Izikiel (9 page)

The buildings had grown steadily closer as they made their way down a narrow street. Looking closely, Izikiel realised that each one was unique in some way. A small sign, a slightly different angle of the roof
line or even the types of plants growing in front all acted to differentiate the buildings. At one stage he heard another ship taking off in the distance but the surrounding buildings were so close that he was unable to see the space platform. The very thought of it brought a smile to his face.

‘
There!’ Xavier called out.

The three of them
emerged from the narrow street into an open square. Beads of sweat trickled down Izikiel’s face as he scanned the square from side to side. Locating the little girl, he moved towards her.

She stood in front of a man wearing a ragged looking black shawl and dark, composite leggings. Various implements, most of which Izikiel guessed were weapons, were strapped to his legs and boots. As Izikiel
approached them, the man looked up. His sharp, angular features were covered in dense stubble. Long strands of black hair partially obscured his face. His steel grey eyes bore into Izikiel.

‘
Are you alright?’ Izikiel asked.

The little girl nodded her head slightly as she continued to
stare at the man with her now familiar vapid expression. Izikiel turned towards him.

‘
Allow me to apologise for the little girl. She’s not herself at the moment.’

The man continued to stare at Izikiel without saying anything. For a moment Izikiel began to won
der if he too was a silent one. The man’s eyes flicked from Te’Anne to Xavier and finally came to rest on Izikiel.

‘
No apology is necessary, stranger. In future you should watch her more closely or she could get herself into serious trouble,’ the man finally said.

Turning around, he cast the little girl one final look before
walking away. Izikiel watched him disappear down one of the narrow streets leading out of the square.

‘
Come on. We need to go,’ he said to the little girl.

As they turned to leave
, the sound of footsteps filled the street. Xavier and Te’Anne instantly dropped to a crouching position with their weapons in either hand. Izikiel spun around in time to see half a dozen men in composite body armour appear at the end of the street. Based on their identical grey uniforms, Izikiel surmised that they had to be some form of security force. Each carried a powerful looking weapon cradled in their arms. As their leader raised his fist into the air they all stopped. Izikiel could feel himself reaching out to the Eternal Flame. Then something unexpected happened.

The leader lowered his weapon and raised his dark visor.

‘Xavier?’ he asked in surprise.

‘
Jonas?’ Xavier responded in turn. He too slowly lowered his weapon.

‘
What in blazes are you doing here? You disappeared over five years ago without a trace,’ the star port security officer named Jonas said.

His skin was a touch lighter than Xavier’s but they clearly shared a common ancestry as evidenced by his wide, flat nose and thick lips. Physically
, he was just as intimidating as the large scavenger.

‘It’s good to see you too,’ Xavier said.

‘Where have you been all these years?’ Jonas asked.

‘
Living in the Kartucian Desert,’ Xavier replied. Turning towards his sister, he said, ‘You remember Te’Anne?’

Jo
nas inclined his head slightly.

‘
Hello, Te’Anne.’

‘
Jonas. You look well,’ Te’Anne said. She, however, did not lower her weapons.

‘
You too,’ Jonas replied with a grin. Turning his attention back towards Xavier, he said, ‘You still haven’t told me what you’re doing here. We’re in a state of mass evacuation so this better be good.’

‘
We’re seeking passage off the planet,’ Xavier replied, deliberately avoiding looking at Izikiel. ‘We need to leave urgently.’

‘
So does everyone else, unfortunately. Look, I should arrest you for what you did back there at the wall. You know as well as I do that use of star port security technology without authorisation is illegal.’

‘
C’mon Jonas, you know me, you know us.’

The security officer named Jonas let out a slow breath as he looked at his men.
Turning back towards Xavier, a smile spread across his face as he said, ‘I do owe you for that desert training session. If you hadn’t disobeyed the commander and fended off those desert wolves then I wouldn’t be around anymore.’

‘
Does that mean that you’re going to let us go?’ Te’Anne asked.

‘
Yes’

‘
Thank you, Jonas. It is good to see that you have not lost your sense of honour,’ Xavier said.

‘
You’ll need to hurry. There are only a handful of civilian ships left and about two thousand people still to evacuate. Once that number of ships drops to one there will be a mass panic,’ Jonas said. He motioned for his men to lower their weapons.

