Justice Keepers Saga--Books 1-3, page 103
“Huh? What war?”
“They are coming.” A grimace twisted Raynar's pale face into something haggard, and he shook his head. “You cannot stop them any more than you can stop the slow advance of entropy.”
“Who?”
“I can't tell you.”
Melissa turned her back on him and paced across the room to relieve her irritation. “So you're just gonna be all cryptic?” she asked. “Tease me with some juicy gossip, then insist you can't say more? You'd fit right in at my school.”
“You misunderstand me,” he grumbled. “I can't tell you because there are no words to express what I've seen.” The sound of soft footsteps told her that he was approaching. “But maybe I can show you.”
When she turned, he was standing there with his head bowed, a small smile on his face. “I am willing to try if you are,” he added. “But I must warn you. The things I have seen…Once you know them, you will never be the same.”
She hesitated.
Did she want to know? Peeking behind the veil was almost always a bad idea, in her opinion; some illusions were worth holding on to. But then, she did want to become a Justice Keeper, and she was fairly certain people who clung to their illusions weren't cut out for that job. “Do it.”
He looked up at her with those large eyes, and she was pulled right in. The world faded away as she sank into one of Raynar's memories: the sight, the sound, the smell of it so real she could almost believe she was really there.
She was back inside his tiny cell with the door shut tight and no room to maneuver. A sense of claustrophobia overwhelmed her when she realized that she could stretch her arms and touch each wall.
The door swung open to reveal a man in black pants and a red coat with gold trim on the cuff of each sleeve. His thin face with high cheekbones and tilted eyes betrayed not a hint of emotion, and long black hair fell over his shoulders. Melissa had never seen this man in person, but she knew him from various newscasts.
Grecken Slade.
He looked Raynar up and down, then paused. “You say this one is weaker than the other?” he asked, turning to speak with someone out of sight. “Can we make use of him, or will I need to provide you with another specimen?”
Specimen.
Slade talked about Raynar like he was some kind of lab-rat. No wonder the guy was so slow to trust. In the back of her mind, in the part of herself that still remembered she was Melissa, a part of her felt sick to her stomach.
Slade turned his back on the cell, standing with arms folded as he talked to one of the guards. “We will need the best,” he said, “the woman looks quite promising, but this one…When you're done with the test, dispose of him.”
She felt Raynar's fury.
The man spoke about him as though he weren't even there, as though he were less than human. This, despite the fact that he knew on some level that he was more. Rage and disgust filled him until he thought he might burst.
So he lashed out.
His will came against the symbiont that Slade carried like water washing up against a wall of rock. But rage filled him with resolve he would not have thought possible. He gathered his will, and he pushed.
A crack formed in the wall, allowing light to spill through: the pulsing, flickering light of the other man's thoughts. They spilled through like grains of sand from a cracked hourglass. Melissa saw them all as Raynar remembered.
Images flashed in her mind faster than she could count them. The inside of a dark tunnel with walls made of flesh, the awe and reverence for an amorphous creature that she couldn't quite picture, a sphere that glowed when she held it in her hand: it was all right there in her mind.
Men in tattered clothes went running through the tall grass, scrambling toward the distant horizon under the light of a merciless sun. They were convicts, or had been before Slade released them. Why? She prodded the image, but it faded.
That was a powerful memory, a pivotal moment in Slade's life. She wouldn't have been able to perceive it in such vivid detail otherwise. The images began to flicker again. An old woman's face, a burning house, the light of a million stars as Slade saw them from orbit for the first time.
Images flickered.
Melissa pulled back, gasping and sobbing. “Oh god…” She looked up, blinking tears out of her eyes. “You saw that man's life…I don't understand; none of that made any sense.”
Raynar stood there with hands clasped behind his back, refusing to look at her. “It will in time,” he said, backing away from her. “When it does, you must tell your friends what you have learned.”
“Can't you tell them?”
“They will not believe me.”
Somehow, she knew it was true. Touching Raynar's mind was enough to convince her of his sincerity. He was wrong, of course – the others wouldn't disbelieve him simply because he was a telepath – but he was sincere. “You must tell them,” he went on. “It will take your mind some time to process what I have shown you, but when you do, you must tell them what you have seen.”
“I saw nothing but disjointed images.”
He laid a hand on her cheek, and Melissa sighed. For some reason she didn't want to think about, it felt…soothing. “The burden I have given you is terrible, the knowledge that you now carry…”
“What did you show me, Raynar?” she whispered. “I know you say you don't have the words, but try…What was that?”
“The end.”
The inside of Keli's cell was very much like the inside of any other: a wide room with a bed, a nightstand and a table. Soft light from the lamps bathed all four walls in a gentle amber glow.
The woman stood with her back turned, muttering to herself as she studied the wall on the far side of the room. “And so I live out my days in here,” Keli muttered. “One cell traded for another, is that it?”
“You have no cause to complain,” Anna said. “You betrayed our trust.”
Keli spun partway around, glancing over her shoulder. A snarl twisted her features into something feral. “Treat a woman like an animal,” she said. “And she will become the very thing you fear.”
