The Forsaken Empire (The Endervar War Book 2) (32 page)

But the Enforcer had his own retort. Then let us burn.

The machine vanished into the floor. The transmission cut off, and the virtual room faded from view. The Destroyer was left with nothing but bits and pieces of information. He understood the intent, however. The time for talk had ended. A new battle was about to begin. He saw it materialize over the scans. The Enforcer might have left the virtual room, but he was now here in the star system, moving to attack.

The Adamant reentered the vicinity to confront the emerging foe. The defending Endervar fleet had likely spotted the flagship, but the Destroyer was far more concerned with the new threat.

At the star system’s core, a shadow had emerged. It had taken position near the blue sun and was relatively motionless against the rays of heated gas. The Destroyer assumed it was the incoming fleet. But the sensor readings estimated only a few hundred drone fighters, too small a force to be any threat to the Adamant. The ships weren’t anywhere near Farcia’s habitat.

He wondered what he was seeing. Then he realized it. This would be no typical duel. The Enforcer had instead chosen to abandon all convention. In reality, the drone fighters were simply escorts to another weapon. It formed against the star, ready to fire.

The sensor readings were detecting the escalating charge. Very soon, the weapon would initiate the cataclysmic reaction. The intended target, however, was not the Destroyer or his flagship. It was the star itself and the energies burning inside it.

The Adamant would attempt to intervene. But if the weapon went off, then nothing not even the surrounding Endervar ships could stop the effect.

Chapter 32

Total annihilation, Arendi said. Is that what you want?

She looked up at the hologram and saw only destruction. The Gateway technology loomed above, promising nothing but the end of all existence. Of course, Farcia saw it differently. It was only a skeleton of a sight, but the woman could feel the richness in the air.

She walked under the floating image and stared up, immersed in its glow.

Your universe, she said. It was never meant to be. I seek to recreate my home. The true universe. To recreate the conditions and try to replicate it.

Farcia spoke the words as though she were certain. The hologram and its blue shine reflected off her eyes.

I am here to correct things. To make them right, she added. It’s the only hope my people have. I need to revive them.

Arendi, however, shook her head. She shut off the hologram, certain that this was wrong.

Somehow, you’ve found a way to power it, Arendi concluded. You’re probably working to refine it, maybe manipulate the whole process.

She imagined the theoretical outcome. The new universe would set off a wave of cosmic inflation, more rapid than the last. In time, it would also alter the Higgs field itself and potentially wipe out the rest of existence.

I know you want to save your people, Arendi said. But this it would

Yes. You would all die.

The words arrived like cold facts. Farcia nearly shouted them. She wanted to silence all doubt or dissent. But Arendi refused to stand by and say nothing.

This isn’t right. Even you must know that.

Was it right that my people died? Farcia countered. Is it right that I’m all that’s left?

She stood with her back against Arendi. She didn’t care to look at her anymore. They were enemies, one foe against another. There’s nothing that you can say, Farcia muttered.

Regardless, the Savior’s voice still came. The words echoed into the air. They were firm but pleading.

I know you’re angry, Arendi said. I know you feel pain. Perhaps you even feel lost. But you can’t do this.

Don’t sympathize with me, Savior, Farcia said. I do this because of you. You helped kill my people. You and your kind.

She sniffed through her gills and clutched her chest. Her raw emotions had been aroused by all this talk talk of what was right and what should be.

Farcia didn’t want to hear it. What does it even matter, she murmured.

She gazed at her surroundings and knew that they were here for another reason. The white mist from the flare continued to rise, but still the interior structure was dormant and black.

She then looked off at the computing tower and was tempted to laugh.

The Enforcer, Farcia said. You’re looking for him. But even if you hack the records, you won’t understand them.

In fact, they were nowhere near any Unity stronghold. The facility around them was merely a relic one that hadn’t been fully used in years.

Arendi would try to track the Enforcer, despite the obstacles. But Farcia was looking for a way out. She felt the security collar around her neck. The solid piece of metal refused to release.

If you want to stop him, you’ll need me, she claimed. I can do it. I can control the Enforcer.

She blurted out the offer and then huffed, gambling that her request couldn’t be ignored. She waited but heard nothing. All she saw was a subtle nod. Although Arendi’s eyes were wide open, her lips were completely sealed. Unbeknownst to Farcia, someone else was already speaking to Arendi. She couldn’t see or hear the interaction, but a transmission was coming through.

Finally, Arendi responded. She blinked and scratched the side of her face. She darted a look toward Farcia, still suspicious.

What is it? Farcia asked.

Your Enforcer. He’s here.

Arendi didn’t mention where, but Farcia began to realize it. The veins in her face thickened as the power of her mind took flight. The surroundings around them were still cloaked in silence. Even the habitat remained dead, devoid of activity. But far above the planet, a battle was starting to unfold. Her kin had begun to notice the developing threat. It was near the star itself.

I don’t understand, Farcia said, still confused. What is this?

We don’t have much time, Arendi explained.

She rushed to the computing tower and examined the decryption node on top. The circular device was still clamped on and lit in a ring of red.

Your Enforcer has deployed a weapon, Arendi said. It’s called the Ouryan collapser. If it activates, the star will go nova. This whole system will be destroyed. You and I included.

***

The bolts went off and careened toward the target. The energized shells blasted through space, too fast to be seen. The distance was long from satellite to sun but the ammunition barreled ahead, moving at the speed of light. Impact was imminent. But still, the Adamant fired again. The forward cannons to the flagship were seeking to inflict maximum damage.

Alysdeon said over the comm.

Protecting the Ouryan collapser was a small fleet of defensive drones. They had fortified their position and had become a makeshift barrier around the weapon. Several layers of invisible force field were already in place, adapting to ward off an attack.

