”
“Go,” Thora said pointing to a hallway. “I’ll have dinner, or I should say breakfast ready for you when you get out.”
***
“Tell me again about this man,” Thora said leaning against the back of her chair. She sat next to Aaron who rested his elbows on the table. Suki and Tarek sat around the same table listening as Lena and Gideon told their individual stories of what happened in Monmark. They all had food in front of them; fruit, sausage, and fresh handmade biscuits.
Lena stuffed a biscuit in her mouth as she spoke. “Ras Taban,” Lena said. “He is in league with Selene, but I’m not sure how.”
“Celano,” Gideon said. “He was the man in Celano who met with my father before the attack on Everleigh. After that is when my father started acting differently. If what I suspect is true, he is the one who implanted my father with the device that gave the Selene the power to control his actions.”
Thora looked thoughtful. Aaron reached over and gave her arm a squeeze. At his touch, Thora’s whole body relaxed. Their eyes met and Aaron nodded in encouragement or support, or Lena wasn’t really sure what. She was only sure that Aaron somehow gave Thora strength. Thora caught Lena watching her and Lena quickly looked away feeling embarrassed that she’d intruded on their unspoken moment.
“Myri,” Thora called across the room.
Myri turned from where she sat on the kitchen bar watching Druinn juggle fruit. At the sound of her name, she straightened and looked to Lena. Hoping off the counter, she gave Druinn a quick kiss and hurried over to the group.
“Can you access your ships computer from here?” Thora asked. “More specific, can you use your ships computers to access the I.M.A’s satellites?”
“If the ship’s computers weren’t damaged in the crash I can,” Myri said and immediately began typing on a hologram screen. After a few minutes, she smiled. “I’m in. What do you need me to pull up?”
“Can you pull up the footage of the auction in Monmark?” Thora asked.
Myri nodded and typed in a few commands while Suki looked over her shoulder. Myri opened an image of the city square Lena had just escaped. Suki leaned forward resting her head on her prosthetic arm as they watched. Lena’s stomach clenched as she watched herself. Myri fast forwarded the imagery until the ship Lena had described to them flew into the square. “Ras Taban,” Lena said pointing to the man as he exited his ship.
Thora paled. “He is no Miran.” Thora straightened her posture. “He’s Viceret. Selene, what have you gotten yourself into.” Thora said the last statement more to herself than anyone else.
Lena strained to remember where she’d heard the name Viceret before. She knew it wasn’t a new word, but couldn’t recall where she’d heard it before.
“The Viceret? They’re not members of the Interplanetary Alliance,” Myri said as Druinn walked up behind her to study the now paused image of the man.
“Where the Viceret goes, blood flows,” Druinn said. It sounded like a childhood rhyme. Something that was written to warn children of the dangers in the universe. Or the dangers right in front of you.
“I don’t understand,” said Lena.
“The Viceret are a war-stricken people,” Aaron explained. “Always have been. Conquering other worlds is what they do. They have left the alliance alone in the past, but worlds outside the alliance and dwarf planets have suffered greatly under their wrath. They want war and rule through treachery. They have betrayed many nations to gain the upper hand.”
An image of Jonah lying on the ground rushed to Lena’s mind. The force of it caught her off guard causing her to gasp. The others jerked their heads to look at her wondering what caused her reaction. How could she have forgotten where she’d heard the name.
“The Viceret.” Lena said taking a breath. “Jonah, before he died, he told me Selene was working for the Viceret, but I didn’t understand what it meant.”
Now it was Thora gasping. “Selene is in league with the Viceret?” she said. “Then we’re in trouble.”
“Do you think they are giving her the control device?” Gideon asked.
“How can they be?” Lena asked. “I thought Dorry is the one who invented it.”
“He is,” Thora said. “But he gave the technology to Selene.”
“And you think she gave the technology to the Viceret?” Aaron asked.
“Now we’ve eaten we can find out,” Thora said. “Come with me.” She led them across the cavern and to a table on the side of the hall.
Laying across the table sat a large silver box. Lena saw the server sitting in the middle hooked up to a screen.
“This is what you stole from the bombed facility,” Lena said.
Thora nodded. “Yes, I’ve known that Selene had the power to control a person for quite some time. Dorry and I worked together to find where she’d been keeping the information on what happened to his technology. With Aaron’s help, we arranged the bombing of the facility and secured this. Unfortunately Dorry did not provide me with the power to bypass her security system,” Thora said.
“He gave that to me instead,” Lena said.