Anna closed her eyes, taking a deep breath. “What you did is called assault.” She brushed bangs off her forehead with the back of her hand. “And murder. You're going to stand trial even if we have to keep the collar on you the whole time.”
“Such passion for an evil man.”
A surge of heat in Anna's face made her feel as though her skin were on fire. “It's not your place to decide who lives and who dies,” she said, stepping away from the wall. “Rawlins would have answered for his crime.”
The other woman faced her, somehow managing to look demure in that simple gray dress. “You still don't understand,” she said, smiling down at the floor. “So long as I remain on this station, all of you are in danger. I had to leave to have any chance at a normal life.”
“What are you talking about?”
Keli's face twisted, a soft hiss escaping her. “Forget it,” she said. “It is of little consequence. Some tragedies cannot ever be avoided.”
Gritting her teeth, Anna let her head hang. “I am in no mood for your games,” she said, striding across the room. “You say this station's in danger? Well, you better get real chatty real quick if you want to have any hope at a lenient sentence.”
Keli looked up at her with those big, dark eyes, blinking in confusion. “You truly don't know what I'm talking about,” she muttered. “Yes, I can feel the confusion radiating off you even with your symbiont.”
“So make with the exposition.”
“Do you believe my people will just leave me here?” Keli asked with incredulity in her voice. “I am one of their most valued assets.”
“You're saying there are ships on the way?”
“Many.”
“How can you know that?”
Of all the responses Anna would have expected, laughter was not one of them. Keli backed away from her, nearly tripping when her ass hit the wall. “You foolish girl. Did you think I didn't read them while we were making our escape from Ganymede? Did you honestly believe I didn't know their intentions?”
“And you're telling us now?”
“Your problems are not my concern, two-soul,” Keli hissed. “My people will come, and they will go to great lengths to recover me. My only hope was to hide somewhere on this dismal little planet and pray they would conclude that one telepath isn't worth risking a war with Leyria. Now it is too late for that. Prepare yourself, Justice Keeper. The worst part of this ordeal is still ahead of you.”
28
Splashing water over her face, Anna looked into the mirror. Tiny droplets glistened on her skin and slid over her cheek. Her hair was still a dark shade of brown with bangs clinging to her forehead.
Heaving out a shuddering breath, Anna hung her head. “I'm gonna lose it,” she whimpered. “If I could do it all over again, I'd leave that damn woman to rot in her cell.”
Jack stood just outside the bathroom with hands in his pockets, his turned to stare at the wall. “You don't mean that,” he muttered. “Whatever her crimes may be, she doesn't deserve to live as a lab rat.”
“Yeah, I know.”
Jack had dyed his hair back to something approximating its natural colour, and she really couldn't blame him for rushing to make the change. Gabi could say whatever she wanted, but blonde looked ridiculous on him.
For the last six hours, she had been stuck in these guest quarters, trying to take her mind off the impending catastrophe by reading or watching vids. It had done no good. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't ignore the truth.
The Antaurans were coming to reclaim Keli and Raynar, which meant there would almost certainly be a violent altercation, possibly the first skirmish in a war. That was her fault, her doing. If she had just left well enough alone…
Anna closed her eyes, hanging her head in shame. She pressed the heel of her hand to her forehead. “There will be bloodshed before the end of the day, and all the history books will credit me for that.”
She pushed past Jack.
The living room was practically identical to those she had seen in every other set of quarters on this station. She wanted nothing more than to return to her cozy little apartment, but every licensed pilot had to remain on the station in the event that Keli's warning proved genuine.
The silhouette of Jack stood behind her, watching her cautiously. “You know that isn't true,” he insisted. “Anna, you were trying to prevent atrocities that any reasonable person would call war crimes. That's what Keepers do.”
“Yes, I know,” Anna said. “And you're right; I wouldn't do anything differently even if I could go back.”
“But?”
“I'm just frustrated.”
The door chime cut off any further conversation, and she was oh so grateful for the interruption. Analyzing her feelings wasn't exactly the best way to relieve the tension that had been building in her chest. “Come in.”
Double doors slid apart to reveal Jena standing in the hallway with fists clenched at her sides. “It's been confirmed,” she said, striding into the room. “Long range scouts have detected a small fleet of Antauran ships moving through Dead Space.”
“How long?”
“Three hours,” Jena answered. She stood there like a condemned prisoner, staring through the window into the great black nothing. “They will enter the Sol System in roughly three hours.”
“We need to mount a defense. What's our next move?”
“We've got three phoenix-class cruisers in the system,” Jena explained. “They've taken position to intercept the Antauran fleet at a point just beyond the range of Neptune's orbit. We're sending in shuttles and small fighters as support. Anna, I want you out there within half an hour.”
“Yes, ma'am.”
Jena turned on her heel, sighing as she paced across the room. “You're going to be outnumbered and outgunned,” she said. “Unfortunately, they've got more firepower than you do, so you'll have to play it smart.”
Jack stood by the wall with a hand on his stomach, a painful expression on his face. “Well, that's grand,” he said. “You'd think we could have a little more protection than just three ships.”