‘
Make your way to
The Sargon
in the south west corner of the dome near the space platform. It’s an interesting place but some of the civilian freighter pilots prefer it to the more upmarket joints.’

‘
What about you?’ Te’Anne asked.

‘
Don’t worry about me. There’s a ship reserved for security personnel. Now go.’

Izikiel had remained perfectly still during the exchange between Xavier and Jonas. Some instinct of his had told him
that Jonas could be trusted. Now, as they were about to walk away, Izikiel experienced a flash of darkness across his vision. Feeling instantly cold, his mind raced as he recalled the touch of the void spawn. His thoughts turned to the Eternal Flame. As he began to reach upwards, his concentration was interrupted by a voice as sharp as steel.

‘
Do not move.’

The speaker was a
tall man with a waspish face and deep sunken eyes. He was dressed in a dark grey uniform of the same colour as the security forces armour. Izikiel noted several black and gold stripes emblazoned on his sleeve. Standing directly behind him were two dozen armoured star port security officers. Their visors down, each held a double barrelled weapon pointed directly at them. The man’s steel grey eyes glinted with a dangerous edge as he addressed the other group of security officers.

‘
Captain Jonas, what is the meaning of this?’

‘
Commander Kazel,’ Jonas said, snapping to attention. ‘We intercepted these people entering New Babylon. Satisfied with their identity, I was about to let them go.’

‘
And do you think that wise at a time like this?’

‘
Yes sir. I can vouch for these people personally.’

The star port security
commander moved closer towards them. Izikiel again felt the numbing darkness pass over him. Scanning the street, he half expected to see a dark shadow moving towards them. But there was no sign of any of the creatures of the Void. The street was bathed in light from the twin suns far above. The presence of the suns gaze Izikiel some measure of comfort. Having witnessed the creation of the second sun, he knew that its sole purpose was to safeguard humanity from the darkness of the Void. Yet he was unable to relax fully. There was something there in the street with them. Something that did not belong in the light of day.

‘
Captain, do I need to remind you that we are in a state of mass evacuation and that all intruders must be dealt with swiftly?’

‘
But sir, surely these people pose no threat to our security. They merely wish to escape the planet like everyone else.’

The
commander moved closer to Jonas. Leaning forward, he said in a perfectly level voice, ‘Do you dare question me,
captain
?’

Jonas visibly shrank back from the
commander, despite being almost twice as broad as him and considerably taller.

‘
No sir. I apologise for any disrespect.’

Izikiel watched the exchange with a slight detachment as he scanned the surrounding buildings and streets for any sign of movement. He could now clearly sense
something close. Something powerful and very dangerous. He felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up as he braced himself. He cast a guarded glance at Xavier and Te’Anne. They nodded.
This was about to get very interesting
.

‘
I will deal with you later, captain,’ the bleak faced commander said, dismissing Jonas. Moving towards them, his gaze passed over Xavier and landed on Te’Anne. Walking up to her, he held up a small electronic device.

‘What is your name?’ he asked.

‘Te’Anne,’ she replied.

The
commander input a series of instructions into the device he was holding. Its screen flickered momentarily. A series of green beams scanned Te’Anne’s face. Checking the screen, the commander raised his hand up.

‘
Just as I suspected, this one is a wanted fugitive. Arrest her!’

Two
armed security officers moved forward. Xavier stepped in front of Te’Anne blocking their way.

‘Step aside
, citizen or I will have you arrested as well,’ the commander said.

‘This woman is guilty of no crime and I am no citizen. I am Xavier,
a captain in the security forces of New Babylon, Theta Division.’

‘
Former
captain. As I understand it, you deserted your post several years ago,’ the commander said. ‘Arrest this traitor as well.’

The armed men surrounded Xavier and Te’Anne. Realising the situation was hopeless, they both
dropped their weapons on the ground. The commander moved towards Izikiel.

‘
And who have we here?’ the commander asked.

H
is steel grey eyes bore into Izikiel. Seeing himself reflected in those grey orbs, Izikiel suddenly felt cold. Darkness washed over him, reminding him of the encounter back in the underground caverns with Da’Amo. He began to feel trapped, sensing darkness closing in all around him. Forcing the feelings of panic down, he faced commander Kazel.

‘
I am a scavenger from the Kartucian Desert,’ Izikiel replied, after a moment’s thought. He kept his voice calm, despite knowing with certainty that whatever he had sensed before was about to reveal itself. He braced for the unexpected.

