Bane of the Dead (Seraphim Revival Book 1) (8 page)

Dominic let out a frustrated sigh and linked a kill code to the offending craft. Devices in the cockpit liquefied the pilot. Its shunts flickered and died. The skeletal machine fell away, limbs slack at its sides. It crashed into the tiered storage warehouse below.

Eight archangels charged in.

The white seraph raised its unusually long chaos blade and met the lead archangel head on. The archangel blurred swinging its sword, even to Dominic’s enhanced eyes.

But the seraph moved faster. It darted past and slashed through the archangel’s waist. Two halves spun away, luminous fluid pulsing from the wound.

Three archangels dove in at once. The seraph swung wide, its blade forming a burning arc of light. Its strike bashed through two of the archangels’ guards, cutting them down. The third succeeded in deflecting the attack, but its victory was short lived.

With its free arm, the seraph punched clean through that archangel’s stomach. Wrecked equipment and a spray of liquid blew out the back. The seraph flung the ruined machine away.

“Curse me,” Gurgella breathed. “What a monster.”

“I know,” Dominic said.

Only four archangels remained. Two circled behind the seraph to form a loose ring around it. The seraph waited in the center.

All four archangels swarmed in at once.

Chaos energy collected above the seraph’s unarmed wrist, forming a blazing energy shield. It parried the first attack and hewed an archangel in the first swing, then turned, deflected another strike and split an archangel from head to groin.

The seraph spread its wings, climbed above the last two, then dove in again. With a diagonal slash, it cut another down. Glowing conductor fluid rained on the factories below. Coppery limbs, torsos, and wings crashed to the ground.

The white seraph stabbed the last archangel through its chest, incinerating the pilot. The archangel’s barrier faded. Its shunts turned black. The seraph kicked the dead machine off its blade, then faced the tram.

“Wha-wha-what is it doing?” Gurgella stuttered.

“Coming for us,” Dominic said, then whispered, “or perhaps for me.”

The white seraph sped in and grabbed the glass tram in one massive fist. The jarring impact threw Gurgella and Dominic to the floor. Massive digits pressed in. Glass creaked and splintered. Cracks spread across the walls.

Dominic pushed off the floor and stood up. The seraph raised the tram to head height and looked in. He faced the seraph, back straight, head raised.

Come on, Jack. If you’re going to kill me, then get it over with.

The seraph linked with the tram’s audio systems. Dominic let the signal through.

“Hey, Dom. It’s been a while.”

“Jack,” Dominic said simply.

“So those were the new Grendeni archangels. Not too bad for fake seraphs.”

“How could you possibly know about them?”

The seraph shrugged its shoulders. “I have my ways.”

“That’s ridiculous. They’re a carefully guarded secret.”

“Your work?” Jack asked.

“Yes. They’re our new anti-seraph weapon.”

“I think you need to try harder.”

“They’re not designed to go against
you
.”

The seraph shook as if laughing. “Fair point, Dom. Fair point.”

What are you waiting for?
Dominic thought.

“I can see their potential,” Jack said. “This might turn out even better than I hoped. Who’s your friend?”

“Administrator Gurgella. This is his schism.”

“He just wet himself.”

“I don’t blame him. You have that effect on people.”

The seraph made that laughing motion again. “Then maybe you should introduce us. You can tell him some embarrassing stories about me. Maybe pick one from our good old days back in SpecOps.”

“Curse it, Jack!” Dominic growled. “If you’re here to kill me, then do it. I won’t beg for my life, if that’s what you’re waiting for.”

“I’m not here to kill you.”

“Then why are you here?”

“Come on. It’s been so long. Aren’t I allowed to look up an old friend and drop by for a beer?”

“I was never your friend. I only played the part.”

“Yeah. I know. That hurt, by the way. Still does.”

“Enough games, Jack. Just tell me straight. Why are you here?”

The seraph shifted its stance and angled its head forward, taking on a stern, serious air.

“It’s simple,” Jack said. “I have a proposal for the Grendeni.”

“And why would we ever listen to you?”

“Because of what you stand to gain. The location of the Gate.”

“
What
?” Dominic said. “Are you serious?”

“I am.”

“You know where it is?”

“No,” Jack said. “Not yet, anyway. But I know how to get it. Interested?”

