For Glory, page 4
She also knew that she needed to tread carefully here and needed to show strength. Dvorkans did not suffer weakness, especially in their leaders. If she was to continue being involved in these matters, she needed to remember that.
More importantly, she needed to be shrewd. This discovery was an important bargaining chip that she could use in negotiations with her friend and ally, Jon Pike. He would be upset that Kriss had lied to him about the Antikitheri weapon, but he would also know that she had no knowledge of any of it, so he could not be angry with her.
“Thank you, General,” Miira said. “This has all been very enlightening. I will require regular updates moving forward. I want Central Command to advise me directly and not through the Imperial Council.”
“It shall be done, Majesty.”
Chapter six
Jamie floated in the total darkness of the Adiasi, a place where there were no stars, planets, time, life, or death. A place completely empty, in between dimensions and universes. The Antikitheri, also called the Builders, had taken him here to show him the truth of what he was: an anomaly. He could visit the Adiasi, as could the Antikitheri, but others couldn’t. Jamie had visited the Adiasi often since the Builders had shown it to him. It was disorienting at first, but he had become used to it since then and now even found it meditative.
He also realized that he could “see” better while in the Adiasi. He could focus on moments in time more accurately before visiting them, and he had visited several. The other thing he had learned was that time was not what he thought it to be. He had believed that the past and future were generally fixed, but while that might be the case for the past, the future was anything but.
He soon realized that in visiting the future, he was not witnessing what would come to pass but what might come to pass. The Antikitheri had told him as much, but he hadn’t fully grasped the concept. When they said that he witnessed possible futures, he thought that meant that there were a few possibilities of what might happen. The truth was that the possibilities were infinite, and that was a difficult thing for him to wrap his brain around.
When he first started having visions, he thought they showed him what would happen. The visions felt so real, after all. How could they not come to pass? So when he saw that there would be a war between the UHSF and the Diakans, he felt convinced that it would happen. He knew better now but was no less confused. With infinite possibilities, any insight into the future was practically useless. Of course, that was not the case either.
Jamie learned these “visits” allowed him to act as a guide, like the Great See’er, and advise on the risks associated with a course of action. It was like seeing moves ahead in a game of chess. The better you could see the board, the greater your chance of winning. So, while a war with the Diakans was possible, knowing of that possibility helped avoid the outcome.
It all boiled down to cause and effect relationships, and if you could identify the cause of an unfavorable outcome, you could avoid it, or vice versa. The problem was that the farther out he looked, the more variables were involved, making the result less certain. It was far easier to predict what would happen in an hour than in a decade.
Then there was the Maeficus. When the Builders had shown him what he could do, he followed up on a visit where he saw that humanity would fight a war with the Diakans. During this visit, he watched a battle between a UHSF fleet and a Diakan fleet. During this battle, the Mistraan showed up on the side of the Diakans, outflanking the UHSF fleet. But that wasn’t the only surprise. Jamie had realized that the Maeficus was also there, watching the battle, and the Maeficus could see Jamie. Indeed, Jamie felt certain that the Maeficus would have harmed or killed him if he had not willed himself back to his own time when he did.
Jamie had not encountered the Maeficus since then, but he was always on guard in case he did. He did wonder about the encounter, though, especially since the Maeficus was supposedly “awakening,” which sounded like it was still asleep or in whatever condition the Guardian had put it. So, had the Maeficus visited that future in its sleep, or was it a Maeficus from another time? It was an interesting question, and Jamie did not have the answer. But what he did understand was that the Maeficus was trying to steer events toward a particular outcome, and that outcome included a war between humanity and the Diakans.
It was another future that Jamie was interested in this time, however. Jon had asked him to look into the Dvorkans and what path they might end up on. Jamie closed his eyes and focused on the Dvorkan Empire, and when he opened them, he found himself on a Dvorkan planet in the middle of a chaotic scene. He was in a large Dvorkan city, and the blue-skinned Dvorkan giants around him were all in a panic. When something swooped down from the sky and sunk its claws into a Dvorkan male, Jamie began to realize what was happening. The Dvorkans were running for their lives. And when the black bird-like alien bit into the frantic Dvorkan, Jamie understood that the Dvorkans had become prey.
All around him, the bird-like aliens were swooping down on the screaming Dvorkans. When he looked up, he saw that the sky was full of the winged predators, circling like hawks until they selected a target. Above them were ships, though none were Dvorkan or UHSF designs, and Jamie understood that they belonged to these aliens. But what had led to this chaos, and who were these winged aliens?
Jamie stayed in this future and willed himself to another Dvorkan planet. Here, the scene was different, and the surface was a scorched wasteland, clearly the result of orbital bombardment. He traveled elsewhere and found similar scenarios. Either the planet had become an active hunting ground for the aliens, or it had been completely destroyed. It was devastation on a massive scale. When Jamie had seen enough, he returned to his own time and opened his eyes.
Anki sat nearby and noticed. “You’re back,” she said. “See anything interesting?”
“Yes,” Jamie said. “I think I need to speak to the admiral.”
