Saint (Gateway Series Book 2) (7 page)

But the silence only allowed him time to think about everything he had just learned. Luckily, after a few short minutes, Mori, Henry, and Orion entered the room.

“Everyone listen up,” barked Mori as she stepped to the head of the table and turned on the data screens immediately behind her and at each person’s chair. Stone pulled up and expanded the map on his screen as Henry and Orion took their seats. It was the Echo System.

“Based on the information we gathered and intel from operatives in the Echo System and on Port Royal, this is what we have.” Mori took a step back from the table and with a digital pad manipulated the images on the larger screen while she spoke.

“It looks like this Saint we heard about has popped up out of the blue and is making a grab for control of the entire system. The intel shows he suddenly appeared on Echo 4’s moon and took control of the abandoned Xen airbase there from the warlord Syra. His believers think he’s an orphaned child of farmers found by a mystic who raised him in the forest, where he became one with the Word…whatever that is. From there, he started converting people to his doctrine about shared community wealth and a quest for communal consciousness that will remove the mortal bounds that cause pain, fear, and so on.”

“So he’s crazy?” asked Sandwick.

“Like a fox,” Mori replied. “It looks like there was some tech left on the base, which he has renamed the Divine City, and he took full advantage of it.”

“Do we have details on the tech?” asked Thay.

“Some but it’s spotty,” replied Mori as she pulled up another screen with weapons and spacecraft schematics. “For the most part it’s all first-generation stuff with a few jump-capable ships—-nothing bigger than corvette size.”

“Because of this,” interjected Orion as she took control of the big screen from her chair. “This Saint has control of all non-jump-capable ships in Echo. And he apparently is the only one with jump capability.”

Mori continued. “From his Divine City, he spread to Echo 3, where he gained control after a bloody campaign against the combined forces of the two ruling governments.”

“Echo 3 is fairly advanced for a Dark Zone city,” mused Stone. “Combustion engines, supersonic flight, even basic nuclear weaponry.”

“And they used all of it—even on their own cities,” replied Mori. “But the Saint and his army, called the Crucesignatis, picked up three recruits for every one killed. His ‘share the wealth and classless society’ line, combined with a promise of your own fiefdom for eternity if you die in his service, is pretty compelling to worlds ruled by tyrants, warlords, and oligarchies.”

“Even with that,” Stone said, shaking his head, “they should have been able to hold out longer.”

“You would think so, but the intel also indicates he has been in contact with both the Xen through Alpha Humana and with the Association at Port Royal.”

“Don’t forget the Elite Guard on that slave ship,” added Henry.

“What has the Association said?” asked Stone, knowing they played the neutral card but actively worked both sides for their own profit.

“They’ve said they don’t know anything about the Echo System, which means they’re ass-deep in it.”

Mori paused to pull up a map of Echo 2. “Echo 2, now called the Promised City by the Saint. Currently, the Crucesignatis occupy one of the three primary landmasses and is currently fighting for control of the second, called Talia. A warlord controls the majority of Talia—his name is Ya-ling. He’s allied with a warlord called Barca and an oligarchy of merchants and mercenaries on the third landmass to create what they call the Triad. They are only slightly less technically advanced than Echo 3 but have a large population. It seems the Saint, even though he has the capability, isn’t using nukes or bios, so it’s an old-fashioned slug-fest. Now he is bogged down on Echo 2 and the chatter between the Divine City, the Humani, and the Association has increased.”

“Any other great news?” asked Thay.

“It’s all speculation after that,” replied Mori. “This Saint could be a Xen agent, working with them out of necessity, or just maybe he’s just a lunatic.”

“Or a combination of all three,” interjected Stone.

“Either way there’s only one way to know for sure.”

“Looks like we have our next mission,” concluded Thay.

