Spacer Clans Adventure 3: Naero's Fury (41 page)

Routine scans confirmed Jia’s information on the atmosphere of
Zoa-4 being safe and breathable. The landing party disembarked and made their way first to the nearby crash site.

There
really wasn’t anything else visible to head to.

Yet once they reached the site itself, Jia emitted a single
, clear lilting note out of Baeven’s throat.

Om actually
informed her that note was a coded vibronic signal, filled with complex Driathan activation frequencies–and the earth itself opened up before them.

Naero felt Om gasp.

This world is a marvel, N. Everything looks as natural as could be–but it is all synthetic.

Are you certain, Om? Even the bio-scans read everything as completely natural?

The complex lattice structures are so perfect, that they are nearly indistinguishable from biological life. But make no mistake. Zoa is an entire living, biomechanical world. It functions as a single, hyper-complex android entity–right down to the nano levels that Jia’s presence has activated.

Baeven himself moved quickly
, despite two recoveries from recent severe injuries. His rate of regeneration was still staggering to Naero’s mind. Yet now that they were on Zoa-4, he was obviously eager to reach something.

The planet
seemed to be coming more and more to life as they passed through it. The world seemed to sense Jia’s presence and responded to it.

Finally, just in front of them, an intricate
series of heavily armored blast hatches opened in rippling sequence.

Carefully concealed beneath the surface, as one of the Dr
iathan Sentinel Worlds, Zoa was an impregnable, biotek fortress.

As they went forward
into the hidden structure beneath the surface, Naero spotted tatters of a dusty, old fashioned Spacer nanosuit–first generation–before the improved invention of Nytex. They were covered with old, faded brown blood stains. Then a shattered Spacer helmet, still lying in the dust.

Naero gasped a little and snapped her head back to look at Baeven
.

For one of the first times since she’d known him, he truly smiled with what could only be happiness.

“This is where you crashed,” Naero said. “Where you met Jia.

“Zoa
-4 is her private sentinel world. It more than belongs to Jia and is part of her. It is her–her precise creation–the very first test of her powers that the Drians gave her. It is all that and much more. Only Ur-Jahal is far more amazing, according to her.”

A well-
defended pod opened up before them like an enormous, delicate flower–yet one bristling with hi-tek weaponry. The weaving of biomancy and teknomancy was so carefully woven together, that both Naero and Om found it staggering.

Zoa was a living organism, and a living machine, all at the same time.

Naero had an idea where they were going, and why Baeven was so eager to get there.

They
made their way down in the bower of the sleeping goddess of the Driathans.

Baeven
led the way. The yearning look on his face grew more intense with each step.

Waves of light washed over them.
Naero sensed and drank in the power Cosmic, heavy upon the very air. It was woven and stuffed into the atomic level of everything around them.

The Power of the Cosmic
Lifespark and the Harmony.

It flowed out from the center of
the flower’s pod or core, glowing with a scintillating, glorious radiance that spread throughout every atom and molecule of the planet.

You could drink it in.

Both Naero and Om comprehended it all suddenly and understood.

Jia controlled and directed every atom of this living world.

She was its heart and soul–it’s Lifespark. Jia infused all of its forward evolution with infinite purpose and design.

She was
its creator.

Just as her
creators had been the godlike Drians before her.

Baeven knelt and
caressed the core of the closed pod with his bare fingertips. It flashed with radiance at his touch and immediately yielded, unsealing, opening, and slipping back to either side.

They could enter within now, into an inner sanctum suffused with the pure light of the Harmony.

A goddess really did lie sleeping within.

A female entity of light–
of beauty beyond imagination and comparison.

If Jia was but a shadow of the glory of the Drians, then their beauty and perfection must have indeed been unbearable to behold.

She lay curled to one side wearing a soft shimmering gown of some seamless, silken cloth that looked as if it were made of liquid light itself. Her glittering white-gold hair looked beyond holographic. Her skin itself–somehow a hue of both shimmering chrome and radiant white alabaster.

Baeven climbed in
to the bower without hesitation, wrapped himself lovingly around her, and curled up beside her tantalizing form in pure bliss.

As if
that was his place–as if doing so were the most natural thing in the world.

For
the first time in her life, Naero witnessed Baeven weep, and his tears fell freely upon his beloved’s motionless, perfect face and hair like an awakening rain.

Naero gasped and covered her mouth with both hands, as she herself wept.
All present fell to their knees, stricken dumb.

The way Baeven looked upon Jia
–the way he touched her–were the very personifications of love.

He turned
Jia’s perfectly sculpted face up to his and kissed her with passion, full upon the lips.

Jia’s
soul swept back into her miraculous form.

Jia stirred and came to life, every motion
, each movement of her form flowing perfection–like watching art and beauty themselves move. And the more she awoke, the more the aura of light around her grew.

Enchanting.

Enthralling.

Her first act was to
open her mouth and give herself fully to her beloved–kissing Baeven in return–just as passionate and yearning.

His hands went to her face, caressing every line.

And when she opened her shining, radiant green eyes to his, Baeven shuddered and was completely overcome. He sobbed and bowed his head above her breast, as her perfectly sculpted hands pulled him closer to her heart.

Naero wiped her own
tear-stained face, unable to look away.

If
just once in her life, she could have someone look upon her that way.

