Ghosts of Lyarra (20 page)

“Caretaker!” Aen called out; breaking Iana’s train of worrisome thought. “Get me those files on this ‘Olympus’ project you stumbled
upon.”

“
Streaming data now
.” The AI chimed in over the shuttle comm lines. “
I have to admit, I was a little sloppy in filtering solar communications; I believe the humans suspect something is
awry
.”

“Cover your tracks and stay on top of their system countermeasures.” Aen said reassuringly. “But by no means stop searching their files for data and don’t stop blocking incoming and outgoing signals. We need to keep the Dark Light in the hands of those we can trust until it is time to strike back. They are feeling good about themselves now, and it’s only a matter of time before they let their guard down completely. That is when it will all fall into
place.”

“You sound sure about this.” Iana wondered aloud. “But yet you have nothing at stake in all this like I do; and that worries
me.”

Aen looked at her and smiled a cold smile. “You are dead, your majesty. And though the fate of the Empire lies in the balance, you can choose to abandon the life you once held; live out the remainder of your years travelling the galaxy with no cares or
responsibilities.”

She didn’t know how to reply. For the first time in her life she was free of the mantle of leadership and could feel the draw of life outside the palace walls luring her more and more. Aen didn’t wait for a response as he turned back to the screens and began to pour over the data on this mysterious project of the human government, She was torn - both emotionally and physically - and for the first time since all this started she wished for the counsel of her long-time friend Bryx. Her thoughts turned to him and what he was doing to bide his time until his art was to be
played.

There was so much of this plan that had yet to play itself out; too much of it had been placed on hold while Aen cleaned up the loose ends of the Amarra expedition and now this added wrinkle of the secret project of the humans. Quietly, Iana wondered if he wasn’t right; if she shouldn’t think hard on just finding herself in all this madness instead of tagging along in a string of missions like a fifth wheel. For ten thousand years she had stood at the head of the Lyarran Empire. Now she was free to be anything she wanted. The question was, what would or could that
be?

—
Tokyo, Japan; Ningyocho District

Lieutenant Avery Wilson found himself standing on the remains of what used to be the plush confines of the penthouse of a very important public figure less than twenty four hours after he and his team had been notified to be on stand-by. He found it a bit like Deja-vu; to be standing over smoldering wreckage like he had, almost ten years ago in the badlands of the Dakotas. Thoughts of that mission and what path it led his life down sent shivers down his spine; Avery hoped this one would be a hunt for a random terrorist and not some kind of E.T. thing. He didn’t need that shit again; not after just getting his life and body back
together.

Kicking at a pile of ash, he knew there would be few clues if the occupant was inside when the blast happened. Tanaka Jyn was a huge part of the Olympus project design and technical systems; in fact, he was the genius behind the all new experimental jump-space engines on the Zeus. His death; if he was truly dead; would mean that he was targeted for his involvement in the black-ops project and that any data he had on him could be
compromised.

Whatever had happened, this debris was unlike any explosive residue he had ever seen in his long and decorated career in the military. He had even gone back home to New York once he was up and around and even the advanced weapons of the Husk didn’t burn at this high of a temperature. To burn metal and concrete to ash like this, the blast must have been somewhere near the temperature of the surface of the sun; and had the ability to focus this energy on the top floor only as the remainder of the building stood largely
undamaged.

Wilson had seen that kind of focused power before, and the thought of coming face to face with that foe was more than enough to make his knees quiver. The only thing that saved him from going into a state of hysterical fear was the fact that the holder of that power was dead; Avery had played the footage and news reports over and over once he had awoken nearly a year after that night in the hangar in a state of disbelief. Aen was gone; one nightmare had died to destroy another. So whatever - or whomever - had done this the Lieutenant was sure he could rule out the nefarious
Aen.

“
I need a sit-rep
Lieutenant.” His radio crackled impatiently. The old man upstairs was not one for waiting, especially when it involved Olympus in any
way.

“I gotta shitload of ash and no evidence whatsoever.” He barked into his microphone. “Don’t know exactly what happened, but there is nothing left here to tell us anything useful. All we’ve been able to come up with is that Jyn was in the penthouse; the doorman clocked him in a few hours before the
blast.”

“
Not good enough soldier
!” the General hollered. “
That man was sitting on beyond classified data files; we need to know if Olympus is
compromised
!”

“Too early to tell.” Wilson said coolly, hoping to share some calmness with his superior officer. “But I will let you know when we learn some more. Next sit-rep in three hours;
over.”

Without so much as a response, the line went dead. Wilson was happy he was down here sifting through the debris instead of up there with Patterson. The man had to be going crazy not being able to control the situation from up there; and those around him would pay for that
frustration.

The sound of boots crushing blackened ash behind him let the Lieutenant know that one of his team was approaching. A quick salute and a data pad was handed over containing traffic camera footage of the building from all angles. Wilson dismissed his man with a nod and flipped through the images. He saw Jyn entering exactly when the doorman said he did and then watched and waited for anything unusual. There was lots of pedestrian traffic flowing past the building, but nothing stood out. In fact, other than the explosion itself, there was nothing at all out of
place.

But the explosion was the odd part; originating in the penthouse and starting with a blue glow before brightening so much it blew all the traffic camera sensors within seconds of starting. Again, he tried to think of anything that could make such a blast. The bomb was the key, and once he found the source, he was sure the bomber’s identity wouldn’t be far behind. In the back of his mind, something about all this was familiar; like he had seen these results in the last little
bit.

