Nascent Decay (The Goddess of Decay Book 1) (32 page)

“The upgrade for the bracelet you’re wearing,” he said, motioning towards Isaar’s bracelet. “It will get you close, but once you are inside they will be able to detect you. I don’t have the internal security software, so your stealth will be useless.”

“I see. I want you to remain here until I return,” she said.

“I may remain here long after you return, if you don’t mind,” he said. “Until this is settled, anyway. Vorcia will come after me as well when she learns I have been looking for you.”

Rhylie didn’t know how she felt about that.

*

“What do you think,” Rhylie asked over a private com channel once they were outside of the ship and on their way. “How much can we trust Kraeke?”

“Fear will make an honest man out of anyone,” Vorle replied. “It will make them confess to crimes they never even committed.” The slightly digitized quality of his voice reminded her of the Chamber’s for some reason.

“That’s the truth,” she replied.

“Can I for ask a favor?” Vorle asked.

“You already asked for one,” Rhylie said coyly. “But of course,”

“When we find them…can I have Riddai to myself?” he asked.

“I suppose…can I ask why?”

“He’s the one that did this to me. He’s the one that locked my father inside of a Chamber before executing him.”

“How many Chambers are there?” asked Rhylie.

“Dozens. Hundreds. Thousands,” Vorle said. “No one really knows.”

“Best estimates place the number of operational Chambers in the galaxy at somewhere over 50,” Mersi piped in out of nowhere.

“Shit, Mersi, I thought this was a fucking private channel. I didn’t know you could hear us,” Rhylie said.

“It was. Sorry,” came the somewhat unapologetic reply.

“Don’t…just don’t do it again. What do you think about Kraeke?”

“Well,” said Mersi. “If he’ll betray the Masters to save his own life, he’d probably do the same to you. So as long as his life depends on yours…” She trailed off.

“You know, you’re actually pretty wise for your age,” Rhylie said. She actually wasn’t sure how old Mersi was.

“Well, you learn a lot of things when you grow up with a bunch of old whores,” said Mersi. Rhylie laughed in spite of herself. “It’s true,” she insisted.

“I don’t doubt it,” said Rhylie. “I can honestly say I’ve never met anyone like you, Mersi.”

“Thanks,” she said. “I think.”

“I meant it as a compliment.”

“Yeah. A compliment,” Vorle interjected wryly.

“Damn right you can have Riddai, Vorle. Do whatever you want. Just see if you can find out where Vorcia is first. I want to finish this shit once and for all,” said Rhylie.

“Thank you. This means a lot to me,” he said.

“No need to be an ass,” she said playfully.

“I wasn’t?” he replied with a response that sounded sort of like a question.

“I’m just messing with you,” Rhylie said. “You’re too serious, like, all the time. Cheer up, tonight we dine on cold revenge.” She felt giddy and exhilarated. The anticipation was delicious.

“Okay. You’re weird,” he said. “Sometimes you do not make sense.”

“I guess not,” said Rhylie. “But nothing makes sense to me anymore.”

“Fair enough,” he said.

*

Riddai and Potaan’s hiding spot was a frozen, icy moon on the very edge of its system in a supposedly uncharted section of the galaxy. It revolved around a planet that was a mirror image of itself, empty, with no signs of life, no signs of anything but cratered glaciers and broken mountain ranges.

But somewhere beneath the surface was a massive complex that Riddai had supposedly constructed for no other purpose than to satisfy his deviant carnal desires. Thinking about it made Rhylie uncomfortable.

“So this is like some kind of weird sex torture dungeon?” asked Rhylie.

“Yup,” said Mersi. “Basically.”

“The galaxy is a fucked up place,” said Rhylie.

“Yup,” Mersi reiterated. “You don’t know the half of it. Where Sothu was more of a voyeur, Riddai supposedly enjoys more participation.” The thought made Rhylie feel queasy.

“That’s creepy,” said Rhylie.

“I dunno. I think it’s kinda hot,” said Mersi with a mischievous tone. Rhylie couldn’t tell if she was joking or not.

“You’re really weird, Mersi,” Rhylie replied, remembering the porn she had caught Mersi watching.

“You’re really weird,” she shot back. Rhylie laughed in spite of herself.

“You’re both weird,” said Vorle. “How’s that?”