In order to reduce the likelihood of espionage, Jon had insisted that these discussions were to happen in person wherever possible, so after notifying Jon of the visit, Jamie and Anki opened a personal jump portal and stepped out of their home and into the Mountain Complex where Jon was waiting for them. For security reasons, jump portals directly into the Mountain Complex were not permitted, but Singh had developed a way to create a secure tunnel that allowed those with clearance to jump in. That way, the Mountain Complex’s shields could stay in place.
Jon led Jamie and Anki to a secure room where Jamie explained what he had seen.
“You did not recognize these aliens?” Jon said. “Not even from when you were under the Juttari?” Jamie was a Chaanisar, which meant he had been taken by the Juttari when he was a child and augmented with technology to become a super-soldier. In that time, he had fought against many different aliens, and through his connection to the Juttari, he had knowledge of all the aliens the Juttari had encountered.
“I have never seen this species,” Jamie said.
Jon nodded. “So, regardless of whether this future comes to pass, these aliens exist in the galaxy.”
“I believe so,” Jamie said. “I did not get the impression that they were from a different galaxy.”
“Then they’re potentially a threat to us as well. You did not see any humans in your vision?”
It was not a vision. Jamie had actually visited a potential future event, but he was not about to correct the Admiral. “I did not. I only saw Dvorkans.”
“Interesting,” Jon said. “That must mean they are somehow closer to the Dvorkan Empire than they are to Earth or the colonies.”
“I do not know.”
“Can you find out how the Dvorkans encounter these aliens?”
“I can try. I am still learning how to use these abilities.”
“I understand. Do your best.”
“Jamie needs to rest after these events,” Anki said protectively. “It’s not good for him to do back-to-back visits.”
Jon held up his hands in surrender. “I understand. I wasn’t saying that he should do it right now. How far into the future was this vision?”
“Several years,” Jamie said.
“So even if it comes to pass, we’ve still got plenty of time before it happens. That’s fine. Have a look whenever you feel up to it. In the meantime, I’m going to go on a fishing expedition.”
“You’re going fishing?” Anki said, looking confused.
Jon smiled. “Yes, I’m going to see if I can catch a Dvorkan fish.”
Jon opened a long-range comm requesting an audience with Miira. After a bit of a wait, Miira appeared on the comm.
“Hello, Jon,” Miira said. “I wasn’t expecting to speak again so soon.”
“I know. I wanted to follow up on our previous conversation,” Jon said.
“I see. I will need some more time before I can give you an answer.”
“Sure. I apologize. I don’t intend to be pushy.”
“No need to apologize, Jon. You’re not being pushy.”
“Glad to hear it. There is something else that I was hoping you could help me with, though.”
“Of course. What do you need?”
“Information. I’ve learned about a new alien species, and I was wondering if you have encountered them. They are large winged aliens. They’re advanced and apparently aggressive. Do you know of any aliens like that?”
Miira stared back at Jon with her mouth open for a few seconds before responding. “No. It doesn’t sound familiar. Why?”
“I’ve received some intelligence on them, but it is short on details. I just wanted to know if your people had ever encountered such a race.”
“I haven’t heard of them, but if I learn anything, I will let you know.”
“Thank you, Miira. I’d appreciate that.”
“I’m happy to help. Is there anything else?”
“No, that was all.”
Miira smiled. “It’s always a pleasure seeing you, Jon. But, as you can imagine, I have a lot to do, so I’ll have to say goodbye.”
“I understand. Goodbye, Mira.”
Miira vanished from the comm, and Jon folded his arms in front of his chest. Miira had lied to him, of that he was certain. She knew about these aliens, yet she did not want to tell him. Why? They were allies, so if these aliens were a threat to the Dvorkans, then it would be logical to tell him. Did that mean they didn’t see these aliens as a threat?
Jon nodded to himself. They thought there was something to be gained and did not want to share. He knew that Miira was not like that, so that meant it was those around her. Maybe her father. He was certainly the opportunistic type. The question was, should he warn Miira?
He had a long relationship with Miira and genuinely cared for her well-being. But she was the Empress now, and he did not know who was pulling her strings. It could be her father, or it could be someone else. Perhaps it wasn’t time to show his hand yet. At least not without more information. The most important of which was who these aliens were and whether they were a threat to the UHSF.
Chapter seven
Jamie and Anki used a personal jump portal to leave the Mountain Complex and return to their home. They lived in a secluded location on Earth surrounded by wilderness. It reminded Jamie of his childhood home before he had been abducted, and he preferred the peace and quiet.
“Promise me you’ll rest before looking into this Dvorkan thing again,” Anki said as they returned to their routine.
“I promise,” Jamie said. “The admiral said there was no rush.”
A comm request came through at that moment from Durril Tai, the leader of the Raiders, and Jamie accepted.
“Jamie, we found him,” said Tai over the comm.
“Found who?” Jamie said, confused as to who Tai was referring to.
“The one who took you from your parents. You had asked me to keep an eye out for him years ago, remember?”
“I forgot about that,” Jamie said, impressed that Tai still remembered. “There were two of them.”
“Yes, well, we found one. He has been living in the colonies under a different identity.”