—
Inner System Solar Power Relay Station;
Project Olympus

“This is getting fucking ridiculous!” Patterson screamed as soon as he slammed the comm receiver down. “This kind of shit cannot happen at this stage of the project; not with big brother’s finest ship sitting in our fucking back
yard!”

Davis stayed quiet; she had worked for the General for far too long to think that trying to calm him down would do any good at all. In fact, it was better for him to rant and rave like a maniac around his office in front of her then let him explode on some random poor soul around the base. Yes, the risk he could have a heart attack or stroke out was high considering he was in his late seventies, but with the medical advances available now - because of ‘big brother’ - it would be no more than a few days of rest and quiet rather than the end of a
life.

“Did we get a lock on the signal filter yet? I bet my life it’s those fuckers out by Neptune!” he
continued.

“No sir, no lock on that yet.” She replied calmly. “But it can’t be them; the source is somewhere on the planet. And besides, all our Intel tells us they don’t have that level of programming to filter an entire solar system of transmissions. And as far as we can tell, theirs are being filtered as
well.”

Patterson stopped in his tracks as soon as she said that and froze completely. For a second or two, she thought about reaching for the med pack by the door in case he actually was having a stroke. But after a bit more of a wait, the General moved again; this time with more focus. He had taken the seconds to compose himself and shed his anger; his mind began to roll over the facts instead of reacting to the
situation.

“Get me the list of all inbound ships to our space; the ones that haven’t been notified of the lockdown as they are in jump-space.” He almost whispered, still pondering the next
move.

Davis grabbed her data pad and searched for the reports. Hers was one of three pads that had complete access to all of the Earth network’s reaches; one of the perks to her new posting out here. Only Council Foster and General Patterson himself had similar access, but she doubted either of them utilized it to the extent she
did.

“There are four inbound vessels.” She stated as soon as she read the report. “Three are supply ships and the last is an empty ore carrier. All are scheduled to arrive in the next
week.”

“And is the Aries ready to
go?”

She hesitated to answer the question, as Davis knew that he had the same reports she did and knew the answer before he
asked.

“You know it is.” She replied. “It is only missing her jump-space reactor being completed, but all systems are fully
operational.”

“Flag all those ships on that list for immediate stop and search upon arrival and have Admiral Zhan take two troop transports and the Aries to intercept them with orders to open fire if they so much as flinch about being boarded.” He was deep in thought now. “It’s going to show a bit of our hand before we planned, but I think there’s something big happening and unfortunately its going down in our back
yard.”

“Can you let me in on this ‘train of thought’
sir?”

Patterson quickly tapped a few commands on the console and the image of the mystery assassin from his warning message came up. He stared intently at the picture as if he was trying to see through the aged armor and helmet the creature wore. The picture gave her the chills; the fact that he had attacked the Empire and killed the Empress made him more formidable of a foe than she ever dreamed humanity would
face.

“If the Lyarrans aren’t scanning the comms, and we aren’t doing it, then we have a new player in all this. And if it’s him, then you can bet we are going to need a hell of a lot more firepower than just the Aries as shit is gonna get real here right quick. Either he and his allies are on one of those ships, or those devils of the temple are coming to find him; because you can bet if we have come to this conclusion then sure as shit someone else has
too.”

It hit home in an instant what he was eluding to. Five years after avoiding the apocalypse, humanity now could face the devil himself. There was no way they could be ready for any of this; no way to warn everyone on Earth about a theory with little or no facts. But the theory was sound, and it fit what had happened thus
far.

“Get on the horn with Wilson and his men,” Patterson continued. “Let him know what we think and if he can add any more information to confirm or deny what is going on. In the least, we can prepare them for the beginning of hell on
Earth.”

—
Alexandria, Egypt

Alexandria was as beautiful as advertised, and even Aen had to take a step back and drink in all that one of the oldest cities on the planet had to offer. It was busy, but not like Tokyo. Instead of a neon and LED assault on one’s senses, this was an old world type of busy; with markets in the streets and endless foot traffic. Massive groups of tourists - both human and extra-terrestrial - followed happy go lucky tour guides to focal points all around the old Egyptian
port.

They had been here for a few days now, and while Aen had immediately turned to business, Iana had become the sightseer; leaving before dawn and returning after midnight. It was something that he had expected of her; she was finally enjoying the freedom of anonymity at long last. With her physical alterations, she had become just another Paxyn in the
crowd.

But Aen had paid little attention to her comings and goings from their shared hotel suite as he narrowed his focus on his prey; Palla. She was a different creature, a born hunter hiding amongst the herd and doing it well. She was hard to weed out from the everyday resident; she did have over a thousand years of experience in doing so. Aen had found her home fairly easily; the active data console was a dead point marker to where she could be, but it became apparent that she didn’t return home on a daily
basis.

Aen used three different disguises in three different days as he attempted to find a lead from the homestead to not arouse any suspicion. It was apparent she knew of Jyn’s death, but to what extent of preparation for her visit she had made, he was unsure. In fact, it wasn’t until he was wandering slowly back to his hotel that Aen noticed that the careful predator was in fact stalking
him.

It was a subtle move of a shadow on an unusually quiet street as he passed that tipped him off, but he kept walking to not let on that he was any wiser. The whole night he had a feeling of being watched, but could never pin down by whom until now. She had made an error; one that wouldn’t matter if she was hunting anyone or anything other than him. Clearly Palla had mistaken him for a common assassin, and soon Aen would make her pay for that mistake with her
life.