“Well, of course I am. If we got our hands on the Gate, we could force the Aktenai to stop this war. We could actually win the war. They’d do anything not to see the Gate destroyed.”

Cautious relief welled up in Dominic. Maybe he wasn’t going to die today after all.

“An exciting possibility, isn’t it?” Jack said.

“You know it is.”

Jack brought the tram closer. “So, will you help me?”

“It doesn’t matter what you offer. I don’t trust you and neither will the Executives.”

“That makes two of us. But I think you’ll find we both have something to gain here.”

“Prove to me this isn’t some Aktenai trick.”

“You want proof?” Jack said. “I’ll give you proof you can’t ignore.”

Dominic crossed his arms. “That is something I’d very much like to see.”

Chapter 6

Reunion

Seth and Quennin folded space to the solar system.

The fortress planet of Aktenzek loomed ahead. Its entire surface gleamed like a pearly sea. Ten-kilometer-thick mnemonic armor shrouded the whole planet. Forests of fusion cannon towers and mountain ranges of exodrone control pyramids covered the surface.

Just beyond Aktenzek was its younger twin, Zu’Rashik. The Earth was a swirl of blue-white in the distance, its orbit unaffected by the presence of the two foreign worlds.

From space, the fortress planets were identical. Inside, however, was a very different story.

As part of the Treaty of the Alliance, Aktenzek had remained in Earth orbit, safeguarding the vulnerable Earth Nation from Grendeni aggression. Unsatisfied with their world’s new sedentary nature, the Choir had ordered the construction of a new fortress planet for operations elsewhere.

Zu’Rashik had started its life as an unremarkable airless rock. Over the past twenty years, the Aktenai had poured their immense industrial might into creating from that rock a fortress planet every bit the equal of Aktenzek.

“It’s good to be home,” Quennin said.

“Yes, it is. I sometimes forget how much I miss Aktenzek.”

“When are the first settlers moving to Zu’Rashik?”

“This year, I think. Enough habitat caverns should be carved out by now. Perhaps we should join one of the new cities?”

“Ha! As if you could ever sit still long enough.”

Seth grinned. “Too true.”

“Let’s not keep the Sovereign waiting.”

Quennin unfurled her flame-red wings. Emerald lightning crackled within the large kite-shaped gems embedded in the side of each wing. She took off with a burst of speed. Seth diverted power to his wings and followed her descent to Aktenzek.

They fell towards the planet, passing massive arrays of robotic frigates, whole squadrons of dreadnoughts, and a pair of Aktenai seraph squadrons competing in sparring exercises. Aktenzek grew larger until its horizon was flat.

Seth and Quennin skimmed across the fortress planet’s surface. Lanes of gigantic fusion towers flashed by. Drone control pyramids rose seventy kilometers into the black, airless sky. Seth and Quennin broke through the towers and climbed, cresting several large white domes each the size of a mountain. They sped past an expansive metropolis that crawled and plodded across the surface, affixing additional fusion towers as it crept along.

A vast iris of mnemonic armor opened ahead. Seth and Quennin flew up, looped over, and sped down the mammoth tunnel. They dodged around lanes of automated transports, rushed through zones of light and dark, then took a sharp turn at a T-junction. Mnemonic security shutters snapped open, permitting their entry.

Seth and Quennin shot through a coin-shaped habitat cavern several kilometers across. A simulated sun shone through a simulated sky, its light gleaming off towers of gold and glass. They arced around the spires and slipped through a square exit.

They followed the twisting network of tunnels deeper into the planet, past reinforced security checkpoints, several habitat caverns, and two industrial complexes. After several minutes, they arrived at the planet’s center.

The Core of Aktenzek floated in a grand spherical chamber with no visible support: a planetoid within a planet, smooth and white. Tightly packed mechanical cylinders crammed the sky, buzzing with the colossal energies needed to power the world’s gravity drives and fold engines.

A single city sprawled across the white planetoid, and in the center of that city was the Sovereign’s Palace. The palace pyramid rose up from the surrounding villa with slopes like finely polished mirrors. It towered over everything else.

Seth glided across the small world’s surface, past hidden doorways that led into the sensitive interiors of the Core where the seraph factories and the Choir dwelt. He skimmed across towering buildings dwarfed by the pyramid before him.