“Are you sure you have the right man?”
“I’m sure.”
“Send me the information.”
Tai sent the data on the man to Jamie’s comm and Jamie used his brain implant to directly access the file. When he did, the first thing he saw was an image of the man, and Jamie couldn’t believe it. The man was older, but there was no mistaking it. This was the man who had killed his father and had taken him from his mother. This was one of the traitors who had handed over human children to the Juttari during the occupation. Because of him, Jamie had been turned into a Chaanisar.
“Thank you, Durril,” Jamie said. “What do I owe you for this?”
“Nothing, Jamie. Nothing at all. Good luck.” With that, Durril Tai ended the comm. Jamie and Tai had a long history together, but it had been mostly business. Jamie was an assassin before he met Jon and Anki and had fulfilled many contracts for Durril Tai. As the Raider leader, Tai had no shortage of enemies.
Jamie studied the picture of the man. He should be much older than he looked, but there were plenty of ways for someone to extend their life and remain youthful. The man would be at least a hundred years old by now, if not older, yet he looked not much older than fifty. According to the information, he had somehow survived the Juttari nuclear strike on Earth and then made his way to the colonies. He had brought considerable wealth with him and used it to establish himself there.
Jamie knew that both men had evaded capture and were never tried as collaborators. Perhaps that wealth had something to do with it. The Juttari nuclear strike had killed most of the people on Earth, but not everyone. This man was clearly one of the survivors. It struck Jamie as odd that with his newfound abilities, he had never used them to track this man down or his accomplice. He had often visited the day of his abduction. Why hadn’t he looked into these men?
“What is it?” Anki said, still standing in front of him. Jamie had been so caught up in the information that he almost forgot she was there.
“It was Durril Tai,” Jamie said. “He found the man who shot my father and took me for the Juttari.”
“He’s still alive?” Anki said, clearly surprised.
“It would seem so.”
“What are you going to do?”
Jamie smiled. “Pay him a visit, of course.”
“Not without me, you’re not.”
“It’s probably better if you don’t come. This won’t exactly be legal, and you’re Admiral Pike’s stepdaughter.”
“Well, you could just have him arrested and brought to justice. As a collaborator, he would get the death penalty.”
“I am his justice.”
Anki shrugged. “It was worth a try. I’m still coming.”
Jamie knew he couldn’t talk Anki out of anything once she had made up her mind. “Fine. You can come.”
“Oh, thank you for giving me permission,” Anki said sarcastically. “When do we leave?”
“I was thinking right now.”
Anki smiled and said, “Lead the way.”
Jamie still had his old ship from his days as a freelancer in the colonies. He preferred to say he was a freelancer in those days rather than an assassin, as people didn’t understand the latter. In the past, he did not care what people thought, but things had changed since then. If he ever talked about that time, he would say he was a freelancer or a consultant. Most people accepted that and didn’t ask more questions. For those who did, he would refer to his combat experience, and that usually shut them up. Everyone knew that the Chaanisar were formidable warriors, after all, so what else would a Chaanisar consult on?
While they had a shuttle at their disposal here on Earth, Jamie’s old ship was in the Freedom’s hangar bay, which meant that was their first stop. Jamie and Anki got their gear together, and that included a small arsenal of weapons. Jamie had more weapons on his ship. It wasn’t that they would need the extra firepower, but Jamie liked to be prepared for any surprises.
Once ready, they loaded their gear into the shuttle and set off for the Freedom, as the flagship wasn’t close enough for them to use a personal jump system.
They made it into orbit without incident and then made their way toward the flagship, which was positioned nearer to the jump gate between Earth and the colonies. The Sol System had a heavy security presence due to the threat posed by the Mistraan and the Dran shapeshifters, as they could be attacked through Jumpspace at any moment without warning. All travelers anywhere in human space now had to undergo scans to prove that they were not Dran shapeshifters, making interplanetary travel much more complicated.
As they traveled away from Earth, Jamie glanced at the sun and the Cenobi panels surrounding it. The Cenobi were aliens from the Andromeda galaxy who lived within technology, and Jamie always felt their presence and their open invitation for him to join them. Sometimes, when he traveled across the Sol System, they would speak to him. Other times, like this one, they just watched him. Jamie would’ve preferred not feeling their eyes on him, but apparently, there was no way around that.
He grimaced under the intensity of their gaze, feeling like Sol itself scrutinized him. It wasn’t a painful experience, but it sure as hell was uncomfortable. He wondered what the Cenobi thought of his newfound abilities and whether they changed anything.
They do not, child of darkness, the Cenobi said in his mind. We have always known of your capabilities. Indeed, joining us would amplify them.
Why would I want that? Jamie replied.
To reach your ultimate potential, of course. Your abilities will always be constrained by your human form.
Jamie didn’t bother responding. The last thing he wanted to do was upload himself to a computer, no matter how powerful. The Cenobi harvested the power of stars to magnify their mental powers. But Jamie had enough “optimization” to last him a lifetime. He just wanted to be human, and a life where he could not feel Anki’s touch was not worth living.