“Fair enough,” said Rhylie as she landed on the planet’s surface. Before her was the entrance of a massive cavern that almost looked natural, but closer inspection showed the walls were smooth like glass. There was no sign of movement anywhere. Vorle alighted behind her.

“Seems inviting,” he said flatly.

“Oh you do have a sense of humor,” Rhylie quipped.

“Don’t tell anyone,” he said dryly. “Reputation and all.” He flew into the gaping hole, and Rhylie followed closely behind.

The first wave of defenses they hit were a dozen autoturrets set in the rock walls outside of a pair of large bay doors. They were more annoying than effective by far.

Vorle made quick work of them before he stepped up to one of the doors and sunk his fingers into it. He strained for a moment, grunting over the com channel before the door lifted with a great rending. A rush of air escaped the airlock. He stepped inside without hesitation and Rhylie followed behind him.

A second bay door slammed shut behind them, closing them off in the air lock. Vorle’s fists took on the shape of massive, rounded hammers, and he began slamming them repeatedly into the next door like sledges. Each punch left a massive dent, and it eventually began to fold inward with each hit.

After a dozen strikes it broke free, falling to the floor with a loud clatter. More turrets rained down fire on them through the doorway. Automatons flooded into the room with Rhylie and Vorle, a slew of mobile artillery machines that had a multitude of functions at their disposal such as electricity, projectiles, plasma beams, even explosives. None of them had very much effect against the atomorphic exoskins.

Rhylie and Vorle tore through them like paper, shredding Riddai’s high tech, cutting-edge defenses. She had never seen Vorle fight quite like this before. His power and strength were amazing. He was focused and lethal, doing the bulk of the work. She had to admit, she liked this Vorle, and more often than not caught herself watching him destroy the base’s defenses. It was as if something long dead inside of him had reawakened.

They made their way through the complex under constant suppressive fire, though it mattered little in the long run. They were gods trampling on insects, razing the hoards of automatons and turrets. Eventually they realized they were just going in endless circles.

“It’s a maze,” said Vorle. “I was here…once. Riddai likes to release prey, promising them that if they can escape, they will win their freedom.”

“And what happens if they don’t?” asked Rhylie.

“They lose their legs. Or arms. Eyes. Whatever he feels like. I should consider myself fortunate, to be honest,” he said. “Most people never make it out of here alive. Nobody realizes that even if they were to somehow make it out of here, they would just die horribly on the other side of the airlock. All of this is his cruel idea of a joke. But he needed me alive, to make an example of me. Now I’m going to make one of him when we find them.”

“Any ideas? Mersi?” Rhylie asked.

“Not really. Nobody knows much about this place,” she said. “Most people don’t even know it exists. If Sothu’s supply tunnel was the worst kept secret in the galaxy, then this is one of the best.”

“Great,” said Rhylie. “So we’re stuck. They’re probably watching us, waiting on us to give up and go away.”

“You’re right!” squealed Mersi. “They probably ARE watching you! Do you think you could locate a security panel Vorle?”

“I don’t know. I haven’t seen any terminals, or outlets. There’s nothing here but bare walls and automatons,” Vorle said.

“Maybe there’s a remote terminal behind the walls,” offered Mersi. Rhylie and Vorle looked at each other and shrugged. They began ripping the dark gray panels off of the wall, exposing the bare rock beneath until they found some sort of small access terminal. Vorle placed his hand over the panel, and it turned into a pool of liquid metal, engulfing it.

“I didn’t know you could do that,” said Rhylie. “Can I do that?”

“Well,” said Mersi. “Its not that you can’t, you just don’t understand how. I have remote access to Vorle that I don’t have with you and I can operate a lot of things through him from wherever I am, as long as I have a feed established with him. Remember, Isaar disabled all of that stuff completely for you. He had a lot of faith that you would eventually come around to it,” she finished on a sad note.
But he didn’t trust me enough to tell me where he got the atomorphic tech
, Rhylie thought. She hadn’t brought it up to anyone since. Part of her didn’t want to know anymore. Part of her already knew.

“Can you find them?” Rhylie asked, quickly changing the subject.

“I have an entire map of the facility now,” said Vorle, “Including their location.”