Seth spotted the landing platform: a thin strand of silver vaulting out of the pyramid’s side. The platform stood large enough to accommodate scores of craft and whole squadrons of seraphs, yet it appeared insignificant next to the Palace.

The long silver arm ended in a bulbous circle equipped with all manner of docking stations. Already, dozens of vessels were moored across its circumference. Seth spotted two gleaming silver seraphs among them.

“The Renseki are here,” Quennin said, slowing for the final approach.

The seraphs used by the six Renseki pilots all shared a common design. Their armor shone like sculpted silver. Ornate lines swirled, twisted, and formed delicate curlicues across their bodies and wings. One seraph stood taller than the other, its ornamental lines more prolific.

“There’s Mezen’s,” Seth said.

“The other one must be Zo’s,” Quennin said. “I doubt the twins or the old guard would be called in without those two.”

Seth pulled above a vacant seraph dock and eased down until his feet touched the ground. He retracted his wings behind his back.

He pushed the seraph out of his mind, wiggled his own arms, blinked his own eyes. The cockpit receded and opened. He climbed out of the pilot alcove and walked onto the landing platform.

Seth looked up, finding a perfect simulacrum of early morning sky where the planetary engines had been. To his right, Quennin’s seraph dipped down, made contact with the dock and locked into place. Seth walked over to meet her.

Quennin stepped out of the seraph and glanced over at the Renseki seraphs.

“First an unexplained summons from Vorin,” Quennin said. “And now the Renseki show up. Something big is going on.”

“So it would seem,” Seth said.

An automated aircar stopped in front of the two pilots. Low doors opened, stairs extended, and the two pilots boarded the oval, open canopy craft. A local gravity field energized around the vehicle, and it took off, swooping along the circumference of the landing platform and traveling across the long arm towards the Sovereign’s Palace. Though the car accelerated harshly, Seth and Quennin felt none of it.

The aircar sped through the twenty-story archway at the far end of the connecting arm and took them into the Palace’s labyrinthine interior. Other cars zipped by as short glimpses of color.

The car quickly arrived at the Sovereign’s private residence, deep within the Palace. Seth and Quennin exited the automated car, which promptly took off to assist other travelers.

A great foyer opened up before them, wide and tall and supported by a dozen fluted columns. Tiny white, silver, and black tiles covered the floor with intricate curling patterns that led the eye towards three staircases.

Quennin grinned when she saw who had waited for them. A petite woman leaned against a column, possessing friendly blue eyes and long black hair woven in a complex braid. She wore the traditional long coat of the Renseki with its numerous flourishes of silver curls.

Zo Nezrii looked up. She smiled brightly and waved.

“Quennin! Seth! Good to see you two.”

“Always a pleasure, Zo,” Seth said. “Though I wish I knew why we’re here.”

“Any idea what this is all about?” Quennin asked.

Zo shook her head. “Not a clue. Vorin and the Choir wanted to wait until you two arrived.”

Seth grimaced. “What would the Sovereign reserve for us that he wouldn’t tell you?”

“Good question. Let’s find out.” Zo led the way up the central staircase.

They walked by servants and Aktenai dignitaries busying themselves with duties large and small. All of them stopped and inclined their necks until the pilots had passed. Seth noted the absence of Earth Nation citizens within the palace.

“Yonu is doing well, by the way,” Quennin said.

“Oh, is she?” Zo asked.

“Top of her class in scholastics.”

“That’s my girl. What about combat?”

“She’s in the top third,” Quennin said.

“Let me guess,” Zo said. “Tevyr still has the highest marks.”

“Of course,” Seth said.

“Well, I can’t complain about that,” Zo said. “I suppose I should find time to see her, but Vorin likes to keep us busy.”

They proceeded upstairs and through three more doorways and checkpoints until finally coming to the Sovereign’s control room. A white tiled floor gave way to black walls and a black ceiling. Two men stood with their backs to the entrance, both looking at the array of images covering the far wall. Fleets, places, and persons of interest all bore the scrutiny of the Sovereign and his chief lieutenant.

Sovereign Vorin Daelus and Renseki Mezen Daed faced the three pilots entering the control room.