Ghosts of Lyarra (30 page)

“Bryx is gonna kick my ass.” Aen laughed. “I told him I would return you as good as
new.”

Finally Lyxia took the hands offered to her and was pulled to her feet; the look of confusion still plastered on her face. She too touched Iana’s face to reassure herself it was all
true.

“You couldn’t tell me?” she asked. “Couldn’t trust
me?”

“This treachery runs deep, and though we have much of it uncovered now we had no idea of its magnitude back then.” Aen answered, though Lyxia’s eyes remained transfixed on Iana. “You were being watched; there would be no way of alerting you before
now.”

“Being watched?” Sara
asked.

“It reaches to every corner of the Empire, and some points far beyond it. From every planet to every ship and even Fleet Command and the Council.” Iana spoke with disgust. “Our enemy has infiltrated every part of the Empire to make sure all would go perfect; they just didn’t account for
Aen.”

“I don’t understand.” Lyxia wondered out loud. “You mean even the Dark Light
is…”

“Your ship has leaks.” Aen said forcefully. “And I wonder what you are willing to do to stop
them.”

Now she turned to him, her eyes still filled with tears of emotion. Before he could react or even speak, Lyxia struck him; hard. Not a slap or a punch on the shoulder, but a full blown, knock-out, closed fist punch that took Aen completely by surprise. Iana watched as he staggered slightly and reached out unsuccessfully to restrain Lyxia from following up on her
strike.

“Five years!” Lyxia screamed. “Five years I waited for you to come back to me; to follow up on those unfulfilled feelings we both had! And the whole time I waited like a youngling maiden in first love; an emotional wreck and unable to do my duty! Where were
you?”

Iana pulled her away from Aen who was regaining his footing. At heart, she doubted that the blow even hurt him, but that he was reacting to soothe Lyxia’s pain. Iana made sure she stifled her smirk, as it would serve no purpose in the
moment.

“Aen was lost within himself.” Iana tried to soothe the rage from her young Council. “When we found him he was a shell; his mind had locked away all memory and emotion save for his feelings for you. I would have brought you to him then and there, but he didn’t know who you were or why he loved you; only that he did and that your name was Lyxia. He was a shell of that what made him what he once was and keeping you apart was my decision not
his.”

“And now?” Lyxia asked him in response. “Do you have it all back now? Do you get why I am so mad; so
hurt?”

“I am whole.” Aen whispered; yet the acoustics of the room echoed the words softly. “Yet broken at the sight of your pain.” Aen looked over to Sara. “To sit back and not hold my daughter again tore at my heart; to tell her once more how sorry I am that I couldn’t be there for her as she went through hell and back. And to not rush into your arms at last Lyxia; that was the hardest. To not act on every wish and desire of my heart and soul from the first time I laid eyes on you was almost
impossible.”

Iana watched the two close the distance to each other and embrace in a deep kiss. Her heart both soared and sank at the same time. She was happy that they were able to fulfill their love, but saddened that it was not her in his arms. So she put on a happy face and masked her sadness, and even chuckled when Sara broke the long
silence.

“Ummm, hey I am pretty sure you are still married
there.”

—

Over the next few hours there was a lot of catching up to be done. Iana did much of the talking as the two newcomers listened intently. For the parts she couldn’t remember right or at all, Caretaker was more than happy to interject on her behalf. As for Aen, the emotional strain of the last few weeks had taken its toll on him and he sat quietly off to the side and just
observed.

For a time, he would simply watch Sara and admire how grown up she was now. When she asked questions, they were with purpose and to further understanding. Her intellect startled him, but she had been Iana’s star pupil when the Empress had stayed after the Husk attack. Every now and then, Sara would look up and notice him staring and just wink or smile back at him. This time however, she got off the floor where she had been seated quietly for so long, stretched, then ambled over to sit beside him on a
crate,

“So.” She began nervously. “Have you seen mom
yet?”

“No.” Aen replied quickly. “Wouldn’t know where to begin with her now; to be honest I’m not really sure where it ended. Caretaker says she’s in a new relationship and in the photos she looks
happy.”

“She is.” Sara added sadly. “Dave is good for her. She met him about a year ago after she got a job as a fitness instructor for the
military.”

Aen looked mildly surprised at that
news.

“I know,” Sara chuckled. “But Earth needs us all to pitch in now more than ever and it is something she loves. Besides, her gym was buried under tons of rubble back home. Anyway, after a ton of him courting her, she finally agreed to go out with him and they’ve been inseparable ever since. Hell she even moved with him out to the middle of nowhere when he got posted to….ummm….I guess that part is
classified.”

“Posted to the Olympus project.” Aen finished. “Humanity’s secret warship development program hidden behind the solar farm in between Venus and
Mercury.”

Sara’s look returned back to nervousness as she realized he knew much more than she thought. Worse yet, both Iana and Lyxia heard that part of the conversation and now listened intently for it to
continue.

“How do you know that?” she asked. “How could you know that? There’s less than a dozen people planet side with access to that information and none of them would ever
talk.”

“Have you just met Caretaker?” Aen asked sarcastically. “Or did you think the lag in comm lines and the blackout were naturally caused? When I said I controlled the airways, I meant
it.”

“Speaking of comm lines, I need to send word to my men at the embassy and my ship that we are fine.” Lyxia interrupted. “But while I do, you wait on this conversation and continue it when I’m done; seems my dear friend here has been holding out on me.” She
laughed.

Aen contemplated the request, then nodded in agreement. “Caretaker, let her make her calls. But bounce the source around a bit so they can’t get a fix and make sure she doesn’t say anything that endangers Iana’s
anonymity.”