“You guessed it,” replied Mori. “We’ll jump into the Echo System and do a silent insertion into the Talia landmass.” She turned to
Hydra
’s pilot. “Orion, after
Hydra
drops us off, pick a nice quiet spot somewhere in the system and wait for our recall. Count on it being a few weeks.”

“I’ll have TC stock up on TP, booze, and porn.” She laughed.

Stone could only imagine—although he wished he couldn’t—what would classify as pornography for a Scapi.

Mori ignored Orion’s remark and continued. “From there, we’ll observe and, if it seems worthwhile, link up with the resistance forces to get more info. Once we’ve gathered enough intel we’ll contact
Hydra
, get picked up, and decide our next move.”

“When do we go?” asked Orion.

“We leave in a week,” answered Mori. “Let’s start making preps.”

Stone and the others rose from their chairs as Mori turned off the data screens.

***

Later that night, Stone lay awake with Mori at his side. So many things weighed heavily on him. He knew he was Terillian, or more specifically either Akota or Iroqua. But knowing wasn’t feeling. Maybe that’s what the ceremonies mentioned by Thay and Sandwick would do, just like the Elite Guard induction. That had all been a lie, but a lie that still felt very real on so many levels. And what would Mori have to do in order for him to go through the ceremony, and just how important was Mori and her “strong medicine” to the Akota? To top it off, his whole sense of place, even as disjointed as it was after his defection to the Terillians, had been destroyed by the realization of just how small his little war and even Alpha Humana itself had been in the big picture of galactic events.

Staring into the overhead of their stateroom, his mind wandered. Every answer to a problem brought more questions. Growing more frustrated, he exhaled heavily. As he did, Stone felt Mori move beside him and her arm come to rest on his chest. Rolling over, he looked directly into her mesmerizing green eyes.

“What is it, Ty?”

Stone slowly ran his hand through her hair. Even after all these months, her beauty still captivated him. “Thay and Sandwick talked to me today about accepting my Terillian heritage and going through some ceremony.”

Mori’s forehead tightened. Stone felt her move his hand from her cheek as she sat up in the bed. “I wanted to wait longer,” she protested. “They shouldn’t have—”

“Why wait?” he interrupted. “Aren’t you sure about us?”

Mori’s tightened jaw transitioned to a smile. “Of course I am, Tyler,” she replied as she placed her hands on his cheeks. “You’re meant to be with me. I’ve seen it. There’s no doubt.”

“Then what’s wrong?”

“I wanted you to learn more about us naturally, over time. I didn’t want to force this on you.”

“I understand, but it sounds like the ceremonies will help me with my transition.”

“These aren’t simple ceremonies, Tyler. We don’t undertake them lightly and they have real implications. You must be ready first.”

“If this can help me adjust and make the rest of the team more comfortable with me,” replied Stone, taking Mori’s hands in his, “then I don’t have time. I have to be ready now.”

“You can be tested only once and if it’s too soon, you could face ostracism.”

“More than now?” he shot back, eyebrows raised.

“Yes,” replied Mori. Stone could feel her squeeze his hands hard. “If you’re rejected I can’t be with you—the Shirt-Wearers would not allow it.”

“The Shirt-Wearers?” Stone’s fingers were going numb under the pressure of her grip.

“They are chosen to maintain order among my people. I am a Ka-itsenko and a woman. If it was determined you were not suitable, we wouldn’t be allowed to stay together, so I would have to give up my title.”

“You would—”

“Don’t be stupid, Tyler,” she interrupted. “You did the same for me. You know I’d give up my title for you. I’d hate it and I’d be betraying my own vision, but I would do it.”

Stone looked into those green eyes once again. He could actually feel them pulling him toward her. “I’d never ask that, Mori. But I’m a danger to you and the others as long as I live between these two worlds. And if this ceremony will help…”

She looked down toward the bed. Neither one of them wanted to endanger their relationship, but neither wanted to endanger the other even more. After a few seconds of silence, Mori again raised her head and Stone’s gaze immediately went to her eyes.

