Ereshkigal’s War (Edge of the Splintered Galaxy Book 5), page 10
“Which is what I’m doing now, visiting you after waking up”
“Oh?”
“We’re less than an hour away from the Hashmedai colony.”
Odelea flicked her wrist, and as if she had performed a magic trick her HNI created a rectangular screen that listed the date and time in the Radiance language.
Her Aryile eyes opened wide in shock. “It has been seven hours already?!” Odelea leaped off the stool. Her six or eight holo screens followed her like loyal pets. Odelea bowed respectfully to Foster. “I am sorry.” She came up from the bow. “I should probably tend to my bridge duties.”
Odelea spun to trot off and didn’t even bother to shut off her screens. They followed her as she dashed past Foster and then followed her back when Foster grabbed Odelea’s arm and yanked her toward her.
“Hey, now!” Foster said, releasing Odelea. “You wanted to share what you learned, right?”
“Oh, yes, of course.”
“Then why are you scootin’ off like that, girl? Let’s hear it.”
Odelea was both an insane genius and a scatterbrain. It was an extremely dangerous combination of personality traits. Foster was surprised that Odelea hadn’t accidentally blown the ship up with some kind of weird experiment. For science.
The Amphibian sat up and started talking. Foster didn’t understand a word of it. “And it sounds like he’s wondering why you’re ready to run off without saying goodbye,” Foster added.
“Actually, he was commenting about your tattoos,” Odelea said. The Amphibian started talking again, and Odelea paused, listened, and then consulted holo screen four of eight. There were definitely eight screens orbiting her. Foster counted them twice just to make sure. “Actually, it might be your hair, Foster.” The Amphibian continued talking. “No, definitely the tattoos. Oh, and he was wondering why I left without formally ending our conversation.”
“Odelea, focus. What did you learn?”
“The Amphibian was part of a multi-species group dedicated to delivering farmed goods and water to planets, stations, and sometimes ships. Their newest client is the Hashmedai colony we are en route to. A planet called Apolnar in the Uelaria system. Water is scarce on certain continents, and since the Hashmedai are carnivores, they rely on livestock. However, most of the livestock the Hashmedai brought perished when they arrived here.”
“What happened to his crew?” Foster asked.
Odelea relayed Foster’s question to the Amphibian by speaking to it in a strange language. The Amphibian replied, then Odelea checked her notes on screen four of eight.
“He is not sure,” Odelea revealed. “According to the Amphibian, an unknown ship had boarded their lead ship, called the Orioalon. Violence erupted, and he was part of the security detail ordered to deal with the hostile force. He was injured during the fighting and passed out from the pain.”
“Then the attackers spaced him, thinking he was dead,” Foster concluded.
“Unfortunately, that was all I could learn about the agriculture ships. He believes the attackers captured the flotilla and used them to infiltrate Apolnar.”
“How? And why?”
“Before he blacked out, he heard one attacker demand to know their destination. And that attacker became very interested in it.” The Amphibian spoke again, and Odelea listened in closely. “Oh, and they looked like me, apparently.”
Foster raised an eyebrow. “Like you?”
“One of the attackers was an Aryile.”
Foster tapped her wrist terminal and brought it to her face. “EVE, what’s our ETA?”
EVE’s audio-only voice replied. “Twenty-nine minutes, forty seconds.”
“Drop out of FTL now.”
“Understood, Captain, slowing to sublight.”
Odelea glared at Foster and tilted her head to the right. “Umm, Foster?”
“There’s an Aryile here in Omega Centauri leading an unprovoked attack on farmers lookin’ to haul some goods to Hashmedai in need. Then he stole, not just the Orioalon, but the whole damn flotilla it was a part of after learning that the farmers were planning to deliver food and water to the Hashmedai colonists of Apolnar.”
“Hmm, yes,” Odelea said, pressing one finger to her lips. “That does indeed sound strange.”
Foster marched toward sickbay’s sliding door. “We’re about to walk right into a storm.”
She marched onto the Kepler’s bridge, took command by taking the captain’s chair from Williams, then accessed a holo screen displaying ship-wide readiness. Everything was green, including the particle cannon, railgun, and shields.