‘
A scavenger you say?’

‘
Yes sir.’

‘
And what are you doing in New Babylon?’

‘
I am here to seek passage off the planet.’

‘
Why?’

Izikiel scrambled to come up with a plausible
explanation for their need to leave the planet. He decided on the truth. A part of it, at least.

‘
We have heard rumours that the Void Lords have returned to
Vesta
.’

‘
Yes. They have,’ commander Kazel said. ‘But how could you possibly know that?’

‘
I…,’ Izikiel stammered as he realised that he’d revealed too much.

Commander Kazel’s voice
dropped to a chill whisper.

‘
I know what you are,
disciple
.’

As Izikiel watched in horror, the man’s steel grey eyes dark
ened until they were like two lumps of coal. Staring into those eyes, Izikiel felt himself being pulled into a dark and empty space. Commander Kazel opened his mouth. Izikiel saw rows of jagged teeth coming towards him. He screamed in silence as the world around him disappeared to be replaced by infinite darkness.

Frozen, unable to move
, Izikiel could only watch as the form of commander Kazel changed. His skin became pitch black as his eyes glowed with an unnatural red ambience. Some unseen force prevented him from reacting, from turning away. His heartbeat had slowed. He struggled to breath. Darkness closed in around him as the light slowly faded from his eyes. He knew with certainty that he was close to death.

‘
Get away from him!’ Te’Anne shouted as she fired her weapons in rapid succession.

The void spawn
, which now stood in the place of commander Kazel, fell back a step as it released its hold on Izikiel. He dropped to his knees as the creature of the Void turned its attention to his friends. Leaping impossibly high into the air, it landed behind Xavier and Te’Anne. They attempted to bring their weapons to bear but it lashed out with its black arms knocking them over. As the creature opened its jaws to finish them off, Jonas’ voice resounded in a crisp command.

‘
Concentrated fire pattern. Now!’

The security forces’ double barrelled weapons threw out a
dense barrage of energy bolts. The air sizzled from the sheer savagery of the weapons as the void spawn’s skin was punctured in a hundred different places. Slowly, the combined firepower of the security forces brought the creature to its knees. Its oily black skin was marred by countless energy burns. Just as Izikiel thought that it would fall, a dark veil materialised around it. The blazing bolts of energy dissipated into the darkness without the slightest effect. As the security forces continued to fire, the void spawn threw back its head and laughed. It was a twisted and sickening sound.

‘
Fools, your weapons cannot harm me. Now taste the power of the Void!’

Bringing its arms toge
ther with a sudden movement it sent the dark veil outwards from its body. Such was its force, that it knocked the security officers off their feet, sending them flying into the surrounding buildings. Several of them landed hard at awkward angles. The dark creature launched into those that managed to struggle to their feet. Izikiel watched in horror as pieces of grey uniformed security officers went flying through the air. As Xavier staggered to his feet, the dark creature grabbed him by the throat. Lifting him clear off the ground, its red eyes stared into his as it opened its mouth further than any human could.

‘
Let him go,’ Izikiel said.

S
truggling to his feet, he faced the void spawn. The feelings of cold and emptiness were like a weight crushing down on him. But he fought through it. He owed these people his life. And he was the only who could stop this creature of the Void.

‘
I’m the one you’re after. Let the others go.’

Releasing its hold on Xavier
, who promptly collapsed to the ground, the creature faced him. Its eyes glowed brighter as it moved towards him at frightening speed. But Izikiel was ready. Opening his mind to the Eternal Flame, he channelled its power. Fear and desperation allowed him to ignore the usual pain associated with the heat of making contact. He unleashed its power like never before as he spoke the most powerful word he knew.

‘
Aduro
’

Sheets of blue flame erupted from his hands engulfing the void spawn. The creature screeched in
pain as its oily black skin caught fire and began to melt. Dropping to the ground, it continued to writhe in agony as Izikiel channelled the raw power of the interstellar deity. Finally, the black shape stopped moving. Releasing his hold on the Eternal Flame, Izikiel collapsed to the street. The last thing he remembered was Te’Anne getting to her feet and calling out his name. Then a wave of darkness crashed over him. Unlike the cold and emptiness of the Void, this was a soothing nothingness into which he drifted without fear.