This got him a look of annoyance from Lyxia to which he just replied in a shrug of his shoulders. Even though they were on the same side, they now sat at a critical juncture and couldn’t risk any type of failure at this
point.

“
I shall delay her transmissions a second so I can filter them if needed for any unwanted hints or words misspoken. And if the spunky Council missteps her bounds, may I threaten to wipe her clean as she once did to me
?” Caretaker
whined.

“A bit over the top for what I asked for there.” Aen said with a hint of annoyance. “I hardly think Lyxia will betray us, I just want caution in case of a slip of the
tongue.”

“
Your comm line is live, Council
.” The AI droned. “
You may make your
calls
.”

Lyxia walked to the far end of the room and out the door before making her first call; not for privacy but to ensure no background voices were picked up on her call. AS she left, all eyes fell on Aen once
more.

“You have to see her.” Sara urged. “At least give her the knowledge that you are still alive before she finds out from someone else. And before you continue with whatever the hell it is you have with
Lyxia.”

“And what would you have me do; ruin her chance at happiness a second time?” Aen asked as he stood up in frustration. “My life with her ended the second I was made into this; when I died, so did any chance of us having a life together. It haunted me for a long time afterwards, and I only came to terms with it before the ships exploded.” He turned and looked down at his daughter and her sorrow was apparent. “I am immortal, or that’s what all Caretaker’s tests tell me, and to spend a life with Krista and watch her grow old and die would only torment me more than I could ever imagine. Let her have her new life; she deserves happiness and much
more.”

Sara was crying and so was Iana; if Aen had tears to cry he would probably join them. Instead he reached out with his right arm and invited his daughter to be comforted which she did after a brief hesitation. The two hugged as she cried for some time, and were only separated by the return of Lyxia to the
fold.

“Did I miss something?” she asked seeing the tears on the other
two.

“Nothing major.” Sara replied with a sniffle as she wiped away her tears. “All clear on your
end?”

“Something’s going on aboard the Dark Light; wouldn’t mind getting back there soon to give Axyn a hand.” Lyxia said. “Seems like there is something to your theory on this conspiracy; my Captain of Arms has noticed some rather odd
behavior.”

“
And I confirmed the line was clear
.” Added Caretaker. “
I did have to cut off more than a few attempts to bug the conversation
though
.”

“We will deal with the traitors soon enough.” Aen trumpeted. “But first we have to all get on the same
page.”

“Olympus?” Sara asked
sheepishly.

“Yes, Olympus.” Aen confirmed. “Caretaker stumbled upon it as we entered Earth space and ever since has been gathering data for
me.”

“Well, I guess you all deserve to know.” Sara sighed. “Let me start with the fact that what was done was done to ensure the long term survival of the human race; not to defy any orders of the Imperial Council. At the conclusion of the defense network project, our analysts found that the cannons weren’t enough to keep an enemy at bay for much longer than five to ten days, which meant any major invasion of the system would be an eventuality not just speculation. We needed more than defence, and if we wanted to expand with colonization beyond the Solar system we would need a fleet of battle able ships. We had the resources, and just happened to have the perfect place to hide such a project so after a bit of hesitation I gave it a go
ahead.”

“
I found no record of such an order
.” Caretaker piped
up.

“No you wouldn’t.” she answered promptly. “Nor will you find any official record or invoicing pertaining to the materials or labour being used to build the ships. Funds are from black market gold sales and materials are those in and about the Solar system
itself.”

“Go on.” Urged Iana. “I wish to know
everything.”

“What your AI hasn’t been able to tell you is that of the true focus of the project. You know of the ships in general, but what you don’t know about is Zeus. Zeus is a beyond state-of-the-art vessel with both engine and weapons technology never before imagined. It is also the largest ship ever built; ten times the size of the Dark Light
itself.”

“By the Gods!” Lyxia cried out. “What would you ever need something that big
for?”

“Most of the foredecks are to house the Gama Cannon that is coupled with four Plasma Accelerator cannons; two on each side of the massive rectangular barrel that stretches half the length of the ship. It fires a gamma ray burst that is used in concert with the PA cannons; the gamma burst fries an enemy’s shields and weapons and the following PA rounds tear the ship to
shreds.”

“Such a weapon is an atrocity.” Iana mumbled. “The Council would never allow it to be completed. Just owning such a weapon is an act of
war.”

“So is threatening to take over our claim on our resources.” Sara fired back. “Yet every session carried out such greedy claims that we should not be able to hold such a wealth of riches. It wasn’t paranoia that drove us to make the Zeus as much as it was accepting the inevitability that the Council would fail in keeping us safe sooner rather than
later.”

“And the rest of the ship?” Lyxia chimed in to change the subject. “I believe you have only accounted for half of its size in your
reasoning.”

Sara turned to Aen, looked deep within his eyes and found comfort in the swirling blue rings of fire before continuing. “Amidships is for crew quarters, food growing ops and storage as well as the Command and Control tower on her upper right
side.”

“Much like the aircraft carriers.” Aen
added.

“Yes, in fact the top of the ship is where attack fighters are housed and launched in full sight of the C&C.” she continued. “In some ways you could say that part resembles the aircraft carriers of the old Navy. But despite the level of technology in the front and middle of the ship, the true power of the Zeus lies in the rear quarter of her size. There lies the massive reactors that drive her; four fusion reactors power the ship for sub-light travel and all her day to day needs. Then there comes the jump-space
reactors.”