“I've made the same arguments many times,” Jena said. “However, our treaty with Earth stipulates that we have to keep military presence in this system to a minimum. A few paranoid politicians can lead everybody else to disaster.”
A soft sigh passed through Jack's lips, and he looked up at Jena. “Permission to go with her?” he asked. “I'd like to be there when this all goes down.”
It warmed Anna's heart that he would ask, so much that she found herself smiling and trying to hide it. Jack wasn't a pilot; she'd taught him a few things about the shuttle's systems, but he couldn't fly. And he still wanted to be there with her.
“There's not much you can do out there, kid.”
Jack sucked on his lower lip, his face contorting with obvious frustration. “I'm aware of that,” he said. “But my best friend's going into a dangerous situation. I kinda want to be there too.”
Jena had her back turned, facing Jack on the far side of the room. “All right,” she said with a curt nod. “You can go. Be prepped and ready to leave in ten minutes. I want you both out there ASAP.”
The shuttle's instruments revealed eight distinct warp trails coming in at over 2,700 times the speed of light. Without thinking, Anna spread her hands across the console and brought up the sensor menu.
Their fleet of small shuttles surrounded the three large cruisers like a swarm of bees attacking some children who were foolish enough to disturb the hive. There was really no way to predict how these skirmishes might play out. Space was three-dimensional and vast. Their enemies might try to pass beneath them, or above. To the left or the right. Or maybe they would simply try to punch right through.
There was no way to know until the moment was upon them, and then everybody would react as best they could. She felt a nagging fear in the pit of her stomach, one that she could easily force down.
Pressing her lips into a thin line, Anna looked up to stare through the window. “Not long now,” she said. “They'll be in range of our Slip-Shield in less than five minutes.”
“You nervous?” Jack asked.
She swiveled around.
Two consoles stood side by side at the back of the cockpit, and Jack had claimed the one on the port side. He sat forward with a look of concentration on his face, scanning the readouts.
Closing her eyes, Anna let out a soft sigh. “What do you think?” she asked, turning back to her station. “I've made choices that might result in a lot of dead bodies. If I'm too quick to act…or too slow.”
“Then it's a good thing you're the one at the controls,” Jack countered. “Because there's no one in this universe I trust more to make the right decisions.”
Anna felt her face heat up. Covering her mouth with one hand, she smiled into her palm. “Thank you…” The words came out in a soft murmur. “But that won't be much comfort if things go wrong.”
“They won't.”
It was a comfort to hear Jack express such faith in her, but she couldn't help but wonder if she deserved to be comforted. Time to change the subject? She was beginning to think any other topic would be preferable. “So…You and Gabi?”
The long silence that followed made her stomach tighten up. What was she doing? She had no business asking something like that. “Yeah,” Jack said softly. “She seems to really like me.”
“Of course she does.”
Anna tapped a button on her console causing the nose of her shuttle to pitch sixty degrees downward. Stars scrolled past in the canopy window until a phoenix-class cruiser came into view.
The large ship reminded Anna of a falcon with curved wings and a pointed head that ended in a sharp beak. Leyrian frigates were designed for optimal maneuverability both in space and in an atmosphere. That was one advantage they had over their Antauran counterparts. Of course, the enemy ships were bigger and better armed.
On her display screen, those tiny red dots that indicated enemy ships were coming closer and closer. By now, the Antauran fleet had passed through the Oort Cloud. Luckily, they would not be aware of the Leyrian presence until it was too late. Ships at warp were easy to detect at great distance, ships at sub-light velocities next to impossible.
“Ready Slip-Shield,” a voice came through the comm unit.
Anna spread her hands to enlarge a window on the console, running the software that controlled her warp engines. With a few quick taps, she programmed them to emit a powerful distortion that would ripple through SlipSpace and disrupt the warp field of any passing ship. With every shuttle emitting the same field, they would knock the Antaurans right out of FTL.
“Engage.”
She triggered the distortion.
Anna looked up to blink through the window. “All right,” she said, sitting back in her chair. “Let's hope we get them all.”
Her instruments registered eight ships dropping out of warp some 50,000 kilometers away. The Antaurans had been jolted, but they were already responding. She detected tiny fighters emerging from hangar bays.
“This is the Leyrian ship Telarin,” Captain Brin Soran intoned over the comm unit. “You are in violation of protected space. Withdraw from this system now, and we will not be forced to fire on you.”
The canopy window lit up with an image that filled the smartglass. A man in a blue uniform stood on the bridge of a ship with hands clasped behind his back. “I am Captain Ayton Novado,” he said in clipped tones. “Your people have illegally taken custody of two of our citizens. We expect their immediate return.”
“Those two citizens have been granted asylum under the Belos Accords.”
Novado scowled, shaking his head. “We've seen no formal request for asylum,” he said, approaching the camera. “You have exactly ten minutes to return our citizens to us or we will open fire.”
Not good…
“Negative. We have jurisdiction here.”
A self-satisfied smile blossomed on Novado's face. “Very well then. It seems my people will get the exercise they've been craving.”
