Shondar hissed once more. “You have no authority to threaten me. You do not speak for the other lords.”
“I do not. You are correct. Perhaps I should let them speak for themselves.”
With that, a dim light grew in the room and Shondar turned to see four of the other lords, including Lady Kala. Lord Quaris was mysteriously missing. “I can explain,” Shondar said.
“Then tell us,” Lord Worval demanded in a booming voice. “We are listening.”
So Shondar told them. He told them all about Avilon—about the encircling wall of gravity fields and the mysteriously derelict fleet, about their magnificent world-city, and finally about his defeat and the Avilonians’ vastly superior technology. When he was done with his story, the lords were noticeably cowed.
“Then we cannot defeat them,” Lady Kala said.
“No. Not yet,” Kaon replied. “The humans left to get reinforcements. I believe it’s time we went to get some of our own.”
* * *
As soon as the Trinity dropped out of SLS with the world-spanning city of Avilon lying before them once again, the comms squealed and a deep voice shuddered through the bridge speakers. “Unknown Imperial transport, this is Strategist Galan Rovik of the Athos. Please lower your shields and prepare for boarding.”
“What?” Ethan blurted out. He couldn’t believe it.
“I don’t like the sound of that . . .” Alara whispered beside him. “Did you open the comms?”
“No . . .”
“Then where did that transmission come from?”
“The frek if I know!”
“You have not dropped your shields. You have five seconds to comply before we lower them for you.”
“Some thanks we get!” Ethan roared. “Can you hear me? We helped you and now you’re just going to take my ship? Frek you!” he spat. With that, he wrenched the flight yoke to one side, turning back the way they’d come.
“Where are you going to go?” Alara asked.
Ethan shook his head. “The frek away from here!”
“Alara’s right, Dad,” Atton said over the intercom. “We just saw what happened when the Sythians tried to run. You think we’ll do any better?”
“So what do you suggest?” he demanded, his chest heaving with fury.
The comms squealed in protest once more and then they heard, “You are out of time.”
“Frek you!”
The Trinity shuddered with an impact and then all the lights on deck abruptly died. Sparks showered from the console before him, and the flight controls went dead. Ethan felt a heavy weight abruptly lift from his shoulders as zero G replaced the ship’s artificial gravity.
Silence rang in Ethan’s ears, interrupted only by the frantic beating of his own heart. Then came a noise like rushing water, and a strong gust of wind slapped him in the face, forcing his eyes to close. He opened them a moment later to find a pair of Avilonian soldiers in shining armor standing between him and the forward viewports.
Ethan gaped at them, wondering where they’d come from, and how.
“In the name of the Ascendancy, welcome to Avilon,” the one with a shimmering blue cape said. “I am Strategian Galan Rovik, but you may call me Master Rovik.”
“Excuse me?” Alara asked.
“You need not have resisted when we asked to board your vessel. We are merely here to escort you safely to the surface. Omnius will explain everything once we arrive.”
Ethan’s cheeks bulged with indignation. “Lower your shields or else we’ll lower them for you is a damned fine way of asking to board my ship!”
“We did say please.”
“Right,” Ethan snorted. “I almost forgot.”
Before long, the Trinity’s systems were back online and she was cruising down through Avilon’s atmosphere. Atton and his fellow pilots were standing on the bridge, keeping a close eye on the Avilonians. Ethan would have liked to keep an eye on them himself, but he needed to keep his eyes on where he was flying. The Avilonians seemed content to let him pilot his ship down to the surface. He hoped that show of faith on their part was a good sign, but he decided to reserve judgment until he heard what Omnius had to say.
The AI god of Avilon had a lot of explaining to do. Curiosity was burning a hole in Ethan's brain. First and foremost he wanted to know why the Avilonians hadn’t joined the war sooner. They’d routed the enemy fleet so fast that he was sure they could have turned back the original invasion. Right on the heels of that question was what the frek Omnius had been doing while his city and his fleet in orbit were reduced to slag.
“Over there. You may set down on the grass.” Master blue cape pointed to a large, illuminated green space on the rooftop of a low-rise skyscraper at the edge of the devastation around the Zenith Tower.
Fires still raged in the city below, but now they were being attacked from the air with streams of water and fire retardant from hovering starships. The smoke was beginning to dissipate into a thinner, low-lying haze. Ethan took a short detour from the way to the rooftop the Avilonian had indicated to circle above the city and survey the damage. The debris of crashed starships was everywhere. Here and there Sythian Cruisers lay half buried in the city, half sticking up at an odd angles, like alien plinths.
“It’s going to take a while to repair all of that,” Ethan remarked.
“It could have been a lot worse,” Alara replied.
“Please do not deviate from the indicated course,” blue cape said, only now realizing what the delay was about.
“What did I tell you about getting your cape in a knot?” Ethan said, bringing the Trinity back on course.
“You have never told me any such thing, martalis, and I would caution you to show more respect,” blue cape replied.
“Oh, I must have the wrong blue cape. Never mind then.”
Alara shot him a frown. He replied with a smile, and she shook her head.