“Yup,” said Mersi. “I’m opening all of the doors between you and them right now as well.” The sound of doors sliding open echoed down the empty hallways. Vorle withdrew his hand from the terminal and began drifting down the hall. Rhylie followed closely behind him.

They soon found Riddai and Potaan together in a large circular room with a myriad of feed screens everywhere, displaying every inch of the complex. The walls were lined with a dozen glass cubicles. Some were empty and dark. Those that were illuminated contained prisoners. Some were currently engaged in what Rhylie took to be coitus.

The people in the glass cubes seemed completely unaware of what was playing out before them, just beyond the walls of their prisons. Scattered around the room were several different types of chairs and tables that came with a bizarre assortment of apparatuses and devices. Some were currently in use, their occupants staring wide-eyed in horror at Rhylie and Vorle as they hovered into the room.

As soon as they entered, Riddai tossed a small, glowing orb into the middle of the room. When it hit the floor, it sent out a pulse that spread throughout the room before Rhylie and Vorle could even react. Vorle tried to shout something, but when the glowing pulse hit him and Rhylie, they both hit the floor, hard.

She was unable to move, unable to control her skeleton or her atomorphic skin. Her mouth worked, but only barely. She could still see, but her vision was watery and blurring in and out. She could see them walking towards her. They were saying something, but she couldn’t quite make it out. The room had gone dark when the pulse had gone off; the only light was a stark glow generated by one of Riddai’s hands. Wherever he turned his palm, the beam followed, illuminating portions of the room.

Riddai went over to one of the cells and opened it manually, releasing two of the captives. They were pale and willowy, with soft tufts of fine, translucent hair atop their heads. But they were stronger than they looked. They lifted Vorle up by his arms, and dragged him over to one of the tables, strapping him down tightly. Once they had him secured, they did the same with Rhylie.

After they reset the lights and feed system, they seemed more interested in Vorle than her, possibly because there was more left of him, or possibly because they were saving her for Vorcia. They hovered over him, scanning him with devices, and scraping at him, trying to find some way to penetrate the atomorphic tech that comprised his legs and arms. He and Rhylie were both still stunned, unable to move, other than Vorle’s weak, squirming torso.

Their efforts were seemingly futile, judging from their frustrated posturing. Nothing they could do would break the mysteries locked within the atomorphic tech. When Riddai turned his back on Vorle for a moment to argue with Potaan, that was when Vorle struck.

He sent one of his arms out as two tendrils, grabbing them both about the throat before either of them could even respond. He broke through his restraints with ease, and strode over to Rhylie, dragging the two of them behind him on the floor, choking them. He reached out to Rhylie with his other hand, and placed it on her chest. It melded with her, and he sunk his fingers into her chest. She couldn’t feel a thing. He was saying something to her, but she couldn’t hear it over the ringing in her ears. He withdrew his hand and a moment later, everything was back online. She could move again, and hear again, and speak again as well.

“What happened, what did you do to me?” she asked desperately, still reeling from the shock.

“An electromagnetic pulseball, it knocked out all of our cyberbionic controls,” he said as though it were nothing. Potaan and Riddai still lay on the floor behind him, choking. “And I was able to reboot you, once Mersi had remotely rebooted me.” Rhylie was beginning to see the benefit of this symbiotic relationship. Still, it felt too…personal. Isaar had been right, she wasn’t ready to be invaded like that again. She broke herself free from her restraints easily.
Really, why had they even bothered
, she wondered. S
ome people enjoy their formalities a bit too much.

Vorle turned his attention away from Rhylie and released Riddai and Potaan. Both of them flopped over to their knees, gasping for breath as though it were the most precious thing ever. Vorle looked down on them in silence for a long moment until they both quietened down. They now looked up at him with wide, fearful eyes. Gone was the arrogance and pomp.

“And now the butchers will beg the carcass for forgiveness,” Vorle said coldly in his digitized voice. It was still unnerving to see him speak without his lips moving. Rhylie didn’t think she’d ever get used to that. “Perhaps we could offer you mercy, as we did Kraeke.” Their mouths dropped open, and their eyes widened in hope. Rhylie almost felt sorry for them.

“Tell us where Vorcia is,” she interjected before Vorle could get too into this. This trip was about business as much as it was pleasure. “And I will allow Vorle to show you mercy.” The look of hope turned into a look of horror almost immediately.