“Something wrong, Cap?” Chang said, spinning his chair around to face her. “EVE just forced us to enter sublight.”
“Sorry for the override there, Flight Lieutenant. Had to act quickly.” Foster addressed Pierce, seated at the science station. “Pierce, do you have a map of the system?”
“Standby.” Pierce accessed his console, created a holographic map of the Uelaria system, then shoved the projection forward. Foster captured the hologram map, pulled on its edges, and expanded its size so that she could better view the Johannes Kepler’s location, the location of Apolnar and its orbital path around the star, and the various other planetary bodies in the system. She interacted with the map, then flicked a copy of it to the helm. “Mr. Chang, here’s our new flight path.”
Chang caught the hologram and studied it closely while inputting the new destination. “Wait.” He raised his eyebrow. “Cap, you seriously want us to . . .”
“Take the long path to Apolnar,” Foster said. “This course should put the star ahead of us and Apolnar directly behind it. If there are any ships causin’ a ruckus, their sensor scans shouldn’t be able to spot our approach.”
Chang nodded. “You got it, Cap. Be advised that this will extend our travel time by a few hours.”
“I’m aware of that, thank you. But we don’t have much of a choice now.”
Williams glared at Foster from his station across the bridge. “Uh, Becca?”
Foster addressed him. “Those agriculture ships that went missing, Dom? Someone stole them and is likely using them to land on Apolnar without question.”
“Not someone, Captain,” Odelea said, joining the team on the bridge. She trotted to the communication station.
“Right,” Foster said, nodding to Odelea. “An Aryile participated in it.”
Williams crossed his arms. “An Aryile, out here in Omega Centauri?”
“Why would an Aryile be this far away from Radiance Union space?” Chang asked.
“Radiance sabotage was responsible for the accident that stranded these colonists here,” Foster said. “Maybe he’s a Whisper agent here to finish the job.”
“But, Captain,” Odelea said from her post, “if my translation is correct, the Aryile was acting alone.”
“I thought you said a team of attackers hit them?” Foster asked her.
“It was, but . . .” Odelea collected her thoughts. “Let me reiterate. No other Radiance races were boarding the Orioalon, if I understand correctly. The Aryile was among species native to Omega Centauri.”
“And didn’t Dr. Kostelecky say the bodies we got in sickbay died of plasma burns consistent with Hashmedai weapons?” Foster said.
Odelea nodded then narrowed her vertical pupil Aryile eyes. “Some of them . . . yes.”
“The Amphibians who worshipped Nergal used Hashmedai weapons,” Foster said.
“Right,” Chang added. “They stole it from other lost Hashmedai colonists.”
“We might be dealing with the remnants of Nergal’s followers,” Foster concluded.
The Johannes Kepler took the scenic route to Apolnar by drifting to a position in the system that placed Apolnar directly behind its parent star. The bright white glow of the star shone on the Kepler as it approached the inner sector of the system. Once the ship neared the star, it slanted to the side and performed a quick flyby then carefully propelled toward Apolnar.
A distance of 108 million kilometers separated the Kepler from Apolnar now. If anyone were running intense sensor scans from Apolnar and toward its star, they wouldn’t be able to detect the Kepler making its approach. It’d take six minutes to scan them and another six minutes for the signal to return to the sender with the Kepler’s location, give or take a minute or so. Of course, the Kepler moving at FTL speeds was due to arrive at the planet much earlier than that.
“Making our final approach now, Cap,” Chang said. “If anyone is scanning, we will be visible to them soon.”
“And they won’t be prepared since we used the star to block scans,” Foster said. “Mr. Tolukei?”
Tolukei shut his eyes, all four of them, and entered a deep ESP trance. Once finished, the Javnis psionic opened his multiple eyes and laid his leathery reptilian hands on the psionic workstation. “I sense no violence in orbit,” Tolukei revealed.
“What about the surface?” Williams asked.
“We will need to move closer for that,” Tolukei said, then paused suddenly. “Strange.”
“Talk to me, Tolukei,” Foster said. “What’s going on?”