“As brilliant as that man is, he lacks common sense. Why he didn’t give the technology to me, I’ll never know,” Thora said.
“What do I need to do to open it?”
Aaron and the rest of the group came to stand beside her. Birdee was out of bed now. Tern wrapped an arm around and held her weight as she hobbled over with the rest of them.
“Same as anything. Scan your insignia,” Thora replied. Lena scanned her insignia and the computer immediately granted access. “All that danger just to get her to scan her little ins
ignia,” Thora said. Aaron opened up the first file.
A hologram of Zeke popped open. He looked younger, his eyes full of worry.
“Dad,” Gideon leaned closer as the pre-recorded hologram started talking.
“Marcus,” Zeke’s voice said. “I’m being followed, I hope you receive this before it’s too late. Selene contacted me, trying to get me to lead her Defenses. I, of course, told her no. But now she hunts me, and our son Gideon. I’m afraid. She says she has a way to force me to do what she wants if I don’t comply on my own. I need you to know if that happens, I was not in my right mind. If I ever hurt you or our cause, it’s Selene’s doing. I would never do anything to go against our fight for freedom or the safety of my child.” Zeke looked worried. Sweat dripped from his face. “I’m requesting that you cancel the Founder’s Party. Selene is planning something big. I don’t know how she’s going to do it, but I’m afraid she’s found a way to conquer all of Mir. Selene has always wanted control. She’s used her manipulations for far too long, and now she’s found another way. I’m meeting with a contact tonight in Celano. I think he’ll give me the information I need to fight against her. If I don’t make it back to you. Find her. Destroy her.”
Lena wrapped an arm around Gideon. He looked ill and angry and a million other emotions Lena couldn’t pinpoint.
“Open up the rest,” Gideon demanded.
Blueprints of Dorry’s technology rotated throughout the hologram with instructions of how it worked. They studied page after page, Lena didn’t understand half the words and the information made her head hurt. Stepping away, she found a seat and watched Thora sort through all the information. The others had already found their own chairs to observe from. Gideon and Thora were the only ones who kept searching screen after screen. After what felt like forever, Thora stepped away from the computer.
“So basically, the device captures the subject’s impulses that go to the motor cortex, the part of the brain that controls movement,” Thora explained. “By blocking the impulses to the parts of the brain that control speech and movement, it then generates its own neural impulses, forcing the subjects to speak and act according to the operator’s will.”
“That’s the same device that’s in my head,” Gideon said. He started to pace, his hand rubbing the back of his neck. “That thing is inside of me,” Gideon backed away from Lena. “You need to lock me up.”
“Gid, that’s ridiculous,” Lena said stepping towards him. He held up his hand, urging her to stop. She stepped back.
“This is how he got my father to kill your’s Evangeline,” Gideon said. Shivers went down Lena’s spine. Her stomach knotted at the thought. “This is how she’s going to have me kill you.”
The End of Book Two
Acknowledgments
There are many people to thank who have helped The Mir Chronicles come this far.
My dear friend, and fellow author, Carol Vaughn. She reads my earliest of drafts to the newest and gives awesome feedback—like check all the boxes—not to mention copious amounts of encouragement.
Tammy Fillerup, she—along with copious amounts of delicious food—sat with me line by line and hour after hour editing my final draft to a grammatically correct copy. I can’t thank her enough.
To my beta readers. In my head my book is a perfect story. This is a problem when the actual story written is no where near perfect. So thank you Wade Wallace, Crystal Boyack and Steven Hardman for finding my holes and pointing them out.
Westin Smith’s artistic skills are amazing. He took the symbols from my imagination and turned them into the amazing cover.
Of course I could never pursue such a time intensive hobby without the support and love of my cute little family. Wally, Cole and Avery, you are my world. Go Team Wallace!
RISE
Book Three of
THE MIR CHRONICLES
THE MIR CHRONICLE, Book 3, Rise, is a work of fiction. Similarities to real people, places or events are entirely coincidental.
2nd edition
Formerly published as The Legions of the Rise Copyright © 2018 Leisa Wallace
Written by Leisa Wallace
Chapter One
Lena looked at the blueprints of the control device projected on a hologram above them, then at Gideon. The cavern they were standing in was completely silent except for the sound of everyone's heightened breathing from finding out that the Priestess could control Gideon at any given moment.
Gideon's neck was still red and swollen on the sides where the Priestess' henchman, Ras, had inserted the device only hours ago.
