Ghosts of Lyarra (16 page)

Iana had felt his power - his heart churned out more energy than her vampiric nature could absorb - and then pierced the veil that shrouded his soul to find more questions than answers about her protector. Not only did he share her ability to hear the Gods in their own language, but he could talk to them as well! Not only that, but he had been touched by the great darkness that sat at the center of the known galaxy; the Dark God had visited him recently and left its shadowy fingerprints all over his soul. This worried her, because most who conversed with the Dark God went insane; thus was the curse of the Brink. Along with that was the shadow of the once shining greatness that had resided within him. Aen was truly broken inside as the past that eluded him had left a shattered soul with no way of making it whole again. He had saved her, now she decided it was her turn to save
him.

Looking away from him, Iana could see the once tiny blue dot had grown dramatically in size. Terra Sol was close; soon they would be safe in hiding. She knew there would be time to question her savior about all that haunted him later, but now she wondered how he would pull one last trick to get them past the greatest defensive shield the Empire had ever
seen.

“We are here.” She mumbled to whoever may be
listening.

“
Indeed
.” It was the AI, not Aen that answered her. “
I am slowing the ship and keeping to the shadow cast by the planet to avoid reflection of the host star. I would feel much more secure with inclusion on where to direct the ship, but I fear we are not in the
know
.”

“How long until we arrive?” Aen spoke as if sensing the need for him to share his
secret.

“
Two hours, eighteen minutes, and forty six seconds until we arrive at the closest point we can without being
detected
.”

“And what point does the rotation of the planet bring Tibet into our arrival
vector?”

“
I am not sure I understand; what does that have to do with getting this ship past the human defence grid and through the atmosphere without being seen or shot down
?” Caretaker was at a rare loss of
understanding.

“For something called Artificial Intelligence, you seem to lack the very intelligence needed to piece together the parts I have lain out for you.” Aen replied, finally looking up from his studies to look over at Iana. “The answer is to the last place they would ever look for us, and to hide Iana in plain sight. We are going home, Caretaker. The Lyarran base inside Mount Kailash that you called home for so long. It has everything we need to stay hidden, including a hanger to house our
ship.”

“But the place was cleaned out by the Ifierin four years ago.” Iana piped up. “There’s little else besides a few rudimentary systems and empty space left for
us.”

“
Not to mention the fact that if I were to access those systems to open the hanger doors, the ensuing rockslide of the granite that hides the entrance would attract attention to our arrival. And then there is the drag of the ship as it enters the atmosphere to think of before we even get to open those doors, the ship will light up in a fireball from friction as it descends to the surface
.” Caretaker scolded. “
I do not think you thought this out well
Aen
.”

“All those would be genuine concerns, if that was the way we were going to get there. There is another way to get by the cannons, the sensors, the atmospheric friction, revealing the hangar doors and even being seen; the reason I have not shared it with you both is that for you, it will be most
uncomfortable.”

—
Sol System; Lyarran Vessel Dark Light,
Neptune Orbit Range

It was a shock to the system to see the coded transmission flash on her station; so much so she had to read it over three times before it registered as real in her mind. But it wasn’t a fake, she was being called to action by those who had guided her throughout her entire life. They were the ones who had ensured her position on the Ops Con of the Dark Light; as she was sure there were many more of their ‘agents’ in various positions everywhere in the Fleet and the Empire itself. The Guild had been plotting for a lifetime to retake the throne it gave up for Iana, and with her death she knew it wouldn’t be long until they
called.

Lies had been her cover; from her credentials to her very identity were nothing more than well written falsehoods. She was a true sleeper of the highest degree; a job she had nearly forgotten about in the last few years. So good were the lies, she had begun to believe them; want to believe them as the life now was much greater than the one reality had given her. Here she had friends, a home, and a duty to perform. But she owed everything to the Guild; they had dragged her out of hell and tempered her into something special and deadly. So despite wanting to remain hidden amongst the unknown, it was time for her to remember what it was like to be one of the Forgotten once
more.

With a slight movement of her head to use her peripheral vision to see if anyone might be watching, she determined that she was in the clear and punched in the response the message was waiting for. Once inputted, the code disappeared and self-erased; the need for secrecy was still paramount until she was called further upon. Until then, she would be more mindful as the Guild searched for that which threatened them the most. The most hunted being in the Empire had become the target of the Forgotten; find the mystery soldier and kill him was now the battle cry of her
brethren.

She sighed, there was little more to do physically then wait; and in that time she needed to get her head on straight. It was time to separate the lies from the truth and prepare herself to do what was needed when the time came. The Council of the Dark Light was loyal to the old regime to a fault, and would undoubtedly oppose the transition to Myril as the incumbent Empress. This being well known, it would not suit the new Empress to have the flagship of the Fleet stand against her, hence the reason for her appointment here. When the time came, she would do what she was trained for, then wait for her appointment to the helm of this great
vessel.

Change was coming to the Empire in all facets; from the throne to the Council there would be new faces everywhere. There was a storm on the horizon, and the only way to survive it was to have the strongest people in the important places as her masters have decreed. The Forgotten would rise above the arrogant Ifierin and take their place as the elite warriors of legend. Now was their time to be great; now was her time to be
great.