Rather than telling it, Tolukei projected his psionic thoughts, now merged with the Kepler, into the rotating hologram of the star system, floating before Foster. Tolukei manipulated the hologram to create multiple yellow dots floating in orbit around the projection of Apolnar.
“There are several satellites in orbit of this world,” Tolukei said, pointing out the yellow dots.
Foster shrugged. “Yeah, and?”
“These satellites are in an orbit that puts them above densely populated areas.”
“I still don’t see the problem.”
“They are not Hashmedai satellites, Captain. They are of a design I have never seen nor sensed with my thoughts.”
“Draconian tech?” Williams suggested. “I mean, these Hashmedai are supposedly friends with them, right?”
“Except I’d imagine that the Draconians would use organic satellites,” Foster said.
Apolnar appeared on the main viewer ahead, a lush green world with small oceans and a few yellow patches near its equator. Sensor scans and Tolukei’s ESP showed no signs of ships operating within the Apolnar sector. Tolukei’s ESP did spot three satellites moving to an orbit that put them in a position to watch the Johannes Kepler making its approach.
“Well,” Chang said, eyeing his console. “Nobody’s shooting at us or the planet.”
“Take us out of FTL, Mr. Chang, and approach carefully.”
The Johannes Kepler appeared in a flash of light just outside of Apolnar’s orbit, the star shining its white glow across the Kepler’s reflective hull as its blazing blue thrusters propelled it forward. Apolnar encompassed the entire viewscreen ahead.
“So far, so good,” Chang said.
“Send a message to the surface on all known channels,” Foster said. “Let them know we’re here to talk and ask for a favor.”
Odelea nodded and fingered her workstation. “Transmitting.”
And on the planet ahead, the three satellites spun to change direction, right as Chang brought the Johannes Kepler above the planet’s most populated continent.
“Cap, you see that?” Chang said, a hint of worry in his voice.
Foster winced and eyed the holographic projection of Apolnar. The Kepler’s location changed, and so did the locations of the satellites. “Yes . . . yes, I did. Tolukei?”
“I have erected the overshields,” Tolukei revealed.
“Why?”
“Captain, I recommend we move immediately,” Tolukei interjected.
The satellites completed their turn, faced the Johannes Kepler, and fired a barrage of projectiles.
Projectiles that moved so fast it was impossible to veer away to safety.
12 TETSUYA
Gilgamesh
Apolnar Orbit, Uelaria System
September 21, 2121, 10:20 SST (Sol Standard Time)
It didn’t take Tetsuya long to master the operations of the multi-suit he had to wear. It was pretty advanced and featured some kind of neural link that messed with his head when he put it on. Once active, the multi-suit became a second skin. When he picked up his ion rifle, he felt its smooth and cold metallic texture despite wearing the suit’s armored gloves. When he went to grab a water bottle, he felt the wetness of the condensation. When he wanted to use the helmet’s zoom function, he just had to think about it, and it happened. The experience was disorientating and at one moment blurred Tetsuya’s view of Jainuzei’s dojo.
And what a dojo it was.
It was a two-level room close to Jainuzei’s sleeping area onboard the ship. The ship, Gilgamesh, might have been of alien design, but the dojo within it pulled inspiration from traditional Japanese culture. Even the signs on the wall were written in Japanese. There were several training dummies along one wall where Tetsuya imagined Jainuzei spent his days harnessing his hand-to-hand fighting techniques or swordplay. And maybe use the dummies as target practice whenever he felt bored. Tetsuya certainly did that for the last hour while he learned the basics of the multi-suit’s functions.
“So, is it really true?” said the soft voice of a woman behind him.
Tetsuya strapped the ion rifle to his back and spun to the dojo’s only exit. He saw the woman who spoke, a human with Asian and Caucasian features and long, raven-black hair covering her shoulders. She wore what he assumed was an officer’s uniform, a one-piece form-fitting suit decorated with smooth-edged, golden emblems, one of them being the crest of Ereshkigal’s cult in the middle of the suit’s chest. The woman said nothing else when their eyes met. She just folded her arms across her chest and leaned against the door frame. Tetsuya couldn’t say anything to her either, not at first. His mind was having a tough time comprehending the woman’s presence. Lucky for him, the helmet he wore concealed his facial expression. The woman glared at a man whose helmet made it seem like he had no face.