She wished that she could turn
back and give Baeven and Jia even a few precious hours together. The two of them more than deserved it.

Yet this was not a time for lovers. They were at war with
implacable, ruthless foes. All of them had risked much to come to Zoa-4 on urgent business. The fate of the entire galaxy might be at stake.

Jia smiled like the dawn of the Zoan sun itself, and lifted Baeven
’s face down up to hers, and kissed him deeply once again.

Then she pulled away, grinning
as happily as any lover would.

“
Later, my love. Now that I have returned, let me check with all of the other sentinels. You will also be happy to know that the gateway to Ur-Jahal has finally been sealed. I am the key, and I can go forward with you from now on.”

“
Do as you will; you will not leave my arms.”

Jia nodded happily.
“Hold me then. I wish for no miracle, other than the touch of your hands upon me.”

She lay back down, in Baeven
’s arms, and light pulsed out from her bower and flickered back and forth throughout the complex.

“
Have a seat, everyone,” Baeven called out. “This may take a while.”

Several minutes passed.

Finally Jia gasped and startled them all. She sat up in a near panic.

“
Govae. It is Govae that they have located. Even now, they assail him upon his own sentinel world of Dotar-2.

“
Where is that, Jia?” Naero said.

“
Dotar-2 is very far from us, I am afraid.” She fed them the coordinates.

“
Damn it!” Baeven said, reading his wristcomp. “In an inner section of the Cygnus arm–another part of the Gamma Quadrant–virtually unexplored by any of the current, sentient races. Even with our current tek, it would take us decades to reach Dotar-2 and get back.”

“
Not with our new leap drive,” Naero suggested.

“
It doesn’t even work yet,” Baeven said. “The last preliminary test nearly killed us all.”

“
Then we’d better get to work,” Naero said. “How come the enemy knows about all of this? How can they navigate so readily across such vast distances? I’m sick of them having every advantage over us.”

“
They don’t always have to travel,” Baeven said. “From studying Ullogk, G’lothc minds can be completely linked with each other under certain conditions, sharing everything they know and experience.”

“
Like a hive mind?” Naero suggested. “Like the hive minds of the Dakkur?”

Baeven waved one hand.
“Far more complex than that and over greater distances–even between galaxies it would appear–and that is stunning. I have learned that each G’lothc soul operates as an independent, separate individual. Yet, once they are linked properly, each knows and comprehends what all the others know and experience. It is believed that the Yattai share a similar affinity with each other on their plane of existence.”

“
That would be another distinct advantage,” Naero pointed out. “Instant awareness, communication, and coordination of their activities across vast distances.”

“
Yet even their abilities are not limitless,” Baeven said. “The conditions allowing them to communicate and share information in this manner require vast amounts of Darkforce energy, the basis for all of their tek. Such transmissions are arranged over very short bursts of time. Naero and I witnessed one such exchange inside the enemy biowar facility.”

“
That also worries me,” Naero said. “What about the G’lothc spirit that you have trapped within you? Can it spy on us through you and alert the others to our plans?”

“
Not unless it took over my mind,” Baeven said. “And that isn’t about to happen. Inside my mind, I am in complete control. As you know, Naero, the G’lothc mind and soul essence that I have imprisoned within me is cowering and quivering in stasis–entirely cut off from the others of his foul kind. I probably should simply destroy it, but I’m still studying it, trying to learn its language and weaknesses. I can’t help thinking such information might prove useful to us one day.”

“
Just be careful,” Naero said. “Those foul spirits of theirs reek with Darkforce energy, evil, and malice. I wish we could wipe them all out.”

Baeven turned to Jia and took her hand.
“What of your comrade, Jia? If we can reach him, what can we do?”

“
Each sentinel world is well-defended. Yet any static defense can be eventually overwhelmed, given time and enough firepower. The alarms and warnings have gone out, to me here, and to each of the other thirty-four sentinels and their worlds. Our brother Govae, at Dotar-2 is under direct assault. Our enemies of old move against us. We and all the Driathan people stand in grave danger.”

“What’s our plan
of attack?” Baeven said.

“First, we must reach
Dotar-2 in time. We must break the siege and rescue Govae before our foes can capture him and destroy and sift through his mind, his thoughts, and his knowledge as they tear him apart. They seek the location of the other thirty-five sentinel worlds, and of Ur-Jahal itself.”

“How long can Govae hold out?” Naero asked.

“Quite a while. If things go against him, he will attempt to destroy himself before he can be taken. Yet he would only do so at the last need.”

“What if the worst happens,” Baeven
asked. “What if our foes overwhelm his defenses and capture him? What then?”

Terror washed over Jia’s normally serene features. “Then
I fear the worst. After they strip his mind, they could erase and eradicate his spirit essence. Destroying Govae’s soul would revert his empty shell–his body–back to its proto-form. With the right tek and research, the enemy could use that proto-form as an open vessel. They could implant it with a new mind and spirit–one from the G’lothc. That would indeed be a very great evil.”

“How so?” Naero asked.

“Then the evil G’lothc would be truly reborn, into an immortal body with all of our hi-tek secrets, and many of those of our Makers. Just as the Makers feared. That is why they protected us from the Great War. Imagine the abomination of G’lothc souls possessing the ultimate hosts–the immortal bodies of my beloved people, that will never fail or wear out? There would be no end to the damage they could inflict upon the universe.