Just a few minutes later they hovered to a stop above the Avilonians’ chosen rooftop. Ethan saw a small gathering of people in the garden below. As the Trinity entered its landing sequence, he used his console to magnify that gathering. Zephyr light assault mechs stood flayed open, their stomper pilots out getting some fresh air under the watchful eyes of a few dozen Avilonian soldiers. Besides the stompers there were a handful of others. Ethan immediately recognized one of them by her uniform and her familiar face. Captain Caldin. He’d had ample opportunity to get to know her during his brief time with the fleet.
“Hoi! Look who it is!” Atton exclaimed, obviously noticing the captain now, too.
The Trinity settled down with a subtle jolt. “Ethan . . .” Alara whispered.
“I see it,” he replied, his eyes back on the rigid line of Avilonian soldiers watching over the group of Imperials. He’d seen a few firing squads in his time, and this one was no different from the rest.
Chapter 35
“Captain Caldin!” Atton said, jogging across the clearing to get to her.
She turned to him with a haggard expression and nodded. “Commander.”
He stopped before her and offered a quick salute, which Ceyla and Razor both matched. “Reporting for duty, ma’am,” he said.
“You can dispense with the formalities, Ortane. We’re not in the fleet anymore.”
Atton shook his head. “Captain, just because you lost your ship doesn’t mean you’re no longer part of the fleet.”
“They’re not letting us leave, so I won’t be getting another one, and that does mean I’m no longer a part of the fleet.” She cast a glance over her shoulder to the officers and enlisted men gathered behind her. “None of us are,” she said, turning back to him. “What fleet? Where? Unless we join the Peacekeepers, I think we’ll be looking for new professions very soon.”
“If we live through this,” Ethan whispered, coming up behind them.
Atton turned to his father with a frown. “The admiral said they wouldn’t kill us.”
“Did he?” Ethan asked, raising
his eyebrows. “What are they doing here, then?” he asked, turning to indicate the stolid line of soldiers behind them.
“Ethan’s right,” Alara said. “That’s not a welcoming party.”
Atton watched the line of soldiers carefully. They stood with their backs straight, their heads up, arms pinned to their sides. He didn’t see any weapons. “If they’re not friendly, where are their weapons?” he asked.
“They don’t need weapons,” Caldin replied. “I watched them execute a squad of Gors with their bare hands.”
“What?” Atton turned to her, shock coursing through him. “When was that?”
“You didn’t notice? One of them was lying right at the doors when you and the rest of the crew used a cutting beam to break into the bridge.”
“That’s what that was? I thought it was some kind of debris.”
“You didn’t get a very good look then.”
“Frek . . .” Atton whispered. “How did they do it?”
“Integrated weapons in their armor, fired straight from their palms.”
“What are we going to do, then?”
“About what?” a new voice asked.
Atton turned to see the blue-caped soldier who’d ridden down from orbit aboard the Trinity. He approached quickly, stopping in front of Captain Caldin. His blindingly-bright faceplate bored into her eyes for a long, silent moment before that faceplate abruptly disappeared, replaced by the face of a young man with bright, glowing blue eyes.
“Strategian Rovik,” Caldin said.
“Captain.”
“You know him?” Atton asked.
“He was one of our uninvited guests aboard the Intrepid before we left the nebula.”
At that, Atton heard his father snort and say, “Showing up uninvited seems like a bad habit of yours, Mr. Rovik.”
The Avilonian sent Ethan a thin smile and then turned back to the captain. “Omnius is about to address his people. You are not yet a part of His people, but He has decided to address you separately. After all, you have a right to know the state of your new home.”
“Our new home?” Atton asked.
“You’re not going to kill us?” Alara put in.
“Kill you? Why would we do that?” Rovik asked, his head tilting to one side.
Ethan jerked a thumb over his shoulder to the line of soldiers watching them. “Where I come from we don’t greet people with armed soldiers.”
“Not everyone likes to be told they cannot leave Domus Licus.”
“We were warned,” Atton replied.
Rovik’s glowing eyes widened with surprise, and then he inclined his head in what was surely an Avilonian gesture. “So you do know something about us. Good. That will make your transition to life here much smoother.”
“Why force us to stay if the Sythians know where you are now?” Caldin asked.
“Why try to leave if there is nothing for you out there?” Rovik replied.
“That’s not an answer.”
“But it is. Now, save the rest of your questions for the time being. You will soon have a chance to ask Omnius anything you like.”
“Anything?” Ethan asked.
“Yes, anything. Please turn to the Zenith. I would recommend that you bow.”
Atton’s eyes narrowed. “And if we don’t . . . ?”
“Nothing will happen to you, if that’s what you are wondering. Reverence and respect cannot be compelled. They are earned, and Omnius will earn yours very soon.”
“Right . . .” Ethan replied.
Atton saw Alara elbow him in the ribs, and then they all turned toward the Zenith Tower and Master Rovik moved to the edge of the rooftop to stand between them and the Zenith.