The Adamant, however, was trying to break through. It sought to douse the threat with shells of accelerated matter. The first volley had already begun pummeling the target area, but enemy shields around the collapser still continued to hold.

Alysdeon warned.

I can’t, Arendi said. We’re still attempting to hack the computer.

She looked down at the decryption node and noticed that the download had begun. I’ll need another ten or twenty minutes to mine all the data. Just give me that.

This is the priority, she thought. Records, locations, maybe a possible history relating to the Unity. Even if it was all useless, she needed at least to verify.

But to Alysdeon, their priorities had completely shifted. Her voice urged Arendi to leave.

The Adamant launched another volley, and then another. It was bombarding the target with enough firepower to level entire cities. The energized shells exploded around the blue star, but still the calculations already suggested the inevitable.

Alysdeon said.

As Arendi heard this, Farcia spoke.

Let me talk to the Enforcer, the woman said. I’ll tell him to stop.

Farcia had left her section of the room and was only inches away. She stared at Arendi, as though she were certain.

Let me contact him, Farcia went on. He’ll listen.

She then placed her hand on the computing system and moved it next to the decryption node.

No, Arendi said forcefully. I don’t trust you.

Besides, we’ve already tried speaking to him. But your Enforcer doesn’t care. He wants to let you die.

Arendi batted Farcia’s fingers away from the computing tower.

I don’t know what you think. But you’re expendable, Arendi said. He wants to destroy any trace of you. Any trace that will lead back to him.

Farcia slowly backed away. She didn’t want to believe it.

No, you don’t understand, she replied.

But Arendi cut her off. She went to the internal comm in her suit and began blasting the incoming audio transmissions out into the room.

A bout of static scratched into Farcia’s ears before she heard the full translation. It was a direct feed to the Adamant.

Try as she might, Farcia couldn’t ignore the warning. She glanced at her left arm and found it sleeveless. There was only bare skin and a minute scar. The technocircuitry that once wrapped over the wrist had been removed weeks ago, when she was captured.

You’re a loose end, Arendi said. Whatever deal you made with the Unity, they don’t care anymore.

Farcia rubbed her wrist, uncertain. It’s not what you think

Her words, however, were barely heard over the incoming alert. The inevitable was about to happen.

Alysdeon said.

Arendi processed all the bits of data streaming through her mind. The Adamant was transmitting the real-time scans.

The collapser had not only accelerated the star’s demise, it was siphoning energy from the surface itself. A giant flare was apparently pulling away from the blue sun and spiraling around the weapon. This was the true power of the collapser. The resulting beam blast could do more than just level cities; it could level entire planets.

The nova was on the move. Soon, it would accelerate and burn through the system.

How much time do we have? Arendi asked.

***

The natural impulse was to run. The shuttle was on the other side of the estate, prepped for launch. Arendi left the facility and entered the open air. She stepped onto the sand and grass, ready to depart. But she was calculating their chances of survival. Six minutes probably wasn’t enough time, and she knew it. Searching for a solution, she gazed up at the artificial sky. Past the exterior of the force field was the sun. It was still the same. The change in the sunlight had yet to reach them. But the relative calm wouldn’t linger for long.

Five minutes, she said nervously. In her mind, she could see the clock ticking down. It wouldn’t be the first time she had died. Thirty years ago, her previous body had been incinerated in fighting the Endervars. She wanted to avoid a similar fate but struggled to realize how.

Wait!

Arendi turned around. Behind her was the dormant structure, along with Farcia, who was just outside the entrance, catching her breath.

Wait, Farcia said again. There’s another way.

Although Arendi heard the plea, she wanted to ignore it. She had just dragged Farcia out of the inner chamber and to the entrance before accidently tearing a piece of her robe off. Arendi still had the fabric in her hands, and she threw it to the ground. What? she asked, irritated.

Falling to the sand on one knee, Farcia pointed. Her bony thumb swung back. Back to the site behind them.

This structure is a pylon, she said. It can send us away. We can escape.

Arendi eyed the machine dome on the isle. What do you mean? A pylon for what?

We can ˜jump’ away. Cross through space itself. To someplace safe.

Farcia slowly rose. She brushed the sand from her dress.

So that’s what this is, Arendi said. The mysterious structure and its purpose were now becoming clear.

A portal, Arendi continued. The same technology you used to infiltrate the Alliance.

Not exactly, Farcia replied. It’s experimental, but it can work. I just need access. Let me activate it.

To Farcia, it seemed almost a given. With the sun about to explode, what choice did they have? Knowing this, she was about to walk away and head back to entrance. But Arendi stopped her there.

Why should I trust you? she asked. You’ll just escape. Or crawl back to your Enforcer.

Would you rather die here? Farcia asked.

Maybe. At least you would never hurt anyone again.

She wasn’t even joking. Arendi came forward, tempted to drag Farcia through the sand. Part of her would much rather have taken her chances with the shuttle than jump deeper into the unknown.

Arendi flexed her hand, ready to leave the offer behind. The combat drones had already marched out of the structure and were near the shuttle, preparing for takeoff.

But as Arendi approached, she heard the one thought that could change her mind.

I was wrong, Farcia said. You aren’t looking for the Enforcer. You’re looking for him.

She brushed her white hair back, suspecting that it had to be true. For once, Farcia looked at the android and saw a person. Maybe the Savior was part machine, but everything Farcia had seen and even felt from Arendi suggested more.

You care for him, Farcia said. For the captain. I don’t remember his name. But he was important to you, wasn’t he?

Arendi bit her lip. She didn’t want to hear this. Not from Farcia. Her boots pressed hard into the ground, as she ground them against the sand. She felt the old pain shoot into her. Arendi wasn’t sure whether to speak, or plunge her fist into Farcia.