“Of course you’re right,” she said.

Stone felt the pressure on his hands lessen as she released her grip.

“Are you sure?” he asked. He wasn’t.

“I know who you are, but you don’t. In your head you know you’re Terillian, and Akota, but in your heart, you’re still lost, like all Hanmani. The only way to find yourself is through the Dance. And I must trust that the Great Spirit has the same vision for both of us.”

Stone felt a clarity he had not experienced in years. Would this be the answer to what he was looking for, even before the incident at the Gateway Station rekindled the war?

“It’s settled then,” she continued. “I’ll do what must be done tomorrow.”

Despite the ominous sound of Mori’s statement, Stone felt more at ease than he had in months.

With Mori curled up against him, he soon fell into a deep sleep.

***

Stone hurriedly made his way through the passageways of
Winter Moon
. The news of yesterday still had him frustrated and anxious and to make things worse,
Winter Moon
was still a maze of compartments and passageways to him. He had been able to reserve range time but now he had to find the damn range. He looked back and forth between his digital reservation and the bulkhead locators as he fast-walked through the ship. Terillian compartment identification was a confusing mixture of symbols and numbers unlike the alpha-numeric system of the Humani, and he was having a hell of a time.

“Seven, One-Four-Eight…is that a bird? And Charlie,” he said out loud as he searched for the range.

Stone turned a corner, his head still buried in the digital reader. Before he could react, he collided with another crewmember.

“I’m sorry,” offered Stone, “I—”

Stone went silent when he saw the man looking back at him. It was Navarus Nero, the man who had led the assault that destroyed his regiment and ended in the deaths of both Emily Martin and Hugh Jackson. He could feel his body grow hot with anger. Without realizing his actions, Stone drew his sword and pinned it against the bulkhead.

“Stone, wait!” gulped Nero, Stone’s blade pressed against his throat.

“Wait?” replied Stone with a grunt. “You traitorous son of a bitch. You killed them.”

“I’m not a traitor, Stone,” Nero pleaded, struggling to talk against the pressure of Stone’s sword against his neck. “I’m no different from you. I only want to free our people from Xennite rule.”

Stone pressed his forearm further into Nero’s chest and his jaw clenched tightly. All he could see was Jackson and Martin and then the explosion that enveloped them.

“Stone. We’re on the same side,” begged Nero.

Stone finally had a flash of reason through his rage. He slowly released the pressure of the sword from Nero’s throat but kept him pinned to the wall with his forearm.

“Talk,” he ordered.

Nero took in a deep breath and began to speak.

“I assume that you know most First Family leaders know the truth?”

“Yes.”

“Not all of us want to be ruled by them. My treason against ProConsul Maximillus was an attempt to overthrow the government so that we could share the truth with our people and rise up against the Xen. But once the first stage failed, the rest of the leaders remained quiet to protect themselves and wait for another opportunity.”

“Others?” asked Stone as he lowered his sword.

“Yes, other powerful First Family leaders feel the same as I—as we—do. The Malius, Vanari, Plaxis, Centius, Juli, Vae, and Scarus families, or at least some members, were ready to support the coup had the assassination been successful.

“General Darous Vanari and Admiral Carsis Plaxis?” asked Stone.

“Yes,” replied Nero. “And other officials and officers.”

“I had just assumed—”

“Don’t think so little of your own people, Stone. Our society may have been corrupted by the Xen, but don’t lose faith in the Humani people. They can’t be held responsible for the shortcomings of our forefathers and their current leaders.”

“I had no idea,” replied a calm, humbled Stone. There was hope for his people yet, from within as well as from an outside power.

“One day we’ll return home and fight for the freedom of our people,” declared Nero as he placed a hand on Stone’s shoulder. “But until then, we must fight against both the Xen and the First Families. Even if it means we fight our own, misguided people. Just like Juliet 3. I am sorry for the loss of your men.”