—
Sol System; Lunar Orbit

The signal had reached all the way out to the far reaches of the Empire and to those beyond its borders. It was targeted to specific beings; ones who had been planted in all parts of the Empire. One by one, the messages were answered as the Masters who had been silent for so long, now called to those it had placed where they would be most useful. None were involved in politics or places of true power, but all were in the perfect position to affect the outcome of events as they would follow. Hidden in plain sight, they were positioned for the revolution planned for ages that was on the cusp of being complete. All were in the perfect place to best serve their
cause.

The call to arms was answered by those it was intended for, as if the senders knew where its minions of darkness would be at that exact moment. It was an insurgence that spread deep within its host of the Empire, and one if enacted perfectly, would never be discovered fully. It was best to hide from the enemy and pretend to be one of them, even when it was time to rule
them.

But the message was not received by all; there were two stations at the far reaches of Imperial space that remained unanswered. These were the two that those who sent it doubted would come into play, but yet could hold some sway in the grand scheme of things. These two were planted over two thousand years ago and had not been contacted in more than a thousand. Lost, disillusioned, and without guidance they had abandoned their posts long ago. It was a gamble to put one planted on the expedition to Terra Sol, but two of them would ensure the weapon of the Harbinger would be secured for the Guild’s usage and not the Empress. He was the key to the throne; at least that is what the prophecies said. But then both went silent; both had done the unthinkable and walked
away.

So the fact, the messages sent to the still active consoles went unanswered was not a surprise, but did give hope that there were still players in the game where none others could be placed. It was the one loose end they could never wrap up, even after sending a few lone recons to the planet the two lost Forgotten were simply that; gone and forgotten. They now held on to the hope that one or both would see the message and remember their oath to
act.

Only the message stayed unanswered and the code simply repeated itself in its encrypted form over and over. There was no need for them to worry about it being discovered as it went on since there was no one else out that way with the capability of discovering and deciphering the files; or so they thought. Repeating code is the equivalent of a gigantic neon sign flashing in the night to an advanced AI, and it wasn’t long until one noticed
it.

Caretaker was tapped into all information traffic going into and out of the human planet in order to catch and filter any signs their approach may be discovered. It didn’t take long for him to see the message waiting for response repeating itself and took even less time for him to capture a sample of it to run through its software. As it was in the midst of more than a few tasks, it took a little while to crack the impressive encryption. Forty-two seconds after capturing the signal, Caretaker had pieced together the
message:

“
The Master calls, and your slumber amongst the sheep has ended. It is time to rise and stand amongst the new power that waits to be crowned. We are
waiting.
”

Immediately it put a trace on both the receivers and the sender, so that when one of the two messages was answered it would send with it a tag, back through the system and not only identify the party that sent it but filter down to every message sent and identify all those who answered any others. Aen had said the enemy would make a mistake, and he was right. It made a note to discuss this incident with him once they arrived on the surface; for right now, the Harbinger was more than a bit
busy.

—
Mount Kailash, Tibet; Lyarran Colonial Base

It was dark inside the hanger; even the eerie blue glow from his eyes wasn’t enough to break the hold the darkness had in here. Carefully and slowly he made his way about the cavernous room inside the mountain, being careful to watch out for any traps or alarm systems that might be left behind to be tripped by an intruder. But as he looked around and adjusted to the inky blackness, he could see that Iana was right; the Ifierin had left little to nothing
behind.

He wasn’t here to find any scraps or useful trinkets left behind by the Lyarran inhabitants though, he was here to get a reference point on where to teleport the ship and all within it safely. They had arrived a few short minutes ago, and now they waited for the planet to turn to meet them in the perfect intersection point. Aen was confident it wouldn’t be a problem to do what he planned, but if he did it before the planet was in the proper position it would be that much more painful for the creature he had worked so hard to protect. So the shorter the distance to move the ship, the less stress he would put on his
ward.

The fact that there was nothing left behind didn’t bother him at all; the ship he had taken held everything they needed to survive in the short term. Anything else could be acquired through trade with the villages at the base of the mountain or anywhere else on the planet they chose. Not only would the humans provide them safety without knowing it, but they would also provide anything else required to make their stay as comfortable as
possible.

After a few minutes of wandering, Aen found what he thought to be the center of the room and squatted down and closed his eyes to concentrate. Without Caretaker here to leave a marker for reference, Aen would have to make one of his own so he didn’t lose focus and place half the ship in the granite wall of the mountain. So with a push of his heart, he felt a spark jump from his cusped hands and a wealth of energy pour forth to fuel the spark into something much more. Opening his eyes, he gazed with amusement at what he had created; floating in his hands was a miniature blue sun about six inches in diameter. There was no more darkness shrouding him; the light from the fiery globe attacked every recess of the enormous space with an aggressive blue
hue.

But as he placed it at the center of the hangar, he felt it gasp for breath, so to speak. Yes he had created a miniature star, but had given it enough fuel to live for mere minutes only! It was a good thing too, because it would flame out just as they arrived to avoid being seen by Iana who may take it as an affront to all her spiritual beliefs and more. As well, the longer it lived the more chance there was of the sensors surrounding the planet detecting the minor fluctuations in the gravitational fields. For a short time, it would seem to be nothing more than a random anomaly, but any longer would attract unwanted
attention.