Lena took a step back. Away from the group, but really, away from Gideon. Her heart felt like it had dropped into her stomach and she couldn't quite get a full breath. "Gideon," Lena said. "Selene is going to have you kill me." She couldn't believe the words even as she said them.
Lena felt Suki's hand on her back. A gesture of comfort. But, feeling the prosthetic arm pressing into her made the anxiety only increase. It was the Priestess who cost Suki her arm.
Thora cast a nervous glance between Aaron, his children—Dessa and Remiah—, the hologram, and Gideon. She nodded to Druinn and Tarek.
Druinn and Tarek moved to stand on each side of Gideon. They looked ready to tackle him if needed.
“Gideon?” Lena said. All she wanted to do was run to him. Wrap her arms around him and tell him it would be okay. But she couldn't. Gideon was dangerous. Very dangerous.
Aaron called a service bot.
Thora gripped Lena's arm and motioned Suki to do the same. "Don't let her move. We’re not going to let Selene hurt either of them."
Suki clutched Lena's other arm. Her grip wasn't hard, but Lena knew Suki was serious about not letting her go.
The horror in Gideon's eyes was enough to kill her right there. He tried to take a step backward, but Druinn and Tarek held him firm.
The service bot was next to Aaron now. It had a pair of handcuffs that Aaron was lifting up and then placing on Gideon who didn't resist.
Lena looked at the others. Expecting someone to come to his defense. Half expecting herself to come to his defense. He had been with them for hours before now. Unrestrained. And nothing had happened to her or to anyone. Gideon was still Gideon. He wasn't being controlled. But she couldn't make herself say anything. She knew the implications of what would happen if Selene chose to activate him.
“Gideon,” Lena finally said, half trying to comfort him, half trying not to cry.
"You know what the device can do," Gideon answered. "You know I won't be able to control my actions if she engages the device.”
“I know,” Lena answered softly, wishing the words weren’t true.
“I can't be near you,” Gideon said. “Any of you. The best course of action is to lock me up."
"Or take you out," Suki said quietly.
Thora gave Suki a sideways glance but didn't counter Suki's suggestion. No one did.
Gideon turned to leave with Aaron by his side.
“Gideon,” Lena said again.
Gideon looked over his shoulder.
“We’ll fix this,” she said. She couldn’t believe this was happening. Tears filled her eyes. “We won’t let her do this to you. I promise I’ll find a way to fix you.”
Gideon gave her a small smile. “Of course you will,” he said before walking out of the cavern.
"This is for the best," Thora said squeezing her arm in reassurance before letting her go. "Aaron will take him to a room we can contain him.” She turned to Tarek. “Tarek do you think you’ll be safe watching him?”
Tarek nodded. “I believe I would be. Selene knows who I am and knows who my father is. It’s unlikely she would attack me. But even if she does, I am well trained. I would be able to hold Gideon off until help arrived.”
Thora nodded and Tarek turned to follow after Gideon and Aaron.
The cavern felt as if it were pressing down on Lena’s chest. She wanted to get out of it, but couldn’t even force
herself to move.
Suki broke the silence. "I didn’t think it were possible to despise a person as much as I do the Priestess,” she said releasing Lena’s arm and turning to her. " She's made Gideon the enemy. The one person who would give anything to protect you."
"Gideon is not the enemy. We can fix this,” Lena said as she searched her memories for anything that might help.
“You talk as if you can just patch him up,” Dessa said. “The device inside Gideon is going to take more than a repair kit to fix.”
“The gadget,” Lena blurted.
“What are you talking about?” Dessa asked.
“Yes. It’s the answer,” Lena said excitement soaring. “Dorry’s already done it. He’s already created a way to fix Gideon.”
“Are you talking about those broken electronic pieces you gave Evren?” Suki asked.
“Yes. Don’t you see? Dorry told me it would give agency back to those it had been taken from. It’s broken. And, now Evren has it. But we just need to find a way to fix it and then Gideon won't be a threat." Lena let out a huge sigh of relief.
“Lena, is this true?” Thora asked. “Dorry told you those exact words?”
“Maybe not exact. But, yes! I’m confident that’s what he gave me.”
Thora looked to Suki. "Suki, will Evren be able to fix this gadget Lena is talking about?"
Suki put a hand on Lena's shoulder. "He's a genius. If anyone could figure it out, it would be him," Suki said.
"Find him and that gadget." Thora said. “And get them here as quickly as possible.”
Suki nodded. “I’m on it,” she said and immediately left the cavern.
The Mir Chronicles- The Complete Series Page 45