“Hannah?” Tetsuya said to her, his voice playing over his suit’s external speakers. “Is that you?”
“It must be,” the woman said. “I just spoke in English, and you responded.”
“Heh.”
The woman strode toward him slowly, arms still crossed. “Hannah, huh? That was the name of my daughter. Did you know her?”
“I knew Hannah from . . . an old job.”
Hannah wasn’t the woman in front of Tetsuya. She bore similarities to Hannah’s appearance though. Part Japanese, part French-Canadian woman. It was Hannah’s mother, Alisha Levesque, Jazz’s ex-wife. Though Jazz wasn’t the father of Hannah. One of Alisha’s ex-husbands was the father. Tetsuya couldn’t remember which; Alisha was married a bunch of times, according to what Jazz had told him. And according to Jazz, Alisha had either died during the last days of the Celestial Order wars or went missing. Evidently, something else happened instead that neither Tetsuya nor Jazz could have predicted. Alisha married Jainuzei, and then the Aryile dragged her into doing stupid things that led to the complete worship of some woman claiming to be the reincarnation of a Mesopotamian goddess.
“Take off your helmet,” Alisha said in an authoritative tone.
“Is that an order?”
“I’m the captain of this ship, so yes.” A grin curled her lips. She was kind of hot. “Consider it an order. I want to see the face of the man who knew my daughter.”
Tetsuya wondered what kind of relationship Alisha and Jainuzei had if she was so eager to see another man’s face. But orders were orders, even if Tetsuya didn’t want to be part of Ereshkigal’s cult. With a thought, his neural link sent a message to his multi-suit’s helmet, asking it to unclasp from the suit of battle armor. Tetsuya reached up and pulled the helmet up and off his head, unveiling his unshaven face to her.
She leered. “Another human joins our crusade,” Alisha said, walking circles around him. “Jainuzei wasn’t making it up to make me happy.” She continued speaking, this time in Japanese, asking, “Do you speak Japanese?”
Tetsuya replied in Japanese. “Only when visiting family. As you might have guessed, I haven’t done that in a long time.”
“The invasion of Earth in 2018?” she responded. He gave no reply. “It has to be if you knew Hannah. You’re like me. You were around during the days when humans knew nothing of aliens, when interstellar travel was just stuff you read in space opera novels.” He gave her a smile and then a nod. Tetsuya knew what kind of woman she was, but she didn’t know what kind of man he was. “Make my husband proud, and you will see your family again.”
“They’re dead,” he said.
“Ereshkigal can change that when our campaign is complete. Your friends, family, anyone you lost during the Hashmedai invasion of Earth . . . The Goddess Empress can call them forward if you impress her.”
The sound of a man clearing his throat echoed throughout the dojo. Tetsuya and Alisha spun around and saw Jainuzei standing and watching. And he had been for a while. The frown that twitched Jainuzei’s Aryile face suggested he was a jealous man. It’d be something to take advantage of in the future.
“My apprentice,” Jainuzei said to Tetsuya. “Shall we depart?”
“Sure . . .”
Tetsuya slipped his helmet back on his head and signaled to his multi-suit that it was clear to bind the helmet to the suit. Once finished, he walked toward Jainuzei, who escorted Tetsuya out of the dojo and into the ship’s corridor.
He wondered, who was Alisha gazing intently at as the two men left, him or Jainuzei?
13 FOSTER
XSV Johannes Kepler
Apolnar Orbit, Uelaria System
September 21, 2121, 13:20 SST (Sol Standard Time)
“What the fuck was that?!”
It was a question Foster herself had asked as Chang frantically maneuvered the Johannes Kepler. The orbitals around Apolnar pelted the Kepler with so many projectiles the overshields protecting the vessel in a bubble of psionic power flickered purple. And it didn’t stop. One could see a perpetual sphere of purple light around the Kepler as it spun to the side to escape from the satellites’ wrath. Moving out of firing range from ten orbital weapon platforms wasn’t enough. The seven satellites that were on the other side of the planet came into view, their flaring thrusters forcing the orbitals to flip and point its weapon ports at the Kepler.