Atton gazed up at the bright light shining down from the top of the tower. That light was so bright it was hard to look at. A few moments passed, and then the light at the top of the tower swelled to many times its size, blinding them and forcing them to bow their heads to look away from it. The Avilonians behind them called out, “Omnius grando est! Omnius grando est!” and Atton turned to see the line of soldiers now standing with their hands raised to the sky. Upon the last utterance of whatever it was they were saying, they dropped to one knee and bowed their heads.
Then a voice like thunder began booming out from the tower—at least Atton thought that was where it came from. It seemed to resonate and echo all around them. He turned to look for the source of the echo, and his eyes found the next nearest monolith, the one which had lost the top of its spire to Gina’s crashing Nova. He was almost certain that tower was transmitting the same speech. In between him and that distant spire, he saw rooftop gardens like the one where they were standing, crowded with white-robed citizens.
Atton turned back to the fore and forced his eyes to open against the blinding brightness. The thunder rolled on, speaking in Avilonian, but just a moment later, a softer version of it began to rumble out in Imperial Versal. This voice didn’t come from all around them, but from Master Rovik. A miniature version of the light shining down from the Zenith shone from his chest.
“Welcome to Avilon!” it said. “I have seen your sacrifices during the recent battle. On behalf of my people, thank you for your contribution. In part thanks to your actions, you shall all be rewarded with a place in my kingdom.”
“What if we don’t want to be a part of your kingdom?” Captain Caldin asked, a note of challenge in her voice.
Atton felt a spike of fear for her, but to his surprise, Omnius did not sound angry when he replied. “I will get to that in a moment.”
“You blew my ship apart, killing everyone on board. What do you have to say for yourself?” she demanded.
“I have to say that death is not the end, Loba Margarath Caldin, but a new beginning.”
“How do you know my name? No one knows my full name.”
“I told you. I know many things. I also know that although you are an excellent leader and you truly care for those under your command, your present anger is not about the deaths of your crew, but about the death of one man in particular—Corpsman Markom Terl.”
“How the frek do you know that?” she spat.
“Let’s just assume for now that I know everything. As to your question, I could not allow your ship to crash into my temple without it killing many more people than were aboard the Intrepid.
“Are there any more questions before I continue?”
“Sure, I’ve got a few,” Ethan said. “Why didn’t you help us? I spent ten years mourning for my family, thinking the Sythians killed them. Turns out they survived, but not everyone was that lucky. Why didn’t you stop them?”
“We could have stopped the original invasion.”
“So why didn’t you?” Alara put in.
“We never could have stopped them all. You surely know by now that the fleets your Imperium has faced thus far are but seven of many hundreds.”
“Hundreds?” Atton had kept quiet until now, listening patiently as everyone brought their charges against Omnius. “If that’s true, what are you going to do? They know where Avilon is!”
“Yes, that is unfortunate. We are going to send what few ships we have left to rescue your people in Dark Space and bring them here. Then I will activate the gravity fields around Avilon and we will not venture out again.”
“That will only buy you time,” Captain Caldin said.
“A lot of time. The diameter of each field is over two light years. It would take a minimum of 15 years to cross that at sub-luminal speeds. Given that much time, I am certain to come up with a plan that will suffice to wipe out every living Sythian in existence. Until then, you and all of humankind will be safe. Is that sufficient security for you?”
Atton nodded weakly, shocked, but no longer surprised to hear just how much Omnius seemed to know about everyone and everything. It was as if he’d been there all along, quietly observing. He was starting to wonder if Omnius really was a god.
“There is one other question to answer, but
no one here has ventured to ask it yet.”
“Why did you shut down?” Atton whispered.
“Yes, that is the imminent question. It is the one I have spent the past five minutes answering for my people. They are understandably more curious than you, since they have never before witnessed something so terrible as my absence, but you who have not known me your entire lives are not so easily surprised.
“By now you all know what I am. You know that I am a god, created by man to rule and watch over them. My original purpose was to prevent crime, specifically high treason. I was created to anticipate another war before it began, and to stop it before it did. For many thousands of years since my birth, I have kept Avilon safe and hidden. There has not been another Great War between mortals and immortals, and there never will be again.
“Your very own Admiral Hoff Heston had a part of the solution all along. He was exiled for telling the royal council what he thought, and the truth is that he was right. People must be given the freedom to choose how they will live their lives if they are expected to live those lives in harmony. I have since found a way to give them that choice without jeopardizing the ideal of immortality.”
“So you’re saying we can live in Avilon without becoming immortals,” Atton said.
“If that is what you truly want, then yes.”
“That’s what the shield is for . . .” Atton replied, realization dawning. “It’s to separate mortals from immortals.”
“There are two shields. One, which you have seen, is the Celestial Wall. It separates Celestials from Ascendants. Far below that is the original shield, and it separates immortals from the Nulls in the Null Zone.”
“The what?” Ethan asked.
“You might know it better by another name—the netherworld, perhaps.”
“So you resurrect your people there after they die in order to punish them for things they did wrong in life?”
“No. That is an Etherian interpretation of the netherworld.”
Ceyla, who had been quiet until now suddenly burst out. “You’re a fraud, Omnius!”
Atton felt a sharp spike of dread lance through his heart. “Ceyla!” he whispered, grabbing her arm tightly.
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